Richard Blackheath
The curator of the local historical museum, Richard has manned this post for the past 20 years. Now in his sixties, he continues his personal research into the history of the occult, which remains largely academic, in his off hours when not overseeing the museum. He has heard of the strange goings on in the city, and while his interest is piqued, he remains certain that nothing supernatural in nature currently exists today...
Background - Occultist
Class - Scholar 1
Wealth - Affluent
Expertise 2 | Hit Points 3 | Attack Bonus +0 | Armor Class 9 | Madness 10
Strength 8 | Intelligence 15 (+1) | Wisdom 14 (+1) | Dexterity 12 | Constitution 10 | Charisma 12
Physical Effect 16 | Mental Effect 14 | Evasion 15 | Magic 12 | Luck 13
Abilities - Deep Gnosis
Languages - Egyptian, English, German, Latin
Skills - Culture/Home 0, History 0, Language 1, Occult 1, Religion 0, Research 0
Trappings - Fine clothing, sundry personal effects
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Monday, March 30, 2015
Uh oh...paradigm shift engaged...new game acquired...
Just picked up Silent Legions from Kevin Crawford, and I have to say, I was skeptical about putting the Mythos in an OSR game, and while you can certainly use Silent Legions just for the wealth of information in Kevin's always outstanding "sandbox tools," the game looks to be very playable in the appropriate genre as well. I have (and skill do when I can) played Call of Cthulhu for a long time, as well as similar genre games like Trail of Cthulhu, and I have never considered an OSR game due to the focus on combat and killing creatures, which is definitely not a major drive in Mythos based games.
Kevin makes the switch to investigation, the occult, and madness seamlessly in Silent Legions however, and I can't wait to run my first game.
Kevin makes the switch to investigation, the occult, and madness seamlessly in Silent Legions however, and I can't wait to run my first game.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
[Exemplars & Eidolons] The Secret World Hack
So I've been playing an MMORPG called The Secret World which has many themes similar to E&E, or as others have also stated, Exalted, though in a modern urban fantasy setting. I love the game, and I was thinking on how I could bring some of the ideas that they use into E&E. Here are a few of the thoughts I have had so far.
1. Builds
One of the nice things, at least for me, about TSW is that as you progress and unlock abilities, you unlock literally all of the abilities in the game. There are no classes, and though you can only have so many active and passive abilities at a time, you can set up builds in order to swap them out quickly. Now, I don't want to change the core of E&E, but I like the idea of changing your character as needed, so here is my thought. What if you were able to change the Gifts you have access to? I would allow players (over an extended game of course) to swap out Gifts. You must replace a Gift with a Gift of the same type (removing the pain of keeping track of what type of Gifts you should have by class and level, and preventing the removal of Gifts that would invalidate other Gifts such as with Adept, Master, and Archmage of an Art). When Gifts can be swapped may vary, such as in between encounters (closest to TSW), after a full nights rest, or even between sessions.
2. Weapons
In TSW, your weapon is merely a tool through which you focus your power. I would say that E&E is already very similar, with the maximum damage based on class. I would use these simple statistics for weapons in a modern setting:
Rogue weapons tend to be light and quick, knives, semi-automatic pistols, etc., and allow you to attack with your Dex bonus dealing 1d8 physical damage
Sorcerer weapons are arcane in nature, fell books and electrostatic charms, allowing you to attack with your Int bonus dealing 1d6 magical damage
Warrior weapons tend to be heavy and powerful, shotguns, mauls and the like, using Str bonus to attack and dealing 1d10 physical damage
Any character may use any weapon type they choose, though they are limited still by their class' maximum damage, so a Sorcerer using a heavy Warrior weapon will only deal 1d6 damage.
Note that there is a difference between physical and magical damage, and some creatures may be resistant (though never fully immune unless they are mythic) to one type or another, making carrying different weapon types a viable idea.
Thats all I have for now. I may think on this some more, as well as trying to stat some of the creatures, and possibly abilities as new Gifts...
1. Builds
One of the nice things, at least for me, about TSW is that as you progress and unlock abilities, you unlock literally all of the abilities in the game. There are no classes, and though you can only have so many active and passive abilities at a time, you can set up builds in order to swap them out quickly. Now, I don't want to change the core of E&E, but I like the idea of changing your character as needed, so here is my thought. What if you were able to change the Gifts you have access to? I would allow players (over an extended game of course) to swap out Gifts. You must replace a Gift with a Gift of the same type (removing the pain of keeping track of what type of Gifts you should have by class and level, and preventing the removal of Gifts that would invalidate other Gifts such as with Adept, Master, and Archmage of an Art). When Gifts can be swapped may vary, such as in between encounters (closest to TSW), after a full nights rest, or even between sessions.
2. Weapons
In TSW, your weapon is merely a tool through which you focus your power. I would say that E&E is already very similar, with the maximum damage based on class. I would use these simple statistics for weapons in a modern setting:
Rogue weapons tend to be light and quick, knives, semi-automatic pistols, etc., and allow you to attack with your Dex bonus dealing 1d8 physical damage
Sorcerer weapons are arcane in nature, fell books and electrostatic charms, allowing you to attack with your Int bonus dealing 1d6 magical damage
Warrior weapons tend to be heavy and powerful, shotguns, mauls and the like, using Str bonus to attack and dealing 1d10 physical damage
Any character may use any weapon type they choose, though they are limited still by their class' maximum damage, so a Sorcerer using a heavy Warrior weapon will only deal 1d6 damage.
