This article is about different ways you can run a role-playing game. Different "styles," if you like. These styles are slightly different than the standard "prepare all the statistics beforehand and hope the players don't do anything unexpected." They're all designed to cut down on GM indecision when it comes to what happens next in a given session. I've put them here on a continuum from lowest to highest preparation time.
"No GM" Style Gaming
Works Best For: GMs who run out of time to prepare for a session.
How It Works: This is inspired by the Mythic Game Master Emulator. All you have to do as the GM is decide how likely or unlikely it is that a player's question has a "yes" for an answer. All questions in the game are broken down into "yes or no" questions and you roll a d100 to see whether the outcome is true, false, very true or very false. The likelihood of something being true vs. false is set by the GM, given the circumstances.
No Chance 20/80
Highly Unlikely 30/70
Unlikely 40/60
Equal Chance - 50/50
Likely 60/40
Very Likely 70/30
Obvious/ Sure Thing 80/20
Exceptional: A roll of 90-100 is an exceptional. A roll of 0-10 is an exceptional.
Benefits: No or minimal prep time needed. You just sit down with a premise for the session and a plot hook and away you go.
Drawbacks: It can get tedious to try and break everything down into yes and no questions. Combat can be especially tricky.
Tips: You should probably track when someone with a certain level of combat skill scores a hit, since another person scoring a hit with a similar roll would be almost certain to also hit. It might also be a good idea to instead roll up at least the combat NPCs ahead of time. At the very least, you should decide how many "Yes" hits an enemy can receive vs "Exceptional Yes" hits before they're killed, and adjust this according to the combat skills of the various PCs. Also, try to be a little more interesting in your interpretation of the results than just a "Yes" or a "No." Make the answers detailed. ("Do I find a key?" "Yes, you find an old iron key with a curious handle lying amid the rubble.")
Freeform Fudging
Works Best For: Games that don't have a set difficulty number to beat on a roll, games without "rules lawyers," games that are based around stories and plot rather than combat and skills.
How It Works: Forget stats and rules when writing up your sessions. Just write out the plot and the events to run the players through. When the dice start rolling, you fudge. You make it up. You look at what the players have rolled and if it's reasonably high, they succeed. If it's obviously low or bad, they fail. If it's in the middle, decide what would play out most dramatically for the story and make a note of what exact numbers were rolled so that your rulings appear consistent enough to avoid suspicion.
Benefits: Takes a lot of the headache about of game preparation and lets you focus on the fun, storytelling aspects of GMing instead of turning it into one long math assignment. You can be ready to run a game in hours or even less time rather than days.
Drawbacks: Combat is really tricky using this method. You don't have any actual stats for your enemies, so it becomes crucial to know as much as possible about the PC's stats. If players think you're "cheating" in combat, I wash my hands of what their reaction might be.
Tips: Notes, notes, notes! Write down everything. Write down what number was rolled, what it was for, what the outcome was, who rolled it. Keep notes on which PCs are best at doing what so you can reward them for the time they put into bothering with statistics that you didn't! With luck, they'll never know you didn't have any actual enemy stats.
Modular Encounters
Works Best For: Site-based sessions. The session takes place within a single area or location. Also works best for providing a maximum variety of challenges during a given session.
How It Works: Gather together all the possible individual encounters you might want to throw at your players - enemies, traps, puzzles, clues, everything. But don't tie them to any specific event or location. Think of each as an "element" and imagine it's on a playing card that you can slap down to activate during the game. You might even want to use some sort of cards if you feel it would help. You throw them their first challenge and watch the moods and reactions of the players. You decide what tone and pace the session takes by which challenges you activate and how often to use them in the same way a DJ decides the tone, pace and mood of a dance by what songs are played.
Benefits: Gives you maximum flexibility with regard to the shifting moods of the players. If they look like they're thirsty for a fight, they can have one. Too much combat? Throw them a few environmental hazards or puzzles instead. Players feel the session is getting predictable? Throw down a general plot twist you've written up and interpret it according to what's currently going on in the game.
Drawbacks: You might feel a lot of your prep work was wasted time if you don't use half the things you created for potential use during a given session.
Tips: Keep unused "elements" and reuse them in later sessions with minor adjustments to make them context appropriate. Remember - all the players see is a baby dragon. They don't have to know the stats are actually those of a goblin they never encountered during the last game.
Choose Your Own Adventure Flowchart
Works Best For: Event-based sessions. The session is following a specific plot outline or series of events rather than all taking place at a single location. Over the long term, this model can be used to plan whole campaign arcs that shift depending on the pattern of the player's choices.
How It Works: Every player action can be broken down into one of five basic categories: Combat, Dishonest, Search, Socialize, Spells. Your job is to create five appropriate reactions to player actions for each encounter in the session. Then, when the players react to those reactions, it leads to the next encounter in the sequence, and so on.
Combat: Any action that is physically aggressive or leads to a fight. Might also include non-violent contests.
Dishonest: Sneaking, spying, attempting to lie or disguise, trying to poison or other devious acts.
Search: Any investigative act from looking for clues or traps to interrogating an NPC for information.
