Game Stuff:
I'm looking for a couple more players for a new rules light game using the Barbarians of Lemuria Legendary Edition and Barbarians of the Aftermath rules. These are very simple, and you should be able to learn the game and play without access to them. There's an older version of BoL available for free here. Reading over that should give you a feel for the system and then I can help with the rest (not that much is different).
This game will be a somewhat unique attempt to combine the Hyborian Age intellectual property originally devised by Rovert E Howard (Conan the Cimmerian), with an alternate universe/timeline Earth. Characters will start out in the Hyborian age as people of that time and place, then be quickly catapulted into the far flung future of 2090 AD. They'll find themselves in a depleted, unstable world that's just been broken by a failed experiment in time travel. Add into this zombies and some Lovecraft mythos and whatever else I feel like, and hopefully it will be a fun flexible pulp-action style game.
Character Stuff:
If you want to submit a character, make one set in the Hyborian Age. The initial scene will take place at a battle. It's during the story, the Hour of the Dragon. Your character should have some reason to be at the battle between Xaltotun and Conan's forces near the end of the story (Chapter 21). Either side of the battle is okay. If you have questions ask. You don't have to be an expert on Hyborian age lore, but do your best. There's plenty of info on the Wiki. If you don't know the rules give me a character description and I can make the crunch part for you. Once we've played for a while I'll allow a character rebuild for those whose PCs I made (in case there's something you don't like).
I don't need a full novella backstory. Especially since the world they've known their whole lives is not going to be a major feature of the game. Instead I'm asking for nine pieces of information. Give me three things your character always does, three things they'd never do, and three of their long term goals. These should be as concrete and objective as possible. Ie "My character always does the right thing." is a horrible one that tells me nothing about them. "My character will always stop to help a woman." is a much better one, or "My character will always tell the truth."
Include a description of their appearance and gear as well. There's no gold to keep track of really, if you want something you can have it unless I say otherwise (iron age stuff only). Obviously one person can only carry so much (even a really strong one).
If I'm making their stats, I'll also need a description of their abilities. Magic is available, as will be psionics in the future world (same system as magic except can heal and no casting requirements). Alchemy is also going to be allowed. There will be no divine magic or miracles of any kind outside the initial scene in the Hyborian Age, and is thus unavailable to PCs.
Houserule Stuff:
Small light weapons can add agility to hit and damage instead of strength. (anything that does a 1d3 or 1d4 damage).
Playstyle Stuff:
I'm hoping to keep this moving quickly, but it's going to be player driven. There will be no metaplot, at least not at first. I'm going to attempt to provide a colorful world full of places to explore and people to meet and fight, and let you guys play in it. Therefore your characters goals will be important.
Combat will be run in chunks, all players before monster, monster, then the rest. I will roll initiative for everyone. Maps may or may not be there depending on the combat. I don't like to DMPC people, but if you're absent for several days without warning I will likely act for you. If it happens too much, I'll inquire by PM. Then it's on to replacing your character.
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The finished characters I have submitted so far are a demon-possessed sorcerer who's a little strong, and an assassin/diplomat type who can do a little sorcery. I'm looking for 4-6 people over all. I'll leave recruitment open until I get them.
I must play this game. Hyborian characters flung through space and time? Too awesome to resist. I'm unfamiliar with "The Hour of the Dragon" specifically, but I'm willing to do the research necessary to get up to speed. (EDIT: Checked out the wiki. Conan fighting to reclaim his kingdom? Just the slightest hint of that, and Dorin is on his way to help the barbarian king.) I'm also a bit rusty/fuzzy on the BoL rules, but hey, rules light, right? Without further ado, here's my shot at a character.
Dorin Rogalsen rides again!
I know you said you didn't want their full backstory, but I've already got it, so I may as well include it here in case anyone's interested. Short version: If you remember that guy from the first Conan movie with the big wooden hammer - this is my take on that dude's son. Sisters were kidnapped, still tracking most of them down, ran into Xanos Doom along the way.