Note that there is a difference between physical and magical damage, and some creatures may be resistant (though never fully immune unless they are mythic) to one type or another, making carrying different weapon types a viable idea.
Thats all I have for now. I may think on this some more, as well as trying to stat some of the creatures, and possibly abilities as new Gifts...
[Far Away Land] Basher
Here is my first character for Far Away Land:
Basher
an urchin and small time crook from Londol
Level 1
BRT 3 | DEX 2 | WIT 1
HP 13 | AC 2 | ACT 5 | Luck 2
Boons & Flaws
Alert +1
Athletics +1
Scuffle +1
Subterfuge +1
Ugly -1
Gear
Leather jack (AC 2), 5 throwing knives (1d6), backpack, hooded cloak, patchwork clothes, lock picks, 8 gold
Basher was born in a hovel and raised on the streets of Londol. He grew up fast and big, bigger than the other children, and made a name for himself among the street rats for being a bully. Weren't many who could tell Basher what for by the time he was a tween, save for Ol' Patch, an aging second story man who offered the big child a job as a lookout, and later, as muscle. Turns out Basher wasn't to bad with his hands for fine work either, and Ol' Patch taught him a thing or two about locks, traps, and the like. Now a young adult, and working for himself, Basher longs to get out of Londol, though he still gives some of his take to Ol' Patch, slowly becoming a doddering old layabout. Adventure must be out there, and Basher's gonna find it...
Basher
an urchin and small time crook from Londol
Level 1
BRT 3 | DEX 2 | WIT 1
HP 13 | AC 2 | ACT 5 | Luck 2
Boons & Flaws
Alert +1
Athletics +1
Scuffle +1
Subterfuge +1
Ugly -1
Gear
Leather jack (AC 2), 5 throwing knives (1d6), backpack, hooded cloak, patchwork clothes, lock picks, 8 gold
Basher was born in a hovel and raised on the streets of Londol. He grew up fast and big, bigger than the other children, and made a name for himself among the street rats for being a bully. Weren't many who could tell Basher what for by the time he was a tween, save for Ol' Patch, an aging second story man who offered the big child a job as a lookout, and later, as muscle. Turns out Basher wasn't to bad with his hands for fine work either, and Ol' Patch taught him a thing or two about locks, traps, and the like. Now a young adult, and working for himself, Basher longs to get out of Londol, though he still gives some of his take to Ol' Patch, slowly becoming a doddering old layabout. Adventure must be out there, and Basher's gonna find it...
[Exemplars & Eidolons] Aiden Devlin
Threw together a character last night in the Stars Without Number community on Google+, so I thought I'd repost him here:
Aiden Devlin
1st Level Rogue
Effort 2 | Max HP 7 | AC 4 | Attack +0 (1d10) | Fray d6
Toughness 15 | Evasion 19 | Mystic 15
Str 10 (+0) | Dex 18 (+3) | Con 15 (+1)
Int 15 (+1) | Wis 10 (+0) | Cha 12 (+0)
I was abducted by the Rooks, a mythical guild of thieves and assassins, as a child, and trained in their ways.
While in the guild, I formed an alternatively close and adversarial relationship with Jade, a fellow abductee.
The Rooks trained me to be average and unknown, to always fly below the radar.
Gifts: Lethal Weaponry, Master of Locks, Rogue's Luck
Gear: Several knives, shivs, and blades (Light); Reinforced leather jacket and kevlar mesh clothing (Light); Small tools of various types, secreted in clothing
Aiden Devlin
1st Level Rogue
Effort 2 | Max HP 7 | AC 4 | Attack +0 (1d10) | Fray d6
Toughness 15 | Evasion 19 | Mystic 15
Str 10 (+0) | Dex 18 (+3) | Con 15 (+1)
Int 15 (+1) | Wis 10 (+0) | Cha 12 (+0)
I was abducted by the Rooks, a mythical guild of thieves and assassins, as a child, and trained in their ways.
While in the guild, I formed an alternatively close and adversarial relationship with Jade, a fellow abductee.
The Rooks trained me to be average and unknown, to always fly below the radar.
Gifts: Lethal Weaponry, Master of Locks, Rogue's Luck
Gear: Several knives, shivs, and blades (Light); Reinforced leather jacket and kevlar mesh clothing (Light); Small tools of various types, secreted in clothing
Newly Acquired
So I got some wonderful new toys in the past week, Far Away Land Tome of Awesome and Exemplars & Eidolons. I really hope that I get a chance to play either of these, and I'm sure I'll be making several posts about them in the weeks to come. Also, on a whim since I own the original edition anyway, I ordered The One Ring in the new hardcover edition last night. What are you playing or hoping to play right now?
Introduction
I have a terrible disease. It's called Attention Deficit Roleplaying Disorder, or ADRD, and it prevents me from focusing on one game at a time. It is horrible, and wonderful, and frustrating sometimes, but I will do what I can to struggle on. If you like lots and lots of games like I do, and you don't mind me talking about a wide variety of games and ideas for them, then this is the right place for you. If you don't, then you are welcome also. I hope you find something helpful, or meaningful, or fun here, though I make no promises.
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