ruemere's page

13th Age SRD, traps:
http://www.13thagesrd.com/running-the-game/#Traps_Obstacles

Pathfinder SRD, pit trap:
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/traps-hazards-and-special-terrains/t raps/pit-trap-cr-1/

Verdict:
New version has very complicated, very _gamist_ description.
What is the advantage of putting so many tags for such a simple effect?

Comment:
It looks like there is a Java developer working on a Hello World program. Also, as any engineer is would tell, there are no systems that cover all corner/niche cases, so trying to describe everything is not a step in right direction.
The instructions should be simple and general.

"If you succeed and the target is alive, anytime during the duration you can spend a Verbal action to speak a word of death that could instantly slay it, depending on its Fortitude save."

This is really awkward method of expressing the dependencies. It also does not state whether the target must be able to hear the word of death or be within a range of hearing, or...

Moreover: this casting deals no damage. So why would the target become NOT alive at the end of the casting, huh?

Also this section (below) is not clear whether it relates to QUIVERING PALM casting or target's Fortitude save.

"Success The target survives, the spell ends, and the target is bolstered against it.
Failure The target is stunned for 1 round but survives. The spell's duration continues, but the target is bolstered against being killed by quivering palm for 24 hours.
Critical Failure The target dies."

Verdict: Really bad. As in back to the drawing board.

----
Upon successful casting, the target is affected by a spell effect. The effect is dormant until activated by a caster with a Verbal action (the target must be within a range of hearing and alive, though not necessarily able to hear the caster).
----

*sigh*

I will probably invest into playtest edition to see how it measures up to my favorite two games, 13th Age and Shadow of the Demon Lord.

If it is as good, as lean and elegant, then great. Otherwise, well, I'll be a happy owner of shiny playtest edition.

NOTE:
This means, in plain English, that I expect the people behind PFRPG 2nd edition to follow modern trends in RPG design, and slaughter sacred cows hailing from 3rd edition era.

A few examples:

- all-warrior party remains viable throughout all levels in 13th Age. Yes, warriors can support themselves without healers and wizards.

- adjudicating complicated combat in SotDl takes 45 minutes... if you're a beginner GM that is.

- magic items are not be all and end all of a character. Character abilities are more important than trinkets.

- feats that grant +1 to _something_, feats that grant +1 every N levels... GONE!

- there is place for epic magic, but it is not in combat. You don't cast reality altering stuff in seconds. On the other hand, Wizards don't need to run out of magic during a day, forcing everyone to take a long rest.

And so on.

Any chance for 13th Age or Shadow of the Demon Lord support, even as a small PDF?

(I know they're not listed in stretch goals...)

Regards,
Ruemere

Generic Villain wrote:

Berselius wrote:

Nope, what's in that sack are the children of evil-aligned worshipers to foul gods (like Asmodeus or Zon-Kuthon).

Oh I know that's the Earth myth. I'm just thinking, maybe Krampus got tired of the competition and decided to take out the big man himself. And with Chris Kringle out of the way, that'll make child abduction that much easier.

Work smart, not hard.

Nah, the Krampus is no match for Father Christmas! He's a mythic kickbutt master of holiday cheer that will come to town on Krampus's behind! Cause he's got a list and he's checking it twice and when it comes to Krampus Santa's definately not nice! :D

(warning: not entirely SFW)

Ok, beside the bounded accuracy good/ no its the work of arch devils argument. I am gonna go ahead and put down what I feel PF 2e should go in. Recall guys this is just my opinions based off my own taste.

1: Something akin to Bounded accuracy. I want the mods cleared out, reduced and the math capped. It need not be done in the same way as 5e, but the lack of balance, rocket tag rules and the sheer amount of work at high end and with optimization drove me away from 3.x at last.

2:Spells need heavily redressed and the caster/non caster divide closed. Caster should not rule the game

3: BAB needs fixated and the ever worse extra attacks need dead. If you grant an extra attack its just that. Not a way worse attack

4:No more magic xmass tree/no need to have magic items. Magic should be cool and fun, not required.

5: I want healing for every class. You should not have to have a healer. If you want to call HP's vitality to make it not magical, cool.

6: Fewer classes but more customizable/ robust classes. Bake in the archtype concert and allow for broader classes

7: Please for the love of all that is holy, if you can not kill the evil that is Vancian casting. At the very lest add another non-vancian spellcaster class option.

