Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 7795984" data-attributes="member: 79141">As we head into the final phase of the adventure path, I thought I would pause to consider our line-up one last time, talk about their mechanical development, and say a few words that might help to clarify how the team works together.  I very much hope there won’t be any changes between now and the end of the campaign, and that this will be the unit right up to the final battle, but I feel like I ought to touch wood even saying that.Here’s a quick synopsis of how each character works, including the special ‘shifts’ that make them particularly ‘epic tier’ in a specific area.  For those of you familiar with Cypher System, it is worth noting that each character had a primary and a secondary focus from the outset, and each character recently developed a third.NB: This post is very geeky, not narrative at all, so advise you to skip it if you’re not interested in ‘crunch’.King Baldrey. I still call him Korrigan and so do his unit. His leadership powers (granting attacks, re-rolls and other bonuses), and suite of planar manifestations (completed through contact with Kai) have recently been augmented by psionic abilities (mainly telepathy, but one or two other non-aggressive forms).  These slowly developed through his time with the gith, travels with Uriel, and the use of Ottavia Sacerdote’s headband.  But they really blossomed once gidim energies flooded the world following the Great Eclipse.  His player wanted to move Korrigan in a direction that established him firmly as more brain than brawn.  His three shifts are in leadership, meaning attacks granted by him are much easier.  (A house rule allows him to grant attack bonuses derived from the Rites of Rulership to his allies.) Korrigan is a Yerasol Veteran who draws his core abilities from both the warrior and speaker type, with many bespoke powers translated from the 4E warlord, and the Monument of War paragon path. He also has one or two paladin-like powers derived from an early character development that saw him adopt the interpretation of Triegenes as written by William Miller (which, prophetically, turned out to be the exact, true meaning of Triegenes’ teachings as revealed in his autobiography).  Tellingly, Korrigan is able to wield a Holy Avenger.  (To my mind, a bit like Cap lifting Mjolnir.)Uru. In 4E, Uru had the highest skill bonus of any of the characters, in stealth.  In Cypher System he has three shifts in stealth, and in the damage inflicted by attacks made while hidden – the consummate assassin. On top of that, his mastery of poison-use grants huge spike damage to a single target, though he is usually too distracted to keep this up for more than a couple of rounds.  Uru also has a shift in speed. As a technologist, Uru has impressive mechanical know-how. His primary weapon is a shuriken crossbow he designed himself. He can even take control of enemy constructs from a distance (though he doesn’t use that power much; until recently he didn’t have the mental reserves).  His most recent development has been the ability to interact with spirits, particularly in the urban environment (becoming an Urban Empath for story reasons). His feral mind has grown in tandem.  Once the campaign is over, he’ll become a fey titan, but other than a growth of 4” in height, there haven’t been any mechanical consequences of this.  Uru’s constant companion is Little Jack, a spidery contraption inhabited by the soul of a dead boy.  Then there are Winkin’, Blinkin’ & Nod – three lost souls who he rescued from the Bleak Gate and act as mage hands – and an entire ghostly entourage granted by Vicemi Terio’s bracelet. Rumdoom. Rumdoom’s shifts are in endurance.  He didn’t really need the help, as his primary Cypher System focus was Never Says Die.  But now he has three additional recovery rolls which trigger all sorts of bonuses when he uses them.  Rumdoom’s defences are fairly good, but he absorbs damage like a sponge and can shrug off most negative conditions one way or another.  He commands ice powers, thanks to his mastery of eschatological runes, giving him powerful AOE attacks when he needs them, but mostly he just hits things with his hammer.  And now his hammer is the Stone of Not, which insta-kills anything under 10th level.  (Translation: Cypher System only goes up to 10, except in ‘epic’ or ‘supers’ games, when it goes up to 15.  The titans were all level 12, for example.  Many of the foes in the Gyre are L10 or 11.)  The Stone of Not may also have other undiscovered properties. Rumdoom’s mastery of the rune of destruction has also led to him becoming a Logos, able to affect the world around him with his words.  Those same runes also grant him control of ice magic (derived from the Cypher focus Wears a Sheen of Ice). As the Herald of the Icy End, Rumdoom is idolised by a religious cult (a reskinned Idolised By Millions), granting him a loyal retinue, including the deep faen shaman Wuzwaz, Bhalu, Thurgid Ironspoon (his loyal retainer and bagman) and, last but not least, his wife and shieldbearer, Hildegaard.  