astro-feedback, looking for good ideas

[Beholder Bob]

I am hoping to abuse the local users and mine their brains for ideas for me (bwahaha..ha..oh, am I using my outside voice again?).

My new game is going to include astrological signs for everyone born on the mortal world, with 14 astrological signs used in my game. What I need (besides having my head examined - just too damn expensive), is some good ideas for the 'effects' of being born a certain sign. The bonuses should be mild enough that it escapes obvious notice (not all people born in the house of the snake breath fire). So far I have:
+2 sense motive to know when lied to
re-roll fear save 1/day
re-roll compulsion save 1/day
+2 bluff when lying / telling a tall tale
re-roll death save 1/day at -4
gain 1 SP for INT based skill
gain 1 SP for DEX or STR based skill
+1 diplomacy w member of opposite sex
Bound to ebb/flow of moon - modify initiative +2 to -2 depending on moon phase

I know this list isn't too exciting, but characters can spend feats to accentuate their astrological signs. Also, being born a certain sign effects how some magic interacts with different individuals, so the slight mod for your sign is ok as mild.

 

[FrankTrollman]

For starters I don't think these are especially equal. 1 skill point is pretty much the same as +1 to a skill all the time, while +1 to Diplomacy against the opposite sex is definately less than half of that.

Meanwhile, a reroll of a failed save is worth about the same as a +4 bonus to that same save (although these are fractions of the total uses for those save types).

I would just pick 10 or 12 skills (depending upon how many months you have in your world) - and give a +1 bonus to those skills with each of your signs. Then you could do some exciting things like have skill focus items for those skills give an additional +1 for people with the appropriate sign. So if you had the sign of the octopus (+1 to hide checks) who wore a color changing cloak (+5 to hide checks) would synergize with the magic and get an additional bonus.

It seems like a cool piece of flavor, but you want to have all the bonuses be as similar as possible to avoid having one of them be clearly "better" than all the others (right now: re-rolling a failed compulsion save seems pretty good - those things have a tendency to be pretty lethal).

-Frank

 

[Beholder Bob]

For starters I don't think these are especially equal. 1 skill point is pretty much the same as +1 to a skill all the time, while +1 to Diplomacy against the opposite sex is definately less than half of that...Meanwhile, a reroll of a failed save is worth about the same as a +4 bonus to that same save (although these are fractions of the total uses for those save types)....I would just pick 10 or 12 skills....and give a +1 bonus to those skills with each of your signs. Then you could do some exciting things like have skill focus items for those skills give an additional +1 for people with the appropriate sign......you want to have all the bonuses be as similar as possible to avoid having one of them be clearly "better" than all the others..

Hello Frank! Long time no read
1st off - yep, I should increase it to +2 vs opposite sex
2nd - re-rolled save is pretty good, perhaps a +1 or +2 save? Hmmm
3rd - the skill option definatly works, but I was afraid it would be too bland. I've also been toying with mild penalties for signs too (oh, he's a taurus - those guys are damn stuborn!), make them have slight touches of flavor.
4th - keeping all the modifiers equal if I do not make them the same type of modifier will be mighty hard, I may have to take that route. I hope not, but realistically, it will be a hard battle to avoid it. Here I go 'Don Quiote' tilting again!

+2 sense motive to know when lied to
re-roll fear save 1/day
+1 compulsion saves
+2 bluff when lying / telling a tall tale
+1 death saves
gain 1 rank in knowledge skill (does not exceed skill cap)
gain 1 rank in DEX or STR based skill (does not exceed skill cap)
+2 diplomacy w member of opposite sex
Bound to ebb/flow of moon - modify initiative +2 to -2 depending on moon phase

Windmills? Why is it always windmills?!?

 

[SylverFlame]

Hey Bob, found this one to!

Most astrological outlines have conflicting signs, so you could always make flip bonuses for those. For instance, maybe snakes are better at lying, but mice, that are opposites of snakes, are good at detecting lies. You already have this, but if you get stuck for a bonus it's easy because it's already balanced with others.