8: Feats should be cool, not a +2 to this or a +1 to river dancing. They also should not be traps and all should be about the same power level

9: Some of those "feats" should be basic class abilities

10: Fix freaking saves

11: Ditto wth sklls DC and make fewer, but broader skills

You have just described the reasons why I switched to 13th Age.

Regards,
Ruemere

Ran a campaign there for ten years (with breaks).
That said, I would prefer a new system.

Regards,
Ruemere

Do you like our owl?
It's artificial...
Of course it is.

An illusionist wizard with clockwork owl familiar?

Regards,
Ruemere

@Ruemere - more good analysis. I realised after I posted it might seem like I was inferring you were turned off by saying I wasn't. That wasn't my intent. Like I said, I agree with much of your analysis - I'm familiar with Numenera, but I found it not easy to "get into" as a new player. It might play easier once you are in and playing but what I'd dearly like to see from FMRPG is lots of concrete examples of play with options and variables explained - the PF Beginner Box did not have this.

Interesting that the art is a real winner for at least a few of us. The aesthetics are important to me, as much as the crunch.

Thanks for sharing.

Regarding the art. It's fresh, simple and conveys the 'true power resides within' message. The characters are the focus, not their stuff. One could argue that pointy hat guy looks kind of, well, let's settle for obvious, but given Sean's fair warning about video game inspirations, I'll chalk it up as fetish or homage type of the thing.

So, let's see what comes next.

Regards,
Ruemere

ruemere wrote:

Design principles seem to follow modern tendencies with regard to unified class model (all classes use the same mechanics, with some f/x thrown in to preserve basic class differences). Blog posts appear to indicate that Sean attempts to shed specific subsystems.

Hard to tell anything yet, it feels like Arcana Evolved and 4E romancing each other with neither wanting to fully commit due to powerful shadowy influence of family patriarch (PFRPG).

Tentatively interested. Needs more passion and wonder to make me back it up.

Regards,
Ruemere

An interesting summation, and I agree up to a point, but it doesn't turn me off.

Personally, I'm glad to see structure kept for "classes" and a certain closeness kept to DnD/3.5/4e - I'm not fond of completely new mechanics all the time for everything. Boosts look like a nice resource option for limited power increase, and characters having at-will options (kinda like 4e from my limited experience of 4e and total lack of FMRPG experience) is something I think can increase "narrative power".

Dispensing with "realism" (crossbows!!!) is also something I like - personally my only hurdle with Gunslingers is having to track and pay for ammunition. I'd rather play them as
a Warlock...

As for passion, I guess that is a personal thing. I have seen Sean on the messageboards, argued with him a few times - he is obviously very engaged with the philosophy of game design, and FMRPG seems to be his passionate attempt to address things he feels could be made...different. How different it is or needs to be is up to each person to determine.

I'm not turned off either, merely not interested enough to commit.

Please allow me to elaborate a bit on the reasoning behind my opinion:

1. Sean is trying to get into very tightly packed market. Moreover, the presentation of the system makes it look like it is going to be really close to its esteemed predecessors. And so I look at his blog entries and measure them against his ideas:
- readied abilities? - work like a charm, already implemented in Arcana Evolved and 5E.
- simplified monster statblocks - 4E, Trailblazer, 5E, Swords and Wizardry
- retraining for all classes - PFRPG
- wands? - marginal issue, not really worth a blog entry

2. Stuff mentioned, but not revealed yet:
- Power moved from items to characters - already done by 13th Age, Fate, Dungeon World - I would really like to see Sean's take on this. This is something that really changes the way you play the game.

3. Important but not addressed so far:
- Magic has the answer to everything, Skills and Martials don't - Does Sean intend to tackle this issue or not?
- Compatibility - Does Sean plan to implement some level of compatibility or not?
- World changing magic - Fly, Teleport, Scry, Invisibility, Maze, Dimensional X (where X - most spells with Dimensional in their name), Magic items, Wish, Antimagic (I know, I read about this one), Curses, Magic Healing, Magic that Creates Items, Magic that Summons - This is Pandora box of Magic legacy - Are these items going to be replaced (see Arcana Evolved), tamed (see Eberron, Zeitgeist), removed (4E, 13th Age) or ?
- Full-attack actions and Multiaction rounds - disparity (and time-wasting) present when a character does long, tedious and boring things (iterative attacks) vs. moments of ownage (timestop, or just move/spell/quickened spell with a sugar effect on a top) - are we going to see something to that compares to 4E, Fate, Dungeon World or 13th Age?
- Prep time - the moment a GM realizes that he or she are going to spend days to put together an adventure to be played over the course of one session. - Seriously, this is something important for those of us, who have jobs, lives and are not retired yet :)

