Some new O.L.D. races

[Atom Mlatom]

I have submitted a couple new races under EN World's W.O.I.N. Races/Species database. I am surprised so few people have been posting to it outside of Morrus / LucasC! (hint *coughcough* creative GMs out there)

High Goblin The "noble" race of goblins is only so in their ability to command their weaker minded cousins and observe hierarchy within their own ranks. They stand slightly taller and with a more erect posture than the low goblins at an average of four feet tall. Like their erratic kin, they enjoy little else better than to be cruel and sadistic when they have the upper hand. Unlike their cousins, they employ much more thought toward ensuring that they maintain that upper hand. High Goblins live in an often autocratic society where hierarchy is rigidly observed and enforced. Few High Goblins challenge their authorities until such a time as their leaders are seen as weak. Bands of High Goblins have been known to take control of lower Goblin tribes. Gender does not seem to play as a large definition of a High Goblin's role, and indeed, few outsiders can tell the difference between them. Typical Names (male and female): Gorlab, Hutsk, Shigu, Mrukluk, Ratznog, Furshank, Ragldok High Goblin The "noble" goblin employs tactics and discipline where their lower cousins cannot. Their hierarchal leadership ensures that they learn military trades from a young age. STR 3 AGI 5 END 3 INT 4 WIL 3 CHA 3 LUC 0 PSI 0 MAG 0 MELEE WEAPON, TACTICS, LEADERSHIP, INTIMIDATION, INTERROGATION, STEALTH, BREWING A High Goblin has a special talent for evaluating whether an opponent is a match or not. Apply +1 die toward either a CHA check or a STEALTH check to avoid conflict when the odds don't look good.
Setting	Any
Designer	Adam Courtney

Wicked Wolf Wicked Wolves are impressive beasts that most often work apart from others of their kind. In appearance, they are similar to the common wolf or warg, but are much larger, and usually have black or dark gray coats. More startling than their size, standing at a shoulder height of five feet tall with all paws to the ground, is their ability for speech and their gift for treachery. Because Wicked Wolves are usually solitary, those who know them often know them as "Wolf," and not by their true name. Their lack of manipulative hands means they often manipulate others to do handy work for them. Typical Names (male and female): Fenrir, Skoll, Gmork, Maugrim, Bigby, Zeke, Volk Wicked Wolf Wicked Wolves are impressive beasts that most often work apart from others of their kind. More startling than their size is their ability for speech and gift for treachery. STR 5 AGI 3 END 4 INT 5 WIL 3 CHA 5 LUC 2 PSI 0 MAG 1 STEALTH, RUNNING, INTIMIDATE, HEARING, INTUITION, RIDDLES, BLUFFING, TRACKING, HUNTING Large: DEFENSE -2, SOAK 5. Four-legged: Add full STR to AGI when determining SPEED, -2 die penalty for enemies attempting Knockdown or Trip. No Hands: May not equip weapons or other hand-held gear. Barded armor may be equipped but only when assisted by another creature with hands. Natural Weapons: Add +2 die to derived Natural Damage stat for Claws (cutting) damage and +4 die for Bite (stabbing/crushing) damage. Bite may also be used for Grab attacks with a -2 die for damage.
Setting	High Fantasy
Designer	Adam Courtney

 

[Atom Mlatom]

I am thinking that if someone were to play a Wicked Wolf, they could take the Riding skill and it would apply to how well they handle themselves when there's some two-legged creature on their back.

 

[docdoom77]

Why is it that if you put the word "high" in front of Elf, I hear "superior," but when you put it in front of Goblin, I hear "stoned?"

Cool stuff. Love me some gobbos.

 

[Atom Mlatom]

Why is it that if you put the word "high" in front of Elf, I hear "superior," but when you put it in front of Goblin, I hear "stoned?"

Cool stuff. Love me some gobbos.

Haha good stuff. I'll pretend the double entendre was intentional.
And thanks! I've always been a fan of the gobbos and other "baddie" races, myself.