Socialize: Any action that is a social action. Engaging NPCs in conversation, giving a performance, etc.
Spells: A player tries to use one of their super-human abilities, magic, powers or technology.
Benefits: You always have a pre-planned response to all but the craziest player actions. It frees you up to focus on rules interpretation and combat rather than scrambling to respond to unexpected player actions.
Drawbacks: If you aren't careful, the branches of possible outcomes will spiral exponentially out of control. This technique is tricky to implement for large-scale sessions, such as sessions that take place with a complex plot line or a lot of different characters.
Tips: Give players the illusion of choice. When it comes to a key clue or scene or encounter, make sure that all possible actions lead to a variation on the same result. This will keep the branching possible outcomes form getting out of control.
Sandbox
Works Best For: Site-based sessions, that all take place in the same location or area. Or for GMs who like to give a very realistic portrayal of a living, independent world around the PCs. Also works well for running a session that's based around solving a crime.
How It Works: You break the session into specific sites and keep careful track of the passage of in-game time during the session. Each site will have a time-specific description written for it, so that the players can go anywhere in the game world and have a unique encounter wherever they go. Your NPCs will have their own agendas and actions, all run by the timer and modified as needed based on the player's actions. Even things like the change in weather can be tracked. Think of it as a series of miniatures plays all going on at different stages. Your notes are the script for each play.
Example: The PCs are going to enter a villager of 4 houses. Divide these into Sites A-D. The basic plot is that a menage a trois between a former lover and a lady's husband leads to the murder of the village priest.
Site A: Mother's House:
8 AM: Mother wakes up and bathes.
9AM: Mother does dishes and cleans.
10AM: Mother leaves to visit Priest, discovering him dead at 10:15.
Site B: Father's House
8 AM: Father wakes up, shaves, bathes, cooks.
9AM: Father eats breakfast.
10 AM: Father leaves house for fields.
Site C: Priest's House
8 AM: Priest awakens and begins morning prayers.
9 AM: Villain enters. Priest has a long argument with Villain.
10 AM: Priest is murdered. Villain flees
Site D: Villain's House
8 AM: Villain wakes up and eats breakfast.
9 AM: Villain is absent, gone to the Priest's house. He leaves for the Priests at 8:55 AM.
10 AM: Villain is absent, gone to the Priest's house for the first 10 minutes. Then returns here.
Weather:
8 AM: Predawn. Foggy. Chilly
9 AM: Dawn. Clearing, birdsong.
10 AM: Morning. Becoming overcast. Distant thunder.
Benefits: It can be greatly rewarding to have such a "God like" perspective of everything going on and be able to watch your players explore and discover and piece together the plots in the world around them. You'll easily be able to give vivid descriptions, even of the individuals that pass on the street. The players will definitely get the sense that they are in a real place, where things are happening even if they don't see them happening (because they actually are theoretically happening!)
Drawbacks: All it takes is a little bit of unanticipated mayhem from the players and you can be left scrambling to put your beautiful little web back together. It can be a real headache and a game-slower if you're not used to major multitasking or if you're running a very large location with multiple sites. In addition, players might become caught up in more than one subplot and not realize the two are totally unrelated. This can lead to a sense of frustration and betrayal if your players are the type who have no patience for mysteries or intrigue. Finally, players might become frustrated if they keep missing encounters by a matter of minutes and all they see is a bunch of unknown people walking around and empty rooms with nothing going on.
Tips: You'll have to fudge artistically to keep things moving. If the players are 'early' or 'late' to a place, adjust the clock a bit. Leave plenty of clues to guide them and help them sort out what's important from what's not. Take a look at how video game dialogue and cut scenes guide the player from goal to goal. Finally, if the players get way ahead of a major consequence to their actions and you're afraid they might get too reckless or even forget about what they've done because they don't see any obvious consequences within a few days of the act, then fudge realism and confront them with appropriate consequences as a cliffhanger to the next session.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Mixing It Up: Use Any Creature from a Role-Playing Game in Any Other Role-Playing Game
Here's a cool way you can come up with some quick and original material for your game. I call it "mix and match." You take material from one RPG and translate it across into another. Most gaming systems have very similar statistics for characters and creatures, for instance. So with a little mathematical calculation and a good understanding of two different systems, you can translate the stats for a creature from one game into something you can use for another.
Example: Mind Flayer into Vampire: The Requiem
Step 1: Abilities to Attributes
We know that a rating of "10" in a D+D Ability is considered the average for an average person on the street, and that a rating of "2" means the same thing in the World of Darkness system. Therefore, all you need to do is divide the mind flayer's ability scores by 5 to get their World of Darkness equivalents (round down).
Strength 12 = Strength 2
Dexterity 14 = Dexterity 2
Constitution 12 = Stamina 2
Intelligence 19 = Intelligence 3
Wisdom 17 = Wits 3
Charisma 17 = Charisma/Manipulation 3
To get the mind flayer's Resolve and Composure scores, look at it's Will save, since that is the primary equivalent function of Resolve and Composure. The mind flayer's Will save is +9. To get a +9, it would normally need a Wisdom score of 28. Divide that by 5, round down, and you get a Resolve and Composure both at 5.
