Game Administrivia

[Fists.o.Fury]

With the way we have traditionally leveled our characters (Training specifically for feats, skills, abilities, etc as almost seperate entities) can Tormal level certain parts but wait to train for feats and skills until he speaks to Wolf?

E.g.

Can he increase his HP, BAB and AC BONUS before he chooses skills, feats and his martial secret?

 

[BSF]

That's a sticky question.

The answer is, yes, with qualifications. For example, you can't hold off on choosing a feat or something merely to advance high enough to reach the prerequisites.

The easiest example is a rogue. Rogues often benefit from Weapon Finesse. However a rogue cannot take Weapon Finesse at first level becuase a rogue won't have a +1 BAB. So a rogue couldn't hold off on choosing a feat at 1st level and then take the feat at 2nd level, when the prerequisite would have been met.

So you can't save a feat until later just because you don't meet the initial prerequisites. But you could save a feat until you find the right teacher. Basically, if you have a solid RP reason to hold off, that's fine. If you are trying to do it for purely mechanical reasons, that's not.

All that being said, I think it is better to choose your abilities as soon as possible. They are meant to make your life easier. If you don't take advantage of that, you are intentionally handicapping yourself.

 

[Fists.o.Fury]

Yeah I figured that's what you would say. I actually have already chosen what skills and abilities I WOULD choose had I no contact w/ Wolf. But I want to see if Wolf will be able to teach Tormal something better or something needed as a prerequisite for a later skill. Really there isn't any mechanical benifit for waiting - it's all RP. Although, in the end, having contact w/ Wolf may not have a difference on what I choose. that is true especially since I may need the 'ritual spell' to advance with him any further, But I understand what you are saying!

With the character sheets I use I'm actually keeping track of what Tormal (or any of my character's for that matter) gets at each level just to keep everything straight.

 

[BSF]

Class changes

Hey folks,
I am serving notice that I am making some changes to the classes available within the campaign world. The flavor of the cleric has always seemed to lack a critical something for me. I like a lot of what 2nd Ed had for clerics. One of the most memorable things about 2nd Ed. And I have a PDF that brings back a little of that flavor. So, from here on out I think Clerics will be disappearing. They will, instead, be replaced by the Priest class as put forth in Lions Den Press: Classes of Legend: Priest of Celestial Spheres, which is distributed by Ronin Arts.

I also tire of swapping back and forth between the Monk and the Martial Artist. So, monks will be exiting the stage. If you want a monk-like PC, use the Martial Artist. A lot of the Monk's abilities are just a bit wonky and I think I prefer to use multi-classing with such things as the Psychic or other classes to emulate that a bit better.

Mind you, neither of these changes will affect exisiting PCs in any campaign. (Which is a really good thing for Quentin!) Mostly this will affect NPCs are I phase these into place. But if you look at making a new PC, keep these changes in mind.

I am also leaning toward a preference for OGC as opposed to closed content. As always, anything outside the core rules needs to be approved. But know that my preference will be Open Gaming Content vs closed content. Sadly this will affect the Complete [blank] books to some degree.

Again, this doesn't really affect existing characters. I am not going to force Oceas or Deigh to dump Favored Soul or Scout levels. Nor will I flat out deny a class based on my preference, but increasingly I won't be designing places in my campaign for closed content.

 

[BSF]

PrCs and Legendary Classes

We haven't had a whole lot of interest in Prestige classes yet. But you guys are definitely getting up into the levels where they are options. I generally like to have some notice of when you are pursuing PrCs so I can try to bring in the necessary RP elements for you. As well, I kind of need to know so I can tell you if they are approved or not.

PrCs are kind of a weird issue. There are so many canned PrCs and very few of them actually end up with flavor I like. I find it much more satisfying to build a campaign specific PrC. So whenever possible I would rather work with you to build a good PrC for the game. Again, that is a process that takes time. I guess my point is that PrCs are out there if you guys are looking for an RP niche, or even mechanic niche with RP aspects, to fill. Just let me know so we can figure out how to bring it into the game.

