Traditions / Careers

[Atom Mlatom]

Forgive me if this has already been answered elsewhere, but I am on primitive 3g and too impatient to wait until I can get home to a desktop browser for efficient searching.

I adore the careers system for character building. It's an extremely effective way of giving your stat block a story behind the mumbers.

To that end, I am really hoping the finished product will have a much larger selection of said choices (especially for people too casual to make up their own)? With the current lot, I have occasionally run into sticky dead ends that don't quite fit the character I'm trying to build.

 

[Sniperfox47]

To that end, I am really hoping the finished product will have a much larger selection of said choices (especially for people too casual to make up their own)? With the current lot, I have occasionally run into sticky dead ends that don't quite fit the character I'm trying to build.

Even if the full books don't add many more careers/traditions you're in luck! Morrus has already said that he plans to encourage third party supplements and it's likely that someone will develop a tradition to suit your purposes, whether it be first party, third party, or homebrew.

That being said it's impossible to include every career/tradition that anybody could possible want for a character in the main rulebook, so I would think whether he includes more will likely depend largely on how much free space he has to play with.

 

[TiwazTyrsfist]

Well, this seems like as good a place as any to throw out my first attempt at creating a new Tradition.
Built from the concept of blood magic and not inspired at all by any characters from Dragon Age nope totally not at all no sirree bob (okay a little)

(okay maybe quite a bit)

Anyway, Blood Mage, Mrk I

Blood Mage 1d6 years

Prerequisites – End 4+, Any 1 elemental spell list, Special (trauma)

Spell list options: Effect: Blood(special) Action: Abjure, Create, Evoke, Infuse, Move, Transform

A Blood Mage rarely sets out to become such a thing. It is, rather, the result of some physical or emotional trauma, directly caused by a lack of power, or more specifically MP. Whether it was a bodily wound taken because she lacked the mp to cast a defensive spell, or the death of someone he could have healed if he’d just had more spell casting power left, some trauma left the blood mage with the soul deep certainty in one thing, that sometimes magic power is worth more than their own bodily safety, or even life.

End +1, Mag +2, Rep -1 Dagger, Creation, Evoking, Intimidation, Anatomy, Blood Letting

I. When casting a spell with the Blood element, you may spend your HP as MP at a 2:1 ratio, for example self-inflicting 4 damage instead of paying 2 MP.

II. Once per day as an act of desperation you may roll you End pool, losing that many HP and gaining the same amount of MP. You CAN kill yourself doing this, so be careful. You May choose to roll fewer dice, likewise both Blood Letting and Anatomy can be applied to this roll as skills (if you really want to die…)

III. Your MP cap for spell lists with the Blood element increases by 1 (to 6) though you still cannot exceed your total spell MP cap (Mag or 20 whichever is lower)

IV. When you meditate or study to regain your MP for the day, you may enact a ritual blood letting to sacrifice health for power. For the rest of the day, your End score is 1 lower, and your Mag score is 1 higher. This alters your derived stats (HP and MP) as well as your MP cap for spells, etc.

V. You may now freely spend you HP as MP, at a 1 to 1 ratio.

Blood as an element. Blood spell effects are essentially a Palette Swap on Ooze. The Evoke side effects, the Creation rules, etc, all use the rules for the Ooze element, as should any elemental association/conflict rules. The only changes are aesthetic, in that Blood elemental effects leave a slick coating of Blood rather than Slime. Blood conjured/created/evoked thus looks, smells, and tastes just like human blood (why are you tasting it?! Stop!) though like any other magically conjured element it goes away at the end of the spells duration. Though, Create Blood I/Create Death III would allow you to keep a Vampire or other blood drinking undead fed at little danger.

So, thoughts, adjustment suggestions (alter stat block, move powers around, Nerf of buff a given power, simply cut out a power and tradition rank, etc)?

 

[LucasC]

To that end, I am really hoping the finished product will have a much larger selection of said choices (especially for people too casual to make up their own)?

Morrus has indicated in a couple diff. threads over the last few months that he has lots more to do w/careers - I imagine that will include making more.

With the current lot, I have occasionally run into sticky dead ends that don't quite fit the character I'm trying to build.

You could probably help him by indicating which types of character / career combos fell short.

