Just pottering around (was early 20thC ... setting)
Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
I'd cast your Nederlands in the role of the Hanseatic league - a league of city-states uled by a Plutocracy of Guild Merchants who because of their wealth and control of Trade have gained virtual independence from the surounding monarchies (this gives a reason for them to be reviled but also makes the monarchists somewhat dependent on them for access to trade)
In the pseudo-16th Century world I homebrewed I set Spain and Italy as a Theocracy under the authority of the Grand Inquisitor (the background being that the worlds equivalent of Torquemada was made Pope and then set about removing the old monarchy under accusations of heresy!). The Inquisiton Lands are now a major area of oppression in the world (the Grand Inqusitor also has a dark secret). Granada however is still part of the Ottomon empire and a major thorn in the Inquisitions side
Austro-Hungarians I cast as a Grand Duchy, and essentially an Oligarchy of powerful 'Noble Families' each controlling its own county and defering to the Grand Duke in times of war and crisis (um pretty much like your France now that I re-read it). The Crisis is increasing as the Otomon threat surges forward bringing fell magics from the desert sands
Of course I made England and Northenr France a Protectorate under the Lord Protector (ie Cromwell didn't die and the Protectorate flourished) However Ireland and Scotland (and the risen Lyonesse) became Sidhe country, meaning that the Protectorates Puritans were constantly warring with Witches and Fey
Russian I left under the Golden Horde, still tribal and factionalised, scheming Vampires and savage werewolves of course
(plus the Mongol connection meant all those funky asian elements - like Monks, Ninja and King Monkey could be justified)
Nice Spell system and have you considered using the D20 Modern Talents system?
In the pseudo-16th Century world I homebrewed I set Spain and Italy as a Theocracy under the authority of the Grand Inquisitor (the background being that the worlds equivalent of Torquemada was made Pope and then set about removing the old monarchy under accusations of heresy!). The Inquisiton Lands are now a major area of oppression in the world (the Grand Inqusitor also has a dark secret). Granada however is still part of the Ottomon empire and a major thorn in the Inquisitions side
Austro-Hungarians I cast as a Grand Duchy, and essentially an Oligarchy of powerful 'Noble Families' each controlling its own county and defering to the Grand Duke in times of war and crisis (um pretty much like your France now that I re-read it). The Crisis is increasing as the Otomon threat surges forward bringing fell magics from the desert sands
Of course I made England and Northenr France a Protectorate under the Lord Protector (ie Cromwell didn't die and the Protectorate flourished) However Ireland and Scotland (and the risen Lyonesse) became Sidhe country, meaning that the Protectorates Puritans were constantly warring with Witches and Fey
Russian I left under the Golden Horde, still tribal and factionalised, scheming Vampires and savage werewolves of course
(plus the Mongol connection meant all those funky asian elements - like Monks, Ninja and King Monkey could be justified)
Nice Spell system and have you considered using the D20 Modern Talents system?
doghead
thotd
Tonguez said:
I like the way you think. The Ottoman Empire came up as I was researching pre-WW1 battleships and I thought humm .... Vampires poped into my head on the way to work today (don't know why). Torquemada and the Grand Theocracy, that would be the Absolute church. Do you have a write up of this. I'd love to canibalise it
The spell system is literally off the cuff. I'm waiting for someone to point out the gaping hole in the mechanics (it seemed to come together too easily).
I've toyed with the idea of using modern, but basically everything hinges on the magic/technology aspect. I really don't want to be mucking around with that. Magic has never been my strong point. I'd also prefer to stick with what I know. I might raid it for the equipment if its compatible.
the happy dog
doghead
thotd
- in the eyes of the other -
Hosni squatted in the open door of the vannship and counted the Huggreth as they emerge from the hanger and marched across the flight deck of the battle cruiser to the waiting transporter. With their assault Battlesuits and heavy rifles they radiated brutal power. Rumour had it that every suit was fortified and had power formulea woven through out. Hosni wondered what it would be like to donn such a suit, to be wrapped in such defensive might, to have such strength and power at one's command.
Hosni wasn't sure what it was that they were after. He wasn't even sure where they were exactly. If the Captain knew, he wasn't saying. Probably somewhere over France. It always seemed to be France these days. The source of all woes at the moment. Poor old France. But where ever, whatever, it must be important. Two recon teams. A dozen Huggreth with three battlemancers. Two squads of Greaves.
