Daggerheart General Thread [+]

Final first draft of the mutations section:
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Random Mutations

“Gammaheart” is an attempt at a post apocalyptic science fantasy setting for Daggerheart in the vein of Gamma World, Darwin’s World, Mutant Year Zero and similar properties.

This random mutation system is intended to replace the usual ancestry choice. Instead of choosing an ancestry, the players roll once on each of 2 mutation charts. The first iteration of these mutation charts are taken from the SRD/Core Rules ancestries -- specifically, once chart for the “top abilities” (Primary Mutation) and one for the “bottom abilities.” (Secondary Mutation).

Once the mutations are rolled, the player is allowed to describe their character however they like, including how they fit in the world. Are they a unique being, even a freak? Or are they a member of a specific mutant community that breeds true? That is up to the player, and the GM should incorporate their choice into the setting.

Primary Mutations (roll d20)

1. Evolutionary Pressure: At character creation choose one of your Experiences and gain a permanent +1 bonus to it.
2. Scales: Your scales act as natural protection When you would take Severe damage you can mark a Stress to mark 1 fewer Hit Points.
3. Thick Skin: When you take Minor damage you can mark 1 Stress instead of marking a Hit Point.
4. Psychic Link: Make an Instinct Roll (12) to forge a psychic link with a willing creature with whom you share a language. On a success you can communicate across any distance. Only one such link can be maintained at a time and you can sever it at any time.
5. Shell: Gain a bonus to your damage thresholds equal to your Proficiency.
6. Endurance: Gain an additional Hit Point slot at character creation.
7. Surefooted: You ignore disadvantage on Agility Rolls.
8. Luckbringer: At the start of each session everyone in your party gains a Hope.
9. Amphibious: You can breathe and move naturally underwater.
10. Natural Climber: You have advantage on Agility Rolls that involve balancing and climbing.
11. Quick Reactions: Mark a Stress to gain advantage on a reaction roll.
12. Luckbender: Once per session after you or a willing ally within Close range makes an action roll you can spend 3 Hope to reroll the Duality Dice.
13. Caprine Leap: You can leap anywhere within Close range as though you were using normal movement, allowing you to vault obstacles, jump across gaps, or scale barriers with ease.
14. Charge: When you succeed on an Agility Roll to move from Far or Very Far range into Melee range with one or more targets you can mark a Stress to deal 1d12 physical damage to all targets within Melee range.
15. High Stamina: Gain an additional Stress slot at character creation.
16. Fearless: When you roll with Fear, you can mark 2 Stress to change it into a roll with Hope instead.
17. Feline Instincts: When you make an Agility Roll you can spend 2 Hope to reroll your Hope Die.
18. Sturdy: When you have only 1 Hit Point remaining, attacks against you have disadvantage.
19-20. No mutation. Add +1 to any trait.

Secondary Mutations (roll d20)

1. Efficient: When you take a short rest you can choose one long rest move in place of one short rest move.
2. Elemental Blast: Choose an element, (such as electricity fire or ice. You can use this element against a target or group of targets within Very Close range, treating it
as an Instinct weapon that deals d8 magic damage using your Proficiency.
3. Increased Fortitude: Spend 3 Hope to halve incoming physical damage.
4. Death Connection: While touching a corpse that died recently you can mark a Stress to extract one memory from the corpse related to a specific emotion or sensation of your choice.
5. Defensive Posture: Mark a Stress to take a defensive posture. You have resistance to physical damage, but you also have disadvantage on action rolls and you can’t move.
6. Reach: Treat any weapon, ability, spell, or other feature that has a Melee range as though it has a Very Close range instead.
7. Danger Sense: Once per rest, mark a Stress to force an adversary to reroll an attack against you or an ally within Very Close range.
8. Internal Compass: When you roll a 1 on your Hope Die you can reroll it.
9. Long Tongue: You can use your long tongue to grab onto things within Close range. Mark a Stress to use your tongue as a Finesse Close weapon that deals d12 physical damage using your Proficiency.
10. Nimble: Gain a permanent + bonus to your Evasion at character creation.
11. Trance: During a rest you can drop into a trance to choose an additional downtime move.
12. Wings: You can fly. While flying you can mark a Stress after an adversary makes an attack against you to gain a +2 bonus to your Evasion against that attack.
13. Kick: When you succeed on an attack against a target within Melee range you can mark a Stress to kick yourself off them dealing an extra 2d6 damage and knocking back either yourself or the target to Very Close range.
14. Unshakable: When you would mark a Stress roll a d6. On a result of 6 don’t mark it.
15. Adaptability: When you fail a roll that utilized one of your Experiences, you can mark a Stress to reroll.
16. Horrible Visage: You have advantage on rolls to intimidate hostile creatures.
17. Retractable Claws: Make an Agility Roll to scratch a target within Melee range. On a success they become temporarily Vulnerable.
18. Tusks: When you succeed on an attack against a target within Melee range you can spend a Hope to gore the target with your tusks dealing an extra 1d6 damage.
19-20. No mutation. Add +1 to any trait.
 

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I think that Communities can work pretty much as is for a post apocalyptic game, although I might be inclined to create something like a Vaultborne and/or a Pastborne (cryonic/hibernation) community.

The real question is what to do about classes and domains to shift them from the heroic fantasy examples to more Post Apocalyptic archetypes.
 

I think that Communities can work pretty much as is for a post apocalyptic game, although I might be inclined to create something like a Vaultborne and/or a Pastborne (cryonic/hibernation) community.

The real question is what to do about classes and domains to shift them from the heroic fantasy examples to more Post Apocalyptic archetypes.

Yeah, so I'm doing a pretty big rework of the classes and domains for my 40k hack. I think that Frame-style "consider this" for the classes only goes so far when you're getting into a style of flavor that deviates strongly from the core domain and class vibe. I think you can get a long way with just re-wording some stuff to shift the fictional cornerstones, but there's a lot of core design assumptions you may need to check. Eg: what do abilities like Teleport, Plane Gate, Safe Haven, Notorious, Conjured Steeds, Force of Nature, etc imply about your setting? Do they fit as written? etc.
 

If either of you haven’t checked out Drakkenheim’s Campaign Frame (ghostfire made it free on their website), you may want to look at how they did “Contamination”. I think that approach could help both with Radiation/Mutations in Gamma World and Chaos/Mutations in 40K.

I’m very interested to hear how both Gamma World and 40K end up working with Daggerheart!
 

So December is nuts, so tonight was the last session for this year. The party escaped a wyvern mounted bounty hunter, ran a fun chase where the party barely escaped (both the escape and caught countdowns were at 2 when the last roll succeeded). After resting and recovering, the party turned their attentions to the upcoming festivities. They devised disguises and ways to get invited to the Baron's masquerade ball. Since combat never happened, I ran the whole session without touching the dice. We did some worldbuilding, detailing their forest hideout ... overall, a fun session. The Halfling Wizard has concealed himself as jockey and rode the Druid to win a horse race that made both the party some money and got the Halfling a golden ticket.
 

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