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Post by zipp on Jan 28, 2009 6:20:37 GMT
We'll start this one off by working on your character development. Give me a sec...
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Post by zipp on Jan 28, 2009 6:30:56 GMT
Let's start with this paragraph:
Stats are fine. As I said, the character grows around the stats, more than the other way around.
Good items. I would give the following for them: Short Sword (so that it's one handed): +2 damage in combat Platemail: +2 dice when rolling for toughness Shield: can use a saved number to add one to toughness. Cannot use with two handed weapons.
Next up is abilities. First comes your proficiencies. To use your items you'll need proficiency in the sword, in heavy armour... and you can take one more if you wish.
As for character abilities, you start with two, and we'll create them together.
So... what are you thinking? The cener abilities will be twists on these.
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Zohar
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Posts: 453
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Post by Zohar on Jan 29, 2009 2:19:34 GMT
Isn't a normal Sword one-handed, like in the gamebooks? A Broadsword would be a two-hander, I'd think.
What proficiencies are available other than for weapons and armor? Is horseback riding a proficiency?
What sorts of character abilities can I have? Perhaps one that would let me deal extra damage, or one that would allow me to use a hand-and-a-half weapon (such as a bastard sword) effectively in one hand? Something that makes me even harder to kill would be nice too (lower DCs for Toughness rolls?).
As for Cener abilities, it's always fun to be able to raise the dead...
Of course, being able to control the dead too is even better. Roark learned that lesson the hard way.
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Post by zipp on Jan 29, 2009 19:24:59 GMT
Isn't a normal Sword one-handed, like in the gamebooks? A Broadsword would be a two-hander, I'd think. Good point. I concede the sword. Proficiencies are only used for the weapons, because using a weapon you're not proficient in carries a big penalty, and you can't use an item's bonuses. As for what your character is GOOD at, there aren't really any restrictions in this game. Any character can always try anything, using the skill stat. Now, as a knight, I'd probably make your DC lower for things that involved horse back riding, intimidation, climbing, and so on, and higher for things like lock picking, acrobatics, etc. But you can retcon your character's history, too. Basically, if you can provide me with a "why" to getting bonuses or easier DCs, I may be willing to let it happen. Crushing Blow If you deal damage with a number over 25, you deal an extra point of damage. Defensive Fighting By sacrificing a number rolled in combat (not using it for any other purpose), you can roll one extra die in the resist damage phase. You can do this with up to 2 numbers. Sound good? Cener abilities are activated by taking stress points and their strength is based on your current level of infection. Infection is a score that only your character can see. It's secret for everyone else. As players fight the monsters of Oasis, they will slowly gain an infection score. When this score reaches 20, they lose to the plague and become twisted monsters. As a Cener, you are able to use the infection to your benefit, in that the higher your infection, the more powerful your Cener abilities. You can also go to 25 points of infection, higher than anyone else, before losing to the plague. Any time you want to use a Cener ability, the cost is 2 stress points. I originally said these are twisted versions of your knight skills, but you know what? Let's have more fun with this. Let's say any time you want to use a Cener ability, pay the cost and tell me what you want to do. I'll allow it or alter it based on your infection score. Note that an ability like "raise the dead" is very possible, but such flashy shows of your power could easily give away that you are a Cener, and that would most likely lead to the party murdering you. In order to disguise the suspicious amount of insanity you'll be taking as you activate abilities, your knight character will be a beserker, and his heightened abilities can be blamed on this... as long as you do a good job keeping the ruse up in-character.
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Post by zipp on Jan 29, 2009 23:32:30 GMT
As soon as I have your okay on the above posts, you can go ahead and post your character sheet. I'll give you your secret goals, and we'll be ready to get you in the game. You'll come in next scene.
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Sir Aram
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Post by Sir Aram on Jan 30, 2009 3:44:22 GMT
Most of this looks good. How much extra damage does a Sword cause? +3? For my third proficiency, it might make sense to take Lance/Spear (would these be considered the same weapon for proficiency purposes?), but I'd have to change my initial equipment to start with a Lance. I'd guess it would work much like the commander's Lance did, doing +4 damage but limiting me to using 2 combat dice, though I'd imagine I could save the others. A Lance could also be used with a shield, but a regular spear could not. If I do take the Lance as a second weapon, I'd need to use Set 2 on the equipment list. No backpack, but I'd get an additional item besides my shield. Perhaps a Helmet; what would its effect be? Alternatively, I could take Mace as my third proficiency, which would be fitting for a knight too. How much extra damage does a Mace do? Would a Morning Star be similar, and would it use the same proficiency?