The other mechanical component is Legendary classes. Legendary Classes were originally presented by Fantasy Flight Games and can be found in the Path books. Becoming a Legendary character is not easy. But there are often some significant payoffs. In most ways, Legendary classes are superior to normal classes and PrCs. But you have to plan for them, there are significant quests associated with becoming legendary, and if you don't reach the requirements it really hurts. But hey, once you earn it, you are legendary!

Like PrCs, I think I will need to create a few Legendary classes that better match the campaign style. But there are quite a few that are a pretty good match to begin with. I only bring up Legendary Classes because most of you are probably unaware of them. If you don't know they exist, it is hard to make it a goal. But if you are curious, let me know. Maybe there is something there that fits your RP style and goals very well.

 

[BSF]

Potions, salve, ointment, beer, food, etc

I was just looking at Tyrm's character sheet and realized an error that you guys need to keep in mind.

When Tyrm died, you all thought he had two potions of cure light wounds. He didn't. He had two pots of Cure light wound salve. It is a minor difference, except when you try to pour a liquid down the throat of an unconscious comrade. That won't work.

Since I have various types of one-shot items, it becomes marginally important that you apply the correct one to the correct situation. Salves are much more valuable in application if your friend is unconscious. Potions and the like are much more valuable if you are using them in combat.

Pouring liquid down your comrades throat might result in drowning. Or at least them spitting it back up without having any useful effect. Opening a salve so you can start spreading it on your body is going to be somewhat dangerous when somebody is swinging an axe at your head.

Personally, I would suggest getting a mix of differently applicable items to deal with multiple situation types.

 

[BSF]

Whoa! Bad Axe Games recently released a product named Mythic Heroes. It looked interesting to me as one thing I might use to award you guys when you finally do something noteworthy enough to be considered legends. (What? You didn't think that hero cards were the only reward you will ever get did you?)

I had been thinking Hero Points, or Action Points. Same general thing. So I thought that maybe Mythic Heroes would give it a little bump. Now, I think I need to use the Archetypes as the reward. It would give me an excuse to include Action Points before then as well.

Anyway, go look at this thread: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=160386
Read it, think about it, then post here and tell me if you see the same potential that I do. Tell me if you think this mechanic might make the game a bit more exciting and fun.

 

[BSF]

Wow, not even one reply? Maybe nobody else thinks this is cool? I guess I will rein in my enthusiasm a bit.

 

[Macbeth]

Well, I actually think it's pretty cool, but I couldn't find anything to post about it...

I guess my concern would be that our group wouldn't fill many archtypes... I mean, at this point we've got a lot of characters that fit Hero, and maybe a couple that fit Fated (Deigh?) Oracle (Oceas?) and Maiden (Tormal? ). Doesn't seem like our group would be very diverse... but beyond that, I think it's a cool system. I like the idea... just worried abotu how our group would fit it.

 

[BSF]

Ceru would have fit Oracle pretty well, but he is gone now. Oceas and Tyrm would be possibles in that area except spell choices don't seem to favor it so much.

I don't see a strong candidate for Mentor. It is possible that Luvaine could kind of fill that role. But I would have to look at it in more detail.

I don't see Tormal filling too much maiden roles. But it is funny. For that matter, I don't see anybody as the maiden.

I see Deigh as much more a Hero than Fated. He has had bad things occur to him, but they don't happen to him. For the most part I see a lot of Hero potential, some Fated potential and a little Trickster potential within the group.

The PCs in the last campaign would have fit the archtypes with a better range, but I don't think heavy crossover will be a problem here. The real key is getting the dynamic that the templates allow for action points.

I know that you once mentioned using action points. Unfortunately, I had already chosen hero cards as the mechanic the group would earn once you reached 'story' status. I have been waiting for a point to introduce action points, but if folks like the idea of Mythic Archetypes, I will probably kick off action points as a story point reward and use Mythic Archetypes as the reward for achieving 'Legendary' status. Then I just need to come up with something cool for around 15th level and potentially 20th level. But I think I have a little time to wait for that.