Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
[Creative] Spheres of Power & Might by Setting
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8565535" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/2Jw3cFg.jpeg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Blue Spheres: the Spheres System for Blue Rose</strong></p><p></p><p>A land where those in power are striving for a better world…and have a real chance at succeeding! The Kingdom of Aldis is a sterling example for this hopeful tomorrow, and the Sovereign’s Finest lead by example in combating the fiendish influence of Kern, protecting others from sorcerous artifacts and shadow-gates, and other threats.</p><p></p><p><strong>Major Traditions:</strong> The world of Aldea contains many classic fantasy archetypes, so most martial traditions that fit within this broad paradigm can be found. Most archetypes discussed in the default rules for Spheres of Might can be found here to some degree, from the cavalry of Rezea to the supernaturally-athletic Spirit Dancers. The Monster Martial Tradition covered in Odyssey of the Dragonlords is highly appropriate for Rhydan who typically rely on natural weapons in combat.</p><p></p><p>The major difference is in magical traditions. In the world of Aldea, magical powers are an inborn ability known as arcanum and whose wielders are typically known as adepts whose powers operate under a set of universal principles. Barring certain exceptions (such as Artificery being someone who makes use of magical devices), the Adept detailed in the following section will be the omnipresent magical tradition for people. Arcana in Aldea is divided into six major disciplines: Animism involves the natural world (Mind with Animal Shaman variant, Nature with plant geomancy package, Conjuration to summon natural creatures), Healing involves the manipulation of health (Life, and Death for sorcerous uses), Meditative is pushing one’s own body and mind past their limits (Enhancement, some uses of Alteration and Mind), Psychic involves mental contact and influence (Illusion, Mind), Shaping involves influence over material forces (Alteration, Destruction, Nature, Telekinesis, Weather), and Visionary imparts supernatural senses (Divination, some uses of Fate, Conjuration for summoning spirits). Additionally, the (motif) talents of the Fate sphere are associated with the cards of the Royal Road, with symbols and concepts similar to real-world tarot cards.</p><p></p><p>It should be mentioned that certain talents are incredibly common regardless of one’s vocation. Most adepts learn the Mind Shield and Project Thoughts of the Mind sphere, given that telepathy is a very common use of arcanum in Aldea. The Second Sight arcana can be represented via the Divination sphere’s various talents, Detect Charm and Detect Magic in particular. Additionally, all of the six traditions can learn how to create wards that interfere with other arcana, being best represented as the Protection sphere’s Spell Ward talent.</p><p></p><p><strong>Advanced/Legendary Talents:</strong> Given that the reality of Aldea’s framework is different from the typical D&D setting, certain magical talents and traditions may not be available. Talents that provide easy contact with other planes and long-range teleportation, such as Conjuration’s Calling or Warp’s Planeshift, are impossible to use, instead being the province of dangerous shadow-gates. Similarly, spells that summon or banish monsters are reflavored; instead of calling upon another plane, such creatures are pulled from the fabric of the world or discorporated into it respectively.</p><p></p><p>For those who want to take inspiration from the AGE system, spells that provide outright revival of the dead are unavailable as well, specifically the Life sphere’s Resurrection and Greater Resurrection talents.</p><p></p><p><strong>Technology Level:</strong> While a surface-level analysis of Aldea would appear close to the medieval era, the abundance of magical proficiency in society means that most nations have access to more advanced technology expressed through the use of magic items, particularly shas crystals. These devices aren’t evenly distributed: the kingdoms of Jarzon and Kern are very restrictive of their uses, being hoarded by the ruling classes.</p><p></p><p>Firearms in Aldea are called crystons, wands of shas crystals that can emit harmful energy. Treat crystons as ranged weapons for the Renaissance and in some rare cases Modern era firearms, although they don’t use gunpowder, can be used to deal nonlethal damage, and can only be used by adepts.