In the early years of Dorin's life, many a long winter evening was spent listening to tales of Conan. His father Rogal, powerful as he was, could not speak of the Aquilonian King without a note of respect, perhaps even awe, in his voice. He told of his defeats at the Cimmerian's hands early in his life, and the scars he proudly bore from those battles. How later, they met as allies, fighting together in some of Conan's many adventures. The years in between, after the death of Thulsa Doom, when Rogal returned to the mercenary life he had known before, fueled to greater feats of strength by the memories of his defeats while in the cult of Doom. Finally, his return to Nordheim, to start a simple life, here on the farm with his family. And all these tales, often heard with his father's hammer in his hands, served to fuel a spark in the young Aesir's heart.
One day, he knew, he would earn his own place in the world with the strength of his arm, just as the great king once did. Though mighty Rogal went to join Ymir's great halls before Dorin reached his full growth, Dorin's faith in the warrior's path never wavered. He joined with a mercenary company, and often returned to his mother's home in Asgard to make sure all was well and provide for her and his sisters. Eventually, he would make a pilgrimage to Aquilonia, to offer his services to Conan's court, but that day would not come until he had performed deeds worthy to lay before the hero from his father's tales.
On one trip to his childhood home, he found it in a shambles, his mother cold-eyed and despairing. There had been a raid - slavers from the lands to the south. The limp in her step was new, but worse than that, his sisters were no longer there, taken by the raiders. Rage, hot and fierce, began to light its fire in Dorin's brain at this news, and he stepped to the wall where his father's hammer hung in a place of honor. Lifting it reverently, he hefted the giant weapon to his shoulder, and nodded to his mother. Without a further word, he walked out the door to find and return his kin, or failing that, destroy their captors.
Since that time, he has found his eldest sister, Rannveig, in the pit of sin men name Shadizar. She had been freed from the fate of a slave by the mysterious sorcerer Xanos Doom. Tragically, not before her tongue was cut out by those slavers, but she and her brother were revenged on those individuals before a day was out. Rannveig had become an independent soul in her time away from her family, and opted to travel with the sorcerer for a time, but Dorin continued his search - which seemed, inevitably, to lead him back to the man called Doom.
Even for an Aesir, Dorin stands above the rest. Nearly seven feet tall and built like a glacier, he has yet to meet the man larger than himself, except perhaps his father Rogal in his prime. Thick, unkempt blond hair runs to his shoulders, usually held back with a simple leather thong. He has only seen 22 winters, but in that time, has seen much of the world, and some things from beyond it. It shows in his weatherbeaten features, and the look in his ice-blue eyes.
He carries little gear with him, only a simple sack with a few provisions, preferring to travel light. He wears thick leather boots and leggings, suitable for a man who has done more than his share of marching along long roads, and rough iron greaves to compliment them, as a souvenir of his time in a mercenary troupe. Aside from these, he wears only a simple vest, and slung over his shoulder is his father's hammer - a truly gigantic weapon, the head as big around as some men's chests.
Things he always does:
Swagger, in his walk and in his talk.
Uphold his given word.
Wreak inexorable vengeance on those who earn it.
Things he never does:
Turn tail from an earthly opponent.
Walk away from a good meal.
Leave a shieldbrother in need.
Goals:
Find his kidnapped family.
Earn the name of a hero worthy of fighting by the mighty Conan's side.
Repay his debt of honor to Xanos Doom.
Stats - all of these are subject to change, based mostly on me not being too sure of the rules. Especially the careers, these were handled differently in the first game I built this up for.
Attributes Strength 4 (5 w/Cerulean Strength), Agility 0, Mind 0, Appeal 0
Combat: Brawl 1, Melee 2, Ranged 0, Defense 1
Careers: Farmer 1, Barbarian 1, Mercenary 1, Soldier 1
Boons: Cerulean Strength, Strength Feat (or Giant Weapons, undecided)
Flaw: Distrust of Sorcery
Alchemy: Nope.
