The Immortals Handbook

[Upper_Krust]

Hi Zoatebix mate!

You all have to check this stuff out: http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=103168

Wow. I know this doesn't have much to do with immortal gaming (DanMcS mentions that "15th level fighters are pretty much demigods" or something along those lines, though!), but I really think we have an intriguing combat variant on our hands.

Thanks for the link mate, it was an interesting read, I couldn't help thinking this is the sort of article that Grim Tales would have been interested in.

By the way sorry for the slow reply, just been buried in the Bestiary of late. A few changes to the published list (some in name only, others in total), I'll probably have teasers up over the next week.

 

[CRGreathouse]

By the way sorry for the slow reply, just been buried in the Bestiary of late. A few changes to the published list (some in name only, others in total), I'll probably have teasers up over the next week.

Slow replies are good when they mean that you're working in the IH. Keep it up!

I look forward to the finished product. I'll see what I can do to rouse support for it.

 

[Knight Otu]

I think you may as well stick to Colossal + (++, +++ etc.) unless you have a specific reasoning otherwise.

Is "I like those names" a good enough reason?

Unless... hmmmm. At what point do creatures get big enough to start using terms like "city-sized," "region-sized," "continent-sized," "moon-like," "terrestrial," "gas planet-sized," "dwarf star-like," etc.?

I don't have sizes for all of them, and I might be off, but here it goes for my system:
Vast +13 to Vast +16 are terrestrial planets. +13 is Pluto, +14 is our moon, +15 is Mars, +16 are Venus and earth.

Vast +18/+19 are the gas giants of our system; Uranus and Neptune at the lower end, Jupiter and Saturn at the upper end.

Our sun is Vast +22

Our galaxy is Vast +62 or thereabouts.

 

[Zoatebix]

Frankly it's the antethesis of the way I play the game. Weapons aren't 'special effects', they're integral to the way one fights. It's much easier to fight with a masterwork longsword than a ladder....

But it would be so easy to build that into the system - give some die-step penalties (or to-hit penalties, or both) for improvised weapons and viola, the ladder fighter is at a distinct disadvantage.

On another note: I thought it was interesting how similar DanMcS's mechanics were to the weapon-creation rules in Grim Tales...
-George

 

[CRGreathouse]

But it would be so easy to build that into the system - give some die-step penalties (or to-hit penalties, or both) for improvised weapons and viola[\i], the ladder fighter is at a distinct disadvantage.

On another note: I thought it was interesting how similar DanMcS's mechanics were to the weapon-creation rules in Grim Tales...
-George

I was commenting more on the theory behind the system and less on the system itself. The system is mechanically salvagable; the intent rubs me the wrong way. It's fine for someone else's game, but I'd hate to see it work its way into a product I might otherwise want to buy.

 

[Revenge of the Bjorn]

Actually, now that Zoatebix mentions it I like the sound of a word like kilohuge. Say it with a short uh sound where the o is (like people say kil-uh-gram) kil-uh-huge. Now put it in a sentence like "Check that thing out, its like kilohuge." and it seems almost scientific yet almost absurd. kilohuge-I may start using that in day to day life.

 

[Zoatebix]

I feel silly - I didn't even see U_K mention Grim Tales three posts above mine... heh. Kilohuge. Weeeeee!
-George

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hi Knight Otu mate!

Is "I like those names" a good enough reason?

No.

For whats its worth I have decided to put a table at the end of the size discussion element of the Bestiary that gives alternate names for all the Macro sizes. Although I will of course be using the Macro-scale myself in the Bestiary where applicable.

I don't have sizes for all of them, and I might be off, but here it goes for my system:
Vast +13 to Vast +16 are terrestrial planets. +13 is Pluto, +14 is our moon, +15 is Mars, +16 are Venus and earth.

Vast +18/+19 are the gas giants of our system; Uranus and Neptune at the lower end, Jupiter and Saturn at the upper end.

Our sun is Vast +22

Our galaxy is Vast +62 or thereabouts.

Planets would be encompassed within the Mega Scale (Earth would be Mega-Gargantuan*), Jupiter would be Giga-Fine*, our Sun would be Giga-Small*, our Galaxy would be Peta-Titanic*.

*I think.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey Bjorn matey!

Actually, now that Zoatebix mentions it I like the sound of a word like kilohuge. Say it with a short uh sound where the o is (like people say kil-uh-gram) kil-uh-huge. Now put it in a sentence like "Check that thing out, its like kilohuge." and it seems almost scientific yet almost absurd. kilohuge-I may start using that in day to day life.

Who wants a kilohug though. I'm sharing the love.

 

[Fieari]

Hey Krust...

I was just going through some of my campaign plans, and I was remembering one of my old little excersizes I went through to try and teach myself how the epic magic system works, which also convinced me that the system is... uh... lacking. I know you're going to have some revised epic rules in the IH, and I was wondering if your rules would cover the following situation better:

Narnia-- The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Constructing the spell "Always Winter, Never Christmas". It needs to cover the size of a Kingdom (A Horse and His Boy confirmed that only Narnia was put under this curse, the rest of the planet was uneffected) it needs to be permanent, and it needs to keep Saint Nic away, so it needs to encompass a warding of some sort.

I worked it out with the current epic system, and you need an ABSURD amount of spell craft to cast it without calling in other spellcasters (which obviously weren't available in Narnia). Even giving it the MAXIMUM casting time, MAXIMUM xp expenditure, you need, if I recall correctly, hundreds of thousands of ranks in spellcraft. The problem is both the x5 multiplier on making it permanent, and all those repeated multipliers for expanding the area.

This strikes me as unfortunate... because in my mind, the very ESSENSE of epic magic is that it enthralls entire kingdoms. D&D seems to have this mentality that you're going up against single foes that are no larger than the Tarresque, which is big, yes, but nothing like on the scale I'm interested in. Because once you're at epic levels, as far as I see it, there's very few "single enemy challenges" that are worth the effort, or are even INTERESTING. That's for low level stuff. On the epic scale, your actions should have VAST ramifications. I'm thinking here of Sepulcrave's stuff, of course, but also standard literary things. By one man's actions, a world is altered.

And that's what I -really- want to see with epic magic. Less "power converged at a single point" and more "power dispersed over a wide area".

Will the IH make me even happier than I know it already will?