 

[Morrus]

Well, this seems like as good a place as any to throw out my first attempt at creating a new Tradition.
Built from the concept of blood magic and not inspired at all by any characters from Dragon Age nope totally not at all no sirree bob (okay a little)

(okay maybe quite a bit)

Anyway, Blood Mage, Mrk I

Blood Mage 1d6 years

Prerequisites – End 4+, Any 1 elemental spell list, Special (trauma)

Spell list options: Effect: Blood(special) Action: Abjure, Create, Evoke, Infuse, Move, Transform

A Blood Mage rarely sets out to become such a thing. It is, rather, the result of some physical or emotional trauma, directly caused by a lack of power, or more specifically MP. Whether it was a bodily wound taken because she lacked the mp to cast a defensive spell, or the death of someone he could have healed if he’d just had more spell casting power left, some trauma left the blood mage with the soul deep certainty in one thing, that sometimes magic power is worth more than their own bodily safety, or even life.

End +1, Mag +2, Rep -1 Dagger, Creation, Evoking, Intimidation, Anatomy, Blood Letting

I. When casting a spell with the Blood element, you may spend your HP as MP at a 2:1 ratio, for example self-inflicting 4 damage instead of paying 2 MP.

II. Once per day as an act of desperation you may roll you End pool, losing that many HP and gaining the same amount of MP. You CAN kill yourself doing this, so be careful. You May choose to roll fewer dice, likewise both Blood Letting and Anatomy can be applied to this roll as skills (if you really want to die…)

III. Your MP cap for spell lists with the Blood element increases by 1 (to 6) though you still cannot exceed your total spell MP cap (Mag or 20 whichever is lower)

IV. When you meditate or study to regain your MP for the day, you may enact a ritual blood letting to sacrifice health for power. For the rest of the day, your End score is 1 lower, and your Mag score is 1 higher. This alters your derived stats (HP and MP) as well as your MP cap for spells, etc.

V. You may now freely spend you HP as MP, at a 1 to 1 ratio.

Blood as an element. Blood spell effects are essentially a Palette Swap on Ooze. The Evoke side effects, the Creation rules, etc, all use the rules for the Ooze element, as should any elemental association/conflict rules. The only changes are aesthetic, in that Blood elemental effects leave a slick coating of Blood rather than Slime. Blood conjured/created/evoked thus looks, smells, and tastes just like human blood (why are you tasting it?! Stop!) though like any other magically conjured element it goes away at the end of the spells duration. Though, Create Blood I/Create Death III would allow you to keep a Vampire or other blood drinking undead fed at little danger.

So, thoughts, adjustment suggestions (alter stat block, move powers around, Nerf of buff a given power, simply cut out a power and tradition rank, etc)?

Marvellous! Don't hesitate to create new elements. It's awesome that you did so!

This is a thing I could see in the core rule book. Flavourful and distinctive. Exactly what a tradition should be!

 

[Atom Mlatom]

You could probably help him by indicating which types of character / career combos fell short.

Hmm. I will respond with more detailed evaluations soon, but for one example it's hard to say whether the problem is really a problem or just something that takes a little player imagination to solve.

For a "high goblin" (custom race) who was intended to be built as an assassin, it seemed like I had peculiar options. In this case, I wasn't planning on a "criminal" type background. He was an assassin because his authorities valued him as such. What I was looking for was like a military / Spartan schooling kind of background, and what I ended up choosing was Page/Squire/Knight/Assassin/Assassin. The wording just seemed funny and, to some extent, perhaps the skills and ATT perks offered, just because this was a character from a culture you would not normally envision using those Tradition titles.

That being said, I think the character still turned out pretty cool and even a little outside of the box of what I would have rubber stamped as a beastie assassin. (another great benefit of the Career system)

 

[Sniperfox47]

Hmm. I will respond with more detailed evaluations soon, but for one example it's hard to say whether the problem is really a problem or just something that takes a little player imagination to solve.

For a "high goblin" (custom race) who was intended to be built as an assassin, it seemed like I had peculiar options. In this case, I wasn't planning on a "criminal" type background. He was an assassin because his authorities valued him as such. What I was looking for was like a military / Spartan schooling kind of background, and what I ended up choosing was Page/Squire/Knight/Assassin/Assassin. The wording just seemed funny and, to some extent, perhaps the skills and ATT perks offered, just because this was a character from a culture you would not normally envision using those Tradition titles.

That being said, I think the character still turned out pretty cool and even a little outside of the box of what I would have rubber stamped as a beastie assassin. (another great benefit of the Career system)

I look at the names of traditions being generic titles that get refluffed based on the character, unlike a system like D&D where you're given a starting fluff that you're guided into building your character towards. Just as the mage tradition says that they're sometimes known as sorcerers, wizards, warlocks, ect. the Page, Squire, and Knight traditions, at least to me, seem as more generic titles, and it's up to you how they fit into your backstory (based on your setting's culture).