Grim Tales.......A few concerns

[Wulf Ratbane]

Are there any sources for additional Talent trees, or at least ones that you would recommend?

I used what I thought was a pretty good selection of talents from d20M (core and advanced classes), talents culled from class abilities in D&D, and maybe some Game Mechanics stuff-- all with an eye on keeping the low magic feel.

If you know of other d20 Modern talent tree sources, they should work just fine, but I don't know of any that I would want to recommend-- short of just using your brain to make your own!

Wulf

 

[Hammerhead]

My biggest concern about Grim Tales is when Slavelords of Cydonia wil be available for purchase Has anyone picked it up at GenCon? Amazon still says it will ship in 1-2 months.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

My biggest concern about Grim Tales is when Slavelords of Cydonia wil be available for purchase Has anyone picked it up at GenCon? Amazon still says it will ship in 1-2 months.

Sorry, Hammerhead-- it's not out yet.


Wulf

 

[Fenris]

Smart, Dedicated, and Charismatic heroes have access to the Magical Adept talent equally and all can choose whether they want to be arcane, divine, or wild irrespective of their class.

That is to say, there's nothing stopping a Dedicated hero from being an arcane adept, casting spells based on his Intelligence.

He'll be underpowered only to the extent that his Intelligence might not be his highest stat.

Wulf

First if all, throw me in the I heart GT too crowd.

But you got me thinking here Wulf. Would there be any serious repercussions if all three heroes could cast but from the same tradition using their respective stats?

Or what I was really considering (and I like this a lot) is to let each cast from the same tradition (arcane with some divine) but each hero (and therefore stat) has to cast from one school. So only Charismatic magical adepts could cast enchantment or abjuration. Dedicated magical adepts could only cast divination or maybe healing. Intelligent heroes could cast evocation or transmutation etc. (each catser can only cast from one school, but maybe could take magical adept to select another school?) This does force specilization on the casters but has a more earthy feel. It lets each caster be different, but ties the type of spell to a stat. It also doesn't diminish the caster by not using a non prime stat to cast with. I haven't fleshed it out fully yet but I like the way it appears. Any problems leap to anyone?

Fenris

 

[GlassJaw]

It lets each caster be different, but ties the type of spell to a stat. It also doesn't diminish the caster by not using a non prime stat to cast with. I haven't fleshed it out fully yet but I like the way it appears. Any problems leap to anyone?

I don't see any problems. I actually plan to do something similar.

The "magic" will essentially be the same, the only thing that varies is how each individual is able to access it. If you learn to manipulate magical energies through formulas and equations, you use Int. If you summon the power through your inner strength or innate ability, you use Cha. If you use the spirits or natural forces around you (fire, earth, water, air), you use Wis.

I don't really plan on having separate spell list although there may be some tendencies, like Int-based magic being more destructive, Cha-based having more enchantments, and Wis-based affecting nature and the elements.

I also might make each one a separate feat to add to their uniqueness.

Related question: what's a good way to "introduce" magic into the campaign besides having the players finding a tome of spells? What about the player that wants to be more like a sorcerer or a shaman?

For Cha/sorc magic, I was thinking of creating some kind of "magical aptitude" table that each player rolls on to determine if they have some innate ability. They can then choose to develop that ability (taking the feats, etc) if they choose. For Wis/shaman, maybe they would have to find a teacher and meet some kind of requriements. My world will also have various human tribes so if they choose one of them, perhaps they have a stronger connection to the natural and spiritual world.