nightflier |
OK, guys. Here it is.
First, I'm gonna link here the files for my skills:
Nightflier's Homebrew Skills 2.0
There are two type of skills: Common and Uncommon. Uncommon skills can not be taken without some previous experience or teacher. Common are taken as normal. You do not have class skills, but you choose 4 background skills and gain +3 bonus (as you would with class skills). This reflect various backgrounds and interests of your characters (perhaps there are fighters who are interested in spellcraft, or rangers interested in alchemy).
Bellow the skills are my fate point rules. You start the game with the number of fate points equal to your Charisma modifier. You gain a fate point each time you level up and at my discretion (as a reward for role play or heroic deed).
Natural 1 on a d20 is a critical fail; in combat you loose all your remaining actions for the round and are considered flat-footed until your next initiative. When rolling for skill checks, natural 1 is the most negative outcome (you insult an NPC, fall from the cliff). Natural 20 in combat results in a critical hit that you do not need to confirm. In skill checks it gains you extremely favorable outcome (when rolling Perception, you may bypass all the traps etc.)
I would prefer that we choose a published setting that is available to all of us and is PF compatible.
I nominate Midgard by Kobold Press, since I have played it recently, but I will accept the majority opinion on this.
Doomed Hero |
So, no matter how good you are at something, there's always a 5% chance that you'll screw up so badly that you'll be flat footed?
No matter how stealthy or invisible something is, there's always a 5% chance I can spot it?
I'm not sure I like that rule. I'm willing to listen to an argument about how it improves the game, but my first reading of it leaves me skeptical?
Mark Thomas 66 RPG Superstar 2009 Top 16 |
A natural 1 becomes increasing ly more devastating the better you get. A level 1 commoner rolls a 1, loses his action and is Flat footed.
Okay.
A level 20 damn near demigod of a Ranger with TWF and 8 attacks per round (9 or 100 depending on weapons and feats) rolls a 1 on the first attack ( that still would hit due to insane attack bonus) and is rendered useless for the rest of the round?
Really?
Also the GM rolls more dice than we do. If we're facing large groups of enemies, automatic crits on a nat 20 could inadvertently butcher the part pretty quickly.
nightflier |
I use critical fail to represent forces of chaos and uncertainty that rule the life of even ordinary men. It has been a part of the game for a very long time and it's kind a tradition that natural 1 is a fail. In my experience, critical fail gives the game an element of uncertainty and unpredictability that improves it, since even the lowest goblin can score a natural 20 on a knight, and even a dragon can fumble while chasing the PCs. And those fumbles and lucky shots have been part of genre fiction from the beginning. On the other hand, that happens a lot less than in 5% of the throws, or a lot more, depending on how much luck the player has. Same goes for the critical hits, but they can be modified by feats.
Anyway, if you take a look at fate points rules, you'll see that critical fails can be compensated for by spending fate points, which is one of the reason I've included them.
Mark Thomas 66 RPG Superstar 2009 Top 16 |
It's the invalidating the rest of your turn that's the worst part of it. An automatic miss I could live with. If you'e a tactical player, the rest of the rule can wreck you.
A high level fighter facing a rogue who misses his first attack pretty much just died by becoming immediately flat footed and taking no actions for the rest of the round.
A rogue would actually be devastating. Always take quickdraw and have a ranged weapon. Sneak attack anyone who rolls a 1
Doomed Hero |
I'll also vote to drop the fate points and crit/fumble rules.
4d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 1, 2) = 9 Drop
4d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 1, 5) = 12 Drop
4d6 ⇒ (3, 5, 3, 4) = 15
4d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 5, 6) = 16
4d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 5, 2) = 17
4d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 2, 5) = 15
4d6 ⇒ (1, 6, 3, 5) = 15
4d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 3, 6) = 18
Hot damn!
nightflier |
Midgard Campaign Setting is the link for a Dropbox folder containing everything you'll need to create your characters. I'm here for all possible questions.
nightflier |
The game will be centered around the city of Zobeck, in the Crossroads region. Forays into the Margreeve forest and mountains beyond it are to be expected. Player's Guide to the Crossroads should give everyone more than enough clues about the nature of the game, but your characters can be from any place on Midgard, not just Crossroads. I would prefer not to deal with more inhuman races, such as tosculi, centaurs and lamias, but I'll not forbid them outright, as long as you create appropriate backstory.
Mark Thomas 66 RPG Superstar 2009 Top 16 |
Mark Thomas 66 RPG Superstar 2009 Top 16 |
Doomed Hero |
4d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 1, 2) = 9 Drop
4d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 1, 5) = 12 Drop
4d6 ⇒ (3, 5, 3, 4) = 12
4d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 5, 6) = 15
4d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 5, 2) = 15
4d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 2, 5) = 13
4d6 ⇒ (1, 6, 3, 5) = 14
4d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 3, 6) = 15
Ugh. That's a whole lot less awesome. Decent general scores. Guess I'm not playing a primary caster or anything that requires a high single attribute.
I'm thinking a switch-hitting Warpriest might work with these stats. I have an idea for a Tengu priest of Odin. Or a female human modeled after a Valkyrie.
Edit: Nightflier, how do you feel about Spiritualists?
nightflier |
OK, I'll try it when we have at least character concepts.
