Level Up (A5E) Martial Artistry (3pp book in the works) Ideas and Concepts

[W'rkncacnter]

As I look over my minion rules using both Grunts and the Horde... I'm struck by how useful this is not only for mass combat, but for high drama low-effort encounters a narrator can drop onto the players.

I mean that both in the sense that player characters don't need to expend a ton of resources to fight minions, but also because they're so -easy- for a narrator to drop into a fight and not bother to keep track of their HP. Because they drop in one hit, they're -very- streamlined in a "Conservation of Ninja" sort of way.

Take, for example, a party of PCs traveling by airship. They take a detour the narrator hadn't planned for. Instead of heading to the village at the bottom of the mountain that is all stated out with a series of encounters planned, they head for the peak. The narrator, in a blind panic, now has to generate what all is on the mountain from scratch. And as a delaying tactic throws the party into an encounter.

A Harpy encounter. With minion harpies.

The harpies want to destroy the airship's engines, envelope, or steering. So they swarm the ship in waves of easily dispatched minions each with 1hp. In an instant, the players have a significant threat (Falling, Flying enemies) that they can fight with ease (making them feel strong) and which require minimal effort for the narrator to actually -run- as monsters (no HP tracking) while rolling up some more random encounters, treasures, and making up a story to weave them together behind the screen.

Maybe add in one or two -actual- harpies that now feel more like mini-bosses compared to their easily-defeated grunt allies.

And the waves last until the players start getting bored of fighting harpies, or the mountain detour is prepared.

suddenly, 4e.

...hell, i'm not complaining. 4e was fun.

 

[Steampunkette]

suddenly, 4e.

...hell, i'm not complaining. 4e was fun.

Right? 4e has some good stuff in it.

In other news, got the initial poses back for the Gunslinger key art...

Spoiler: Gunslinger Sketches

I need to pick a pose, favored head/face, and preferred outfit options before the rough draft gets done, and then made as pretty as the Warcaster!

Don't look if you don't wanna get spoiled.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

Spoiler: Gunslinger Sketches

I need to pick a pose, favored head/face, and preferred outfit options before the rough draft gets done, and then made as pretty as the Warcaster!

you know, i tried to play a goblin gunslinger in pf2e, but i just could not ever get a crit, so i switched to fighter since at least then i could grab a 2 hander and do actual damage even without a crit.

...and then we started playing kingmaker and another player picked a gunslinger and HE crits on more attacks then he misses. so that's great.

 

[Steampunkette]

Mass combat is 6 pages so far. I'm going to be working on the final section when I get home from the dentist office today. However, it's also probably going to be the longest section.

It's going to cover the battlefield dungeon concept, but also add all the dangers. Particularly and especially battlefield traps!

Also planning to do battlefield traps that affect different unit types differently. A spike wall has no effect on an infantry except to make difficult terrain. But for cavalry? It is a dangerous hazard!

 

[Steampunkette]

"Siege Monster" might be both the most metal entry into a list of battlefield goals I could've written, and the biggest off-handed concept I've ever just dropped into text without significant thought until after typing the words out.

Like. "Oh, yeah, defeating a big monster is often an important part of fantasy and sci-fi battlefields." and then two minutes later "... well that needs to be an entire section to itself and possibly a rule entry or six..."

 

[Selganor]

Regarding Mass combat... I'm confident this book will be out to I need it for my (not yet started) War of the Burning Sky campaign.

 

[Steampunkette]

Regarding Mass combat... I'm confident this book will be out to I need it for my (not yet started) War of the Burning Sky campaign.

Once I'm done with writing this section I'll shoot you a message. Maybe you can playtest the Mass Combat rules?

 

[Selganor]

The first instance of Mass Combat is at adventure 4 (which is the end of the first "arc") so it would be a while, but if you want some comments before that I'm game.

 

[Steampunkette]

I think I just hit a home run on my Champion mental block: Causes.

You take a Cause at level 1 which provides a mechanical benefit not unlike a Pact Boon. The causes are -super- vaguely defined like "Noblesse Oblige" or "Supernatural Patron" so they can be heavily customized by the player and narrator for a given game. And then which one you pick grants specific benefits.

Like Noblesse Oblige providing you with the ability to spread out your defensive class function over three targets compared to Noble Guardian which instead strengthens your ability to protect -one- person. And then Supernatural Patron gives you the ability to use Eldritch Scythe to spread damage around and Arena Champion allows you to mark two targets for your offensive abilities.

Also at level 1 you gain the ability to select an offensive and defensive target with some bonuses to interact with either. Like a bonus action puts out your offensive and defensive choices. You then get the ability to spend bonus actions to help your defensive target or hinder your offensive target. And then you get the ability to react to protect your defensive target when they get attacked, or react when your offensive target smacks someone who isn't you to opportunity attack them.

Then at level 2 you get your Archetype and Combat Maneuvers...

And then at level 3 you get your knack type stuff. And your knack type stuff also has the ability to pull off other class lists based on your Cause. So a Temple Protector could grab Cleric knacks, for example, and Noblesse Oblige could snag Marshal options.