Hero Points: 5
Hit Points: 15/15.
Movement: 25'.
Priests/Miracles: Nada.
Spell Points: Nuh-uh.
Armor/Equipment: Greaves + Boots = 2 Protection.
Weapon: Seriously large mace.
Doo bee doo bee doo...
Tempted to create Red Sonja for this. Must read the rules first though.
Quite interested, as I voiced interest in the other thread. Still have to do a little more reading up to get a good character concept going.
The advantage of magic is that you can add additional casting requirements to a spell to reduce its cost in arcane points. So a first magnitude spell is 10 points and needs one casting requirement, if you add more you can reduce it to less than 10 points. Psionics it's always 10 points no matter what. However psions can store pyschic points in crystals for later use.
So for example, a magician with only rank 3 in their career would normally have 13 arcane points. A third magnitude spell costs 15 points, so even though they're qualified to do it (rank 3) they don't have enough points. They'd need to sacrifice a virgin, wait for the stars to align, with a knife made from a dragon's tooth on the altar of Baggal-Somesuch to reduce the arcane points requirement down to under 13. Those requirements are just completely random examples, but you get the idea.
Either way, if you're coming from Pathfinder this is going to feel like an extremely low magic game.
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Rules aside, the way I'm flavoring it is that magic is a primitive form of psionics. Lacking science, the people of the hyborian age think all the rituals and chanting etc is necessary, but really they're just using it to get into a trance and using a circumscribed form of psionics. So at the beginning of the game, if you want something it needs to be magic.
In the future you'll encounter psionics and can maybe get someone to teach you. Or you can take the psychic career at rank 0 and be a latent psychic, and then power it up once we get to the future.
Alchemists can make healing potions between adventures. I would reccomend at least one person take ranks in psychic. Even if you won't be able to use it in the first few posts, we won't be in the past for very long. In my above post I said rank 0, that wasn't really what I meant. I just meant that anyone with ranks in psychic will have it be latent until they go through 'the event' that takes them to the future. You can put up to three points in the career just like any other.
So, I still feel a little overwhelmed jumping into this, and a bit lost in the Hyborian Age, but I'm finding it very interesting.
Right now I'm thinking of a Nordic (Vanir) warrior, a mercenary who's fighting alongside Conan's forces. He'll be your typical strong, quick hero type, fighting with sword and shield and wearing a horned helmet--pretty much a typical Viking-style character. I'll post in with more if/once I come up with anything.
Here's some a sample character like you described:
Abilties-
Strength 3
Agility 1
Mind 0
Appeal 0
Combat-
Brawling 1
Melee 2
Ranged 0
Defense 1
Lifeblood 13
Boon:Warcry - Give all your enemies a flaw and allies a boon for one round.
Hero Points 5
Careers-
Barbarian 2 (Savage warrior, relies on instincts)
Mercenary 1 (has spend enough time in organized forces to know how to ride horses, and maintain his gear. Heavier armor no problem for him.)
Hunter 1 (Can track and hunt enough to easily live off the land in the wilderness)
Blacksmith? 0
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This guy's a beast in melee, not completely useless with a bow, same goes for defense. He'd probably benefit from heavy armor. If you want to trade off some damage for accuracy, you could drop his Str to two and raise his agility by 1.
Adding another house rule. Namely, that instead of a flat +2 to your defense for the round if you choose to dodge, you add your agility to defense. So quicker, more agile characters will benefit more from dodging.
I'll take that rank in psychic. It fits that Xanos would pick that up pretty naturally.
Pedwiddle - That's a legitimate character, it needs a boon, and should have five hero points but the rest is right. Assassin and thief overlap quite a bit, and if all you want to craft is poison, I'd let your assassin rank give you that.