Honorable mentions:
- crafting
- ability, traits, saves, DCs and scaling
- multiclassing

4. Altogether new toys:
- Narrative power in hands of PCs - Numenera, Fate, 13th Age - Ability to introduce new narrative powers into the game.
- New setting - Islands floating a sea of ether is nice, so how about some tips how w can go straight to the story? Remember Oldenhaller Contract from WFRP? And to make myself absolutely clear - I don't want 40 gods, 20 cities and elaborate maps. I would like to see conflict, corrupted NPCs, real and present dangers. For tips, check Numenera, the Strange, 13th Age and of course, the grand daddy of this approach, WFRP 1st edition.
- How long does it take to make a new character?

NOTE: I would like to emphasize that I expect Sean NOT to tackle all of these or most of these. These example only serve to point out why, with Five Moons looking dangerously similar to its predecessors, Sean's work seems very daunting (leaving me somewhat undecided).

I have had the privilege of reading Trailblazer, a most interesting take on d20 weaknesses (Keith Gersen's stuff also comes to my mind), but despite good stuff, it lost me when it made me add even more work to prep time. I have scavenged some of it, but I was not able to fully benefit.

5. The good stuff that makes me want to buy into Kickstarter so far:
- the art. It's very original.
- the prose. Sean knows how to put things into words.
- the small size of the crunch book. Sean knows how to be brief about stuff.

6. The stuff that would make me go boom with enthusiasm:
- mission/vision/goals - a short and well thought out executive summary of what we should expect and what is definitely out of scope. This is not a list of specific changes. This is not a list of "we're going to do this better than our predecessors". This is the list of what Sean loves about his new toy. The intro movie does contain some of these, but hey, I want some strong statements like "Expect to learn new rules in a single reading", "Your magician shall be able to fit his abilities on a single page", etc.
- a few words on setting - how do the adventurers fit the game world? This may be of some surprise to many, but actually this topic is seldom addressed. So, what makes the adventurers appear?
- a few words on the setting - do we get social strata? Magitech? Steampunkish? Stone Age?
What's the genre? And how are we going to support it? (horror - sanity, heroic fantasy - bags of hitpoints and hero points, etc)

----

I could go on. But generally, these are the things I look for before I back an RPG Kickstarter. And I backed quite a few.

Regards,
Ruemere

Design principles seem to follow modern tendencies with regard to unified class model (all classes use the same mechanics, with some f/x thrown in to preserve basic class differences). Blog posts appear to indicate that Sean attempts to shed specific subsystems.

Hard to tell anything yet, it feels like Arcana Evolved and 4E romancing each other with neither wanting to fully commit due to powerful shadowy influence of family patriarch (PFRPG).

Tentatively interested. Needs more passion and wonder to make me back it up.

Regards,
Ruemere

There is an rpg for Witcher (link) but it's in Polish and it's closer to the books than the crpg.

Savage Worlds of Solomon Kane sans gunpowder would be probably close enough.

Regards,
Ruemere

You'll be missed, KT7fish.

Regards,
Ruemere

Scarred Lands.
Eberron.
Planescape.
Birthright.

Locke,

I'm flagging your post. Chill out, there is no need to attack people like this.

Regards,
Ruemere

You worry too much. Unless there's already a secret project for 2nd edition, we are at least two years away - consider that the hit for the next GenCon is to be the Occult Adventurers... or something like that.

On the other hand, being vocal now about changes needed is good as it helps Paizo to learn, and hopefully manage your expectations.

Personally, I feel there's strong need for parallel Pathfinder product that would allow for more narrative style of gaming. Modern systems focus on making GM's side of screen have more to do with building a story than statblocks.

Regards,
Ruemere

Me, I see Final Fantasy. Also bits of Blade Runner, Cyberpunk and, possibly, the Stalker.