Step 2: Skills
When it comes to Skills, you can translate them across in the same fashion, using the same division forumla. Skill Dots in World of Darkness = Skill Ranks in D+D/5, round down.
So a mind flayer's skill dots would look like this:
Bluff +11 = Subterfuge 2
Diplomacy +7 = Persuasion or Socialize 1
Disguise +3 (+5 acting) = Expression (Acting) 1
Hide +10 = Stealth 2
Intimidate +9 = Intimidation 1
Knowledge (Any) +12 = Academics, Computer, Occult, Politics, Science all at 2.
Move Silently +10 = Another 2 in Stealth, for a total of 4.
Sense Motive +7 = Empathy 1
As for Concentration, Listen, and Spot, in World of Darkness those are all resolved by a Perception roll. So give the mind flayer a racial Perception roll bonus of +6 for it's ranks in those skills (It would have translated to 2 dots for each). If that seems too high - after all, even werewolves only have a +4 to their Perception in full wolf form - them halve that down to a +3. Just be sure you're consistant with other creatures you mix and match over so the stats are accurately reflected.
Step 3: Combat
Attack Bonuses: The mind flayer has a +8 to attack with its tentacles. But it only deals a d4 in damage. Since the World of Darkness doesn't seperate the attack roll from the damage roll, let's focus on how much damage the mind flayer would do with it's tentacles in the World of Darkness. A d4 is pretty much the lowest damage die in D+D, so let's translate that to a +1 attack in World of Darkness. That means that a d6 would equal a +2, a d8 would equal a +3, and so on.
Natural Armor Bonus: The mind flayer has a natural armor bonus of +3. That means it's equal to the protection provided by leather or hide armor. In the World of Darkness, leather armor provides a 1/0 armor rating. So we give our World of Darkness mind flayer an armor rating of 1/0.
Step 4: Powers and Advantages
Special Attacks, Qualities and Feats: This gets the most tricky, since these items are often the most unique to their various systems and usually require you to really break down each of these into their specific in-game effects in order to do a good job.
The mind flayer has the following items:
Combat Casting
Improved Grab
Improved Initiative
Spell Resistance 25
Telepathy 100 ft
Weapon Finesse
Since we're translating into Vampire: The Requiem, there is some precident for mental powers we can work with. Since mind flayers are supposed to be potent with their mental powers, let's give our average mind flayer the following Disciplines:
Animalism 2
Auspex 3
Dominate 5
Majesty 4
Nightmare 3
That takes care of the mental powers. Improved Initiative translates well into Fast Reflexes. The mind flayer looses Combat Casting and Improved Grab because there's no inherent penalties to using Disciplines in combat, and all the World of Darkness Merits that might cover Improved Grab require more Strength than the mind flayer would have.
Spell Resistance is an example of something unique to D+D, with little or no equivalent in the World of Darkness, or certainly not in Vampire. You might be tempted to throw it out, but you could also translate it using our handy "divide by 5" rule into a Blood Potency rating of 5. Vampires with higher Blood Potency are harder to influence with Disciplines, since most Disciplines that require a contested roll include Blood Potency in the dice pools.
So we are done. The mind flayer's new stats will give you what you need for things like its Health and Initiative.
Our final, translated mind flayer looks something like this:
Mind Flayer Creature
Attributes: (Mental): Intelligence 3, Wits 3, Resolve 5 (Physical) Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2 (Social) Charisma 3, Manipulation 3, Composure 5
Skills: (Mental) Academics 2, Computer 2, Occult 2, Politics 2, Science 2 (Physical) Stealth 4, (Social) Empathy 1, Expression (Acting) 1, Intimidation 1, Persuasion 1, Subterfuge 2
Merits: Fast Reflexes 1
+3 to Percpetion rolls
Tentacles: +1 Brawl (L)
Blood Potency: 5
Humanity: 3 (Mind Flayers are incredibly evil)
Virtue: Possibly Faith (Mind flayers have an inherent faith in their own eventual world domination) or Prudence (Mind flayers are notorious for fleeing from battles at the slightest hint of defeat).
Vice: Pride (For lawful evil D+D creatures. Greed also works. Try Wrath/Lust/Gluttony for chaotic evil and Envy/Sloth for neutral evil).
Health 7, Initiative 8, Speed 9, Size 5 (Translated from Medium sized creature), Willpower 10, Defense 2
Armor Rating: 1/0
Disciplines: Animalism 2, Auspex 3, Dominate 5, Majesty 4, Nightmare 3
This creature might work as a hideously deformed Nosferatu (such as a member of the Rakshasa Bloodline) or some grotesque creature created through vampiric experimentation.
Example: Mind Flayer into Vampire: The Requiem
Step 1: Abilities to Attributes
We know that a rating of "10" in a D+D Ability is considered the average for an average person on the street, and that a rating of "2" means the same thing in the World of Darkness system. Therefore, all you need to do is divide the mind flayer's ability scores by 5 to get their World of Darkness equivalents (round down).