Xanos - Cool. Once you get some advancement points, I'll allow you to shift ranks in Magician over to Psychic at a cost of 1 AP per rank if you want. That way you won't be punished for trying to be both a magician and psychic.
How's Dorin looking so far? Any thoughts/problems?
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Sorry Dorin, my silence wasn't because I was ignoring you.
Dorin's awesome, I liked playing with him before and I've love to have him in now. I only suggest that you use the avatar that I have for this alias. It fits too well.
Stats wise, they are pretty close but need some tweaking. Here ya go:
Attributes Strength 4 (Cerulean Strength), Agility 0, Mind 0, Appeal 0 (you have one point left to put somewhere other than str)
Combat: Brawl 1, Melee 2, Ranged 0, Defense 1
Careers: Farmer 1, Barbarian 1, Mercenary 1, Soldier 1
Boons: Cerulean Strength, Strength Feat (or Giant Weapons, undecided)
Flaw: Distrust of Sorcery
Alchemy: Nope.
Hero Points: 5
Hit Points: 15/15.
Movement: 25'.
Priests/Miracles: Nada.
Spell Points: Nuh-uh.
Armor/Equipment: Greaves + Boots = 2 Protection.
Weapon: Seriously large mace d6+3, if you take giant weapons d8+3
Rahr. Changes made - and yeah, image change necessary. I liked yelling guy, but big hammer is big.
Went with agility for the spare point, and Strength Feat instead of Giant Weapons. Didn't realize there was a cap of 3 (my bad, missed it), and so the boon helps make up the difference. I are lift things good.
Xanos, why are you at the battle, and whose side are you fighting on?
To clarify the dodging house rule, dodging adds two to your defense or adds your agility, whichever is higher.
I'm thinking I'm there to repay my debt to Dorin. He's buds with conan (as much as anyone is, I suppose.) Xanos freed Dorin's sister from slavery, so Dorin helped Xanos find the Eye of the Serpent (a powerful divination tool and relic from Xanos' past). Xanos considers that enough of a debt that he needs to return the favor. When Conan called for warriors, they both answered.
Xanos doesn't have much intrest in the battle, but Dorin does. Conan and most others don't trust Sorcery so Xanos is in subtle-magic mode, mostly acting as a tactical advisor and occasionally using the Eye to spy on the enemy.
Sound good?
Thanks for the basic statting, Jelani, but with a more developed character concept, I fear it will need some changing...
A soldier from birth, Orvar was born to a Vanir warrior named Torgis. Inheriting his father's strength of body and character, Orvar quickly grew into a strapping young man, powerful and lean. He was a skilled hunter and even more skilled warrior, proving himself in competitions, hunts, and battles throughout his young adult life. However, he found even life among the Vanir to be less than he desired, and with his father's blessing, he set out into the world as a mercenary. Hearing of Conan and the famous warrior's cause against the wizard Xaltotun, Orvar joined up with Conan's army.
Fittingly (his name means "arrow," and his father's name is "shaft of Thor"), Orvar is skilled in combat in general, but his true mastery is of the bow. With his muscular frame, Orvar can draw and fire a weapon that many men would struggle to bend even a little, and he can kill accurately from some distance. He is no pushover in close combat, either, preferring the sword-and-shield combination typical of his people.
Hope this gives a good idea of Orvar's abilities. If it's too varied to be useful, I can drop some stuff; mainly I think it'd be interesting to have a good archer type.
This is my mulling around over a character. Some sort of mainly ranged fighter, who can still throw a punch, kick, or tackle in at close range. I know he's not finished, but his name is Bunken and I'll post a barebones profile soon!
Abilities Strength 1 Agility 4 Mind 0 Appeal 0
Combat Brawl 1 Melee 0 Ranged 3 Defense 0
Careers Hunter 2 Gladiator 1 Assassin 1 Merchant 0
Boons Blind Combat, Haklaton Agility
Flaw Drunkard
Hero Points 5
Hit Points 11
Movement ???
