New Design & Dev : Party Role

[blargney the second]

What about adding some Bo9S to that equation?

Bring a tarp, it's going to be mind-blowing.

 

[Jhaelen]

For instance, if the first PHB is "arcane, divine, and martial" characters, then PHB2 could be (just pulling ideas out of the air, I have no advanced knowledge) psionic, bound*, and ki-based characters. PHB3 could introduce characters that draw power from incarnum, shadow, and... uh, something new.

I don't think they'll introduce more than one new power source per PHB. More than one would be a bit overwhelming, I think.

Taking the Tome of Magic as an example: I really liked the new concepts, but found it difficult to introduce them into my campaign. It's a bit odd when suddenly three new power sources appear from nowhere.

So I picked one and introduced it by building a small adventure around it. Once the players have seen it in action a couple of times, they might be ready for something new.

 

[Blood Jester]

I was going to start a thread on this, but checked and found this one first.

Am I really the only person who finds "Martial Power Source" to be incredible dumb sounding?
The basic concept, that fighters get their incredible abilities through rigorous training and dedication (or "focus, training, and skill") is older than the game itself, and MPS sounds like it was developed to give a name to the "power-ups" for fighters.

I seem to be alone in this, but am I, or am I the first to comment on this opinion?

 

[blargney the second]

*shrug* It's no biggie for me. It's a story concept and game term that helps define your character to make roleplaying easier. I doubt the words "martial power source" would come out of anybody's mouth in character any more than "critical hit" or "2d6" would.

 

[LoneWolf23]

The whole Martial thing actually sounds like "Chi" or "Fighting Spirit" as seen in Anime, where a warrior's strength doesn't just come from his physical training, but his spiritual focus as well.

 

[blargney the second]

It's not just anime - it's common to most forms of storytelling. Mandorallen in the Belgariad, Beowulf, Conan... there are lots of badass fighters in stories.

 

[Korgoth]

I was going to start a thread on this, but checked and found this one first.

Am I really the only person who finds "Martial Power Source" to be incredible dumb sounding?
The basic concept, that fighters get their incredible abilities through rigorous training and dedication (or "focus, training, and skill") is older than the game itself, and MPS sounds like it was developed to give a name to the "power-ups" for fighters.

I seem to be alone in this, but am I, or am I the first to comment on this opinion?

What if a tale said "The warrior summoned all of the strength he could muster, his muscles straining and his brow sweating, raining down blow after blow upon the metal-clad beings before him, swinging the sword until his arms ached, until his bones were numb from the clatter, until he thought he would succumb to fatigue. But he forced himself forward, forced himself to ignore the pain, drawing upon every ounce of his endurance and trying to attain again that place in his mind which was built by his very training, that place above the pain and the fear and the deadly fatigue."

OK, so I'm not a writer or anything but the point is: isn't the warrior just drawing on his training, his endurance, his convictions and true grit? In game terms, a "power source". Like what keeps an athlete going, or keeps a guy going when it's moving day and he has to get all of those boxes loaded, even though every muscle in his body is telling him to lay down and have nap time.

 

[Victim]

The whole Martial thing actually sounds like "Chi" or "Fighting Spirit" as seen in Anime, where a warrior's strength doesn't just come from his physical training, but his spiritual focus as well.

If a character didn't improve in spiritual focus, they wouldn't increase in resistance to pure life sapping attacks like Energy Drain. But they do, so characters must already increase in 'spirit.'

 

[Gentlegamer]

Sounds like Rolemaster's Realms of Arms and Power categorization of character types.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

I agree, "martial power source" is clearly retarded!

It should be called "awesome" or perhaps "h4rdcore".

Yes?