You could also consider giving them minor spells. Like a cantrip or orison once per day. This could be a little unbalancing, since some of those 0th level things gain power as the person levels up. You can counter that by saying "as a sorcerer of level X". Gnomes have a bunch and WotC considered them balanced with other races so...

Aside from these my mind's tapped out. If I think of any others I'll post'em ASAP.

Oh yeah, everyone knows brain-picking is an accepted and time honoured tradition of ENWorld.

 

[Beholder Bob]

Well, this is the tentative list & mods, not counting the feats each will have (1-2 feats for each sign). Seem ok, too similar, boring, too (descriptive)? Shove it in my face (I rarely bite) and would love the feedback!

SNAKE.......adaptable, greedy, jealous
TORTOISE..friendly, grounded, responsible
CROCODILE.cold, spontaneous, nosey, independent
MOTH........dreamer, obsessive, reckless
SPIDER......detached, manipulating, patient
CRAB........assertive, cheap, possessive
RAY..........adventurous, artistic, temperamental
SHARK.......competitive, direct, impulsive
BEAR.........spiritual, careless, dedicated
COUGAR.....sensual, resourceful, argumentative
WOLF........talkative, social, rude
BAT...........shy, scattered, gossipy
EAGLE........serious, receptive, opportunist
OWL..........organized, rigid, preachy

SNAKE........+1 to diplomacy & gather info checks
TORTOISE...+2 to rolls to sense motive
CROCODILE..+1 save vs. death effects, go to -1 hp further before death
MOTH.........1 rank in INT based skill
SPIDER.......+2 to rolls to bluff
CRAB..........+2 to appraisal
RAY...........1 rank in DEX based skill
SHARK........+1 save vs. fear effect, act as if +1 HD vs.. intimidate
BEAR..........+1 initiative
COUGAR......+2 situation mod w/ diplomacy w opposite sex
WOLF.........1 rank in CHA based skill
BAT...........+1 save vs. scry, +1 gather information
EAGLE.........+1 save vs. illusions
OWL...........+1 save vs. compulsions, +1 concentrate

Gained ranks allow the skill in question to be 4 ranks higher, rather then 3, from current level (i.e. a 1st level character can have up to 5 ranks in this skill)
Gained ranks ignore cross class penalty for this rank only.

 

[SylverFlame]

Interesting. At first glance I don't see anything that is unbalanced, but one thing does make me a little leary. By giving a free rank in ANY skill (even though it is limited by being for only one attribute) you give a lot of freedom compared to the bonus to a specific skill.

THis makes me think of the whole "giving a specific feat" compared to "giving a free feat" argument. You do off set this with making the skill-specific bonuses +2, but you also have to consider how much your individual characters use the skill before setting it in stone. If no one ever uses Gather Info or diplomacy, than no one will play a snake, for example.

OTher than that I like the outline. The personality traits are a nice touch to. They add a lot of depth.

 

[Beholder Bob]

...By giving a free rank in ANY skill ..you give a lot of freedom compared to the bonus to a specific skill....how much your individual characters use the skill before setting it in stone....

Good points. Hmmm. Well, I could box in the bonus skill range, but even better would be to replace it with specific abilities (+5-10% chance to stabalize, 1 'ghost point' of CON - so the 1st point of CON drained a day has no effect...). As to the skill bonuses being nailed down, I tried to limit it to skills every PC should/could use now and again, diplo/bluff/gather/appraise - but milage varies per the game & player. Again - Hmmmm.

 

[SylverFlame]

I like the stabilize bonus, though in most cases there is a handy-dandy cleric around to give you one hp back.

Another option you could consider is to make "skill x" a permanent class skill. Can be real nice, though I don't know if it's really all that balanced against a +1 "ghost" rank. (Reusing your term, gotta coin it somehow).