[Exemplars & Eidolons] New Use for the Fray Die

So, I gotta say, I love the Fray die, the idea of heroes lashing out almost casually and smiting foes no matter what their actual action might be. That said, here is an idea about another possible use of the Fray die:

Impenetrable Defense: Commit Effort. While it remains committed you may roll your Fray die once per round to deflect an equal amount of damage you would receive from a successful attack against you. You may not use your Fray die to deal damage in the same round you use it for defense.

[D&D 5e] The Hidden World - Class(es?)

Okay, so +Erik Westmarch questioned why my goal to use one class, and while I responded that it was something I was toying around with, I decided last night that I was not going to attempt that goal. However, I don't want to focus on classes being as different as archetypes, so I think I am going to try and work up the following:

• Hunter
• Ascetic (similar to a Monk)
• Berzerk (similar to a Barbarian)
• Mercenary (similar to a Fighter)
• Witch (similar to a Paladin)
• Occultist
• Accursed (similar to a Warlock)
• Erudite (similar to a Wizard)
• Pious (similar to a Cleric)
• Savant (similar to a Sorcerer)
• Vagabond
• Criminal (similar to a Rogue)
• Folksy (similar to a Bard)
• Rustic (similar to a Ranger)
• Wild (similar to a Druid)

Obviously, when a say similar, I don't mean anywhere near directly. Mainly I am going to try to hit the feel of those classes in a modern sense. It may also just me, but I like this outline as you will them be able to describe your character clearly, as a Witch Hunter for example, or as an Accursed Occultist. Due to the fewer total classes, I think I will have the archetype you choose be active at level 1, instead of later in the core game, and have the traits for the archetype come more quickly, possibly every second or third level...

[D&D 5e] The Hidden World - Introduction

Awaken.
The world is not as you thought it was. Not entirely.
Man thrives, and technology advances apace. But there are still hidden places in the world, hidden peoples. Most will never know, will never see.
But you do.
And they see you...

So, I have been wanting to work on some ideas for running an urban fantasy game using D&D 5e, and there isn't a lot out there, with what is being scattered and disjointed. So I thought I'd start bringing some ideas together for my self. My goals will be thus:

1. Create/adapt at least 5 bloodlines of Awakened.
2. Create a single class with multiple and expandable trees of traits.
3. Create/adapt at least 10 backgrounds with more mechanical weight (to cover for having only one class).
4. Modify the skill list to include more modern skills and/or uses of skills.
5. Create/adapt a modern list of gear and equipment.

I think that is a good starting point, so we'll see how it goes.

[Silent Legions] My first character

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

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.

[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...

[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...