Strength 12 = Strength 2
Dexterity 14 = Dexterity 2
Constitution 12 = Stamina 2
Intelligence 19 = Intelligence 3
Wisdom 17 = Wits 3
Charisma 17 = Charisma/Manipulation 3
To get the mind flayer's Resolve and Composure scores, look at it's Will save, since that is the primary equivalent function of Resolve and Composure. The mind flayer's Will save is +9. To get a +9, it would normally need a Wisdom score of 28. Divide that by 5, round down, and you get a Resolve and Composure both at 5.
Step 2: Skills
When it comes to Skills, you can translate them across in the same fashion, using the same division forumla. Skill Dots in World of Darkness = Skill Ranks in D+D/5, round down.
So a mind flayer's skill dots would look like this:
Bluff +11 = Subterfuge 2
Diplomacy +7 = Persuasion or Socialize 1
Disguise +3 (+5 acting) = Expression (Acting) 1
Hide +10 = Stealth 2
Intimidate +9 = Intimidation 1
Knowledge (Any) +12 = Academics, Computer, Occult, Politics, Science all at 2.
Move Silently +10 = Another 2 in Stealth, for a total of 4.
Sense Motive +7 = Empathy 1
As for Concentration, Listen, and Spot, in World of Darkness those are all resolved by a Perception roll. So give the mind flayer a racial Perception roll bonus of +6 for it's ranks in those skills (It would have translated to 2 dots for each). If that seems too high - after all, even werewolves only have a +4 to their Perception in full wolf form - them halve that down to a +3. Just be sure you're consistant with other creatures you mix and match over so the stats are accurately reflected.
Step 3: Combat
Attack Bonuses: The mind flayer has a +8 to attack with its tentacles. But it only deals a d4 in damage. Since the World of Darkness doesn't seperate the attack roll from the damage roll, let's focus on how much damage the mind flayer would do with it's tentacles in the World of Darkness. A d4 is pretty much the lowest damage die in D+D, so let's translate that to a +1 attack in World of Darkness. That means that a d6 would equal a +2, a d8 would equal a +3, and so on.
Natural Armor Bonus: The mind flayer has a natural armor bonus of +3. That means it's equal to the protection provided by leather or hide armor. In the World of Darkness, leather armor provides a 1/0 armor rating. So we give our World of Darkness mind flayer an armor rating of 1/0.
Step 4: Powers and Advantages
Special Attacks, Qualities and Feats: This gets the most tricky, since these items are often the most unique to their various systems and usually require you to really break down each of these into their specific in-game effects in order to do a good job.
The mind flayer has the following items:
Combat Casting
Improved Grab
Improved Initiative
Spell Resistance 25
Telepathy 100 ft
Weapon Finesse
Since we're translating into Vampire: The Requiem, there is some precident for mental powers we can work with. Since mind flayers are supposed to be potent with their mental powers, let's give our average mind flayer the following Disciplines:
Animalism 2
Auspex 3
Dominate 5
Majesty 4
Nightmare 3
That takes care of the mental powers. Improved Initiative translates well into Fast Reflexes. The mind flayer looses Combat Casting and Improved Grab because there's no inherent penalties to using Disciplines in combat, and all the World of Darkness Merits that might cover Improved Grab require more Strength than the mind flayer would have.
Spell Resistance is an example of something unique to D+D, with little or no equivalent in the World of Darkness, or certainly not in Vampire. You might be tempted to throw it out, but you could also translate it using our handy "divide by 5" rule into a Blood Potency rating of 5. Vampires with higher Blood Potency are harder to influence with Disciplines, since most Disciplines that require a contested roll include Blood Potency in the dice pools.
So we are done. The mind flayer's new stats will give you what you need for things like its Health and Initiative.
Our final, translated mind flayer looks something like this:
Mind Flayer Creature
Attributes: (Mental): Intelligence 3, Wits 3, Resolve 5 (Physical) Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2 (Social) Charisma 3, Manipulation 3, Composure 5
Skills: (Mental) Academics 2, Computer 2, Occult 2, Politics 2, Science 2 (Physical) Stealth 4, (Social) Empathy 1, Expression (Acting) 1, Intimidation 1, Persuasion 1, Subterfuge 2
Merits: Fast Reflexes 1
+3 to Percpetion rolls
Tentacles: +1 Brawl (L)
Blood Potency: 5
Humanity: 3 (Mind Flayers are incredibly evil)
Virtue: Possibly Faith (Mind flayers have an inherent faith in their own eventual world domination) or Prudence (Mind flayers are notorious for fleeing from battles at the slightest hint of defeat).
Vice: Pride (For lawful evil D+D creatures. Greed also works. Try Wrath/Lust/Gluttony for chaotic evil and Envy/Sloth for neutral evil).
Health 7, Initiative 8, Speed 9, Size 5 (Translated from Medium sized creature), Willpower 10, Defense 2
Armor Rating: 1/0
Disciplines: Animalism 2, Auspex 3, Dominate 5, Majesty 4, Nightmare 3
This creature might work as a hideously deformed Nosferatu (such as a member of the Rakshasa Bloodline) or some grotesque creature created through vampiric experimentation.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Spelltech: A Variant Spellcasting System for Dungeons and Dragons
The following is a new variant magical system that you can use in Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder.