 

[Sniperfox47]

I have submitted a couple new races under EN World's W.O.I.N. Races/Species database. I am surprised so few people have been posting to it outside of Morrus / LucasC! (hint *coughcough* creative GMs out there)

I have a couple races and a bunch of traditions that I'm currently polishing off but they won't be put in the database until the play tests have finished. This is for two reasons:

1) It's pointless to publish third party content for an unfinished game (assuming that game's development wasn't terminated), particularly a playtest because it creates a chain reaction.

When you publish content, players find that content interesting > When they find it interesting, they want to play it > When they want to play it, they hound their DM until he works it around so they can play it > When they do play it, they're not playing the first party content > When they don't play the first party content, they don't test it > When they don't test it, it defeats the whole point of running a playtest in the first place.

2) The games still quite early into development, and it's not only likely that there will be at least small tweaks to the way races work, it's probable. If this happens and creators don't update their creations in the database then it may cause issues for players and DMs in the future.

(P.S. @Morrus : I know it's not high on the priority list, but if you do have a race/career/tradition database for the full version I'd like to suggest you leave an entry for the license under which the race/career/tradition is published. Some third party publishers may like to include samples from their products for example and may wish to stipulate the content's license. Additionally, I'd personally like to make my submission's license as visible as possible to the user so they know under what conditions they may make derivatives of my content, especially if I'm publishing derivative content to your site with permission of the original author.)

 

[Atom Mlatom]

When you publish content, players find that content interesting > When they find it interesting, they want to play it > When they want to play it, they hound their DM until he works it around so they can play it > When they do play it, they're not playing the first party content > When they don't play the first party content, they don't test it > When they don't test it, it defeats the whole point of running a playtest in the first place.

While I won't say that your observations are invalid, I would tend to disagree, especially with the part I quoted above. Rules outlined in the playtest docs for customizing your own races / traditions / etc seem like they will need plenty of playtesting, too.

 

[Sniperfox47]

While I won't say that your observations are invalid, I would tend to disagree, especially with the part I quoted above. Rules outlined in the playtest docs for customizing your own races / traditions / etc seem like they will need plenty of playtesting, too.

I guess. I've been testing them with my players (each of them are using 3 first party traditions and 1 custom), I've just been keeping my results internal since we haven't come across any issues.

Even if there were issues though, it's impossible to make a set of guidelines for making a new race or job that will be completely balanced. In reality you're always going to have to test your third-party content for balance before publishing it, no matter how good he makes the rules in the book.

[EDIT] and especially if those rules are going to change it's better to test it internally for now and publish later, when you're sure the rules have been finalised. There's no point publishing unfinished content, just to have to redact it and publish it again.

 

[Morrus]

(P.S. @Morrus : I know it's not high on the priority list, but if you do have a race/career/tradition database for the full version I'd like to suggest you leave an entry for the license under which the race/career/tradition is published. Some third party publishers may like to include samples from their products for example and may wish to stipulate the content's license. Additionally, I'd personally like to make my submission's license as visible as possible to the user so they know under what conditions they may make derivatives of my content, especially if I'm publishing derivative content to your site with permission of the original author.)

I'll be using the well tried and tested Open Game License. Derivative work which takes advantage of content declared open is automatically open also. You can read the OGL itself here.

 

[Sniperfox47]

I may be wrong, but it was my understanding that the open game license is Inclusive copyleft, not exclusive (similar in style to GPL). I'll have to read it through, but it was my understanding that content developed for a system under the OGL could be released on any license that A) was less restrictive than the OGL and B) met certain minimum criteria for the protection of future freedoms.

 

[Morrus]

I may be wrong, but it was my understanding that the open game license is Inclusive copyleft, not exclusive (similar in style to GPL). I'll have to read it through, but it was my understanding that content developed for a system under the OGL could be released on any license that A) was less restrictive than the OGL and B) met certain minimum criteria for the protection of future freedoms.

Not that I want to get into a legal debate (the OGL has been discussed ad nauseum, and the topic makes me want to stab my own eyes out these days!) but s2 makes it clear that any OGC cannot have any other terms or conditions applied to it other than the OGL itself. You don't always have to use the OGL to make use of OGC, of course - but it's a safe harbour and makes it easy.