Armor/Weapons Bracers, Boots, War Bow, Fists
Gear Tobacco pipe, flask of wine
Things he always does...
Smoke and/or drink after a near-death experience.
Ask for loans or favors that he often has trouble paying back.
Leap before looking (metaphorically and, sometimes, quite literally).
Things he never does...
Overlook small comforts -- the little things are usually the most important things.
Harm a child.
Things he wants in life...
A place with peace and quiet... that's also down to party.
To repay debts: Bunken always seems to owe somebody something.
...
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@Loup - Sounds like maybe change to 3/1 or 2/2 Agil/Str, move a rank from Barbarian to Hunter? Maybe 1 point in every Combat stat, or perhaps take 2 in Ranged & 0 in Brawling?
You could keep War Cry, and take Ugly & Brutish flaw in order to get Thick Skin or Hard-To-Kill.
Not that I know anything about the system, so I don't know the best way to balance out "good with a bow, good with a sword and shield, and very strong".
The stats I gave you Loup are definitely for a more melee oriented character. Agility controls your accuracy for both melee and ranged. It also controls your bonus damage for bows.
Melee attacks are agility+melee to hit, and then strength to damage for anything that's not a light weapon.
Alright, I know I've jumped all over the map, but I think I'm settled on a character type.
He'll be swordsman with latent psychic ability. Maybe he's been able to tap into them previously, but only for the briefest moment and very rarely. He doesn't even realize he has them. Once the worlds collide, he'll be able to manifest some ability, but he'll continue to rely mostly on his sword skills, using the psychic powers mostly to augment his fighting skills.
I'm thinking of a 75%/25% split on the fighting skills and psychic ability. At the beginning, he'll be a mid-level soldier (having only 75% of the ability of the others), but as the game progresses, he'll learn to use his mind powers to help himself.
He'll have been on the Xaltotun side of the battle and something about him is unsettling. Few trust him, but once things begin to happen he's too useful to abandon.
Boons: Blind-Combat, Magic-Resistance
Flaws: Untrustworthy
I'll try to get Nine pieces of info up this weekend.
So that's Dorin, Xanos, Anhur, Orvar, Bunken and Enchanter Tim. Closing Recuritment now. That should be plenty of people. Once everyone's completely finished with their characters we can get started.
Here's a very basic alias for Orvar. I don't really know anything about the system, so I've only put up what I can figure out from DM Jelani's statting and looking at other people's profiles.
Loup - Download the rulebook linked in the first post and read it. It's short and easy to understand. All the rules are virtually identical to that, I'm just using a newer version. I also need the 9 things about Orvar. Three he always does, three he never does, three goals.
D-Kal - The gear is fine. Those casing requirements you have in your profile are the ones for second magnitude spells.
Oh, wow, I just never saw that. Really ought to look more closely, sometimes... Yeah, I'll get all that going on quite soon.
Ok, here's Argoth Semahur. I tried to stat out his basic character given the rules online. I gave him a "Psychic" career to show his latent, but unexplored ability. At this point any manifestation of it is seen as pure luck on his part, though some of it may have kept him alive in the briefest moments in the past.
Argoth looks good. Which side is he fighting for?
Xaltotun, of course. It only adds to his untrustworthiness.
Here are the magic rules from the Legendary edition that we'll be using.
