Draw Steel General Thread [+]

[mamba]

I see where Matt is coming from, but I think there's room for a "weapon master" type character that eventually develops some type of supernatural abilities from pure skill and/or enlightenment.

that is just magical without using that word for it. I don’t see why in DS! you cannot say that is what your Fury character does instead of pretending that it is ‘classic magic’

 

[Staffan]

that is just magical without using that word for it. I don’t see why in DS! you cannot say that is what your Fury character does instead of pretending that it is ‘classic magic’

Because the Fury doesn't have that kind of powers. Does Li Mu Bai strike you as a character fueled by rage, throwing people through walls right and left?

 

[ffanxii4ever]

Can you reskin the Fury to fit that archetype? Sure. It works for the less elemental chaos-fueled powers, but does feel weird once your swordmaster who has studied the blade long enough to cause shockwaves (or whatever) can now start to commune with Quintessence and create a portal to that realm from anywhere in the Timescape.



That said, I definitely think that there is space for a weaponmaster/swordmage style character who hones their skill with a weapon to such an impressive level that they develop a form of magic with it, it's definitely an archetype that I like, and I know that there are others who do too.

But I really respect MCDM's decision to focus on classes and archetypes that they find cool or interesting, and I am loving what am I seeing so far (I can't wait to see the proposed Acolyte)

 

[mamba]

Because the Fury doesn't have that kind of powers. Does Li Mu Bai strike you as a character fueled by rage, throwing people through walls right and left?

ok, but doesn’t that mean they need another class, not that it cannot follow the same design approach they used for the others?

 

[Staffan]

ok, but doesn’t that mean they need another class, not that it cannot follow the same design approach they used for the others?

Covering that archetype does need another class, because none of the existing ones cover it. Draw Steel is a game where classes matter a whole lot – they are fundamental to your character, not just a shopping list of abilities like in e.g. Fabula Ultima. I like this, because it means each class has a strong identity and can focus on what makes that class cool, but it also means that it's a lot of work if you want to cover a new concept.

 

[mamba]

Covering that archetype does need another class, because none of the existing ones cover it. Draw Steel is a game where classes matter a whole lot

I was not disagreeing with this, I was only asking whether that class would be so fundamentally different that the overall design approach with magical features would not work for it.

To me a supernatural feature and a magical feature are functionally the same, the difference is in the fiction only (if even that)

 

[Staffan]

I was not disagreeing with this, I was only asking whether that class would be so fundamentally different that the overall design approach with magical features would not work for it.

To me a supernatural feature and a magical feature are functionally the same, the difference is in the fiction only (if even that)

Like I've said, I'm perfectly fine with higher-level features being supernatural of some variety (though I think flavor-wise, "psionics" fits better than "magic" for something based in enlightened discipline). I'm thinking something halfway between the Fury and the Null: about as much supernatural stuff as the Fury, but flavored more like that of the Null. The main issue I see with it is that it runs the risk of just being "Null with a sword", but that's something a competent game designer (i.e. not me) could work out.