Eclipse – Sample Races, Templates, and Characters Update

Posted on March 15, 2018 by Thoth

Here, at last, is an updated index to all the Eclipse-Style Races, Templates, Power Packages, and Sample Characters on the blog.I’m going to sticky this and try to keep it reasonably current from now on.

If you’re building a character, the usual sequence will be Race – Template (if any) – Basic Build, so that’s how this is organized. If you’re looking for “how-to” information, next up is the level-by-level class breakdowns and the general power-package information and examples. After that, for inspiration, swiping power packages from, and use in other games, comes the sample higher-level characters.

Character Creation and System Primer

Sample Races:

Sample Templates:

Eclipse Pathfinder:

Eclipse handles Pathfinder just fine – so here are Eclipse breakdowns for Pathfinder –Basics and Races and the class breakdowns for the  Alchemist, Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer and Summoner. The sample characters are pretty much all compatible with Pathfinder; if they don’t already have the Pathfinder Package Deal from Basics and Races simply add +2 to an attribute and +3 to their skills.

Sample Level One Character Builds:

Level-by-Level Class Breakdowns:

General Build Information and Power Packages:

Sample High-Level Characters:

. . Note that these characters were generally built for particular campaigns, and so are sometimes built using campaign-specific variants – usually a price break on especially-relevant abilities. These are covered in the Campaign Sheets for the relevant campaigns – Federation-Apocalypse Campaign, Ironwinds Campaign, Atheria Campaign, Twilight Isles Campaign, and Darkweird Campaign.

Level Two Sample Characters:

Level Three Sample Characters:

Level Four Sample Characters:

Level Five Sample Characters:

Level Six Sample Characters:

Level Seven Sample Characters:

Level Eight Sample Characters:

Higher Level Sample Characters:

Level Ten and Twenty Breakdowns:

Alzrius has also put up quite a few Eclipse characters on his Intelligence Check blog – including quite a few interpretations of popular characters from a variety of sources. Pretty much all of them are written up for Pathfinder, and usually use the Pathfinder Package Deal.

  • Rinoa, from Final Fantasy via Dead Fantasy, a powerful 15’th level spellcaster – along with the Hyne Witch template and a discussion of many of the other characters.
  • Pyrrha Nikos, a 7th-level Huntress-in-training, along with statistics for Vytal Humans, three Martial Arts, and some world background and discussion.
  • Sharalia, a Level One Fire Dancer – a character who controls flame through dance.
  • A 20’th level breakdown for an Antimage –  a “class” that specializes in negating the powers of dangerous spellcasters.
  • The Maedar – a racial template breakdown for a male medusa.
  • Sailor Saturn – a fragile young woman from the Sailor Moon anime with some exceptionally over-the-top powers.
  • Scorpion from Mortal Kombat, written up at the peak of his powers – along with the Netherrealm Ghost template and three Martial Arts.
  • Sam Winchester, a level three paranormal investigator from the Supernatural television series.
  • Varek, a Level Six Cleric with some support abilities.
  • Abraham Lincoln, Level Twelve Civil Warrior of the United States of America – with a touch of Vampire Hunter and including his Martial Art.
  • Agent Spin – a Second Level Elite Beat Agent who gets sent… to encourage people in trouble.
  • Gargamel, a First Level Incompetent Ritualist and Bumbler – perhaps fortunately, without statistics for Smurfs.
  • Spinnerette, a Level Five Spider-Style Superheroine/
  • Malecite, a Level Ten Villainous Mage from Suburban Knights, along with Malecite’s Hand, a vastly powerful relic and various new spells.
  • Dirk Markson, a Level One Dark Witch – and possible hero.
  • Barney Stinson (Scroll Down), a Level One Sitcom Inhabitant – from How I Met Your Mother.

Alzrius’s Eclipse d20 Ponies:

Alzrius built his ponies so as to fit into “standard” d20 games – whereas I used the “Superheroic” world template because it would allow my builds to reproduce the things that the ponies did on the show. Of course, that means that my builds will only work well in games based on the assumptions of Equestria; they won’t do so well in basic games. For those, courtesy of Alzrius, we have…

  • The Pony Races:  Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns.
  • The Elements of Harmony:  Built as Eclipse Relics.
  • Rarity:  Starting off the series at level one! Commentary: Using the Elements of Harmony to cover the characters occasional incredible stunts.
  • Princess Celestia: As she generally appears on the show – as a ninth-level mentor-type who explains why she can’t handle things.
  • Adagio of the Sirens: Unreformed, still at large, and needing only an enchanted gem to make a comeback.
  • Lex Legis (And his Picture): Alzrius’s original character – and a very “gray” potential opponent.
  • Notes on Zecora: A discussion of just how much power – or lack thereof – is needed to build Zecora. Comments: My take on Zebras.
  • The Journal of the Two Sisters – and lapses in logic therein. Comments: Unicorn populations and birthrates, basic demographics – and why the “Unicorns losing their magic” story makes no sense in any terms.
  • Iliana, the Ponyfinder Queen: An examination of how to use Eclipse to customize – and slightly upgrade – a Ponyfinder queen to fit her history.
  • Lashtada, Ponyfinder Goddess:  As set up using The Primal Order for second edition.
  • Sonata Dusk: As appearing in his Fanfiction.
  • A Magical Medieval Society: Equestria: Building equestrian society using “A Magical Medieval Society”.
  • Baby Got Backlash: Flurry Heart and Magical Surges
  • Tempest Shadow: The movie antagonist escapes into d20, rather than remaining to face the friendship

Filed under: Announcements | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Latest Material Index

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Thoth

Continue reading →

Filed under: Announcements | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Latest Material Index

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Thoth

Continue reading →

Filed under: Background, Campaign Log, Character Sheets, d20, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Latest Material Index

Posted on December 28, 2010 by Thoth

. It’s once again time to get the latest material index updated and to transfer the material from the old one to the main index tabs at the top of the page. If you want the very latest material, it may be necessary to either scroll down or consult the “Recent Posts” listing-widget on the lower right. The previous Latest Materials Index can be found HERE and – for those who like to rummage at random – the full post-by-post index can be found occupying a great deal of space in the lower right column.

. Eclipse Classless d20 Character Construction Cribsheet / Sample Character List – Character Creation Primer – Compiled Martial Arts.

. Subindexes: RPG Design – Twilight Isles – Battletech – Champions – d20 – Legend of the Five Rings – Shadowrun – White Wolf – Other Games – Battling Business World – Star Wars

. Cumulative General Index. Continue reading →

Filed under: Announcements | Tagged: , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Occult Skills of Modun – Eclipse d20

Posted on April 14, 2024 by Thoth

And for today it’s a selection of Occult Skills from Modun – where such things are almost as common as actual spellcasting. As usual, characters can use the “Occult Skill” ability to take them elsewhere, but may find those that rely on local conditions aren’t a lot of use. It’s all very well to know about the marvelous things that can be done with Stygium – or, for that matter, “Element Zero” – but if there isn’t any to be found in the local setting that knowledge probably won’t do you much good. As for Modun itself…

No one knows the true form of the Puppeteers. Given that – even in the first age, when the greater magics were available and gods still answered – no one ever found and passed on that secret it may well be one of those things that damages mortal minds or is inherently unknowable, or cannot be understood in three dimensions, or draws the attention of eldritch horrors, or some such thing.

Their Marionettes or “Dolls” – spirit-possessed articulated ceramic constructs (suspected to incorporate the ground bones of intelligent beings) with psionic abilities – are much better known. They aren’t necessarily humanoid, but they are almost always small or medium sized, often possess built-in weapons, and – in the case of infiltrators and spies – often disguise themselves with psychoactive skins.

There aren’t many records from before the first Doll Invasion, but what there is tells of an primarily or entirely elven civilization, spread across Modun. There were disturbances of course – monsters, disasters, things from outside, quarreling gods, and possibly even colonies of other races – but for the most part it was a peaceful time.

The first Doll Invasion wrought havoc across the world. It was repelled in the end, but whatever was used to do it did catastrophic damage to the structure of the planes around Modun and to the laws of both Magic and Psionics. Whatever that was, even the folks who lived through it cannot remember it clearly.

  • The Gods are said to send dreams and messages on occasion, but they no longer empower their worshipers. Divine Magic – and most high-end healing – no longer exists. Undead, as well as positive and negative channeling (albeit with some limits) do, and – sadly – are harder to stop without high-end divine magic about.
  • Effects of levels 1-3 work well enough. Those of levels 4-6 must be supported by both skill and mana – one point for each level beyond three – to “fill in the cracks” in their magical structure, and cannot be augmented further by mana or other effects. Effects of level 7 and up are simply beyond salvage, regardless of the would-be users skill and power.
  • The maze of fractured dimensions around Modun blocks magic meant to access other dimensions. Temporary constructs based on local patterns or built of elemental energy may be “summoned” (and occasional beings from outside reach Modun through the maze), but you can’t actually summon monsters, readily jump to other planes, resurrect long departed spirits, or teleport even if the effect you’re using can be gotten to work in the first place.
  • Modun became something of a trap. While occasional planar travelers arrived, few could find ways to depart – and so occasional powerful entities were dumped on it, various groups found themselves becoming involuntary colonists, and a variety of dangerously invasive creatures had to be dealt with instead of being banished. Many races may have arrived during this period, although some may have simply been less prominent earlier. The records are too fragmentary for anyone to know.
  • The elves and several other magic-sensitive races – exposed to various regions distinctive wild magic – split into numerous subraces.
  • It is not uncommon for the spirits of the dead to hang around until someone shows them how to get out through the dimensional labyrinth that surrounds Modun. Most cities and towns have a ritual celebration set up for that purpose every three to six months, although it is not uncommon for spirits to hang around for a few years or decades to say goodbye or to do what little they can to look after their families or to pass on knowledge that they value and fear will be forgotten.

The Second Doll Invasion mostly used humans – from a variety of realms – as proxy troops. Evidently whatever route they found to get in wasn’t large or stable enough to get large numbers of troops out again. The people of Modun managed to break the humans free of Doll control and – in company with their new allies – ran the Dolls off again, although it is likely that some hid if they could not find a way out.

Today, humans are becoming the most populous species, if not necessarily the most dominant – and while it still isn’t clear what the Puppeteers WANT, it is pretty commonly accepted that – sooner or later – Modun will face a third Doll Invasion.

Magic, however, always finds a way to express itself. The scattered shards of it’s structure have birthed a remarkable number of exotic skills that tap into it – allowing many of Modun’s folk fairly easy access to what would be Occult Skills elsewhere. Of course, none of them can be used unskilled and many might be weaker elsewhere, where less random magic is about.

Nevertheless, a great deal of Modun’s magic / psionics is derived from exotic skills, rather than from active spellcasting or the use of powers. They aren’t terribly consistent either; just as some types of magic are more useful, versatile, and powerful than others, so are some of the skills.

Akhasic Correspondent (Cha): This bizarre skill makes the user a wandering reporter for the Akhasic Halls, wherein are stored the lore of the minds of the world. What makes this different from any other broad-based “bardic lore” skill is that it also allows the user to “publish” to the world at large, causing his or her tales to become known to all and sundry, although this is limited by the level of the skill (making a tale known to the entire world has an extremely high DC). Finally the user may go on “deep dives”, seeking out ancient formula, and secrets, and more – although this risks disturbing or attracting the attention of ancient spirits and entities linked to that lore. Searching out the True Name of some terrible entity is not a safe activity… Unfortunately, the price of this power is being the voice of exposition, a deliverer of unwelcome news or prophecies to the powerful, and receiving occasional “assignments” to report on something obscure.

Astrology (Wis) is akin to divination or crystal-gazing rather than mathematics. It allows the user to sense the currents of destiny flowing from the future into the past, to “ride” and “channel” them to some extent, and to garner hints of major future events. This is reasonably common across Modun.

  • Active fate manipulation allows the user to slightly twist his or her personal fate. The user gains a number of “Fate Points” equal to his or her skill bonus after spending a day studying the currents of fate and may spend them as per Action Hero (Heroism Option). Of course, as he or she tweaks fate in this way, the future will eventually become too blurred to read and will have to be studied again.
  • Looking at an individuals fate requires several hours and allows the user to try and garner information about a creature from afar with a base DC of 5 (Known name, time, and place of birth), 10 (short one item), 20 (short two), and 40 (short all three) – gaining one useful piece of information on a success and one more for every five points by which he or she exceeds the DC.
  • Catching glimpses of future events requires some hours of work. The DC depends on the scale of the event, how likely it is to come to pass, how far in the future it is, and how much interference is being run by other powers. Each five points by which the user exceeds the DC will provide one more bit of useful information.
  • Anyone with even a single rank in Astrology will always know when the sun will rise and set, as well as planetary motions, and similar – a consequence of the short (by planetary standards) timescale and effective inevitability of such events – as well as the lack of interference. It is generally assumed that it is this effect which provided the name.

Briar Prince Of A Thousand Enemies (Cha): The story has been told a thousand times; there are factions, intrigues, and complex plots lying in wait, mysteries to decipher, innocents to rescue, and groups to aid. There is wealth, status, and influence to be had… and the player characters roll into town, buy a few items, and set the place on fire on the way out. A character with the Briar Prince skill may be a member of some widespread secret organization, be easily recognized by city spirits, or may have passed through before – but they have connections, are owed favors, and have local contacts. They also have local enemies, are the topic of various rumors and stories, and may have obligations or owe favors. Upon arrival in a settlement the user may, in consultation with the game master, “spend” a number of CP equal to his or her Briar Prince bonus on Contacts, Favors, Guises, Privileges, Reputation, Specific Knowledges, and even Favored Foe/Enemy abilities relevant to the locality – but every six points worth of benefits will come with a locally-relevant Disadvantage determined by the game master. The skill can be rolled when specific local details are needed to make a particular role work.

Clockwork Engineering (Int): This occult art allows it’s practitioners to construct “Steampunk” devices, receiving a number of points equal to their skill total to invest in various devices – making things that really shouldn’t work practical Unfortunately, the chaotic nature of Modun’s fractured magic makes things a bit unpredictable at times – and the more points invested in a device, the more materials it will require and the larger it will turn out to be. This is most common amongst the Gnomes.

  • Sample Devices: Steam Wheel Bicycle (fast but prone to crashes, 4 Pts), Steam Pistol (3-5 Pts, Light / Heavy), Piston Staff (2-3, Str 20/24), Sleeve Grapnel Launcher/Rewinder (50′ Range, 3 Pts), Steam Launcher (As per Launch Bolt, 12 shots, 2 Pts), Jetpack (8 Pts), Explosive Launch Boots (2 Pts, very hazardous), Zeppelin (24), Optics Helmet (Magnification/Telescopic, +4, 2 Pts), Blowtorch (1 Pt), Pocket Watch (1 Pt), Astrolabe (2 Pts), Orrery (3 Pts), Helm of Underwater Action (6 Pts), Steam Cart (4 Pts).
  • It can also be rolled in an opposed skill check to try and figure out what someone else’s Clockwork Device is supposed to do (or to sabotage a Clockwork Device), to try and repair damaged Clockwork Devices, and – for some reason – to tune musical instruments and work on mundane clocks.
  • Building a characters personal supply of Clockwork Devices generally requires a day of work in a reasonable workspace, with tools, and sufficient raw materials. Note that these are personal; they will stop working once the character invests their Clockwork Engineering “points” in something else – and sometimes if the user isn’t around to tend to them for too long.
  • Clockwork Engineers can work in groups of three or seven to undertake major projects – whether that is three minor engineers who are cooperating on an engine for a riverboat or seven high-level geniuses throwing hundreds of points into building a starfaring clockwork battleship to fight off a spelljammer invasion.

Cool (Cha): Some folk just don’t get flustered. They always look good, they are confident, they pay little attention to anyone else’s opinions or expectations, they always have a laconic or ironic comment ready, they are invited everywhere, they live the good life, and they have various hangers-on. They have style on the level of a supernatural attribute. They have one of the most coveted attributes known to the teenagers of the multiverse. They are COOL.

  • Style: Roll to make sure that – no matter if you are covered in mud, or recently tarred and feathered – you make it look good on you, although the DC goes up as that gets more absurd. Looking like a rugged and handsome fellow who’s clothing was obviously meant to look that way after a days adventuring is about DC 15. Are you gravely wounded and covered in slime? DC 25. Tarred and Feathered? Could be up to DC 35.
  • Props: You may always have a cigarette or sunglasses to take off (DC 5), a sharply-tailored suit on (DC 10), a sidearm up your sleeve (DC 15), have a bottle of good wine and a nice dinner (DC 20), or be riding a handsome horse / fancy motorcycle (DC 25). Where does this stuff come from and where does it go when you’re done? When you are this cool the universe just goes along with it.
  • Lifestyle: Between invitations, guest rooms, dinner parties, and hangers-on, you can live a fine lifestyle in any settlement at no cost. Roll if you wish to gain invitations to specific parties, get services (or sex) from your hangers-on, get treated as an equal by important people, or wish to avoid minor legal consequences or social problems.
  • Charms and Talismans: When the universe likes you, some of your stuff performs way above what is normally possible. For every three points of Cool you can use one Charm (The Practical Enchanter). For every seven points of Cool you can use one Talisman.
  • Too Cool: Up to (Cha Mod + 1, 1 Minimum) times per day you can roll Cool instead of a Will save. If you succeed even secondary effects are negated.

Dance Of A Thousand Forms (Con): The character has learned to use biofeedback to manipulate their internal magic, allowing (initially) subtle shapeshifting: The powers available, of course, depend on the user’s base skill level (Skill Points + Attribute Modifier + Permanent Personal Skill Boosting Feats) but not other skill enhancements.

  • 01) Sense internal changes, such as the actions of parasites, drugs, and toxins.
  • 02) Fool technological “lie detectors”, shift your blood pressure, +2 to Bluff.
  • 03) Alter minor details, such as fingerprints, retinal prints, and scent. This does not yet allow duplication. Control your own fertility, +2 to Intimidate.
  • 04) Alter facial features, a few inches of height, and slightly alter apparent weight and your voice. +2 to Disguise. Gain the equivalent of Endure Elements.
  • 05) Physical shifts equivalent to Disguise Self, copy finger- or retinal-prints, alter scents or skin color within your species range, +5 to Disguise.
  • 06) Copy other voices, freely change your scent and skin color.
  • 07) Gain free use of a specific Aspect Of The (Beast) (The Practical Enchanter) effect (One of the L2 versions that includes Attribute Modifiers).
  • 08) Gain free use of a second L2 Aspect Of The (Beast) effect.
  • 09) Gain free use of a third L2 Aspect Of The (Beast) effect.
  • 10) Gain free use of a fourth L2 Aspect Of The (Beast) effect.
  • 11) Gain free use of a fifth L2 Aspect Of The (Beast) effect.
  • 12) Gain free use of any L2 Aspect Of The (Beast) effect.
  • 13) May freely take on the form of a specific mammalian or reptilian animal of the same basic size.
  • 14) May freely take on the form of a second mammalian or reptilian animal of the same basic size.
  • 15) May freely take on the form of a specific avian, mammalian, or reptilian animal of the same basic size.
  • 16) May freely take on the form of a second specific avian, mammalian, or reptilian animal of the same basic size.
  • 17) May freely take on the forms of animals of similar size.
  • 18) Add Resistance 5 to one form of energy to all shifts.
  • 19) May freely take on the forms of animals of one size class smaller.
  • 20) Add Resistance 5 to one additional form of energy to all shifts.
  • 21) Add Resistance 5 to one additional form of energy to all shifts.
  • 22) Add Resistance 5 to one additional form of energy to all shifts.
  • 23) Add Resistance 5 to one additional form of energy to all shifts.
  • 24) May freely take on the forms of animals of one size class larger.
  • 25) Gain immunity to Lycanthropy.
  • 26) May take an action to revert to normal if Polymorphed or similar.
  • 27) Upgrade all energy resistances to Resistance 10.
  • 28) May breathe underwater regardless of current form.
  • 29) Automatically succeeds on the second and subsequent checks against poisons or diseases.
  • 30) Automatically reverts to normal if Petrified or Polymorphed after 1d4 rounds.

Dance Of A Thousand Forms is fairly powerful – but it’s in the “bunch of modest bonuses” sense. Gain some minor skill bonuses, pick up some options for animal powers (generally some physical attribute bonuses, natural armor, and minor natural weapons), a bit of energy resistance… all that’s USEFUL, but at the levels it comes online they’re mostly moderate boosts for martial types and skill monkeys.

Earthheart Infusion (Str): The hearts of worlds are not earth, or even stone, but great masses of metal, churning in the darkness. From those hearts flow radiation, the decay products of heavy nuclei, magnetism, gravity, heat – and in the more interesting universes, magic. Even high above the surface, the fields flowing from the worlds cores cradle everything in their invisible embrace. But for those few who know the art… those fields can be channeled into the things you touch, imbuing them with some of the properties of the world’s core. This imbuement can be shifted around, but it will require at least an hour of meditation to do so. This is fairly common among Halflings.

  • Continental Drift: Increase the user’s effective size for purposes of bull rush, grappling, and breaking through doors and walls. +1/2/3 sizes for 3/7/12 points.
  • Avalanche Strike: Increase the effective size of a weapon. +1/2/3 sizes for 3/7/12 points.
  • Imbue an Item (Weapon, Armor, Etc) with the useful properties of an exotic prime material plane metal. Most commonly Iron (2), Mithril (4), or Adamant (5). This makes hide armor as effective as platemail, or quickly-carved sticks as effective as swords.
  • Granite Stance: Imbue your clothing or armor with extra mass to gain DR 2/3/5 for 3/7/12 points.
  • Rock Throwing: (Base reliant on user’s size: Small 1d4, Medium 1d6, Large 1d8, in all cases +1 1/2 x Str Mod. +1/2/3 extra base dice for 2/4/8 points.
  • Iron Fortress. Give the walls and doors of a hut, house, or cave the toughness of iron and the resistance of lead to magical passage (4), seal them against incorporeal intrusion (+2).
  • It is also possible to – for example – make a lump of rock very hot, or very magnetic, or extremely heavy – but that tends to be a special-purpose technique.

The Embryonic Pearl (Also known as Opening The Ajna Chakra, The Udjat Eye, and Awakening the Inward Angel) (Wis): This meditative breathing technique focuses the energy of the body on the sixth chakra, the inner eye – eventually awakening it – first to enhanced senses and later on to a quasi-independent assisting consciousness. The abilities available depend on the user’s Base Skill Bonus (Skill Points + Attribute Modifier + Permanent Personal Skill Boosting Abilities).

  • 1-2: The user becomes aware of the flow of mystical energies within his or her body, and may roll to detect the effects of magical or otherwise aspected environments.
  • 3: The user’s Third Eye feeds small amounts of magical power back into his or her system. If a spellcaster the user may recover an expended first level spell once daily.
  • 4: The user may heal 2d8 damage – or inflict that much on undead via a touch as a standard action – 3/Day. He or she also gains a +2 Synergy Bonus on Heal checks.
  • 5: +2 Synergy to Spot and Listen. From this point on the Embryonic Pearl gets it’s own actions and can activate it’s own abilities accordingly. It’s also important to note that it does not sleep.
  • 6: The user gains 60′ Darkvision. The Embryonic Pearl can communicate through images that only the user can see.
  • 7: The user can read all languages.
  • 8: The user now has 120′ Darkvision.
  • 9: Magic Missile at CL 19 3/Day.
  • 10: +2 Competence Bonus to Spot. See Invisible for 10 minutes 1/Day, True Seeing for one minute 1/Day.
  • 11: Force Lance (as per Scorching Ray but force damage, 1/Day at CL 19). Use the user’s BAB and other bonuses.
  • 12: Force Lance is now 2/Day.
  • 13: If you take a moment to contemplate it, you will always know if a given item or short-term action will negatively affect your alignment.
  • 14: +2 Competence Bonus to LIsten, See Invisible and True Seeing are now each 2/Day.
  • 15:: Allows a second chance at a failed Saving Throw 3/Day.
  • 16: Gain a +1 Deflection Bonus to AC, all of the user’s melee attacks now count as Ghost Touch.
  • 17: Gain Endure Elements. You are immune to the Alignment and Positive/Negative traits of planes.
  • 18) 1/day negates confused, dazed, fascinated, or stunned condition for the user.
  • 19: +5 (Unnamed) Bonus to Spot, Immune to being Blinded or Dazzled.
  • 20: Gain continuous Protection From (Alignment of your choice).
  • 21: 3/Day send a Dream or Nightmare to a sleeping creature.
  • 22: Also acts as an Orb Of Mental Renewal.
  • 23: Also acts as a Rod Of Bodily Restoration.
  • 24: Also acts as Dimension Stride Boots.
  • 25: +2 Synergy to Concentration, Retain up to three levels of spells per day.
  • 26: Also functions as a Ring of the Forcewall,
  • 27: Gain Mind Shielding, as the Ring.
  • 28: User need neither eat nor drink and only needs only two hours of sleep per night.
  • 29: Can instantly awaken all allies within 60′. All those affected are immune to fatigue, exhaustion, and sleep effects for ten minutes after being so awoken.
  • 30: Those within 20 feet are unaffected by Fear, Confusion, and Stunning effects.

Firespinning (Dex): This exotic skill allows the user to draw fire into thread, twine, clothlike sheets or nets, and even ropes, suitable for sewing, making self-igniting candle wicks and fuses, embroidery, making warm and waterproof cloaks, climbing, making nets, and more. Spun Fire comes in all the brilliant colors of fire and can be activated to call forth more of fires properties but, sadly, unless it is fairly regularly handled by someone with the Firespinning skill or cleaned/renewed in a fire for a bit, spun fire will gradually fade to the colors of embers and – after a year and a day – dissolve into nothing more than a wisp of warm air. Equally unfortunately, activating the latent energies of spun fire is something of an effort – and so such uses of Firespinning are limited by Skill Fatigue (a temporary reduction in the effective skill total until the user rests). Firespun clothing effectively provides an Endure Elements effect – remaining warm in winter, absorbing heat in summer, and repelling water – is impossible to stain, provides protection from small burns (such as touching a hot pot) through it, and cannot itself be burned – although being underwater or long-term exposure to arctic conditions will eventually start to damage it. While wearing or carrying firespun gear, the following options are open to a skilled firespinner:

  • Unleash Flames, effectively duplicating the effect of a fire-based spell of level 0/1/2/3 at a cost of .1/1/3/7 skill fatigue.
  • Counter an incoming effect with the Fire or Cold descriptor at a cost of one point of skill fatigue per level of the effect.
  • Flame Release returns spun fire to what it once was, in whole or part. This can cause nets of fire-rope to burst into flames (in whole or part), be used to sacrifice a foot or so from the far end of a rope to “untie” it, or be used to reform your firespun wardrobe – although it is advisable to set up some fire resistance first if you are going to do that. Releasing a bit of flame to untie a rope or some such only counts as a Cantrip, but greater uses will count as a first level effect.

Greater Alchemy (Int): This occult knack greatly resembles Clockwork Engineering – granting the user a number of “alchemy points” equal to his or her skill bonus to invest in alchemical items – although doing so requires the use of an alchemical lab and a days work. This is reasonably common across Modun.

  • Potions/Oils/Dusts/Pellets. 1/2/4 points for spell levels 1/2/3.+1 for 3 Doses, +2 for Seven Doses
  • Constructs: CR +2 Points, creator must have more hit dice than any construct so created. Thus, while you can build a Flesh Golem or “Frankenstein”, you’d need to be at least tenth level to do so.
  • Transmutation is possible, but laborious. An alchemist can garner a number of gold pieces per month equal to the number of Alchemy Points invested in the project (on a monthly basis) squared – representing time that cannot be spent on other alchemical works.
  • Elixir of Life: You can brew a combination of the Threefold Aspect and Greater Age Resistance effects that is good for a week at a cost of 12.
  • It may be rolled like a normal skill if the user wants identify the nature of someone else’s alchemical item or to try to determine the ingredients in something.
  • It is worth nothing that – as with Clockwork Engineering – unused items will lose their potency as soon as the user invests their Greater Alchemy points in something else and – at the option of the GM – may lose effect if they are away from the user for too long. They are thus only salable if they are needed for immediate use.

Labyrinth Walker (Wis): The shattering of magic has thrown the transitional planes around Modun into chaos, turning their normal smooth continuity into a maze of fissures in reality, cross-connections, and shifting geometry. Navigating through that tangle of dimensional rifts is difficult – but some develop a knack for that sort of thing, building on a knack for navigating more physical entanglements. A rare talent, mostly only found among those who spend time at the great library.

  • Sense a nearby dimensional transition and get an idea of where it goes: DC 10
  • Navigate Physical Maze or similar environment: DC 5-15
  • Navigate Magical Maze or similar environment: DC 10+Equivalent Effect Level.
  • Swift Travel: You can reduce effective travel time for up to (Cha-1) companions by 5% per point over DC 15 to a maximum of 95%.
  • Locate Desired Transitive or Inner Plane: DC 20
  • Locate Desired Outer or Alternate Plane: DC 25
  • Blaze a Dimensional Trail: +10 over the “Locate” difficulty.
  • Shift into a transitive plane for a few moments, becoming incorporeal for up to (Wis Mod) rounds. DC 40.
  • Effective teleportation via following dimensional faults. Personal DC 100, with a small group DC 125, with a moderate group DC 150, with an army DC 200. While this is very fast, encounters are still possible.

Oathbinding (Wis): Oaths have power. Even at their most basic… they are foci of pride and determination, of honor and will. When they are witnessed by an Oathbinder they become even more than that – establishing an occult link between the party or parties swearing and those entities who are called onto witness said oath. That link can transmit power, whether to help uphold such oaths or to punish those who violate them.

  • Sanctify an agreement. Note that both parties must understand the agreement reasonably well and it must be relatively fair. Word-twisting will rebound against the one playing lawyer. DC (5 x the level of curse – using the Malediction spell template in The Practical Enchanter) that the first to violate the deal suffers (note that trying to force or trick someone else into being first is “playing lawyer”).
  • Swear a Great Oath. This is DC 30 if it’s about a local goal of no great importance, DC 20 if it affects an entire city of small region, and DC 10 if it is a matter of some great destiny. It isn’t easy to get the great powers to pay attention to trivia – but they normally pay attention to the important stuff.
  • For every full +12 in the user’s base skill total (SP Spent plus Wis Mod plus bonuses from relevant permanent personal abilities) the user may make one Pact with various supernatural forces. Similar to Witchcraft Pacts each pact provides a 6 CP bonus as long as the user fulfills his or her side of the bargain. It is possible to fulfill, disregard, or discard such a pact, but the bonus goes with it – and replacing it will usually require months.
  • The GM should give the user access to (Base Skill Total / 2) CP worth of “Favors” at the start of each adventure – things that will likely become important later. Sadly, these cannot be renewed directly – although the GM may drop in chances to acquire additional favors along the way, such as by finding out about an ancient unfulfilled oath that can be called in.

Reality Mining (Con): Wild magic collects in pockets and veins, trees and shrubs, beasts and winds. in a thousand subtle forms – most of them imperceptible, unknown, and unusable. However, with this skill, strange resources can be gathered, sifted from the fabric of reality. Unfortunately, learning to gather a particular resource requires “investing” some portion of the characters skill bonus in that resource (the greater the resource, the more points from the bonus) – and will always follow some sort of theme, specific to each user of this skill.

  • A gatherer of Elemental Dusts might invest in gathering Fire and Wind dust.
  • A Herbalist might find Healing Herbs, Bax’t Spice that disrupts the undead, and Delphic Moss that – when burned – grants prophecies or Legend Lore.
  • A gatherer of mystical metals might find Mithrl, or Radium, or Element Zero.
  • Another might manage to gather occasional Obols, or elemental gems used in Enchantments and Spellcasting.
  • This will obviously require some discussion with the game master, but the user will always be able to obtain enough exotic supplies to carry a variety of small wonders. If the GM allows it the user may opt to simply add “points” from this talent to those available from a talent using such materials, such as Clockwork Engineering or Greater Alchemy.

Stygium Forging (Int): Some say It’s presence portends the next trans-dimensional Invasion, others that it embodies the dark powers of the underworld that are leaking into the mortal realm, others that it is a symptom of the oncoming end of time, a few that it is the accumulated crystalized sins of mortals, and still others say that it is the fragmented remains of a dark and alien world. Almost everyone agrees that it is a curse upon the world. Still, in the hidden depths, in ancient crypts, and in the hearts of terrible beasts, more and more often there are found masses of crystal, black as pitch – darkness, evil, and negative energy made solid. This is Stygium it’s “raw” form.

Powdered Stygium is a vicious toxin to creatures of good, a moderate one to those inclined towards neutrality between good and evil, and merely mildly toxic and warping to those of evil alignment. Scattered across an area it poisons the land itself, twisting it towards evil and the powers of darkness and causing undead to rise. Administered to beasts and other unintelligent creatures it kills most of them, but twists the remainder into Occult Monsters. It’s usually measured in “doses” – about a palm-full of the raw crystal, a vial-full once it is refined.

Refined, alloyed with metal (usually copper), and worked into items it can empower a wide variety of dark devices – albeit only within it’s own themes. The weakest such devices can absorb enough ambient dark power to sustain themselves, more powerful ones will require periodic fueling with more Stygium. Possible devices range from the minor (a cloak woven with tiny crystals to generate minor shadows and enhance stealth) on through things like staves (or other weapons) which fire Cones of Cold, Rays of Enervation, and Disintegration Rays. Unfortunately, using such devices is inherently toxic and destructive of the user. Every such device has a “tolerance” rating (although this can be reduced with more sophisticated designs). While simply touching an item or handing it to someone means little, if the user allows the total tolerance rating of his or her equipment to exceed his or her Constitution for more than a few hours there WILL be effects. At…

  • (Constitution – 4) he or she will begin to show symptoms – crimson eyes, emotional instability, psychotic tendencies, minor illnesses, and accelerated aging (if the user makes a habit of staying at this level or higher, he or she will die upon reaching Venerable age, rather than somewhat later as usual. Anyone who dies while at this level will soon rise as an undead – albeit usually a near-mindless horror.
  • (Con+1 to Con+3): -2 to a random attribute. Roll on the Stygian Damage Table whenever a character hits this level and once per month while they remain there. The victim will be obviously ill and corrupt and will often develop chronic problems – a nasty cough, abruptly-greying hair, aching joints.
  • (Con+4 to Con+10): -2 to two random attributes. Roll on the Stygium damage table whenever the victims total hits this level and once per week thereafter while it remains at this level. The victim is obviously terribly ill and their voice will be quite disturbing.
  • (Con+11 to Con+18): -4 to two random attributes. Roll on the Stygium damage table whenever the victims total hits this level and once per day thereafter while it remains at this level. The victim looks to be dying, will be palid, and cannot heal one point of damage per level.
  • (Con+19 or more): -6 to three random attributes. Roll on the Stygium damage table whenever the victims total hits this level and once per hour thereafter while it remains at this level. The victim will be visibly decaying, sloughing off flesh, and mutating as observers watch, and obviously OUGHT to be dead.He or she will not be able to heal two points of damage per level.

Unfortunately, removing an item does not instantly remove it’s lingering effects on the user’s tolerance; the contamination only fades at a rate of one point per day,. Powerful healing magic or removing all other Stygium items will upgrade this rate by 1d4 points for either or 2d4 points for both.

It is also possible to suffer semi-permanent Stygium ‘contamination, Working with the stuff, being poisoned by it, spending time in a heavily contaminate environment, and other forms of exposure can allow raw Stigium to accumulate in someone – leaving the victim with less room for error when using Stygium. While this can be purged, it requires one or more of an Atonement spell (purging 1d3 points), time spent meditating in an area full of life (1d3/Week), or a special diet of purifying herbs and daily draughts of holy water (1d3/Week.

Stygian Elixirs: bestow a modest pool of dark magic. Each variant formula provides a small selection of Feats, Abilities, or Spell-Like Abilities that the user may spend that power on. Unfortunately, while such reserves of power remain until used – they all have both a Tolerance Rating (which remains until they are entirely expended) and cause Corruption (as per The Practical Enchanter, Arcanum Minimus) when a dose is taken.

As a general rule, each point of Stygium Forging bonus provides access to one formula – whether for an item or an elixir. Additional points may be spent on a particular formula to improve or expand its effects, to reduce it’s tolerance rating, to reduce the rate at which it expends Stygium, or (for Elixirs) to reduce the amount of Stygium required to make it. While Stygium does interact with the user’s spirit to some extent – you can’t just use someone else’s formulas – you can learn more formulas from other Stygium Forgers as Specific Knowledges (Rituals).

Stygian Damage Table (roll 1d20):

1) Blindness. This can be cured normally.
2) Deafness. This can be cured normally.
3-6) Develop a random disease. Magical cures will offer a new chance to resist, but cannot instantly cure it.
7) Develop a random insanity. This can be countered with a Heal spell.
8-11) Two points of drain to a random attribute. These can be restored via appropriate spells and abilities.
12-13) Reduce maximum hit points by three. This can be restored as per drained attributes.
14) Develop an immunity to supernatural healing for the next month.
15-16) Age one year.
17) Develop noxious growths. This has no immediate penalty other than social, but the victim will die sometime between the Old and Venerable age brackets unless a limited wish, wish, or miracle is used to repair the damage.
18) Take +2 damage from all physical wounds for the next month. This can be countered with a Heal spell.
19) Made a DC 18 Fortitude save or die. This is considered a death by natural causes.
20) Become pallid, lose hair, and obviously ill. No direct game effect however, lucky you.

Stygium Forging is fundamentally a technological skill. Certainly there are some mystical aspects – but It allows the production of a fairly limited range of effects principally limited by the amount of Stygium available, by the user’s personal library of ways to use it, and by the dangers of working with the stuff. It doesn’t involve all that much in the way of mystical talent, arcane restrictions, occult symbolism, or eldritch sponsors.

Obviously enough, how effective Stygium Forging is depends greatly on how much of the stuff is available, how the game master rates proposed devices and elixirs, and whether there are applicable local limits – like Modun or Atheria’s limitations on higher-level magic – which reduce it’s effectiveness. On the other hand, with a little caution and conservative use of elixir-granted powers, players can use the stuff effectively. Villains, of course, can use it even more effectively – passing out elixirs to their troops to give them unexpected powers, granting occult powers to their favorite beasts, and granting themselves a variety of minor items or special powers to hold in reserve.

Watertechnics (Con): Lets the user make things work as if they were in air while underwater. At low levels you can drink potions or eat soup. At higher levels, fire guns or bows normally. At very high levels, light up a forge and do smelting and blacksmithing. Obviously most common among the water-based races.

  • 4+ Liquids no longer mix. You can make and eat soup in an open pot, uncork and drink a potion or bottle of booze, or spit tobacco juice without it turning into a cloud.
  • 9+ You can breathe normally underwater, use lanterns and candles, .strike matches, and smoke cigars.
  • 15+ You can light a stove or build a campfire, fry food, or use small fire magics, such as Flame Shuriken.
  • 22+ You can use moderate fire magic, such as Scorching Ray or Flaming Sphere effectively, operate a forge and work metal, or avoid having objects less dense than water float away.
  • 30+ You can use area effect fire magic, such as Fireballs and Walls of Fire, fly modest air vehicles underwater, and extend your influence over a modest group of people to let them function underwater as well.
  • 39+ You can set underwater houses on fire and let them burn.
  • 49+ You can set entire underwater villages on fire.

A common problem with Occult Skills is that – unless they’re simply dealing with off-realm technology or something – they need to be fairly weird. After all, Eclipse includes a LOT of ways to do things. Want to be a medium? A touch of Witchcraft – and perhaps Leadership (Spirits only) does that very nicely. Build artifacts with weird components and rituals? Create Artifact will fit your needs. And while a Feat or two is a stiff price in some ways, the cost of raising a skill will eventually be greater. On the other hand, Skills – even Occult skills – are generally more accessible than a line of Feat-equivalents. Learn to use limited astral projection and visit dreams? That’s in Witchcraft again. Ritual Magic? Take “Ritual Magic”. If you want, specialize it in the particular type of ritual you’re interested in. Read tarot cards? Witchcraft again (Witchcraft was pretty much designed to cover all that minor occult stuff).

Finally, here’s an example of an occult skill that simply didn’t work:

Psirogue (Cha) (Varies): The twelve “Basic Witch Abilities” are basically a series of specialized psychic skills that are (normally) backed with enough raw Power to manage without rolling or detailed study. A Psirogue has focused on a particular basic ability to the point where they do not have to have any Power at all; their personal metabolic energies suffice – although they may have to roll for more complicated or (normally) power-intensive applications. Their effective Caster Level is (Total Skill Bonus / 3) and repeated boosting effects (such as healing) lose effectiveness after 7 uses/Day on any individual patient, but otherwise they are free to use their abilities indefinitely.

This one is kind of dubious. Unlike most of the other things on this list… if this set of skills is fairly widely available it drastically changes the world. It may not have that much of an effect on a part of adventurers, but a village with a Psirogue Healer need never worry about plagues, or infected wounds, or pretty much any injury short of death. A Psirogue using Hand of Shadows could casually do the work of hundreds of men – harvesting, mending, and more in moments and with no risk. Basic witchcraft effects are considered equivalent to third-level spells, albeit spells that focus on versatility within a theme rather than raw power. That’s all right when their usage is limited by the user’s supply of Power – but making that kind of magic available constantly, through a skill that (at least on Modun) anyone can take? Of course, you could limit it by skill fatigue or some such – but if you’re going to limit it enough to be meaningful, would-be users might as well just take Witchcraft in the first place; it is fairly cheap after all. I’ll leave this skill on the list to illustrate the point that sometimes you just have to discard ideas even if they are interesting and give you twelve skill writeups for the price of one.

Filed under: Background, d20, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Eldritch Staves

Posted on March 28, 2024 by Thoth

Staves, as written, are pretty unpopular. The classic style simply costs too much – and the more effects you put in them, the faster their charges run out. Worse, you can buy an item which casts the same spell once per day via spell trigger more cheaply than you can make the staff. Sure, the staff uses your caster level and attributes for Save DC’s – but that’s what your own spell slots are for. They’re too expensive for utility stuff – leaving their only role as emergency combat backup (unless, of course, you can power them yourself without using charges – in which case a high-powered staff with only a charge or two left is a cheap way to break the game).

The Pathfinder version is at least rechargeable, but only holds ten charges – making it not too useful in emergencies – and can only be recharged very slowly. Still too expensive for what you get. Sure, people who find one as treasure will usually use it – half value when sold greatly encourages that – but how many people want to buy one? I haven’t seen very many.

Runestaves – from the Magic Item Compendium – are basically spell conversion items, allowing the user to produce effects that they do not have ready at the cost of giving up a spell or slot of at least equal level. They’re covered below. (Of course, the idea of a “Spell Channeling Item” that converts a prepared spell into some other spell goes back to Dragon Magazine 111, from July 1986. D&D has a long history of very imaginative people playing with it; it is VERY hard to come up with something that’s entirely original).

But the tradition of magical staves goes back a long ways. right back to old wise men using walking sticks, to symbols of authority, to the story of Moses, to norse traditions (a magical rune-covered staff was a “Gand” – arguably making “Gandalf” a “Magic Staff Spirit”), and to many other sources. Secondarily, when things get up close and personal, staves are pretty good defensive weapons. It would be kind of nice if a personal magic staff was something more wizards actually wanted.

So lets try something different, leaning more on the rules for wondrous items.

Physical Base: Metal-Chased and Shod Hardwood Staff. With Runic Inscription: 6 Lb, Hardness 10, HP 30, 15 GP base +10 GP Runic Inscription (Alternate form of a Spell Component Pouch) +2 Wand/Rod Chambers (200 GP) = 225 GP. Additional options include:

  • Resilient: +5 HP, +100 GP.
  • Folded Metal: +4 Hardness, +200 GP.
  • Fortifying Stone: +5 Hardness, +20 HP, +1000 GP.
  • Adamant Chasing: +10 Hardness, +10 HP, +1500 GP.
  • Masterwork: +300 GP. (No, I am not classifying a basic staff as a double weapon. It is hard enough to see how one spends 300 GP making a well-balanced stick anyway)
  • Weapon Enhancement: Requires Masterwork and Type Two for a +1, Type Four for a +2, Type Five for a +3, Type Seven for +4, and Type Eight or Nine for a +5. Special Weapon Functions require a minimum type to match their minimum caster level. Note that each +1 also provides +2 Hardness and +10 HP.

Any yes, all of that will stack. The weapon enchantment is a bit dubious past the first +1 or +2, but once your staff starts costing tens of thousands of GP, throwing in an extra 5100 GP to make It into a +1 weapon with Hardness 31 and 75 HP may be well worthwhile.

The basic structure of a “Staff of (some group of spells)” is based on a couple of different spells:

Channel The Gift (Pathfinder) is a third level spell that lets the next spell the target casts of level three or below be cast without expending the spell or spell slot provided that the recipient starts casting it quickly and it takes no more than a full round to cast. Presumably there is nothing unreasonable about higher and lower level versions.

At least in my games, the obvious game-wrecking potential of – say – a ring that simply casts this thing on the wearer every round is mostly defused by the rule from The Practical Enchanter that this sort of effect cannot more than double the target’s casting capacity. I strongly recommend enforcing that rule.

So the basic magical structure of a Staff is going to be…

  • Channel The Gift (Spell Level X) x (Caster Level 2X-1) x 1800 GP (Unlimited Use Command Word Activated) x .6 (Only usable for a specific descriptor or narrow sub-category of magic, such as “Ice” or “Healing”) x Subdividable Charge Modifier (Number of Uses/Day +1) / 5.

Subdividable Charges (The Practical Enchanter) do not have to be used all at once. Ergo this will provide a modest pool of spell levels rather than a simple “one spell of up to this level” effect.

Such a staff provides a certain number of spell levels per day which can be used to cast spells of a particular type (and only that type) without actually expending the spell or spell slot – although the level of the spell used cannot exceed the limits of the Channel The Gift spell used. It also means that any given spellcaster can only really use one staff at a time.

  • Type 1) Max L1 (CL01): 01 / 02 / 03 spell levels/Day 432 / 648 / 864 GP
  • Type 2) Max L2 (CL03): 02 / 04 / 06 spell levels/Day 2592 / 3,888 / 5,184 GP
  • Type 3) Max L3 (CL05): 03 / 06 / 09 spell levels/Day 6480 / 9,720 GP / 12,960 GP
  • Type 4) Max L4 (CL07): 04 / 08 / 12 spell levels/Day 12,096 / 18,144 / 24,192 GP
  • Type 5) Max L5 (CL09): 05 / 10 / 15 spell levels/Day 19,440 / 29,160 / 38,880 GP
  • Type 6) Max L6 (CL11): 06 / 12 / 18 spell levels/Day 28,512 / 42,768 / 57,024 GP
  • Type 7) Max L7 (CL13): 07 / 14 / 21 spell levels/Day 39,312 / 58,968 / 78,624 GP
  • Type 8) Max L8 (CL15): 08 / 16 / 24 spell levels/Day 51,840 / 77,760 / 103,680 GP
  • Type 9) Max L9 (CL17): 09 / 18 / 27 spell levels/Day 66,096 / 99,144 / 132,192 GP

Secondarily, we want an effective caster level booster for that particular type of magic. That’s Amplification (Type) from The Practical Enchanter: SL1 x CL as above (since all the caster levels in an item must be the same) x 1800 GP (Unlimited-Use Command Word Activated). Unfortunately, this is limited to a maximum of +5 and the cost keeps going up for more powerful staves without further benefits.