Spelltech
Spelltech replaces the act of casting spells with gestures and spoken words with special devices and weapons powered by magical energy. These devices produce spell-like effects identical to specific spells. So, for example, instead of casting the spell detect magic, Mialee the elf wizard must use her magical detection lenses, which take the form of a headpiece with a series of monacle-like lenses made of temporium. By channeling her magical energy into the device, Mialee activates the device and is able to detect magical auras around her.
Spelltech devices use general magical energy to power their effects. They are made with one of various arcane ores, known as terra arcana, with properties that channel magical energy to create different magical effects. It is similar to how a prism focuses a ray of sunlight into a spectrum of colors – magical energy enters the ore and is refracted into an effect that corresponds to one of the arcane magical schools. Shaping terra arcana to create specific spell effects is a complex science that ultimately produces spelltech devices. These devices can only be used by spellcasters, since only spellcasters have the inherent magical energy within their souls to activate the devices.
Because spellcasters can only summon forth a certain amount of spell energy per day, they are still limited by the standard spells-per-day rules. The only difference is that now, it is possible for one spellcaster to literally steal another's spelltech device, or to trade, barter, or build their own spelltech devices on the arcane market.
The Terra Arcana
The terra arcana, and the schools of magic they emulate, are as follows:
Arcamond - Abjuration
Elysium - Channels holy or unholy energy into divine spells.
Extortium - Conjuration
Krythos - Evocation
Mesmerite - Enchantment
Necrotite - Necromancy
Phantas - Illusion
Prima Muta - Transmutation
Temporium - Divination
A spell's material component requirements are replaced with a certain amount of a specific terra arcana. The amount required depends on the level of the spell to be cast.
0 Level: 1 gold worth
1st Level: 5 gold worth
2nd Level: 10 gold worth
3rd Level: 20 gold worth
4th Level: 30 gold worth
5th Level: 50 gold worth
6th Level: 100 gold worth
7th Level: 250 gold worth
8th Level: 500 gold worth
9th Level: 1,000 gold worth
The spell no longer has any other components to it other than the required amount of terra arcana. A spellcaster only needs to declare that they are activating their spelltech device to cast the spell.
Spells and Raw Terra Arcana
Casting a spell with terra arcana that is not installed in any spelltech device is a desperate move at best, with unpredictable results. In every case, the intended spell does not function. Instead, one of the following effects takes place, depending on which of the terra arcana the spellcaster is using:
Arcamond: Raw acramond generates a burst of antimagic that functions like an antimagic field. This bursts lasts for one round. Calculate the maximum level of spell that could be cast, given the amount of acramond. The generated antimagic field effect is equal to a spell of this level in both strength and the maximum range to which the burst extends. The spellcaster is not immune to this effect, and cannot choose targets for the burst to strike or avoid. A successful Reflex save (DC 10+X, where X=the maximum level spell that could be cast, given the amount of acramond present) negates this effect.
Elysium: Raw elysium generates a burst of positive energy with effects similar to a cure spell. This burst lasts for one round. Calculate the maximum level spell that could be cast, given the amount of elysium. The generated cure spell effect heals 1d4-9d4 points of damage, depending on the level of the spell effect (minimum 1d4). It travels to a range of 10 ft per 1d4 of damage healed. The spellcaster is not immune to this effect, and cannot chose targets for it to stroke or avoid. Undead caught in the burst are dealt an equal amount of damage. A successful Reflex save (DC DC 10+X, where X=the maximum level spell that could be cast, given the amount of elysium present) halves the damage from the burst.
Extortium: Raw extortium generates a magical general calling effect, alerting all creatures within its radius to the spellcaster's presence. Calculate the maximum level spell that could be cast, given the amount of extortium. The range of the call extends for 1 mile per level.
Kythios: Raw kythios explodes when exposed to magical energy. Calculate the maximum level spell that could be cast, given the amount of kythios. The explosion deals 1d4 energy damage per level to call creatures in the blast radius. The radius is equal to 10 ft for every 1d4 damage dealt. This is general energy damage, and has no set type other than magical. The spellcaster also receives the damage, but cannot make a Reflex save to try and avoid it. All other creatures may make a Reflex save (DC 10+X, where X=the number of dice in damage rolled) to half this damage. In addition, those who fail their Reflex save are knocked prone.
Mesmerite: Raw mesmerate generates a general hypnotic aura when exposed to magical energy. All creatures within the area of influence must make a Will save (DC 10+X, where X=the maximum level spell that could be cast, given the amount of mesmerite present) or become fascinated by the mesmerite until disturbed (by someone asking them a question, touching them, attacking, etc). The mesmerite affects all creatures, including the spellcaster, within 1 foot for every 1 gold's worth of mesmerite that is present.