Fun fact: Rumdoom was a sapper during the Fourth Yerasol War and is also a dab hand with munitions.Leon.  Perfect mastery of the artful teleport makes encounter design quite tricky.  I have to make sure there is a reason to stay and fight, or the group can simply vanish.  Leon has other tricks up his sleeve.  He’s a martial scientist, for one, and was trained in the eladrin art of the spellsword by Kasvarina herself, enabling him to wield the Dreaming Blade very effectively.  Leon’s shifts are in curses; debilitating foes is his stock in trade.  Shifts help him land these hexes on high level foes.  Leon is also a member of the Unseen Court, and thus a master of dream-magic and illusions, undetectable and invisible at will.  The Wayfarer’s Lantern rounds out his arsenal.  I’m always glad to see this flavourful item in use, and Leon feels like the ideal person to wield it.  Entire encounters often turn on imaginative solutions thought up by Leon, or some quick-thinking manipulation of the battlefield.  But he has to work hard to keep the enemy at bay, as he really is an archetypal glass cannon.  Quital’s Silksteel Mantel helps with this, as do his own reactive teleports. Leon combines the Spits Curses, Awakens Dreams and Masters a Weapon foci.Uriel has several ‘builds’ at his disposal, thanks to his numerous incarnations.  We designed this so that he has a core of abilities that define him, and a whole raft of options he can port in as and when.  This means that whatever gap emerges in the line-up (due to absence, or an unusual encounter type) Uriel can often fill that gap by drawing on one of his past lives.  This makes him something of a Swiss-army knife, but not an over-powered one, as none of his optional builds make him better in a specific area than another member of the team; except perhaps when it comes to AOE effects which, in any case, were always his forte (as Malthusius was a 4E invoker). Uriel can only access a certain number of builds at any one time.  In system parlance, he has a range of foci to choose from, but has permanent access to the rarefied focus ‘Transcends the Human’.   What is nice about this is, the way he is played – so down-to-earth in most respects – you wouldn’t know that he is on the path to becoming a higher form of life.  Gupta has shifts in the prowess of her tiger form, and in her ability to land the Ask A Question power, which is very effective indeed – causing foes to become bemused for a round while they try to contemplate it. This power is derived from her Wonders focus, which reflects a kind of awe and curiosity and growing understanding of the magical world. She also has a lot of ways to boost her allies, from her Provides Support focus, and her Speaker ‘class’ (or, in Cypher parlance, her ‘type’).  A curious admixture of the esoteric and mundane. Of course, she is also a weretiger, having accepted the Blessing of Hewanharimau in the form of a love-bite from Sokana Rel. (And the reskinned Howls at the Moon focus.) This change was problematic to begin with, but now Gupta has mastered her lycanthropy and does not change unless she wishes to (or have a hunger for flesh that must be satiated).  Having been an honorary Docker for years thanks to her family connections, Gupta has finally taken the plunge and become a Vekeshi Mystic.  Her singular devotion to righting the wrongs done to the eladrin people have caused her to embrace the path of the Vekeshi Excoriant, one which she is developing even now, as they travel the graveyard of the multiverse, and will no doubt lead to a satisfying apotheosis on Ascetia.  One of my favourite, serendipitous moments recently was her player’s fascination with the lighthouse.Quratulain is a terrifying combat monster.  Every military unit needs one. She is nigh-on impervious, with crazy defences and ridiculous armour.  Her Calculates the Incalculable focus grants her bonuses to attack and defence; Fuses Flesh and Steel makes her hard as nails.  While Rumdoom can absorb damage, Quratulain can resist it.  In Cypher parlance she has deep pools and high edge in all of her traits, meaning she can keep going pretty relentlessly (though fighting at high levels takes its toll even on her).  She has melee abilities from her warrior type, and ranged abilities from her Carries a Blaster focus (which translates the Gunsmith theme very neatly, in allowing her to craft ammunition and guns).  Alden Wondermaker, the Clockwork King, has souped her up further with lightweight armour, rocket boots and a skeletal mask incorporating the firesight eye.  She also carries the Nok Gun, and a small arsenal of lesser firearms, in her Coat of the Genteel Butcher. Bonkers!  Of all the characters, Q is the only one who isn’t balanced, in the sense that, when I originally ported the 4E characters over to Cypher System, I was at pains to ensure that the abilities they gained from one focus didn’t stack with another.  By the time Quratulain joined the campaign, it was more important that her prowess be evident to the party, so I lifted that restriction because at this level, it’s a drop in the ocean of bonuses.  Her shifts are in accuracy and speed.</blockquote>

Verification