Cost:1 or 2 AP
Reqs: None
Minimum: 1 AP
Difficulty:Easy or Moderate
First Magnitude-
Cost:5 AP
Reqs: Needs one, -1 per extra taken
Minimum:2 AP
Difficulty: Moderate or Tricky
First Magnitude Casting Requirements
• Special Item: An ancient tome, heavy tablet or delicate scroll is required but is relatively easy to come by (some bartering, a short journey or a minor expenditure)
• Line of Sight: The caster must be able to clearly see his or her intended target
• Casting Time: The spell will take at least 1d6 x 30 minutes of meditation, chanting, dancing etc. to correctly execute
• Intimate Materials: A personal item of the intended target (or a tile from the target building, for example) is required
• Special Knowledge: The caster must conduct lengthy research before he or she has the necessary information to cast the spell
• Obvious Technique: The caster must gesture, chant, dance or make strange sounds during the brief casting process
• Hour Power: The spell may only be cast at a specific hour of the day
• Ritual Cleansing: The caster must bathe in clean water and essential oils and shave all bodily hair from his or her body
• Wounds: The magician suffers d3 LB of damage when the spell is cast
Second Magnitude-
Cost:10 AP
Reqs: Needs one, -1 per extra taken
Minimum:6 AP
Difficulty: Hard or Tough
Second Magnitude Casting Requirements
• Special Item: An ancient tome, heavy tablet or delicate scroll is required and the item will prove difficult to obtain. It is rare or held in a distant land or at the top of a dark wizard’s tower, guarded by vicious winged apes!
• Rare Ingredients: An expedition is required to locate the necessary items to perform the magic. It will take 1d6 weeks and at least a purse of gold to obtain the necessary items (of course any magician worth his salt would have a stable of willing barbarians to track down those special herbs for him)!
• Permanent Focus: The caster must undertake ritual tattooing to permanently inscribe the details of the spell on his or her person
• Casting Time: The spell will take at least 2d6 hours of meditation, chanting, dancing etc. to correctly execute
• Ritual Sacrifice: An animal (of at least the size of a lamb) must be sacrificed prior to casting
• Lunar: The spell may only be cast during a specific phase of the moon
• Personal Ordeal: The caster must fast for 2d6 days
• Wounds: The magician suffers d6+1 LB of damage when the spell is cast
Third Magnitude-
Cost:15 AP
Reqs: Needs one, -1 per extra taken
Minimum:11 AP
Difficulty: Demanding
Third Magnitude Casting Requirements
• Personal Ordeal: The caster must undertake ritual scarring and/or mutilation and bloodletting to achieve the right frame of mind for casting.
• Ritual Sacrifice: A sentient being must be slaughtered to empower the spell (a beautiful wench would be most suitable but they tend to have hairy barbarians trailing behind them that frequently take issue with the whole sacrificing deal)
• The Stars ARE Right: The spell may only be cast when the necessary stars and planets are correctly aligned
• Place of Power: There is only one place known to man where this spell may be cast and guess what? It’s not close!
• Demonic Transformation: Casting the spell will permanently (maybe) transform the caster into some horrible demonic form with an even more clichéd maniacal laugh
• Wounds: The magician suffers 2d6+1 LB of damage when the spell is cast
Recovering Arcane Power
The caster recovers 4 Arcane Power spent to create First Magnitude spells at noon or midnight (the sorcerer makes the choice but must live with the choice for the duration of his or her casting life) every day. Arcane Power spent on Cantrips is recovered both at noon and at midnight.
Arcane Power spent in the creation of Second and Third Magnitude spells are recovered at the rate of 4 points per lunar month (usually the first night of the full moon but the sorcerer may choose his or her phase). Additionally, whenever the sorcerer casts Third Magnitude magic, a point of Arcane Power is permanently lost. This loss of Arcane Power can be exchanged for the loss of an attribute point instead – it could represent aging and so reduce the magicians appeal by 1, for example (down to negative numbers if necessary).
I'll add them to the campaign tab once we get started.
THis doesn't detail what the various magnitude spells are capable of.
If I remember right, 2nd mag spells can paralyze or kill outright. 3rd mag spells do things like cause spontaneous violent formation of volcanoes or raise armies of the dead.
