Hell's Invasion [Recruiting]

It's one of the Advanced Classes in the d20 Modern core book.

Sezarious said:

Oh look, I AM absolutely making an assumption and the assumption is both in-game and out of game, so, I'd be going out on a limb here.

My proposal would be to challenge the demon verbally, perhaps requiring a very difficult spell-craft roll. Michael might say something like "Demon, I challenge you to a game of wit, my soul being the bargaining chip. Speak plainly in English so that we might discuss this further".

Then I was thinking of setting the terms of the contract, "Devil went down to Georgia" style with a touch of contract manipulation. My idea would be that when I ask it something... I would be clever about what that something is... "What is your TRUE name?". Then maybe with another spell-craft check I could send it back to hell, but additionally I might use it between now and Chapter 1 as a means of learning magic, using its true name to force it to educate me? I don't know. I mean I could just shoot at it instead, but I kind-of want to try something new that fits with my initial character concept.

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Hmm, I think you are making some assumptions about Spellcraft that are not quite right. Spellcraft is a skill that essentially means you can identify spells and magical properties. I will use it as a prerequisite for spell casting abilities as well.

To Persuade a demon, requires the Persuasion Skill (a combination of bluff/diplomacy/negotiation). If there is a language barrier the means the Target Number needed to beat will be that much harder to nearly impossible depending the creature's ability to understand the language spoken.

Banishing a demon back to hell would be a high level spell and beyond the level I envision the characters being at the start of Chapter 1. I am thinking around levels 3-5 in terms of d20 Modern/Pathfinder.

Shayuri said:

It's one of the Advanced Classes in the d20 Modern core book.

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Heh, I forget there are more Advanced Classes in the later chapters of that book and I went looking for it it Urban Arcana instead. How close to the special abilities listed do you want to be. With the rules light system we are using you can tweak and adjust fairly easy.

Yeah, I wasn't sure how things would work in this game. I'm just going to adhere to the KISS principle then and pass Evan the shotgun and shoot the demon. I'll post in about an hour and a half.

Okay, the next step in character generation will be to copying some things to your character post in your prologue. I did the Traits for all three of you (utilizing the new GM powers EnWorld is providing ). I assigned the dice values for those trait when making checks.

Next, I provided the template for the skills. Each of you selected 10 skills. Those begin at below average competency (d20) until you select which ones you want to invest in improving. I also added in some special powers based on what each of you told me already (starting at d20 for the moment).

You each have 55 points to spend on improving those 11 skills/powers and gaining some more to reflect your starting competency to be equivalent of level 1. (note, we will be adding more later for Chapter 1).

Costs to improve/pruchase are as follows:
Purchase Trained skill initially at d30 = 1 point
Improve from d30 to d20 = 2 points (also for initial training in Untrained Skills)
Improve from d20 to d12 = 3 points
Improve from d12 to d10 = 4 points
Improve from d10 to d8 = 5 points (only start with 2 skills/powers at d8)

If you were looking at some Talents or Feats from the d20 Modern rules that would be appropriate for Levels 1-2, let me know. Some would just be part of skills, but others could translate to Special Powers that are separate.

Sez, in looking at Michael closely, you can drop Perform Acting since it would be redundant with Profession Acting in this case. I would take another Perform skill to diversify if you wanted (ie. Singing, comedy, oration, etc…)

Okey dokey Perrin. I'll take a look.

Ok so here is what I came up with. Swapped the other perform skill for decipher script, which may help as Michael has been recording some of the demon's speech on his phone. If it is speaking latin or something, Michael may be able to find out. As you can see however, he has only gotten so far in what he has learnt between now and Chapter 1...