Necrotite: Raw necrotite generates a burst of negative energy with effects similar to an inflict spell. The burst lasts for one round. Calculate the maximum level spell that could be cast, given the amount of necrotite. The generated inflict spell effect deals 1d4-9d4 points of Constitution damage, depending on the level of the spell effect (minimum 1d4). It travels to a range of 10 ft per 1d4 of damage dealt. The spellcaster is not immune to this effect, and cannot chose targets for it to stroke or avoid, nor can she make a Reflex save to avoid the damage. Undead caught in the burst heal an equal amount of damage. A successful Reflex save (DC DC 10+X, where X=the maximum level spell that could be cast, given the amount of elysium present) halves the damage from the burst.
Phantas: Raw phantas generates hallucinations when exposed to magical energy. All creatures within the area of influence must make a Will save (DC 10+X, where X=the maximum level spell that could be cast, given the amount of phantas present) or become confused for 1 round. The phantas also affects the spellcaster as well as everyone within 1 foot for every 1 gold's worth of phantas that is present.
Prima Muta: Raw prima muta, when exposed to magical energy, causes the bodies of all those within range to enter a state of flux, partially shifting from their current form into something undefined and back. Calculate the maximum level spell that could be cast, given the amount of prima muta present. That number is dealt in 1d4 magical damage to every target, including the spellcaster, within 10 ft for each d4 rolled (minimum 1d4). A Will save (DC 10+X, where X=the number of 1d4s in damage dealt) negates this effect.
Temporium: Raw temporium strips away illusions and lies when exposed to magical energy. All creatures within the area of influence, including the spellcaster, come under the effects of a true seeing and zone of truth spell for one round. Any creatures wishing to avoid the effects of these spells, such as invisible creatures, must make a Will save (DC 10+X, where X= the maximum level spell that could be cast, given the amount of temporium present). This effect has a radius outward from the spellcaster equal to 1 foot for every 1 gold worth of temporium present.
Additional Rules
Use Magic Device: Spelltech devices are not considered magical devices for the purposes of the Use Magic Device skill. Since the power of the device lies in the wielder and not the device itself, a rogue or other non-spellcaster would be unable to activate a spelltech device as they would a standard magic item.
Spellbooks and Prepared Casters: Most spelltech devices are made up of a number of interchangeable parts, allowing a given spellcaster to quickly disassemble one device and use the modular parts to assemble a different usable device. A wizard's spellbook is special in that the wizard need not carry any spelltech parts on her. Her spellbook contains diagrams of various spelltech devices written with a special ink that is laced with extortium, the ore which makes magical conjuration possible. By meditating on these diagrams, a wizard can summon any spelltech devices she needs for the day.
Thus, "preparing" a spell for the day involves not only study or meditation but also the proper assembly (or in the wizard's case, summoning) of components.
Spontaneous Casters: Spontaneous spellcasters are at a disadvantage in that they do not have the specialized training of a prepared spellcaster in spelltech. This limits them to much fewer options. They must carry ready-made spelltech on them at all times. However, they can use their spelltech devices more times per day than a prepared caster.
Spell-Like Abilities: Certain creatures are able to generate spell-like effects at will or a certain number of times per day. In this variant, these spell-like abilities correspond to physical additions on the creature's bodies. These are typically terra arcana crystal growths on the skin or sometimes within the bones, dissolved in the blood, or in organs. However, in intelligent creatures, they may take the form of constructed implants grafted into the flesh, often stylized with decoration.
Counterspells: To counter a spell cast with spelltech, the spellcaster must sacrifice terra arcana, burning it up with magical power to corrode the effects of the cast spell. The terra arcana must be of identical type to the school of the spell being cast, and the amount must be equal or higher, in gold, to the material component requirements for the spell being cast. For example, countering a 7th level necromancy spell would require the counterspeller to burn up 250 gold worth of necrotite.
Spelltech Devices and Carrying Capacity: The level of spell each individual spelltech device creates determines the weight of that device. So a level one spelltech device weighs 1 pound, and a level 9 spelltech device weighs 9 pounds. The total weight of various spelltech components is equal to the total number of spells at maximum level that a spellcaster can cast per day. For example, if a sorcerer can cast 3 level 6 spells per day, the total weight of his spelltech components is equal to 18 pounds.
Theft: It is possible for a spellcaster who steals a spelltech device from another spellcaster to use that device. It makes no difference if the device was stolen from an arcane or divine spellcaster.
Market Price: The market price for a spelltech device is equal to a scroll of that spell.
Crafting Spelltech: Crafting spelltech requires the Spellcraft skill, not the Craft skill. Use the rules given for copying a spell from another spellbook or scroll as a guide for this process.
Spelltech and Metamagic Feats: Metamagic feats are considered inherent to the spellcaster, not spelltech devices.
Monday, March 7, 2011
What To Do With Social Characters
I enjoy playing the social savvy face man type of character. I like characters who are popular, well connected, wise-cracking and downright sexy. In my experience, a lot of game masters aren't really sure what to do with a socially focused character, and this can lead to frustration for the player, who doesn't see a character he loves really being able to shine.
First, let me address what social characters can do in non-social situations.I'm of the firm belief that any type of character can be potentially useful in any type of encounter. You just have to get creative.