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/TWuWnsv.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>New Rules & Subsystems</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Note:</strong> I will be making reference to material from the Blue Rose Adventurer’s Guide for this part.</p><p></p><p><u><strong>Adept</strong></u></p><p></p><p><strong>Bonus Spell Points:</strong> Varies</p><p><strong>Key Ability:</strong> Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma (choose one)</p><p><strong>Bonus Magic Talents:</strong> any two</p><p><strong>Drawbacks:</strong> Varies (see below)</p><p></p><p>Given that an “authentic” Blue Rose campaign will have Adepts as the only “true” casters, the above should be a guideline, although some things should remain common. Adepts don’t need to make use of items to power their casting, concentration and mental willpower is important for the use and maintenance of spell effects, certain spells can be physically exhausting to cast (Draining Casting), and spells that violate the sanctity of the soul can cause corruption. Those who have trouble controlling their arcana (AGE system’s Wild Arcane talent) often also have the Mental Focus drawback. Skilled Casting is also common, often for specialized adepts depending upon which of the six major traditions in which they focus. Medicine is a common skill for healing arcanum, Insight, Intimidation, or Persuasion for Psychic arcanum, and Nature or certain tools for Shaping.</p><p></p><p><strong>Ancestries:</strong> To make them more in line with Spheres of Power, the ancestries which grant access to supernatural feats (Rhydan, Vata) should instead grant an appropriate feat: Magical Training, Extra Magic Talent, and Magical Expertise being the most appropriate. Rhydan at a minimum gain the Mind sphere’s Mind Shield and Project Thoughts talents. Optionally Rhydan who wish to use weapons and shields manufactured for humanoids often take Telekinesis’ Dancing Weapon talent. Vata also gain Mind Shield, but their second sphere/talent choice is more open depending upon their favored discipline.</p><p></p><p><strong>Corruption:</strong> The rules for Corruption in the Blue Rose Adventurer’s Guide work well enough for a Spheres of Power game. Generally speaking, Alteration and Mind sphere talents that are cast on unwilling people (defined as sentient beings capable of thought and self-awareness) risk corruption, as do talents that involve the creation and summoning of fiend and undead creatures. A caster’s Corruption score can be substituted for their Key Ability Modifier if it’s greater for all the typical purposes of using sphere abilities. As a reminder, sphere abilities’ effective spell levels are equal to the number of Spell Points used to cast them; 0 Spell Point effects are equivalent to cantrips.</p><p></p><p>The Fate sphere’s Divine Force and Reveal Alignment can be used to detect the presence of Corruption in others. The use of the Atonement advanced talent counts as working towards Redemption, allowing the corrupted figure to spend Inspiration to remove 1 Corruption point per casting.</p><p></p><p><strong>Narrative Equipment:</strong> These rules from the Adventurer’s Guide can be used in much the same way. However, given this heavily negates the use of many Equipment talents, some changes should be made.</p><p></p><p>Firstly, any character with a martial tradition should be considered to have Martial Weapon Proficiency, although they can use their Dexterity for attacks dealing 1d8 damage. (discipline) talents can be ignored in most cases. Characters who would ordinarily gain equipment-specific talents such as as Dagger Bravo and Hand Crossbow Mastery have the option of either trading them in for another tradition-appropriate talent or apply the benefits of the talent to an appropriate attack type (Polearm Guard for two-handed attacks, Whip Fiend for one-handed attacks, etc).</p><p></p><p>Spheres which are contingent on the limited use of item types, such as Alchemy and Tinkerer, should remain unchanged. These spheres represent access to specialized equipment most do not have easy access to, and their talent-specific gear shouldn’t be so easily handwaved.</p><p></p><p>For Casting Traditions requiring physical items such as the Material Casting drawback, using these rules means that enemies in combat can disarm, steal, or otherwise interfere with casting.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/Ra1ZRqm.