  • Type 1) +1 Caster Level for spells of the relevant type, +1800 GP.
  • Type 2) +2 Caster Levels for spells of the relevant type, +5400 GP
  • Type 3) +3 Caster Levels for spells of the relevant type, +9000 GP
  • Type 4) +4 Caster Levels for spells of the relevant type, +12,600 GP
  • Type 5) +5 Caster Levels for spells of the relevant type, +16,200 GP
  • Type 6) +5 Caster Levels for spells of the relevant type, +19,800 GP
  • Type 7) +5 Caster Levels for spells of the relevant type, +23,400 GP
  • Type 8) +5 Caster Levels for spells of the relevant type, +27,000 GP
  • Type 9) +5 Caster Levels for spells of the relevant type, +30,600 GP

To put some spell formula in the staff itself – so that you don’t need to have them available – the cost is (Spell Level Squared x 200 GP) for the highest level one and (Spell Level Squared x 100 GP) for any additional spells up to a maximum of seven spells, each usable up to three times per day. Since this is based on the cost of a Runestaff, you automatically get the “use your own casting level and save DC’s” part of using a staff, as well as various other special modifiers. Unfortunately, this means that to cast a spell from a staff it has to be one that you could currently cast if you’d chosen it and you have to supply any special components. You can still put a formula in even if it’s above the level that the staff can power, but that will require that you always power it with your own spell slots.

Finally, of course, we can add Metamagic. While they are specialty items, metamagical rods that only work with a specific type of magic have a x.6 cost – while going from three uses per day to unlimited uses per day would increase the cost by 5/3’rds. Ergo you can either put in a rod that provides a metamagical boost to all the appropriate spells you cast at normal prices or get the usual 3/Day at reduced cost.

Sadly, you can usually only use one metamagical rod at a time, so unless the GM is feeling kindly – and the second rod can handle the spell level as modified by the first one – you can’t double up on metamagic this way.

Still, if you want your Type Five (C) Staff of Force (38,880 GP) to easily pierce Spell Resistance, you can add +5 Caster Levels for +16,200 GP and a Piercing Matamagic Rod (at normal cost and so unlimited use for force effects only) for +24,500 GP – and all of your Force Spells will be cast at +5 Caster Levels and with a +5 bonus to overcome spell resistance on top of that. While you’re at it, go ahead an put in the formulas for a few Force Spells – say Magic Missile, Wings of Cover, Melf’s Unicorn Arrow, Emergency Force Sphere, and Wall of Force? That’s only +8000 GP. You might as well throw the basics in too (you wouldn’t want something this pricey to get broken), for a grand total of 92,680 GP.

That’s a fairly powerful and useful tool for someone who likes Force spells. It won’t be much like a Staff of Imagery (Resilient Folded Metal, Fortifying Stone, 1525 GP (Hardness 19, HP 55), Type IIIc (CL 5, 9 Spell Levels/Day, Max L3, 12,980 GP), Spells: Major Image, Invisibility Sphere, Minor Image, Hypnotic Pattern, Color Spray, and Silent Image (3700 GP) = 18,200 GP) though. That’s a tool for stealthy tricksters.

Alternatively, of course, you could simply upgrade standard staves.

For example,

  • “Staves automatically regain one charge per month” would suffice to eliminate the market for cheap staves with only a few charges left. There might be slight price break for buying one that was mostly discharged. But it wouldn’t be much since all you’d have to do to recharge it is to wait. Couple that with a price reduction and staves might become fairly popular.
  • Go to Pathfinder-style staves with ten Charges but rule that “A stave automatically regains User’s Con Mod or three (whichever is higher) charges per day. If the user has more than one stave, the recharging must be split between them”.

Pretty much anything that regularly recharges them a bit makes staves a LOT more attractive.

Of course, you can also make Relic-style staves. For an example, take the Runes from a couple of weeks back. At 18 CP per Rune you can get one with a 3 CP Relic – or even reduce it to 2 CP if you attach a disadvantage to the thing. Since the Runes scale with level, are fairly tightly themed, and the use of Relics is normally limited – meaning that most mages will only be able to use on runic stave at a time – this will be fairly minimally disruptive. Your first level character can start off with:

  • Create Relic (Specialized and Corrupted, only to create a limited selection of runestaves, 2 CP) and Enthusiast (Specialized and Corrupted for Increased Effect / only to provide the points needed to construct and maintain a personal Runestaff relic, 3 CP) and have a small selection of themed spells to work with – and will get more at higher levels.

Another potentially useful form of staff simply uses Greater Invocation effects (The Practical Enchanter) – spells that produce any effect within a particular theme (say; Fire Spells) which is of the same general class (Arcane or Divine) as the caster and has an effective level at least two levels below that of the Greater Invocation used.

Thus, for example a Classical Staff of Fire using a Sixth Level Greater Invocation of Fire has a sales price of 750 GP x SL 6 x CL 11 = 49.500 GP. Add Channel The Gift VI to allow it to function twice per day at a net cost of (SL 6 x CL 11 x 1500 GP Unlimited-Use Spell Trigger Activation) x .6 (three uses per day) x.5 (Only to power the single spell in the staff) = 29,700 GP. That will let it function three times per day without expending a charge. Give it a minor tweak – you can’t spend the last charge – and it will always be worth at least 30,000 GP. Fit it with a Rod of Elemental Substitution and you will have quite a lot of flexibility.

Of course, if you are willing to sacrifice the “in a real emergency you can spend some charges” aspect, you can just make it with three uses per day of the Greater Invocation directly. That’s 59,400 GP. Expensive, but the “any fire spell you can come up with of fourth level or lower” aspect can be very handy. Need to open a corridor through a burning building to get people out? Fill a balloon with heated air? Such the heat out of a tornado to weaken or stop it? Reforge a broken magical sword? You’re golden.

If you are going this route with making staves, you may want to apply some built-in metamagic from Arcanum Minimus (The Practical Enchanter). Does your Staff Of Divine Fire cause you 3d6 damage per use and require that you remain pure of purpose, mind, and spirit? That’s -2 spell levels (for casting purposes) of the sixth level effect, reducing the cost of the Staff Of Divine Fire to (SL 4 x CL 8 x 750 GP) = 24,000 GP – and if you want to throw in the free uses per day that will only be (SL 4 x CL 8 x 1500 GP (Unlimited Use Spell Trigger Activation) x .6 (3/Day) x .5 (Only to power the single spell in the staff) = 14,400 GP.

That’s a bit more expensive than a standard Staff of Fire (28,500 GP) but it offers vastly more flexibility, is a permanent item with three uses per day even after the charges are used up, and the saves are always versus a sixth level effect. Even better, you will not be stuck with multiple functions – such as “Burning Hands” – that are not worth spending a charge on; you’d simply be using a similar fourth level effect – or (thanks to The Practical Enchanters rules on spells with built-in metamagic) a first level effect with the equivalent of five levels of metamagic on it (or a second level with three, or a third level with one). You will always get a decent value for that charge.

The version that’s simply three uses per day would be (SL 4 x CL 8 x 1500 GP (Unlimited Use Spell Trigger Activation) x .6 (3/Day) = 28,800 GP. – almost exactly the same as a standard Staff Of Fire, albeit with a role-playing cost as well as a monetary one.

For a fourth option, use Create Artifact (Specialized and Corrupted / only to allow the creation of a small list of (Int Mod +1, 1 Minimum) items unique to each character, no one else can use such items without learning about them and performing some relevant deed to get them to accept him or her (2 CP, possibly free as a world law). The trick here is that Artifacts – however minor – don’t have costs as such. They are created using recipes, filled with components and tasks – and the more complex the recipe, the more powerful the resulting item. If your recipe for a (first edition style) Wand of Fire (1d20+80 charges, CL 7, Burning Hands, Pyrotechnics, or Fireball 1 Charge, Wall of Fire 2 Charges, Rechargeable) calls for wood from a fire oak from the elemental plane of fire, runes scribed by a red dragon’s fang, a fire ruby for the tip, and several other weird ingredients (including a meaningful name)… once you put them together you will have your wand, but there’s not much to be done until then.

Staves and Wands created this way are always rechargeable, since Artifacts are always permanent items.

This method has many advantages. It makes each such item a unique item, it builds in character goals, it means that the character’s equipment will reflect his or her adventures, and it bypasses the “Magic Mart” syndrome and wealth-by-level problems. On the downside, it requires a lot of work up front, including careful balancing of the various quests between characters and against the power levels of the various items. It also probably eliminates most Item Creation feats (Save for Potions and Scrolls) and may mean that many characters will never get their items finished.

For some classical examples, here’s a first edition clerical staff and a wand:

Staff Of Curing: This device can cure disease, cure blindness, cure wounds (6-21 hit points – 3d6 + 3), or cure insanity. Each function drains 1 charge. The device can be used but once per day on any person (dwarf, elf, gnome, half-elf, halfling, half-orc included), and no function may be employed more than twice per day, i.e. the staff can only function 8 times during a 24 hour period. It can be recharged

And a wand:

Wand of Illumination: This wand has 4 separate functions, 3 of which approximate magic-user spells, and 1 of which is singular:
1. Dancing lights: In 1 segment the wand will produce this effect at a cost of 1 charge.
2. Light: The illumination wand sends forth light in 2 segments time at an expenditure of 1 charge.
3. Continual light: This function requires only 2 segments to perform, but the cost is2 charges.
4. Sunburst: When this effect is called forth the wand delivers a sudden flash of brilliant greenish-white light, with blazing golden rays. The range of this sunburst i s 12″ maximum, and its duration i s but 1/10 of a second. Its area of effect is a globe of 4″ diameter. Any undead within this globe take 6-36 hit points of damage, with no saving throw. Creatures within or facing the burst must save versus a wand or be blinded for 2-12 segments and unable to do anything during that period. (Of course, the creatures in question must have ocular organs sensitive to the visible light spectrum). The function requires 3 segments and expends 3 charges. The wand can be recharged.

What, you still want your low-level character to have a magical staff but don’t want to use a relic? You could just make it a focus for Innate Enchantment or some some other personal ability, but you can also simply apply the axiom that description doesn’t matter; only the game statistics do. Simply decide that your rune-engraved staff functions as various mundane items and pay for those. There’s already an example of that here: using a staff inscribed with runes as a substitute for a Spell Component Pouch. If you want to buy stuff that gets used up, paying for 50 uses will provide up to 3/Day, paying for 100 provides unlimited use. If something has noticeable weight (at fifty or a hundred most things will), you can double the cost to eliminate that (after all, things like Handy Haversacks are cheap enough). So here’s a list of some basic stuff you can put in with the prices set to avoid adding weight:

Arcane Basics:

  • Thundering Strike: Can dramatically “knock on doors”, smack tables, smash items on the ground, etc, as if the user was using a sledgehammer: This really is not useful as a weapon, but can be very dramatic. 2 GP
  • Leave a Seal where it touches: Sealing Wax 50 GP and Personal Seal 5 GP.
  • Acts as a Spell Component Pouch: 10 GP.
  • Can absorb and store the magic from up to eight Scrolls: Scroll Bandolier, a free action to get one out (still used normally) 12 GP.
  • Can be upgraded to an Infinite Scrollcase (5600 GP) capable of “holding “ 50 scrolls later on, but this requires actual enchantment.
  • Can absorb and store the magic from up to ten Potions (accessed as a free action, administered by touch, Potions Belt, 12 GP).
  • Scribes on surfaces, as if using Chalk. 1 GP (+7 GP for various colors, +2 GP for tossing “handfulls” of powdered chalk about).
  • Bearer can (usually) detect which way is North: Compass, 20 GP.
  • Bearer adds 10 feet to the range increment of thrown splash weapons: Bombchucker, 24 GP.
  • Casts a particular Cantrip at Caster Level One 3/Day: 600 GP. This technically makes the staff a Wondrous Item, however minor – but I consider this within the reach of a properly-carved Runestaff.
  • Lets the user stir up things over a campfire as if he or she was using an Alchemist’s Lab: 1000 GP.
  • Conjurer’s Tricks: Handy Haversack, 4000 GP. For +80 GP add a generous selection of stage magic and fortuneteller props.

Fire and Light:

  • Shed Candlelight as needed: Candle(s), 2 GP.
  • Shed Sparks to light things although this isn’t fast: Flint and Steel, 2 GP.
  • Can magically fuel a hearth- or camp- fire for a day 3/Day: Firewood, 2 GP
  • Shed Lantern Light as needed: Hooded Lantern, 14 GP (Requires Oil).
  • Needs no Oil. Can create oil slicks or throw “flasks of oil”.Any excess oik disappears in a few minutes if someone tries to recover it. 20 GP.
  • Project a Cone of Light as needed: Bullseye Lantern, 24 GP (Requires Oil).
  • Smoking: Censor, 10 GP, and unlimited Incense, 70 GP.
  • Produce a small flame as needed: Tindertwig, 100 GP
  • Radiant: Acts as a Sunrod when needed:Sunrod, 3/Day 200 GP, Unlimited 400 GP.
  • Fireblasts as per throwing Alchemists Fire: Alchemists Fire, 4000 GP. Probably not worth paying for unless you’re a pyromaniac (get a Staff of Entwined Serpents instead).

Sensory Abilities:

  • Bearer can easily determine his altitude or depth. Altimeter, 20 GP.
  • User may “see” through the tip of the staff: Periscope, 40 GP.
  • User may see very fine details: Magnifying Glass, 100 GP
  • User always knows the time: Pocket Watch, 500 GP.
  • Falcon’s Sight. User may see distant objects: x10 Telescope: 4000 GP.

Weaponry:

  • Strikes like a Heavy Mace: 24 GP. This isn’t generally a very useful option, but it’s also extremely cheap.
  • Fires bolts of Mystic Force as per a Longbow (150 GP) with Unlimited Arrows (10 GP). Note that non-proficiency penalties will apply. Note that, if you pay for Masterwork, weapon enhancements can apply. So can Weapon Crystals.
  • Fires Bolts of “Mystic Force” as per a Light Crossbow (70 GP) with Unlimited Bolts (100 GP). Again, enchantments and weapon crystals work fine.
  • Spray a 10′ cone with an available substance (Water Mist 2 GP, Chalk Dust 2 GP, Oil 20 GP, Holy Water 5000 GP. Everything in the affected areas is covered the stuff, adjacent areas are splashed. Generally “reloads” between encounters. Jetcaster, 160 GP. (Multiple purchases may be made to have multiple shots or load-outs ready).
  • Make the ground sprout spikes as if you had scattered Caltrops 3/Day; 200 GP, Unlimited 400 GP.
  • Acid Splash: As per Acid Flask, 3/Day 1000 GP, unlimited use 2000 GP.
  • Holy (Chaotic, Lawful, Unholy) Blast: As per a thrown vial of Holy Water Holy Water, 5000 GP. Probably not worthwhile by the time it’s affordable.
  • Alchemical Items in General: x100 on their base price for 3/Day, x 200 if unlimited. For an example, Holy Weapon Balm (6000 GP).

Miscellany:

  • Blessed: Works as a (Wooden) Holy Symbol: 1 GP. A must for Clerics.
  • Bearer can cause people to be shaved and/or well-groomed with a touch and an few moments of chanting: Grooming Kit, 2 GP.
  • Birthing Rune: Invoking this rune provides a +4 bonus on Heal checks related to childbirth: Midwife’s Kit, 20 GP.
  • Bearer may render am unresisting male sterile for 1d3 days with a touch 3/Day. Bachelor Snuff, 50 GP.
  • Staff sounds an alarm if approached or disturbed: Guard Dog with Food 60 GP.
  • A touch and muttered incantation acts as Thieves Tools: 60 GP
  • User can brew Nourishing Stone Soup from water and rocks without need for tricking any villagers: Common Meal,100 GP
  • User may thoroughly clean things given a few minutes: Soap 100 GP and Bathtub 20 GP.
  • Lets the user travel as if he or she was riding a light riding horse with a saddle (and a perpetual supply of food for the horse) (180 GP).
  • A touch and muttered incantation acts as Masterwork Thieves Tools: 200 GP.
  • The user may produce hempen rope as needed, although it is obviously used, unsalable, and will decay away in a few weeks: Hemp Rope, 200 GP.
  • Vermin Repelling: The party is protected by Vermin Repellant whenever the user so desires. 1000 GP.
  • Antitoxin Aura: All members of the party get a +5 Alchemical Bonus on Fortotude Saves against Poison: Antitoxin, 10,000 GP.

Even a first level character will be able to afford a magic runestave that bangs on things very loudly (Thundering Strike), sheds candlelight on command, acts as a spell component pouch, can create a campfire 3/Day, scribes on surfaces in many colors (Chalk), and can store the magic of seven scrolls (each potentially inscribed with multiple spells), for a mere 36 GP. Admittedly, those aren’t particularly impressive acts of magic, but they can be handy.

A second or third level character can afford a staff with a fairly impressive set of (semi-mundane) functions.

Of course, a character point or two in Innate Enchantment, Specialized so as to require a focus can accomplish much the same thing – but this sort of “magical staff” works very well in low-magic or low-level games.

The real problem with Staves is that they’ve lost their role.

Once magic user’s were very limited. Spells were prepared individually, and it took so long to prepare them that you could only afford to use a few each day. Worse, if they were interrupted in any way, they were uselessly lost. Casting a spell in a fight called for careful planning and for the rest of the party to run interference for you.

But that nifty rechargeable wand could hold eighty or ninety charges and had three or four useful functions, It’s effects usually weren’t enormously powerful – but you could use your wand several times in a fight. A magic-user was often as reliant on his or her magic wand as an archer was on his or her magic bow. A wand might become as much of a signature item as the Lone Ranger’s silver bullets. After all, the Lone Ranger had a Wand of Gun, with a lot of shots – and could make reasonably damaging attacks, perform various trick shots / telekinetic bursts, and cause fear, restocking on bullets/charges between adventures.

Third edition made spells much more abundant and much easier to cast. Magic-Users turned into Wizards and Sorcerers who didn’t really NEED a wand to fight.

Wands got a new lease on life though even if they weren’t rechargeable any more. They effectively turned into cheap utility items, with the most ubiquitous being Cure Light Wounds or Lesser Vigor. That started to slip a bit with the later introduction of Healing Belts, Talismans of the Disc, Eternal Wands, and similar items, but wands still hung on.

Staves however… the big point of staves was that they offered a wide variety of effects at a reasonable power level that could be effectively used in battle, that didn’t drain the user’s very limited (15 minutes per spell level – thus forty-five minutes for a single fireball) daily spell preparation allotment, and that couldn’t be readily interrupted.

First Edition included exactly seven Staves. Three (Serpent (C), Striking (C, M), and Withering(C)) were basically melee weapons. One (Curing, (C)) let clerics heal semi-effectively in melee without risking spell disruption. The Staff of Command (C, M) offered basic Suggestion/Charm effects – and the Staff of the Magi and Staff of Power were for Mages. Four staves for mages. At high levels a Wizard needed one of the better staves (Magi or Power) to function just as much as the fighters needed their weapons.

But Wizards and Sorcerers got that stuff automatically in third and later editions. Worse, with staves no longer being rechargeable, going to great expense to add extra functions to a stave became entirely counterproductive. A powerful staff with many functions was no longer the mark of a mighty (or at least lucky) wizard; it was the mark of one with more money than sense. Even if someone found one… they were likely to sell it in favor of getting something that was actually useful.

To make things even worse, it’s hard to find a replacement niche. When you come right down to it, high level spellcasters do not really need a boost any longer. They don’t need a wand or stave to function in combat either. Everybody else tends to prefer weapons. So… what are staves FOR these days?

If anyone has a good suggestion there, let me know, and I will consider writing it up to go with these four variants.

Filed under: Background, d20, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Terra Elves of Modun

Posted on March 18, 2024 by spellweaver81
photo of a man alone in a cave

Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh on Pexels.com

Hello all, it’s Spellweaver81 again!  Looks like the group is going to be switching to my new WIP campaign setting of Modun for one of our games, so in preparation for that, we have the Terra Elves to go along with the already posted Ignis and Aqua Elves.  Hopefully I will get more time in the immediate future to be able to get the rest of the races posted (Ventus Elves are next) and then get the general background info written up.

The Terra Elves of Modun

Frequently also known as Cave Elves, Platinum Elves, Giant Elves, and Elves of the Kassarang Desert, and especially as Terra Elves, they hail from from the ancient dried Kassarang sea now known as the Kassarang Desert. On the surface, the desert is a desiccated wasteland of scorching black sands that will kill the unprepared explorer in mere hours. Yet beneath the surface in the immense limestone sinkholes and caves the temperatures are cooler, water collects from aquifers into subterranean rivers and lakes, and life thrives. It is in this immense network of underground oases that the Terra Elves make their home.

Appearance wise, the Terra Elves look quite similar to the Aquatic Elves save for the immense difference in size and build. Terra Elves have been documented being anything from ten to sixteen feet tall (although the average is around fourteen feet in height). Weight can similarly vary between a thousand pounds to as much as two tons for particularly large and well built individuals. In addition to the difference in size, Terra Elves are much more muscularly built than their elven brethren and frequently sport arms and legs as large as entire members of smaller races. As such, they are well known across Modun for their immense strength both on and off the battlefield. Male Terra Elves also are the only elves known to sport significant facial hair.

The Terra Elves make their homes in the immense network of deep limestone sinkholes and caverns that criss-cross beneath the Kassarang Desert. There the temperatures are much cooler and the water table becomes exposed. Labyrinthian caverns carved by ancient subterranean rivers connect the various caverns and sinkholes together into a single three dimensional network that snakes its way underneath the Kassarang Desert before emerging into the Glowing Forest as the mighty Rose River. A vast, luminous mycelium network permeates the limestone and channels light gathered from the harsh surface into the underground spaces. This light, plus the nutrient and mineral rich waters, support a vast array of plant and animal life far from the scalding temperatures of the surface. Indeed, many of the plants root deeply into the mycelium networks and form a close symbiotic relationship with each other like a form of lichen.

It is in this immense complex of subterranean spaces that the Terra Elves build their cities, farm their food, and largely isolate themselves from the outside world. They carve and shape the stone to form many layered terraces for irrigated crops, large water control networks for sluice box mining, and build their houses into the rock faces or amongst the giant stalactites that hang from the ceilings of the larger caverns. Their cities and the surrounding farming caverns are three dimensional structures that make efficient use of space while simultaneously being difficult for outsiders to navigate or invaders to penetrate. Entire armies of the Ignis Elves have entered the caverns to assault the Terra Elves only to never be seen or heard from again. These days, the Ignis Elves don’t even bother to try anymore.

The Terra Elves uses large sluice complexes to harvest the alluvial sediments of the subterranean rivers that are rich in iron and various other metals, particularly platinum. It is this platinum that gives the Terra Elves the moniker “Platinum Elves” amongst the other races. While not as ostentatious with it as the other elves are with their precious metals, the Terra Elves do make judicious use of an alchemically treated form of platinum to write preservation charms into anything that they desire to protect from corrosion or decay. They are particularly noted for using alchemical platinum leaf extensively in their books for resistance to protect the books for centuries. Alchemical platinum is also forged into their weapons and armor to vastly increase the mass of said equipment. While this does have the side effect of slowing them down significantly compared to more normal armor and weapons, it gives them immense advantages in terms of damage and resisting efforts to be moved against their will.

As a society, the Terra Elves are an orderly and practical people. There are procedures for controlling the flow of water, determining which cavern walls are safe to dig into, ensuring proper ventilation, and many other aspects of their lives. Much of this has to do with the potential for mistakes to cause catastrophic flooding, collapses, or explosions which then create further flooding or collapses. Thus, this is a society that values, rules, procedures, clearly defined decisions makers, and established responsibilities. This makes them feel there is not much point in seeking divine guidance on matters that are clearly within the realm of mortal affairs. The Terra Elves also have a fiercely independent and at times even isolationist streak to their culture. Which isn’t to say that they are hostile towards outsiders, just that they rarely feel the need to involve themselves in the affairs of the other races. Visitors are welcome to come by, but are expected to follow the rules.

Being a largely subterranean society, the Terra Elves do not have a clearly defined day/night cycle to how their society is organized. Many establishments will rotate in shifts during the day, presuming that they have sufficient staff to remain open. This frequently leaves other races with the impression that Terra Elves never sleep, but this is as much a myth as the tales of their cities being constructed entirely out of precious metals.

Like other kinds of elves, the Terra Elves have a rare few born with the talent for shaping earth. Those with this ability possess great ability to move and shape stone, dirt, and metal into whatever forms they can imagine. Most with this ability find employment further expanding and reinforcing the cavern systems their settlements are constructed in. Still others seek employment amongst the other races acting as builders and defenders.

Basically the Earthbending package seen here.

Shaping (6 CP), Pulse of the Dragon (6 CP), and Heart of the Dragon II (18 CP), Specialized and Corrupted for Triple Effect (produces effects of up to level three)/strictly limited to a particular element (Earth), requires gestures, requires training (at least one martial art techniques in a relevant martial art per level of effect which can be produced). That’s 30 CP – in general, a +1 ECL template. Basic recommendation for martial arts is Adamantine Fist – a style focusing on toughness and powerful strikes.

The Terra Elves have a long established symbiotic relationship with a breed of mammoths. Believed to have been inhabitants of the long gone Kassarang grasslands, the moved underground with the elves to find water and cooler temperatures where there is respite from the scorching sun. These days the mammoths help to pull heavy carts, reach higher fruits and flowers on the many vines the dangle from the walls and ceilings of the cavern, and process food and other plant waste into fertilizer. The long lives and excellent memory and intelligence of the mammoths work well when learning the routines and in-and-outs of the labyrinthine layouts of Terra Elven cities.

Terra Elven magical traditions see inspiration in the endurance and strength provided by regular structure of crystals and metals and have learned to weave similar structures into their spells using specially crafted jewelry to channel the spells through. This allows them to produce spells with greatly expanded durations compared to the spells of other races. The most proficient at it can even make many spells last nigh indefinitely.

Basically, this is a package feat Terra Elves can purchase.

  • Persistent Metamagic – Specialized: Requires a specially crafted ring to act as a focus that costs 10,000 GP per level of the base spell to be modified. Said ring must be worn on a free hand while casting the spell. (3 CP)
  • Streamline Metamagic (Persistent) – Specialized: One reduced spell level applies to only the Persistent Metamagic feat. (3 CP)

Terra Elves are also known for living alongside mammoths in their cities. The mammoths assist with gathering and hauling goods such as fruits and ore, using their immense strength to pull carts and their long trunks to reach high into the vines that hang throughout the city. The significant intelligence of the mammoths makes them easy to train to perform a variety of tasks and many even will perform trained routines unsupervised. The high sociability of the mammoths also means that they form deep bonds with their handlers and are even viewed as part of the family by those that take care of them. A rare few are even trained and armored for being ridden into battle, and the sight and sound of a charge of armored mammoths has broken the spirit of the enemy on many occasions.

Relationships to Other Races:

  • Aqua Elves – The Terra Elves view the Aqua Elves with a mixture of respect and frustration. They admire the egalitarian ways of the Aqua Elves and their adaptability to challenging circumstances. However, they find the outgoing and cheery nature of their smaller brethren to be tiring. The lack of refined structure to their society is also confounding as it can be hard to discern what is the proper protocol to be followed in various circumstances. It is also felt that the Aqua Elves make friends just a bit too easily to be entirely prudent.
  • Ignis Elves – While the Terra Elves appreciate the redrawn and calculating nature of the Ignis Elves, the massive racial superiority complex is off-putting. It is felt that the Ignis Elves are their own worst enemy and that sooner or later the Ignis Elves are going to provoke an alliance of many of the other races against them. What the Terra Elves should do in that scenario is an ongoing debate, with many advocating for at least being open to sheltering refugees when the inevitable happens.
  • Ventus Elves – The Ventus Elves are as mysterious to the Terra Elves as they are to most of the other races of Modun. Their ability to fly is a thing of wonder and amazement as are their goods made with amber, silk, and exotic woods. They also appreciate that what the other races consider rude when interacting with the Ventus Elves is really just a cultural misunderstanding regarding etiquette as the Ventus Elves value honesty to a fault and have a highly organized society similar to the Terra Elves. Still, the idea of living so high up in the trees that the ground can be hard to see is more than a bit terrifying.
  • Dwarves – Dwarves are seen as both kindred spirits and utterly weird. The emphasis on the materials of the earth in their culture is immediately relatable and the two cultures have had significant trade of such things for a long time. The clan nature of the dwarves is difficult to keep track of and more than a few times things have gotten tense because the Terra Elves committed the faux pas of presuming two different dwarves were part of the same clan. As a result, it is considered best to leave negotiations to experts.
  • Humans – To the Terra Elves, the Humans are easier to get along with than the dwarves despite having a similarly fractious nature. Perhaps it is that in some ways they are even more fractious than the dwarves and thus their associations with others (real or presumed) just don’t carry the same emotional weight. They do make excellent trading partners, although their greed can be a bit much to deal with.
  • Gnomes – The gnomish tendency to move about in caravans with no fixed home is considered to be quite alien to the Terra Elves. Their obsessions with the motions of planets and stars, the fundamentals of alchemy, and making ever more complicated clockwork mechanisms can seem pathological at times as well. Still, they are friendly enough even if their relationships with others can be a bit transactional at times.
  • Halfings – The Terra Elves know little about halflings beyond the rumors and stories shared by the other races. The idea of a race able to conjure poisons, summon forth nightmares, and seemingly vanish into the shadows sounds to the Terra Elves like something best kept at a distance.

Terra Elves

-Attribute Shift (+2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma) (6 CP)

-Self-Development (+2 Dexterity) (12 CP)

-Immunity / Sleep Effects (Uncommon, Minor, Major) (3 CP)

-Infrasound Hearing (4 CP) Specialized and Corrupted: User can be deafened by sounds others can’t hear, can be impaired by effects that impact normal hearing, information content is limited compared to normal hearing

-Innate Enchantment (7500 GP) (6 CP)

  • Enlarge Person (Always On x.5, Personal Only x.7 = 700 GP)
    • Uses the Practical Enchanter Version of the Spell
    • +8 Str, -2 Dex, +2 Con
    • +2 Natural Armor
    • -1 Attacks and AC
  • Make Whole (2000 GP)
  • Healthful Rest (1400 GP)
  • Foundation of Stone (1400 GP)
  • Know Direction (1000 GP)
  • Light (1000 GP)

-Immunity: Innate Enchantment Initial XP Cost (1 CP)

-Skill Bonus: Craft +2, Perception +2, Survival +2 (6 CP)

-Racial Weapons Glaives, Bows, Greatswords, Warhammers (3 CP)

-Languages: Elven (1 CP)

42 CP / Corrupted 28 CP

Disadvantages:

Large: Terra Elves are significantly larger and heavier than other races. As such, buildings and furniture built for and by other races may prove difficult for Terra Elves to use and may even break under the strain applied. Most often this comes up via doors and ceilings far too low to be at all comfortable, but at times even the floor may not be up to the task of supporting their immense bulk.

Reclusive: Terra Elven society is highly isolated from the wider world, with most Terra Elves never having even seen a member of another race in their lives. This often means that when interacting with someone they’ve never seen before, the Terra Elves will resort to stereotypes they’ve heard from stories as guidelines for social interaction. This isn’t done out of malice, just ignorance.

Filed under: Background, d20, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Eclipse d20 – Runebearers

Posted on March 14, 2024 by Thoth

The idea that words and symbols have power is pretty fundamental to magic. Ergo, symbols on the skin should also offer power. Comics have Possession or various forms of magic, Naruto has Seals, Rifts has Tattooed Men (Underpowered? Overpowered? Who knows? It’s RIFTS), Legend of the Five Rings (and it’s d20 version) have Tattooed Monks (Not too horrible in the original Legend of the Five Rings game, pretty poor in d20), and D20 had it’s Dragonmarks.

The d20 versions in particular were somewhat underwhelming. Sure, there were – as usual – a couple of exploits, and there were uses in a few fairly specific builds, but for the most part being a Tattooed Monk or Dragonmarked character was a waste of precious resources. It mostly got you stuff that actual spellcasters could laugh at in fairly short order. So lets rebuild things:

The Primal Runes are expressions of primordial principles, aspects of the divine powers of creation, or archetypes extending across many realities – but regardless of their exact origin, their expressions always follow the same pattern – one reason why they are always considered Specialized and Corrupted.

  • Attuned: Each Rune is attuned to a particular principle – a manifestation of one of the foundations of the cosmos. While Runebearers may choose between a modest list of sub-affects, they are always within the nature of the Rune, always have the same limitations, and are always set up by the game master. The GM should preset the list of runes available in a setting.
  • Blatant: The runes mark their bearers, usually with stylized sigils, which are fairly readily recognized. Since the markings expand and become more intricate as the user masters higher level effects, a knowledgeable observer can often figure out the user’s precise abilities – often at range with effects as simple as “Detect Magic”.
  • Destiny: Runes are foci of destiny, nexi of probability, and manifestations of prophecy. Bearers of well-developed runes will invariably be drawn into quests, feuds, and disputes that will often divert them from their own business. Strange things will happen, unlikely setbacks will occur, and various narrative tropes will keep turning up.
  • Hereditary: Runebearing tends to run in families – although mixing such bloodlines is, for some reason, likely to result in a child or two bearing the Destruction or Shadow Rune. Very few wielders can safely use two or more Runes, but very little is truly impossible.
  • Influential: The runes influence their bearers. The bearer of a Storm Rune likely smells of ozone, is a bit flighty and impulsive, tends to prefer a sudden unplanned onrush to other tactics, likes to go out in the rain, and so on. Bearers who do not fully live up to such influences may have to make Will checks to avoid acting on such impulses at the whim of the GM up to three times per session.
  • Signs: Runebearers show minor physical tell-tales. Those with the rune of Fire tend to have red hair and reddish skin, often feel hot to the touch, and may occasionally accidentally set things on fire.
  • Social Expectations: Runebearers form a natural aristocracy. Coupled with the tendency for runes to run in families, this means that any Runebearer will be claimed as a member of a particular clan, be subjected to social expectations and duties, and will be watched and tracked. The Destruction and Shadow runes are often exceptions, carrying  massive social stigmas and suspicion instead.
  • Well-Known: Almost everyone understands the nature of the primal runes and the capabilities of their wielders.
  • Willful: The runes are difficult for mortals to control. Despite their effects reduction in effective level via Mana and the Compact Metamagic, users of levels beneath (2x the base level of the effect they are using -1) can have difficulties as set by the GM.

The Runebearer Package (18 CP, optionally -6 CP for the Disadvantages given above, for a total of 12 CP):

  • Shaping, Specialized and Corrupted for Increased Effect: Produces a maximum of fifteen first-level spell effects related to a particular theme, each usable once per day (three times a day for any Cantrips taken). All spells must be chosen from the lists given for each allowed theme, although individual spells may be chosen more than once. The user may select four options from the Cantrips and Level One spell options, two of each higher level through level six, and one seventh level effect (6 CP). Sadly, effects which require expensive material components or which have XP costs still have those costs.
    • Level Two effects are reduced to Level One through the expenditure of One Mana. Safe to use at level 3+.
    • Level Three effects are reduced to Level One through the expenditure of Two Mana. Safe to use at level 5+.
    • Level Four effects are reduced to Level One through the expenditure of Three Mana. Safe to use at level 7+.
    • Level Five effects are reduced to Level One through the expenditure of Three Mana and the use of an Expensive Material Focus. Safe to use at level 9+.
    • Level Six effects are reduced to Level One through the expenditure of Three Mana, the use of an expensive material focus (unique to each spell, usually 500-5000 GP, depending on GM whim), and owing a favor to the enabling powers. Safe to use at level 11+.
    • Level Seven effects are reduced to Level One through the expenditure of Three Mana, the use of an expensive material focus, and owing a favor to the enabling powers, and suffering 4d6 damage and becoming Fatigued in the casting (GM’s may permit extremely evil users to damage the creatures, plants, ecosystem, and environment in a fair radius. Such damage, while subtle, can take many years to heal). Sadly, this is the limit in possible reductions. Safe to use at level 13+.
  • 2d6 (8) Mana with Spell Enhancement, Specialized and Corrupted for reduced cost / only for Spell Enhancement, only for boosting the shaping effects above (4 CP).
  • Rite of Chi with +8 Bonus Uses, Specialized and Corrupted for reduced cost / only to recharge the pool above (6 CP).
  • Innate Enchantment, Specialized and Corrupted for reduced cost / only gets one of the following six options. (The 56 XP cost can be ignored) (2 CP).
    • Skill Mastery (Skill Group) (SL 1 x CL 1 x 2000 GP x .7 Personal Only, 1400 GP). A +3 Competence Bonus to four skills set by the Rune’s Theme.
    • Immortal Vigor I (+12 + 2 x Con Mod HP, 1400 GP as above).
    • Enhance Attribute: +2 Enhancement Bonus to an Attribute set by the Rune (1400 GP as above).
    • Magic Armor: The user’s armor and/or shield is treated as +2 if not already +2 or better (1400 GP as above).
    • Magic Weapon: The user’s weapons are treated as +1 weapons (1400 GP as above).
    • Aura of Light (or Darkness). Gain a +1 Sacred (Profane for some runes) bonus to Saves (1400 GP as above).

Naturally enough, the basic package can be expanded:

  • Rune Mastery (6 CP): Either add a second (or third or fourth) set of spells from those associated with your existing rune or – with game master permission – add an additional rune to your repertoire with it’s own set of spells (this may require an Immunity to the usual restrictions). In either case you will want…
  • Runic Empowerment (6 CP): Add +2d6 Mana and +4 Bonus Uses of Rite of Chi to your existing pools.
  • Runic Infusion (6 CP): Select four more Innate Enchantments from the list above. While these do not directly stack, characters with more than one Rune may select Skill Mastery or Enhance Attribute for differing Skills or Attributes.
  • Runic House (6 CP): Major Privilege. A full member of an established Runic House is an up-and-coming member of a major organization with both political and economic power. They will receive subsidized equipment, medical treatment, legal assistance, and other backing – especially when they are on house business. While this is far less important at high level, it can be a major advantage – or absolutely vital – at lower ones. Of course, they are also expected to undertake various tasks and missions for the house – but since the house wants them to come back successful, such missions tend to be within the characters limits and are often fairly profitable.

Obviously enough, a Rune could be improved in hundreds of other ways or be used to power (and thus render cheaper via Specialization or Corruption) a variety of other abilities – but these are the most obvious and common ways to build on them.

So here are some sample runes:

For the notes on the runes. It’s assumed that Runebearers are reasonably common in the setting, that getting to level three to five is not too uncommon for NPC’s with special abilities, and that the game master isn’t too restrictive about characters pushing things a bit on occasion (not strictly necessary, but useful) – and so there will be social effects. After all, if the runes are just another source of power available to occasional adventurers, that won’t have much of an effect – and there’s not a lot of point in bothering with runes if you aren’t going to make them an important part of your setting.

Creation Runes:

Creation / Crafting:
Skills: Craft (All). This includes Spellcraft.
Attribute: Wisdom
L1) Crafter’s Fortune, Mending (3/Day), Repair Light Damage, Psionic Minor Creation, Golem Strike, True Skill (The Practical Enchanter).
L2) Make Whole, Produce Kit (Hedge Wizardry), Force Ladder, Quick Potion
L3) Channel The Gift, Eldritch Armor III (The Practical Enchanter), Greater Laborer’s Word (1 Day of Work), Repair Serious Damage.
L4) Master’s Song (1 Week of Work), Metal Melt, Eldritch Weapon III (The Practical Enchanter), Treasure Stitching
L5) Equivalent Exchange (Sell or Purchase Items), Fabricate, Major Creation, Renovation
L6) Animate Object, Hammer of Mending, Wall of Gears, Wall of Stone.
L7) Create Demiplane (Lesser), Simulacrum.

Presumably the first Rune, and the primordial font of all other runes. The gift of the Creation Rune is – appropriately enough – civilization. The ability to easily create and maintain the tools and structures that form the basis of towns and villages. Certainly, the higher level powers are near-miraculous, but even the lower-level ones allow the easy creation of masterworks, swift maintenance for walls, wagons, weapons, and aqueducts, and the easing of a myriad tasks. If one wishes to build in the dangerous wilds of a d20 universe… your best hope of success is to find a high-level character to act as a patron – or to find even a low-level wielder of the more practical aspects of the Creation and Earth Runes. Where many are gathered together, there is industry – a font of practical supplies. Wealth and political influence tends to follow.

Destruction / Malignance:
Skills: Bluff, Perform, any one Knowledge, and Use Magic Device.
Attribute: Strength.
L1) Barbed Chains, Cause Fear, Curse Water, Death Knell, Doom, Murderous Command.
L2) Agonizing Rebuke, Blindness/Deafness, Commnd Undead, Whip Of Spiders.
L3) Animate Dead, Bestow Curse, Gloomblind Bolts, Possession.
L4) Caustic Blood, Create Soul Gems (two target version), Enervation, Phantasmal Killer.
L5) Bestow Threefold Curse (lay three curses at once), Feast On Fear, Mass Repair Undead, Unholy Sword (Weapon).
L6) Create Undead, Greater Curse Terrain, Planar Ally, Swarm Skin.
L7) Disintegrate, Plague Storm.

While the power of the Destruction Rune can be turned to the defense of civilization, it’s constant call is to tear things down – to reduce the lands to a howling wilderness, to make the wilderness a decaying haunt of the undead, and to ultimately return all things to nothingness. While, to some extent, the old must pass to make way for the new… by it’s nature the Destruction Rune does not discriminate. Most cultures will see the Destruction Rune as evil, a power to be feared and ostracized. Given that the runes have psychological effects on their wielders… that belief is not without justification.

Preservation / Guardian:
Skills: Concentration, Sense Motive, Intimidate, and Listen.
Attribute: Constitution.
L1) Endure Elements, Keep Watch, Lionheart, Mage Armor, Shield Of Faith, Warning Shout
L2) Force Shield II (The Practical Enchanter), Protection From Arrows, Shield Other, Lesser Spell Immunity
L3) Magic Circle (any one), Protection From Energy, Mass Resurgence, Eldritch Weapon III (The Practical Enchanter)
L4) Lesser Globe Of Invulnerability, Emergency Force Sphere, Delay Death, Battlemind Link
L5) Aura Of Evasion, Psionic Mind Blank, Village Veil, Wall of Stone
L6) Banishment, Forceful Hand, Globe of Invulnerability, Perceive Betrayal.
L7) Age Resistance (Greater), Spell Turning.

In the Preservation Rune lies safety. In civilization it is the sign of guardians who place themselves between the common folk and what would harm them. Travelers rely on it’s wielders for protection. Settlers rely on them to stand guard while their homes and defenses are built. Wealthy nobles rely on guards wielding the Preservation Rune. Justified or not , Preservation Runebearers are commonly seen as the quintessential heroes – but it is not uncommon for them to have a more quixotic bent or a more mercenary mindset.

Transformation / Primordialism:
Skills: Disguise, Profession (any one “primitive” profession), Survival (Includes Use Rope), and Tumble.
Attribute: Strength.
L1) Aspect Of The Wolf, Claws of the Bear, Embrace The Wild, Lions Charge, Speak With Animals, Sufefooted Stride,
L2) Bite of the Wererat, Animalistic Power, Personal Vigor, Create Treasure Map,
L3) Alpha Instinct, Bite of the Werewolf, Greater Magic Fang, Jaws of the Wolf.
L4) Battlemind Link, Bite of the Wereboar, Freedom Of Movement, Summon Stampede
L5) Bite of the Weretiger, Commune with Nature, Release The Hounds, Replay Tracks
L6) Bite of the Werebear, Leader Of The Pack (as per Danse Du Pack, The Practical Enchanter, but only 10 minutes/level), Primal Regression, Summon Flight Of Eagles.
L7) Changestaff, Greater Polymorph.

Unlike the other three Primordial Runes, the Transformation Rune has few cultural implications, and is seen more as a thing of the wilderness – wielded by explorers and rangers, but equally by wildmen and primitives. As is perhaps befitting, the Rune of Change is seen as fundamental to both advancement and regression, a thing of both invention and shapeshifters. Great warriors often wield the Transformation Rune – whether for good or for ill. To the content, they bring danger and disorder. To the oppressed, liberation and the hope of change. As such… they are never entirely welcome to those in power, who see no reason for change.

Elemental Runes:

Air / Storms:
Skills: Balance, Diplomacy, Listen, and Perform (any sound-focused form).
Attribute: Dexterity.
L1) Air Bubble, Endure Elements, Feather Fall, Fog Cloud, Shocking Grasp, Updraft.
L2) Binding Winds, Eagle Eye, Gust Of Wind, Wind Wall.
L3) Call Lightning, Downdraft, Sleet Storm, Wind’s Favor.
L4) Air Walk, Blast Of Wind, Greater Aggressive Thundercloud, Ice Storm.
L5) Call Lightning Storm, Control Winds, Fickle Winds, Storm Touch.
L6) Blazing Rainbow, Dispel Magic (Greater), Path Of The Winds, Plague Storm.
L7) Control Weather, Storm Tower.

While there are a few benign uses for the Air Rune, most of those are the province of truly powerful wielders, simply because they usually call for massive areas of effect. Such powerful wielders are immensely valuable in ship-based trading, in agriculture, and in many other areas. Control of the Weather aids in growth and harvest, ends droughts, and breaks storms. It may not still earthquakes, calm volcanoes, or stop tidal waves – but such things are rare, while destructive storms, dangerous blizzards, and shortages of rain are all too common. Families with strong links to the Air Rune tend to focus on training more than most, teaching their members to access those powerful – and oh, so profitable – effects. They are often trained as ship crewmen, in anticipation of them developing their greater powers.

Earth / Plant:
Skills: Appraise, Climb, Move Silently, and Survival (Includes Use Rope),
Attribute: Strength
L1) Enhance Herb (Paths of Power II), Entangle, Goodberry, Expeditious Construction, Hail Of Stone, Pass Without Trace,
L2) Bull’s Strength, Forest Friend, Full Pouch, Heat/Chill Metal,
L3) Chameleon Stride (Greater), Feather Step (Mass), Plant Growth, Stone Shape
L4) Commune With Nature, Jungle Mind, Land Womb, Sturdy Tree Fort
L5) Hungry Earth, Transport Via Plants, Wall of Stone, Wall Of Thorns.
L6) Binding Earth (Mass), Dust Form, Move Earth, Transmute Rock to Mud (Reversible).
L7) Master Earth, Animate Plants.

The Earth Rune is the rune of foundations, of agriculture and growth. With it even a relatively minor wielder may cause the fields to yield more, can feed and heal the folk of a settlement on simple herbs and berries, and may plow and dig wells, canals, and channels. With a bit more experience, they can discover all the riches of the earth and erect sturdy outposts from which folk may gather that wealth.

Fire / Plasma:
Skills: Craft (Alchemy or any fire-related), Disable Device, Heal, and Sleight Of Hand.
Attribute: Intelligence.
L1) Blades of Fire, Burning Hands, Campfire Veil, Kelgore’s Firebolt, Resist Energy (Fire Only), Wall of Smoke.
L2) Hearthfire (Hedge Wizardry), Pyrotechnics, Scorching Ray, Balor Nimbus.
L3) Fireball, Fire Spiders, Fire Wings, Flashburst.
L4) Firestride Exhalation, Fire Shield, Firestride, Wall Of Fire.
L5) Cone of Cold (Fire), Daltim’s Fiery Tentacles, Firebrand, Greater Fireburst.
L6) Fire Spiders, Fires of Purity, Scalding Mud, Summon Elementals (1d3 Huge Fire).
L7) Prismatic Spray, Sunburst.

Fire is one of the foundations of civilization. Yet the Fire Rune is primarily a sigil of war – for should you wish to cook, to scare animals away from your camp, to provide light, to smelt ore or forge metal, to brew potions, to drive a steam engine, or simply to provide warmth… a Hearthfire spell (and perhaps Resist Fire) will do. Certainly, you might want to use an explosion (Fireball) to help mine, or to extinguish a fire with Pyrotechnics – but even a minor Runebearer can accomplish such tasks. The greater spells of fire are almost always weapons of one sort or another. Still, a fire specialist is a welcome aide in battle.