Cantrips
These are very basic spells allowing the caster to conjure a brief pool of light, the distant sound of laughter, or a spark to light a fire. Cantrips can be used to repair a common object, sour a jug of ale or make the brief illusion of a common object. Other examples might include making a coin vanish, causing a rope to slither up a castle wall or distracting a guard with an imagined sound. Such spells rarely cost more than 1 Arcane Power and only require a skill roll when directly affecting a sentient target or perhaps if the magician has been deprived of his trinkets and fetishes (when the Arcane Power cost would be higher too). More powerful spells are trickier though and are really the stuff of heroic magicians and villainous sorcerers.
Spells of the first magnitude
These tend to be spells that the magician can cast during the course of an adventure. They are utility spells; they allow the sorcerer to perform activities that anyone with the right training and equipment could manage. Such sorcery might allow the caster to glide up the side of a cliff – since a normal person with rope and pitons could achieve the same result (eventually). Damaging spells of this type would typically cause 1d6 LB of damage to the target. These spells cost 5 Arcane Power and have a price too. You must select one casting requirement to be able to produce the spell at all. For every additional casting requirement that the magician can meet, in full, reduce the power cost by one point. The minimum Arcane Power cost of a First Magnitude spell is always 2.
Spells of the First Magnitude are usually either moderate or tricky task resolution rolls.
Spells of the second magnitude
These are powerful sorceries indeed and are often only possible during the course of an adventure if appropriate research and preparations are made between adventures (see Chapter 6: Advancement points). Minds can be controlled, buildings levelled and mighty warriors transformed into squeaking uzegs. These spells are defined as activities that would be impossible for a single person. Destroying a door would be a spell of the First Magnitude, destroying the wall is definitely Second Magnitude. These spells cost 10 Arcane Power. For every casting requirement after the first that the magician can comply with or chooses, you can reduce the cost by 1 point, down to a minimum of 6 Arcane Power. Spells of the Second Magnitude are either hard or tough task resolution rolls.
Spells of the third magnitude
These are incredibly rare in any game. These spells bring about natural disasters and terrible curses spanning generations. Such spells cost 15 Arcane Power. For every casting requirement that the caster complies with, reduce the Arcane Power cost by 1. The minimum cost for spells of the Third Magnitude is 11 Arcane Power. Spells of the Third Magnitude are always demanding task resolution rolls.
One of these days, I'm gonna have to try to play a sorcerer of some kind in this system, just to play with the spells of X magnitude. Until Dorin dies or actually completes an adventure, though, I think I'm content to smack things with a hammer.
An amusing note - check the Ritual Sacrifice requirement for spells of the third magnitude. Not a bad parody of Dorin's backstory.
Hm. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but shouldn't Xanos only need one flaw? I know that Magic of the Sorecerer-Kings requires one, but I thought that was the only boon he had...do we start with a flaw and I wasn't paying attention for that?
Sorry for the nitpicking, I was just browsing what everybody else had picked for boons and confused myself. Just wanted to make sure I didn't need a new flaw or anything.
You should only have one boon unless you take a flaw, then you can have two. If you spend two hero points permanently you can also take another boon (you can do this up to two times).
You only need a flaw if you took two boons, and didn't pay with hero points. Some of the boons require a second flaw as well.
So yeah, Xanos should have another boon. He should also have 25' movement, and 3 mind.
So to be clear on the boons thing, you can have 4 maximum. If you pay 4 hero points permanently, and take a flaw.
Profile is complete, looking for avatar picture. I think Bunken was likely a mercenary archer for Xaltotun, there for the money and nothing more.
You should only have one boon unless you take a flaw, then you can have two. If you spend two hero points permanently you can also take another boon (you can do this up to two times).
You only need a flaw if you took two boons, and didn't pay with hero points. Some of the boons require a second flaw as well.
Okay, cool. Thanks for the clarification.
Now...to give Dorin "Giant Weapons" or not... Who am I kidding? That hammer is core to the character concept. Third boon acquired. Sadly, the munchkin in my brain tells me this is a terrible move, as far as effectiveness goes (d6 -> d8, meh), but hey, that's the price I pay for staying true to the vision.