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Popular Archetypes</strong></p><p></p><p>Most of the Specializations in the AGE System easily map onto existing concepts. Bards via appropriate choices of Bardic Magic tradition spheres, Berserkers via the Berserker sphere, Knights a combination of Beastmastery rider package talents and Wrestling’s Impale talent, and so on. Instead I will focus on the more setting-specific concepts.</p><p></p><p><strong>Shaper:</strong> Shapers are those adepts who focus on the physical world and the manipulation of its elements. They at a minimum have the Telekinesis sphere along with an appropriate sphere for their element: Nature’s various geomancy packages are broad, although the Weather sphere’s Weather Shaping talent and Telekinesis’ Pushed Movement talent also help represent water and wind shapers who gain power over the weather and limited flight. Flesh Shaping can be represented via the Alteration sphere’s various talents, along with certain uses of the Enhancement and Life spheres, and Light Shaping has the appropriately-named Light sphere.</p><p></p><p><strong>Spirit Dancer:</strong> This concept is pretty close to the D&D Monk. Their Battle Dances can be represented as the Skilled Casting (Acrobatics or Performance) drawback for a casting tradition. The Enhancement sphere is highly appropriate, with the False Energy, Physical Enhancement, and Speed Control talents their most famous abilities. For martial traditions they are typically either Hermit Ascetics or Entertainer Performers depending upon their lifestyle, with both choices granting them access to the Unarmored Training talent (and Unarmed Training as a bonus Equipment talent in Performer’s case). For those who own Aldis: City of the Blue Rose, there are new fighting styles for Spirit Dancers in that book as well.</p><p></p><p>Gift of the Hart can be represented via talents that allow easier access to the Help action for allies, which makes Fencing the best choice, while the Locked Antlers and Bounding Attack stunts are best represented as the Warleader’s Shieldbrothers talent and Retribution’s Launching Uppercut talent. Shel-Shanna Style’s Circle the Moon and Moon’s Tide stunts can be represented as Wrestling’s Hard Whip and Retribution’s Raging Bull talents. Shrike’s Fall Style is represented by Athletics’ Scale Foe, Wall Stunt, and Air Stunt talents, Equipment’s Mystic Fist, and Dual Wielding’s Cyclone Cut. Finally, the Whispering Wind style can be represented as the Nature sphere’s Whispering Wind talent for long-range communication, and for the physical attacks Retribution’s Intercepting Strike, Fencing’s Parry and Riposte, and Fencing’s Parry Anything talents.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 8565535, member: 6750502"] [CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/2Jw3cFg.jpeg[/IMG] [B]Blue Spheres: the Spheres System for Blue Rose[/B][/CENTER] A land where those in power are striving for a better world…and have a real chance at succeeding! The Kingdom of Aldis is a sterling example for this hopeful tomorrow, and the Sovereign’s Finest lead by example in combating the fiendish influence of Kern, protecting others from sorcerous artifacts and shadow-gates, and other threats. [B]Major Traditions:[/B] The world of Aldea contains many classic fantasy archetypes, so most martial traditions that fit within this broad paradigm can be found. Most archetypes discussed in the default rules for Spheres of Might can be found here to some degree, from the cavalry of Rezea to the supernaturally-athletic Spirit Dancers. The Monster Martial Tradition covered in Odyssey of the Dragonlords is highly appropriate for Rhydan who typically rely on natural weapons in combat. The major difference is in magical traditions. In the world of Aldea, magical powers are an inborn ability known as arcanum and whose wielders are typically known as adepts whose powers operate under a set of universal principles. Barring certain exceptions (such as Artificery being someone who makes use of magical devices), the Adept detailed in the following section will be the omnipresent magical tradition for people. Arcana in Aldea is divided into six major disciplines: Animism involves the natural world (Mind with Animal Shaman variant, Nature with plant geomancy package, Conjuration to summon natural creatures), Healing involves the manipulation of health (Life, and Death for sorcerous uses), Meditative is pushing one’s own body and mind past their limits (Enhancement, some uses of Alteration and Mind), Psychic involves mental contact and influence (Illusion, Mind), Shaping involves influence over material forces (Alteration, Destruction, Nature, Telekinesis, Weather), and