Combat: The most obvious flaw in social characters is that they tend to be weak combatants. However, social characters can be particularly useful if the combat is something you know is coming. Social characters can rally reinforcements prior to the combat. They can emotionally bolster allies with inspiring words or performances - an obliging game master should be gracious enough to award a circumstantial bonus of some sort if this is done well. When it comes to actual combat, a social character can do one of the following well:
Distract and Taunt: Not the most manly of actions, but if the enemy is busy trying to cut down an irritating social character who can stay out of harm's way, it gives the combat-oriented party members a chance to strike while the enemy is distracted.
Force Surrender: There have been more than one instance where my social character was able to cut combat short and save lives by persuading a nearly defeated enemy to surrender. Social characters are also particularly good at negotiating terms of surrender that will benefit their side more than the enemy.
Intimidate: Along a similar vein, a socially-focused character can be effective at making enemies nervous and unsure of their own capabilities. Provided the enemies are weak-willed enough, effective intimidation can do everything from weaken enemy attacks to inspiring them to make tactical mistakes.
Coordinate: Because the social character isn't busy trying to dodge blows and find openings, he can serve the party as a strategist. Socially focused characters DO tend to have well developed mental attributes and skills, and these can come in handy when trying to coordinate your allies into a more effective fighting force. Remember, social characters are good at getting others to listen to them.
Be The Voice of Reason: In the heat of battle, a party can sometimes loose sight of what exactly their real goal is. The social character can remind them of that. Often times, it isn't necessary to take out every single enemy in order to continue towards a goal.
Inspire Defection: This can be a little tricky, but if you know your enemy is being coerced into fighting you, and you offer them a sweeter deal, the social character just might turn former low-powered enemies into minions, allies, or informants for the party.
Negotiate Terms of Engagement: Formal combat such as a duel often includes a set time and place for the fight to happen. A social character can arrange things so that the time and place are more advantageous to the party and not the enemy.
Stealth, Sneaking, and Infiltration: Even if a social character isn't particularly stealthy, they can still be useful for these types of missions in the following ways:
Spy: The most obvious way a social character could help would be to act as the party's spy, slipping in alone and passing as one of the enemy in order to sniff out the area. Social characters tend to be very good at lying, acting and conning others into revealing information.
Diversion: As in combat, social characters can distract enemy security forces long enough for the real stealthy party members to get where they need to go.
Getting the Party Inside: This is a staple of espionage and action films - the socially or culturally savvy person does all the talking. All the others just have to wear a disguise and follow her lead.
Magical or Mystical Confrontations: If your party is faced with a more supernatural obstacle like a demon or a magical curse, here's how the social character can help:
Make a Deal: Most mystical enemies are intelligent enough to interact with socially. The social character can try to cut a devil's bargain, at least long enough for the other party members to betray the pact and slay the enemy. They may even negotiate a deal that involves the enemy voluntarily leaving the story.
Confuse: If your mystic boogie man is from a sufficently different point of origin like the distant past or another dimension, the social character can try to dazzle and overwhelm it with a flood of irrelevant details about the modern world. This is one version of the next type of help.
Stalling for Time: If what the party needs is time to gather the right things to take on the mystical bad guy, the social character can do any number of things to stall for time, from nitpicking arguments to morality debates. Just don't piss the bad guy off too much too fast.
Gather Appropriate Allies or Information: If the mystical obstacle is not sentient, like a doomsday machine, the social character can call on his network of contacts and allies in order to find useful sources of information for the party. He may even be able to scrounge up a specialist NPC who can help the party overcome the problem.
Okay, now for the game-running side. These are things you can put in your game in order to satisfy a player who wants to go the social route:
Make Some Obstacles Socially Focused: Make some of the things that prevent the party from achieving their goal social in nature.
Examples: An incooperative bouncer at a club, a snobby court, a local prejudice revelavnt to the party, general distrust of outsiders.
Include Clues in the Local Culture: Write up a few usefit tidbits of information for the party that the socially-focused character would be the most likely to find.
Examples: The name of the murderer is known to a frightened barkeep, the whereabouts of a magic key is only known by the madam of the local harem, the secret password has to be interrogated out of a stubborn guard.
Let Them Flirt: Sometimes it's easy enough to satisfy a social character if you make him feel sexy. Make the local barmaids want to serve him first. Have the local tavern owners know the character by name as if they were old friends. Play up all the campy romantic stereotypes of a debonaire charmer's effects on local women. Trust me, they'll eat it up.
Make Evil Minions Potential Allies: Works best if you do this from the first chapter of a campaign, so that the social character's player learns and remembers to try his powers of persuasion on low-level enemies. Give your expendable NPCs some potential reason to want to help the party, and allow the social character to try and discover it.
Give Them Allies: Works especially well if the ultimate bad guy is someone the party cannot take down without allies.
Classic Examples to Set Up: Incite a rebellion or prison riot, make a stirring speech that rouses the local militia, wine and dine and romance the lady with power, con the local biker punks into thinking you're one of them.