Oh, and after looking over the career descriptions a bit more closely, I went ahead and shoved my rank in Soldier over to Barbarian. I don't think he has that much experience in being part of an actual guard force and/or real army, much more used to doing his own thing.
Two more quick thoughts before I quit babbling (tonight).
I'm seriously pleased with how diverse the party is. There's gonna be some great interactions here; an Aesir and a Vanir, shady folks and people who never break their word, magicians and barbarians, assassins and guardsmen... this is gonna be a blast.
Also, I know this is a rules light game, so this may not matter much, but I went and grabbed the PDF of the legendary version, and holy hell is it easier to read/understand. I'd highly recommend grabbing it, it's like seven bucks on RPGnow - y'know, presuming you like to do things legally.
Okay, I think everyone has an alias up. Discussion thread is open. Gonna do a final character check and then start working on a gameplay post.
Regarding the flaws, I'd read that levels of magician beyond the first each require a flaw. Is that true?
Seriously? I missed that. Wow.
Regarding the flaws, I'd read that levels of magician beyond the first each require a flaw. Is that true?
Oh wow, look at that. Yep. "Sorcery is a fast track to power but it also brings its own price. For each rank taken as a magician beyond the first, you must take one flaw."
Yech.
Nope sorry. .
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Awe too bad. Wanted to try my hand at playing a Vanir warrior/priest.
Aerin 'the fatherless'
- Hair: Red, Eyes: Eerie Emerald Green
STR: 1
AGL: 2
MIND: 0
APP: 1
Brawl: 0
Melee: 1
Ranged: 1
Defense: 2
Mercenary 1, Hunter 1, Priest {AEDIR} 1, Minstrel 0
Hit Points: 11
Resources: 1
Wealth: 1
HERO Points: 5
Gear-
2x Swords
Bow
Bracers, Boots, Mail Shirt [Protection 5]
Things Aerin Will Never do:
- Never cheat and honest man
- Never take a woman against her will
- Never kill anyone who does not have it coming!
Things he will Always do:
- Accept a challenge
- Keep His word
- Flirt Shamelessly!
Goals:
- Find out who his parents really are and why he was abandoned
- Find TRUE Love in his life
- Earn Fame, Respect, and Acceptance Among the Aesir {Have Chief Leirik his 'foster-father' call him son.. and claim him as his own}
History -
Found one winter night a toddler child still in his swaddling cloths and a basket, left on the the step of the Aesir chief's longhouse. None could figure out whe left the child there but the wisps of his sun-reddish hair and haunting eerie eyes of emerald bespoke his heritage as vanir a child of Aelf-kind! Reluctantly for not even the great warchief, Leirik Sven's son, wanted to anger the Aelf spirits of the frozen north and their capricious jest, he raised the boy but claimed him not. Noe would speak fo the fact that the child was not found cold but unnaturally warm even int he cold of the deep winter.
As he grew his fiery spirit and quick fleetness made many a Aseir wonder at the boy who they called Aerin... which in Ald tongue meant 'fire-heart'. It was appropriate as the boy seemd blessed by the power of Aedir himself his magic and power seen in the boy's heated glowing sword in battle raid and warmth he could summon even on the coldest of biting nights. So his place among the Aesir was respected if not wholly trusted... him being a mystery and a thing of Eldritch origin.
As with the self same nature of his fiery spirit... Aerin was never satisfied with the simple or routine and wander lust filled his heart. Eventually he left the Aesir and journeyed far as a mercenary to see the world ever the wanderer and explorer hunting great beast in the jungles far to the south in Kush and riding across the vast deserts of
Zamora even hunting the barbarian lands of of the pictish Wilds. Always seeking... what... he did not know but never being content.
Aerin joined King Conan's army as a field chanter and war-minstrel to call out the signals for directing of troops.. for the famous Barbarian king was the stuff of legend and surely there would be action, song, tales of glory and wenches under his banner!