Forbidden Arcana: Birth Signs FREE PDF

[philreed]

A new release in the Forbidden Arcana series, this 4-page PDF is available FREE!

http://www.philipjreed.com/images/fabirthsigns.pdf

And don't miss Magical Foods, the previous release in the series.

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2219&

 

[Vaxalon]

Not all characters were born under a special sign. When a character is first created, after starting attributes, race, and class have been determined, the player and DM should each roll 1d20. If either one of them rolled a 20 this character was born under a special sign.

This is bad.

First of all, it's a PC-only rule. Why can't NPC's have these?

Second, it's a random PC ability, not something the player chooses.

Finally, a more subjective critique: The signs are really heavy-handed.

This whole thing could have been handled MUCH better.

 

[philreed]

Actually, I think it's better if it's used as NPC Only. DMs should always do what they think is best.

I _like_ random elements in games.

It's a short PDF I put together to test an idea. The reason it's short and free is I wanted to experiment with something and didn't feel that the direction it was headed in was valuable enough to sell to people. But the basics are something that could be greatly revised and expanded.

I think many people have forgotten that the fun of playing games like this is in the experimenting with and reworking of material. The fun thing is it's all OGC so anyone can take it and make it their own.

Have fun.

 

[Vaxalon]

Actually, I think it's better if it's used as NPC Only. DMs should always do what they think is best.

NPC only is no better than PC only, in my opinion. As for DM's doing what they think is best, how can they do any different?

I _like_ random elements in games.

So do I. I just don't like this kind of thing in character generation. It smacks of all of the problems of 1e psionics.

It's a short PDF I put together to test an idea.

I hope you posted it here to solicit feedback. It certainly looked that way.

But the basics are something that could be greatly revised and expanded.

That's true of just about anything.

I think many people have forgotten that the fun of playing games like this is in the experimenting with and reworking of material. The fun thing is it's all OGC so anyone can take it and make it their own.

Here's what I would do with this idea if I was going to make it part of a setting.

First of all, I would make it so that ALL characters, NPC or not, were born under SOME kind of sign; most people would be born under a fairly 'weak' sign, but by taking a feat, one could be born under a stronger one.

I would set it up so that you couldn't tell what sign someone was born under just by looking at them. It would be something of a secret, akin to a "true name". I would also make it so that spells cast against someone whose birth sign you knew gave a small bonus to save DC (+1, or +2 at most).

Finally, I would set up a simple system of timekeeping that allowed for the sun and a few planets to move through those star signs, periodically activating first one, then another, so that other special benefits would accrue to those born under it.