fissionessence
First Post
This is just something I've been thinking about for attempting a 4E campaign set in the Magic: the Gathering multiverse. A lot of stuff ports over easily, but the power sources don't really work, as anything non-martial should pretty much be the 'mana' power source. However, the colors of magic tend to be split up and mixed in with a lot of the power sources (for example, arcane easily includes both red and blue).
One simple solution is just to assign each class a color or color combination and say 'there you go, that's your color'. So a paladin changes his power source from 'divine' to 'white mana'. A warlock uses black and red, maybe with a bit of blue.
Another choice is to mostly drop the class strucutre. Have a player choose their homeland, which will determine their starting color, and they can choose a class, but this includes only a class's starting features, not power selection (you can figure out on your own what to do with the warlock pacts . . . )
From there, players can choose any power from any class as long as it matches their starting color. As a character travels and levels up, he may bond with land other than his homeland, potentially granting him access to other colors. Thus, maybe once per level a character can choose a few new 'lands' to bond to, and they can then gain the option to potentially learn a certain number of powers of their new land's color (restricted to the normal power-learning levels, of course).
Some other options you could use:
· In addition to the color restriction, you may only learn powers from your class's role (defender, leader, controller, striker), or perhaps one other. So, if you started off 'paladin', you get defender automatically and perhaps choose striker as your alternate, allowing you access to white powers (if you chose white) from the paladin, fighter, ranger, rogue and warlock classes. At this point there aren't always going to be a lot of options for colors from every class, but hopefully forthcoming classes and power books will expand it.
· You may also choose to free up ability score restrictions to support a player's power selection options from multiple classes. Maybe allow them a primary 'physical' score, and a primary 'mental' score for powers from their primary role, and a secondary 'physical' and 'mental' score for powers from their secondary role. This way they could focus on their primary role in both physical and mental capacities, or both their primary role (in a physical or mental way) and their secondary one (also choosing between physical or mental).
· I'm not sure what to do with martial. One option is to make these powers red or green; a lot of the warlord healing stuff could be white. Some rogue powers could be black or blue (for the tricky utilities). Or you could make them colorless and allow access mana-free (with the usual role restrictions in place). Or just let the players make their cases to gain access to these powers. You could also slightly modify each power (as you needed to, case-by-case) to add a flavor of a color of mana to it, perhaps by describing a fighter's regeneration power to be plant healing power, making it green. Change a ranger's twin strike to bolts of fire and make it red. The fighter's comeback strike could be white, green, or even black with a vampiric energy-drain description.
Any thoughts or stuff to add?
~ fissionessence
One simple solution is just to assign each class a color or color combination and say 'there you go, that's your color'. So a paladin changes his power source from 'divine' to 'white mana'. A warlock uses black and red, maybe with a bit of blue.
Another choice is to mostly drop the class strucutre. Have a player choose their homeland, which will determine their starting color, and they can choose a class, but this includes only a class's starting features, not power selection (you can figure out on your own what to do with the warlock pacts . . . )
From there, players can choose any power from any class as long as it matches their starting color. As a character travels and levels up, he may bond with land other than his homeland, potentially granting him access to other colors. Thus, maybe once per level a character can choose a few new 'lands' to bond to, and they can then gain the option to potentially learn a certain number of powers of their new land's color (restricted to the normal power-learning levels, of course).
Some other options you could use:
· In addition to the color restriction, you may only learn powers from your class's role (defender, leader, controller, striker), or perhaps one other. So, if you started off 'paladin', you get defender automatically and perhaps choose striker as your alternate, allowing you access to white powers (if you chose white) from the paladin, fighter, ranger, rogue and warlock classes. At this point there aren't always going to be a lot of options for colors from every class, but hopefully forthcoming classes and power books will expand it.
· You may also choose to free up ability score restrictions to support a player's power selection options from multiple classes. Maybe allow them a primary 'physical' score, and a primary 'mental' score for powers from their primary role, and a secondary 'physical' and 'mental' score for powers from their secondary role. This way they could focus on their primary role in both physical and mental capacities, or both their primary role (in a physical or mental way) and their secondary one (also choosing between physical or mental).
· I'm not sure what to do with martial. One option is to make these powers red or green; a lot of the warlord healing stuff could be white. Some rogue powers could be black or blue (for the tricky utilities). Or you could make them colorless and allow access mana-free (with the usual role restrictions in place). Or just let the players make their cases to gain access to these powers. You could also slightly modify each power (as you needed to, case-by-case) to add a flavor of a color of mana to it, perhaps by describing a fighter's regeneration power to be plant healing power, making it green. Change a ranger's twin strike to bolts of fire and make it red. The fighter's comeback strike could be white, green, or even black with a vampiric energy-drain description.
Any thoughts or stuff to add?
~ fissionessence