Life / Renewal:
Skills: Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Heal, and Speak Language.
Attribute: Charisma.
L1) Cure Light Wounds, Lesser Restoration, Lesser Vigor, Remove Sickness, Polypurpose Panacea, Youthful Appearance
L2) Calm Emotions, Close Wounds, Delay Poison, Stabalize.
L3) Cure Serious Wounds, Neutralize Poison, Remove Disease, Vigor.
L4) Cure Critical Wounds, Panacea, Remove Curse, Restoration.
L5) Breath Of Life, Heal, Monstrous Regeneration, Raise Dead.
L6) Dual Heal (two targets), Greater Good Hope (double effects), Heroes Feast, Inspiring Recovery.
L7) Resurrection, Restoration (Greater).

The Life Rune is usually the template for any healer’s emblem in a setting. Whatever form it tends to take – whether Rod of Asclepius, Eye of Horus, Healing Hand, Renewing Serpent, Medicine Bear, Antahkarana, Om, Yin-Yang, Medicine Wheel, Lotus, Tree of Life, Hamsa/Hand of Miriam, Dharma Wheel, Flower of Life, Reiki Symbols, or Spiral Sun – will become emblematic. Runebearers of Life, as powerful physicians and healers, are welcome almost everywhere, their services are coveted by the wealth and sought by charities. Even the most generous will generally be well supported by donations and grateful patients. While it can obviously be used in support of evil, It is rare that any wielder of the Life Rune will be regarded with anything save great respect – unless their personal habits are utterly odious.

Shadow / Darkness / Oblivion:
Skills: Bluff (includes Forgery), Gather Information, Hide, and Move Silently.
Attribute: Intelligence.
L1) Disguise Self, Insightful Feint, Minor Image, Net Of Shadows, Shadow Anchor, Shadowfade.
L2) Blindsight, Darkness, Dark Whispers, Searching Shadows.
L3) Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Gloomblind Bolts, Scrying, Shadow Enchantment.
L4) Bestow Curse, Greater Invisibility, Shadow Conjuration, Shadow Form.
L5) Cloak of Shadows, Mislead, Prying Eyes, Shadow Walk.
L6) Greater False Vision, Greater Scrying, Shadow Evocation, Shadow Memory.
L7) Project Image, Shadow Conjuration (Greater).

Popularly – if somewhat unfairly – seen as the Rune of Thieves, Assassins, Spies, and Rogues, the Shadow Rune has always been as much about what might lie within the shadows as of the darkness itself. Still, given that fundamental uncertainty about its nature, it is not surprising that the Shadow Rune bestows powers that are far more flexible than those of any other rune. Of course, that same flexibility – and it’s inclusion of mental effects – only adds to the reasons why others find the Shadow Rune and its wielders so suspicious. Sadly, given that the influence of the rune on their minds, all too many Shadow Runebearers fully justify that prejudice.

Water / Swamp:
Skills: Disguise, Escape Artist, Survival (includes Use Rope), and Swim.
Attribute: Wisdom.
L1) Align (Bless, Curse, Etc) Water, Corrosive Touch (as per Shocking Grasp, but Acid), Detect Poison, Fogsight, Hidden Spring, Obscuring Mist.
L2) Chill Metal, Cure Moderate Wounds, Fog Cloud, Warp Wood.
L3) Poison, Neutralize Poison, Quench, Water Breathing.
L4) Control Water, Holy (or Unholy, etc) Storm, Raise From The Deep, Rusting Grasp.
L5) Airy Water, Control Currents (1 Hour / Level), Insect Plague, Summon Nature’s Ally VI (Water Elemental Only).
L6) Blazing Rainbow, Drown, Summon Elementals (1d3 Huge Water). Tidal Surge.
L7) Submerge Ship, Vortex.

The Water Rune is surprisingly subtle and versatile, if only because it is one of the few runes that offers even limited healing powers in addition to both utility powers and combat functions – if no particular defenses. Still, basic offense, concealment, minor healing, the ability to explore the depths, and raise or hinder ships, makes a bearer of the Water Rune welcome aboard any vessel or in any coastal settlement.

Archetypical Runes:

Communication / Writing / Runecraft:
Skills: Autohypnosis, Any one Knowledge, Decipher Script, and Speak Language.
Attribute: Dexterity.
L1) Amanuensis 3/Day, Ancient Knowledge, Arcane Mark 3/Day, Comprehend Languages, Incendiary Runes, Instant Portrait.
L2) Activate Item (Wand, scroll, staff, whatever), Lesser Arcane Seal, Speaking Stones, Whispering Wind.
L3) Illusory Script, Secret Page, Sepia Snake Sigil, Tongues.
L4) Amnesia, Bit of Luck, Contingent Scroll, Sending.
L5) Commune with Texts, Greater Dispel Magic, Greater Harrowing, Mage’s Decree.
L6) Chains of Light (Runes), Demanding Message (Mass), Greater Seal (The Practical Enchanter), Planar Ally.
L7) Banishment, Limited Wish.

In all language – in speech, in gestures, and in writing – there is an echo of the Primal Runes. A strength that can bind and shape the deep energies of creation, bringing order from chaos. The Communication Rune is the bridge over which that echo passes, the language which helps define what the world IS instead of simply reflecting thoughts about it. It is tied deeply into the foundations of what it means to be intelligent and capable of passing on lessons to younger members of your species – to have a culture. Wielders of the Communication Rune are found as messengers, clerks, judges, grand viziers, and commanders – anywhere where there is a premium on the ability to communicate, to support the official niceties that maintain society, and to understand large amounts of information. At their peak, a wielder of the Communication Rune can speak reality into being, although – as mere mortals – there are severe limits to this ability.

Defense / Traps / Wards:
Skills: Balance, Craft (Traps, etc), Disable Device, and Search.
Attribute: Dexterity.
L1) Alarm, Dispel Ward, Hidden Ward, Mage Armor, Resist Energy, Sanctuary.
L2) Arcane Lock, Fire Trap, Misdirection, Rope Trick.
L3) Dispel Magic, Explosive Runes, Glyph of Warding, Nondetection.
L4) Emergency Force Sphere, Magic Circle (Select), Reverse Arrows, Ruin Delver’s Fortune.
L5) Chromal Barrier (as per Prismatic Wall, but only one color), Mages Private Sanctum, Scry Trap, Zone Of Respite.
L6) Greater Glyph Of Warding, Guards and Wards, Sign of Sealing, Hide The Path.
L7 Refuge, Teleport Trap.

The Defense Rune is, of course, most valued by those with places and items that need to be protected or secured. While relatively few of it’s powers are particularly mobile, it offers a wide variety of protections – especially if someone learns to imbue areas with personal protections. A structure – whether shop, moneychangers, or fortress – protected by a skilled wielder of the Defense Rune can be difficult to even locate, much less damage or penetrate.

Investigation / Curiosity / Search:
Skills: Decipher Script, Gather Information, Open Lock, and Search.
Attribute: Wisdom.
L1) Bloodhound, Detect Secret Doors, Heightened Awareness, Instant Search, Lay Of The Land, Residual Tracking.
L2) Blood Biography, Circle Dance, Locate Object, Share Husk.
L3) Allied Cloak, Aura Sight, Helping Hand, Seek Thoughts.
L4) Dungeonsight, Implacable Pursuer, Legend Lore, Locate Creature.
L5) Contact Other Plane, Geas/Quest, Mages Private Sanctum, Mind Probe.
L6) Find the Path, Mass Fleeting Memory, Psychic Asylum, Unerring Tracker.
L7) Retrocognition, Vision.

The questions have rung out across the centuries: “What happened?” “Why did this happen?” “Who did this?”. Those who wield the Revelation Rune can usually find out. While there tends to be communication and cooperation between it’s wielders, they rarely gather in one place, for their curiosity – and the questions of their patrons – tend to lead them in many directions. Still, while “truth” is widely sought, this is also the rune of blackmailers and spies. Others are bounty hunters, rangers, and hunters of wild beasts – searching out their prey as the “more sophisticated” bearers search out truth.

Revelation / Divination / Senses:
Skills: Appraise, Listen, Sense Motive, and Spot.
L1) Detect Magic 3/Day, Detect Poison 3/Day, Ebon Eyes, Embrace The Wild, Investigative Mind, Ancient Knowledge.
L2) See Invisibility, Discern Shapechanger, Know Vulnerabilities, Eagle Eye.
L3) Akhasic Communion, Arcane Sight, Identify (Pathfinder Version), Oracular Vision (Any divination effect of level two or less).
L4) Detect Scrying, Divination, Echolocation, Legend Lore.
L5) Dragonsight, Dream, True Seeing, Zone of Revelation.
L6) Analyze Dweomer, Immediate Truth (Use one “True” (strike, skill, etc, see The Practical Enchanter) spell as an immediate action), Prophetic Lore, Telepathy.
L7) Arcane Sight (Greater), Scrying (Greater).

The Revelation Rune reveals much, if rarely all – but those looking for forgeries, or counterfeit money, or poisoned food, or infiltrators, or are seeking justice, or who wish to learn about some ancient relic… would do well to find a bearer of the Revelation Rune.

Symbiosis / Beastmaster / Animal Husbandry:
Skills: Handle Animal, Heal, Intimidate, Ride.
Attribute: Charisma.
L1) Calm Animals, Charm Animal, Commune with Birds, Speak with Animals, Enrage Animal, Invisibility to Animals.
L2) Bestow Curse (Domestication, Desexing, or similar veterinary “work” only), Hold Animal, Summon Swarm, Nature’s Favor.
L3) Dominate Animal, Greater Magic Fang, Cure Critial Wounds (Animals Only), Master Animal (Permanent Train Animal)
L4) Animal Growth, Summon Nature’s Ally V (Animals Only variant, -1 level). Breeders Blessing (improves results, especially over generations).Winged Mount.
L5) Awaken, Heal (Animals only), Release The Hounds, Summon Nature’s Ally VI (Animals Only variant, -1 level).
L6) Dragonblood Beast, Share Skin, Summon Nature’s Ally VII (Animals only variant, -1 level), Summon Stampede.
L7) Animal Shapes, Atavism (Mass).

The gift of the Symbiosis Rune is prosperity. For even at it’s lower levels it offers dominion over the beasts of the fields and the ability to produce improved strains of them. Strong and docile plowhorses and packhorses, fierce warhorses, improved mastiffs for defense, training the great cats and elephants for war, more productive cows, healthier and better-laying chickens… the second half of the agricultural revolution, and all the wealth it brings, lies in the province of the Symbiosis Rune. Moreover, they can obtain results that would take other breeders a thousand years or more within a few decades.

Travel / Movement:
Skills: Climbing, Jump, Survival (includes Use Rope), and Tumble.
Attribute: Constitution.
L1) Abjuring Step, Benign Transposition, Expeditious Retreat, Jump, Mount, Updraft.
L2) Dimension Leap, Dark Way, Baleful Transposition, Swift Fly.
L3) Conjure Carriage, Fly, Mass Feather Step, Phantom Steed.
L4) Dimension Door, Flight of the Dragon, Planar Adaption, Wind At Back.
L5) Ether Step, Overland Flight, Plane Shift, Teleport.
L6) Find The Path, Mass Planar Adaption, Wind Walk, Word of Recall.
L7) Teleport (Greater), Walk Through Space.

The Travel Rune does not greatly change the world at lower levels, where it’s basic effects are mostly short ranged and personal, however useful such tricks are to an adventurer. Still, masters are greatly valued as emissaries, couriers, and traders in relatively small amounts of high-value goods. If you want to move a thousand tons of rice, you send it by ship. If you want to move five tons of artwork, send it by airship. If you want to move a briefcase full of precious stones quickly and securely… call in a master of the Travel Rune.

Wanderer / Pilgrim / Explorer:
Skills: Diplomacy, Knowledge (Local or Geography), Speak Language, Survival (includes Use Rope).
Attribute: Intelligence.
L1) Mage’s Comfort, Purify Food and Drink (3/Day) Prestidigitation (3/Day), Unseen Servant, Dawn 3/Day, Second Wind.
L2) Clothier’s Closet, Hearthfire (Hedge Magic), Hide Campsite, Peacemaker’s Parley.
L3) Bit of Luck, Create Food and Water, Hedge Mastery (cast two levels worth of Hedge Magic spells within the next hour), Servant Horde.
L4) Bountiful Banquet, Good Hope (10 Minutes/Level), Grove of Respite, Secure Shelter.
L5) Greater Age Resistance, Greater Hut, Hidden Lodge, Life Bubble.
L6) Heroes Feast, Superior Resistance, Transport Via Plants, Word Of Recall.
L7) Bestow Planar Infusion III, Mages Magnificent Mansion.

The Wanderer Rune is a force of rest and comfort – useful to wanderers whether they possess it themselves or whether they are merely staying with someone who does possess it. In either case, the promise of rest and sanctuary can be a precious thing – while even a relatively low-level wielder can easily set up a small inn or traveler’s rest and make a comfortable living wherever people pass. While the Wanderer Rune is notably inoffensive compared to many others, solving logistic issues is no small contribution to travel, exploration, and military expeditions can be invaluable – enough so that many treat anyplace run by a bearer of the Wanderer Rune as neutral territory.

Mages Comfort (Bard I, Sorcerer/Wizard I, Illusion (Shadow), Casting Time 1 Minute, Components V, S, Area: Special, Duration Two Hours Per Level, Saving Throw None (Harmless), Spell Resistance No).

Mages Comfort makes an area (campsite, apartment, extradimensional space, etc) pleasant to stay in with blankets, cushions, comfortable chairs, endtables, beds with nice mattresses, and other “real enough” furnishings. Anything removed from the area will, however, vanish instantly and none of the items can be effectively used as weapons, restraints, or for purposes other than comfort.

Greater Hut (Bard 5, Sorcerer/Wizard 5). An upgraded version of Tiny Hut, with a radius of up to thirty feet – sufficient to shelter an entire expedition. The outside blends into the local environment. Anyone attempting to get in without permission must save (Will, one try) or be unable to enter. The shelter will collapse if the caster leaves for more than ten minutes and Disintegration destroys it.

There are other ways to use runes of course. For example, you could set up a world where all magic depended on the Runes, and thus was inherently limited. Allow each spellcaster access to – say – three runes, perhaps forbidding some combinations. (For example, Destruction would likely be incompatible with the Creation, Life, and Defense runes). That would still limit spellcasters a great deal – eliminating most problematic spells and greatly reducing the complexity inherent in a vast spell list – while simultaneously allowing hundreds of unique magical combinations.

If even that is not enough… it should not be difficult to add additional runes. A few – such as Enchantment and Conjuration – are problematic for obvious reasons, Illusion would be entertaining, if ultimately a bit limiting. But Radiance, Metal, Insects (or Spiders), Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter, a set of Martial Maneuvers, Shamanism? Mystic Archery? Infernal or Celestial Magic? All those little fields that are a bit too narrow and specific to build a character class around can easily become Runes. What will that red dragon do when the fighter suddenly activates his Ice Magic Rune and takes the stance of the Unrelenting Glacial Advance style?

Filed under: Background, d20, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Planar Wizardry

Posted on February 22, 2024 by Thoth

For today, it’s a look at some old-fashioned spells. There are several tradeoffs in spell design, but in this case it’s the distinction between spells that do something specific and spells which give the caster a tool to work with – something that’s often seen as a distinction between “simulationism” and “gameism”.

Today most games run towards “spells that do something specific”. For a very familiar example, look at Fireball. In early editions it basically created an explosion that filled a certain amount of volume if it could. Thus, for example, it could go a long ways down a network of narrow tunnels. You could start fires with it, blow doors off their hinges, use it as a mining tool, and so on. If you set it off in a very confined place it might even do extra damage. Of course, it had all the downsides of explosive use; if you threw it at something behind a transparent barrier, or at a mirror that was reflecting a scene, or just seriously misjudged the amount of space available… it might go off in your face. It could create dangerous choking smoke, collapse roofs, and so on. Using it well demanded cleverness – and adjudicating the results could require a good deal of input from the game master.

Nowadays, it’s a specific radius on the map, starting fires is barely mentioned and almost never considered, barriers simply block it, and it’s quick and easy to use requiring very little caution or adjudication. Just don’t set if off at your own feet.

Personally, I rather like versatile effects – and to consider how things might have developed. Classically, back in first editon, Arcane Spells involved pulling power from other dimensions and carefully storing it in quasi-stable mental constructs – a complex and difficult process – although the number you could keep ready to go expanded with practice. (Divine Spellcasters, of course, cheated by getting their god to do the hard part. Still, that limited them to what their god chose to give them – meaning that they had to keep serving and pleasing their deities to get more magic).

So first up it’s some fundamental effects.

Momentary Breach: Sorcerer/Wizard 3, Components S, MF, Casting Time: Standard Action, Range: Touch, Effect: See Text (usually a short range cone, but the actual area affected is unreliable), Duration: 1 Round, Saving Throw: None, Spell Resistance: None.

This spell is related to Precipitate Breach, but is far smaller and more immediate – allowing the energies of another plane to pour forth in front of the caster for a few moments with the momentary portal (thankfully) facing away from the caster. The problem is that such effects are not magical (and thus ignore antimagic), and are controlled only by their own nature. If you tap into the quasi-elemental Plane of Lightning, you will get some lightning – but it will be electrical arcs that will ground themselves into something nearby and handy, without the intensity, directionality, and controllable area of effect of a proper Lightning Bolt spell. Less damage, a smaller area of effect, and possibly not hitting what you want to at all. Positive energy? Some healing is likely, but so is uncontrolled plant growth, fungi, and temporary animations that will not be under your control. Negative Energy might block an incoming energy attack, but it might also spawn some hostile minor undead. Chaos usually has effects similar to a Wand of Wonder. In no case can the caster target a specific area or creature. The GM may rule that some creature comes through, but that is entirely up to him or her. The focus is a rod or staff bearing a rune representing the plane being tapped, although a given staff or rod may bear many such runes. The possible planes to tap are:
● Elemental Planes: Fire, Air, Earth, Water, Life (Positive Energy), and Death (Negative Energy).
● Paraelemental Planes: Smoke, Ice, Ooze and Magma
● Quasi-Elemental Planes: Ash, Dust, Salt, Vacuum, Lightning, Mineral, Radiance, and Steam
● Outer Planes: Good, Evil, Law, Chaos
● The energies of the Transitive Planes (Astral, Ethereal, Shadow, and Temporal) are stable on their own, and so do not come through.
● Demiplanes are too small to target.
● Campaigns which incorporate the realms of the Fey or other specialized planes of existence (such as the Far Realms, Dream Realms, and others) may allow more knowledgeable mages to draw on those as well – but that tends to get quite weird, and is best left to rather high-level casters.

Experience does mean something of course; any required caster rolls resulting from the spell recieve a circumstance bonus of (Level – 5, +15 maximum). So if the game master has you roll 4d6 for elemental damage, or wants a dexterity check to keep the magma flow pointed away from your friend, or wants a reflex save because sucking the air out an area brought down the roof, the caster gets the bonus on such checks.

Game Masters who feel a need to limit things more precisely might, perhaps, only allow users to know how to draw on one plane per level of Knowledge/The Planes that they possess. For those who wish to increase the effects a bit – or just to offer some compensation from limiting the number of planes available – you might allow casters to use the spell to Call very minor creatures from the relevant planes, such as Mephits, allowing one such option per plane. While this wouldn’t offer any control over such creatures diplomacy and bargaining may produce some results.

Players who want an character with a dangerous untrained mystical talent or some such may want to take Inherent Spell (Momentary Breach) with Bonus Uses – thus creating a character who can spontaneously tap into a wide variety of extradimensional forces without much control or necessarily having any idea of what they’re doing or how to control it. For a mere 12 CP you can be a gifted but utterly untrained magus! (For a few more CP you can throw in some uses of Rope Trick, for secure camping, or perhaps Conjurer’s Tricks (from The Practical Enchanter) for minor tricks).

Planar Cascade: Sorcerer/Wizard 6, Components S, MF, Casting Time: Standard Action, Range: Medium, Effect: See Text (usually about a thirty foot radius but the actual area affected is unreliable), Duration: 1 Round, Saving Throw: None, Spell Resistance: None.

Planar Cascade operates much like Momentary Breach but affects an area at range and usually takes longer for the effects to dissipate (if they ever do) thanks to sheer scale. Dumping magma all over a sizeable area may take hours or days to cool (and will leave rock), filling an area with Chaos often has effects as per a Bag of Beans, and land covered in Salt may not be fertile again for generations. Vacuum, on the other hand, might just suck a lot of stuff up. On the other hand, Water or Air will usually dissipate quickly while Good will likely mere Consecrate the area for a time and damage evil creatures. As with Momentary Breach it is possible that something will come through the briefly-opened door – but the caster has no control over that, although it is remotely possible that praying to something (preferably using it’s true name) will cause it to take notice that there’s a path open for a bit. Of course, even if something comes through… this spell provides no way to so much as influence it, and is likely to overload and destroy any containement effects that might be used.

As with Momentary Breach, the caster gains a circumstance bonus on any spell-related rolls the GM calls for of (Caster Level – 11, 10 maximum).

Obviously enough, the simplest way to restrict this effect is to limit user’s to their list of planes from Momentary Breach. To enhance it… allow learned user’s to slightly twist the result to produce effects equivalent to a few lower (fifth) level effects – Plane Shift (to known planes only), Dismissal (if they can correctly identify a creatures plane of origin and know of it), and Precipitate Breach (may only breach to known planes) – allowing Plane Shift at Knowledge/The Planes 7+. Plane Shift or Dismissal at 14+, and all three at 21+.

This, of course, is serious magic. Dabblers rarely get this far – but it’s hardly impossible; For a mere 48 CP in total you can get five uses/day each of Momentary Breach, Shadow Conjuration, Shadow Evocation, and Planar Cascade – enough to make you a fairly effective “Wizard” or “Sorcerer”. Sure, there will be a lot of things you can’t do – but that’s a lot of versatility for a mere four spells.

Planar Infusion: Sorcerer/Wizard 9, Components S, M (10,000 GP in Gems), Casting Time: Standard Action, Range: Touch, Effect: See Text, Duration: Instantaneous / special, see text, Saving Throw: None, Spell Resistance: None.

Planar Infusion resembles Momentary Breach and Planar Cascade, but it infuses the summoned energies into some item, creature, or structure on a semi-permanent basis. An infusion of Negative Energy might create a powerful undead (albeit while offering no control over what you get or what it does), infusing a machine with Law might make it run for many centuries without requiring fuel or maintenance, infusing a Hospital with Positive Energy might ensure that the great majority of their patients would make full recoveries – or it might lead to it becoming a haunt of bizarre mutant monsters. Infusing a deck of cards with Chaos might result in something like a Deck Of Many Things (although cards would be used up when drawn) or perhaps a Deck Of Conjurations, Fire would likely result in a deck of fire magic – or a deck of natural disasters. Infusing a Staff with Fire might create or recharge a Staff of Fire – or a +1 (or higher) Flaming Staff, or any of many other things. This is versatile and fast, not reliable. As with Momentary Breach, the caster gains a circumstance bonus on any spell-related rolls the GM calls for of (Caster Level – 15, 5 maximum).

By the time anyone can cast this thing their Knowledge / The Planes really ought to be high enough that it isn’t going to be a limiting factor. You could limit it by Knowledge / Arcana on the theory that you need to know how to channel the power into various kinds of items – but by the time you can cast ninth level spells skills aren’t all that much of a barrier either. This one pretty much comes as-is.

Dabblers rarely get this far, simply because getting this far requires some serious dedication. Still, if someone really wants to…

  • Spend 18 CP on a L7 Effect – Etheric Creation (as per Major Creation, but Standard Action casting time and five cubic feet per caster level) five times per day.
  • Spend 18 CP on a L8 Effect – The Astral Forge (as per Limited Wish, but requires a rune-inscribed, inlaid staff worth 3500 GP as a focus instead of a base cost. On the upside, the staff can be used to cast Prestidigitation and Dancing Lights at will, if only at caster level one. More expensive models have Wand Compartments suitable for a wand or rod for +100 GP. Technically a Wondrous Item rather than a staff if that should ever matter).
  • Spend 18 CP on getting Planar Infusion 1/Day. You’d still have to pay the 10,000 GP in gems each time you use it though, so you might want to cut the cost by limiting this to once a week or something.

OK, that’s 102 CP, plus your investment in Skills – but it’s slightly cheaper than buying Adept spellcasting and extremely versatile, even if you do only have seven actual spells.

The Planar Spells are very versatile – but their effects tend to be somewhat random and are far less controlled and focused than a specific spell. Covering an area in nonmagical flames may do some damage and bypass antimagic, but it isn’t going to match the kind of intensity that you get with Fireball, much less with Delayed Blast Fireball or Meteor Swarm. On the other hand, they let a character with only a few spells do a creditable impression of a versatile wizard – just like Shadow Evocation and Shadow Conjuration would.

Lesser Planar Staff (12,500 GP, 10 Charges, recharges 1/Day automatically, but cannot be recharged otherwise).
● Momentary Breach (SL 3 x CL 8 x 400 GP) = 9600 GP
● Momentary Breach (SL 3 x CL 5 x 2000 GP Unlimited-Use Use Activated x .2 1/Day x .5 only to recharge the staff = 3000 GP.

Planar Staff: (36,000 GP, 10 Charges, recharges 1/Day automatically, but cannot be recharged otherwise).
● Planar Cascade: SL 6 x CL 11 x 400 GP / 2 (uses two charges) = 13,200 GP
● Momentary Breach: SL 3 x CL 11 x 300 GP (uses one charge) = 9900 GP.
● Planar Cascade (Sl 6 x CL 11 x 2000 GP Unlimited-Use Use Activated x .2 1/Day x .5 only to recharge the staff = 13,200 GP.

Grand Planar Staff: (100,000 GP, 10 Charges, recharges 1/Day but cannot be recharged otherwise).
● As per a Planar Staff, but add Planar Infusion (Sl 9 x CL 17 x 1500 GP Unlimited Use Spell Trigger Plus 10,000 GP Material Component x 50 Restricted Usage = 729,500 GP x .1 (Usable 1/Week) = 72,950 GP

Creating Planar Staves normally will require both Create Wondrous Item and Create Staff. These are constructed using the Pathfinder rules for making staves, simply because they seem more interesting that way. They’re self-recharging because – otherwise – both 3.5 and Pathfinder 1’st staves don’t really seem to attract many users. 

For the next step past the Planar Dabbler we have the Planar Adept.

A Planar Adept is, in many ways, an ancestral form of Arcane Caster, The basic talent – opening portals to other planes to draw magical power from – is pretty much the same. However, instead of carefully forging that power into prepared spells like a Wizard or pouring it through preset channels like a Sorcerer, the Planar Adept pretty much just turns it loose, focusing on developing the raw talent to blow holes in the universe. All that study, sophistication, spellcrafting, and arcane lore is left to later generations.

Given the number of planes available to tap into this is a surprisingly versatile effect – but control is quite another matter. Planar Adepts will quite often find things going somewhat, or even seriously, wrong until they’re using very high order effects indeed. There isn’t much subtlety either; you won’t find clever mental manipulations, or transformations, or subtle illusions among their repertoire. They get the eighteen spells given below, and that’s it. Still, thanks to that specialization, they are capable of accessing those specific spells earlier than a Wizard or Sorcerer could, which is something.

Planar Adept Package (26 CP to start, +4 CP per additional level, additional purchases – Knowledge / The Planes, more Rite of Chi, or more Mana – may be wanted:

  • Opener Of The Ways: Wilder, Corrupted for Reduced Cost (Likely Cha or Int-based, 4 CP/Level) / Does not provide any Abilities, only usable with the Planar Portals and Planar Rifts Paths.
  • Access to the Planar Portal and Planar Rifts Paths (12 CP).
  • Keys Of Creation: 2d6 Mana with Spell Enhancement, Specialized and Corrupted / only for Spell Enhancement, only to access higher-order effects with the Planar Portals and Planar Rifts Paths (4 CP).
  • Breath Of The World: Rite of Chi, Specialized and Corrupted / only to restore the Pools given above, requires several minutes of downtime to use (2 CP).
    • +4 Bonus Uses of Rite of Chi, Specialized and Corrupted / only to restore the Wilder Power pool above (2 CP).
    • +4 Bonus Uses of Rite of Chi, Specialized and Corrupted / only to restore the Mana pool given above (2 CP).

Planar Portals Path:

  1. Bestow Planar Infusion. Note that this may be cast at Level Four to provide the Improved Infusion or at Level Seven to provide the Greater Infusion.
  2. Conjurer’s Tricks. From The Practical Enchanter. Basically upgraded Prestidigitation.
  3. Momentary Breach,
  4. Open The Underworld. Greater Invocation of Create Pit, normally creating two instances of Create Pit or a single Spiked Pit. Cast at L5 it can create an Acid Pit or two Spiked Pits, at L6 a Hungry Pit or two Acid Pits, at L7 a Roaming Pit or two Hungry Pits, and at L8 two Hungry Pits. (Honestly, at higher levels you usually have much better things to do than to create pits, but as ascalable invocation those spells might see SOME use).
  5. Teleport.
  6. Planar Cascade.
  7. Planar Seal. Creates any dimensional sealing effect of level six or less. Likely examples include Dimensional Anchor, Scramble Portal, Forbiddance, Seal Portal, and Seal Planar Breach.
  8. Pocket Realm, Produces any Spacewarp template spell (See The Practical Enchanter) of level seven or less.
  9. Planar Infusion (The ninth level version above).

Planar Rifts Path:

  1. Gatekeeper. For ten minutes per caster level the user may detect planar disturbances at long range and may use Open Locks and Disable Device on portals, gates, and similar phenomena.
  2. Dimension Step. As per Dimension Door, but only Medium Range,
  3. Blink.
  4. Shadowform.
  5. Greater Blink.
  6. Etherealness.
  7. Immediate Temporal Acceleration.
  8. Portal Mastery: Can produce any one of the following lesser effects – Greater Plane Shift, Greater Teleport, or Shadow Walk.
  9. Reality Maelstrom. Note that if you decide to simply drop all control, this is equivalent to the spell Precipitate Complete Breach. This is NOT advised.

Obviously enough you’ll probably want more levels of Wilder, some Knowledge/The Planes, and – of course – hit dice and such. Still, while the initial cost is similar to that of a Wizard, even throwing in some more bonus uses on Rite of Chi and a few more dice in the Mana reserve, the per-level cost is going to be far below that of an actual Wizard or Sorcerer. The flexibility will be too, but it’s not at all a bad package for a “primitive” arcanist – or it could serve as a template for various other specialists. There are plenty of other domains and paths out there.

Filed under: Background, d20, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Dungeon Keepers and Cores for Eclipse d20

Posted on January 16, 2024 by Thoth

“Dungeon Keeper” or “Dungeon Core” is a fairly specialized genre. Nevertheless, I’ve been asked how to build one.

Brompton Cemetery by Thomas Nugent is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.0build one.

So… how do you build a personal dungeon full of monsters, traps, rooms and chambers with chasms, furnishings, and puddles of fire, and various (relatively minor) treasures and keep building it up?

Like any other form of base, the starting point is the Sanctum ability / feat. This also helps avoid the primary trap of this kind of setup; it’s passive nature. A dungeon keeper or core may run the dungeon – but generally must wait for people to come into the dungeon and has little to do if they decide to leave again. If the game involves other players (as most do) much of the time a pure dungeon keeper or dungeon core character would have nothing to do – and even when adventurers visit a dungeon, they’re the active ones.

Ergo, being a Dungeon Keeper needs to be cheap enough – at least in terms of character-building resources – that your Keeper can go out and adventure, or intrigue, or whatever, with the rest of the group without being at a massive disadvantage. Ergo, Sanctum, which provides 24 CP to build with for a mere six CP with the proviso that those resources are fixed, and only operate in a particular location.

Dungeons, of course, are places of magic. They spawn and respawn monsters and treasures, they create huge, and insufficiently supported, underground areas, they have breathable air in long-sealed vaults, they fail to fill with water even when built under bodies of it, the connections between their levels often make no sense at all, and you never see a vast pile of dug-out earth and stone next to them. Fairly often they have local laws of nature that don’t seem to apply elsewhere or ignore rules that should apply. Dungeons are set a bit apart from reality. That’s a major clue; they’re extra-dimensional spaces.

The Dungeon Core / Keeper Sanctum Build:

  • Action Hero (Crafting), Specialized and Corrupted for Increased Effect (+50% points for a total of (3 + [level x 1.5] action (“Dungeon”) points per level, rounded up – so 5 at level one), covers both time and costs) / only to create dungeon facilities – the Dungeon Generator, Dungeon Populator, Raid Generator, and other optional items listed below (6 CP).
    • At first level a Dungeon Keeper or Core will have a mere 5 Dungeon Points to spend; just enough for a simple one-level goblin cave, or a crypt with a few skeletons, or some such. That might not be too elaborate, but it will do for a start.
  • Create Item (Wondrous Items), Specialized for Increased Effect (the prerequisites are irrelevant) and Corrupted for Reduced Cost / only to allow the creation of the “items” given above under Action Hero via Action Hero (4 CP).
  • Privilege: Dungeon facilities – and their functions – may be purchased in discrete and functional steps. For example, the Dungeon Generator – the “item” that creates basic dungeon levels – costs 15 Action (Dungeon) Points and can make four normal levels and three expanded levels. Ergo: 2 DP for L1, +1 DP per additional level, +2 DP for each of the three possible level expansions. That’s still a total of 15 DP, but this means that a starter dungeon can purchase a first level – perhaps a warren of kobold tunnels – for a mere 2 DP (3 CP).
  • Leadership (Contractors and Evolutions), Specialized for Increased Effect (applies to each floor) and Corrupted for Reduced Cost (4 CP) / can only be applied to Dungeon Creatures – although this may include one outside creature per level that has taken up residence in the dungeon – ceases to work outside the dungeon, only to give creatures of the dungeon both levels and special “evolutions” (templates) and to grant similar minor boosts (almost always including greatly extended lifespans and Returning) to the Contractors.
    • Leadership, of course, does not really work below level four – but this allows higher-level dungeon keepers and cores to go ahead and give their basic monsters a variety of unique upgrades and to lure in assistants. Unfortunately, while Contractors can leave the dungeon, the benefits of their contract will be in abeyance until they come back.
  • Returning, Specialized and Corrupted for Reduced Cost / only to restore Dungeon facilities created through Action Hero (2 CP). It may take some time to re-establish a dungeon, but unless the Keeper or Core is destroyed, the digging always starts again – and soon enough the dungeon will be back.
  • Privilege: The dungeon Keeper or Core receives a little bit of Experience – and the occasional extra “Dungeon Point” – when adventurers spend time visiting, exploring, or adventuring in their dungeon. This is, however, Specialized / said adventurer’s presence must be voluntary and their level must at least equal the level of the dungeon that they are visiting for this to be of any actual benefit to the Core / Keeper (1 CP).
  • Occult Sense (Dungeon Awareness): The Core or Keeper is always aware of what is going on in his or her dungeon. Corrupted / the user is only fully aware of what is going on in one level at a time. The Keeper or Core only gets a vague idea of what is going on on the other levels (4 CP).

A Keeper who makes a habit of wandering off may want to purchase Mystic Link, so that they can maintain this awareness – and give orders – when outside the dungeon.

Basic Facilities:

The two Basic Facilities – the Dungeon Generator and the Dungeon Populator – are pretty much required for any dungeon.

  • Dungeon Generator: Spacewarp (L2 Base) with Barriers (+1 Level, doors (including the entryway), obstacles, and passages may have various rules/challenges/etc), Furnished (+1 level to add bridges, murder holes, minor wildlife, guard posts, bodies of water, fountains, chasms, lava pools, groves of trees, mushrooms, quicksand, bridges, secret doors, tapestries, chests, and other dungeon furnishings. This stuff tends to quickly decay away if removed from the dungeon), Hidden (+1 level, even transdimenional divinations about the place and it’s contents generally fail), Increased Size (+1 level for 30,000 cubic feet per caster level available per floor), Stable (+1 Level, other extradimensional spaces may be created or used inside without difficulty), and Renewable (+1 Level). Spell Level 8 x Caster Level 17 x 2000 GP Unlimited-Use Use-Activated x.4 only ten instances of the spell may be maintained at a time and they may be arranged in no more than seven floors, x,8 Layout may only be changed somewhat when the spell gets it’s daily renewal, x.8 changes may only be made while the floor is unoccupied by outsiders, x.8 floors cannot be simply sealed off, a route through must always be available (even if it can be extremely hard to manage) x.5 Immobile = 28,000 GP. Purchasing with DP: 2 for L1, 1 per additional level, 2 for each of the three possible level expansions.
  • Dungeon Populator: Summon Monster VII (Custom List Option; Four Monsters and Four Traps for each level) with the Renewable option (+1 Level), Base Duration of 1 Minute/Caster Level (+1 Level), Includes minor special equipment for “evolved” followers / trap concealment (+1 Level), Three Levels of Built-In Metamagic (-1 Level): Spell Level 9 x Caster Level 17 x 2000 GP Unlimited-Use Use Activated x .4 Effective level of the summoning spell is equal to that of the floor the creatures are being summoned to, x.7, Renewal effects only maintain the monsters and traps existence until no outsiders are on a floor and they can reset .7, Each Floor may only be given 4d4 Minor Creatures Or 2d4 of two types), 1d4+1 Average Creatures, and 1 Major Creature, as well as 4 Minor (two types available), 2 Intermediate (must be of the same type), and 1 Major Trap, x.7 Monsters may not leave their floors (or go outside) more than very briefly x.9 Monsters are generally obliging to the Dungeon Keeper or Core, but aren’t necessarily very bright about it and do have instincts, x.5 Immobile = 19,000 GP. It should be noted that each level usually has a theme; a fiery level will have fire monsters, a goblin fort level will have goblins and humanoids, and so on. Purchasing with DP: 3 for L1, +2 per additional level.
    • So each floor gets up to 510,000 Cubic Feet. with three extra blocks of that much space to add to particular floors if you want a forest or something. Each floor will be inhabited by 4d4 Minor, 2d4+2 Average, and 1 Major monster – and will have 2 Minor, 2 Average, and 1 Major trap as well as assorted minor obstacles and challenges. To define “Minor”, “Average”, and “Major”.
      • Level One (Summon II Base): Minor is CR 1/3 or less, Average is CR 1/2 or less, and Major is CR 1 or less.
      • Level Two (Summon III Base): Minor is CR 1/2 or less, Average is CR 1 or less, and Major is CR 2 or less.
      • Level Three (Summon IV Base): Minor is CR 1 or less, Average is CR 2 or less, and Major is CR 3 or less.
      • Level Four (Summon V Base): Minor is CR 2 or less, Average is CR 3 or less, and Major is CR 5 or less.
      • Level Five (Summon VI Base): Minor is CR 3 or less, Average is CR 5 or less, and Major is CR 6 or less.
      • Level Six (Summon VI Base): Minor is CR 5 or less, Average is CR 6 or less, and Major is CR 8 or less.
      • Level Seven (Summon VII Base): Minor is CR 6 or less, Average is CR 8 or less, and Major is CR 9 or less.

Thus, for 5 DP, a first level Keeper or Core can have a first floor and some basic creatures and traps to put on it. They won’t be able to afford anything fancy until later on however.

It’s important to note that things like basic pits, slippery floors, and similar terrain hazards can be added for free. Things can also be added through normal means; if a Dungeon Keeper wants to go out and buy some bear traps (2 GP each) and hide them under a scattering of straw, they may do so. They’ll just have to maintain and reset them manually, while traps created ny a Dungeon Population maintain and reset themselves.

Optional Facilities:

Engines Of The Deeps: This facility generates Unseen Servants with an Extended Range (anywhere in the Dungeon, SL 3 x CL 5 x 2000 GP Unlimited-Use Use-Activated x .5 Immobile) – and can thus maintain about 3000 of them at a time, delivering about 250 Horsepower. That’s more than enough to straighten the place up, to support moving bridges of floating cobblestones, to run elevators, to power and reset mechanical devices and traps, to hold up floating platforms, to pump water, to move items and prisoners about, to hold covers over pits, and to collect any stray goodies that adventurers leave laying about, among other things. With a net cost of 6 DP there isn’t a lot of point in breaking this one up – but if you want to any individual set of specialized effects is 1 DP until you hit a total of 6 and go unrestricted.

Yes, this covers things like sliding blocks and walls, floating bridges that assemble themselves when triggered, stairs that turn into slides, hanging nets, returning the sand to the shaft that dumps it on top of people, and so on. Anything particularly elaborate will still have to be purchased somehow – whether by a Dungeon Populator or actual cash – but this will suffice to harass people endlessly.

Throne Of War: Greater Invocation of Eldritch Weapon VII, Renewable (+1 Spell Level) for SL 9 x CL 17 x 2000 GP Unlimited-Use Use-Activated x.5 Immobile x.5 (weapons may not be given a higher bonus than the level they are found on, no more than a few will be found on any given floor, and only occasional weapons will retain “their” magic after their user is defeated. = 76,500 GP. Installing a spark of the local War God in the depths will allow a dungeon to place a few magical weapons around the place – usually being used by various monsters. Most such will disappear when the monster is defeated, but every so often one will remain as a reward or “loot drop”. Such weapons can have any combination of enhancement bonuses and special functions up to their total bonus limit. There’s an upper limit of 1700 enhanced weapons (or bundles of enhanced ammunition at a time, but this should pretty much never be a worry – so dungeon keepers or cores can have personal weapons and can hand out weapons to friends and allies. As an epic item this costs 21 DP – but can be purchased in installments of +1 maximum per +3 DP.

Aegis Of The Guardian: The companion to a Throne Of War, this uses an Eldritch Armor effect – although since that spell is one level lower than the corresponding weapon enhancement this item can be purchased for +2 DP for levels 1-6, with level 7 costing 3 DP.

The Throne Of War and Aegis Of The Guardian will allow a well-developed dungeon to keep an associated party well-stocked with magical weapons and armor. Of course, a well-developed dungeon requires rather a lot of design work, regular maintenance and adjustment, and dealing with the attention and adventurers it will attract.

Secondary Core: This modification gives the Dungeon an intelligence of it’s own, albeit one that is responsive, rather than communicative. It, in turn can imbue the dungeon with a wide variety of effects. This is a Ward Major effect, as found in The Practical Enchanter, and has a cost of 3 DP for Rank-1, 2 DP per additional level to a maximum of level seven.

In theory it wouldn’t be that expensive in terms of DP to install an Epic Ward – but at that point the dungeon would almost certainly be smarter, wiser, more charismatic, and more willful than any reasonable Core or Keeper – and would probably just take over it’s own enchantments and go it’s own way. That’s how you get megadungeons.

Reality Fixator: Limited Wish L7 x L13 x 2000 GP + (50 x 1500 GP) = 257,000 GP x .4 (One subdividable charge per day) x .4 (only usable to produce goods with a maximum total value of 750 GP – 50% of the cost of the spells 1500 GP material component) x.5 Immobile = 20,560 GP. A Reality Fixator gradually makes a dungeons furnishings real – allowing adventurers to steal those fancy tapestries, for those bottles of fine wine in the storeroom to get taken into town, for ropes and other basic goods to persist outside the dungeon. Given time, a Reality Fixator will begin to stock the dungeon with minor treasures – bits of coinage, small gems, minor potions and scrolls, and so on – although the dungeon monsters can use those too. You may even see common livestock, simple mounts, and occasional cheap wands and wondrous items and such, a process which will speed up as more DP are invested. 1 DP per 75 GP/Day.

A dungeon can generate rather a lot of wealth. Of course, a lot of it will be in difficult-to-manage forms and most of it is used internally – but no sensible dungeon keeper is going to be short of basic supplies.

Raid Generator: Summon Monster VI (custom summons list, generally two choices each of minor mounts, minor hunting beasts, average minions, major boss), +4 levels of Persistent (24 Hour Duration), -2 levels / requires an elaborate dedicated staging area to launch the raid from, -1 Level / it requires up to ten minutes to ready a raiding party, +1 level raiding parties come with suitable gear. Spell Level 8 x Caster Level 15 x 1800 GP Unlimited Use Command Word Activated x .3 (Three Uses per Week) x .8 (All three uses are automatically expended at the same time to get a set of 5 Minor Mounts / Hunting Beasts, 4 Average Raiders, and one Major Raid Boss (Minor/Average/Major as defined above), x.7 (Creatures summoned are appropriate to the second-“deepest” level the dungeon has achieved – so a two-level dungeon summons a L1 raiding party, while a seven level dungeon can summon a sixth level raiding party. First level dungeons cannot summon raiding parties even if they somehow have a Raid Generator)x.5 Immobile = 18,144 GP. A Raid Generator allows a dungeon to summon up a raiding party – either to pursue fleeing adventurers, to conduct raids / resource grabs against some nearby target, to provide support for some operation, or to generally roam the countryside and make a statement. It costs 5 DP to install a Raid Generator capable of producing a first level raiding party, +1 DP per additional level to a maximum of a level six raiding party.

A Raid Generator will quickly attract attention. A dungeon without one is a mere attractive nuisance; it may lure in the occasional fool or little group of would-be adventurers, but simply staying away from the place is pretty much complete protection. Once it starts sending out raiding parties, however, that will quickly change.

Benison Generator: Create Magic Tattoo (L2), Renewable (+1 Level), Double Effect (+4 Levels), Nondispellable (+2 Levels), One Minute Casting Time (+1 Level), No Check Required (+1 Level), 9 levels of built-in Metamagic (-3 levels) = Spell Level 8 x Caster Level 15 x 2000 GP Unlimited-Use Use-Activated x.5 Immobile x.7 Rank four benisons may only be awarded on level seven, rank three on level five and up, rank two on levels three and up, and rank one on any floor = 84,000 GP. Another fairly obviously epic-level toy, it costs 21 DP – or 7 DP per rank – to get a Benison Generator.. Possible Benisons include…

  • (Rank) Resistance Bonus to Saves.
  • (Rank) Competence Bonus to Attacks.
  • (Rank) Enhancement Bonus to an Attribute.
  • Recall (Rank) levels of cast spells daily, as if using a Pearl Of Power. Sadly, even with multiple
  • Benisons, the maximum level of spell recalled is four.
  • (Rank x 6) Spell Resistance.
  • (Rank / 2) Luck Bonus to Attacks
  • (Rank / 2) Deflection Bonus to AC
  • (Rank / 2) Bonus to Effective Caster Level

Dungeons are notorious for having magical pools which grant benefits, monsters having magical trinkets, and so on. While unique items have to be purchased or crafted normally, a Benison Generator allows a dungeon to dispense a bunch of generic stuff – although no single recipient can have more than three such Benisons at a time. Note that creatures of the dungeon can also receive Benisons (whether as Marks, Draughts, Talismans, Etc), although no more than one each. A Benison Generator can only support 1440 Benisons in total, but this is not normally a noticeable limitation. Defeated monsters may leave Benisons as “Loot Drops”, but this is only at the option of the dungeon

Benisons are about as classic as it gets and have always been one of the major reasons that characters go into dungeons; they want that “Phat Loot!”.

Star Of Destiny: Wish Spell Level 9 x Caster Level 17 x 1800 GP Unlimited Use Command Word Activated + (50 x 25,000 GP) = 1,525,400 GP. X.05 once per month x 5 Immobile x.8 can only be added to the seventh level x .7 only for “Dungeon Business” – moving the entrance to a new location, allowing characters in a lower-level game to find a magic pool that can resurrect their lost companion, granting some special reward such as a companion creature or major change in a character (these are usually handled as bonus feats, see “Inherent Bonuses” in The Practical Enchanter) x.9 maximum of three uses to provide inherent bonuses per target = 19,220 GP. A dungeon equipped with a Star Of Destiny can grant rewards that are normally unavailable – allowing a character who was seeking a draconic steed to rescue and hatch a dragon egg (Grant Feat: Draconic Companion), or let someone learn secret techniques from some ancient spirit, or reveal a lost gate to some secret location, or letting a young paladiness bond with a unicorn, or any of hundreds of other things. And if no one is being rewarded this month the dungeon might add another entrance, or a special linke between the floors, or hide a sublevel minigame within a painting that allows entrance to a secret crypt, or some such. Installing a Star Of Destiny costs 15 DP. Upgrading it to 1/Week costs another 6. Unfortunately, there’s no good way to subdivide this; until the full price is paid the Star Of Destiny will not manifest.