[sblock=Base Attributes]
Strength - 1d20
Agility - 1d8
Health - 1d12
Perception - 1d12
Wisdom - 1d10
Luck - 1d10
[/sblock]

[sblock=Skills]

1d20 - Horseback Riding (includes handle animal for horses)
1d12 - Gather Information (Includes Research) (-3 points)
1d12 - Knowledge Arcane Lore (Will Have by Chapter 1) (-3 points)
1d10 - Profession - Actor (-7 points)
1d12 - Persuasion (Includes bluff, Diplomacy and Negotiation) (-3 points
1d8 - Spellcraft (Will Have by Chapter 1) (-12 points)
1d12 - Stealth (-3 points)
1d20 - Decipher Script & Linguistics
1d30 - Language - Whatever the demons are speaking (-1 point for trained)
1d30 - Knowledge - Demonology (-1 point for trained)
1d8 - Magic Trait (-12 Points)

1d12 - Archaic Weapons Skill (-3 points)
1d10 - Firearms Weapon Skill (-7 points) [/sblock]

[sblock=Favourite Talents and feats so far]
My favourite 4 Talents (In order) would be:

-Exploit Weakness
-Plan
-Coordinate
-Empathy (To lead onto other skills at higher levels under the empathy "Tree" such as Intuition and Trick)

My favourite 5 feats (In order) would be:

-Magical Heritage (Yay, You picked it for me already!)
-Lucky
-Point blank shot
-Magical Defence
-Weapon Finesse
[/sblock]

I guess I'm sort of seeing Michael as a little bit of a buffer.

Took a stab at my skills.

[sblock=skills]
Acrobatics d20 ->d10 (7pts)
Climb d20 ->d12 (3pts)
Craft (Automotive) d20 ->d12 (3pts)
Drive d20 ->d8 (12pts)
Knowledge Physical Sciences d20 ->d12 (3pts)
Knowledge Technology d20 ->d12 (3pts)
Occupation or Profession (Stuntman) d20 ->d10 (7pts)
Repair d20 ->d12 (3pts)
Archaic Weapons Skill d20 ->d12 (3pts)
Unarmed Combat d20 ->d10 (7pts)
Tricked out vehicle d20
[/sblock]

Trying to keep to my core competencies, but fairly balanced across those. By my count that leaves about 4 points unspent, which may be spent on other skills or whatever. Main thoughts about feats/talents would be:

Evasion: this may be encompassed in agility / acrobatics. But leaping out of the way of explosions is basically what Evan DOES.
Two-weapon Fighting / Ambidexterity: He doesn't really know anything about guns at this point, but ultimately his dream could be summed up in the movie Hot Fuzz.

Danny Butterman said:

Have you ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air?

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Sezarious said:

Can I ask where luck comes in?

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It doesn’t actually come from d20 Modern. It kinda serves as a replacement for Action Points and is a safety net since combat could be quite deadly.

[sblock=Luck]Luck rolls are called for when chance is all that stands between two paths for the story to take, or immediately after a failed success roll to give a character that one last chance... Another use for luck is to settle minor questions which have little bearing on the story, such as whether a character happens to be wearing a hairpin or carrying a lighter (since we will not be strictly tracking every little piece of gear/equipment).

Luck can be a character’s best friend. If he makes his luck roll he can save himself after a particularly dismal die roll, a feature which allows for a certain heroic confidence when entering dangerous scenes.

Luck rolls are identical to basic success rolls in how they work: the GM sets a target number (TN) and if you roll equal to it or under, you succeed. Default TN is 6 unless otherwise specified.

Trading Luck
There comes a scene in a character’s life when he’s hit bottom, when the situation has become so grave that nothing short of a miracle can save him now. In these cases, the luck trait allows one final recourse to turn the story back into his favor...

If such a case occurs where you’ve failed a luck roll that was really important, you may at that moment choose to “trade” some of your permanent luck to change the roll to a success. This choice causes your luck trait to lose a permanent rung on the competency ladder (until d30), but at least your character is still alive and kicking.

Trading your luck in this way can keep your character alive and on top of things for quite a while, but remember, everyone’s luck has to run out sometime...

Luck Roll Example:
The Ogrean were everywhere. Laerd continued hacking into the fray as he watched Ryla cross the perilous catwalk to safety. “I’m going to run across as fast as I can,” he said.
“That’s not so easy, Laerd,” warned the GM. “Make an agility save, target of 3.” Laerd was in the militia and had great balance (D8). He spun and dashed across the beam. The die was tossed: a 7. “Aye!!” Laerd’s foot came out from under him. Ryla screamed as she watched him fall and splash into the freezing water below...
“Make a luck save, Laerd,” said the GM ominously, “and you better not miss this one...”
He hit the water hard. He felt the icy embrace as he was swept along. At least he was a little more lucky than the average person (D10). He rolled: a 7. A target hadn’t been specified, so he needed a 6 or less...
The Storyteller raised an eyebrow. “The cold is sapping your strength. From above and behind you think you hear Ryla screaming your name. You fight madly with the waves, but the rushing stream is so painfully cold. You gasp in water... you try to cough...”
“Okay, okay. I’m gonna trade a luck rung,” said Laerd defeatedly.
“Alright,” responded the GM, “your hand reaches out of the water and catches on a rock. Laerd, your luck is now down to average (D12).”
Laerd climbed coughing onto the shore, then collapsed, exhausted.[/sblock]