Hosni touched his own armour. It was a beautiful piece of armoursmithing. It wasn't completely standard issue. Like most of those in his team, Hosni's had gear had been 'supplemented'. Shadow and stealth formulea, woven through the matt black material, subtly muted sounds and blurred the wearers outline. Hosni remembered the young noble he had taken it off. The man had been a fool and a peacock. But the squad he had led had been the real deal. That cold night high in the Pyrannes it had gone very close to going the other way.
With a hiss, the clamps released and Hosni's vannship lifted off. Hosni continued to watch the Huggreth cross the flightdeck until they disappeared into the gloom. Hosni stayed in the door for the flight. It was about twenty minutes later when the squad mage tapped Hosni on the shoulder and held up his blue wax crayon. Hosni nodded and the mage marked his strange symbols onto the back of Hosni's armour. Blue. Always blue. Every mage Hosni had ever met had used but a single colour, and would use none other. No wonder every man in the squad carried a spare stick of blue wax crayon. The mage stepped back and gave Hosni the thumbs up. Hosni nodded and pulled his goggles down over his eyes. Taking a firm grip on the rifle across his lap Hosni stood up and stepped out of the door and into the empty space beyond. In his minds eye, Hosni could see the rest of the squad doing the same behind him.
Hosni squatted in the open door of the vannship and counted the Huggreth as they emerge from the hanger and marched across the flight deck of the battle cruiser to the waiting transporter. With their assault Battlesuits and heavy rifles they radiated brutal power. Rumour had it that every suit was fortified and had power formulea woven through out. Hosni wondered what it would be like to donn such a suit, to be wrapped in such defensive might, to have such strength and power at one's command.
Hosni wasn't sure what it was that they were after. He wasn't even sure where they were exactly. If the Captain knew, he wasn't saying. Probably somewhere over France. It always seemed to be France these days. The source of all woes at the moment. Poor old France. But where ever, whatever, it must be important. Two recon teams. A dozen Huggreth with three battlemancers. Two squads of Greaves.
Hosni touched his own armour. It was a beautiful piece of armoursmithing. It wasn't completely standard issue. Like most of those in his team, Hosni's had gear had been 'supplemented'. Shadow and stealth formulea, woven through the matt black material, subtly muted sounds and blurred the wearers outline. Hosni remembered the young noble he had taken it off. The man had been a fool and a peacock. But the squad he had led had been the real deal. That cold night high in the Pyrannes it had gone very close to going the other way.
With a hiss, the clamps released and Hosni's vannship lifted off. Hosni continued to watch the Huggreth cross the flightdeck until they disappeared into the gloom. Hosni stayed in the door for the flight. It was about twenty minutes later when the squad mage tapped Hosni on the shoulder and held up his blue wax crayon. Hosni nodded and the mage marked his strange symbols onto the back of Hosni's armour. Blue. Always blue. Every mage Hosni had ever met had used but a single colour, and would use none other. No wonder every man in the squad carried a spare stick of blue wax crayon. The mage stepped back and gave Hosni the thumbs up. Hosni nodded and pulled his goggles down over his eyes. Taking a firm grip on the rifle across his lap Hosni stood up and stepped out of the door and into the empty space beyond. In his minds eye, Hosni could see the rest of the squad doing the same behind him.
Prothall
First Post
Sounds rather curious and rather interesting. May I ask if you think d20 is the way you want to go? I'll humbly offer up my own game for consideration (or try to and fail because I called attention to my humbleness...).
http://prothall81.tripod.com/Stuff/Streamline_v1.2.1.pdf
That said, have you given VP/WP consideration over Grim & Gritty? G&G looks to me like a bit more complication than is handy. Also, I understand Grim Tales can be quite nice for this sort of thing, though I haven't got a copy yet.
http://prothall81.tripod.com/Stuff/Streamline_v1.2.1.pdf
That said, have you given VP/WP consideration over Grim & Gritty? G&G looks to me like a bit more complication than is handy. Also, I understand Grim Tales can be quite nice for this sort of thing, though I haven't got a copy yet.
doghead
thotd
Hey Prothal
A nice neat looking system. There are a number of systems out there that appeal. But I don't want to start from scratch. The d20 system gives all the basic materials readymade - all the spells, weapons, prices, skills etc. In particular the spells and magic items.
I'm not sure what VP/WP refers to.
the head of the dog
A nice neat looking system. There are a number of systems out there that appeal. But I don't want to start from scratch. The d20 system gives all the basic materials readymade - all the spells, weapons, prices, skills etc. In particular the spells and magic items.