A Star Of Destiny makes a dungeon a place of mysterious powers, where wonderful things can happen. Personally, I’d advise any dungeon with seven floors to install one as soon as possible.

Spectral Forge: Spectral Hand (L2) +1 Level (Anywhere in the Dungeon), +1 Level (No HP Cost). Spell Level 4 x Caster Level 7 x 2000 GP Unlimited-Use Use-Activated x .5 Immobile = 28,000 GP. A Spectral Forge allows a Core or Keeper to manifest their spells and similar abilities anywhere in the dungeon – although accurate targeting will require that the user be focusing on that level at the time. 15 DP and – once again – there really is no good way to subdivide this cost.

The Glorious Egress: Planar Drop (L2) Spell Level 2 x Caster Level Three x 1800 GP Unlimited-Use Command Word Activated x.5 Immobile = 5400 GP. Planar Drop is a relative of Dispel Magic (albeit with Touch or Short range) that simply ejects its target from a relatively limited extra-dimensional space at the point where they entered it if they fail to save. While rather narrowly specialized, this is occasionally used to eject ill-mannered guests from Mage’s Magnificent Mansion or to escape from spells like Create Pit or Maze. Unfortunately, demiplanes and such are too large to allow it to function – but it will allow a Dungeon Keeper or Core to either provide a shortcut to the surface for those who reach a designated exit and wish to leave or to try and throw people out – although the low save DC means that it will probably take several tries to get this to work. It’s usually installed in the final chamber, but the effect can be manifested anywhere in the dungeon with a Spectral Forge. 6 DP, and, once again, there is no good way to subdivide this cost. Still, it’s small enough that there generally is no need to bother.

While other facilities are possible (in fact, almost required at high levels since there will be plenty of DP left over at that point), those twelve cover most of the things a dungeon needs to function. It should be noted that there is nothing preventing a dungeon from buying such items more than once. Although there is no point with some of them, monster-heavy dungeons often double up on their Dungeon Populators and Raid Generators.

Dungeons are very powerful, and very cheap – although they take a lot of design time on the part of the player and a lot of time leveling up to build up that power. This, of course, makes developed dungeons into coveted targets. Many an individual and organization will want to claim and control a powerful dungeon – putting any player character who wants that power either up against the dungeon’s current master or very much on the defensive. Of course, that’s arguably just the way that it’s supposed to be.

With any luck things here will now be coming off hiatus and I can start posting semi-regularly again.

Filed under: Background, Character Sheets, d20, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Eclipse D20 – Playing Possessed Items

Posted on November 28, 2022 by Thoth

And here we have another question…

The idea of possessed weapons is pretty old. Seriously, you can find that sort of thing in a bunch of ancient myths. The tales of the Gān Jiàng and Mò Yé swords or some weapons from the Vedas are some of the oldest examples I’m aware of, but the idea almost certainly predates the historical record. I can practically guarantee that, at some point, at least one stone age tribesman decided that their favorite weapon was haunted by someone’s spirit and was somehow lucky. Rather a lot of people have lived since the species evolved so somebody is sure to have come up with a basic bit of magical thinking like that.

More modern takes vary a lot, but ideas like “an old or crippled mentor imbues a weapon with his skills and passes it on to a student” or “a spirit is bound to a weapon until it is used to avenge its murder” turn up in a wide variety of books and films. So occasional players want to play such a weapon – or some other enchanted object. This… is awkward. To start with:

  • RPG’s are social events. A character who has limited – or potentially no – communications is problematic.
  • RPG’s stress player agency. A character who can’t move and act on their own is problematic.
  • RPG’s stress keeping everyone involved. If you have a character who can’t reasonably participate in things like going to a bar, meeting the king, having a meal, and being social – and lets face it; the blood-dripping cursed axe of doom is not going to be welcome everywhere – the GM must choose between abandoning many of the elements that make it a RPG or leaving the enchanted object player out of much of the game. It’s problematic either way.
  • RPG’s normally try for some sort of character equity. This will be awkward. Either the character will simply lose out on the physical abilities their character will normally have or – in resource-allocation / ability purchase systems will be able to dump all of the resources that would normally go into making an effective character into some overwhelming advantage – often relying on it’s bearer for all of that stuff. This is problematic.
  • RPG’s tend to make NPC’s at least somewhat independent and the PC’s very independent. If the item character gets to override the bearers decisions it’s unsuitable for a PC, and turns a NPC into property as a puppet – an advantage that cannot be taken away without leaving the player out of the action. If the enchanted object can’t control the bearer, then much of the time the player will wind up having their decisions ignored or not getting to act. In either case, this is problematic.
  • RPG’s tend to count on characters having needs, weaknesses, and social connections. Most need oxygen, food, and drink. They have metabolisms to be affected by poisons and diseases. They need sleep. They can be affected by (or gather information from) scent, and taste, and touch. They have families, and are usually interested in things like sex, fine food, comfortable living conditions and so on. Items, however, tend to be immune to a lot of things like that. This is problematic again since it – once again – cuts off a bunch of in-game options for motivating and challenging the characters.

So there are a lot of problems with this notion even before picking a game system. It’s not like playing a robot or a vehicle that can drive itself or even – as a few players have done in various games – playing a Shellborg or an Artificial Intelligence in cyberpunk-themed games. Those characters can either direct their own bodies or direct drones or just serve as the group hacker. There are still some problems, but it’s not too bad since such settings are set up to accommodate such characters and the people playing such characters had a good deal of fun with them.

Still, the game I mostly cover here is Eclipse d20 – and it can be used to build pretty much anything. So how to build such a character in Eclipse in a typical high-fantasy setting?

For the actual racial template:

Sentient Item Racial Template: Note that this is generally applied to a medium-sized item. Anything smaller than that has a hard time holding enough magic to support a spirit, anything larger is just too unwieldy. That doesn’t mean that it’s impossible; just that it’s generally a lot more trouble.

First up… judging by the stories I’ve seen that involve such items they’re normally supposed to be being used by bumbling students, or untrained young heirs, or something similar. After all, characters who have their own skills and abilities to rely on don’t need to be led around by the nose by a possessed item. Ergo the abilities of the item – including abilities that it cannot personally use – supplant the abilities of the user. The only exception is going to be a selection of background skills and the most minor racial items. The Staff that contains the soul of Archmage Vilsamos almost certainly is better than some farmer’s kid or craftsman’s apprentice at everything related to adventuring, but Vilsamos very likely knows nothing about farming or woodcarving or potting or whatever the kid did before picking up the Staff – and is going to be somewhat limited on how much power he can push through a kid. This doesn’t necessarily have to have a cost since it’s a voluntary agreement on both sides – but it will be simplest to represent it as a Specialized and Corrupted version of Blessing (only works on someone touching or using the item, suppresses the target’s natural abilities greatly, must be voluntarily accepted, only works as an ability package, damage to granted attributes and abilities directly affects the user) though, which would make it cost (2 CP).

No Constitution score. This includes immunity to ability damage [including all poisons], ability drain, energy drain, and effects requiring fortitude saves unless they work on objects or are harmless. Items do not breathe, eat, or sleep, cannot tire and can move, work, or remain alert indefinitely. Items cannot be Raised or Reincarnated and are instantly destroyed at 0 HP (0 CP), Note that the original constitution score should be recorded (and not be mined for points to build up other attributes), since it will still limit the user and will modify the base HP being passed on to them. Why would such an item possibly weaken the user this way? Well, it has to draw energy from SOMEWHERE – and allowing an item to dump its physical attributes with no consequences unbalances things.

Leadership, Specialized and Corrupted / only covers a single wielder at a time, only to level them up so that – when they part company with the item – they will have learned a good deal from the experience, can only grant abilities very similar to those that the item or other characters in the party possess (2 CP). With this a youngster or non-adventurer will come out of the time spent with the item as a powerful and capable individual – reward enough for letting the item steer you through some adventuring.

Occult Sense (Low-Light Vision, 6 CP). This is one of the usual features of Constructs in d20, so I’m throwing it in – but it is a bit dubious. Of course, the general assumption that everything is roughly equivalent to a normal human unless noted otherwise that d20 is built around is odd anyway; how does the item see with no eyes?

Occult Sense (Darkvision, 6 CP). Another standard feature of d20 Constructs, and another item that really isn’t strictly required.

Immunity to things which affect biological processes (Very Common/Major/Legendary, Specialized: cannot heal naturally; they must be repaired or use other special abilities, does not apply to the “user” (unlike almost everything else), This includes paralysis, stunning damage, nonlethal damage, diseases, death effects, critical hits, and necromancy effects (22 CP).

Returning, Specialized / only when another willing wielder takes up or reconstructs the item in question (3 CP).

Efficient Siddhisyoga, Specialized / the money saved by the “Efficient” upgrade (generally a sixth of the total) goes to the user, to be spent on personal expenses, sent to their family, or be put into standard personal items (6 CP). Items don’t generally use more items, but they upgrade themselves given the resources – and their user’s will want SOMETHING for themselves.

Imbuement (6 CP). Note that variants are allowable. Armor can provide armor bonuses, tools can be enhanced (and likely to greater values than the base for weapons, since such bonuses are of less game importance), and so on. While this only affects the item it is not considered Corrupted or Specialized, since – if the item is not in use – this ability will not be functioning in any case.

Innate Enchantment: (6 CP, up to 5500 GP effective value)

  • Healing Belt, x.8 (Only works on the items user-avatar, 600 GP). While every item character has at least a modest ability to heal it”s user-avatar, if they were really that good at self-healing, what are they doing stuck in an item?
  • Repairman’s Belt (Variant Healing Belt that repairs damaged items instead, x/8 only works on the item, 600 GP). Every item character has at least a modest ability to repair itself. It’s fairly basic though.
  • Unseen Servant (SL1 x CL1 x.6 (3/Day) x2000 GP (Unlimited-Use Use-Activated = 1200 GP). Item characters have at least a limited capacity to drag themselves around and to affect the immediate environment a bit. It’s not very GOOD, but at least it lets them try to get themselves found if they get stranded somewhere.
  • Fortifying Stone, x.8 (affects the item only and is not transferable, 800 GP). Item characters item forms get +5 Hardness and +20 HP. As an innate enchantment, this is a permanent modification.
  • Immortal Vigor I (SL1 x CL1 x 2000 GP Unlimited-Use Use-Activated, x.7 (only affects the bearer-avatar form = 1400 GP). +12 +2 x (Con Mod) HP is always useful.
  • That leaves 900 GP available for personalization or just allowing the item to function as various mundane items. Does the Gauntlet of Zaros allow you to do things as if the wearer had appropriate tools? Add a Travelers Any-Tool function. Make it Masterwork and add a minor Weapon Crystal. Add a secondary form; perhaps the staff comes apart into a three-sectional staff?

Immunity / The XP cost of Innate Enchantments, Specialized and Corrupted / only applies to innate enchantments in this template, this limitation cannot be bought off (Uncommon, Minor, Trivial, 1 CP).

Double Enthusiast, Specialized and Corrupted for Increased Effect (Provides 6 CP) (6 CP): Only to provide points for Innate Enchantment, can only be changed when a new user is selected, only to represent the user’s prior personal abilities that the item’s abilities do not supersede – most commonly things like boosts to a set of skills such as Farming, Carpentry, Perform (Folk Music), cooking, racial ability boosts, and so on. In effect, this represents the carryover from the bearer-avatar since the item’s abilities otherwise override theirs right down to their racial template. (This also means that the item does not get “free” powers by picking a bearer-avatar of some powerful race). This pays for 6000 GP worth of Innate Enchantment,commonly including Skill Mastery (Group) (SL1 x CL1 x 2000 GP Unlimited-Use Use-Activated x.7 Personal Only = 1400 GP) granting a +3 Competence Bonus to a group of “civilian” skills – perhaps Fishing, Sailing, Swimming, and Cooking (as in Food Preservation for salting, pickling, drying, and otherwise preserving various seafood products) for a fisherman’s kid. If the host is a dwarven smith you might want Enchant Tools (Smithing), +2 Con, and something else relevant. If it’s an Aquatic Elf, you’ll likely want a +1 Leather (for Scales) (1020 GP) and a Greater Crystal Of Aquatic Action (3000 GP), Maybe some built in swim-fins and such too.

Accursed: If the item wants the user to do something which is flatly insane, suicidal, or grossly offensive to the user said user may refuse or even abandon the item. Similarly, the user will tend to insist on “having a life” – going out drinking, trying out foods, and so on. Outside of that, it can usually be assumed that the item has an agreeably leadable user, and is essentially in control (-3 CP).

Accursed: Since such characters can gain levels, they can lose them too. That means that they CAN be affected by negative-energy based ability damage, ability drain, and energy drain, as well as by death and necromancy effects which target the soul, since they do have.one. Fortitude saves versus such effects are, however, replaced by Will saves.

That results in a net cost of 60 Points. The entire template is, however, Specialized: The bearer must intentionally allow the items abilities to supplant his or her own to let it function, the item on it’s own is effectively inanimate – lacking arms, legs, and senses of scent, taste (although they often have a limited sense of touch), independent mobility, and often even the ability to speak when not working through a host. That results in a net cost of 30 CP – a +0 ECL Template.

And there we have it; a sentient / possessed item template that – while it offers a few advantages – loses out on most basic racial advantages and remains compatible with other characters. While such items can specialize – like any other character – they can’t simply disregard their “physical” attributes because their users/hosts/avatars will still need them. If someone wants to play such a character… simply apply the racial template to whatever character build they come up with.

Filed under: Background, Character Sheets, d20, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Powers Of Poppins

Posted on November 14, 2022 by Thoth

And for today, it’s another question:

I’m trying to come up with a sort of “magical housewife” NPC, i.e. a character who manages a fairly large estate while the head of the household is out adventuring, using magic to safeguard the peace and prosperity of the place.

Leaving aside the use of Sanctum or Leadership (since they’re a caretaker, rather than the person in charge of the estate), I’m curious what sort of supernatural/spellcasting abilities would be appropriate. So far I’ve come up with Rune Magic/hearthcrafting (which I believe includes hedge magic), certain skills (mostly various Profession skills, along with some Knowledge, Perform, and Craft) that use either Stunts or Immunities to go beyond what’s typically possible, and a selection of buff/healing/defensive spells (including things like heroes’ feast, craft magic tattoo, restoration, etc.).

What would you add to that list, or otherwise look to expand upon for such a character?

-Alzrius

Well, there are a number of possibilities there. I’m going to assume that the caretaker is relatively low level, rather than being at the point where they simply – for example – relocate the household into a pocket dimension of their own design. Some of these possibilities will involve things like Sanctum or Leadership, but only in rather limited ways. You’ve already mentioned Rune Magic (Hearthcrafting), so here’s some of the more exotic stuff:

The Neutral Zone (2 CP).

  • Melding, Specialized and Corrupted / only to provide culturally-appropriate greetings, food, and lodgings for visitors to your household and to avoid social errors when hosting such visitors (2 CP)
  • Touchy foreigners, prohibitions against certain foods, being unwilling to eat with members of the opposite sex, being mortally offended unless all rooms are appropriate color-coded, will start a war if their hosts don’t always adhere to using their (lengthy) proper titles? That sort of thing is not a problem for a host or hostess with this ability. Admittedly you’ll mostly want this sort of ability if you host a lot of diplomatic events, so most people can get along without it.

Warden Of The Innocent (3 CP):

  • Occult Sense/Children: The user is automatically aware of the current activities, location, and condition of all children and teenagers who need watching in a considerable radius. Specialized / only applies to those youngsters on or nearby the house, estate, school, or manor (3 CP).
  • This is pretty powerful for an Occult Sense – capable of keeping track of dozens or hundreds of targets over a considerable area – but in d20 terms it isn’t a terribly useful field of information. Even if you’re running Hogwarts or an enormous harem or something… kids may be troublesome, but it generally isn’t adventurer-level troublesome. It’s nanny-level troublesome. Ergo this is relatively cheap. On the other hand, it’s probably something that pretty much every parent in the world has wished that they had at some point.

Wisdom Of The Ancestors (6 CP).

  • Lore (Household). You know the recipes, the spices, the herbal remedies, how to nourish the soil, how to farm, how to mend roofs, how to build stoves, houses, and greenhouses, how to crossbreed plants, how to deliver babies, and a thousand other things. Specialized for Increased Effect / only applies to household activities, but can be rolled even when an appropriate Craft, Heal, or Profession check would otherwise be required (6 CP).
  • This is useful simply because it’s universal. You need to preserve meat, graft fruit trees, make bricks, fix plumbing, deliver babies, counsel upset children, treat a broken leg, build a house, make clothes, or any of a thousand other things? Well, you know what to do, generally with a fair degree of competence.

Rites Of The Fey (3 CP):

  • Leadership with Exotic Followers, Specialized and Corrupted / only to have the services of a swarm of classical household spirit/small animals/minor fey, who do laundry, mend various things, harvest fruit, and otherwise handle minor manorial tasks (3 CP). Leadership normally calls for the user to be fourth level before they can start getting followers, but these “followers” have no measurable CR or real game effect at all, so you can reasonably rule that CR limitations do not apply.
  • From fey-related blessings to Disney Princesses, a house full of friendly animals, or brownies, or various other minor spirits that perform tasks, is a pretty classic way of glossing over all the hard, dirty, and almost endlessly repetitive work that goes into maintaining a household or manor without modern technology or a swarm of servants.
  • You could also take this as a privilege, or in any of several other ways at a similar cost. It’s not like it actually matters much.

Seignior (8-14 CP):

  • Innate Enchantment: Specialized and Corrupted / only works in and around place where the user has resided for some time, requires a selection of minor foci – one per function – set up around the place. 18,500 GP effective value (19 CP base, Net 6 CP).
  • Action Hero/Crafting, Specialized and Corrupted / only to pay the costs of Innate Enchantment (2 CP).
  • Obviously you could use this to get a lot of things – and you can still put in another 6 CP worth of Innate Enchantment, thus getting things up to 36,500 GP in total. Personally, I would probably start off with Ward Major III (Manor-Sized, Cheap, 11,375 GP value, three minor powers).This alone would be invaluable – and it still leaves 7125 to 25,125 GP for a selection of city-type magics. Those are mostly priced in the Industrial Wrights and Magic articles, starting HERE .
  • These 8-14 CP can provide some serious, if fairly subtle, power. Even the minor abilities of a Ward Major can be exceptionally convenient – Industry? Longevity? Military Skills? Daily crops? Excluding undead? Supernatural health? Good weather despite some horrible location? Being forgotten by all outsiders? Sign me up now please! Throw some stationary city magic from the Industrial Wights And Magic series (Starts HERE) such as City Stores (Free supplies every day, 8225 GP), a Perpetual Fountain (Endless water, 250 GP), a Composting Chute (Waste disposal or sanitation, 250 GP), a Cleansing Fountain (Cleaning and minor mending, 62.5 GP), and Endless Skein (Endless supplies of fiber, 250 GP), an Eternal Flame Brazier (Free safe lighting, 3000 GP), a Bone Vault (Law enforcement, 6500 GP), and Dark Rampart (Prevents undead spawning, 6500 GP) and you have a well-protected core for an affluent settlement. Perhaps there is a good reason for that dragon, dark lord, or noxious witch to abduct the beautiful princess and keep her imprisoned in their lair, stronghold, or tower.
  • Alternatively, if you’re looking for Adventurer support… A Marvelous Tattoo Parlor (Again, from the Industrial Wights And Magic series) costs 24,000 GP. That’s a lot – but if the game master lets you either work with someone else with this talent or lets you be REALLY cheesy and use the Investment rules like Granny does, and equip part of your household… you can grant some important benefits.
  • A high level manager may just go in for Granny’s Money Management perk or Occult Skill (Dream Binding) (3 CP + Skill Points) – allowing them to simply dream needed equipment into being for a while. It can be awfully convenient to be able to simply dream up some plow-beasts and plows when you need them and have them disappear again before the tax assessor comes around.

Priestess Of Húsvættir (8 CP):

  • Shaping (Specialized and Corrupted / only for Hedge Magic (2 CP).
  • 1d6 (4) Mana with Spell Enhancement, Specialized and Corrupted / only for spell enhancement, only with Shaped Hedge Magic (2 CP)
  • Rite of Chi with +4 Bonus Uses, Specialized and Corrupted / only to restore the Spell Enhancement pool above, user must whistle or sing and bustle around doing household chores, caring for children, cooking, and so on to make it work (4 CP).
  • This 8 CP package is good for a good deal of Hedge Magic every day, although it lacks the item-crafting function of taking that ability directly. Still, for problems ranging from broken teeth to hungry kids this is an instant solution – as well as being extremely flexible since few or no household tasks call for high level spells. It’s not so overpowered as Lady Holder, but that’s often a good thing. Being worth close to 40,000 GP can make you quite a target.

Heir Of Privilege (3 CP):

  • Privilege (Grant of Land, 3 CP): Thanks to an ancestral bequest or some such, the user need not pay taxes on their home (up to a modest manor) and enjoys a sufficient income in goods and services for a family to live comfortably.
  • This one is pretty obvious. Taxes, rents, and basic income usually aren’t a big thing in d20 anyway though, so it would probably be fair to count this as Specialized (Has no significant game effect) and only charge 1 CP for it. When was the last time that a character in your game worried about property taxes on their house?

A variation on Amulet Crafter or Favor Of Prometheus would work quite nicely (See: https://ruscumag.wordpress.com/2021/05/28/character-defining-feats/ ). Either of these abilities is only 6 CP. While the Amulet Crafter is basically another form of relatively minor primitive magic, it works well for roaming tribes and tribal settings where having a shamanistic family member is very convenient. Favor Of Prometheus would need some minor tweaks to apply to a particular household rather than a campsite, but that’s mostly in the special effects and the wording of the limitations. They would work best for a higher-level character though.

Mystic Architecture (4-12 CP).

  • While this is a potentially very powerful discipline for fixed locations – see Castle Hieronymus and Caercrwydryn – it’s also mostly for higher level characters since you’ll need a decently high skill total to make it work effectively. I’d leave this one for later.

Favored Of Hestia (8 CP):

  • Enormous Favors (Local Household God or Goddess), Specialized for Increased Effect (Need not be repaid) and Corrupted for Reduced Cost / only for things related to the household, only in and about the household (8 CP).
  • This is pretty limited with respect to the world at large – but putting direct divine intervention on tap is about as big a household trump card as you can get. Need a kid resurrected, or the estate saved from a citywide fire, or a tidal wave blocked, or an army to bypass you? Why not? After all, Odysseus wound up with Athena perching in the rafters of his house and personally sniping his enemies. Getting a minor miracle that keeps your house from burning down is pretty small next to that.

Kitchen Ritualist (6 CP):

  • Ritual Magic, Specialized and Corrupted / Fairly minor Household and Protective Rituals only (2 CP)
  • Skill Specialty (Performing Ritual Magic with whatever skill is relevant, 1 CP).
  • Skill Emphasis (Skill used for Ritual Magic), Specialized and Corrupted for Increased Effect (only for performing fairly minor household and protective rituals) (+6 Total, 3 CP).
  • With a total base bonus of +(9 + Relevant Attribute Modifier) for minor household rituals, a Kitchen Ritualist can be expected to keep pests away, ensure good harvests, fix leaky roofs, keep wild animals under control and greatly reduce monster attacks, ensure easy childbirth, fix infertility and birth defects, ensure that the farm animals do well, cure common diseases, and a thousand other things. After all, a kitchen ritualist isn’t doing the kind of rituals that call for dragon fangs, a demonic chorus, and rare incense. Their rituals tend to call for a chicken leg, a snoozing puppy, and a cup of soup. And the puppy can have the soup afterwards.

Witchcraft (Varies).

  • Really, this is full of possibilities for low-powered household magic. Minor healing, instantly getting work done, persuading awkward guests to go away, brewing antitoxins, improving the weather, chasing away ghosts, blessing the area with prosperity, divining where the lost sheep have wandered off to… there is pretty much no end of applications. Witchcraft, after all, is not really a primary power base. It’s a way to supplement a non-spellcasters abilities in a hundred useful ways. It is no surprise that it can augment a homesteaders abilities just as effectively – or even more effectively given the low level of mundane abilities it will be boosting.

The Lesser Paths (Varies)

  • Almost everything on this list would work – Skill Magic, Lay Priest, Wood Witch, use of Charms and Talismans, Spirit Allies, and more are all only 6 CP each. Admittedly, none of those are very powerful by the standards of adventurers, but villagers don’t generally need adventurer-level powers. If they want to go up to 12 CP… Houngan Conjurer or Basic Shamanism (via buying a Companion with the Spirit Fetch template from Eclipse II or here) are both good. Obol Maker or Mastery is probably the most versatile package in this range, but only works if the game master allows Obols in the first place. (Obols present a drastic price break on versatile one-shot magic, almost on the level of “purchasing” spells using a Supply Pouch. This is mostly because – as the rules stand – making or buying potions (the standard one-shot usable by anyone item) is far too expensive for what you get unless you go in for a bunch of specialized boosters to make them worthwhile. Thus, even if you find some you’re generally better off just selling them to help pay for something worthwhile. Ergo, Obols. Whether or not they work in any particular game is up to the game master though).
  • I probably wouldn’t be using Skill Stunts, although they’re certainly a possible route. They tend to call for very high skill levels. Those are common enough among adventurers, but are rare among lower-level types.

Martha Stewart Living (10 CP):

  • Executive, Specialized and Corrupted / only for directing manorial workers (2 CP).
  • Assistance, Specialized and Corrupted / only for manorial tasks (2 CP).
  • Immunity to the time normally required to accomplish skill-based tasks (Common, Minor, Major, Specialized and Corrupted / only for manorial tasks, 2 CP). This doesn’t actually negate the time required for performing household tasks, but does vastly reduce it, allowing the user to work on multiple projects at a time or to extend Assistance to many workers. As a natural law immunity this requires special permission from the game master, but I can’t see any real reason not to allow this one…
  • Luck, Specialized in Skills (Roll twice and take the best result), Corrupted / only for manorial tasks (4 CP).
  • This package is more or less mundane, but still turns the user into one of those horrifying people who somehow take charge, seem to be good at everything, are unnaturally efficient, and make everyone that they’re assisting – often several people at once – seem like fumbling idiots. Wherever they are WILL be terrifyingly well-run however. It also combines ridiculously well with Wisdom Of The Ancestors (above) and Serenity (below).

The Gossip Network (4 CP):

  • Deep Sleep with Cosmic Awareness, Specialized and Corrupted / only to become aware of things that may affect the household.
  • With this ability – whether it represents prophetic dreams or simply associating with the local gossips and informers – the user will always be aware of things that might affect their household. They will know when the tax assessors are coming, when to have the boys be too sick to be taken for the army, when to have the prettier girls out gathering berries in the woods, when a raiding party will be showing up, when a great storm is coming… Forewarned is forearmed, and few things are more useful for normal people than having time to prepare. This goes very well with Kitchen Ritualist.

Pedant (3 CP).

  • Leadership, Specialized for Reduced Cost / may only recruit youngsters of level one or below, it requires at least three months (and usually longer) per level to promote them, any promoted to level three or above will automatically graduate and leave class, these are students, not minions (3 CP).
  • D20 has a general problem with generational succession. In reality, people pass on their skills, their knowledge, and their techniques through teaching younger people. When one engineer, or ruler, or painter passes on… their students and apprentices can usually carry on quite creditably. In d20, however, those things are tied to level. The next generation needs to get some levels SOMEWHERE or things are going to fall apart. With this ability – possibly further upgraded to allow it to operate at lower levels – you can at least train the kids up to a reasonably acceptable standard. Admittedly, this is another application of Leadership, and the user will want to be level six (or, say, level three and be paying the extra 3 CP to specialize it for double effect) to take full advantage of it – but it isn’t one that will tend to dominate events in a campaign.

Beacon Of Life (6 CP):

  • Returning with Improved (Group) Blessing, Specialized and Corrupted / only applies within the household and only against natural perils (6 CP). No one in your care ever suffers a serious accident, major illness, or similar problem. They may chop down trees, live in the midst of a plague-stricken area, and be spared from natural disasters without peril.
  • This is stretching the rules more than a bit – but, of course, it is another fix for problems that generally don’t appear in d20 games save as the backdrop for a specific adventure. In life, accidents happen. In d20… rolling that Profession (Lumberjack) check doesn’t generally involve any peril at all, even if it does in real life. D20 runs more towards “Died fighting a dragon” than “A tree he was cutting down fell on him”.

A Knack With Animals (3 CP):

  • Inherent Spell (Bestow Curse) with +2 Bonus Uses, Specialized and Corrupted / only to “curse” animals with domestication, animal must be reasonably restrained for at least ten minutes (3 CP). This is pulling Bestow Curse from a specialized spell list to get it at level three, but with those limits that is a fairly minor bit of cheese.
  • Another incredibly convenient power for someone on a farm or manor but generally unimportant in d20 terms. Of course, it can be applied to normally wild animals almost as readily – so if you want to domesticate a tiger, or a hippopotamus, or an alligator, or anything else that isn’t normally trainable… then this is the power for you. A Corrupted, rather than Specialized version could also be used to curse people to think of themselves as property, and to tend to obey orders, and so on, making the user an unusually effective slaver – but that’s generally not a household task.

Graceful Aging (1 CP):

  • Timeless Body, Specialized / requires a regular regimen of baths, beauty treatments, exercise, and herbal treatments (1 CP).
  • This one actually has some basis in reality. While, even with modern medicine, wealth and influence doesn’t do all that much to extend life – quite a few rich celebrities die young regardless – back in the preindustrial era unrelenting work, poor food, lack of rest, pregnancies, lack of effective medical care, and injuries often made commoners wear down a lot faster than aristocrats did. In d20, of course, PC’s practically never die of old age unless the player was taking “venerable” to get attribute bonuses while somehow evading the usual penalties.

Serenity (3 CP):

  • Presence (Aura of Serenity), Specialized for Reduced Cost and Corrupted for Increased Effect (covers the entire house or manor – wherever the user has left his or her mark on the place – but only works where the user has been in charge for some time and has ordered the area to their liking, 3 CP). As the usual first-level side effect all members of the household or manorial staff gain a +2 Morale bonus to household-related rolls.
  • Again, this isn’t a major power – but a calm, happy, and smoothly-operating household where the kids are polite and cooperative, the servants aren’t having a private war behind the scenes, where no one is spitting in your soup, and it’s a pleasure to live there is something that much of the world can only dream of.

Feng Shui (3 CP):

  • Mystic Artist / Housekeeping, Specialized for Reduced Cost / takes a long time to set up, so the effect is fixed until the user undertakes another round of household organization or prepares for a feast or undertakes some spring cleaning or some such (3 CP).
  • OK, this is basically a form of immobile, if fundamentally temporary, art – so it remains in effect until the user opts to spend time changing it or the housekeeping is seriously upset. Unfortunately, this still relies on having a decently high skill level to accomplish much, so it’s really only useful to fairly accomplished users.

Sanctum (Perhaps via a temporary relic creation ability like Houngan Conjurer, above) is entirely appropriate really – a caretaker who commands special powers within the area that he or she is attuned to (whether or not it actually belongs to them) is very classic – and there’s nothing preventing two or more people from claiming the same area as a sanctum. Still, the request was to avoid that, so I’ll simply note the possibility.

Papers And Paychecks (0 CP).

  • If your caretaker happens to help run the bureaucracy of a kingdom or some such they may find Craft (Policy) useful. Honestly it’s completely irrelevant to most games, but sinking a few skill points into it might be useful sometime.

Finally we have…

The Devotions Of Celestial Mercy (18 CP):

  • The Devotions: 6d6 (21) Mana with Reality Editing, Specialized and Corrupted/can only be used for a set of specific reality edits, below (12 CP). The greater the level of the edit used, the larger the area and/or the more dramatically supernatural the effect:
    • Blessing: A blessed child is effectively under the care of a skill 15 Healer at all times until adulthood. If less than one year of age, the child may reroll it’s lowest attribute, although this will never result in lowering it. More powerful blessings may either apply to greater groups or result in low-grade magical assistance (User’s Cha Mod) times before adulthood – a but of direct healing, or protection from a house fire, or some such.
    • Escape: Threatened women, children, and other noncombatants can be offered a chance to take refuge in ways ranging from a passing driver being willing to give them a ride on through room being found on an evacuation train – and up to a giant turtle-island coming by to offer a them a lift.
    • Guardian: The Devotions can allow a willing individual to place himself or herself between an area – whether that is a humble temple where the villagers are hiding on the low end or a city-state on the high end – and an attacking force. While he or she bars the way and withstands the onslaught, no member of the attacking force may reach the guarded area or harm it’s people.
      Nativity: The celestial powers can grant children to those who wish for them – in ways ranging from simply granting easy conception and pregnancy to a couple who have been having trouble through opportunities for adoptions and on to outright supernatural events, such as a child (and likely future hero) emerging from a peach.
    • Panacea: A Healing spell gains the capacity to remove one or more additional conditions, such as Crippled (lost limbs, damaged organs, birth defects, and similar), Negative Levels, Attribute Drain and Damage, Petrification, Mind Control, and similar problems (see: Break Enchantment). In general, expanding a Heal spell to do a couple of those is a minor edit, expanding a Cure Light Wounds spell to remove a bunch of conditions is more Grandiose.
      • Yes, Regeneration is in the SRD as an independent level seven spell. – making it harder to restore a limb than to raise someone who’s been dead for a week. It’s a legacy spell anyway of course, given that d20 normally hasn’t GOT any rules for long-term crippling injuries. Worse, you can just take Monstrous Regeneration from Magic of Faerun – a spell which turns everything but fire and acid damage to nonlethal damage, heals nonlethal damage at 4/round, and allows the user to regrow limbs (even if the short base duration hinders this) – at level five. Evidently Regeneration is not so big a trick after all, which is why it’s relatively easy to add.
    • Serenity: The Celestial Hand can calm the turbulent powers of nature in ways ranging from calming a flooding stream on up through ending droughts, stopping avalanches, calming a mighty storm, or stilling an erupting volcano. Secondary problems – fires, collapsed buildings, injuries, and so on – will remain, and must be dealt with normally.
    • Sustenance: For the next seven days the common folk and creatures of an area will be able to find – with effort – enough to eat and drink, and sufficient shelter and warmth to survive, despite any famine or food shortage, water shortage, sweltering heat, or arctic cold.
  • Rite of Chi with +8 Bonus Uses, Specialized and Corrupted/only usable to restore Mana for The Devotions Of Celestial Mercy, above. (6 CP).
  • Exactly how powerful are The Devotions Of Celestial Mercy? Well… this is Reality Editing, and so it depends on how well any particular edit fits into the setting and the storyline. Secondarily, of course, d20 is generally a game of heroic fantasy; the characters are usually expected to fix whatever problem they’re presented with. In those terms… why did the oncoming horde choose a route full of chokepoints where a small group could hold them back for lengthy periods anyway? Especially knowing that bands of high-level adventurers are notorious for stunts like that?
  • The Devotions Of Celestial Mercy allows the game master to present the characters with some overwhelming problem – whereupon the players can invoke a Devotion to cut it down to something they can deal with. So you have stilled the volcanic eruption? There are still injuries, fires, people lost down the crevices that opened up, avalanche victims to be rescued, and the bunch of bad guys who will move in to loot the place. But those are problems that a small group can deal with. They generally can’t deal with thirty square miles of territory being blasted by a pyroclastic cloud short of trying for a major miracle.
  • The Devotions appeared once before, but they seemed worth adding here.

And I hope that helps!

Filed under: Background, d20, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Eclipse – Building Spell Progressions

Posted on October 28, 2022 by Thoth

And for today it’s a question…

I just discovered your Eclipse d20 RPG the other day – clearly I am very late to the party – I was just wondering – how would one go about generating a new Spellcasting slot table – such as the one the Duskblade uses?

-Darkholme

Interestingly, while I recall a lot of requests for specific conversions, I don’t remember a prior request for how to build spell progressions in general – although it’s been touched on a few times for specific builds. In fact, there is an article discussing how to build an Eclipse clone of the Duskblade up over here. It uses Specialization and Corruption to tweak an existing progression to fit. Of course, this being Eclipse there are a LOT of other ways to build spellcasters and fighters with magical boosts to their combat styles. There’s a sub-index of some of the ways to do that (and how to build various types of martial characters in Eclipse) over here, with the articles in the series indexed at the start and related materials indexed at the end. Still other builds – such as the Bokor, the Gleaner and the Nymic Mage – have used entirely different methods.

If you want to build a new spell progression from scratch, instead of simply using Specialization and Corruption to tweak an old one, the basic building block is generally Mana as 2d4 Generic Spell Levels (averaging 5 generic spell levels per purchase. If you’re buying a lot, simply take it as 5)

  • So the Duskblade gets a total of (6 x 1/2) + (10 x L1) + (10 x L2) + (10 x L3) + (8 x L4) :+ (6 x L5) = 125 Spell Levels. So that’s 25 purchases of Mana as Generic Spell Levels. Of course, that purchase should be considered Specialized, since it is divided up into a specified progression with a maximum spell level of five. So 75 CP.
  • They get Twenty Base Caster Levels specialized in Duskblade Magic. That’s 60 CP.
  • They get to know 21 Spells as Spontaneous Casters. That’s 42 CP. You could buy cantrips this way as well, but it’s cheaper to purchase Occult Talent, Specialized for Increased Effect (8 Cantrip Slots, but no first-level spell slots, runs off the Duskblade Magic Pool rather than providing it’s own slots, slots are acquired gradually based on level and intelligence, 6 CP).
  • They get to trade around a few spell slots as they level up, but that’s just a Specialized version of Rewrite (normally found under Returning), Specialized / only works to allow changing out 2 CP worth of spells when leveling (3 CP).
  • They get bonus spell slots for having a high attribute: that’s Magician (found under Rune Magic, 6 CP).

That gives us a Duskblade-style spell progression at a base total of 192 CP. Of course, we’re going to be working with a very limited spell list – a Corruption that cuts it down to 128 CP.

That is 8 CP more than simply adjusting an existing spell list as the original build did – but if you spread the cost evenly over twenty levels and round down as usual, you get the same thing. Existing spell lists normally get a slight price break simply for being standardized in any case.

And that is both how to build new spell progressions and an illustration of the major problem in actually doing so. Theme and focus are generally as important as how many spells of what levels you get. After all, a Sorcerer who was limited to Divination Spells will have some useful effects – but we could hardly say that they were as effective as one who was limited to Illusions and Divination or even just Illusion. And neither will be nearly as useful to the party as a full-access Sorcerer played with a reasonable level of competence (and yes, a “reasonable level of competence” includes not making really, REALLY, poor spell selections).

In Eclipse, such things are represented with the magic level limitations from page eleven and by Specialization and Corruption. That Diviner would almost certainly count as Specialized and Corrupted (6 CP / Level). Illusions and Divination… well, there are a fair number of useful spells in those groups, but it’s still going to be at least Specialized (9 CP/Level). If the list has a good variety of spells available to suit a particular purpose, but a fairly limited number overall… it’s Corrupted. For a fairly recent example we have the Piscin, and their extremely limited spell list.

Unfortunately, there’s no easy mechanical way to decide just how restrictive and limiting a given spell list is. Since the actual and perceived effectiveness of any given list will vary between settings and game masters that’s always a judgement call. Even worse… it will vary enormously depending on the secondary abilities any given user develops. That’s what makes the Classical Illusionist build work.

And for a few more references…

  • For general information on building spellcasters, there’s an article over here.
  • Making Skill-Based Partial Casters is addressed more extensively in a pair of articles over HERE and HERE.
  • Martial Disciplines like you find in the Book Of Nine Swords can be built this way:
    Stances (which are usually more versatile in Eclipse than in the Book of Nine Swords are covered over HERE.
  • Building all-out Martial Maneuvers is covered in this article. Watch out for this one; these maneuvers are designed to compete with Wizards and such.
  • Entreaty Magic is for (classical) Dr. Strange style spellcasters – calling on various entities and owing them favors.

And hopefully that helps!

Filed under: d20, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Hero System Power Packages III: the Staff Master, Cartoon Powers, the Revenant, the Staff Of Wizardry, and Nanite Infusion.

Posted on October 14, 2022 by Thoth

The Staff Master

An archetype which predates Homo Sapiens, the Staff Master has a stick, and knows how to use it. And… that is enough.

40 Staff Master

15 Staff Martial Arts; Extra Time: full phase, -½; Extra Time Required (Must expand staff before use): Only At Startup, ½; OAF (Staff): -1

  • (4) +2 DC for Martial Attacks
  • (1) Legsweep (OCV +2, DCV -1)
  • (2) Killing Strike (OCV -2, DCV +0)
  • (2) Nerve Strike (OCV -1, DCV +1)
  • (2) Defensive Block (OCV +1, DCV +3)
  • (2) Martial Escape (OCV +0, DCV +0)
  • (1) Martial Grab (OCV -1, DCV -1)
  • (1) Martial Throw (OCV +0, DCV +1)

(19) Staff Multipower (68-pt reserve); Focus (Staff): Obvious Accessible, -1; Gestures: Instant Power, -¼; Generic Limitation (Staff Powers Only): -1; Extra Time: full phase, -½; Extra Time Required (Must expand staff before use): Only At Startup, ½

  • u-1 Missile Deflection (All Ranged Attacks, None, OCV 8); Deflect Attacks: Adjacent, +½; Deflection Bonus: 5, 10). 0 End.
  • u-1 Force Wall (10 PD/10 ED); May only protect area behind spinning staff: -½; Reduced END: Half, +¼; 2 End.
  • u-2 Superleap (+40″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2, +0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End
  • u-2 Basic Staff Combat (Combined Powers Slot):
    • (2) Stretching (2″, NC: 2); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×1, +-5; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End
    • (8) +12 DEX; Doesn’t Affect Figured: -½; OCV and DCV Only: -½.
    • (7) +6 DC for Martial Attacks (Only for Staff Martial Art).

The Staff Master is actually extremely dangerous. +4 OCV, +4 DCV, 2′ Stretching, and +8 Damage Classes on a fair set of martial maneuvers actually puts them into serious martial arts hero territory. Not quite the sort who shows up in anime (those usually have superhuman durability too) – but definitely the sort who show up in the martial arts movies that don’t dip too far into C’hi Magic. In fantasy terms that is only to be expected; the older the roots of a style, the stronger it tends to be. And the roots of hitting things with a stick… well, few martial arts styles can claim roots that go back for millions of years before “humans” were a thing.

Cartoon Powers

No, this doesn’t really make any sense. It’s not supposed to. If you actually want to be Donald Duck or some such however, it’s a decent start.

40 Cartoon Powers

(4) Elemental Control: Cartoon Powers (10-pt reserve); General Cartoon Character Powers Only: -½; Visible (You’re a cartoon): -¼; Always On: -½

  • a-5 Armor (7 PD/7 ED);
  • b-8 Regeneration (1 BODY/min.); Regenerate: From Death, +20.
  • c-3 Images: Background music and sound effects (Hearing, 8″ radius); Range: 110; Observer PER Penalty: 0, +0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; No Conscious Control: -2.
  • d-9 Life Support (total)
  • e-4 Power Defense (20 pts)
  • f-7 Cartoon Immunities (Combined Powers Slot).
    • (1) Looking Good: Immunity to being messed up for more than a few seconds; Frequency: Fairly Common
    • (1) What Gravity? Immunity to Falling until lack of support is brought to the characters attention
    • (1) In My Pocket, Why? Immunity to having to have pockets to carry stuff in.; Frequency: Common
    • (1) Sure I’m Perfectly Normal (Immunity to Species Prejudice): Gets treated as just another human in most non-comedic ways; Frequency: Common
    • (1) Clothing? Immunity to being considered insufficiently dressed; Frequency: Fairly Common
    • (1) Rated G: Immunity to Indecent Exposure; Frequency: Fairly Common
    • (1) The Sounds of Harmony: Immunity to the need to compose or practice topical songs; Frequency: Fairly Common
    • (1) I Can Handle That: Immunity to not having normal hands; Frequency: Common
    • (0) All Devouring: Immunity to reasonable limits on how much they can swallow at one time.; Frequency: Rare
    • (0) There’s A Hole: Immunity to solid matter provided that it LOOKS like there is a hole in it and the user is not responsible for that.; Frequency: Rare
    • (1) Yes, It’s Suitable: Immunity to having to wear appropriate clothing to stay warm, dry, etc.; Frequency: Fairly Common
    • (0) It’s a permanent: Immunity to hair damage save by bladed weapons; Frequency: Rare
    • (1) Immunity to Over-Indulgence, Hangovers, and Similar Consequences; Frequency: Fairly Common
    • (1) Immunity to Communications Problems (Cartoons can be understood in any language provided they speak slowly, gesture, etc) ; Frequency: Common
  • g-5 2d6 Aid to Equipment Allowance (Fade/day, Max. 30); Range: 0; Extra Time: 1 hour, -2½; Only to pay for role-appropriate, provided, or generally available gear: -1; Activation: 11-, -1; Reduced Endurance Cost Zero +½; Affects Single Power of Special Effect, +¼; Only GM-Approved Equipment): -1.

OK, this one breaks a BUNCH of rules. Why would I allow this? Because – fundamentally – it’s mostly kind of useless. This package makes you a little tougher to hurt and almost impossible to kill – but most of it is things like background music, or compensating for being a cartoon. You could do the same basic thing – and at less than half the price – with a simple aid power: 2d6 Aid (To Cartoon Powers) (Fade/hour, Max. 30); Range: 0; Reduced END: Zero & Persistent, +1; Always On: -½; Generic Limitation (Personal Only): -½; No Conscious Control: -2; Affects: All Powers of Special Effect, +2; Visible (You’re a cartoon): -¼; Activation: 11-, -1 (17 CP). That’s cheaper, and it provides a bunch more powers – you can sprout cartoon wings, produce a harp, and use extradimensional movement to fly to heaven, or squeeze through tiny holes, or produce a big hammer to hit people with, or a thousand outer things. Cheaper. Double it up, and you have a pretty decent start on being The Mask. The trouble with that is that it’s even worse than a Variable Power Pool. It’s grossly overpowered, it will rapidly drive the game master nuts – and the other players may not be too far behind.

Revenant Powers

Vampires, ghouls, revenants, dhampirs, mummies, the stronger zombies, wraiths, and many other forms of undead all tend to drain vitality from living people, consuming their blood, flesh, or life force, they are strong, tough, and fast, they have power over minds (sometimes simply inducing sheer terror, but just as often paralysis or suggestions), they appear and disappear unexpectedly, and they are difficult to damage. Many can shapeshift to some degree – taking the forms of wolves, or leopards, or carnivorous apes, or whatever. This particular build is for Vampires, Half-Vampires, and Vampire Spawn (which probably covers a hundred different monsters right there), but it isn’t hard to tweak it a bit. Changing out the last “transformation” slot is almost mandatory.