Sezarious said:

1d20 - Horseback Riding (includes handle animal for horses)
1d12 - Gather Information (Includes Research) (-3 points)
1d12 - Knowledge Arcane Lore (Will Have by Chapter 1) (-3 points)
1d10 - Profession - Actor (-7 points)
1d12 - Persuasion (Includes bluff, Diplomacy and Negotiation) (-3 points
1d8 - Spellcraft (Will Have by Chapter 1) (-12 points)
1d12 - Stealth (-3 points)
1d12 - Treat injury (-5 points)

1d8 - Archaic Weapons Skill (-12 points)
1d10 - Firearms Weapon Skill (-7 points)

Click to expand...

Since you will get more points to cover character advancement to Chapter 1, you might want to take some of those points away from Spell Craft. You dropped the Magic Trait which you need cast spells anyway. I would do this:
d10 Magic Trait (7 pts)
d12 Spellcraft (5 pts) (saving 2 pts to work towards d10)

You can also take Spell Slots for some 1st Level spells since you are investing in Spellcraft already. You can pull 1st level spells from whatever d20 list you want (d20 Modern/D&D 3.5ed/Pathfinder).

hafrogman said:

Took a stab at my skills.

Trying to keep to my core competencies, but fairly balanced across those. By my count that leaves about 4 points unspent, which may be spent on other skills or whatever.

Click to expand...

Right now the Tricked out vehicle is below average, so you could put more points there. When it comes down to the mechanics, we will probably define the vehicle like I would an animal companion. It will have its own stats and can be improved.
Power (Strength), Handling (Agility), Condition (Health):
Distribute d20, d12, & d10 to those Traits, each a different value. Every point Evan spends on his Tricked Out Vehicle can be transferred to directly improve those three Traits.

Pick 4 Special Features that we can define as skills to start at d20, then use 21 points to improve/acquire more.

During the game there will be opportunities to improve add more features as well.

hafrogman said:

Evasion: this may be encompassed in agility / acrobatics. But leaping out of the way of explosions is basically what Evan DOES.

Two-weapon Fighting / Ambidexterity: He doesn't really know anything about guns at this point, but ultimately his dream could be summed up in the movie Hot Fuzz.

Click to expand...

I defined these down below. Two-Weapon fighting would just be unlocking a second attack and ambidexterity would be investing in it to reach the same level of competency as the primary attack.

Re: Talents/Feats (we are going to treat these the same for the most part)
Empathy: would just be investing in the Skills directly and not needed to unlock any talents
Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Far Shot & Deadly Aim: are all just investing in Firearms Skill directly
Intuition: would be reflected with Luck and Perception checks
Windfall: would just be investing in the Profession Skill directly
Attentive: would just be investing in Perception Trait directly
Lucky: Included as part of Luck Trait
Magical Affinity: would just be investing in Spellcraft Skill directly
Magic Defense: That would be a special power, but not available to your characters at this time
Shot on the Run: is unnecessary as a special power since anyone can do this
Skip Shot: Can be taken as a Special Power at d20
Weapon Finesse: would just be investing in the Combat Skills directly
Weapon Focus: would just be investing in the Combat Skills directly
Magical Heritage: This is Spellcraft Skill combined with Magic Trait