Visionary imparts supernatural senses (Divination, some uses of Fate, Conjuration for summoning spirits). Additionally, the (motif) talents of the Fate sphere are associated with the cards of the Royal Road, with symbols and concepts similar to real-world tarot cards. It should be mentioned that certain talents are incredibly common regardless of one’s vocation. Most adepts learn the Mind Shield and Project Thoughts of the Mind sphere, given that telepathy is a very common use of arcanum in Aldea. The Second Sight arcana can be represented via the Divination sphere’s various talents, Detect Charm and Detect Magic in particular. Additionally, all of the six traditions can learn how to create wards that interfere with other arcana, being best represented as the Protection sphere’s Spell Ward talent. [B]Advanced/Legendary Talents:[/B] Given that the reality of Aldea’s framework is different from the typical D&D setting, certain magical talents and traditions may not be available. Talents that provide easy contact with other planes and long-range teleportation, such as Conjuration’s Calling or Warp’s Planeshift, are impossible to use, instead being the province of dangerous shadow-gates. Similarly, spells that summon or banish monsters are reflavored; instead of calling upon another plane, such creatures are pulled from the fabric of the world or discorporated into it respectively. For those who want to take inspiration from the AGE system, spells that provide outright revival of the dead are unavailable as well, specifically the Life sphere’s Resurrection and Greater Resurrection talents. [B]Technology Level:[/B] While a surface-level analysis of Aldea would appear close to the medieval era, the abundance of magical proficiency in society means that most nations have access to more advanced technology expressed through the use of magic items, particularly shas crystals. These devices aren’t evenly distributed: the kingdoms of Jarzon and Kern are very restrictive of their uses, being hoarded by the ruling classes. Firearms in Aldea are called crystons, wands of shas crystals that can emit harmful energy. Treat crystons as ranged weapons for the Renaissance and in some rare cases Modern era firearms, although they don’t use gunpowder, can be used to deal nonlethal damage, and can only be used by adepts. [CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/TWuWnsv.png[/IMG] [B]New Rules & Subsystems[/B][/CENTER] [B]Note:[/B] I will be making reference to material from the Blue Rose Adventurer’s Guide for this part. [U][B]Adept[/B][/U] [B]Bonus Spell Points:[/B] Varies [B]Key Ability:[/B] Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma (choose one) [B]Bonus Magic Talents:[/B] any two [B]Drawbacks:[/B] Varies (see below) Given that an “authentic” Blue Rose campaign will have Adepts as the only “true” casters, the above should be a guideline, although some things should remain common. Adepts don’t need to make use of items to power their casting, concentration and mental willpower is important for the use and maintenance of spell effects, certain spells can be physically exhausting to cast (Draining Casting), and spells that violate the sanctity of the soul can cause corruption. Those who have trouble controlling their arcana (AGE system’s Wild Arcane talent) often also have the Mental Focus drawback. Skilled Casting is also common, often for specialized adepts depending upon which of the six major traditions in which they focus. Medicine is a common skill for healing arcanum, Insight, Intimidation, or Persuasion for Psychic arcanum, and Nature or certain tools for Shaping. [B]Ancestries:[/B] To make them more in line with Spheres of Power, the ancestries which grant access to supernatural feats (Rhydan, Vata) should instead grant an appropriate feat: Magical Training, Extra Magic Talent, and Magical Expertise being the most appropriate. Rhydan at a minimum gain the Mind sphere’s Mind Shield and Project Thoughts talents. Optionally Rhydan who wish to use weapons and shields manufactured for humanoids often take Telekinesis’ Dancing Weapon talent. Vata also gain Mind Shield, but their second sphere/talent choice is more open depending upon their favored discipline. [B]Corruption:[/B] The rules for Corruption in the Blue Rose Adventurer’s Guide work well enough for a Spheres of Power game. Generally speaking, Alteration and Mind sphere talents that are cast on unwilling people (defined as sentient beings capable of thought and self-awareness) risk corruption, as do talents that involve the creation and summoning of fiend and undead