40 Revenant Template

  • (3) END Reserve (30 END, 0 REC/turn)
  • (17) Multipower; Vamphyric Powers (30-pt reserve); Vamphyric Powers Only: -½; Visible (Pallid, chill hands, vampire signs): -¼
    • u-1 Blood Drain; Concentrate: 0 DCV, -½; Must hang onto victim: -½
      • (8) 1d6 Transfer; Body to End Reserve (Returns 5/turn, Maximum: 6); Range: 0; Affects: Single Power, +0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Concentrate: 0 DCV, -½; Must hang onto victim: -½. 0 End. Note that this is not a particularly effective offensive power – but it can actually be strangely pleasurable or even addictive. The “Return Rate” is by normal healing.
      • (3) 1d6 Mind Control; Experience is pleasant for victim.; Communication: Verbal, +0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Concentrate: 0 DCV, -½; Must hang onto victim: -½; 0 End.
    • u-2 2d6 Aid; All physical attributes (Fade/turn, Max. 12); Range: 0; Affects: All Powers of Special Effect, +2. 3 End.
    • u-1 6d6 Mind Control; Communication: Verbal, +0; Requires eye contact or mental link: -½. 3 End.
    • u-1 15″ Teleportation; Turn To Mist & Reform (Long Range 15″); Increased Range: ×1, +0; Long Range: 15″; Long Range (miles): 0.02; Mass Multiplier: ×1, +0; Fixed Locations: 0; Floating Locations: 0; Cannot pass thru solid objects; must have a crevice to move thru.: -½; 3 End.
    • u-1 Force Field (8 PD/5 ED); Reduced END: Half, +¼; Uncontrolled: +½; Hardened: ×1, ¼; Trigger: Set, +¼; Not vrs Fire or Light attacks.: -½; 1 End.
    • u-1 5″ Flight (NC: 10″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2, +0; 1 End.
    • u-1 4d6 Telepathy; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Only works on animals: -1. 0 End.
    • u-1 Wolf Form; Cannot use equipment in wolf or partial-wolf form.: -½;
      • (4) ½d6 Killing Attack (HTH) (Total 1d6+1); Range: 0. 1 End.
      • (4) Running (+3″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2, +0; Reduced END: Zero, +½. 0 End.
      • (4) Tracking Scent;
      • (6) Clinging (Clinging STR +0); Extra Time: full phase, -½; Extra Time Required: Only At Startup, ½; Costs END: -½. 1 End.
      • (5) Infrared Vision

This, of course, represents a rather minor entity – capable of a modest selection of superhuman tricks, but with a very limited pool or energy that is wholly reliant on draining others to refill and a long ways to go on developing further powers. Still, a few more points on the End battery (and even a very slow recovery rate), and a few more points in the Multipower (extend the time on the Aid, get the “Force Field” to 0 End so it can stay up, add some self-healing and another couple of tricks), and you’ll have a fairly creditable mystical being.

Staff Of Wizardry

This, of course, represents the “I found/created/repaired/was given a high-powered mystic/psychic/alien/supertech device and it does all kinds of neat things!” archetype. Knights with magic swords, warlocks with wands of darkness, helms of telepathy, cosmic control rods, and more all fall into this general group. Most such characters have some minor powers even if their item is taken away, usually because of their long exposure to it – but that sort of thing is usually pretty minor.

40 Staff Of Wizardry

(17) Staff of Wizardry Multipower (60-pt reserve); OAF (Staff): -1; Variable Limitations: -½, -¼; Generic Limitation (Occasionally requires recharging rituals, sometimes short of charges in one or more slots at the option of the GM.): -½; Gestures: Instant Power, -¼; Incantation: Instant Power, -¼; Visible (Blatantly obvious to magic detection and mages): -¼

  • u-2 Force Field: (Sphere of Protection) (12 PD/12 ED); Charges: 64, +1¼; Active Points: 60; Continuing Charges: 1 Minute, -3 lev; Hardened: ×1, ¼; 0 End.
  • u-2 Hand-to-Hand Attack (Arcane Smite) (10d6); Range: 0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Armor Piercing: 1, +½; 0 End.
  • u-2 1d6 Killing Attack (RKA) (Disintegrate); Range: 300; No Normal Defense: +1; Champions Advantage (NND Does Body vrs Force Fields): +1; Autofire (Vrs Inanimate Objects Only): 5 shots, ½; Charges: 64, +½; .0 End.
  • u-2 6d6 Entangle (Web) (DEF 6); Range: 300; Charges: 16, +0; .0 End
  • u-2 Images (Phantasmal Force) (Hearing, Sight, 16″ radius); Range: 300; Observer PER Penalty: 0, +0; Charges: 32, +1; Continuing Charges: 1 Minute, -3 lev; Active Points: 60; 0 End.
  • u-2 Force Wall (12 PD/12 ED); Range: 300; Width: 12″, +0; Charges: +8, +0; Continuing Charges: 1 Turn, -2 lev. 0 End.
  • u-2 Missile Deflection (Warding Aura) (All Ranged Attacks, None, OCV 8); Uncontrolled: +½; Charges: 12, +½; Continuing Charges: 1 Minute, -3 lev; Deflect Attacks: Normal, +0; Deflection Bonus: 5, 10; OCV: 8; 0 End.
  • u-2 8d6 Energy Blast (Fireball); Range: 300; Versus: ED; Explosion (Extended Area +0″/DC): +½; Charges: 16, +0; 0 End.

(7) Change Environment: Minor amounts of ambient Mana make small magics easy. (2″ rad.); Effect: Fixed, +0; Reduced END: Zero & Persistent, +1; No Range: -½; Concentrate: 0 DCV, -½; Extra Time: 1 min., -1½; Extra Time Required: Only At Startup, ½ 0 End. This allows endless small tricks – changing the color of things, producing cigarettes, lighting fires, heating pots of tea, floating small objects, breaking falls, altering clothing, making small illusions,ominous special effects, and so on – but nothing exceeding 5-10 active points.

Relying on a single gadget makes a character pretty vulnerable; if it gets taken away, they are pretty much out of action, But the mechanics of the game tell us that an OAF should be a problem pretty regularly. Ergo, such things tend to get taken away a lot – but mostly by merely being knocked away from their user so that they have to spend a few phases getting their toy back again. Moreover, that’s pretty much arbitrary; enforcement of disadvantages is up to the game master. That’s important to note with all these packages; those disadvantages WILL come up.

Nanite Infusion

Nanite Infusion is basically the super-spy, transhumanist, or humanlike android package – relatively subtle enhancements meant to inconspiciously augment the user. Several limited-use weapons systems are included, mostly because that’s how people are – but that’s at least partially because nanites simply do not have the resource reserves that larger systems do. On the other hand, there’s something to be said for systems that require microscopic examination to find.

40 Microcybrenetic Equipment

9 Nanotech Reinforcement; Briefly negated by electrical attacks: -½

  • (3) +5 PD
  • (3) +5 ED
  • (3) Damage Resistance (5 PD/5 ED)

(20) Nanite Multipower (30-pt reserve). Loses one function at random each time the user takes Body damage from an electrical attack (-.25), visible to appropriate instrumentation (-.25).

  • u-1 Clinging (Clinging STR +0)
  • u-1 1d6 Drain: Body (Disassemblors) (Return/5 min.); Range: 0; Affects: Single Power, +0; Continuous: +1; Charges: 6, +0; Continuing Charges: 1 Minute, -3 lev. 0 End.
  • u-1 6d6 Energy Blast: Electrical; Range: 150; Versus: ED; 4 Charges:-1. 0 End.
  • u-1 2d6 Flash (Retinal Inversion) (Normal Sight); Range: 100; 4 Charges; -1. 0 End.
  • u-1 Hand-to-Hand Attack (Hardened Striking Surfaces, +5d6); Reduced END: Zero, +½. 0 End.
  • u-1 Invisibility (Cloaking Field) (Radar, Sight); Concentrate: ½ DCV, -¼; Produces “bubble effect” in translucent media: -½. 3 End.
  • u-1 Instant Change; Clothes: Any Set, (Nanite Fog) 10
  • u-1 Missile Deflection (All Ranged Attacks, None, OCV 3); Deflect Attacks: Normal, +0; Deflection Bonus: 0.
  • u-1 2d6 Energy Blast (Toxin Injection); Range: 0; Continuous: +1; No Normal Defense: +1 (Toxin resistance, inhuman metabolism, robot); No Range: -½; 4 Continuing Charges: 5 Minutes, +0. 0 End.
  • u-1 1d6 Transform (Nanite Fog): “Air” to small items of equipment. Restructuring Nanites (Major, Anything); Range: 150; 8 Charges:;-½. 0 End.
    u-1 4d6 Medical Implant Standard Healing (Self Only); Trigger (When below 0 Stun or Body in a phase): Set, +¼; Generic Limitation (Self-Only): -½; 32 Charges; +¼ (0 End)

It’s easy to add various slots to this, and a dozen or so cheap utility slots are entirely appropriate. A temporary boosting aid would be nice too. Boosting the reserve doesn’t really fit in though, at least not unless you set it up to simply run two low-end powers at once. After all, the key theme here is flexible, low-level power.

Filed under: Background, Character Sheets, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Hero System Power Packages II: the Trick Archer, the Technopath, the Cunning Man, the Mystic Telepath, and the Hexcrafter.

Posted on September 28, 2022 by Thoth

The Trick Archer

The Archer was a serious warrior for many centuries – but once bows went from tools of survival and weapons of war to things for hobbyists and trick shot exhibitions (and the chance of being killed by a bowman basically dropped to zero) the bow became a thing for flamboyant exhibitions of fancy shooting. And while gadget-bullets were obviously silly, arrows were large enough, subjected to much smaller forces (so they didn’t break or deform in impact), and were fired in much smaller numbers. So gadget (or magic) arrows made an excellent gimmick for comic book heroes – and made them very relatable. Becoming Superman was impractical. Becoming very good with a bow and getting some fancy arrows? That was pretty reasonable in comparison. The Arrow (1938) led the way into comic books, but by now there are hundreds or possibly even thousands of examples, even if some of them are just “thugs with bows”.

40 Trick Archer

  • (16) Bow and Trick/Magic Arrows (60-pt reserve). OAF (Bow, -1), Variable Limitations (-.5 Per Slot, 8 Charges unless otherwise noted) -.25, Gestures (-.25), All powers must work on charges (-.25), Real Archery: will not work underwater, hindered by strong winds, etc (-.25), Arrow and “Trick Arrow” effects only (-.5). Given that everything is on charges, nothing costs endurance.
  • u-1 4d6 Killing Attack (RKA); Range: 300
  • u-1 12d6 Stun Energy Blast: Blunt Arrow; Range: 300; Versus: ED
  • u-1 6d6 Entangle Paste Arrow (DEF 6); Range: 300
  • u-1 3d6 Flash Arrow (Normal Sight); Range: 300; Area Effect (Radius): 3″ radius, +1
  • u-1 Missile Deflection: Weighted Arrow (Arrows, None, OCV 13); Deflect Attacks: At Range,
  • +1; Deflection Bonus: 10, 20; OCV: 13
  • u-1 4d6 Aid to All Damaged Characteristics, Healing Arrow (Fade/turn, Max. 24); Range: 0; Affects: All Powers of Special Effect, +2
  • u-1 Darkness Arrow of the Night (Normal Sight, 1″ radius); Range: 225; Area Effect (Radius): 250″ radius, +1; Increased Area: ×125, +1¾; Active Points: 45; Charges: +8, +¾; Continuing Charges: 1 Hour, -5 lev; Activation: 14-, -½
  • u-1 Tunneling: Disintegrating Arrow (12″ through DEF 12); Tunnels: Left Behind, +0; Charges: 8, -½. Generally only usable at short range, although it won’t really hurt anything if the GM ignores that it.
  • u-1 8d6 Energy Blast Incendiary Arrow; Range: 300; Versus: ED; Explosion (Extended Area +0″/DC): +½; Charges: 8, -½
  • u-1 12d6 Suppress Flight/Gravity Arrow; Range: 300; Affect: Single Power, +0; Charges: 3, -½; Continuing Charges: 1 Minute, -3 lev
  • u-1 16d6 Dispel Magic Arrows; Range: 300; Affects: Any Single Power of Special Effect, +¼; Charges: 8, -½ (If technological, these are EMP arrows that dispel technological effects).
    u-1 Extra-Dimensional Movement: Astral Arrow; Dimensions: One, +0; Mass Multiplier: ×1, +0; Usable Against Others: ×1 mass, 1; Ranged: +½; Usable by Others Number: 4, +½; Charges: 16, +0
  • u-1 12d6 Energy Blast: Lighting Arrow; Range: 300; Versus: ED; Charges: 8, -½
  • u-1 6d6 NND Energy Blast: Magic Disrupting Arrow; Range: 300; Versus: ED; No Normal Defense (Not being a creature of magic): +1; Charges: 8, -½
  • u-1 2d6 Drain vrs All Characteristics, Enervation Arrow (Return/turn); Range: 0; Affects: All Powers of Special Effect, +2; Charges: 8, -½
  • u-1 Stretching: Grapple Arrow (12″, NC: 24); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2, +0; Charges: +4, -¼; Continuing Charges: 1 Minute, -3 lev; Activation: 15-, -¼

(8) +4 level w/With Bow; Generic Limitation (Offensive Use Only): -½

The Trick Archer is a surprisingly straightforward hero – or perhaps it isn’t surprising given the age of the concept. He or she is most often a perfectly normal human who 1) happens to be good with a bow, 2) has some free time, and 3) has a source of trick arrows or some ability to empower them him- or her-self. Variants are basically just a matter of trading out a few multipower slots. Most of them dabble a bit in detective work, or martial arts, or just having money, but still on a perfectly normal human scale.

Technopathy

The Technopath can control, enhance, or destroy machinery -a power that’s invaluable in a research lab or aboard a ship, is useful in a city, and entirely useless in the wilderness. It is good for constructing bases and personal equipment though, which is something. As a rule, unless they’re a cyberpunk hacker, a Technopath is very much a team player.

40 Technopathy

  • (20) Technological Control Multipower (45-pt reserve); Generic Limitation (Technology-Control Powers Only: Quite useless in natural areas.): -½; Extra Time: full phase, -½; Only in Hero ID: -¼
    u-2 Technic Mastery I: Combat Driving, Combat Piloting, and Mechanics Operation, all Ranged, with No Range Penalty, and two levels of Increased Maximum Range, with +8 levels with those skills for net 19-.
  • u-2 Technic Mastery II; Bugging, Lockpicking, and Security Systems, all Ranged, with No Range Penalty, and two levels of Increased Maximum Range, with +8 levels with those skills for net 19-.
    u-2 Technic Mastery III; Electronics, Demolitions, and Systems Operation, all Ranged, with No Range Penalty, and two levels of Increased Maximum Range, with +8 levels with those skills for net 19-.
  • u-2 Technic Mastery IV; Computer Programming, Cryptography, and Invention, all Ranged, with No Range Penalty, and two levels of Increased Maximum Range, with +8 levels with those skills for net 19-.
  • u-2 Change Environment (8″ rad.); Effect: Variable, +1; Reduced END: Half, +¼; 2 End. Can manipulate technological devices – powering them, selectively turning them on or off, and so on – within range. Thus he could stop a car, turn off a security system, or jam an elevator.
  • u-2 ½d6 Killing Attack (RKA); Range: 225; No Normal Defense (Non-Technological Items Unaffected.): +1; Champions Advantage (NND that does Body.): +1; Uncontrolled: +½; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Invisible (Sight): One Sense Group, +½; 0 End. It’s slow, but the user can destroy technology readily enough.
  • u-2 1d6 Transform Technology (Major, Limited Class); Range: 225; Cumulative: +½; Reduced END: Half, +¼; Continuous: +1; 2 End.
  • u-2 2d6 Aid / Boost Machinery (Fade/5 min., Max. 20); Range: 0; Autofire: 5 shots, ½; Reduced END: Zero, +1; Affects: Single Power of Special Effect, +¼; 0 End.
  • u-2 3d6 Aid (to Equipment Allowance) (Fade/month, Max. 20); Range: 0; Active Points: 44; Affects: Single Power, +0; 4 End.
  • u-2 3d6 Aid (to Bases and Computers) (Fade/month, Max. 18); Range: 0; Active Points: 45; Affects: Single Power of Special Effect, +¼; 4 End.

    The Technopath is playing fast and loose with the rules there. Putting skills in multipowers is very much a “special permission” sort of thing – but it’s hardly unprecedented, ezpecially when those skills have power modifiers applied to them. And really… how often will it be useful to do remote lockpicking? Or to take over a plane from a distance? Sure, they’re great at getting through technological security systems, disarming doomsday devices, and so on – but when it comes to a fight scene with powers, a twenty-point equipment allowance, even with a boosting touch worth 20 active points, is not going to get them very far. Upgrading a team base is pretty handy though. That’s good, because there is only so far you can get by running your enemies over with passing cars.

The Cunning Man

Cunning Men are classical hedge wizards, capable of providing potions and charms, of taming beasts, of improving your social life, of having reasonably reliable visions, of calling up the spirits of nature, of taking on the forms and abilities of animals, and of protecting themselves and their allies from limited amonts of injury. They aren’t, however, particularly combative.

0 Cunning Man Powers

(7) Armor (5 PD/5 ED); Focus (Costume): Obvious Inaccessible, -½; Not cumulative with further physical armor.: -½
(17) Hedge Magic Multipower (75-pt reserve); Extra Time: full phase, -½; Focus (Medicine Bundle/Components Pouch): Obvious Accessible, -1; Concentrate: 0 DCV, -½; Gestures: Instant Power, -¼; Incantation: Instant Power, -¼; Activation: 11-, -1

  • u-1 5d6 Aid (Equipment Allowance – Magical Talismans) (Fade/season, Max. 30); Range: 0; Affects: Single Power, +0; Generic Limitation (Takes hours to make the stuff): -½; 7 End. A cunning man can “Aid” equipment allowances (With minor charmed objects, potions (Charged, Does not recover, fragile focus, etc, etc, etc), turn animals into loyal companions (Aid Followers), provide charms which enhance attributes, enhance weapons, and so on. Despite the “All abilities” modifier, no individual can be aided in more then five categories, and each use works on only a single one.
  • u-1 5d6 Aid (Base Enchantments) (Fade/season, Max. 30); Range: 0; Generic Limitation (Points must be distributed between bases.): -1; Affects: Single Power, +0; Generic Limitation (Takes hours to paint runes and such all over): -½. 7 End A hedge wizard can “Aid” bases, granting them a variety of benefits.
  • u-1 Clairsentience (Mystic Visions) (Hearing, Sight); See: Future and Past, +40; Dimensions: Current, +0; Range: 350″; No Conscious Control: -2; 7 End. This goes off when the GM feels that the character needs a vision of some sort.
  • u-1 Summon Nature Spirit (1 100-point creatures); Range: 0; Summon: Limited Group, +¼; Concentrate: 0 DCV, -½; Works only when Touching Ground: -½; 6 End. Note that these generally won’t go above the summoners total points, 100 is an upper limit, but not the minimum.
  • u-1 Shape Shift; Animal Forms (Limited Group); Reduced END: Zero, +½; Uncontrolled: +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 2d6 Aid; To all powers relevant to current form (Fade/hour, Max. 20); Range: 0; Affects: All Powers of Special Effect, +2; Reduced END: Zero, +1; Trigger; By Shapeshifting.: Set, +¼; Autofire: 5 shots, ½; All powers disappear instantly when returning to normal form: -½; No Conscious Control; Must take animal powers – including disadvantageous ones.: -2; Side Effects; Gets animal Instincts, may need ego rolls.: 30/Half, -½; Side effects cannot be avoided.: -½; 0 End.
  • u-1 Force Field (10 PD/10 ED); Usable By Others: Simultaneous Use, +½; Usable by Others Number: 8, +¾; Charges: 6, +1; Continuing Charges: 1 Day, -7 lev; Invisible (Sight): One Sense Group, +½; Focus (Protective Amulet): Inobvious Inaccessible, -¼; 0 End.
    u-2 15d6 Standard Healing; 7 End.

(3) Paramedic 11-
(2) Knowledge; Nature 11-
(1) Animal Handler 8-
(1) Perk; Respected as a Mystic & Spiritual Advisor.

The Cunning Man is a fantasy-oriented archetype, and usually serves more as an enabler, councilor, and supplier of heroes than as a hero himself or herself. Still. in pulp settings, the ability to turn yourself into a tiger is not bad. It’s fine for combating mooks, and smaller forms do allow for a lot of sneaking and hiding and such. They’re also using one of the better ways to use shapeshifting effectively– that “aid” power – rather than using Multiform to achieve similar results. Their animal forms will not be terribly powerful, but then, on the superheroic scale, real animals aren’t really all that powerful either. When it comes to serious superhero’s shapeshifting is not flying through the air blasting energy beams at things, or lifting trains, or controlling hundreds of tons of earth and stone. “Form of a Triceratops!” might be more impressive – but they’ll need a fair number of upgrades to pull that off.

The Mystic Telepath

The Mystic Telepath has developed a formidable set of mental powers through adherence to some extraordinary discipline – but that same discipline means that those powers are essentially fixed. Worse, unlike most comic book telepaths (who are generally built on a lot more points), the Mystic Telepath requires time, and mudra, and mantras. They can’t just quietly and secretly mindwipe inconvenient witnesses. Telepaths really ought to have some extra Ego, and probably more Mental Defense than is included in the package – but in most settings telepaths are rare, and defenses against telepathy are even rarer. After all, if they aren’t very rare an awful lot of social assumptions and institutions are going to need changing.

40 Mystic Telepath

(16) Mystic Telepathy (65-pt reserve); Concentrate: 0 DCV, -½; Extra Time: full phase, -½; Gestures: Instant Power, -¼; Incantation: Instant Power, -¼; Visible (Easily recognized by knowledgable mages and psychics): -¼; User must undertake occasional quests for the enlightened ones: -½; Will not work against creatures that tap into the same power source: -¼; May not be expanded upon or altered later: -½

  • u-1 13d6 Telepathy; Charges: 4, +0; Clips: 2; Continuing Charges: 1 Minute, -3 lev; 0 End.
  • u-1 1d6 Transform: Any Psychological modification (Word Of Revelation) (Major, Limited Class); Range: 320; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Penetrating: +½; Cumulative: +½; Continuous: +1; Uncontrolled: +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 10d6 Mind Control; Communication: Telepathic, +¼; Charges: +12, +0; Clips: 2; 0 End.
  • u-1 6d6 Ego Attack; Charges: +12, +0; Clips: 2; 0 End.
  • u-1 13d6 Mental Illusions; Charges: +12, +0; Clips: 2; 0 End.
  • u-1 11d6 Mind Scan; Attack Roll Bonus: 5, 10; Number of Minds: 10,000,000,000; Charges: 4, +0; Clips: 2; Continuing Charges: 1 Minute, -3 lev; 0 End.
  • u-1 Invisibility (Detect, Sight, Hearing, No Fringe); Only works on observers within 15″, does not work versus things without ego scores.: -½; Does not work against observers with ECV 9+ or Mental Defense 20+. : -½; Charges: 6, +¼; Clips: 2; Continuing Charges: 1 Minute, -3 lev; 0 End.
  • u-1 2d6 Energy Blast Telepathic Storm; Range: 325; Based on EGO Combat Value: vs. ECV, +1; Area Effect (Radius): 500″ radius, +1; C Increased Area: ×125, +1¾; Reduced Endurance Cost 0: =1 Selective Target: +¼; Autofire: 5 shots, ½; 0 End.
  • u-1 Extra-Dimensional Movement (Astral Plane); Dimensions: One, +0; Time Travel: None, +0; Mass Multiplier: ×2, +5; Carrying Mass: 100; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Leaves Physical Body Behind): -1; 0 End,
  • u-1 2d6 Drain Ego (Return/month); Range: 325; Ranged: +½; Affects: Single Power, +0; 6 End

(5) Mental Defense (Base +5 pts);
(9) Mind Link; Minds: One Specific Mind, +5; Number of Minds: 4, +10; Concentrate: ½ DCV, -¼; Extra Time: 1 turn, -1; Extra Time Required: Only At Startup, ½; Distance: Single Planet, +0; Dimension: Current, +0; Link with: Anyone, +0

Telepaths are very handy to have on your team, but they also tend to wreck a lot of plots. It is probably best to ask the GM if they will have problems with it before you opt to play one.

The Hexcrafter

A Hexcrafter gives his or her enemies bad luck. Passively this provides occasional strokes of good fortune and reduces the effects of attacks against them, throwing opponents just a little off. Actively however… at it’s simplest a hex can get it’s target tangled up in available rubbish – curtains and tablecloths landing on them, stepping on roller skates or into buckets which then get stuck, and so on. While this “entangle” is easy enough to break out of, it can waste time and is passive once triggered. Actively however… Opponents can be made to loose weapons, tripped up, get slammed by random objects, suffer cramps and pains, get held by loose wires and debris, or be knocked off their feet by an enormous variety of bizarre coincidences and accidents.

40 Hexcrafting

(14) Luck Control Multipower (36-pt reserve); Extra Time: full phase, -½; Restrainable: -½; Activation: 14-, -½

  • u-1 Telekinesis (STR 10); Range: 185; Manipulation: Coarse, +0; Area Effect (One-hex): 1 hex(es), +½; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Only for use with “Accident Style”: -1; No Range Penalty: +½;  0 End.
  • u-1 2d6 Entangle (DEF 2); Range: 175; Area Effect (One-hex): 1 hex(es), +½; Reduced END: Half, +¼;  1 End.
  • u-1 Force Field – Lucky Evasion (8 PD/8 ED); Reduced END: Zero, +½; Uncontrolled: +½; 0 End.

16 A Series Of Unfortunate Events – Accident Style; Only for use with telekinesis: -½; Extra Time: full phase, -½; Generic Limitation (Restrainable): -½

  • (2) Martial Disarm (OCV -1, DCV +1).
  • (1) Martial Throw (OCV +0, DCV +1).
  • (1) Basic Strike (OCV +1, DCV).
  • (2) Nerve Strike (OCV -1, DCV +1)
  • (1) Martial Grab (OCV -1, DCV -1)
  • (1) Legsweep (OCV +2, DCV -1)
  • (8) +5 DC for Martial Attacks

(7) Luck (4d6); OAF (Various Lucky Charms): -1; Extra Time: 1 min., -1½; Extra Time Required (Putting charms on): Only At Startup, ½

The Hexcrafter is primarily combat oriented, with much of the entertainment coming from the weird and wonderful number of ways they can describe their attacks – but they are actually quite effective, will (since they “attack” an area) connect most of the time – and can easily buy up the effects of their attacks. At 8 CP per +5 DC… a mere 8 CP further will make them a major powerhouse – and 18 CP will see them running around with twenty-die attacks. Upgrade to a larger area of effect – possibly with an option for Selective Targeting – and you have a character who can easily take down a small army. Telekinesis-base martial arts are potentially terrifying. Few of the other characters on this list are quite so readily turned into strategic weapons.

Filed under: Background, Character Sheets, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Hero System Power Packages – the Cowboy, the Werewolf, the Cartomancer, the Eldritch Horror, and the Giant Land Octopus – with system commentary.

Posted on September 14, 2022 by Thoth

And for a few posts it’s forty-point Hero System power packages – either “pulp hero” powers or highly limited superpowers to be wielded by fairly normal people. That’s pretty atypical for the Hero System, where characters tend to be fairly well-rounded, with a mix of heightened attributes, defenses, and powers – but it’s perfectly typical for settings revolving around people who have some fairly specific ability and who are otherwise fairly normal. We’re using fourth edition, but it’s fairly easy to translate between editions – so for today we have…

The Cowboy

The Cowboy – at least as commonly portrayed – is borderline mythological. And, as usual with legends… the power of those myths can be tapped into. This particular version doesn’t have a gun. He (or she) doesn’t need one – he can use his rope (of which he carries extra coils) in pretty much every way imaginable. He’s got no need to shoot his target when he can just land a noose around said target’s neck and give it a haul. A gun is not nearly so versatile. Sadly, however, ropes aren’t that much use as armor, so that light armored clothing has a heavy load to carry.

So why are some things on charges? It’s because they use up rope – so eventually you’ll have to stop using those effects until you get some more rope. The character is set up to have lots of rope available though. So it shouldn’t be uch of a problem.

40 Cowboy Powers

(15) Rope Multipower (45-pt reserve); OAF (Rope): -1; Only things you can do with a rope: -½; Activation: 14-, -½

  • u-1 4d6 Entangle (All Tied Up) (DEF 4); Range: 200; Charges: +12, +0; Clips: 2; 0 End.
  • u-1 Missile Deflection (Rope Spin) (All Ranged Attacks, None, OCV 8); Deflect Attacks: Adjacent, +½; Deflection Bonus: 5, 10; OCV: 8; -½ 0 End.
  • u-1 Hand-to-Hand Attack (Rope Lash) (10d6); Range: 0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 Telekinesis (STR 20); Range: 225; Manipulation: Coarse, +0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; -½ 0 End.
  • u-1 Swinging / Zip-lining (+25″, NC: 100″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×4, +5; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 3d6 Killing Attack (RKA) (Noose); Range: 225; Charges: +12, +0; Clips: 2; 0 End.
  • u-1 2d6 Energy Blast (Strangulation); Range: 225; Versus: ED; Continuous: +1; No Normal Defense (Need not Breathe,,Hard Neck Coveringm Force Field): +1; Uncontrolled: +½; Reduced END: Zero, +½; No Range Penalty: +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 7d6 Energy Blast (Whip); Range: 220; Versus: PD; Reduced END: Half, +¼; 1 End.
  • u-1 3d6 Suppress (Movement) (Entanglement); Range: 225; Affect: Single Power of Special Effect, +¼; Continuous: +1; Charges: 12, +¾; Clips: 2; Continuing Charges: 1 Minute, -3 lev; 0 End.
  • u-1 3d6 Suppress (Dexterity) (Entanglement); Range: 225; Affect: Single Power of Special Effect, +¼; Continuous: +1; Charges: 12, +¾; Clips: 2; Continuing Charges: 1 Minute, -3 lev; 0 End.

(6) +2 Skill Levels with Rope
(3) Follower (Horse) (1, 42 pts, -25 Disad. = 17 Points, /5 = 3 Point net cost); Number: 1, +0
(6) Armor (4 PD/4 ED); Activation: 14-, -½; Focus (Leathers): Obvious Inaccessible, -½

17 Horse
(2) Attributes: Attributes: Str 10 (39), Dex 11, Con 13, 9 (12) Body, 3 Int, 3 Ego, 15 Pre, 15 Com, PD 5, ED 3, Spd 3, Rec 8, End 26, Stun 28 (31). Net Cost: 2 Points. Net Cost: 2 Points.
(2) Elemental Control: Horse Powers (10-pt reserve); Always On: -½; Side Effects (Is a horse. No hands, no human language, no civil rights, everyone knows what a horse is, trained property, etc.): 60/All, -1; Horse Powers Only: -1; Side effects cannot be avoided: -½
a-5 Growth-3 (×8 mass, ×2 height); Mass: 480 kg/1,056 lbs; Height: 344 cm/11’3″; Extra STR: 15; Knockback Reduction: -3; Extra BODY: 3; Extra STUN: 3; DCV Penalty: -2; PER Penalty: +2; Reduced END: Zero & Persistent, +1; 0 End.
b-6 Running (+10″, NC: 40″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×4, +5; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Visible (Horses running are fairly noisy): -¼; Vastly reduced on unsuitable surfaces: -½; 0 End.
c-2 +14 STR; Reduced END: Zero, +½; No manipulative limbs -½, 0 End.
d-3 Hand-to-Hand Attack (Hooves, 5d6. 11d6 total); Range: 0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
e-3 Enhanced Perception (all) (+7 to PER)

(2) Immunity to Mild Weather Extremes; Frequency: Fairly Common
(8) Armor (4 PD/4 ED); Focus (Tack): Obvious Inaccessible, -½
(5) Mind Link (Rider); Minds: One Specific Mind, +5; Number of Minds: 1, +0; Distance: Single Planet, +0; Dimension: Current, +0; Link with: Anyone, +0
(2) Professional Skill: Horse Tricks 11-
(2) Professional Skill: Riding Animal 11-
(-25) Disadvantages: It’s a horse. Pick whatever limitations you don’t include in the elemental control side effects. There are PLENTY.

OK, it amused me to make a multipower full of the things you can do with rope. This, in fact, dates back to first edition where questions like “how much do I have to pay for rope?” came up surprisingly often (the multipower for “things you can do with a knife got very long indeed). Regardless, rope is surprisingly versatile. How many other inventions are still in regular use after thirty to fifty thousand years? (Fifty thousand is believed to be the earliest known trace, but thirty thousand is pretty definite. Still, who knows how far back into prehistory rope goes before that?).

The Werewolf

Werewolves are very classic. Almost passe. Everybody knows what a werewolf is. They usually have some animal instincts or behaviors, a bit of a reputation, tend to be agitated during the full moon, and do have some minor vulnerabilities to silver and/or fire which are already included below. They aren’t, however, necessarily monstrous. They’re basically big wolves crossed with humans – and wolves with human tendencies are better known as dogs. Dogs and wolves are generally pretty loyal to their friends and families. That’s one of the major reasons that werewolves make perfectly good pulp heroes. On the other hand… they aren’t all that dangerous to even a minor superhero or a serious SWAT team; they’re about as formidable as a bear in a fight, although their regeneration and resistance to body damage will let them last longer and recover more quickly. Their biggest asset as heroes isn’t their fighting ability; it’s their enhanced senses. “Animal Powers” are a popular idea, but who are you going to bet on? The guy with the “Power Of A Lion!” or Iron Man?

40 Werewolf Powers

(2) Elemental Control; Werewolf Powers (5-pt reserve); Mystically conspicuous, classical werewolf indicators in human form: -¼; Always On: -½; Werewolf powers only: -½; Powers reduced by roughly 50% in full human form.: -0.25

  • a-4 Armor (7 PD/4 ED), only 50% effective versus Fire; -0.25
  • b-6 Regeneration (1 BODY/5 min.); Regenerate: From Death unless slain by Silver, +20; Activation: 11-, -1;
  • c-4 Density Increase (Gets slightly bigger and much bulkier)-2 (×4 mass); Mass: 240 kg/528 lbs; Extra PD: +2; Extra ED: +2; Extra STR: +10; Knockback: -2″; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0
  • d-2 Combined Powers Slot – Supernatural Senses;
    • (2) Enhanced Perception (all) (+2 to PER);
    • (2) Ultraviolet Vision;
    • e-4 Enhanced Scent;
    • (4) Tracking Scent;
    • (2) Discriminatory Sense (Smell); 0
  • g-3 Running (+4″, NC: +8″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2, +0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0
  • h-7 1d6 Killing Attack (HTH) (Total 2d6); Range: 0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0
  • i-2 Power Defense (10 pts); Automatically protects against any attempt to remove werewolf disadvantages or abilities only: -½;.
  • j-2 +5 CON;
  • k-2 +5 BODY;

Why are there limitations for the types of powers allowed in the Multipowers and Elemental Controls? It’s because those ARE pretty limiting. Compare what you can put in a multipower full of “spells” or “the power cosmic” (almost anything, like the Cartomancer below) and one that is restricted to “Rope” or “Werewolf Powers”. Is this fair to people who don’t buy a Multipower or an Elemental Control? No it isn’t. And that’s is a good thing. This way Multipowers and Elemental Controls reward character builds that have a coherent theme and which have enough limitations on their powers to leave the other player characters with something to do. Even characters who are just “big, tough, and strong” should have something to back up those high attributes.

The Cartomancer

The Cartomancer draws on the power of ancient archetypes. This version uses the Major Tarot, but versions using runes, or the heiroglyphic symbols of ancient egyptian gods, or dozens of other variants work just fine. While Cartomancy is prone to backlash, and difficult to use, it is also one of the most powerful and versatile abilities on this entire list – allowing it’s users to heal wounds, raise the dead, summon forth mythic vehicles, cast illusions, bind targets in the chains of hell, peer into the past, create mighty barriers, alter the environment in weird and wonderful ways, and much more – even being able to raise the dead. Unfortunately, however, Cartomancers require foci for their powers, cannot move around or evade attacks while bringing them into play, and can be seriously injured by the backlash of their own misbehaving powers if (when!) they fumble a spell. That makes them relatively poor solo heroes, but potentially decisive backup for a group.

40 Cartomancer

(18) Multipower (83-pt reserve); Focus (Tarot Cards): Obvious Accessible, -1; Focus Applicability: Personal; Focus Breakability: Breakable; Fragile Focus: -¼; Extra Time: full phase, -½; Concentrate: 0 DCV, -½; Incantation: Instant Power, -¼; Activation: 15-, -¼; Side Effects (6d6 Energy Blast): 30/Half, -½; Visible (Hold up magical card): -¼

  • u-1 The Fool, Infinite Potential: 13d6 Healing ; Charges: 3, +0; Clips: 32; 0 End.
  • u-1 The Magician, Potential Given Form; Charges: 3, +½; Clips: 32; Continuing Charges: 5 Minutes, -4 lev;
    • (9) 2d6 Aid Magic (Fade/min., Max. 20); Range: 0; Continuous: +1; Affects: Single Power of Special Effect, +¼; Charges: 3, +½; Clips: 32; Continuing Charges: 5 Minutes, -4 lev; This basically allows the user to tap into minor effects – temporarily gaining any one magical power of up to twenty active points or boosting some other mages abilities. 0 End.
    • (5) Force Field (8 PD/8 ED); Active Points: 24; Charges: 3, +½; Clips: 32; Continuing Charges: 5 Minutes, -4 lev; 0 End.
  • u-1 13d6 The Emperor Mind Control; Communication: Verbal, +0; Charges: 3, +0; Clips: 32; 0 End.
  • u-1 The Chariot – Summon Vehicle (1 120-point creatures); Range: 0; Summon: Limited Group, +¼; Vehicle vanishes after one hour unless resummoned.: -¼; Charges: 3, +0; Clips: 32; 0 End.
  • u-1 The High Priestess – 13d6 Mental Illusions; Charges: 3, +0; Clips: 32; 0 End.
  • u-1 The Empress – 1d6 Transform Environment (Major, Limited Class); Range: 0 End; Cumulative: +½; Area Effect (Radius): 128″ radius, +1; Autofire: 10 shots, ¾; Increased Area: ×64, +1½; Charges: 10, +½; Clips: 32; Only affects the environment. This can make walls, turn the area into a jungle, dump ten feet of snow, or turn the floot to lava, but it doesn’t directly affect characters.: -1; No Range: -½; 0 End.
  • u-1 The Hierophant – 10d6 Telepathy; Charges: 1, +¼; Clips: 16; Continuing Charges: 5 Minutes, -4 lev; 0 End.
  • u-1 The Hermit – 3d6 Aid to Bases, Computers, and Equipment (Fade/season, Max. 20); Range: 0; Active Points: 80; Affects: All Powers of Special Effect, +2; The supplied points are treated as a pool,. The spell will provide a total of 20 points worth of improvements to a base, 20 points worth of a computer, and 20 points worth of gear – but no more, no matter who you cast it on or how often.: -1; Charges: 3, +0; Clips: 32; 0 End.
  • u-1 The Lovers;
    • (8) 2d6 Aid to Social Perks (Fade/season, Max. 20); Range: 0; Affects: Single Power of Special Effect, +¼; Charges: 3, +0; Clips: 32; Adds only one perk per casting, perks are treated as a pool, and only go away with the changing seasons, so if you need police contacts or a drivers license, they go against the total of 20 until the season changes and they go away: -1; 0 End.
    • (5) +15 PRE; Charges: 3, +½; Clips: 32; Continuing Charges: 5 Minutes, -4 lev;
    • (3) +20 COM; Charges: 3, +½; Clips: 32; Continuing Charges: 5 Minutes, -4 lev; 0 End.
  • u-1 Strength (Combined Powers Slot):
    • (11) Density Increase-8 (×250 mass); Mass: 15,000 kg/33,000 lbs; Extra PD: +8; Extra ED: +8; Extra STR: +40; Knockback: -8″; Charges: 1, +¼; Clips: 16; Continuing Charges: 5 Minutes, -4 lev; 0 End.
    • (4) Force Field (8 PD/8 ED); Charges: 1, +¼; Clips: 16; Continuing Charges: 5 Minutes, -4 lev; 0 End.
    • (2) 5″ Flight (NC: 10″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2, +0; Non-Combat (MPH): 37; Charges: 1, +¼; Clips: 16; Continuing Charges: 5 Minutes, -4 lev; Only to reduce the user’s effective weight to normal: -½; 0 End.
  • u-1 Death 1d6 Transform (Creatures to other creatures) (Major, Anything); Range: 410; Active Points: 82; Cumulative: +½; Charges: 3, +½; Clips: 32; Continuing Charges: 5 Minutes, -4 lev; Continuous: +1; Penetrating: +½; Armor Piercing: +2, +1; Activation (Rolled each phase): 11-, -1; 0 End.
  • u-1 The Devil – 5d6 Entangle (Infernal Chains of Sin) (DEF 5); Range: 375; Area Effect (One-hex): 1 hex(es), +½; Charges: 3, +0; Clips: 32; Activation: 15-, -¼; Side Effects (Summon Minor Devil): 30/Half, -½; 0 End.
  • u-1 The Tower – 5d6 Killing Attack (RKA); Range: 375; Charges: 3, +0; Clips: 32; No Knockback: -¼; 0 End.
  • u-1 The Star – Telekinesis (STR 28); Range: 325; Manipulation: Fine, +10; Charges: 1, +¼; Clips: 32; Continuing Charges: 5 Minutes, -4 lev; 0 End.
  • u-1 Temperance – Force Wall (4 PD/4 ED); Range: 400; Width: 16″, +0; Variable Special Effects (ED, PD, Power, Ego, and Flash Defense): Certain Group, +¼; Autofire: 10 shots, ¾; Charges: 30, +2; Clips: 32; Continuing Charges: 5 Minutes, -4 lev; All force walls must be stacked on each other: -1; 0 End.
  • u-1 The Hanged Man 17d6 Dispel (Magic); Range: 320; Affects: Any Single Power of Special Effect, +¼; Charges: 3, +0; Clips: 32; 0 End.
  • u-1 Justice – 2d6 Flash (Hearing, Sight); Range: 375; Area Effect (Radius): 12″ radius, +1; Increased Area: ×4, +½; Side Effects (User must pursue Justice): 30/Half, -½; Side effects cannot be avoided.: -½; Charges: 3, +0; Clips: 32; 0 End.
  • u-1 The World – Clairsentience (Hearing, Sight); See: Past, +20; Dimensions: Current, +0; Active Points: 81; Range: 2,000″; Charges: 2, +¼; Clips: 16; Continuing Charges: 5 Minutes, -4 lev; Extra Time: 1 turn, -1; 0 End.
  • u-1 The Last Judgement – Regeneration (1 BODY/Turn); Regenerate: From Death, +20; Transdimensional (Across Time): Group of Dimensions, +¾; Usable By Others: Power Lost, +¼; Ranged: +½; Charges: +3, +0; Continuing Charges: 1 Hour, -5 lev; Changes do not manifest until the current time: -½, Extra Time: 1 turn, -1. 0 End. This basically reaches into the past to bestow the Regeneration ability on your target just before their death. This, in turn, means that they never actually died – but the spell avoids paradox by being limited so that the change in status does not actually manifest until the time the spell is cast.
  • u-1 The Moon – Images (Hearing, Sight, 16″ radius); Range: 360; Active Points: 72; Observer PER Penalty: 3, +9; Charges: 3, +½; Clips: 32; Continuing Charges: 5 Minutes, -4 lev; Variable Limitations: -½, -¼; 0 End.
  • u-1 The Sun – 5d6 Energy Blast; Range: 375; Versus: ED; No Normal Defense (Immunity to High Heat, Ice Powers, Darkness Powers): +1; Area Effect (Radius): 5″ radius, +1; Charges: 3, +0; Clips: 32; Works only in Daylight: -¼; 0
  • u-1 The Wheel Of Fortune – Invisibility (Smell, Sight, Hearing, No Fringe); Charges: 3, +½; Clips: 32; Continuing Charges: 5 Minutes, -4 lev; Variable Limitations: -½, -¼; 0 End.

A resurrection effect is actually fairly easy to build in the Hero System, at least if you get a little bit inventive about it – but a lot of game masters dislike the idea. If you want to complicated the whole “coming back to life” thing a bit go ahead and throw in some complications, such as the side effects including a trip to the underworld to bring back the desired soul, or Death demanding some sort of price, or some such.

Actual character death is pretty rare in a full-fledged superhero game anyway. The Hero System encourages it’s characters to do the comic book thing and fight at the drop of a hat by making the defenses cheaper than the attacks and by encouraging the purchase of spot defenses. Did some villain give them trouble through clever use of the “Drain” ability? The PC’s will soon find a reason to purchase some Power Defense, so that it does not happen again. After a while they start getting pretty hard to affect much in any reasonable way and the bricks – who are basically built for long slugging matches – tend to come into their own again.

The Eldritch Horror

The Eldritch Horror was either summoned by some eldritch tome or dread artifact (it doesn’t have to be the Necronomicon) or is the result of some foolish mortal meddling with such a thing. That focus may be hidden, but must always reside in a ritual space dedicated to the Outer Ones – and is thus an IIF. If someone finds it, and either destroys, contains, or simply removes it… the power of the Eldritch Horror will fade away. While it remains, however, the Eldritch Horror possesses considerable abilities. An Eldritch Horror doesnt have to be EVIL, but they are generally more than a bit incomprehensible, often cannot speak or otherwise interact normally, and rarely quite understand humans. Their power can have all kinds of side effects on them, and they’re rarely helpful socially. On the other hand, if the eldritch, unkillable, protoplasmic mass wants to devour the tainted souls of serial killers, I’m not going to get in it’s way. Even if it didn’t eat me for being in the way, it would just go around.

40 Eldritch Horror

(4) Elemental Control; Formless Body (15-pt reserve); Always On: -½; Side Effects (Attracts monsters, hunted by heroes, terrifying special effects, genderless, being made of goo, most medical treatments no working, vulnerable to holy magic, etc. ): 60/All, -1; Side effects cannot be avoided: -½; Visible (Eldritch Horror. Slenderman at BEST.): -¼; Focus (Necronomicon): Inobvious Inaccessible, -¼

  • a-4 Regeneration (1 BODY/Turn); Regenerate: From Death, +20;
  • b-4 Stretching (4″, NC: 8); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2, +0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • c-4 Force Field (10 PD/10 ED); Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End. OK, being made of goo is an unusual special effect, but so be it!
  • d-4 Shape Shift (Imitate Humans) (Limited Group); Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • e-4 +20 STR; Doesn’t Affect Figured: -½; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • f-5 Hand-to-Hand Attack (7d6); Range: 0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • g-3 +30 PRE; Only for Presence Attacks: -1.
  • h-4 Running (+10″, 75″, NC: 150″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2, +0; Non-Combat (MPH): 74; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • i-4 Clinging (Clinging STR +30); Reduced END: Zero, +½; Costs END: -½; 0 End.

    The Eldritch Horror pulls a fast one there; normally you have to have the various powers Persistent to take the Always On limitation – but these are mostly active effects, and so are not persistent. What the Always On effect does is make it impossible to turn off all those antisocial disadvantages: the Eldritch horror is ALWAYS a semi-formless lovecraftian monstrosity of writhing tendrils, oozng black slime, and alien horror. That seemed sufficient to qualify of “-1/2”. If you want to be technical. do what I used to do and call the limitation “physical” – real and permanent changes to the body which can’t be taken away readily. Basically the same way that you can’t do an area-effect “drain breathe in unusual environment” and kill all the fish in an area. After all, if that worked – if you could drain a creatures ability to live in it’s natural environment – you could build cheap, near-instant, large-scale, “kill everyone” effects. It’s not a good idea to allow that.

The Giant Land Octopus

The rare (we think) Giant (for an octopus; lacking Growth, they’re about human sized) Land Octopus has an unusually wide environmental tolerance and a deceptive nature that transcends an Octopus’s usual limits to deceive those who see or hear them – making everyone who lacks the ability to pierce it’s illusion hear it “speaking” normally and see it as just another normal human- allowing them to mingle readily with human societies. As for what they do… they’re strong, they’re stretchy, and they stick to things with suction cups. They’re good at camouflaging themselves and can squeeze through very small places. They’re also surprisingly good with children, almost always being able to spot what they’re up to and invariably having a spare “hand” to stretch out and grab them with to keep them out of trouble.

