Game Administrivia

[Macbeth]

Just to make sure, we're not using the Casting Spells Costs Sanity variant, correct? So only horrific events, including certain spells, can lower sanity. Spending Sanity to cast spells seems a little rough on Spellcasters (and Psions and Psychics, presumably).

Also, how would sanity healing be worked with psionics (or should I not be asking)? Is it a use of Psychic Healing (kind of like restoring Ability Damage) or some Telepathic power, or something else?

 

[Kultar]

Dad says that he is not to crazy about sanity points.

 

[BSF]

Tell Russ to have Oceas avoid thing that can unhinge the mind and he will be fine.

Sage,
The majority of the time Casting spells does not threaten Sanity. Elite mind powers though, well those delve into the all the areas of the mind that store things your conscious mind tries to hide. The more you use them, the more likely you are to unlock hidden fears that can drive you insane.

Just kidding.

The correct answer is that this is a fantasy game where fantastic things happen. There are, however, spells that could be very disturbing. I can see several spells out of the BoVD that would dance on that fine line of sanity. There are some spells out of other books that could as well. Some of them could be bad on the caster side, some could be bad on the target side.

Like suffering multiple nights of Nightmare might trigger a check. Being hit with a spell that causes insanity might do Sanity Damage as a secondary affect. Perhaps even summoning things from the campaign equivalant of the "Outlands" could put the summoner, as well as everyone else that sees this creature, into danger of making a Sanity check.

So, the majority of spells/psychic powers/psionics do not run the risk of Insanity Damage. But a few cases might. How is that for nice and ambiguous? Realistically, we are currently dealing with a predominantly Good group. Most of the dangerous spells walk the line of Evil as well. So I don't think we will worry too much about casting spells that for Sanity Checks.

Healing Insanity damage is something you guys will need to do a little research on. Assuming you ever want to worry about it.

 

[BSF]

Replacement Characters

I was reviewing the Administrivia and I realized there was at least one thing I hadn't moved from the yahoo group yet. So, with the magic of copy/paste, I present: The Policy on Replacement Characters.

From: "Stephen Fox" <bardstephenfox@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon Jan 19, 2004 11:44 am
Subject: Replacement Characters - Policy

OK, I think everyone that wants to discuss this has said their part.
I think the official policy will be:

New characters can be brought in for any reason, but will be 1 lower
level than the character that is being replaced. However, a
replacement character will not be more than 1 level lower than the
lowest party member.

This way, it is possible to swap out characters if you are unable to
obtain a Raise Dead affect, or if you want to change the character.
But, you do not have a strong incentive to do this constantly.

 

[BSF]

Alternate take on weapons

Whoa! Somebody posted a different theory on using weapons. I really like the idea in general. I'm not sure it would work for our campaign, but I like the idea.

The biggest advantage I see is that it removes some of the reliance on magical weapons. As the PC becomes more skilled, his weapons are more effective. I can see there being some big advantages to this, but it mostly affects the combat classes and it might not be desirable for all character concepts.

As I said, I am not sure it would work well for our game. Maybe for a seperate game? I don't know. But if you have a chance, give the thread a look over and let me know what you think. If everyone loved the idea, then maybe we could give it a try.

Weapons as Special Effects

 

[Kultar]

I like the concept but I am not sure if I like the way it works out. It is a possible but I still think that it needs some tweeking.

 

[BSF]

Bumping this thread back to the top for review.

Please note that a replacement character is 1 level lower than your current PC, but can never drop more than 1 level lower than the lowest party member.

So Li's replacement will probably be 5th level. Then there is the exp that comes from the last session that hasn't been applied. Sage, I need that Exp sheet because I think we have finally seen some cases of Heroic Sacrifice.

The question did come up on Friday of what we will do if all the Seekers die. It is a good question, though not a a very happy one.

If everyone dies, I will arbitrarily advance the story line to a point I think is interesting. It's not really all that far into the future though. I will have you all make new PCs, probably at 5-6th level. Before we do that, we will quickly discuss what "flavor" of adventures you guys want to explore collectively. This will be a democratic vote with simple majority making the decision. I will probably give you some arbitrary parameters on character design. This will make it easier to have you work together on a background as to why your PCs are working together. I will also expect you to decide if your PCs have stories told about them, and if they do, what the story is.

If most of the PCs die in this excursion, but one or two survive: We will see if you guys want to pick up from there, or retire the PCs as having just undergone such trauma that they cannot continue adventuring.

Basically, if tragedy rolls down the pipe, my focus will be on getting strong party cohesion together with a different angle on the story arcs. We will then proceed to try to have fun once again.

 

[Ayla131]

Oceas' actions

The last thing Oceas remembers is Pedro guarding the door behind us, Tyrm was guarding it with him. Kind was in front of the bridge on our side, Ayla was to his left and Oceas was to his right. As this may be his last opportunity to do something in the name of his god, Oceas will put the tip of his trident into the water before us and recite the following: "In the name of Xanthos, giver of life and provider of endless bounty, I do hereby bless this water. May it flow freely back to the ocean from whence it first came and should I fall today let my spirit and that of Seiche return to the hands of the master who gave us life". He will then raise the trident before him and speak to it as if it were alive. "Seiche, I know not what powers you possess as I still have not delved into the mysteries contained within you but I do know that you are a gift of great measure. I am honored that you were given unto my hand. May I be found worthy to have carried you with no dishonor to our master. We go into battle now as one in spirit. Let us be the raging winds that push our enemies away, Let us be the power of the waves and dash our foes upon the rocks, Let us be the lightning in the storm and burn the souls of those that oppose us this day. Let the storm be unleashed that all may know the might and fury of Xanthos. WE ARE THE STORM

 

[BSF]

General reminders:

Remember that if you have a PC that is interested in a PrC, you need to kind of let me know quite a bit in advance. I will likely need to orchestrate your exposure to the people that will help make that happen into the game. Since a fair number of PrCs include RP components, it will then be up to you to make or break the opportunity.

Also remember that not every PrC out there is available. In fact, there are a lot of PrCs that are not available. I don't necessarily like the tone they set in the game world and I don't necessarily want the associated organizations in the game world.

But always be sure to ask! We might be able to rework something so it does fit, or it might be something I have been waiting for the right question to come up about.

 

[BSF]

A little clarification to things going on here. (As well as a bump for our new player.)

Skill points - In the Seekers of Legend era campaigns, skill points are all bought as if they were class skills. In the Agents of the Gods campaign, skills are handled as per the book. We already have enough oddness with the PCs and I don't want to make it even more wacky.

The Character Creation guidelines are no longer applicable. Deigh was the last character created using those. I haven't done an update to the guidelines yet. (You would have thought with all summer I could have.)

Review the Death & Dying rules so you are familiar with them. Heck, I will give out bonus exp if somebody summarizes them onto a cheat sheet we can easily reference. It seems like every time it comes up we pause to look up the rules again. So a good cheat sheet that makes it very quick and easy to figure out what saves mean what will be worth something. Bring copies for everyone and a couple of extra.