In the meantime, are there any questions about the setting that I can answer? Any character concepts I can help you with? Feel free to take your time and skim through the Campaign Setting book and Player's Guide to Zobeck in search of ideas.
One thing I forgot, Midgard uses an optional rule which I've found extremely useful: Status.
Rules for Status can be found in Midgard CS pg. 24.
Eric Swanson |
I am OK with dropping the critical fail and critical hit rules, along with fate points from the game.
Here are my rolls:
4d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 5, 6) = 14 = 13
4d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 6, 3) = 15 = 13
4d6 ⇒ (3, 5, 2, 1) = 11 = 10 (Drop)
4d6 ⇒ (3, 4, 4, 6) = 17 = 14
4d6 ⇒ (1, 3, 6, 3) = 13 = 12 (Drop)
4d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 4, 5) = 20 = 16
4d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 3, 1) = 15 = 14
4d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 1, 4) = 15 = 14
So...13, 13, 14, 16, 14, and 14. Not too bad.
I am thinking of a basic class, either fighter or rogue at this point. Race will probably be human...possibly tiefling. I will peruse the Crossroads book for further ideas.
Mark Thomas 66 RPG Superstar 2009 Top 16 |
nightflier |
@eakratz
Lizardfolk hail from the far South, from the jungles and marshes. The Crossroads region, with its continental climate and harsh winters would be dreadfully cold to them for the better part of the year.
Other than that, Zobeck has a large kobold population, so the lizardfolk would probably be considered by most citizens of Zobeck and Crossroads as either ovesized kobolds or some kind of dragonkin from Mharoti Empire. With your stats, I'd recommend dragonkin fighter or paladin, perhaps. Take a look at Player's Guide to the Dragon Empire.
@Mark
Take a look at theurge and white necromancer in the New Paths Compendium and priest in New Paths #9 The Priest.
Oceanshieldwolf |
Hi all.
Sorry for the long absence DH. And for dropping Mae. I had to drop all my PbP's or blow a gasket in my mind. Hi Mark, I think you may have briefly been in the same Razor Coast, Texas Style game DH and I were in, many moons ago.
Let's see now..
4d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 6, 2) = 18 16
4d6 ⇒ (2, 3, 5, 2) = 12 10
4d6 ⇒ (4, 5, 2, 4) = 15 13
4d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 6, 1) = 12 11
4d6 ⇒ (2, 2, 2, 3) = 9 Drop
4d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 2, 4) = 12 Drop
4d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 6, 4) = 18 16
4d6 ⇒ (6, 2, 3, 2) = 13 11
I will work with that.
Mark Thomas 66 RPG Superstar 2009 Top 16 |
nightflier |
OK, so...
eakratz: 16, 16, 14, 14, 13, 12 - lizardfolk/dragonkin monk/caster/paladin
Doomed Hero: 15, 15, 14, 13, 12 - hugin warpriest/spiritualist/shaman(at my suggestion)
Mark: 17,14,14,13,12,10 - primary arcane or divine caster
Eric: 16, 14, 14, 14, 13, 13 - human or tiefling rogue/trickster(at my suggestion)
Oceanshieldwolf: 16, 16, 13, 11, 11, 10 - gauntlet witch/shadowsworn
To be clear, none of these choices are set in stone. I'm just compiling them so that all of us can have in mind what are the current choices.
Mark Thomas 66 RPG Superstar 2009 Top 16 |
nightflier |
Please, bring back Ilona in some manner :) I would prefer melee build, if that's OK with you. Also, there's a great magus archetype in Wasted West guide.
Edit: I have added Might of the Magus to Midgard folder. Check it out. There's a feat that would allow you to use two-handed weapon. If you are inclined to do that, I'm gonna suggest a weapon to you.
nightflier |
What's the tone of the game? You suggested a paladin earlier so can I assume we are to be heroic?
This is always a hard question for me to answer, I must admit. Ultimately, the tone will be dictated by the PCs. Midgard is a dark world, where gods play much larger and active role than in traditional D&D settings. There are a lot of elements taken from the Sword & Sorcery genre, mixed with dark folklore of Eastern and Central Europe. There is an Empire of the Ghouls that is slowly conquering the Underworld, a princedom of vampires, a savage North, not unlike Conan's Hyboria. There are dwarves that capture slaves to work in their mines. "Heroes" such as paladins can be in fact racist jerks. What I want to say, this is a very multidimensional setting, which is very like fantasy Europe. But Europe is a place filled with tensions, ethnic divisions, ancient slights and vendettas.
So, I don't want to run grimdark campaign, but I also don't want to run a typical heroic game, such as those set usually in Forgotten Realms. There will be some unsavory elements, whores, assassins, demonic cults aplenty, but also fights against the encroaching Chaos and undead menace. There will be a lot of Evil enemies, but a lot of Neutral as well. Dungeoncrawling aplenty, but political games as well. All of that will be offered. Ultimately, you will set the tone of the game.
In my current RL game, the PCs are tiefling bladebound hexcrafter magus; chaotic good paladin of Sarastra, the shadow fay goddess of night and magic; extremely charismatic trollkin spell-less ranger of gypsy upbringing, gearforged clockwork wizard and oracle of life.
I hope this helps.
Mark Thomas 66 RPG Superstar 2009 Top 16 |
nightflier |
eakratz |