40 Giant Land Octopus Powers

  • (2) Tentacles – Extra Limbs (4); Number: 4; Side Effects (You’re an octopus. Cannot speak normally (relies on illusions to communicate), no fingers, etc)): 60/All, -1; Side effects cannot be avoided: -½; Always On: -½
  • (5) Rubbery Flesh and No Bones – Damage Resistance (5 PD/5 ED)
  • (4) Elemental Control: Landgoing Octopus Powers (15-pt reserve); Side Effects (You’re an octopus. Cannot speak normally (relies on illusions to communicate), no fingers, etc)): 60/All, -1; Side effects cannot be avoided: -½; Always On: -½; Octopus Powers Only: -1
    • a-4 Stretching (4″, NC: 8); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2, +0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
    • b-4 Swimming (+20″, 22″, NC: 44″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2, +0; Non-Combat (MPH): 30; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
    • c-3 Clinging (Clinging STR +60); Actually limited to Str+30: -½;
    • d-3 Life Support (total); Only somewhat beyond what is reasonable for an octopus and doing OK on land: -1;
    • e-6 Images (Hearing, Sight, 1″ radius); Range: 0; Observer PER Penalty: 5, +15; Reduced END: Zero & Persistent, +1; Only to make people see the user as a normal person: -2; No Conscious Control: -2; No Range: -½; 0 End.
    • f-3 Invisibility (Normal Sight); Reduced END: Zero, +½; Camouflage Only, +10 to Stealth when moving slowly: -½; 0 End.
    • g-4 +20 STR; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
    • h-2 Shrinking-2 (DCV +4, Reduced END: Zero, +½; Only for squeezing through small openings due to their lack of bones and rubbery flesh, no other effects: -2; 0 End.
    • i-2 Darkness (Normal Sight, 3″ radius); Range: 0; Charges: +3, -¾; Continuing Charges: 1 Turn, -2 lev; No Range: -½; Works only in Water: -1½; Active Points: 30; 0 End.
    • j-3 Enhanced Perception (Normal Sight, +15 to PER); Actually only +8: -½;
    • k-3 1d6 Killing Attack (HTH) (Mildly toxic bite) (Total 2d6); Range: 0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Penetrating: +½; Only on targets that are currently grabbed.: -1. 0 End.
  • (0) Knowledge: The Sea 8-
  • (-8) Running (-4″, 2″, NC: 4″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2, +0; 0 End.

Now this sort of thing is why superhero worlds tend to have ever-changing histories. Lets say that some player decides that he wants to play a resident of Atlantis, or a Giant Land Octopus, or a Demigodling Son Of Uller, from Norse Mythology – but the setting has never made any provision for such things. Now what can you do?

  • You can tell the player (or comic book writer) that there is no room for their nifty new idea. They may not take it well. There will certainly be at least whining if some other players ideas get accepted later on. Things become less fun.
  • You can quietly assume that the player/writer (and possibly the character) are wrong about what they are and where they came from If you tell them, see #1. If you remain silent until later… now the player/writer is invested in their idea and it’s part of all their plans. This guarantees an angry explosion.
  • You can accommodate the player/writer and quietly re-arrange some chunks of the setting and its history to fit in with their new idea. This can be a headache when it comes to continuity, and can clash with other player/writers ideas later – but it purchases peace NOW at the low, low, cost of agreeing that Giant Land Octopuses have been hanging around for thousands of years, and that there is a long history of sailors surviving two-hundred-mile swims to shore after shipwrecks, and of mysterious bystanders fishing people out of rivers, and so on that no one has ever paid any attention to because “it’s always been that way”.

Usually people wind up going with #3. It’s so much easier in the short run, and who cares that – likely after your game or job is over – there will need to be yet another reset?

Filed under: Background, Character Sheets, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Eclipse d20 and Memento Mori

Posted on August 28, 2022 by Thoth

For today, it’s a requested conversion – a PL10 Mutants and Masterminds character – May Midori, A.K.A “Memento Mori” – a heavily cyborged super-agent inhabitant of a cyberpunk world.

Into fantasy / d20 modern /d20 future terms. This will get a bit weird.

For some basics… well, she’s apparently from a cyberpunk world, ala Shadowrun or Cyberpunk or a dozen other settings. I’m going to assume a vaguely “Shadowrun” style, so both magic and technology fits in and it’s possible to be a very violent businesswoman without setting off endless metal detectors. That makes her a…

Dystopian Survivor Human (30 CP / +0 ECL). These have the racial traits of:

  • Highly Adaptable: Gain one Bonus Feat / 6 Bonus CP (6 CP).
  • Birthright: Choice of +2 to an Attribute or another 12 CP ability package derived from your background.
  • Quick to Learn: Fast Learner, Specialized in Skills for +2 SP/Level (Level x 2 + 6 total, 6 CP).
  • Tested Immunity: After the global pandemics and pollution crises everyone who didn’t inherit this is dead. Immunity to toxins, pollutants, and disease (Common, Major, Trivial, for a +2 bonus on relevant rolls, 3 CP).
  • Projectile Predator: +1 BAB, Specialized in Ranged Attacks (3 CP).

Attributes first:

Mutants and Masterminds: Strength 4 [8p], Stamina 7 [14p], Agility 8 [16p], Dexterity 0, Fighting 5 [10p], Intellect 4 [8p], Awareness 4 [8p], and Presence 0.

Most of those translate to d20 attribute modifiers – so net Str 18, Constitution 24, Dexterity 18 (Agility + Dexterity / 2 since M&M subdivides the functions of Dexterity), Intelligence 18, Wisdom 18, Charisma 10, and BAB +5. Of course in M&M that is after enhancements are applied. Obviously this character is going to need a lot of bonuses.

Secondarily, the character is described as being incredibly beautiful – apparently due to having “attractive” as a fairly minor advantage – although even the original description could be read as putting the character squarely in the uncanny valley and that advantage simply provides a +2 circumstance bonus on Deception and Persuasion checks “to deceive, seduce, or change the attitude of anyone who finds the characters looks appealing”. Well, almost all semi- superhero characters look good. It’s only the actual game impact that matters. Given that a fantasy world involves a lot of nonhumans with very different ideas of what is attractive… I’ll translate this to some simple skill bonuses in the skills section.

So: d20 Attributes:

  • Strength 18 10 Base +4 Eq +4 Armor
  • Dexterity 18 14 Base +4 Eq
  • Constitution 24 14 Base +4 Eq +2 Race +1 Level +1 Purchased (12 CP), +2 Enh
  • Intelligence 18 14 Base +4 Eq
  • Wisdom 18 14 Base +4 Eq
  • Charisma 10 10 Base

That’s Pathfinder 20 point high fantasy point buy attributes. The 2×10 and 4×14 pattern is generally good for a generalist.

For Skills the M&M version had… Acrobatics 8 (Agi 8), Athletics 6 (4 Str + 2 ranks, 1p), Close Combat: unarmed 15 (5 Fgt + 10 ranks, 5p), Close Combat: everything else 5 (5 Fgt), Deception 12 (12 ranks, 6p), Expertise (Business) 8 (4 Int + 4 ranks, 2p), Expertise everything else 4 (4 Int), Expertise (not specified?) 6 (4 Int +2 ranks, 1 Sp), Insight 4 (4 Awe), Investigation 6 (4 Int + 2 ranks, 1p), Perception 8 (4 Awe + 4 ranks, 2p), Stealth 12 (8 Agi + 4 ranks, 2p), Technology 10 (4 Int + 6 ranks. 3p), and Treatment 4 (4 Int).

That’s… pretty poor. 46 skill ranks in total, and nothing higher than +12 in total? For a super-secret agent? Even given that M&M combines a few skills, that’s kind of weak. At least it gives us a level estimate… I’m going to call it six.

Converting to d20…

Available Skill Points: 8 (8 CP) + 36 (Int Mod x 9) +18 (Racial Fast Learner) + 18 (Bonus Feat Fast Learner) = 80 SP.

  • There are a lot of different d20 skill lists out there. So I’m going to throw in Immunity (The normal skill list; gets to use THIS condensed skill list regardless of the list in use in the current game. (Common, Minor, Great, 12 CP). I’ll also buy her two instances of Adept (Acrobatics, Athletics, Perception, and Stealth, are all half cost, 6 CP, Engineering, Persuasion, Stealth, and Thievery are all Half Cost, 6 CP) and a +2 Skill Emphasis on Deception and Persuasion (6 CP) to cover her bonuses from being “attractive”,

General Skills:

  • Acrobatics +15 (4* SP +4 Dex +2 Mor +2 MW). May take 3d4 damage to pull off a nigh-impossible stunt.
  • Athletics +15 (4* SP +4 Str +2 Mor +2 MW). May take 3d4 damage to pull off a nigh-impossible stunt.
  • Deception +13 (9 SP +0 Cha +2 SE +2 Mor)
  • Engineering +15 (4* SP +4 Int +2 Mor). +2 when Travelers Anytool applies. May specify three quasi-magical special gadgets to routinely carry.
  • Heal +12 (4 SP +4 Wis +2 Mor +2 Belt).
  • Linguistics +9 (3 SP +4 Int +2 Mor). Speaks seven languages plus the “common tongue”. That ought to do even for international business.
  • Perception +15 (4* SP +4 Wis +2 Mor). +1 Synergy Bonus on Reflex Saves.
  • Persuasion +13 (4* SP +0 Cha +2 SE +2 MW).
  • Profession (Business) +17 (9 SP +4 Wis +2 Mor +2 MW).
  • Profession (General) +6 (+4 Wis +2 Mor).
  • Socialize +17 (9 SP +4 Wis +2 Mor +2 MW). Provides four useful Contacts. In her case, likely corporate.
  • Stealth +17 (4* SP +4 Dex +2 Mor +2 MW). Grants the equivalent of a built-in Handy Haversack.
  • Thievery +17 (4* SP +4 Dex +2 Mor +2 MW). May be used as a free action up to four times per day.

*Half cost due to Adept. MW: Masterwork Tool. Mor: Morale. SE: Skill Emphasis.

Martial Arts Skills:

  • Iron Hand Style: +18 (9 SP +7 Con +2 Mor)
    • Attack 4, Power 2, Breaking, Combat Reflexes, and Expertise (Attack Bonus to Damage Bonus).
  • Gun Kata Style: +15 (9 SP +4 Dex +2 Mor)
    • Attack 3, Defenses 2, Expertise (Attack Bonus to Damage Bonus), Quick Draw, and Rapid Shot.

Now that is MUCH better. It also covers a bunch of things that the original character wanted to improve. It is a bit cheesy – although the level of cheese depends on the skill list in use in whatever game she wanders into. Condensing the skill list makes each skill – and thus skill enhancing abilities – substantially more powerful. That’s well worth those 12 CP.

In M&M this characters major powers included a variety of melee-attack based “poisons” and bunch of cyberware – presumably what gets her attributes so high. This, of course, is a fairly normal thing in d20 future, but not otherwise. It’s exotic even in most superhero settings. To get it, we will want an Immunity to the settings normal technology levels and – to pay for it – some Innate Enchantment. Due to the fact that d20 future prices are a lot lower than d20 fantasy prices, and thanks to a 20-to-1 Credits-to-GP conversion ratio this is a bit of an exploit, and might well qualify this character for a +1 ECL adjustment.

  • Advanced Tech Access: Innate Enchantment can normally be used to buy the equivalent of mundane equipment – but it’s rarely worth bothering with in fantasy based games. With that 1-to-20 GP-to-Credits conversion ratio and both d20 Modern and Future in play however… mundane equipment is suddenly a LOT more attractive. Still, even superheroes don’t automatically have access to super-technology, so I’m going to treat having access to the d20 Future lists to “buy” stuff from as a an Immunity / normal limits on equipment availability (Very Common, Major, Great (for +4 Tech Levels over the usual PL4 base), Specialized / only for Innate Enchantment purposes, 15 CP)
  • Immunity / the XP or other special costs of Innate Enchantment: Uncommon, Major, Major, 6 CP).
  • Immunity / the usual side effects of cybrenetics: Uncommon, Major Major, 6 CP).

Innate Enchantment (Cybrenetics) (Up to 11,500 GP Value, 12 CP).

  • Multi-Optics Goggles (Low-Light, 80′ Darksight, Microscopic, Tesescopic, HUD, Flash Protection, 200 GP)
  • SmartPhone (5 GP)
  • Neural Recorder (25 GP): Can record sensory information and thoughts so others can experience them.
  • Soundbox (175 GP): May mimic voices, play music, shout as loud as sixteen men, etc.
  • Gas Mask (10 GP):
  • Universal Communicator (2 GP): Send and receive audio, visual, and digital information.
  • Chemical Air Analyzer (250 GP). Gain Scent, may make a DC 15 Wisdom check to identify common chemicals and organic compounds. A DC 20 Wisdom check allows the user to distinguish the exact chemical makeup of anything he or she smells.
  • Artificial Muscle Fiber II: +4 Eq bonus to Str (600 GP)
  • Twitchwire II: +4 Eq bonus to Dex (600 GP)
  • Redundant Organs II: II: +4 Eq bonus to Con (325 GP)
  • Neuron Boosters II: II: +4 Eq bonus to Int (450 GP)
  • Proverb Chip II: +4 Eq bonus to Wis (1000 GP)
  • Boost Armor with Gravlight (Max Dex +1, Armor Check -2), Improved Defense III (+3 Armor), and Increased Range of Motion I (+1 Max Dex), Rigid (+1 Armor Check Penalty). Total +7 (+3 Improved Defense = 10) Armor, +4 Max Dex (+1 IRoM, +1 Nimbleness = +6), Armor Penalty 3 (+1 Rigid -2 Gravlight -2 Nimbleness = 0), Speed +10, +4 Str, +2 Reflex Saves. (1000 GP).
  • +2 Masterwork Karatends (Combat Guantlets, used as Unarmed, 1d8 Bludgeoning, Crit 19-20, DC 18 Fortitude Save or Stunned (electrical effect, so relevant resistences or immunities reduce the effect), (425 GP)
  • Poison Touch: Rattlesnake Venom (Unlimited Use Glands, 1d6/1d6 Con, Fort DC 17, 1000 GP). May combine with karatends, kisses, or other “unarmed” attacks.

That’s 6067 GP

Innate Enchantment (Magic for where there are no technical equivalents listed, still tech though)

  • Face Dancer (Transmutation): SL 1/2 x CL 1 x 2000 GP Unlimited-Use Use Activated x.7 Personal Only x.5 (Ambient Magic, one minute to use) = 350 GP. Allows you to change your features to look like someone else of your race or a slight variant thereof. While this does allow you to duplicate finger and retinal prints, you need to know the prints you want to copy to do so. Provides a +10 bonus to Disguises (under Stealth).
  • Traveler’s Any-Tool (250 GP) Acts as masterwork tools for Craft and most Profession skills.
  • Relieve Poison: SL 1 x CL 1 x 2000 GP Unlimited-Use Use-Activated x.7 Personal Only = 1400 GP. A spell from the Hedge Wizard list on this blog that greatly reduces the effects of poison.
  • Enhance Con +2: SL 1 x CL 1 x 2000 GP Unlimited-Use Use-Activated x.7 Personal Only = 1400 GP
  • Personal Heroism: SL 1 x CL 1 x 2000 GP Unlimited-Use Use-Activated = 2000 GP
  • Hot and Cold Weather Outfits (16 GP).

That’s 5416 GP

Total: 11,483 GP

The big benefit here lies in 1) getting a +4 on five different stats (normally costing some 80,000 GP) and a good AC (+10) which normally requires either pretty good armor or something like a force armor / force shield combo. Most of the rest is fairly readily available to anyone. That is pretty good – but is it worth the 21 CP it costs to gain access? Or the possible +1 ECL adjustment on top of that? And hitting the usual limit on Innate Enchantment? Honestly, it’s debatable. This character isn’t very reliant on most of those attributes, and could easily make up for them being lower with a few general bonuses to skills and such – But nice high attributes are just so shiny.

Miscellaneous Stuff:

  • +6 BAB (36 CP) (One more than the base build, but we want iterative attacks).
    • Ranged Attack (Gun): +6 BAB +1 Projectile Predator +4 Dex +2 Mor +2 Masterwork +3 Martial Art, +1 Laser Sight, -2 Rapid Fire = +17/+17/+12, +2 Masterwork Silenced Beretta 92F Semiautomatic Pistol (2d6+1 (Enhancement)), Crit 20/x2, 40′ Range Increment, 15 Shot Magazine, 3 Lb, Small Size, with Laser Sight, 225 GP. 50 Bullets, 1 GP).
    • Melee Attack (“Unarmed”): +6 BAB +4 Str +2 Mor +4 Martial Art +2 Masterwork = +18/+13, Damage 1d12+6 (+4 Str + Masterwork), Crit 20/x2, plus Poison (Fort Save DC 17 or 1d6/1d6 Con Damage) plus Fort DC 18 or Stunned.
  • Saves: Originally Fortitude +10 (3 Ranks +7 Sta), Dodge (Reflex) +11 (3 Ranks +8 Agi), and Will +10 (6 Ranks +4 Awe). Now Fortitude +13 (+3 (9 CP) +7 (Con) +2 (Mor) +1 (Res)), Reflex +13 (+3 (9 CP) +4 (Dex) +2 (Mor) +2 (Armor) +1 (Res) +1 (Sy)), and Will +11 (+4 (12 CP) +4 (Wis) +2 (Mor) +1 (Res))
  • Hit Points: Toughness 9 translates into about 81 HP. So… Advanced Improved Augmented Bonus (Adds Dex Mod to Con Mod for HP Purposes, Specialized and Corrupted / only for the first six hit dice, 6 CP). Call it six six-sided hit dice for 26 (6d6, maximum on first die, 12 CP) +66 (6 Hit Dice x [Con Mod + Dex Mod) = 92 HP.
  • Armor Class: M&M uses Defense Class, which is terrible, meaning that most attacks hit and you need to resist their effects. In d20, Armor Class lets you avoid the attacks instead. So… Armor Class 10 (Base) +10 (Cyberarmor, see below) +4 (Dex) +1 (Deflection, see Equipment) = 25. 27 when in ranged combat. Much better.
  • Move: 30′ (Base) +10 (Armor) = 40′
  • Proficiencies: Small Arms (6 CP)
  • Initiative: +4 (Dex)
  • The original character had “Jack Of All Trades” in M&M, allowing the use of all skills unskilled. Given the greatly improved skills above, this is meaningless save for Profession; she HAS all the other skills that can’t be used unskilled. All right then: Immunity/not being able to use Profession skills unskilled (Common, Minor, Trivial, 2 CP). This makes her a reasonably competent lawyer, fisherman, blacksmith, and web page designer.
  • Tracking (M&M Sense Unspecified). Since this doesn’t really say how she tracks people, I shall call it Financial (allowing her to track people through banks, credit card use, and similar) and to find hidden financial details) and by Scent. (3 CP each. 6 CP in total).
  • Trick – Toxic Strike (Save DC Fort 20, Induces Fatigue, then Exhaustion, then Sleep – but this requires a kiss to use (it’s specialized circumstance). This is rarely practical in combat and the relatively simple circumstances corresponds nicely with the limited effect (6 CP).
  • Doubled Damage (Rattlesnake Venom, when delivered with a kiss, 6 CP).
  • Grant of Aid with +2 Bonus Uses (9 CP). This isn’t a part of the base build, but super-types – which she undoubtedly is – tend to recover fast.

To look back at the original sheet, it had…

Advantages [7p]: Attractive 2 (Now general skill bonuses), Equipment 1/Smartphone (Now cyberware), Improved Power Attack (In her martial arts), Improvised Tools (covered by Traveler’s Anytool), Jack-of-All-Trades (Covered by use of all Profession skills unskilled), and Tracking (covered by Tracking).

Designer Daughter (cybernetic) [19p]

  • Cosmetic Biosculpt. Continuous Standard-Action Morph 2: similarly-built humans. [8p] (Covered by Face Dancer).
  • Detox Gland. Immunity 1: poison. [1p] (Covered by Relieve Poison).
  • Expanded Optics. Senses 4: infra-, ultra-, low-light and microscopic visual. [4p+2a] (Covered by Multi-Optics Goggles)
  • Alt: Auditory Augmentation. Limited 1 Senses 5: accurate(close only) analytical danger-sense extended auditory. [4p] (Covered by enhanced Perception)
  • Alt: Chemical Analysis. Senses 4: acute analytical olfactory-type. [4p] (Covered by Scent and the analytical package).
    Miscellanea. Features 4: embedded radio, fingerprint falsifier, sensory recorder, voice reproducer. [4p]
  • Subcutaneous Armor. Protection 2. [2p] (Covered – and vastly improved – by Cyberware Boost Armor).
  • Poisonous Personality [20p]
    • Kiss Goodnight. Distracting Grab-Based Progressive Subtle Triggered(variable) Affliction 15: fatigued/exhausted/asleep. [18p+2a] (Covered by Trick)
    • Alt: Kiss of Death. Distracting Grab-Based Progressive Subtle Triggered(variable) Weaken 15: stamina. [18p] (Covered by Doubled Damage on Rattlesnake Poison)
    • Alt: Poison Spur. Improved-Critical Subtle Damage 1; Linked to Improved-Critical Progressive Subtle Weaken 5: stamina. [18p] (Covered by Rattlesnake Poison)

Defense [18p]

  • Dodge 11 (8 agi + 3 ranks). [3p] Reflex Save, now +13. Also improved, see “Armor Class”.
  • Parry 11 (5 fgt + 6 ranks). [6p]> Vastly improved; AC 25, 27 in Ranged Combat.
  • Toughness 9 (7 sta + 2 protection). Equates to roughly 81 HP, now 92 and far less likely to be hit.
  • Fortitude 10. (7 sta + 3 rank). [3p] Fortitude Save, now +13
  • Will 10 (4 awe + 6 ranks). [6p] Will Save, now +11. About the same, but nothing about the build says “resistant to mental effects” – and the discription doesn’t exactly say “independent and willful”. According to the Complications, she’s kind of impulse driven.

Well, that’s all covered.

So how is this all adding up?

  • Race: 0 CP.
  • Attributes: 12 CP.
  • Skills: 8 CP Direct Purchase, 6 CP Fast Learner, 12 CP Immunity to the Normal Skill List, 12 CP Double Adept, 6 CP double Skill Emphasis = 44 CP.
  • Cybrenetics: Advanced Tech Access (15 CP), Immunity XP Cost (6 CP), Immunity Side Effects (6 CP), Innate Enchantment (12 CP) = 39 CP.
  • Miscellany: 113 CP

That’s 208 Character Points.

So how many do we have available?

Available Character Points: 168 (L6 Base) + 10 (Disadvantages: Compulsive (Killer), Accursed (Hackable Systems), and Insane (Transhumanist, thinks everyone needs cyborging, it is a universal panacea)) +12 (Duties to Mother Her Corporation) +18 (L1, 3, 6 Bonus Feats) = 208 CP.

OK, I added the Grant Of Aid to make things come out right, but it was quite close anyway.

That leaves us with equipment: Level six grants a 16,000 GP (or roughly 320,000 Dollar or “Credit”) equipment allowance, which can reasonably be expended as follows:

Healing Belt/Advanced First Aid Kit (750 GP), Cloak/Light Protective Clothing Of Resistance +1 (1000 GP), Ring Of Protection/Microshield Generator +1 (2000 GP), Chronocharm of the Laughing Stranger (500 GP, 1/Day reroll a Deception or Persuasion check), Chronocharm of the Fateweaver (1/day reroll one Acrobatics or Athletics check, 500 GP), Chronocharm of the Celestial Wanderer (1/day reroll one Perception check, 500 GP), Chronocharm of the Horizon Walker (1/Day take a half move as a swift action, 500 GP), BMW M3 Sports Coupe (1750 GP), Masterwork Tools (Power Suit; +2 to Profession/Business and Persuasion, Fine Shoes; +2 to Acrobatics and Athletics, Chameleon Coat; +2 to Stealth, Jewelry;+2 to Socialize, Gripper Gloves; +2 to Thievery, total MW items 350 GP), Demolitions Kit with Charges (50 GP), Search and Rescue Kit (10 GP), 1000 Bullets (20 GP), Tactical Flashlight (10 GP), Camping Gear (50 GP), Trail Rations (120 meals, 30 GP), Concealed Carry Holster (2 GP), Gun (225 GP, +2000 GP to be +1), Permanent “Upscale Hotel” lifestyle (2750 GP), Grappler Gun (3 GP), Expense Account (30 GP / 600 Dollars/Day unquestioned, 3000 GP). Most of this stuff (well, except the car) can easily fit in her personal Handy Haversack effect.

She also gets those three Gadgets from Engineering, but I don’t know what she’d want. Maybe a “Cyberdeck” for hacking (perhaps +3 to Engineering for the purpose), an expanded magazine so she can keep shooting, and a set of Blackout/Teargas bombs for escape?

Cut Features & Advancement Plans

  • 1. Improve Skills. For a super spy a 10 is pathetic! Done. She is far more skilled now.
  • 2. Mobilize. A good way to get out of danger will take us far! I can’t find Mobilize or Mobility in second or third edition, or a reference online. Might be Mobility (the d20 feat), Uncanny Dodge (which is at least related), Reflex Training (in Eclipse) or just wanting faster movement. For the moment, she has a Chronocharm of the Horizon Walker (1/Day take a half move as a swift action) – which should help out. Perhaps a teleportation item later on?
  • 3. Sensible Senses. They’re not expensive and always useful! Another item I cannot find although I’d assume that it just means more special senses. Still, it is easy enough to get more senses in Eclipse. This character already has a fair array of senses anyway.
  • 4. Git Gud at Guns. If nothing else, it’ll save on dry-cleaning bills! Done. She has much better skill with guns now. And, for that matter, has a gun.

Equipment

  • 1. Suppressed Light Pistol. Subtle Diminished-Ranged Damage 3. [6ep]. Done. You can just buy guns in d20 and this version has an appropriate martial art and a pistol with a sound suppressor (“Silencer”).

Designer Daughter (cybernetic)

  • 1. Cognitive Coprocessor. Limited (mental) Quickness 2 [1p] This gets mental tasks done more quickly. You could buy this – or just take advantage of the higher skills and raise the DC to get done faster.
  • 2. Healing Stimulator. Regeneration 1 [1p]. Done. That’s what the Grant Of Aid ability is all about.
  • 3. Omniglot Implant. Limited Comprehend 3: read/speak/understand common business languages. [3p]. Well, this character already speaks eight languages (counting “common”), so this is probably covered.

Overall… this character is a decent to good skill monkey and a reasonably effective fighter. She doesn’t do all that much damage, but forcing a save against poison and a save against being stunned at decent DC’s every time she hits a target is actually quite potent – at least until she’s fighting a construct, or an undead, or a swarm, or an ooze that is resistant to poison and electricity, or someone in a mecha, or quite a few other things – against which she is fairly useless. A warrior-type of similar level dedicated to damage is a lot more generally effective. A serious skill monkey will have more skill bonuses and – almost certainly – more skill boosters and things like “luck” so they can always succeed if they feel that they must. She won’t be able to match them either. So a competent generalist, best suited for semi-stealthy missions against other relatively normal beings. That… seems reasonable enough really.

Filed under: Background, Character Sheets, d20, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments »

The Phases Of The Moon Part III – Kahanev, Täiskuu and her Lunar Chariot, The House Of The Moon, and The Minivan Of Apparent Normality

Posted on August 14, 2022 by Thoth

Isilmë’s four secondary aspects take unmerciful advantage of a cheap Multiform power to take rather specialized power packages – although, since they only get fifty points in total, they are all pretty much normal people otherwise.

Kahanev, The Spring Moon (50 Points)

Kahanev, The aspect of the waning moon internalizes the subtle magic of the waning moon as C’hi, turning that power into mythic martial arts. Whether out of whimsy or because he IS a creature of myth – and what are movies but modern myths? – he appears as an elder oriental martial arts master, complete with long white beard and hair, brightly-colored robes, exaggerated sound effects and a tendency to announce attack names straight out of a bad martial arts movie. Sadly, while his power is sufficient to combine any two of his “forms” (powers) at a time, he can be fairly readily shut down by something like an area effect entangle, which will prevent him from using any of his mystical stances and kata. Still, if it comes to melee combat, he is generally the best choice Isilmë has available.

Val Char Cost
15 STR 5
11 DEX 3
10 CON 0
10 BODY 0
10 INT 0
10 EGO 0
10 PRE 0
8 COM -1
3 PD 0
2 ED 0
3 SPD 9
5 REC 0
20 END 0
20 STUN -3

Characteristic Rolls: STR: 12-, DEX: 11-, CON: 11-, INT: 11-, EGO: 11-, PER: 11-
Run: 6/16″, Swim: 2″, Jump: 3/23″, Lift: 200kg

(17) Mystic Martial Arts Multipower (60-pt reserve); Martial Arts Powers Only: -½; Restrainable: -½; Visible (Recognizable Styles): -¼; User must spend a lot of time practicing: -¼; Slots limited to 30 active points: -½, Gestures: -¼; Incantation: -¼ (announce attack names).

  • u-1 +20 STR (Master Of Leverage); Doesn’t Affect Figured: -½; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Only for combat purposes; cannot life massive weights, rip apart entangles, etc.: -½; 0 End.
  • u-1 +30 PRE (Conquerer’s Will); Only for Presence Attacks: -½; 0 End
  • u-1 +10 DEX (Whirlwind Kata) 0 End
  • u-1 Hand-to-Hand Attack Nerve Strike (4d6, total 5 1/2d6); Range: 0; No Normal Defense: +1 (as per standard nerve strike); Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End
    u-1 Hand-to-Hand Attack / Martial Strike (6d6, Total 9d6); Range: 0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End
  • u-1 1d6+1 Killing Attack (HTH) / Iron Hand Strike (Total 2d6+1); Range: 0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 Running / Light Foot (+10″, 16″, NC: 32″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2, +0; Non-Combat (MPH): 22; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 Superleap / Light Foot (+20″, 23″, NC: 46″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2, +0; Non-Combat (MPH): 45; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 Force Field (Martial Block) (15 PD/5 ED); Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 Density Increase (Mountain Stance)-4 (×16 mass); Extra PD: +4; Extra ED: +4; Extra STR: +20; Knockback: -4″; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 10″ Flight (Acrobatics, Water-Walking, Etc), (NC: 20″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2, +0; Non-Combat (MPH): 22; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Only to pull off amazing maneuvers and break falls: -1; 0 End.
  • u-1 Invisibility to Normal Sight (Ninjitsu); Reduced END: Zero, +½; Enhanced Stealth Only (+10 bonus): -1; 0 End.
  • u-1 Spatial Awareness (Chi Sense); 0 End.

Other Powers:

  • 6 Armor (3 PD/3 ED); Focus (Costume): Obvious Inaccessible, -½

Cost Skills, Talents, Perks Roll

  • 1 Knowledge:Martial Arts 8-

OCV: 4; DCV: 4; ECV: 3; Mental Def.: 0; Phases: 4, 8, 12, PD/rPD: 21/18; ED/rED: 10/8

Costs: Char: 13 + Powers 37 = 50

Täiskuu, The Autumn Moon, 50 Points

Täiskuu, the aspect of the Full Moon, is the most purely divine – and in some ways the most potent – of Isilmë’s aspects, and can only be manifested when the moon is in the sky, focusing it’s powers over dreams and either visiting the realms of dream or bringing that power into the material world. Unfortunately, her powers are more than a little unstable, since she occasionally loses control and lets the forces of dream pour into the world uncontrolled – a consequence of this world having far more dreamers than she is used to. When manifested she tends to ride the sky in her lunar chariot, a dark-skinned and vaguely Egyptian figure with black hair and cat-slit green eyes, crowned with stars and -when her defenses are up – wearing shining silver armor, moonlight transmuted into metal.

Val Char Cost
8 STR -2
11 DEX 3
13 CON 6
10 BODY 0
10 INT 0
10 EGO 0
10 PRE 0
15 COM 2
2 PD 0
3 ED 0
3 SPD 9
5 REC 0
16 END -5
21 STUN 0

Characteristic Rolls: STR: 11-, DEX: 11-, CON: 12-, INT: 11-, EGO: 11-, PER: 11-
Run: 6″, Swim: 2″, Jump: 2″, Lift: 76kg

15 Lunar Magic Multipower (62-pt reserve); Gestures: Instant Power, -¼; Incantation: Instant Power, -¼; Side Effects (Twists the world towards dream – causing strange events, broadcasting dreams, teaching strange secrets in visions, unleashing nightmare beasts, and so on): 60/All, -1; Activation: 15-, -¼; Only while the moon is in the sky: -½; Variable Limitations: -1 (Commonly OAF Lunar Rod): -½; Concentrate: ½ DCV, -¼.

  • u-1 Shape Shift (Flesh Like Dust) (Any); Reduced END: Zero, +½; Includes up to 1/2 the active point total of appropriate secondary effects – for example a bird form can fly (if not all that well)): +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 4d6 Entangle (Chains Of Night) (DEF 4); Range: 300; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End. Do you ever dream that you cannot move?
  • u-1 8d6 Energy Blast (Lunar Lance); Range: 300; Versus: ED; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 Desolidification (Moon Wraith); Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 Images (Lunar Mirage) (Hearing, Sight, 16″ radius); Range: 250; Observer PER Penalty:
    0, +0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 8d6 Mental Illusions (Nightmare Realm); Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 1d6 Transform (Cycle Of The Moon) (Major, Anything); Range: 300; Cumulative: +½;
    Reduced END: Zero, +½; Area Effect (One-hex): 4 hex(es), +½; Increased Area: ×4, +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 Invisibility (Dark Of The Moon) (Hearing, Sight, No Fringe); Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 Extra-Dimensional Movement (Realms of Dream); Dimensions: One, +0; Time Travel:
    None, +0; Mass Multiplier: ×1, +0; Area Effect (One-hex): 1 hex(es), +½; Reduced END: Zero,
    +½; Carrying Mass: None; 0 End.
  • u-1 Force Field (Ward Of The Moon) (12 PD/12 ED); Uncontrolled: +½; Reduced END:
    Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 Summon Lunar Chariot (1 50-point creature); Range: 0; Summon: Single Type, +0;
    Reduced END: Half, +¼; Champions Advantage (Vehicle): +¼; 2 End.
  • u-1 2d6 Energy Blast (Mists Of Dream; Range: 300; Versus: ED; Attack vs. Limited Defense
    (Power Defense): +1½; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Uncontrolled: +½; Area Effect (Radius): 64″
    radius, +1; Increased Area: ×16, +1; Sticky: +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 20d6 Dispel Dreaming (Banish the Night); Range: 300; Affects: One Power (her own multipower and its side effects) +0; 6 End.
  • u-1 +60 PRE (The Celestial Voice); Only for Presence Attacks: -½; 0 End.

Other Powers:

  • 1 5″ Gliding (NC: 10″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2, +0; Non-Combat (MPH): 11; Only to break falls: -2; Only while the moon is up: -½. 0 End.

Cost Skills, Talents, Perks Roll

  • 1 Transport Familiarity (Other Air Vehicles)
  • 3 Bureaucratics 11-
  • 3 Persuasion 11-

OCV: 4; DCV: 4; ECV: 3; Mental Def.: 0; Phases: 4, 8, 12, PD/rPD: 14/12; ED/rED: 15/12

Costs: Char: 13 Powers: +37 = 50 Points.

Lunar Chariot (50 Points – 20 Points Disadvantages, 6 Point Purchase)

Cost Vehicle Characteristics

  • 0 STR 10/20
  • 3 DEX 11
  • -3 BODY 7/9
  • 9 SPD 3
  • 10 Size Increase-2: 1.2 hexes (52 sq ft), 0.6 inside, 1 passengers, 1″ long x 1.2″ wide, 400 kg, KB -2, DCV 3 (Mod -1)
  • 4 DEF 4; Coverage: Complete, -0; Protects: Top and Bottom, -0; Does Not Protect Passengers: -½
  • 19 Flight (7″, NC: 448″, 500mph); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×64, +25; Stall: None, -0; Focus (Drawn by flying wolves): Obvious Inaccessible, -½; Focus Type: Vehicular, -½
    -8 Ground Movement (2″, NC: 4″, 4mph); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2, +0

9 Multipower (40-pt reserve); Focus (Lunar Emblem on the Chariot): Obvious Accessible, -1; Focus Type: Vehicular, -½; Extra Time: 1 turn, -1; Only while the moon is in the sky: -¼; Concentrate: 0 DCV, -½.

  • u-1 Desolidification; Charges: +3, +0; Continuing Charges: 1 Hour, -5 lev;
  • u-1 Invisibility (Hearing, Sight, No Fringe); Charges: +3, +0; Continuing Charges: 1 Hour, -5 lev;
  • u-1 10″ Teleportation (Long Range 80″); Increased Range: ×8, +15; Long Range: 80″; Long Range (miles): 0.10; Mass Multiplier: ×1, +0; Fixed Locations: 0; Floating Locations: 1, 5; Charges: +12, -¼; 0
  • u-1 Extra-Dimensional Movement; Dimensions: Any, +20; Charges: +12, -¼; Time Travel: None, +0; Mass Multiplier: ×1, +0; Carrying Mass: None; 0
  • u-1 4d6 Aid (Flight Noncombat Multiplier) (Fade/5 hours, Max. 24); Range: 0; Active Points: 40; Charges: +12, -¼; Affects: Single Power, +0; Fully boosted, the chariot can achieve approximately 14.000 MPH.
  • u-1 Force Field (10 PD/10 ED); Charges: 1, +0; Continuing Charges: 1 Day, -7 lev; Invisible: To All Senses, +1;
  • u-1 Life Support (total); Charges: 1, +0; Continuing Charges: 1 Day, -7 lev;
    50 Vehicle Cost

30+ Disadvantages (Cost: 30/5 = 6)

  • 20 Distinctive Features: Glowing Chariot Drawn By Wolves; Concealability: Not Concealable, 15; Reaction: Always noticed & major reaction, +5

Honestly, the Hero System vehicle rules are more than a little borked. They’re even more borked in 6’th edition (where disadvantages do not reduce costs) – but a ten-speed bicycle officially costs 11 (fifth edition Ultimate Vehicles, but that doesn’t seem to have changed much) CP – so kids can only have bicycles via handwaving. That’s about the same as a sports car. The Lunar Chariot has a base cost of 10 CP – and it can pass through walls, become invisible, teleport in and out of it’s hanger, circle the world in a couple of hours (as long as the course is chosen to keep the moon in the sky). carry people safely into orbit, travel between dimensions, and reach the moon in less than a day. It hasn’t got time travel – yet – and it can’t fight, but it doesn’t need to. It’s transportation.

The House Of The Moon (67 Points,-10 Disadvantages, 11 Points Purchase)

This was a third-floor efficience apartment for one – until Isilme bound a number of enhancing enchantments into the place, making it larger, more comfortable, and with a variety of facilities that cannot reasonably fit into the available space. Fortunately, none of that can be seen from the outside – or even when looking through the door. It even has a mystical power supply, so that, if the power goes out, all the appliances and lights keep working.

Far more importantly… it contains a fairly comprehensive library, an excellent computer /. entertainment center, has security cameras, and boasts a mirror capable of warning of major threats on a global basis. That’s not exactly vast cosmic power, but it’s certainly convenient.

Cost Base Characteristics

  • 18 DEF 8
  • 2 BODY 4
  • 8 Size 4, 36 hexes (1,549 sq ft), DCV -6
  • 0 Grounds 0 hexes
  • 0 Location (City)

Base Powers:

  • 6 Invisibility (Exterior, entry, and living room look like a normal apartment) (Normal Sight); IIF: -¼; Extra Time: 5 min., -2; Extra Time Required: Only At Startup, ½; Focus Mobility: Immobile, -1; Focus Type: Base, -1; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Only to make the place look “normal”: -½ 0
  • 1 Power Supply – END Reserve (25 END, 5 REC/turn); OAF: -1; Focus Mobility: Immobile, -1; Focus Type: Base, -1; Extra Time: 5 min., -2; Extra Time Required: Only At Startup, ½. This isn’t actually needed under normal circumstances since the place has no equipment which costs endurance, but if / when the power goes out (almost inevitable, especially in a superhero world) the appliances and such will keep working.
  • 1 Kitchen, Pantry, Fridge, Bathrooms – Doesn’t Eat, Excrete or Sleep; Focus: Obvious Accessible, -1; Focus Mobility: Immobile, -1; Focus Type: Base, -1; Bases don’t sleep anyway: -¼; Requires fairly regular resupply): -½
  • 1 Air Conditioning, Heating, Fire Suppression – Life Support: Intense Heat/Cold; Focus: Inobvious Inaccessible, -¼; Focus Mobility: Immobile, -1; Focus Type: Base, -1
  • 3 Sense (External Cameras) (+0 to PER); Time Required: Instant, +2; Range: Ranged, +5; Focus: Inobvious Inaccessible, -¼; Focus Mobility: Immobile, -1; Focus Type: Base, -1

    Computer / Entertainment Center / Internet 0

  • (-32) Computer, Int 8, Dex 0, Spd 1
  • (2) Elemental Control: Electronics (3-pt reserve); Usable By Others: Power Lost, +¼
    All abilities Conventional Technology (-1)

    • a-2 Radio Listen and Transmit; Champions Advantage (Datalink): +½; Cellular/WiFi/Bluetooth Service Only: -½
    • b-2 Eidetic Memory (Hard Drive); Always On (Memory is either perfect or utterly gone): -½; Extra Time: full phase, -½; Limited Storage Space: -¼.
    • c-2 Images (Screen) (Normal Sight, 1″ radius); Range: 0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; No Range: -½; Screen Only: -4; Observer PER Penalty: 0 End.
    • d-6 Pocket Secretary and Remote Apartment Control / Telekinesis (STR 10); Range: 220; Manipulation: Fine, +10; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Strength 0 Only: -2; Maximum range of 6 Hexes: -¼; Only functions as a secretary – operating devices, fetching coffee, sketching, etc: -2; Focus: Obvious Accessible, -1; Focus Applicability: Universal. 0 End.
    • e-5 2d6 Aid: Programs/Databases (Fade/week, Max. 12); Range: 0; Affects: Single Power of Special Effect, +¼; Extra Time: 1 min., -1½; Activation: 11-, -1; Must have program available to load: -2; Reduced END: Zero, +½. 0 End. This allows the user to load maps (area knowledge), mission information, and so on. All of it is Usable By Others/Power Lost, so you can load a total of 10 points worth of information.
  • f-7 Basic Computer Functions; All Usable By Others: Power Lost, +¼
    • (2) Absolute Time Sense
    • (2) Location Services/Bump of Direction
    • (2) Lightning Calculator
    • (1) File Loading / Speed Reading; Computer Files Only: -½.
    • (0) Camera (Eyes)
    • (0) Microphone (Ears)
    • (0) Voice (Speakers)
    • (2) High Fidelity Playback / Mimicry 11- (Good fidelity, but nothing special).
    • (0) Touchscreen (Touch)
  • g-6 Standard Software; All Usable By Others: Power Lost, +¼
    • (2) Security Features / Immunity To Unauthorized Use; Frequency: Common
    • (1) Voice Mode: English (Or language of choice) (Fluent Conv.); Literacy: Standard
    • (1) Office Software / Professional Skill: Secretary 11-
    • (1) Media Library / Knowledge Skill Digital Media 11-
    • (1) Games Library: Professional Skill / Entertainer 11-
    • (1) Map Database / Knowledge Geography 11-
    • (1) Virtual Object/Image/Map Generator / Professional Skill Artist 11-
      • (0) For Translation, use “Aid” to load a Language.

Other Powers:

  • 1 Money (Well Off); Only for nice furnishings, decent art, good lighting, and being generally really comfortable and well-supplied: -2; Only in the base: -1
  • 2 Enchanting Shop 11-
  • 2 Forge 11-
  • 7 +2 Overall Levels (Loom Of Fate); Usable By Others: Power Lost, +¼; Focus: Obvious Accessible, -1; Focus Mobility: Immobile, -1; Focus Type: Base, -1
  • 9 Mirror Of Warning – Danger Sense (Out of Combat, Anywhere); Works: Out of Combat, +5; Range: Anywhere, +15; OAF: -1; Focus Mobility: Immobile, -1; Focus Type: Base, -1. 14- roll.
    Library 6; Extra Time: 1 hour, -2½; Focus: Obvious Accessible, -1; Focus Mobility: Immobile, -1; Focus Type: Base, -1
  • (15) +3 level w/Knowledges And Sciences
  • (3) Scholar
  • (3) Scientist
  • Subjects Covered (Each 11-, 16- after levels, 1 Point each 17 total): Alchemy, Anthropology, Archaeology, Architecture, Astronomy, History, Law, Literature, Medicine, Mythology, Occultism, Paleontology, Parahumans, Parapsychology, Pharmacology, Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Theology.

Base Cost: 67 Points. -10 Points Disadvantages = 57, Net Cost (57/5 = 11)

  • 5 Distinctive Features (Home and Shop for an Enchantress, too big to fit into the apartment without magic)
  • 5 Third floor and sometimes the elevators don’t work (Infrequently, Slightly)
  • 10 Disadvantages Total

It’s no avengers mansion, but it’s a pretty decent sanctum for your basic sorcerer. It even comes with the convenient plot-device of advance warning about major threats for the heroes to go and try to stop.

Minivan (67 Points, No Disadvantages, 13 Point Purchase).

Cost Vehicle Characteristics

  • -1 STR 9/24
  • 3 DEX 11
  • -1 BODY 9/12
  • 9 SPD 3
  • 15 Size Increase-3: 2 hexes (86 sq ft), 1 inside, 2 passengers, 1½” long x 1.3″ wide, 800 kg, KB -3, DCV 3 (Mod -1)
  • 15 DEF 7; Coverage: Complete, -0; Protects: Top and Bottom, -0
  • 5 Ground Movement (9″, NC: 72″, 80mph); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×8, +10; Focus (Wheels): Obvious Accessible, -1; Focus Type: Vehicular, -½; Needs regular fueling and maintenance: -½

Equipment:

5 Basic Car Gear – Lights, Radio, GPS, Tinted Windows, Etc.

16 Arcane Enhancements

  • (5) Clinging (Clinging STR +10); Focus (Wheels): Obvious Accessible, -1; Focus Type: Vehicular, -½
  • (3) Regeneration (Self-Repairing) (1 BODY/5 hours); Activation: 11-, -1; Regenerate: Standard, +0
  • (4) 1d6 Transform (Air to Fuel, Lubricant, Oil, coolant, windshield washer fluid, Etc – all the consumables for running a car) (Major, Limited Class); Range: 95; Focus: Inobvious Inaccessible, -¼; Focus Type: Vehicular, -½; Extra Time: 1 min., -1½; Activation: 11-, -1; Charges: 16, +0 (0 End Cost).
  • (4) Images (Normal Sight, 1″ radius); Range: 100; Observer PER Penalty: 0, +0; Charges: +6, +1; Continuing Charges: 1 Day, -7 lev; Only makes the car look different – paint job, license plate, minor tweaks to apparent model: -2; Focus: Inobvious Inaccessible, -¼; Focus Type: Vehicular, -½; Extra Time: 1 turn, -1. 0 End.

    Yes, it’s a minivan, suitable for hauling kids, stacks of groceries, or similar. It also happens to be self-maintaining, self-fueling, self-driving, capable of altering it’s paint job, license plate, and model details, and of driving up walls or on the underside of bridges – but that’s just because it belongs to an enchantress.

1 Transport Familarity: Small Ground Vehicles. So it can drive itself competently. Presumably it has enough senses for that, since basic senses are free.

67 Vehicle Cost. Cost to Character (Cost: 67/5 = 13)

And this costs more than the Lunar Chariot. Did I mention that the vehicle rules are borked?