creatures. A caster’s Corruption score can be substituted for their Key Ability Modifier if it’s greater for all the typical purposes of using sphere abilities. As a reminder, sphere abilities’ effective spell levels are equal to the number of Spell Points used to cast them; 0 Spell Point effects are equivalent to cantrips. The Fate sphere’s Divine Force and Reveal Alignment can be used to detect the presence of Corruption in others. The use of the Atonement advanced talent counts as working towards Redemption, allowing the corrupted figure to spend Inspiration to remove 1 Corruption point per casting. [B]Narrative Equipment:[/B] These rules from the Adventurer’s Guide can be used in much the same way. However, given this heavily negates the use of many Equipment talents, some changes should be made. Firstly, any character with a martial tradition should be considered to have Martial Weapon Proficiency, although they can use their Dexterity for attacks dealing 1d8 damage. (discipline) talents can be ignored in most cases. Characters who would ordinarily gain equipment-specific talents such as as Dagger Bravo and Hand Crossbow Mastery have the option of either trading them in for another tradition-appropriate talent or apply the benefits of the talent to an appropriate attack type (Polearm Guard for two-handed attacks, Whip Fiend for one-handed attacks, etc). Spheres which are contingent on the limited use of item types, such as Alchemy and Tinkerer, should remain unchanged. These spheres represent access to specialized equipment most do not have easy access to, and their talent-specific gear shouldn’t be so easily handwaved. For Casting Traditions requiring physical items such as the Material Casting drawback, using these rules means that enemies in combat can disarm, steal, or otherwise interfere with casting. [CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/Ra1ZRqm.png[/IMG] [B]Popular Archetypes[/B][/CENTER] Most of the Specializations in the AGE System easily map onto existing concepts. Bards via appropriate choices of Bardic Magic tradition spheres, Berserkers via the Berserker sphere, Knights a combination of Beastmastery rider package talents and Wrestling’s Impale talent, and so on. Instead I will focus on the more setting-specific concepts. [B]Shaper:[/B] Shapers are those adepts who focus on the physical world and the manipulation of its elements. They at a minimum have the Telekinesis sphere along with an appropriate sphere for their element: Nature’s various geomancy packages are broad, although the Weather sphere’s Weather Shaping talent and Telekinesis’ Pushed Movement talent also help represent water and wind shapers who gain power over the weather and limited flight. Flesh Shaping can be represented via the Alteration sphere’s various talents, along with certain uses of the Enhancement and Life spheres, and Light Shaping has the appropriately-named Light sphere. [B]Spirit Dancer:[/B] This concept is pretty close to the D&D Monk. Their Battle Dances can be represented as the Skilled Casting (Acrobatics or Performance) drawback for a casting tradition. The Enhancement sphere is highly appropriate, with the False Energy, Physical Enhancement, and Speed Control talents their most famous abilities. For martial traditions they are typically either Hermit Ascetics or Entertainer Performers depending upon their lifestyle, with both choices granting them access to the Unarmored Training talent (and Unarmed Training as a bonus Equipment talent in Performer’s case). For those who own Aldis: City of the Blue Rose, there are new fighting styles for Spirit Dancers in that book as well. Gift of the Hart can be represented via talents that allow easier access to the Help action for allies, which makes Fencing the best choice, while the Locked Antlers and Bounding Attack stunts are best represented as the Warleader’s Shieldbrothers talent and Retribution’s Launching Uppercut talent. Shel-Shanna Style’s Circle the Moon and Moon’s Tide stunts can be represented as Wrestling’s Hard Whip and Retribution’s Raging Bull talents. Shrike’s Fall Style is represented by Athletics’ Scale Foe, Wall Stunt, and Air Stunt talents, Equipment’s Mystic Fist, and Dual Wielding’s Cyclone Cut. Finally, the Whispering Wind style can be represented as the Nature sphere’s Whispering Wind talent for long-range communication, and for the physical attacks Retribution’s Intercepting Strike, Fencing’s Parry and Riposte, and Fencing’s Parry Anything talents. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
[Creative] Spheres of Power & Might by Setting
Top