I'm not sure what VP/WP refers to.
the head of the dog
doghead
thotd
hot gear
I stole this idea from Thanee's Ultra Modern thread (although the character is all my own responsibility) - its basically a slightly modified amalgam of her idea and Dr Spunj's.
Unlike Dr Spunj's classless system, this is very rough and ready. I am aware that it possible to build some seriously min/maxed characters with this. But this is an anime game. One dimensional characters abound. Basically it boils down to the fact that I more interested in simplicity and flexibility than adhearance to the original core classes. I wasn't planning to use the core PC classes anyway.
If you want to take a crack at a character, feel free.
-- Basic Rules --
Automatic Advancement
+0.5 BAB (fractional)
4 Skill Points
+1 to any save at every level (including first)
Selective Advancement
8 CP/lvl.
1 CP upgrade BAB to +0.75 -or- 2 CP upgrade BAB to +1.0
1 CP +2 Skill Points (maximum +6 SP)
5 CP select an 'entry class' feat
4 CP select an 'entry core' feat
3 CP select any 'progression' feat.
1 CP for a +1 to any additional save, maximum of +2 to any single save at 1st level and no more than +1 increase to any single save at all later levels.
* 'entry' feats have no other feat as a prereq.
* 'class' feats come from the class description and are only available to those classes to which it is asscribed - ie Rage for barbarians.
* 'core' feats are those listed in the SRD under Feats - ie TWF.
* 'progression' feats (class and core) are those which have another feat as a prereq - ie Moblity (requires Dodge) - or forms part of a sequence - ie Rage 2/day (requires Rage 1/day).
-- Sample Character --
Goddot
Human Male 3
Concept: Soldier of God.
Born poor, pretty much everything that came Goddot's way came from the Church - from presents at Christmas to coats in winter to his education. It seemed only nature to offer his loyalty in return. During the rumbles of '03, Goddot was instrumental in helping pull together the small band that stood guard on the Church buildings. From that came a position with the Church Wardens. Goodot experience of running with the other streetkids proved to be useful. While Goddot is not particularly exceptional, he was asute enough to be considered for channeling training. It took him a little longer than some, but late last year Goddot was initiated as a channeller adept.
str 12 (+1), dex 15 (+2), con 13 (+1),
int 13 (+1), wis 14 (+2), cha 13 (+1)
* best 3 of 4d6.
BAB: +3
Saves: Ref +4, Fort +3, Will +5.
Skills (66 skill points):
Bluff 5/+6, Climb 4/+5, Concentrate 5/+6, Jump 5/+6, Balance 4/+6, Gather Info 5/+6, Hide 5/+7, Intimidate 5/+6, Knowledge (religion) 4/+5, Move Silently 5/+7, Listen 5/+7, Sleight of Hand 4/+6, Spellcraft 5/+6, Spot 5/+7.
Feats: Armour Prof - Light, Weapon Proficiency - Simple & Firearms, Spellcasting - level 1 divine, Weapon Focus - pistol.
-- breakdown --
Level 1
bab: 0.5 + 0.5 (2).
saves: ref +1, ref +1 (1), fort +1 (1), will +1 (1).
skill points: 4 +1 (int) +1 (human) + 6 (3) = 12 x 4 -- TOTAL: 48.
feats: light armour prof (auto), firearms weapon prof (human bonus), simple weapon prof (auto).
Level 2
bab: 0.5 + 0.5 (2)
saves: will +1, fort +1 (1).
skill points: 4 +1 (int) + 1 (human) + 4 (2) -- TOTAL: 10
feats: progression - weapon focus, pistol (3)
Level 3
bab: 0.5 + 0.5 (2)
saves: will +1
skill points: 4 +1 (int) +1 (human) +2 (1)-- TOTAL: 8
feats: entry - level 1 divine spellcasting (5).
-- Notes --
Well I like it. My character is a bit vanilla, though.
The whole class/cross class distinction seems to be a bit irrelevent, but he needed 12 skills at 1st level to soak up all the skill points (given the max rank of 4 at first level).
I assumed simple weapon proficiency and light armour proficiency would be standard. Getting the all other the proficiencies of the basic fighter (Martial Weapons, Medium and Heavy Armour and Shields) would be a bit slow. Perhaps Medium Armour Prof. could be included as standard for all characters as well. However, Weapon Focus is a progression because it requires the appropriate Weapon Prof.
I like the idea of taking spellcasting levels as feats. For example, it allows for creating a 'political' cleric without all the spellcasting ability. Of course you could do this in regular dnd by multiclassing with a Expert for example - but who would?
the head of the dog.