Filed under: Background, Character Sheets, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Phases Of The Moon Part II – Kasvael, Usskuu, and Nature Spirits

Posted on July 28, 2022 by Thoth

Isilmë’s four secondary aspects take unmerciful advantage of a cheap Multiform power to take rather specialized power packages – although, since they only get fifty points in total, they are all pretty much normal people otherwise.

Kasvael, The Summer Moon (50 Points)

Kasvael. the aspect of the waxing moon, is a fairly powerful shaman, a master of runes, rituals, and spirits – but he is very much a support character. He can heal, he can remove disabilities, he can scout around in astral form, he can transport allies, he can scry on relatively nearby locations, he can call up nature spirits* to help out, and he can create low-grade barriers and bridges – but his only major offensive ability is Ritual Magic. And while he can prepare a few major “spells” in advance, it requires a very long time and his supply is strictly limited. Basically, his magic is slow and almost entirely utilitarian. He’s very helpful to have around, but field operations are not his forte. He appears as a wiry, middle-aged to old green-eyed amerindian man dressed as a shaman, with him comes a faint whisper of drums, and flutes, and chanting voices.

*These could, in theory, go up to 97 points – but his are built on 50 points since they can’t exceed his total. If his total later goes up, so will theirs – although, honestly, they are powerful enough already to do what they are supposed to, which is to scout, to answer questions, and to mildly boost his allies and/or hinder enemies.

Val Char Cost
10 STR 0
11 DEX 3
10 CON 0
10 BODY 0
13 INT 3
11 EGO 2
10 PRE 0
10 COM 0
2 PD 0
2 ED 0
2 SPD 0
4 REC 0
20 END 0
20 STUN 0

Characteristic Rolls: STR: 11-, DEX: 11-, CON: 11-, INT: 12-, EGO: 11-, PER: 12-
Run: 6″, Swim: 2″, Jump: 2″, Lift: 100kg

18 Shamanic Magic Multipower (74-pt reserve); Concentrate: Throughout & 0 DCV, -1; Extra Time: full phase, -½; Focus (Rune-Inscribed Wand): Obvious Accessible, -1; Focus Applicability: Personal; Focus Breakability: Breakable; Gestures: Instant Power, -¼; Incantation: Instant Power, -¼

  • u-1 10d6 Generic Healing; Reduced END: Half, +¼; 2
  • u-1 Extra-Dimensional Movement (Fictional Worlds); Dimensions: Any, +20; Time Travel: None, +0; Mass Multiplier: ×4, +10; Carrying Mass: 200; Reduced END: Half, +¼; 2 End. Yes, he can take a small group on a trip into a television program, or book, or movie, or other work of fiction. Don’t let the villain follow you home,
  • u-1 Extra-Dimensional Movement (Astral Projection); Dimensions: One, +0; Time Travel: None, +0; Mass Multiplier: ×1, +0; Carrying Mass: None; Generic Limitation (Leaves physical body behind): -1; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End. This is a major scouting ability, but – if you do run into something that can target you – leaves you entirely on your own.
  • u-1 Summon Nature Spirits (1 97-point creatures); Range: 0; Summon: Limited Group, +¼; Usually Friendly (Usually will perform three services or one errand): +¼, Nature Spirits can only exist in their domain and only one can be manifested at a time: -1; 7 End.
  • u-1 2d6 Ritual Magic Aid (Fade/turn, Max. 90); Range: 0; Affects: Single Power of Special Effect, +¼; Trigger: Set, +¼; Points fade instantly after power used: -½; Maximum of three rituals per day and seven prepared effects.: -1; Active Points: 73; 1 End. This is POWER. It lets you pre-prepare up to seven ninety active point one-shot effects to be unleashed later. Go ahead. Summon a major demon, teleport hundreds of miles, speak a word of doom… but be very sure that it’s what you want, because you’re not going to get rid of it without another ritual or two.
  • u-1 Force Field (9 PD/9 ED); Reduced END: Zero & Persistent, +1; Uncontrolled: +½; Invisible: To All Senses, +1; Active Points: 63; 0 End. Basic protection, but any solid hit will still take Kasvael down – even if this makes him FAR more likely to live through it.
  • u-1 10″ Teleportation (Long Range 1,250″); Increased Range: ×125, +35; Long Range: 1,250″; Long Range (miles): 1.55; Mass Multiplier: ×4, +10; Fixed Locations: 0; Floating Locations: 0; 2 End. Not a lot of use in combat, but great when combined with Clairvoyance for a classic scry-and-die combo.
  • u-1 5″ Flight (NC: 625″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×125, +30; Area Effect (One-hex): 1 hex(es), +½; Non-Combat (MPH): 488; 1 End. Very handy for carrying a group across the english channel on your flying carpet.
  • u-1 1d6 Transform (Major, Anything); Range: 225; Cumulative: +½; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Active Points: 45; 0 End. It’s slow, it will revert back if the magic is dispelled, and you can’t do much at a time – but if your gadgeteer needs a special tool, well you can provide.
  • u-1 2d6 Aid (Buy Off Disadvantages) (Fade/year, Max. 30); Range: 0; Affects: Single Power of Special Effect, +¼; Additional Extra Time – One Minute: -1; Active Points: 66; 3 End. Yes, this allows him to remove – or at least suppress for quite some time – up to thirty points worth of disadvantages for any one target. Want to get rid of that nasty Hunted? A proper ward will keep them away. Go berserk to often? Terrified of confined places? All easily fixed.
  • u-1 Clairsentience (Normal Sight, Hearing); See: Present, +0; Dimensions: Current, +0; Range: 1,600″; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End.
  • u-1 Force Wall (8 PD/8 ED); Range: 300; Width: 12″, +0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; 0 End. Useful, but a rifle shot could bring it down. Best used for a bridge, a slide to let people escape from a fire, and as a short-term barricade.

Others Powers:

  • 2 5″ Gliding (NC: 10″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2, +0; Non-Combat (MPH): 8; Generic Limitation (Only breaks falls and allows sitting in the air while meditating or spellcasting): -1
  • 1 +10 Arcane Reserve – END; Concentrate: 0 DCV, -½; Generic Limitation (Only for spellcasting): -1; Extra Time: full phase, -½; Gestures: Instant Power, -¼; Incantation: Instant Power, -¼
  • 7 Detect Life (+0 to PER); Time Required: Instant, +2; Range: Ranged, +5; Focus (Eye Amulet): Obvious Accessible, -1; Addition (Discriminatory): +5

Cost Skills, Talents, Perks Roll
2 Knowledge: The Occult 11-

OCV: 4; DCV: 4; ECV: 4; Mental Def.: 0; Phases: 6, 12, PD/rPD: 11/9; ED/rED: 11/9

Costs: Char: 8 + Powers: 42 = 50 Points.

Nature Spirits (50 Point)

Nature Spirits are reasonably effective, but are generally only willing to provide a few short-term services or run one errand – although they usually don’t count basic conversation or talking about their domain a bit as a service. On the other hand, they are fairly limited; a city spirit will not and cannot leave the city, a forest spirit will not and cannot leave the forest, and so on. Just as importantly, they cannot stick around past dawn or sunset and only one can be on call at any given moment- although those on errands to not count as being on call. If you send a city spirit out for pizza, it won’t count if you actually need a sky spirit for something important.

While spirits can attack on their own – well enough to handle normal people fairly readily – their real utility lies in scouting, providing information, and boosting their summoner and his or her allies. Sure, -2 on your enemies OCV’s isn’t overwhelming – but it’s a very nice edge and will tilt a fight very nicely. Similarly, changing a few street signs during a car chase isn’t very dramatic – but it can easily lead a fleeing target into a dead end. Even better, asking for that kind of assistance is generally only one service for an entire fight.

Val Char Cost
5 STR -5
14 DEX 12
8 CON -4
5 BODY -10
8 INT -2
8 EGO -4
8 PRE -2
0 COM -5
2 PD 1
2 ED 0
3 SPD 6
3 REC 0
8 END -4
12 STUN 0

Characteristic Rolls: STR: 10-, DEX: 12-, CON: 11-, INT: 11-, EGO: 11-, PER: 11-
Run: 6/0″, Swim: 2″, Jump: 1″, Lift: 50kg

5 Elemental Control: Nature Spirit Powers (23-pt reserve); Generic Limitation (Only functions in the spirits domain): -½; Generic Limitation (Only effects appropriate to the domain): -½; Side Effects (Cannot Leave Domain, Cannot Remain In Physical Plane Past Dawn Or Sunset, powers only function in its domain.): 60/All, -1; Generic Limitation (Side Effects Cannot Be Avoided): -½; Visible (Blatantly obvious to any mage): -¼; Always On: -½

  • a-5 Change Domain Environment; Effect: Fixed, +0; Reduced END: Zero & Persistent, +1; Personal Immunity: +¼; Notable Effects (Cause Minor Modifiers up to +/-2): +¼; Variable Special Effects: Certain Group (Domain-Related Effects), +¼; Area Effect (Radius): 24″ radius, +1; Increased Area: ×8, +¾; Selective Target: +¼; No Range: -½. For example, a Sky Spirit might hinder enemies by blowing dust and minor debris around them (-2 to their OCV), or help someone hide by creating distractions, or make clouds to hinder vision, or use light rain to help fight a fire, A City Spirit might control traffic lights and street lights instead, drop pots on people, and so on.
  • b-17 6d6 Mental Illusions; Area Effect (Radius): 24″ radius, +1; Increased Area: ×4, +½; Reduced END: Zero & Persistent, +1; No Range: -½. Everyone within the influence of the spirit is affected by it’s “mental illusions” – generally sufficient to change details – altering signs, twisting paths and directions, and making the position of objects seem a little different. It won’t affect anyone with a strong will though. At the automatic level this tends to show the domain as the spirit thinks it OUGHT to be, but it can be consciously changed.
  • c-13 Shrinking-4 (DCV +8, Height 10 cm/4″); Mass: 0.012207 kg/0.03 lbs; Knockback Increase: 12; PER Bonus: -8; Reduced END: Zero & Persistent, +1. Spirits are tiny floaty things.
  • d-6 Force Field (11 PD/11 ED); Reduced END: Zero & Persistent, +1; Hardened: ×1, ¼. Being mostly immaterial, spirits are difficult to damage – but are fairly easily disrupted if you manage to get past that.
  • e-8 7″ Flight (NC: 112″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×16, +15; Non-Combat (MPH): 125; Reduced END: Zero & Persistent, +1.

    11 Domain Control Multipower (46-pt reserve); Only functions in the spirits domain: -½; Only effects appropriate to the domain: -½; Extra Time: full phase, -½; Side Effects (Cannot Leave Domain, Cannot Remain In Physical Plane Past Dawn Or Sunset): 60/All, -1; Generic Limitation (Side Effects Cannot Be Avoided): -½

  • u-1 Telekinesis (STR 15); Range: 240; Manipulation: Fine, +10; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Only domain-relevant targets: -½.
  • u-1 6d6 Energy Blast; Range: 225; Versus: ED; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Generic Limitation (Only functions in the spirits domain): -½. The form is appropriate to the spirit. A storm spirit might use lightning, a water spirit great waves, a city spirit might drop bricks on your head.
  • u-1 3d6 Entangle (DEF 3); Range: 225; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Only using available domain appropriate materials: -½.
  • u-1 6d6 Mind Control (Cause Fear or Confusion); Communication: Verbal, +0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Generic Limitation (Only to cause fear or confusion.): -½.
  • u-1 4d6 Aid (Movement Powers) (Fade/5 min., Max. 24); Range: 0; Affects: Single Power of Special Effect, +¼; Reduced END: Zero, +½. A city spirit can accelerate ground vehicles, a land spirit running, a sky spirit air vehicles, and so on.
  • u-1 2d6 Drain (Movement Powers) (Return/5 min.); Range: 0; Affects: Single Power of Special Effect, +¼; Reduced END: Zero, +½. A city spirit can slow ground vehicles, a land spirit running, a sky spirit air vehicles, and so on.
  • u-1 Clairsentience (Answer questions about domain) (Normal Sight); See: Present, +0; Dimensions: Current, +0; Range: 400″; Reduced END: Zero, +½.
  • u-1 3d6 Aid (Knowledge/The Domain) (Fade/day, Max. 18); Range: 0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Trigger (When summoned): Set, +¼; Affects: Single Power, +0. This is a bit of an oddity – but a city spirit can tell you all about it’s cities history, where to find the best pizza, who the important people are, what gangs are around, and so on. A water spirit might tell you about sources of pollution, where sunken ships are, where the fishing is best, about naval battles that took place nearby, and where the smugglers hang out.

    6 Regeneration (1 BODY/Turn); Extra Time: 1 week, -4; Regenerate: From Death, +20 Basically, even if “killed” a nature spirit comes back in a week.
    -12 Running (-6″, 0″, NC: 0″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2= 0. Spirits don’t run. They’re tiny.

OCV: 5; DCV: 5 / 13; ECV: 3; Mental Def.: 0; Phases: 4, 8, 12, PD/rPD: 13/11; ED/rED: 13/11

Costs: Char.: -17 + Powers 67 = 50.

Usskuu, the Winter Moon  (50 Points)

Usskuu, the aspect of the New Moon holds the aspect of Winter, of the cold radiance of starlight over snow. Her pale skin and long pallid hair are the white of frostbite, her lips are blue, and her hair and white fur coat flow gently in the perpetual winters wind which chills the area about her. When her armor of ice is active, she appears frozen and crystalline, with a chill – and somehow rather offputting and severe – elfin beauty. The radiance of the moon shines upon her and her mere presence is a bane to creatures susceptible to holy areas.

Usskuu is, of course another specialist – in this case in ice powers. Against vulnerable targets she can be something of a terror, leaving large groups almost instantly hypothermic and unconscious. Against opponents who are not so vulnerable, or if conditions are not conducive to the use of ice powers, she is moderately effective at best and entirely worthless at worst.

Val Char Cost
8 STR -2
11 DEX 3
10 CON 0
10 BODY 0
10 INT 0
10 EGO 0
10 PRE 0
10 COM 0
2 PD 0
2 ED 0
3 SPD 9
4 REC 0
20 END 0
18 STUN -1

Characteristic Rolls: STR: 11-, DEX: 11-, CON: 11-, INT: 11-, EGO: 11-, PER: 11-
Run: 6/16″, Swim: 2″, Jump: 2″, Lift: 76kg

Cost Powers END/Roll

22 Winter Multipower (50-pt reserve); Gestures: Instant Power, -¼; Incantation: Instant Power, -¼; Not in extremely hot conditions: -¼; Not in extremely dry conditions: -¼; Variable Limitations (Usually an OIF (Crystal Necklace)): -½, -¼

  • u-2 8d6 Energy Blast (Frost Bolt); Range: 250; Versus: ED; Reduced END: Half, +¼; 2 End.
  • u-2 2d6 NND Energy Blast (Winter’s Breath); Range: 0; Versus: ED; Reduced END: Zero, +1; Area Effect (Cone): 28″ long, +1; Increased Area: ×4, +½; Autofire: 5 shots, ½; No Normal Defense (Force Field, Life Support (Vrs Cold), Need Not Breathe): +1; No Range: -½; 0 End. This is an exploit: having no range area effect eliminates the “hard to hit with” part of Autofire and making in NND eliminates the “weak attack” aspect – making this a powerful 10d6 all-or-nothing attack against many targets.
  • u-1 2d6 Transform (Air to Ice) (Minor, Limited Class); Range: 150; Active Points: 30; Reduced END: Half, +¼; 1 End. This, of course, allows her to make 2d6 Body worth of Ice Constructs at range – creating minor barriers, blocking line of sight, holding up collapsing roofs, tripping people up, making areas slippery, and so on. Not a lot of power, but decent utility.
  • u-1 Running (Ice Slide) (+10″, 16″, NC: 32″); Non-Combat Multiplier: ×2, +0; Non-Combat (MPH): 22; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Visible (Leaves a very obvious trail): -¼; 0 End. The classic ice-powers movement trick.
  • u-2 Force Field (Ice Armor) (10 PD/10 ED); Reduced END: Zero & Persistent, +1; Uncontrolled: +½; Active Points: 50; 0 End. She’ll normally activate this as soon as she takes this form, although flame attacks will bring it down.
  • u-1 Telekinesis (STR 20); Range: 185; Manipulation: Coarse, +0; Reduced END: Half, +¼; Only works on water and ice): -1; 1 End.
  • u-2 Change Environment: Cold, Holy Moonlight (16″ rad.); Reduced END: Zero, +½; Uncontrolled: +½; Effect: Fixed, +0; No Range: -½; Always activates in this form: -¼; 0 End. Basically, the area around her is always cold and holy.

3 Life Support: Intense Heat/Cold

Cost Skills, Talents, Perks Roll
5 +1 level w/Multipower

OCV: 4; DCV: 4; ECV: 3; Mental Def.: 0; Phases: 4, 8, 12, PD/rPD: 12/10; ED/rED: 12/10

Costs: Char: 9 + Powers 41 = 50 Points.

Kasvael and Usskuu are definitely in the “needs a team” category. They both have some quite effective powers – but will need support to make them at all effective. Without support, going up against similar characters is likely to come down to “who gets in a hit first” and going up against full-powered super-types is probably going to wind up with them unconscious before they get to do anything at all.

Filed under: Character Sheets, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Phases Of The Moon; Hero System Competent Normal Heroes (Part I)

Posted on July 14, 2022 by Thoth

Isilmë – and several other characters – are the result of a challenge-question; “what kind of hero system superheroes can you build on 50 CP and up to 25 CP worth of disadvantages?”

That’s the allowance for “competent normals” – and if you go light on attributes (a HUGE point sucker) and skills (a much smaller one) while going heavy on the power limitations… you can build some fairly impressive powers. They will, however, be being wielded by fairly ordinary, and often fairly vulnerable, people. Do you have the power to generate light? You are likely to have dazzling radiance, simple illusions, and an energy-blasting attack. If it fits into your idea you might have a low-powered uncontrolled zero endurance force field crammed into your multipower, but it’s not going to provide a lot of protection. If you don’t… well, if someone is likely to be shooting at you you’ll want a kevlar costume. Even if the protection is fairly minimal, it’s priceless when you don’t have any other defenses.

Well, I haven’t done any hero system characters for some time, and there’s been some interest in such a game – so here we go:

Maa’ringid – the circles of the world – had fallen, the pillars of heaven broken. Already the final void gnawed upon the edges of the world and the seas and atmosphere streamed into nothingness. It’s surviving folk had fled into distant realms, and closed the gates behind them. The last life of the world would soon pass. The Council Of Jade met a final time, while a little magic remained. The Sunlord, the Lady Of The Moon, the Twilight Maiden, the Queen Of Life and the Iron Hag of Death. The five Elemental Dragons. the Lord Of Beasts and the Lady Of The Lands.

They gathered the last threads of Maa’ringid’s magic about them. Much of theit power had been spent wearing away the strength of the Enemy, and more would be lost between the worlds – but power could be gained anew, their strength would return to them long before the Enemy struck at the gates of the next realm in the Chain Of Creation – and it was the nature of the destroyer that it could only weaken, never grow. Still, the ritual would make some slight effort to fit them into their new world; they would not be completely adrift. With them would come magic, either to enrich a world already magical or to plant it’s seed in a world that did not yet know it.

And in a realm which had dreamed of a new light… a name awaited. Isilmë Ilmarinen, a simple mage-smith – but other aspects of the moon would stir. Isilmë is of indeterminate ethnicity (perhaps closest to Indian or Mexican) – dark haired, olive complexion, green eyes, a slender build, demure features… showing little sign of the power that flows into the world through her. While Isilmë has few “direct” powers, hers is the ability to bind magic to the mundane, allowing her to cast her influence upon her environment – turning a simple apartment into a gateway to a pocket world, boost a junker into a high-performance vehicle, or allow her to carry a certain amount of equipment. Still, when trouble stirs… one of the more specific aspects of the moon must be called upon, for going out to deal with problems in her base form would be quite foolish.

Isilmë’s greatest weakness is simple – she is indeed being built as a Competent “Normal”, on a mere 50 base CP and twenty points worth of disadvantages. Even using a high-efficiency build with many limitations… she and her aspects have few secondary abilities, their primary abilities are highly restricted, and their attributes are barely above average. They have a reasonable amount of raw power, but little to back it up with.

Täiskuu, the aspect of the Full Moon, is the most purely divine – and in some ways the most potent – of the four aspects. She can only manifest while the moon is in the sky, usually riding high in her Lunar Chariot. Hers are the powers of sleep and dreams, either visiting that realm or bringing those qualities into the waking world. Unfortunately, her powers will – if fairly rarely – fail to remain stable, as is the way of dreams, releasing small aspects of dream into reality – perhaps bringing forth an entity, perhaps causing dreamlike events, perhaps causing strange dreams, and perhaps twisting the reality of the city towards dream. Who can say? Chaos is the nature of dream. While Täiskuu can usually banish such things quickly enough, that may sometimes call for time she does not have. Täiskuu is a dark-skinned figure with black hair and cat-slit green eyes, crowned with stars and -when her defenses are up – wearing shining silver armor moonlight transmuted into metal.

Kahanev, the Waning Aspect, internalizes the fading lunar magic, mastering the martial arts of the Withered Moon Heart and Lunar Orbit Kung Fu. In him is the strength of the moon holding back the night. He is old and weathered, dressed in orange and yellow robes over black pants, his beard is long and white – a Chinese elder martial arts master straight out of any number of bad martial arts movies. He has a somewhat silly tendency towards exaggerated sound effects and announcing the names of his attacks. Kahanev can be called forth at any time, regardless of the state of the moon. Kahanev wields no weapons and needs none, his power is sufficient to combine any two of his martial disciplines at a time – allowing him to move with speed, evade all but the most skillful attacks, launch and withstand mighty blows, and to accomplish any of a wide variety of other feats.

Kasvael. the Waxing Aspect channels the growing magics of the moon, he is a magician or shaman of the west, a master of runes, rituals, and the spirits of the land. His magic is relatively slow and can be applies in only one way at a time, but is potent and versatile if mostly utilitarian. Secondarily, he calls upon the lesser spirits of the land, sea, air, and man, to manipulate the forces of nature in small ways (similar to the Nature Spirits of Shadowrun). With him is the whisper of drums and flutes, the chanting of voices. His wiry aspect has the aquiline features of the Amerindian bloodlines, the browned skin of a tribesman long exposed to the sun, black hair, and the unchanged green eyes of Isilmë. Sadly, his wisdom does not yet match his power; his rituals can have great effects upon the world, but he does not yet have the wisdom or lore to foresee what secondary effects they may have. Still, like the other secondary aspects, he can be called forth at any time.

Usskuu, the New Moon holds the aspect of Winter, of the cold radiance of the moon over snow. Her pale skin and long pallid hair are the white of frostbite, her lips are blue, and her hair and white fur coat flow gently in the perpetual winters wind which chills the area about her. When her armor of ice is active, she appears frozen and crystaline, with a chill – and somehow rather offputting – elfin beauty. The radiance of the moon shines upon her and her mere presence is a bane to creatures susceptible to holy areas. Usskuu can project that cold, create and manipulate ice, move about on ice, and – perhaps most potently – drain the heat from considerable areas, extinguishing ordinary flames and plunging many unprotected folk into hypothermic unconsciousness. She is severe and sometimes carries a blade of ice, although – at the moment – it is purely decorative.

Isilmë’s power is not yet complete. While it will grow with time… at the moment her powers are specific, limited, and difficult to call upon, she is short of secondary powers – such as Kasvael’s spirit-sight and -speech, and his contacts with various spirits, Khaanev’s skills, c’hi projections, and dragon-steed, Usskuu’s wider range of winter powers, and Täiskuu’s body of dreams – and her personal attributes are at fairly ordinary mortal levels. Still, if she survives, she will slowly regain her full power, and perhaps more – until she is ready to do battle with the great enemy once more, perhaps this time to reduce it to insignificance.

Or, if she and her allies cannot defeat their foe this time… to fall back to the next world in the chain of creation and stand ready to defend it. Against a foe that cannot heal it’s wounds or regain it’s strength, if they can but endure long enough, they will eventually prevail.

As noted, Isilmë is an atrocity of power for a competent normal; building her around a cheap, fairly limited, multiform lets her have access to several different power sets in forms that need nothing in the way of social skills. But even so… a standard full-powered superhero build could probably resist almost all of her abilities (if she could hit them at all) and take her down with one shot. Standard Hero System heroes will have much higher speed and dexterity, better defenses, and will be able to take multiple hits. They will go first, hit harder, and be far, FAR, more accurate.

Name: Isilmë Ilmarinen (Runesmith)

Val Char Cost
10 STR 0
11 DEX 3
10 CON 0
10 BODY 0
13 INT 3
13 EGO 6
13 PRE 3
17 COM 3
2 PD 0
2 ED 0
2 SPD 0
4 REC 0
20 END 0
20 STUN 0

Characteristic Rolls: STR: 11-, DEX: 11-, CON: 11-, INT: 12-, EGO: 12-, PER: 12-
Run: 6″, Swim: 2″, Jump: 2″, Lift: 100kg

Cost Powers END/Roll

  • 6 Multiform (50 Point Forms); Form: Second, ×2; Extra Time: full phase, -½; Extra Time Required: Only At Startup, ½; Concentrate: 0 DCV, -½
  • 6 Four Additional Forms; Extra Time: full phase, -½; Extra Time Required: Only At Startup, ½; Concentrate: 0 DCV, -½
  • 5 Doesn’t Eat, Excrete or Sleep
  • 3 Immune to Disease
  • 3 Immune to Aging

    6 Mystic Artificer Multipower (30-pt reserve); Extra Time: 5 min., -2; Focus (Magical Supplies): Obvious Accessible, -1; Focus Type: Base, -1

  • u-1 2d6 Aid (Base) (Fade/season, Max. 12); Range: 0; Affects: Single Power, +0. 3 End.
  • u-1 2d6 Aid (Vehicles) (Fade/season, Max. 12); Range: 0; Affects: Single Power, +0. 3 End
  • u-1 2d6 Aid (Equipment Allowance) (Fade/season, Max. 12); Range: 0; Affects: Single Power, +0. 3 End.
  • u-1 2d6 Aid (Repair Things) (Fade/season, Max. 12); Range: 0; Affects: Single Power (Object Body), +0. 3 End
  • u-1 Detect (Artifacts and Devices) (+7 to PER); Costs END: -½; Time Required (To use after activating): Half Phase, +0; Range: Touch, +0; Addition (Discriminatory): +5; Addition (Analytic): +5 (3 End)
  • u-1 6d6 Standard Healing (Potions). (3 End).

    12 Equipment Allowance (From Aid, no actual cost):

    • (7) Armor (Discreet Kevlar Armor) (4 PD/2 ED); Focus: Inobvious Inaccessible, -¼

    • (1) High End SmartPhone (Computer)

    • (1) High-Power Flashlight

    • (1) Quality Pocket Multitool

    • (1) Commercial Pepper Spray

    • (1) Credit Cards (Wealth 1)

      0 Smartphone

  • (-32) Computer: Int 8, Dex 0, Spd 1 (-32 Points)

  • (2) Elemental Control: Electronics (3-pt reserve); Usable By Others: Power Lost, +¼, All abilities Conventional Technology (-1)

    • a-2 Radio Listen and Transmit; Champions Advantage (Datalink): +½; Generic Limitation (Cellular/WiFi/Bluetooth Service Only): -1.
    • b-2 Eidetic Memory; Always On (Memory is either perfect or utterly gone): -½; Extra Time: full phase, -½; Generic Limitation (Limited Storage Space): -½.
    • c-2 Images (Normal Sight, 1″ radius); Range: 0; Reduced END: Zero, +½; No Range: -½; Generic Limitation (Screen Only): -4; Observer PER Penalty: 0, +0.
    • d-6 Pocket Secretary and Remote Control / Telekinesis (STR 10); Range: 220; Manipulation: Fine, +10; Reduced END: Zero, +½; Generic Limitation (Strength 0 Only): -2; Generic Limitation (Maximum range of 6 Hexes. ): -¼; Generic Limitation (Only functions as a remote control): -3.
    • e-5 2d6 Aid: Programs/Databases (Fade/week, Max. 12); Range: 0; Affects: Single Power of Special Effect, +¼; Extra Time: 1 min., -1½; Activation: 11-, -1; Must have program available to load: -2; Reduced END: Zero, +½.

  • This allows the user to load maps (area knowledge), mission information, and so on. All of it should be Usable By Others/Power Lost, so you can load a total of 10 points worth of information.

  • f-7 Basic Computer Functions. All Usable By Others: Power Lost, +¼.

    • (2) Absolute Time Sense.
    • (2) GPS/Bump of Direction.
    • (2) Lightning Calculator.
    • (1) File Loading / Speed Reading; Generic Limitation (Computer Files Only): -1.
    • (0) Camera (Eyes).
    • (0) Microphone (Ears).
    • (0) Voice (Speakers).
    • (2) High Fidelity Playback / Mimicry (11-)
    • (0) Touchscreen (Touch).

  • g-6 Standard Software.

    • (2) Security Features / Immunity To Unauthorized Use; Frequency: Common.
    • (1) Voice Mode: English (Or language of choice) (Fluent Conv.); Literacy: Standard, 0.
    • (1) Office Software / Professional Skill: Secretary (11-)
    • (1) Media Library / Knowledge Skill Digital Media (11-)
    • (1) Games Library: Professional Skill / Entertainer (11-)
    • (1) Map Database / Knowledge Geography (11-)
    • (1) Virtual Object/Image/Map Generator / Professional Skill Artist (11-)

  • (0) For Translation, use “Aid” to load a Language.

OK, there really is no point to working out the cost of a Smartphone, but it did amuse me for a few minutes.

Isilme’s base form isn’t much of a superhero. She’s an artificer who supports other heroes – even if they happen to be her alternate forms.

Cost Skills, Talents, Perks Roll
3 Linguist
3 Jack of All Trades
3 Immunity (Out Of Context Problem, Unpredictable and Alien Power Source, difficult or impossibe to use precognition or power analysis on); Frequency: Common
2 Convincing Identity
2 Professional Skill: Mystic Artificier (12-)
1 Contact (Cover Employer); Usefulness: Normal, +0 (8-)
1 Base (Apartment): 7 Point Base
1 Follower (PC with Internet) (1, 7 pts, 0 Disad.); Number: 1, +0
1 Vehicle (Minivan): 7 Point Base
0 Money (Middle-Class)
0 Knowledge (Campaign Setting) (8-)
0 English (Imitate Dialects); Literacy: Standard, 0
0 Climbing (8-)
0 Concealment (8-)
0 Conversation (8-)
0 Deduction (8-)
0 Paramedic (8-)
0 Shadowing (8-)
0 Stealth (8-)
0 Small Ground Vehicles Familiarity (8-)

50+ Disadvantages
10 Extradimensional, No Records Or Real ID (Infrequently, Greatly)
10 Vulnerability (Dimensional Attacks( (2× STUN); Attack: Uncommon, +5

OCV: 4; DCV: 4; ECV: 4; Mental Def.: 0; Phases: 6, 12
PD/rPD: 6/4; ED/rED: 4/2

Costs: Char: 18, Disad: 20, Powers: + 52, Base: + 50, Total: = 70.

Runesmith can turn a small apartment into a reasonable base for a hero – even if it is more “a few hidden rooms and some facilities” rather than the Batcave or the Avengers Mansion. Similarly, she can turn a basic car into a good one with a few special perks, but it isn’t going to be the Batmobile or a Quinjet either. Finally, she can equip herself with a little equipment – but her allowance for that sort of thing is small enough that it’s going to be the kind of stuff that most game masters just assume. None of that is BAD – in fact, any number of groups would find it INCREDIBLY useful – but it certainly doesn’t qualify her base form for superheroic activities. It’s her other forms that are going to be doing the heavy lifting. 

Filed under: Character Sheets, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Visitors Beaming In; Star Trek Is Invading!

Posted on June 28, 2022 by Thoth

Over the years, quite a few Star Trek characters have come wandering through various games. Not so long ago one of our Hero System / Champions games had Scotty, a Star Trek Spirit of Technobabble, the Anomaly d20 game currently has Jacob, a wandering Star Trek engineer, and there have been plenty of others. The usual pattern is that they are original PC’s (albeit often loosely modeled on characters from the original series and it’s animated continuation, which seems to be the most popular source material) and are most often dropped into the campaign due to dimensional shenanigans.

I think that that works just fine. After all, when you’re putting together a party of heroic adventurers, the Star Trek credo…

To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before!

As in…

To go out and seek out exotic places, cultures, and histories. To find strange new life forms and rare knowledge. To discover unexpected effects and approaches to things. To venture into the unknown in hopes of bringing back wonders – and to hopefully help out and be the good guys along the way.

That’s pretty much the adventuring party credo. Sure, there are occasional “evil” games out there – but they are much rarer and almost always much shorter. After all… if you have no scruples, all of the reasonable selfish goals are fairly easy. Wealth? Mates? Fame? Any reasonably competent supervillain should be able to get THOSE in short order. That’s why it’s always near-impossible and invariably impractical goals like “take over the world” instead.

It came up less often – but Star Trek had a secondary credo. “Infinite Diversity In Infinite Combinations“

The notion that there was an inherent value in gathering in oddities. In having a wide variety of species, skills, and approaches to solving problems available – and the notion that everyone could both get along and contribute something meaningful.

Now what there WASN’T was consistency outside of the ship. After all, while Roddenberry had written a briefing on how the ship worked, and given some information about the setting… there were a lot of different writers, working independently, and producing scripts that would be accepted – and might even begin filming – well before the episodes proceeding them were filmed, edited, and broadcast.

What episode-to-episode continuity there was was the product of editors, actors trying to develop consistent personas for their characters, and actors occasionally doing things their own way, such as when Leonard Nimoy created the “vulcan neck pinch” because he felt that what the script called for – hitting Kirk over the head with the butt of a phaser – just wasn’t right. So a lot of stuff appeared in one episode, and wasn’t ever mentioned again – or at least not until much later.

But that has fairly often brought up the question… how far does the Star Trek Canon stretch? When does a character from the Star Trek setting become implausible?

And even just going by the original series… the answer is “pretty far”. To look over that I’m going to revisit some fond childhood memories by taking a look at some of the things brought up in various episodes.

  • (Charlie X) Human children can be granted psionic abilities great enough to destroy starships at long range, selectively destroy weapons throughout a starship, to make people appear, disappear, or change, to pass through force fields, and many other things. Once a child learns to do such things, the ability cannot be taken away. This… is actually entirely in theme. Future Humans (and likely humans today) apparently have nigh-unlimited potential.
  • (Where No Man Has Gone Before) Similar, godlike, psionic abilities can be obtained by simply passing through the edge of the galaxy, although this risks death and requires some pre-existing talent. Also, this establishes that perfectly normal humans may have psychic/psionic powers, although they’re usually not too impressive. Having several aboard one ship would suggest that such things are not uncommon.
  • (The Enemy Within) Transporters can ignore conservation of energy and have metaphysical effects, since they are capable of creating good and evil copies of someone – although both will soon die if they are not recombined. Presumably lots of other personality traits could show up – arrogant and humble, enlightened and barbaric, etc, etc, etc.
  • (Mudds Women) The “Venus Drug” can make people incredibly beautiful, with no apparent side effects. It is hinted that one can, with confidence, learn to produce this effect on your own. Likely another case of “unlimited potential” since it seems a bit much for a placebo to manage.
  • (What Are Little Girls Made Of) The technology for mechanical mind transfers and android bodies so realistic that the are hard to tell from natural ones is discovered. Also, one of the first major points where amazing things are discovered and then are never mentioned again. Well, even if it was practical to tell all the writers what the show was going to establish in advance, it would make it much harder to write future episodes.
  • (Balance Of Terror) This, notably, establishes that basic nuclear weapons are a considerable danger to Starships – but there’s apparently no fast delivery system for them and so they aren’t a normal weapon. Perhaps it is difficult to make solid objects enough faster than starships to make them effective weapons during a warp-speed battle?
  • (Shore Leave) It is possible for computers to read minds, analyze their fantasies, and provide them near-instantly – possibly indicating holodeck like effects on a planetary scale. Apparently, however, no one ever thought to put in any safety systems to prevent injuries, although there are systems for dealing with them after the fact. This establishes a common Star Trek flaw. For example, people keep being thrown from chairs on the bridge; evidently the concept of “Seat Belts” has been forgotten, just like all those exploding control panels could do with some circuit breakers. Why is a CONTROL SYSTEM channeling enough energy to explode anyway? I’ve never heard of a computer keyboard or mouse exploding – and if one did, I would suspect that it had been booby trapped or something very odd was going on.
  • (The Squire Of Gothos) The galaxy apparently has superpowered energy being children running about and treating the material races as toys until their parents intervene. At least this establishes why so many things make no sense. The Original Series was VERY heavy on aliens with rather dubious motives and reality-twisting powers setting up weird scenarios as “tests”. Honestly I quite prefer that to the later series preference for technobabble. Weird alien powers just say that you don’t know ENOUGH. That’s a lot better than technobabble that is blatantly stupid if the audience took physics in high school.
  • (Arena) The galaxy has lots of races with arbitrary powers, who use them in capricious ways. In this case trying to settle an argument between interstellar civilizations with a personal duel of captains. This also establishes that Star Trek races can be very different – Gorns, for example, possessing enormous strength and resistance to injury. It also introduces a common theme – super advanced races feel that humans may become their equals in a few thousand years. That’s not enough time for serious evolution and they don’t seem to expect genetic engineering – not that that would help anyone surpass biology since biology is all it changes – so presumably humans already have the potential, they just haven’t developed it.
  • (Tomorrow Is Yesterday) This episode establishes fairly simple procedures for time travel, and that one can backtrack on ones own timeline, effectively erasing consequences for your actions while the time travelers remember the erased actions. Naturally, this version of altering the past does not agree with later versions.
  • (The Return Of The Archons) What prime directive? Also, telepathic computers again.
  • (Space Seed) Eugenics and genetic engineering works wonders! But Earth did it badly and created super psychopaths. Since Earth did their gene-tinkering badly everyone else in the universe must be doing it badly and the science is banned. Evidently every other culture that joins the Federation made exactly the same mistakes, since none of them allow such enhancements. This, no matter how implausible, lets the writers out of trying to portray enhanced people so that they can continue with audience-identification.
  • (A Taste Of Armageddon) Vulcans can implant telepathic suggestions in people as well as do mind-melds. Vulcan telepathic abilities will continue to expand in later episodes. This is, of course, only to be expected; when you have less than an hour to tell your story you really need to take a shortcut on a lot of backstory with a few plot coupons. Who do you give them to? To the alien! After all, any kind of alien ability is plausible right? It’s nothing in comparison to all those super-aliens!
  • (This Side Of Paradise) Magic flower spores can cure all diseases, regenerate lost organs, prevent aging, and protect you against high radiation while making you mellow and content. However, the spores are destroyed (but all benefits remain) if you experience violent emotions. This miraculous medical discovery is never referenced again and no research is done.
  • (The Devil In The Dark) Silicon creatures are incredibly resistant to phaser fire. Oddly, phasers work perfectly well on rocks in other episodes. Aliens! Can do whatever is handy for the plot!
  • (Errand Of Mercy) The Organians – another population of incredibly powerful energy beings – are discovered. It becomes obvious that energy beings dominate the galaxy and do what they please, which material beings just have to put up with. Apparently it is entirely natural for material species to “evolve” (grow?) into immortal energy beings.
  • (The Alternative Factor) Individual lunatics with advanced technology – a ship about the size of a car – can destroy the entire universe if they get lucky. Given the scale of the universe, this must have happened many times. I guess that the energy beings put it back. Still, maybe this is where all the antimatter comes from? If there was any natural source in the galaxy for it, the place would be flooded with gamma radiation – and if you make it antimatter normally it will cost at least as much energy as you can get back out of it.
  • (The City On The Edge Of Forever) More ways to time travel. Also demonstrates that altering the past is indeed possible – and that restoring even a rough approximation of the “correct” course of events will fix that problem. Something in the universe – perhaps the energy beings? – cancels out the butterfly effect.
  • (Amok Time) Vulcans have a mating season, and periodically go crazy during it. This isn’t really important except to show that alien advantages often come with alien disadvantages – Spock can be the cause of problems as well as the solution! It also establishes that Star Trek medicine can make someone temporarily dead, fooling even a race of telepaths.
  • (Who Mourns For Adonis) The Ancient Greek Gods existed, but were really just aliens with vast energy-manipulating powers. One of the crew winds up pregnant with Apollo’s demigod child. Presumably the kid is born a federation citizen. So yeah; demigods with various powers are a thing, at least according to Dr McCoy.
  • (The Changeling) Two interstellar probes can fuse into a unit that is massively more powerful than a full-scale starship. It can also raise the dead. This… would be incredibly unlikely. The sequence of events required is completely absurd. Still, energy being kids at play will cover it.
  • (Mirror Mirror) Transporters can move people between universes. Evidently their operation does not really on physical processes. Also, despite wildly different histories… most of the crew is the same in both universes. At least this mostly explains why changes to the past can be “fixed”. A lot of stuff is just destined, however history twists and turns to get there.
  • (The Apple) The prime directive is introduced! Too bad that it’s already been broken without comment several times. Honestly, the editor should have rejected that bit. So many later stories then required wasting time on coming up with an excuse for violating it – and it was later established that humanity had had many alien interventions throughout it’s history, and it was doing just fine. Most importantly… it was really against theme. How could Starfleet by a bunch of do-gooders if they weren’t really supposed to do anything except watch?
  • (The Doomsday Machine) Starships can blow up! Evidently (as confirmed later on, such as in the movies) you can be close enough to see the ship clearly and there isn’t enough antimatter aboard to even reach nuclear levels. Do they just produce the stuff aboard ship as needed? That would explain a lot of things, but wouldn’t explain why the occasionally run short of antimatter.
  • (Catspaw) Our first visit from apparently magical aliens from another galaxy or from outside this dimension. Being from beyond the galaxy could mean either. After all, being so alien that you cannot survive in the Star Trek galaxy without help (if it was only the planet, why didn’t they pick one where they were comfortable to set up on?) is kind of a stretch considering some of the races in the galaxy.
  • (The Deadly Years) Radiation causes aging. Adrenalin cures it. So movies with jump-scares can apparently keep you young? To be fair, there isn’t time to explain what radiation poisoning does in less than an hour.
  • (The Gamesters Of Triskelion) Naked super-brains with vast powers can be tricked by rather simple ploys. Once again… power does not imply competence. That’s really fair enough, but leads back towards the “vastly powerful alien children” line of thought.
  • (The Immunity Syndrome) Vulcans can pick up a few hundred other vulcans dying at interstellar ranges! Why doesn’t this drive them mad when they’re on an inhabited planet? In 2020 some 56,000,000 people died on earth. The rate on Vulcan might be lower, but it’s still going to be pretty substantial. Also, there are diseases for galaxies that the inhabitants have to stop and some sort of antilife radiation becomes another thing that just goes right through starship defenses.
  • (Multiple Episodes) Planets inhabited by humans that are just like various historical periods of earth! Oddly enough, almost all based on American and European cultures. Given the number of possible social variations… I’d take this as positive proof that energy-being kids are playing games with humans, even if they’ve got something against everywhere but Northern America and Europe. Maybe other starships ran into those cultures and the bias is just coincidence?
  • (By Any Other Name) Extra galactic aliens can dehydrate and then rehydrate people like Megamind! (OK, they were first) Also, they become friends. The civilization of an entire super-advanced galaxy will soon be moving to our galaxy to be welcomed as friends! Evidently they get super-advanced lost along the way, because this intergalactic migration is never heard from again.
  • (The Omega Glory) Star fleet captains are allowed to graduate with no understanding of basic biology (completely unaware that some subspecies live longer than others!), believe that the best way to do research is to eliminate your scientific staff, and are inclined to go crazy (thus letting Kirk be the sane one who solves things). Well we knew that already. Plus, civilizations that developed independently not only all speak contemporary English, but they also wrote apparently identical American constitutions! Of course, we already knew that the Star Trek history made no sense.
  • (The Ultimate Computer) Star Fleet – for a test run of a new ships computer system – thought that it would be good to give it complete control of a starship and it’s weapons, not include a way to disconnect it from onboard systems, and have a wargame with real ships that asked it to defend itself. Which it did, quite lethally. You run tests like this in a VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT. You include EMERGENCY CUTOFFS. Sadly, it’s hard to get around the idea that star fleet is run by idiots.
  • (Bread And Circuses) It’s roman empire planet! With parallel Christianity! A magic rule of parallel historical development is mentioned, but why are the names in Latin while everyone speaks English? The casual theological implications are kind of staggering too. Does every human world get its own Christ? Is Christianity the one true faith? Do alien races all get their own versions? Why or why not?
  • (Assignment Earth) You can pump up a transporter to beam people across the galaxy and through time! You can also, as previously shown, use it to cross dimensions! Are starships obsolete? Why yes, yes they are! This also means that, since they’ve been shown to beam very deep into planets even without major boosts, and have plentiful antimatter, hostile aliens can blow up planets from across the galaxy with no real way to stop or trace them. Why don’t they? I suppose it is the energy beings again. It’s so nice when the giant plot coupon eliminates all need for coherence in your scripts. Also, highly trained secret agents tend to explain themselves to random people who walk into their apartments. I guess it is nice to know that everyone is incompetent. Also, Gary Seven has a magic wand… no sorry, a sonic screwdriver… no, sorry, a pen. Also, Gary’s cat is a magical alien woman disguising herself as a cat with telepathy or something.
  • (Spocks Brain) I can’t even… watch it yourself. There’s no major revelations here, but the line about gerbils is worth it.
  • (The Enterprise Incident) Scotty can analyze a piece of advanced alien technology, install it, adjust it to work with the Enterprise, and get it powered up inside of fifteen minutes. This isn’t the first piece of magic technobabble, but it’s a good one. Dr McCoy may not be a miracle worker, but evidently Scotty IS.
  • (The Paradise Syndrome) Ancient super-aliens spread Homo Sapiens Sapiens all over the place. Why didn’t they do this for anyone else? Who knows? Also, the Enterprise is defeated by a large rock, which somehow breaks their ship when it is too big to blow up with phasers. Why didn’t they transport some antimatter just under the surface and blow it off course? Who knows?
  • (And The Children Shall Lead) More empowered kids, this time they’re apparently mostly telepathic and can project illusions. Evidently this sort of thing is fairly natural for humans, vulcans, et al, but Star Fleet never started a training or research program (they may soon, there are some indications further down the list). Well, new ensigns with psychic powers would interfere with them being disposable redshirts, and we can’t have that.
  • (Is There in Truth No Beauty) More energy being aliens, this time friendly and helpful with vast sensory powers but so ugly that they drive observers mad (or into just dropping dead) if they see them. So Basilisk Images are a thing, and work on different species the same, but we never hear of this again. That’s too bad; Cognitohazards can be pretty interesting.
  • (Spectre of the Gun) Magic aliens again. Why is the galaxy full of super-races who have never bothered to go colonizing? Humans make colonies, why wasn’t the earth colonized a billion years ago?
  • (Day Of The Dove) An energy-being alien feeds on conflict. It gets it from beings who it provides complete support for. Second law of Thermodynamics? What’s that? I’d say “energy being children” again. Don’t a lot of these sound like kids playing a RPG or board game with the humans as playing pieces? “Set up the board again, I bet I win this time!”.
  • (For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched The Sky) Intelligent computers can have all kinds of powers and run a society for millennia, but cannot steer well enough to avoid a relatively slow-motion collision with a planet that can be seen coming months or years ahead. One little burst of sideways thrust would FIX this problem you know.
  • (The Tholian Web) You can be caught halfway between dimensions and seem to be a ghost – until your air runs out. This episode shows bulky space-suits which are never seen again and are apparently replaced by life-support force field belts a few months later.
  • (Plato’s Stepchildren) McCoy develops a simple injection which can give ordinary people vast psychic powers, such as the ability to hurl starships days or weeks travel time away with a thought. It works wonderfully well! Kirk notes that these vast powers can be recreated whenever Star Fleet wants them. Of course, this is never mentioned again. (Those powers may also make you ageless too, but I’m not entirely sure. It’s been a long time).
  • (Wink Of An Eye) Scalosian Water is introduced. When you drink it, you are hyper-accelerated in time – to the point where you can easily see and sidestep phaser beams, which (since they are used in starship combat at warp speeds) must be far faster than light. Happily, this does not affect your environment! That still works normally for you (except when you fire phasers?)! It’s dangerous at first – light injuries will cause swift and fatal aging – but Spock produces an antidote so that you can play Flash for a bit and then go back to normal. Spock thus performs massive repairs across the entire ship by himself in seconds. Once again, of course, this incredibly powerful and useful discovery is never used again. It did lead to my personal theory on the Q though. Some slightly-psionic records tech back on Earth looked at the reports from the Enterprise, gave himself vast psionic powers and super-speed, zipped to the edge of the galaxy for another huge upgrade, and them wiped the records to keep everyone else from doing it. Later events spoiled that theory, but it was amusing while it lasted.
  • (Elaan of Troyius) Here we have women who produce a magic love potion in their tears that affects other species, is permanent, somehow identifies who the victim is supposed to fall in love with, and works with a single drop on skin contact. Also another planet where the precious dilithium crystals are quite common. Oh yes. Captain Kirk can overcome this legendary and irresistible love effect because he is so dedicated to the Enterprise and, I suppose, so resistant to the charms of women.
  • (Let That Be Your Last Battlefield) Another set of human variant aliens with vast psychic powers. Why does everyone have these except the primary races who seem most common? I suppose it’s “power is bad for you”. In this case… it somehow led the two trivial variants on the species to destroy each other utterly. Their world apparently contained no noncombatants, crossbreeds, people who simply hit, or an imbalance in numbers that would lead to one side leaving survivors, whatsoever. Or the energy being children picked up their leftover toys.
  • (The Mark of Gideon) Apparently if you want to die and come from a very long-lived society, you must import an alien disease to do so. Got it. Aliens are stupid too. Why not buy some suicide booths from Futurama? Cultural objections will give way under enough stress.
  • (That Which Survives) The Enterprise hits Warp 14.1 due to engine overload.This is, of course, stated to be impossible elsewhere, but the warp scales are inconsistent anyway.
  • (The Lights of Zetar) Ghosts want to possess people so that they’ll have bodies once more. Add “again”, since this came up before. Oddly, while android bodies are mentioned as an option before, and they ran across good android body technology before, no one ever tries it. I suppose “ghost” is just an intermediate step on the way to becoming an energy being or something since they are very real.
  • (Requiem for Methuselah) Many of the important people in history were all one immortal guy. He has a shrink ray that can trap the Enterprise and put it on a table. Shrink rays (except that they are totally different) will reappear later! Luckily, the guy became not-immortal when he left earth. Also, Kirk can cause robots to fall in love with him, burning out their circuits.
  • (All Our Yesterdays) Yet another time-travel system. This one with a new special requirement of adjusting you to some sort of cosmic condition of being in the past. This also means that – without that treatment – you start reverting to being a primitive for… reasons.
  • (Turnabout Intruder) A device that moves people’s spirits between bodies! Well, we already had multiple episodes involving body-possessing ghosts, so I suppose that it is nice to know that it can be done mechanically. It seems to be only temporary unless you kill off one of the two involved though. Also, Star Fleet is sexist and will not let women command starships! Who knew?