I like Crushing Blow. If I get high enough rolls, I could even conceivably use it twice in the same round, though that's unlikely without some extra dice (and even then...). I'm not exactly sure about Defensive Fighting, as I'm not clear on how it would work. Do I have to save numbers to get an extra die of Toughness, or could this ability be used by retroactively dropping some of the numbers involved in the combat after the fact? If it's the former, this ability is likely to be of limited use. My shield already lets me do that with one saved number, and I don't know how often I'd be saving three numbers. Still, it is possible, especially if I ever increase my COMBAT score or get extra dice from Trenton or some other source. Since this is applied during the resist damage phase, it sounds like I could decide at that point to commit my unused numbers, which still leaves them available to prevent switch-ups beforehand.
I like how Cener abilities work. I probably wouldn't use them unless I'm really hard-pressed anyway, but it's nice to know that they're there because I'm sure I will be. I also like how infection works, and how it amplifies these abilities, so they'll be even stronger in the late game. Naturally I wouldn't summon up the dead unless there would be no witnesses (or at least none that lived), or if my cover was already blown somehow and I needed to make a desperate last stand. Again, a lesson Roark had to learn the hard way.
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Post by zipp on Jan 30, 2009 4:30:16 GMT
Most of this looks good. How much extra damage does a Sword cause? +3? +2. I know it's the same as a short sword, but then, they are basically the same weapon. in a perfect world, short swords would deal +1, but I already assigned +2 to Bonnie's short sword, and I don't believe in retconing character's items. Any NEW short swords you find, however... Lance would be its own proficiency. Think of it as the difference between a broadsword and a regular sword. It limits you to actually rolling 2 dice. You don't get to roll 4 and only use 2. Rather than put such a stringent limit on it, I might say it removes 3 dice from your pool or something like that. +4 damage is quite the damage bonus. A broadsword gets similar restrictions. All the big weapons do. Conversely, small weapons like daggers ADD dice but don't get damage bonuses. Weapons in the middle get damage with no penalty, but usually not higher than +2. All true. Hmmm... probably +1 die when rolling toughness. I have to recall... one of them is a ball and chain, the other a blunt object, right? The ball and chain would be +1 die, +1 damage. The blunt object would probably be +1 damage, but is one handed. A saved number is one you roll but keep out of the combat. You can use them for certain abilities, or to cancel switch ups. But no, you couldn't retroactively drop numbers. I'm cautious around increasing toughness abilities, simply because of the risk of players NEVER taking damage. I could always increase enemy damage (and probably will, eventually), but I'm still being cautious. Maybe a better ability for you would be... hmm... any suggestions?
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Sir Aram
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Post by Sir Aram on Jan 30, 2009 5:00:38 GMT
Yeah, I probably have enough Toughness dice, especially if I take that helmet, which I'm leaning toward doing. Granted, the other characters don't have such high Toughness, so increasing enemy damage will cause more problems for them...not that my character would have a problem with that. I'm considering taking Lance as my third proficiency, and changing my equipment to Set 2 (with Sword and Lance as weapons, Platemail as armor, and Shield and Helmet as items). I'm not certain on this, and I may select another weapon instead. Using a Lance and Shield together won't be very helpful if I only have 2 dice total, and would be useless without bonus dice if it removes 3 dice from my pool. I'll have to think on this one. A Mace is a blunt object, yes, and a Morning Star is a ball-and-chain, though I'd think it could also be used one-handed. Perhaps a Warhammer? Would that be a +2? I'll need to sleep on this one. For my second ability, Defensive Fighting wouldn't be that bad. I wouldn't be able to use it and Crushing Blow simultaneously, for obvious reasons, so it gives me an alternative fighting style. If that gives me too much Toughness, I'm sure we can come up with something else. What about my earlier idea of being able to wield a 2-handed (or hand-and-a-half) weapon in one hand? Or perhaps some ability that will get me an extra COMBAT die or two under certain conditions?
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Post by zipp on Jan 30, 2009 8:06:20 GMT
Well, the two-handed in one hand, that's easy to implement. And it's not overly powerful, mostly gives you access to that shield, so I'm good with that.
I could even conceive of a weapon-in-each-hand ability, but that would be tougher to implement... I can't possibly give you the potentially +4 damage +4 dice or whatever that could lead to. Maybe for an off-hand weapon, you'd gain an extra die, regardless of the weapon's ability?
As for an extra die in Combat... well, of course stress can always give you another die (as many as you'd like, really, as long as you're willing to take the stress). I could say that anytime you fight from a mount, you gain an extra die and an extra damage. The bonus is nice, but probably rare... though if you're creative with your descriptions and your skill rolls, you may be able to keep a mount for most of the adventure.