First, let me address what social characters can do in non-social situations.I'm of the firm belief that any type of character can be potentially useful in any type of encounter. You just have to get creative.
Combat: The most obvious flaw in social characters is that they tend to be weak combatants. However, social characters can be particularly useful if the combat is something you know is coming. Social characters can rally reinforcements prior to the combat. They can emotionally bolster allies with inspiring words or performances - an obliging game master should be gracious enough to award a circumstantial bonus of some sort if this is done well. When it comes to actual combat, a social character can do one of the following well:
Distract and Taunt: Not the most manly of actions, but if the enemy is busy trying to cut down an irritating social character who can stay out of harm's way, it gives the combat-oriented party members a chance to strike while the enemy is distracted.
Force Surrender: There have been more than one instance where my social character was able to cut combat short and save lives by persuading a nearly defeated enemy to surrender. Social characters are also particularly good at negotiating terms of surrender that will benefit their side more than the enemy.
Intimidate: Along a similar vein, a socially-focused character can be effective at making enemies nervous and unsure of their own capabilities. Provided the enemies are weak-willed enough, effective intimidation can do everything from weaken enemy attacks to inspiring them to make tactical mistakes.
Coordinate: Because the social character isn't busy trying to dodge blows and find openings, he can serve the party as a strategist. Socially focused characters DO tend to have well developed mental attributes and skills, and these can come in handy when trying to coordinate your allies into a more effective fighting force. Remember, social characters are good at getting others to listen to them.
Be The Voice of Reason: In the heat of battle, a party can sometimes loose sight of what exactly their real goal is. The social character can remind them of that. Often times, it isn't necessary to take out every single enemy in order to continue towards a goal.
Inspire Defection: This can be a little tricky, but if you know your enemy is being coerced into fighting you, and you offer them a sweeter deal, the social character just might turn former low-powered enemies into minions, allies, or informants for the party.
Negotiate Terms of Engagement: Formal combat such as a duel often includes a set time and place for the fight to happen. A social character can arrange things so that the time and place are more advantageous to the party and not the enemy.
Stealth, Sneaking, and Infiltration: Even if a social character isn't particularly stealthy, they can still be useful for these types of missions in the following ways:
Spy: The most obvious way a social character could help would be to act as the party's spy, slipping in alone and passing as one of the enemy in order to sniff out the area. Social characters tend to be very good at lying, acting and conning others into revealing information.
Diversion: As in combat, social characters can distract enemy security forces long enough for the real stealthy party members to get where they need to go.
Getting the Party Inside: This is a staple of espionage and action films - the socially or culturally savvy person does all the talking. All the others just have to wear a disguise and follow her lead.
Magical or Mystical Confrontations: If your party is faced with a more supernatural obstacle like a demon or a magical curse, here's how the social character can help:
Make a Deal: Most mystical enemies are intelligent enough to interact with socially. The social character can try to cut a devil's bargain, at least long enough for the other party members to betray the pact and slay the enemy. They may even negotiate a deal that involves the enemy voluntarily leaving the story.
Confuse: If your mystic boogie man is from a sufficently different point of origin like the distant past or another dimension, the social character can try to dazzle and overwhelm it with a flood of irrelevant details about the modern world. This is one version of the next type of help.
Stalling for Time: If what the party needs is time to gather the right things to take on the mystical bad guy, the social character can do any number of things to stall for time, from nitpicking arguments to morality debates. Just don't piss the bad guy off too much too fast.
Gather Appropriate Allies or Information: If the mystical obstacle is not sentient, like a doomsday machine, the social character can call on his network of contacts and allies in order to find useful sources of information for the party. He may even be able to scrounge up a specialist NPC who can help the party overcome the problem.
Okay, now for the game-running side. These are things you can put in your game in order to satisfy a player who wants to go the social route:
Make Some Obstacles Socially Focused: Make some of the things that prevent the party from achieving their goal social in nature.
Examples: An incooperative bouncer at a club, a snobby court, a local prejudice revelavnt to the party, general distrust of outsiders.
Include Clues in the Local Culture: Write up a few usefit tidbits of information for the party that the socially-focused character would be the most likely to find.
Examples: The name of the murderer is known to a frightened barkeep, the whereabouts of a magic key is only known by the madam of the local harem, the secret password has to be interrogated out of a stubborn guard.
Let Them Flirt: Sometimes it's easy enough to satisfy a social character if you make him feel sexy. Make the local barmaids want to serve him first. Have the local tavern owners know the character by name as if they were old friends. Play up all the campy romantic stereotypes of a debonaire charmer's effects on local women. Trust me, they'll eat it up.
Make Evil Minions Potential Allies: Works best if you do this from the first chapter of a campaign, so that the social character's player learns and remembers to try his powers of persuasion on low-level enemies. Give your expendable NPCs some potential reason to want to help the party, and allow the social character to try and discover it.
Give Them Allies: Works especially well if the ultimate bad guy is someone the party cannot take down without allies.
Classic Examples to Set Up: Incite a rebellion or prison riot, make a stirring speech that rouses the local militia, wine and dine and romance the lady with power, con the local biker punks into thinking you're one of them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)