From the animated continuation of the five year mission… (Gene Roddennberry said it is canon. So do the IP owners. Who am I to argue?)

  • (Beyond the Farthest Star) Warp drive is insufficient to escape some orbits near dead stars. I’m not sure how that works, since FTL should escape any actually possible orbit. Still, as weird physics goes in Star Trek this is pretty mild. We also see a very limited energy being that can mostly just possess machinery.
  • (Yesteryear) Spock is revealed to have always existed in a closed time loop, where he must visit himself in the past as an adult to keep himself from dying as a child. What’s more, once this loop is accidentally broken, it is fairly easily restored. Yet another contradictory way to do time travel. Also, Vulcan doesn’t bother with any kind of record-keeping or bureaucracy. Evidently everything there just runs itself.
  • (One of Our Planets Is Missing) The vulcan mind meld can reach out across interplanetary distances and affect gaseous creatures big enough to eat planets! Professor Xavier is getting jealous!
  • (The Lorelei Signal) Immortal vampire women can drain life force to sustain themselves (making the victims old and feeble), but fortunately the Transporter can reverse aging. So… there is a “life force” and the Transporter can manipulate or supply it. Is Dr Frankenstein canon? If machines can supply “life force” that’s suddenly plausible.
  • (More Tribbles, More Troubles) Klingon planets are being destroyed by tribbles. Apparently their only hope for survival is a single bio-engineered tribble predator that (for some reason) cannot be reproduced but copies itself like the tribbles if it eats enough. Sadly, the Klingons wind up stranded and with their engine room full of a multi-ton tribble. I guess a bunch of their planets die? Perhaps fortunately, this is never mentioned again.
  • (The Survivor) Some shapeshifting aliens can turn themselves into complex equipment and channel enough energy through their own bodies to create starship-level shields. Why are humans important to anyone again?
  • (The Infinite Vulcan) Cloning and Mind-Melds can create extra Spocks! How handy! OK, that’s not terribly important really, but copying people does have interesting implications.
  • (The Magicks of Megas-tu) The Enterprise is sucked into a pocket dimension linked to the center of the galaxy where magic works and technology does not. They learn some magic and are helped out by one of the local mages – Lucien. It is revealed that Earth is magically right next door, and has been visited by helpful mages throughout history. Sadly, their power on earth is limited, because they can only pull so much magic from their home dimension while in the Star Trek galaxy. That’s why their last visit to Salem wound up with some of them being burned as witches. Captian Kirk fights a magical duel with Asmodeus in defense of Lucien (Lucifer) which (since Kirk is only a beginner) is pretty hopeless – but his bravery and determination on Lucifer’s behalf despite Lucifer’s bad reputation impresses Asmodeus and gets Lucifer out of being banished to an eternal limbo. The wizards may start visiting earth again, and say that star fleet is welcome to visit them. Wizards, Witches, and drawing on other dimensions for magical power are all canon in Star Trek. Well… that might explain what the engineers can do.
  • (Mudd’s Passion) Magic love potions work similarly on humans, vulcans, and creatures made of rock. Truly, love conquers all!
  • (The Terratin Incident) Shrink rays are back! They only affect organics (and destroy dilithium for handwavy reasons), but go straight through starship shields. The transporter fixes it though! Also, the Federation now has human members who (having been slowly shrinking for generations) are about one-sixteenth inch in height and who’s giant-but-tiny city can simply be beamed aboard to be placed on a more stable world. Oh yes, another planet with vast amounts of dilithium. An upswing in the production of high-precision equipment is predicted.
  • (The Time Trap) The Bermuda (Delta) Triangle is in space! And catches starships! No one has ever escaped until Kirk pulls it off… There is a certain scaling problem here; if the area affected is big enough for starships to pass through it regularly it must be pretty huge.
  • (The Ambergris Element) There are simple injections that transform humans into sea-adapted water breathers. And the process is fairly readily reversed. Another handy medical miracle that will never be heard from again.
  • (The Slaver Weapon) So… Larry Niven’s Kzinti, stasis fields, total conversion beam hand weapons, and the Slavers (who telepathically enslaved – and then wiped out – all the species of the galaxy eons ago) are all canon. None of this makes the slighest bit of sense given the near-omnipotent energy beings who infest the universe, but it was Niven. Of course, none of these elements are ever really heard from again although the Kzinti do get mentioned in Star Trek: Picard and the Caitians are supposed to be related to them.
  • (The Eye of the Beholder) Another alien super-child! Also, starfleet officers are capable of projecting mental barriers to help Kirk endure telepathic probing. I guess that they get at least some defensive mental training after all? It would be pretty reasonable given the number of telepaths that they encounter.
  • (BEM) An immortal energy being ruling over a planet full of physical beings, which she refers to as her “children”. Kid playing with dolls I guess.
  • (The Practical Joker) A magic nebula turns the ships computer into a practical joker. Another pass through the nebula returns it to normal. The nebula has the same effect on romulan ship computers. Evidently bad jokes are a universal force or something, and the “another pass reverses it” makes even less sense. Why? What is it actually doing to the computer?
  • (How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth) Quetzalcoatl was an alien who taught the mesoamerican civilizations stuff. I guess most mythological figures were aliens. My, earth was a busy place for visitors!
  • (The Counter-Clock Incident) The Enterprise gets dragged into a negative universe where time flows backwards – but only for people, not for machines and such, and without any complications such as uneating food, or not allowing forward-in-time conversations and interactions, and everyone except a couple of older people who were along for some reason turns into kids within a relatively short period. Fortunately, the older couple get them home and the transporter once again proves it can fix anything. The older couple doesn’t want to stay young though for some reason. Apparently no one ever does and finding the fountain of youth is a bad thing. Why? Don’t ask ME, I’d be fine with it.

The biggest piece of flexible canon of all is simply that Starfleet has a lot of ships. This list only covers some of the odd stuff that happened to the Enterprise over a five year period. Presumably there are many other ships, over more years than five, to whom weird stuff also happens – even if the Enterprise is on the far end of the distribution curve for it.

Now I’ve only mentioned items that seemed especially problematic to me, but there are plenty of other bits and pieces of problematic or self-contradictory stuff scattered through the episodes.

So yes, “Canon” when it comes to Star Trek is a pipe dream – if only because, given the ease of time travel and of altering the past, civilizations all over the place must be doing it constantly and the galaxy is a playpen for weakly godlike energy being children who treat material beings like toys. That doesn’t mean that it can’t be a lot of fun, or that the show wasn’t worth watching – but even as a kid watching the reruns of the recently-concluded original series… I saw that much of it made no sense. But it was fun, and optimistic about the future, and showed a giant organization full of people who were trying to be idealistic, decent, and as peaceful as they could manage. Sure, the details around the edge were a mess – but that was, and is, a wonderful vision.

And as far as I’m concerned, it was also what made most of the successor series – and prequels – a lot less interesting. The core of Star Trek was that vision of people out there sincerely trying to make things better, being willing to make sacrifices to live up to those ideals, and generally having some level of success. The scriptwriters didn’t always manage to make it exciting or coherent, and once in a while it wasn’t even much fun – but it was never grimdark with people screaming at each other and making “tough choices” that simply showcased their inability to think of something better to do. The original show was almost religious – have faith, never give up your ideals, and things would be BETTER in the future. The world IMPROVED.

If I had to give an example that just about summed it up… I would pick Star Trek IV – the old woman who had been waiting for Dialysis before Dr McCoy came by.

The doctor gave me a pill and I grew a new kidney!

Humanity would solve the problems. Things would be better.

I kind of miss that vision.

Filed under: Background | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Dreambinding And Minions II – The Nitty Gritty

Posted on June 14, 2022 by Thoth

The recent article on acquiring minions through Dreambinding produced some fairly long responses, which called for a fairly long answer – far too long for a comment. So here it is!

I actually had this same thought a while back, and spent way more time on it than I should have. There are some pretty cheap constructs out there, (effigies in particular), although I don’t know whether they’d be allowed under Eclipse rules, but once you start getting reasonably expensive a summoning item becomes much cheaper.

In terms of non-construct creatures, in theory you could summon a creature with Gate and order it to not resist when you cast Mindrape on it, and give a specific description of where it was when you summoned it. Then when the creature returns to its home plane you Plane Shift to that plane, Greater Teleport to the creature, and then Plane Shift back with it. In theory, that would let you price any creature based on its HD (the CL of Gate would need to be at least the creature’s HD in order to control it).

Of course, purchasing a casting of Gate would cost a minimum of 6,530 gp, and that’s above the 3,000 gp threshold for what’s generally available. To get around that you’d need to make do with Planar Binding and just keep on casting Mindrape until the creature fails its save, and it was at this point I decided not to work out the cost based on the creature’s SR and Will save and whatnot, particularly if you factor in spells like Assay Spell Resistance. But in theory that’s how much it would cost to hire someone to enslave any given creature.

-Kalkra

If I was in the party with someone who did the gate->mindrape trick and seemingly got it to work, I would be getting the hell out of there. Most anything you can call through a gate is going to be reporting to someone else in the planes that is even more powerful and isn’t likely to take very kindly to this sort of thing happening to one of their subordinates. At a minimum anyone else who gates something in from the same “region” and makes a bargain for a service is going to be tasked with either finding out more about you, be asked to make your life a living hell, or be tasked to bring in something even bigger through to make a point in exchange for a big boon.

This doesn’t even need to be large scale stuff. Think of Needful Things level of interfering with your life where someone is asked to impersonate you while murdering someone in front of the guards, make it seem like other party members are stealing your things, having a shop owner sabotage scrolls and potions sold to you, and a variety of other things that are going to be rather difficult to track back to a single source. And this sort of thing is likely to continue and spread as word spreads amongst the mage community that demons/devils/celestials/elementals are offering substantial boons in exchange for small favors against someone who is clearly asking for it. And it will keep happening until the one who did it was dead or brought to the appropriate plane to be “punished”.

And that isn’t even getting into the mess if you catch the attention of whatever deity happens to be relevant.

Regardless of alignment, I imagine most characters wouldn’t want to be anywhere near someone who was willing to poke that hornets nest.

-Spellweaver

Slavery is (almost) always a bit of a risky proposition. I certainly wasn’t thinking of this as something a player might want to do. I was just proposing this as a method of determining the market value of any particular slave, or at least the highest possible price such a slave would have.

That being said, there are certainly safer ways to go about it if you did want to do it yourself. Mind Blank does a lot if you’re trying to hide what you’re doing, but you could also get creative with faking the creature’s death (with its help), seeking refuge with the enemies of whatever creatures you’re enslaving, or generally doing anything you would do if you had to kill such a creature for whatever reason.

Alternately, you could just summoning things which won’t be missed. If you’re just focusing on combat, you could summon some extraplanar animals or whatnot. Low-level elementals in particular are usually a pretty safe bet, as the elemental lords don’t care about them.

That being said, there are much easier ways to get loyal minions. You would only need to be Gating things in if you wanted something specific, rather than just anything to perform some task.

-Kalkra

Well, there are several topics there!

The basic problem with Effigies is that it is specifically noted to be an Acquired Template. From the SRD…

Acquired Templates:

This kind of template is added to a creature well after its birth or creation.

Some templates, like the lich, are the results of a creature’s choice and desire to transform. Others, like the ghost template, are the result of an external force acting upon a creature (for example, when a tormented person dies and becomes a ghost). Yet in both cases, the template changed a creature well after its birth or creation—these types are called “acquired templates,” and can be added to a creature at any time during its existence.

So you take a living creature – a corporeal aberration, animal, dragon, giant, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid, or vermin – and rebuild it into a construct, rather than it gaining the Augmented subtype. As written, you have to start with the creature you want to rebuild.

That, of course, is “rules as written”, and might not be as intended – but there was no correction in the errata after publication that I can find (there’s only one page of it) and we’re not likely to get any further answers now. So, having to start with the creature you’re building an effigy of, rebuilding it into an automaton powered by an elemental spirit, and animating it with an elemental spirit, is more than a bit dark. Hopefully the original creature gets to die along the way, since being trapped in a body being run by something else at the command of your killer sounds sort of hellish.

Still, reading it as written WOULD explain why powerful effigies have low construction prices (they really can’t be truly sold, since the creator can always take them over again if he or she comes near them). Sure, building the Dragon Effigy is fairly cheap. The hard part is catching and restraining the dragon you need to start with.

As for the call-and-bind magical route, there are a number of problems.

Planar Binding allows a will save not to come at all and is limited to twelve hit dice. It allows escape via Spell Resistance, by Dimensional Travel, or with a successful Charisma check, each once per day. Dimensional Anchor and a Magic Circle are STRONGLY advised. Even then… the spell only binds a particular individual, if the creature thinks your demands are unreasonable it can bever be forced to agree, and since it breaks free if you roll a “1″ you never know when your chances at obtaining an agreement will run out. The spell doesn’t say what happens if you attack the creature; but I’d say that resorting to violence – such a casting that Mindrape spell on it – counts as rolling a “1″ on your charisma check, allowing it to automatically break free.

  • The Gate spell is, of course, more powerful. Still, it cannot compel any deity or other unique being to answer and it offers no control if they do. You can, however, call and control up to (caster level) hit dice worth of entities or call a single creature with any number of hit dice but have no control if that total is above (Caster Level x 2). In any case, this costs 1000 XP,
  • A controlled being can be commanded to perform an immediate task taking no longer than one round per caster level. You may bargain with the creature for longer services, but this requires a “fair trade” as defined by the GM, which will be enforced by greater powers.

So far, so good – although most beings that grant free Wishes and such note that they cannot be compelled to grant them and/or this may (will) result in them twisting the Wish in various ways. This isn’t a good way around the costs of Wishes.

It’s also worth nothing that both Planar Binding and Gate are calling effects. Per the SRD…

Calling:

A calling spell transports a creature from another plane to the plane you are on. The spell grants the creature the one-time ability to return to its plane of origin, although the spell may limit the circumstances under which this is possible. Creatures who are called actually die when they are killed; they do not disappear and reform, as do those brought by a summoning spell (see below). The duration of a calling spell is instantaneous, which means that the called creature can’t be dispelled.

Gate says nothing about restraining creatures other than asking for an immediate service. So anything you call in with Gate or Planar Binding has the option to leave at any time unless you ask for an immediate service before it gets to take an action or use Dimensional Anchor.

An inward-facing magic circle is quite helpful – although the creature can immediately test it upon arrival with it’s Spell Resistance (if any) and can throw ranged effects out of it. Note that Assay Spell Resistance will not help here – it must be cast before you cast the spells it applies to, and the targeted opponent must be present when it is case. It won’t work in advance. Still, one can use a Diagram to prevent the use of Spell Resistance and to ensure that none of the creatures abilities or attacks can cross the diagram. Of course, this version only affects a single, specified, creature.

But all this assumes that these ancient and highly experienced creatures, when called in their real bodies and with access to their equipment and (in the case of Gate) with an open gate that any minions of theirs can come through with them, have taken no precautions. Perhaps, the creature brings a big gust of wind with it when it comes through the gate (automatically destroying the circle/trap), or has an item that provides Spell Immunity to relevant Magic Circles, or wears a Ring of Freedom Of Movement (or can cast or otherwise access that spell) since it protects against magic meant to restrain it’s movement, or has a Spellblade weapon (6000 GP for immunity to any one spell), or bought the ability to make saves against effects that normally do not offer one, or has an item that triggers a dispelling, antimagic, or destructive effect when the user is entrapped in such a circle (the creature is not taking the action to disrupt the circle, the item is). or has an Anklet Of Translocation (Magic Item Compendium, 1400 GP and – as with any item – bypasses restrictions on the user’s personal abilities) and so on and so on. The circle blocks the creatures abilities – not those of any items that it may be carrying or of any creatures that IT summons since the circle affects a specific CALLED creature – not summoned ones. The creature cannot order such minions to break the circle, but it can call them and let them do whatever they do or send them to attack the pests who did the summoning. For that matter… an intelligent item. construct, or servant creature will not be trapped, and can take actions to destroy the circle. An item with basic intelligence and the ability to cast Unseen Servant (and perhaps Magic Missle just to be a pest) is pretty cheap (Use a Pearl Of Power or cheap Relic for that handy caster level 19-20!). So are Imps. So you bound that pit fiend. The three Imps it has in it’s pouch are NOT bound, and may act to wreck your diagram.

A preset Dimensional Anchor can be applied to keep creatures capable of things like Plane Shift or Teleport (most of the more useful ones have at least some such ability if only the default one that comes with being Called – and may have a limited use item on them, as noted above). But most of the countermeasures noted above apply here too.

Now Mindrape is only useful if the GM is allowing 3.0 spells from the Book Of Vile Darkness – but unless you’re playing Pathfinder, you can probably get away with it. There’s no need to travel to the plane the creature lives on though since the creature is really present. I’d probably want to be cautious about “learning everything the creature knows” in the case of ancient demons and such – but it is a high level spell, so it probably filters things somehow. It probably also pisses off the creatures divine patron, but that’s a GM’s decision thing.

Of course, in Eclipse… NPC’s and Monsters usually get Quick Conversions, as listed on page 194. That gets them 6 CP per Hit Die to spend. So a Pit Field gets (18 HD x 6 CP) = 108 CP to spend. Being called and ambushed or commanded to do things is a fairly major problem for such creatures – as are save-or-die/suck effects and several other things. So…

  • Luck with +8 (Or, with GM permission, twice an attribute modifier that seems relevant) Bonus Uses, Specialized in Saving Throws (9 CP)
  • Witchcraft II, with The Adamant Will (and a few other powers) (12 CP).
  • Immunity/Mystic Circles or Dimensional Anchor (Uncommon, Major, Major = 3 CP).

Sure, that’s 24 CP – almost a quarter of their supply – but both Luck for Saves and Witchcraft can be consistently useful in an enormous number of situations. The Adamant Will ability will easily block a Mindrape spell or any other form of mind control at a cost of 2 Power. And most creatures will have enough power even if they only have the base that comes with Witchcraft to resist being Mindraped a dozen times in a row. Trading one of your ninth level spell slots, and an action, for 2 power (and no actions) from an enemy is a losing proposition.

Classical demonology that summoned demons into the world focused on 1) researching the demon you wanted to summon, including it’s name, sigil, what it could do, and the bargains it was willing to accept to do those things, 2) preparing your ritual, invoking the authority of God, whom such creatures were already bound to obey by his divine edict, to hold them and make them listen. 3) performing the summoning via God’s authority, 4) making an immediate offering, and 5) offering a contract the demon was known to accept or asking for some simple and immediate service.

Pretty much all demons were willing to consider contracts and minor services, and many could not be otherwise compelled. But that’s why the d20 version of such protective bindings only affects specific creatures.

But why do demons and such answer? They COULD use various ways of getting out of it.

It was because any long term service paid well. Sure, the summoner could want something quick that didn’t really pay – but it was worth putting up with dozens of two-minute jobs – basically advertising your services – to get paid for a single long-term one. In Eclipse, of course, the NPC’s learn, and can buy special powers of their own – so Demonology is mostly classical. You do some research, you pick out a demon that does what you want, you summon it, and you either ask it for a quick service or bargain for a long-term one.

But the demons are going along with it more or less willingly because it PAYS. If you want to Call and attack them, or try to Mindrape them… they are very likely to call in allies, or use some method to escape, or simply rely on their equipment, immunities, the Adamant Will, and luck for saves to tell you to shove it – before either making a good effort to kill you or leaving to tell the rest of their kind to put you and anyone who helped you on the “screw over if at all possible” list.

In Eclipse, intelligent NPC’s and monsters get options of their own and get to plan intelligently. And many of them will be older and more experienced than any given mortal or once-mortal character. Any of them who were easy to take advantage of will long ago HAVE been taken advantage of – and reprogrammed into unique creatures who can no longer be summoned or gated in. Is that fair? Yes, it is entirely fair. It’s simply treating the setting and it’s creatures as if they were real, rather than treating them as pinatas for players to whack until loot falls out.

So yes. There are MUCH easier ways to get loyal minions. Trying to use Magic Circle, Dimensional Anchor, Planar Binding or Gate. and Mindrape calls for enormous amounts of magic and has a fabulous number of ways that it can go wrong as compared to simply taking Leadership, or the Minions skill, or even the Dreambinding Summoning stuff, and doing it the normal way.

Now, for trying to calculate costs for Dreambinding… that’s kind of hard. Sure, you can price the spellcasting, but how much would it cost to pay some poor archmage to put up with all the dangers and side effects of trying such a thing? And to keep trying until it works? I see no way to calculate it.

Finally, as far as Slaves are concerned… I will admit that several of my characters (Most notably “Dark Lord Kevin” who was “very, VERY, evil! Watch me be evil!” – Causing most Archons and such to facepalm as he made evil excuses for being nice) like to try and shock people by keeping “youthful slaves” (indentured servants) who are actually minions acquired by various methods (Leadership, et al) – who are kept safe, prevented from aging or dying, granted various powers, and given training and equipment, all in service of maintaining a decadent lifestyle and having an occasionally useful entourage that really annoys straitlaced and self-righteous people. This also allows them to recruit people for “slavery” and proclaim – truthfully – that they only keep voluntary slaves.

OK, that’s more of a quirk than anything else, but it certainly sounded evil.

And I hope that helps!

Filed under: Background, d20, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Dreambinding And Creatures

Posted on May 28, 2022 by Thoth

And here we have a question that’s too complicated for a comment…

It occurs to me that, presuming the GM allows it, there’s little reason why dream-binding can’t bring forth creatures as well as items. Costs for mounts such as horses and riding dogs are in the Core Rules, other sourcebooks have prices for slaves (even if d20pfsrd.com removed them; they’re still on Archives of Nethys, though), and Pathfinder’s Ultimate Campaign has prices for “teams” of low-level characters. And of course, various sourcebooks have prices for certain monsters, such as the burrowing creatures in the equipment section of Races of Stone.

For that matter, you can use the “spellcasting services” price in the Core Rules to price out a single casting of animate dead/create undead/create greater undead and bring forth such creatures that way. The same goes for outsiders brought forth via the “cost” of a casting of one of the planar binding spells (and appropriate cost of cutting a deal with that outsider), though I suspect most GMs would disallow the much cheaper planar ally spells. And constructs have their prices listed in their monster entries.

All of which is to say that, if the GM signs off on the above, there’s a bit of a gap when it comes to creatures for which no easy pricing can be determined, such as dragons, magical beasts, fey, etc. Not withstanding making an item that uses a summoning spell (since summoning spells last only for a few rounds), what metric(s) would you suggest for determining the “price” of bringing forth some other creature type via dream-binding?

-Alzrius

For reference…

Dream-Binding (Occult Skill, Charisma) allows the user to draw objects from dreams into reality. To do so, the user must get a full nights rest and forfeit the natural healing and attribute recovery that would normally result, whereupon he or she will awaken with his or her allotment of items. The total value of such items may not exceed (Bonus x Bonus x 100 GP) and no more than one third of that total may be allotted to any single item. Dream-binding cannot create items with charges (although uses-per-day limitations are fine), or skill-boosting items. Consumable goods will vanish once the skill points are re-allotted, so the creation of food and water is ill-advised. Finally, of course, the game master must approve of the list of items to be created.

The original version got you a lot less gear because you had to divide up the skill points rather than portion out the total value – so at Skill 9 you could have three items worth (3 x 3 x 100 = 900 GP) each. This could be useful – but it was very limited and turned out to be far too much trouble to work with, particularly when reaching – say – +30 got you a maximum of 30,000 GP worth of gear, and likely less. Fortunately, Occult Skill allows for multiple versions of a skill if the GM finds it acceptable, so this version would wind up at 8100 GP at skill 9 and 90,000 GP at Skill 30. That makes Dream-Binding a powerful and very useful skill at lower levels, but of less and less use at higher ones where wealth by level starts greatly exceeding what it gets you and the primary utility moves towards equipping yourself with special-purpose gear suited for particular missions. That still handy of course, but it relies heavily on foresight, scouting, and planning to be really useful.

As far as the actual question goes… personally I’d be pretty reluctant to make anything made of dreams sapient; I’d expect rather erratic behavior at the least. Even disregarding the eccentricities of dreams, temporary, thrown-together, minds are not likely to be stable.

On the other hand, of course, most of what you’d want an unintelligent creature – like a horse, dog, a construct, or most dinosaurs – to do is pretty straightforward. even in terms of dreams – and you could reasonably argue that such creatures aren’t too likely to spend a lot of time on introspection and start cracking up.So Constructs and things with animal intelligence could be a “go” even with the basic version of the skill.

Still, if you or the GM is worried about the instability of minds woven from dreams, all you need to do is to take a variant (“Spirit Minions” or “Dimensional Wraiths” or something) and say that it summons aspects of existing creatures from elsewhere in the multiverse to your aid.

Which gives us some justification, but still no good way of pricing things – and there really isn’t one since all we’ve really got to go on with monsters is their challenge rating, which is a really poor measure of how helpful something will be to an adventurer. That’s why Pathfinder took Unicorns off the Summon Nature’s Ally IV list; they easily beat out Cure Critical Wounds (heal 4d8+Caster Level, Max 20) – being able to heal 5d8+20 damage and offering access to Neutralize Poison and a Circle Of Protection From Evil (as well as direct combat utility) on top. If you used the level five version of Summon Nature’s Ally – where Cure Critical Wounds resided for Druids – you got 1d3 Unicorns. That single summons could make a druid into a fairly powerful healer.

Challenge Rating 3 didn’t really cover it properly.

For Undead, I’d be reluctant to use the Creation price, since that doesn’t include the expense of controlling the thing, which is the hard part given that they sometimes spontaneously pop up on their own.

Teams would be kind of cheap, if of relatively little use at higher levels – but the team prices are predicated on being settled, sleeping at home, and having time off rather than going on adventures. And while there are rules for Hirelings, there really aren’t rules for purchasing them – just for paying them on a day-to-day basis. I know that I used team prices for Innate Enchantment (Portable Settlement) – but that’s more or less a persistent thing, not something that can be traded out daily. Its also something that appears and disappears as needed – while having forty or fifty people trailing along on your adventures will probably be more trouble than it’s worth.

There are, as you note, fairly extensive price lists for animals in Pathfinder – https://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment/goods-and-services/animals-animal-gear/ – but that has it’s problems too; rats are a mere 1 CP – if you invest, say, 20,000 GP of your “virtual gold” in rats, you get two million of them. Enough for something like 5000 Rat Swarms. Certainly enough to devastate a sizeable settlement. Walled town besieged by Orcs? for a mere 7200 GP you could send out a dozen Deinonychus each day. Or perhaps 10550 GP for ten Dire Tigers? Or the same for 105 Leopards? Having them disappear in the morning while you get new ones is an even bigger benefit. At (Bonus x Bonus x 100 GP, no more than one-third on any single creature) you could achieve most of those totals fairly readily. The problem is that not having to transport, care for, and control such beasts is an enormous advantage. No low-level party is likely to be able to afford and manage a trio of combat-trained woolly mammoths (13,500 GP in total) – but that amount is readily achievable with a +12 skill total. Take +4 at L1, +4 Attribute, +2 Skill Emphasis, and +3 Skill Focus for a +13. This makes it easily possible to simply “rent some for the day”. A trio of CR 10 Battle-Trained Woolly Mammoth mounts can be a pretty big help when you’re attacking a goblin camp or something.

That certainly doesn’t work very well.

Using the costs of hiring a spellcaster to cast “planar binding” is inappropriate too. Those are the prices for a spell cast in town at the spellcasters leisure after you journey to a large city and find someone to do it. For adventurous casting… you’d need to pay to bring them along. And your “payment” would mean nothing either since it would shortly vanish – not a good thing if you are accessing creatures that actually exist rather than just making dreams solid.

That still doesn’t get us very far in search of a general rule. The vast majority of the ways for “pricing” monsters include a variety of assumptions that don’t fit in with the “daily summoning” model.

So “Daily Summoning” it is. At least that takes care of being able to command them and food and care and such.

That’s (Generalized Summoning +5 Levels of Persistent (Lasts all day)) -2 Levels (Price break for built-in Metamagic) -1 Level (specific creature type) -2 Levels (lengthy casting procedure – a full night sleeping, giving up nightly healing, using ambient magic). So the spell level used is equivalent to the base Summoning effect for the creature of the CR you want. That gives us a set of spells for undead, psychic constructs, or whatever. It also puts unicorns back on the table, because why not? There are lots of other options for healing people.

Ergo, it’s (Spell Level x Caster Level x 1800 GP (Command Word) x.2 (Once Per Day). So that comes out to…

  • CR 1/3: 180 GP (Skill 3, CL 1). Well, if your bard wants an entourage of songbirds, or you want some squirrels to fuss over the baby or a small dog or something, here you go. To be somewhat more practical, your aspiring necromancer can have a few human skeletons, your starting-out warlord could command a few basic goblins, and anyone could have a small monkey that can bring them the key to their cell or ferrets to gnaw on the ropes they are tied with.
  • CR 1/2: 360 GP (Skill 4, CL 1). Here we get basic servants, pageboys, baboons, eagles, common ponies, and untrained orcs. For the most part, basic utility creatures.
  • CR 1: 2160 GP (Skill 8, CL 3). Ghouls, heavy horses, lemures, riding dogs, pseudodragons, small elementals or animated objects, wolves… There is significant utility at this point, as well as enough combat power to terrorize normal people.
  • CR 2: 5400 GP (Skill 13, CL 5). At this point Tarzan can have his apes, bears, boars, and cheetahs are available, you can ride a dire bat, or be accompanied by a lantern archon, quasit, or imp, or snuggle with your pet wolverine.
  • CR 3: 10,800 GP (Skill 18, CL 7). Infant dragons, small dinosaurs, dire wolves, mephits, hell hounds, giant eagles, pegasi, unicorns, medium elementals… Sure, unless you’ve made skills your characters focus you are probably not particularly impressed by such creatures, but the spread of options available is probably more important than your creatures relatively minor combat utility.
  • CR 4-5: 16,200 GP (Skill 22, CL 9). A barghest to make sure your enemies stay dead, a gargoyle to guard your camp, a hound archon to provide advice, a tiger to look impressive, a basilisk to threaten your captives with, a djinni or bearded devil to show your power, trolls, winter wolves, wraiths… Certainly Skill 22 is getting up there – but an impressive supernatural entourage is still useful and definitely makes an impression.
  • CR 6: 23,760 GP (Skill 27, CL 11). At this point it’s generally not combat power. It’s intelligent minions who can do things while you’re busy or elsewhere, impressive flying mounts, advanced megaraptor skeletons for intimidation, and so on. If you just want a wall of meat, go with giant vermin
  • CR 7-8: 32,760 GP (Skill 32, CL 13). Huge elementals, giant construction crews, the ever-popular succubus “aide”, ogre magi, dire tigers, shield guardians, and tyrannosaurs all come into play here – but by the time most characters have +32 in a skill these sorts of creatures will be handy to have around, but fairly unimportant except for where they let you break the action economy.
  • CR 9: 43,200 GP (Skill 36, CL 15). The Androsphinx, bone devil, greater elemental, triceratops, and vrock all come into play here – but while that’s cool, a +36 skill bonus is getting well up there. If your interest is in combat, any decent summoner has had creatures of this level on tap for some time. Your advantage lies in having the creatures around all day, and being able to send them off on long-term independent errands, rather than using them up for the day getting in an extra round or two worth of semi-effectual attacks.
  • CR 10-11: 55,080 GP (Skill 41, CL 17). Barbed devils, elder elementals, some kinds of young adult dragons, stone golems, and twelve-headed hydras can all be at your command – but against most opponents suitable for characters with skill bonuses of 41+ they probably aren’t going to be all that effective. At this point you’re probably much better off bringing in supporting staff rather than monsters to go adventuring with.

—Epic (Level 10+) Spell Threshold—

At this point we’re looking for exotic special abilities that would be useful to have access to, some major support powers, or sheer coolness (riding a dragon makes ANYONE look good!). By the time a character can summon creatures like this, they just won’t mean much in direct combat – and that isn’t going to change much, so there’s no need for further descriptions.

  • CR 12-13: 68,400 GP (Skill 46, CL 19)
  • CR 14-15: 83,160 GP (Skill 50, CL 21)
  • CR 16: 99,360 GP (Skill 55, CL 23)
  • CR 17-18: 117,000 GP (Skill 60, CL 25)
  • CR 19: 136,000 GP (Skill 64, CL 27)
  • CR 20-21: 156,000 GP (Skill 65, CL 29)
  • CR 22: 178,000 GP (Skill 73, CL 31)

CR 23+ is – under the standard rules – not possible; the base cost of the “item” required exceeds the 200,000 GP limit. Even going by the standard Epic Magic Item Rules that puts the cost at a little over two million GP – and the skill requirement at +247. Even as it is… the table above likely far exceeds the limits of most games.

Now, since the effective value of Dream-Binding is (Bonus x Bonus x 100 GP), but no more than one third of the total may be spent on any given item, those skill totals suffice for three monsters of that level – or, as usual, you can go down a level to get 2 monsters, or down two levels to get four. So at Skill 27 you could have a daily entourage of four CR 3 Unicorns, four CR 3 Deinonychus, and ride a CR 6 Ankylosaurus. Or you could specialize in something – perhaps Demonology – and have some imps and things even at fairly low levels.

You’d probably get more powerful creatures, and more raw power, with Leadership – especially after the investment needed to boost a skill to 27 at relatively low levels – but this method has the advantage that your creatures simply appear on the days you need them, don’t require transport or attention, always obey orders, and are completely disposable, since – if “killed” – they are just dispelled and can be summoned back in the morning. That can be pretty useful.

Now the really powerful creatures – with challenge ratings of 12+ – are summoned with spells of level 10+, and their availability will depend on how your game master feels about such spells. On the other hand… by the time you can reasonably have a skill of 60+, having a few high-level creatures about won’t make a lot of difference.

As usual in Eclipse, there’s a tradeoff here; lower level characters will find this a substantial boost, a mid-level one will find it useful, but just another tool in their toolbox, and high-level characters will find it mildly useful. Of course, that is more or less the expected pattern for skills; they never really lose all utility, but they are certainly far more useful at relatively low levels.

And I hope that helps!

Filed under: Background, d20, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Skills Of The Eclipse – Namegiving, Sealing, and Superlatives (Variants: Backstory and Flashbacks).

Posted on May 14, 2022 by Thoth

And for today it’s a few more Occult Skills – skills from odd corners of the multiverse that are not normally available in most settings, but which can be accessed (presuming the game master is agreeable) by taking the Occult Skill ability and paying a few extra skill points.

In most cases, of course, Occult Skills could be built in other ways – but doing that can get quite complicated, and is often far more trouble than it’s worth. Secondarily, a number of recent Party Templates have included granting access to an Occult Skill – so here are a few more to play with.

Occult Skill (Namegiving, Cha)

To give a True Name is to set something apart, to give it an identity and a destiny all it’s own. No longer is that mountain the “Tall one over there”, it is Mount Myrlun, Gateway between the Worlds, perhaps home of a secretive order of mystics, and one of the places that will withstand the armies of the abyss at the passing of the age.

Or maybe not. That’s a big name, and it will take a very powerful namegiver indeed to bestow it. On the other hand, naming a sword “Bloodthirst” is considerably simpler, and will probably result in a moderate enhancement of some sort. Naming a newly forged sword Caliburn, the Sword of Rulership is harder, but still within the capacity of mortals.

  • Naming an infant (a small ceremony, skill fatigue 1) allows it to reroll it’s lowest attribute (this cannot result in lowering it further) and grants it an appropriate bonus feat. Most parents would LOVE to have a Namegiver naming their children.
  • Naming an item (a dramatic moment, skill fatigue 2) effectively transforms it into a type of Relic. Sadly, these variants are powered by their users charisma modifier plus any disadvantages they carry; if your (Cha Mod) is +3 and the item in question carries one disadvantage worth (3 CP), it will grant a total of (6 CP) worth of powers. Worse, that’s an upper limit on the use of such items; those points from your Charisma may only empower one such relic at a time (although if you happen to have a fabulously high Charisma modifier you may split the points up between multiple relics of this type).
  • Naming a Tale (by naming and reciting it, skill fatigue 1) will preserve it – often as an epic poem – across the centuries. This has a minimum level of four to pull off AND the GM must feel that the tale is of interest. Even with a Name, the tale of “how little Timmy pulled his sisters hair” is unlikely to be recalled outside of family reunions or Dr Seuss style books for children.
  • Granting a creature a Title – basically an extra name – grants it the equivalent of an Office (See: Dominion, Skill Fatigue 2). This has a minimum level of eight to pull off – but at level fourteen it becomes possible to add a Title to a Relic, as above (skill fatigue 3) – which is where things like “Caliburn” (the basic name) “The Sword Of Rulership” (it’s title) come from. At epic levels it becomes possible to give titles to places (skill fatigue 4), although – if it currently has one – that title must be destroyed first.
  • Naming a place (skill fatigue 1-4 depending on the scale of the place plus 1-4 depending on it’s level of significance) will cause it to function as a generic Sanctum, granting 6, 12, 18, or even 24 CP – but the GM tends to set up the details and determine the total. Sadly, this has a minimum level equal to the number of CP that the sanctum grants to pull off. It becomes even more difficult if the place already has a popular name (Constantinople did not become Istanbul easily) and is impossible – short of destroying the place entirely and remaking it into something different – if a Namegiver has already named it.

Namegiving is limited by a form of Skill Fatigue; the skill total is restored each week (divided up between the days of the week), but is depleted by the stress of granting names. Namegiving (minus any skill fatigue penalties) may be actively rolled to identify the meaning of a name or to determine the name of an inanimate object that happens to have one.

Namegiving tends to add lore to a setting, because if it’s a common skill, or even uncommon but available… anyplace important is likely to grant modifiers to the people there. Powerful items will tend to have unique names and powers. Particular personal names (which usually mean something in their original language) may be associated with one or another kind of bonus feat – and the game master should keep a notepad handy, since, while it is easy to make up such details on the spot, keeping track of them is likely to involve some note-taking.

Occult Skill (Sealing, Dex):

This is the art of entrapping things in dimensional pockets, anchoring said pockets in some focus – which varies from user to user, with known examples including pots, paintings, poke balls, cell phone aps, knots, tattoos, and gems. Unfortunately, keeping something bound requires that the user devote points from the skill to it – and the more powerful or important the thing sealed, the more points (as determined by the game master) it will require. Worse, entrapping something requires an opposed will check. You want to seal up a tub complete with hot water, sponges, soap, and a rubber duck? It’s probably only a few points (although the larger and heavier the item(s), the harder it becomes). Hiding a hold-out weapon in a tattoo? Easy. You want to trap a major demon, a tornado, a pyroclastic flow, or one of Naruto’s Tailed Beasts? That’s going to be EXPENSIVE.

  • Sealing away really powerful things tends to “leak”. Seal an archdemon into something? You probably have a powerful cursed item that keeps trying to take over it’s user’s minds.
  • An unsuccessful attempt at sealing something depletes the points that would have been invested in that seal for twenty-four hours. Success, of course, depletes those points until the seal is released.
  • Anything in a seal experiences only the beneficial aspects of time; it will heal normally, but not get hungry, can sleep and recover from being tired, but will not again become tired while so confined, and so on. Inanimate targets do not experience time at all.
  • Users may spend extra points to tweak the nature of the dimensional pocket (see the Spacewarp spell template in The Practical Enchanter for some possible modifications), to set various release conditions, and (for +3 points) to be able to demand a short-term service from a released creature (but not an inanimate object).
  • User’s may spend 1/2 extra points to use a slightly/notably different anchor. If you normally use clay pots, but wish to use a rice cooker, canteen, or plastic jug instead, that will cost an extra point. Using a clay statuette or a galvanized garbage can will cost two extra points.
  • If the user dies, his or her seals will remain until opened.
  • Creatures that have been defeated, are unconscious, are paralyzed, of suffer from similar disadvantages are easier to seal away. Willing creatures rarely cost more than one point to seal.
    Optionally, making sacrifices to create a seal will make it cost fewer points to create and maintain.
  • If you seal things in expensive gems which shatter when the seal is broken, your seals will be cheaper. Human sacrifices – whether as the container or as a component – can make things a lot cheaper, but dying to create a seal is rarely worthwhile.
  • It is possible to pass seals on to others. They will still count against the user’s total sealing ability unless the recipient has Sealing as well, and takes over maintaining the effect.

Variations are, of course, possible. After all, the multiverse contains many versions of this, and every other, occult skill. Specializations and Corruptions are also possible: if you really MUST be a pokemon trainer, Specialize it for increased effect (only works on loyal monsters, but monsters are automatically recalled into the seal when a killing blow is struck against them rather than actually taking the lethal damage) and there you are. Presuming you can befriend some pocket monsters, you can carry a batch of them around to help you out on the cheap.

Sealing quietly turns a lot of assumptions upside down if it’s commonly available. After all, even a first level novice could easily seal away – say – their money, their valuable tools, and a quantity of expensive raw materials. Sailors can carry along a private stash of trade goods and supplies, banditry and burglary becomes much less practical, a trusted friend can smuggle someone out of danger with relative ease, perishable foods can be easily stored for later use. Gravely wounded comrades will heal, but never get worse. If Sealing is common in a society, it will be changed in innumerable ways – so unless the GM feels like dealing with that challenge, it’s probably better left as an occult skill.

Occult Skill (Superlatives, Cha) (Variant, Backstory or Flashbacks, Wis):

Each permanent level of this skill allows a character to adopt a descriptive trait – “Fast”, “Clever”, “Noble”, “Sneaky”, “Valiant”, “Determined”, or whatever. Observant NPC’s can easily pick up on those traits, even if they get sarcastic about them because the character is well-known for the opposite trat. Thus “Brave Sir Robin” is still known as “Brave Sir Robin”, even if accuracy would suggest quite another appellation and the sarcasm gets pretty heavy…

Traits can also be tapped once each per day, with characters of levels 1-5/6-12/13+ able to expend 1/2/3 Traits on any given relevant action, gaining…

  • 1 Trait) +4 on a roll or an effect equivalent to a first level spell or a minor reality edit.
  • 2 Traits) +8 on a roll or an effect equivalent to a second level spell or a notable reality edit
  • 3 Traits) +12 on a roll or an effect equivalent to a third level spell or a major reality edit

Traits may also be noted without being tapped. For example, “I am wise enough to know that this is a terrible idea!” The character may be noted for his or her wisdom – but there’s no roll here and nothing is actually being done. Ergo, the Descriptive Trait (“Wise”) is not tapped. Now, if the character is trying to use Diplomacy to persuade an NPC that what they’re doing is terminally stupid, then the Wise trait could be tapped for that extra +4 (or to get what they’re saying across a language barrier, or to invoke the equivalent of some persuasive effect or ventriloquism or some such).

  • “I am gentle enough to catch the falling child without harm!” – likely equating to a Feather Fall effect.
  • “I am clever and knowledgeable enough to crack this code!”. This could be a simple skill boost, but it could also indicate that the user is getting the effect of some sort of translation effect.
  • “I am strong, determined, and mighty enough to break these pillars and pull down the temple!” is not really likely to produce a magical effect unless there’s a demolitions spell in play – but a simple boost to the strength check or some reality editing would likely suffice for this stunt.

Any use of a trait must, of course, be in line with the nature of that trait. You may be able to outargue a lawyer with your cleverness, but you will find it of little use in lifting a huge block of stone.

The most common variant form of this ability is “Backstory” or “Flashbacks” (Wis) – allowing characters to get some benefit out of all those incredible incidents and skills that were mentioned in their backstory, but were never actually implemented in their character. With this variant, each permanent level of the skill allows the user to note one element of their backstory – making it a part of their personal tale, having it mentioned by minstrels and storytellers, and being allowed to tap it for extra power. Have you empowered the backstory elements that you were Apprenticed to a Master Alchemist, are a Demolitions Expert, and are Wanted For Pyromania in Twelve Cities? Then you can – if you are level 13+ – combine those to generate an impressive Fireball, or some similar stunt.

Common availability of this one has surprisingly little effect, simply because most non-adventurers have better uses for their skill points than picking up a particularly high level of Superlatives. They may dabble – it’s worth a skill point or two to get “Master (Profession)” or “Master Craftsman (Craft Skill) since that +4 translates directly into a higher weekly income – but it’s not like most games pay much attention to how prosperous the common NPC’s are and PC’s have many ways to get dice bonuses.

Filed under: Background, d20, Game Rules | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Next Page »