I have defined the following Talents/Feats as Special Powers that you can purchase with points:
[sblock=Coordinate or Improved Aid Another]Talent for coordinating efforts of others d20 (3 pts)
* Use 1x/day per rung below d30 (d20=1)
* Allies within 30 feet can improve rung on skill checks (max of d10) if situation makes sense to aid another.
* Improving to d12, allows improving skills to max of d8[/sblock] [sblock=Jack of All trades]Talent as a jack of all trades d20 (3 pts)
* Can make all Craft skill checks untrained at current level
* Can be improved to d12 only[/sblock][sblock=Tactical Planning]Talent for tactical planning d20 (3 pts)
* Unlocks using Knowledge of Tactics to increase Skills of others 1 Rung (max d10) during an encounter for 1-3 rounds depending on level of success on Tactics Check (1-2=3 rnds/3-4=2 rnds/5-6=1 rnd).
* Improved to d12, durations double
* Improved to d10, allows improving skills to max d8[/sblock] [sblock=Exploit Weakness]Talent for exploiting weaknesses in foes d20 (3 pts)
* Use 1x/day at d30, 2x/day at d12, 4x/day at d10, 10x/day at d8, 16x/day at d6
* Improve rung on Combat Skill checks (max of d10) and effective damage
* Duration = 1 round squared per rung below d30: d20 = 1 round, d12 = 4 rounds, d10 = 9 rounds, d8 = 16 rounds.
* Improved to d10, allows improving skills to max d8
* Improved to d6, allows improving skill to max d6[/sblock][sblock=Trick]Talent for being Tricky d20 (3 pts)
* Unlocks using Persuasion to play a trick on a target, opposed check versus target’s Perception Trait.
* If the Persuasion check succeeds, the target cannot act for 1 round.[/sblock][sblock=Armor]Armor Proficiency d30 (untrained) – Default skill allows you to use light armor that can be used without the d20 ACP applying.
Better light armor needs Armor Proficiency d20->d8 to use shields and heavier armors. Effectively d8 means being able to use Full Platemail and a big shield.[/sblock][sblock=Double Tap]Double Tap d20 (3 pts)
* Can take 1 rung penalty on Fire arms skill to fire two bullets to potentially double damage on a hit.[/sblock][sblock=Evasion]Evasion (Requires: Acrobatics) d20 (3 pts)
* When checking to evade area attacks with Agility for taking only half damage, allows no damage on success. Substitute for Agility on defense against area attacks if better than Agility.
* Unlocks Improved Evasion once reaching d8, allows taking only half damage on failed Evasion checks.[/sblock][sblock=Additional Attacks]Secondary Attack d20
* Allows an additional attack per round at current rung, either with the same weapon in hand or carrying two weapons.[/sblock]
[MENTION=2486]Al[/MENTION]l; Re: Armor proficiency
This is probably a good idea for everyone to consider when we improve characters to start Chapter 1.

Ah ok. When you say "Take spell slots", do you mean I pick a spell I want to cast and use the above point-buy system to purchase it like a skill, or do I purchase spell slots for x points, then purchase spells for x points. If I'm picking from pathfinder, am I a wizard, or a separate thing entirely?

OR, are my spells my special features? when I purchase one at d20, do I get it in the form of a single daily slot or something?

OR can I save you some hassle and read through some d20 modern rules? Or is your game very homebrewed... Sorry, ranting. Confused, excited, fun game, want to get things right, can hear my internal voice at present as that of Mordin Solus. Great character.

Sezarious said:

Ah ok. When you say "Take spell slots", do you mean I pick a spell I want to cast and use the above point-buy system to purchase it like a skill?

Click to expand...

This was what I was thinking. If the spell has an attack function, then you would probably want to improve it as well.

Sezarious said:

If I'm picking from pathfinder, am I a spontaneous caster or a wizard, or a separate thing entirely?

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I was assuming you were going with spontaneous type caster as you mentioned bard. If you want to go prepared like a wizard, then you would need a spellbook too (treating that like a special power and the Spell Slots would be flexible to be used for whatever spells are in the spellbook. I am fine either way… but I would prefer you decide what sort of spell caster you want Michael to model after (Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard, Cleric, etc…).

Sezarious said:

Or do I purchase access to the spell-slot table of an arcane spell-caster for x amount of points, or have I ALREADY done so by purchasing the magic trait and spell-craft, thereby automatically buying spell-slots and x spells known?

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Magic Trait unlocks spell casting and features of spell casters. Spellcraft is a magic user’s skill and comes with some free cantrips/orisons (0-level) spells. So next you would need to spend points buying the 1st level spell slots.