I could also give you "Brawler," which lets you target more than one enemy at a time, as long as you split up your rolls. Combined with a weapon that gives you more combat dice, or some good leveling, you could really make something of yourself with that ^_^
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Sir Aram
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Post by Sir Aram on Jan 31, 2009 4:45:06 GMT
I have another idea for my second ability: Rapid Healing. Basically, I could heal 1 damage automatically at certain intervals (perhaps the end of each scene).
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Post by zipp on Jan 31, 2009 6:07:21 GMT
sold. One damage at the end of a scene.
Christ, I'm glad you're on MY side...
... actually, I suppose you aren't really on ANYONE'S side. You'll still be trying to mess my monsters up. And mess them up I think you shall!
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Sir Aram
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Post by Sir Aram on Jan 31, 2009 6:23:38 GMT
Heh heh. Yeah, Aram's a badass, all right. Of course, you can always make more monsters (as long as you have the Threat to pay for them). And I do want at least one of the others to survive and make it back to Sommerlund, so I'm not entirely on your side in that regard as well - I like that twist a lot, by the way. I will take the Lance as my second weapon and third proficiency, and the Helmet as my second item, so it looks like character creation is done. This game should be a lot of fun, and I'm really looking forward to it!
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Post by zipp on Jan 31, 2009 8:44:15 GMT
Glad to hear you're looking forward to it! I'm looking forward to having you as a player!
The only trick with the lance is that it's a large weapon, and I can see carrying it around (while looking completely bad ass) could begin to be a pain. Any thoughts?
When you're ready, post your character sheet and I'll start you off in a mini scene here on your own boards.
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Post by zipp on Jan 31, 2009 9:18:35 GMT
One more thing... I changed the rules to make it so that skill decides your maximum number of abilities. With skill 1, this would leave you with only one skill (but thus is the price for being strong and tough). Sorry to spring this on you last minute, but let's save one of those abilities for a future upgrade to keep things balanced. Which one would you rather have? Crushing blow or rapid healing?
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Sir Aram
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Post by Sir Aram on Jan 31, 2009 16:12:07 GMT
I'd rather start off with Rapid Healing and hope to pick up Crushing Blow later on. I was planning to upgrade my SKILL to 2 at the earliest opportunity anyway, but now I'll need 25 Exp total in order to get it. At least Rapid Healing will help me save some precious Exp while helping keep my stats high. As for carrying the lance, I can keep it on my horse as long as I have it. When I need to carry it around with me, I can strap it diagonally to my back. I think I'm big and strong enough to be able to manage it. I really like the system and the way the game is organized. There's a lot in here that reminds me of the Zombie Apocalypse game I'm running here, and the zombies are the least of those things. The characters there each have their own secrets and agendas too, though they are pre-generated and there are dozens of them, and players can play multiple characters. Those not claimed by the players are NPCs, and are also available to replace dead PCs. There is a Sanity/stress mechanic built into the Call of Cthulhu rules we use that's very effective. Gaining Sanity is extremely rare, and the lower it goes, the faster it falls. A downward spiral into madness is all but inevitable, but so far no character has survived enough horror to run out of Sanity points. The game is divided into chapters that last for close to a year of real time each rather than scenes, and I'm not limited by anything like Threat. It's the end of the world, so I get to pull out all the stops, but it's still possible to survive by being smart. The game's been going on for two and a half years and we're just starting Chapter 4. There's a lot of intense action, but the key to survival is cooperation and setting priorities. It's actually still the first day in the game, though one group of characters has already made it to sunset. Things will get even more interesting at night... ;D We can always use more players, and the rules are intuitive and easy to learn. Anyway, here is my character sheet: Sir Aram Knight of the Realm (Knight of Ruel) Allegiance: Evil Stats: COMBAT 4/4 MENTAL 2/2 TOUGHNESS 3/3 SKILL 1/1 Special abilities: 1) Rapid Healing: Automatically heal 1 damage for free at the end of each scene. Cener abilities: 1) Can withstand up to 25 infection rather than 20 2) Take 2 Stress to use special powers Proficiencies: 1) Sword 2) Lance 3) Heavy Armor Weapons: 1) Sword (+2 damage) 2) Lance (+4 damage, maximum of 2 COMBAT dice) Armor: Platemail (+2 dice to TOUGHNESS rolls) Carried Items: 1) Helmet (+1 die to TOUGHNESS rolls) 2) Shield (use a saved COMBAT number to gain +1 TOUGHNESS die) Stress: 0 (The Calm) Exp saved: 0
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