I stole this idea from Thanee's Ultra Modern thread (although the character is all my own responsibility) - its basically a slightly modified amalgam of her idea and Dr Spunj's.
Unlike Dr Spunj's classless system, this is very rough and ready. I am aware that it possible to build some seriously min/maxed characters with this. But this is an anime game. One dimensional characters abound. Basically it boils down to the fact that I more interested in simplicity and flexibility than adhearance to the original core classes. I wasn't planning to use the core PC classes anyway.
If you want to take a crack at a character, feel free.
-- Basic Rules --
Automatic Advancement
+0.5 BAB (fractional)
4 Skill Points
+1 to any save at every level (including first)
Selective Advancement
8 CP/lvl.
1 CP upgrade BAB to +0.75 -or- 2 CP upgrade BAB to +1.0
1 CP +2 Skill Points (maximum +6 SP)
5 CP select an 'entry class' feat
4 CP select an 'entry core' feat
3 CP select any 'progression' feat.
1 CP for a +1 to any additional save, maximum of +2 to any single save at 1st level and no more than +1 increase to any single save at all later levels.
* 'entry' feats have no other feat as a prereq.
* 'class' feats come from the class description and are only available to those classes to which it is asscribed - ie Rage for barbarians.
* 'core' feats are those listed in the SRD under Feats - ie TWF.
* 'progression' feats (class and core) are those which have another feat as a prereq - ie Moblity (requires Dodge) - or forms part of a sequence - ie Rage 2/day (requires Rage 1/day).
-- Sample Character --
Goddot
Human Male 3
Concept: Soldier of God.
Born poor, pretty much everything that came Goddot's way came from the Church - from presents at Christmas to coats in winter to his education. It seemed only nature to offer his loyalty in return. During the rumbles of '03, Goddot was instrumental in helping pull together the small band that stood guard on the Church buildings. From that came a position with the Church Wardens. Goodot experience of running with the other streetkids proved to be useful. While Goddot is not particularly exceptional, he was asute enough to be considered for channeling training. It took him a little longer than some, but late last year Goddot was initiated as a channeller adept.
str 12 (+1), dex 15 (+2), con 13 (+1),
int 13 (+1), wis 14 (+2), cha 13 (+1)
* best 3 of 4d6.
BAB: +3
Saves: Ref +4, Fort +3, Will +5.
Skills (66 skill points):
Bluff 5/+6, Climb 4/+5, Concentrate 5/+6, Jump 5/+6, Balance 4/+6, Gather Info 5/+6, Hide 5/+7, Intimidate 5/+6, Knowledge (religion) 4/+5, Move Silently 5/+7, Listen 5/+7, Sleight of Hand 4/+6, Spellcraft 5/+6, Spot 5/+7.
Feats: Armour Prof - Light, Weapon Proficiency - Simple & Firearms, Spellcasting - level 1 divine, Weapon Focus - pistol.
-- breakdown --
Level 1
bab: 0.5 + 0.5 (2).
saves: ref +1, ref +1 (1), fort +1 (1), will +1 (1).
skill points: 4 +1 (int) +1 (human) + 6 (3) = 12 x 4 -- TOTAL: 48.
feats: light armour prof (auto), firearms weapon prof (human bonus), simple weapon prof (auto).
Level 2
bab: 0.5 + 0.5 (2)
saves: will +1, fort +1 (1).
skill points: 4 +1 (int) + 1 (human) + 4 (2) -- TOTAL: 10
feats: progression - weapon focus, pistol (3)
Level 3
bab: 0.5 + 0.5 (2)
saves: will +1
skill points: 4 +1 (int) +1 (human) +2 (1)-- TOTAL: 8
feats: entry - level 1 divine spellcasting (5).
-- Notes --
Well I like it. My character is a bit vanilla, though.
The whole class/cross class distinction seems to be a bit irrelevent, but he needed 12 skills at 1st level to soak up all the skill points (given the max rank of 4 at first level).
I assumed simple weapon proficiency and light armour proficiency would be standard. Getting the all other the proficiencies of the basic fighter (Martial Weapons, Medium and Heavy Armour and Shields) would be a bit slow. Perhaps Medium Armour Prof. could be included as standard for all characters as well. However, Weapon Focus is a progression because it requires the appropriate Weapon Prof.
I like the idea of taking spellcasting levels as feats. For example, it allows for creating a 'political' cleric without all the spellcasting ability. Of course you could do this in regular dnd by multiclassing with a Expert for example - but who would?
the head of the dog.