It all balances out. This how I intend to use magic and spell casting:

[sblock=Magic and Spellcasting]Using Magic would add another trait to the list of the overall traits. Since not all characters need the trait, the character would acquire it as a skill during character generation rules. Then they record it as a Trait, listing it with other traits afterwards.

Some classes have special abilities that are in addition to casting spells (ie. Smiting Evil, Channeling Energy, etc…), those also would use the Magic Trait as pre-requisite and provide the best competency rung those abilities can achieve. Depending on the type of character, they might call the Trait something different: Divine casters could call it Faith, druids and rangers could call it Nature’s Blessing, wizards could call it Wizardry, a sorcerer could call it Sorcery, and bards might just call it Magical Music.

The Magic trait is a prerequisite to take Spellcraft and unlock spell casting. But for many classes, it also unlocks special powers too. It would provide the best competency of Powers that use the Trait as a prerequisite. For example in the case of Paladins, they need Faith to unlock Lay on Hands, Detect Evil and Smite Evil abilities. Clerics need Faith for Channeling Divine Energy. Bards need Magical Music for Inspiring Courage. Druids would use Nature’s Blessing for Animal Companions and Wildshaping.

The Spellcraft skill has a maximum competency rung is equal to the Magic Trait of the character. Both can be improved with XP expenditure as the character progresses. For every rung below d30, true spell casters (Clerics, Druids, Wizards, Bards, Sorcerers) can select a cantrip/orison at d20 for free. These come with unlimited usage per day. Some can be improved with XP to rungs below d20 as well. Improving Spellcraft will automatically award new cantrips/orisons to applicable classes. Once a character reaches Spellcraft d8, they can select Additional Cantrips/Orisons at d20 to acquire more 0-level spells if they desire.

Each spell or spell slot is treated as a Skill/Special Power in character generation or acquired later through XP. Spontaneous casters (bards, oracles, and sorcerers) would be locked into the spells chosen, but prepared spell casters can change the spells on a daily basis. Wizards are allowed to have spell books (also a Special Power) that records the known spells the wizard learned so they could switch them out on a daily basis.

Each spell or spell slot would have its own competency rung recorded, starting from d20, and any Character Generation Points/XP spent on improving a spell slot applies to whatever spell is prepared in it. The rating could be used for improving the attack with some spells, or duration for others. Some utility spells would never need to be advanced beyond d20 nor require any rolls at all to use. Some spells would last as long as the spell caster concentrated on them.

Using Magic spells have a draining effect if continued to be used without getting several hours of rest. Spells can be used freely an equal number of times per day for the number of spells slots in that given level (not counting cantrips/orisons) for Spontaneous Spell casters. Prepared spell casters only get one use per day of a Spell Slot without needing to worry about drain.

After casting allotted spells for the day, a Magic Trait check Target Number (TN) = 7-Spell Level is required each time to reuse a Spell Slot (for prepared casters) or any spell (for spontaneous casters). Success = no adverse effect. Tie or Failure = increases Magic Trait 1 rung temporarily until character can rest for the day. Each successive Magic Check needed automatically lowers the TN by 1 from 7 as well, allowing a spell caster to overcast their spell allotment a maximum of 6 times without suffering from drain.

Once the Magic Trait gets temporarily reduced in competency, it also changes the maximum rating spells can best be cast at. So any spells rated d8 will be cast at d10 if the caster’s Magic Trait was temporarily decreased to d10.

If Magic drops to d30, further failures will drop Health temporarily instead. If Health gets reduced to d30 in this fashion the character will die. Magical healing can restore the drops in Health, but not the Magic Trait drops.

Primary spell casters (those gaining spells at 1st level) would need to be able to cast 4 spells at their current available level, where secondary casters (paladins, rangers) would need to know 3 spells of their current highest level before acquiring spells the next level up. [/sblock]

Sezarious said:

OR do I need to read up on D20 Modern?

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I was not a fan of d20 Moderns spell casting, so I am fine following Pathfinder versions if you want. I play a lot of PF so I am much more familiar with that too. But I am not really particular what source you pull the spell from as long as you tell me where so I can reference it to translate how it will be used in this similar system.