Regards,
Ruemere

NOTE:
The opening post was not about creating a Pathfinder successor, but rather an alternative product line, to address the need for a simpler system with fewer design issues:

I want them to earn their next pile of bucks by producing a streamlined, narrative-rich version of Pathfinder.

Not just a "beginner's box," but an actual parallel rule structure that exists comfortably side-by-side with the more byzantine version of Pathfinder that's come into existence.

And my comment would be: why not go there? The time it takes to fully prepare an adventure or browse through options for NPCs or PCs grows longer with each new supplement. Judging by the design issues of mythic products, or the recent ACG, designers get lost themselves from time to time now.

----

I'll give a few examples, 13th Age and True20 based, how the game can become much, much simpler, while still retaining compatibility:

1. Make character damage, skill bonuses and saves a function of character class and level (i.e. a hero built around boxing people to death does the same damage as the one using two handed greataxe).
Note: It's already happening - just check Brawler class from ACG.

2. Ditch, or make cosmetic all spell buffs, magic item bonuses. Let the power come from within the character, not from their items.

3. Decrease class list to the two archetypes: the specialist and the caster. At each level, the archetype picks three abilities (offensive, defensive, utility) and assigns priority to each.

Do you want to play a tough warrior?
As a specialist, pick defensive stuff first, damage second, and appropriate weapon/armor/tactic/feat utilities.
Use melee, ranged and defense options.

Do you want to be a crafty, yet, backstabbing rogue?
As a specialist, pick utility first, damage second, defensive third.
Use expert and melee options.

Would you like to be a controller mage?
As a caster, pick utility first, damage second, defensive third.
Use arcane caster options.

Would you like to be a protective cleric?
As a caster, pick utility first, defensive second, damage third.
Use divine caster options.

----

This way the game would become very streamlined (picking abilities at the level-up, no need to worry about gear or specific spells, or spells). If the options would adhere to general guidelines on character power, the characters would be still compatible with d20 system, but all complicated stuff would be gone.

NOTE: It's just a proposal, a proof that such concept can be made into a working product.

Regards,
Ruemere

Interesting. I'd like to ask you a question about Numenera - I've been bothered a little, that the same resource is used for hitpoints and powering up various abilities. Didn't your players feel penalized for this?

Secondly, I have experienced similar issue - my players at some point refused to read PFRPG supplements when making characters. Since then I have switched to 13th Age (a d20 variant with a few narrative mechanics, and most certainly rules-light system). If you want to take a break from PFRPG, I would recommend it for a nice change of pace *.

Regards,
Ruemere

PS. * - 13th Age is not perfect. But it's quite simple, casters most certainly do not dominate the game (anyone can pick a Ritual Magic feat, and then, Buffy style, produce a magic effect after several hours of intense research; combat spells are mostly limited to blasting; utility spells are very limited), the statblocks are sweet and simple, and conversion from PFRPG is quite easy (though you still need to address caster's superpowers).

Reddit posters have nailed it.

"This is the D&D we deserve."

Yes, I concur. It's the D&D we deserve. :) WotC finally got it right this time.

MM is not here yet.

No APs. No OGL. (yet?)

Hold your horses, dude.
Don't let the pretty pictures go to your head.

Regards,
Ruemere

Trying to build a 9th-level brawler and it is increasingly reminding me of the rogue, in that it's supposed to be a combat class, but it seems to be failing to do anything better than other combat classes out there.

That's because the progression should've been something like... human, gorilla, rhino, ..., Rhino, the Thing, Hulk.

In the game, where magic reigns supreme, classes extending mundane abilities should become superheroes, not +1 item users.

Apologies for this derail... it's just that seeing yet another class with fighter issues is really vexing.

Regards,
Ruemere

Caron was lucky that there was no nearby caster to charm, sleep or blind her. However, had she been a ranger (sneak, maybe some ranks in perception) or barbarian (improved speed and combat ability), she would have stood a better chance.
No love for the fighters in rules nor fiction.

Regards,
Ruemere

PS. Liked the story, would have liked it more had Caron had some better options at her disposal. For ideas, please refer to Brotherhood of Wolves.

for those of you who live outside the US and in Europe do you believe most are waiting for action from United States? Are your leaders going to do anything such as speak up at UN? Do you think US sanctions will work? If the US believes in any way that Russia is behind this then why haven't we done things such as closed embassy's in Russia? Is there any outrage of what happened with the plane?

This is politics. Sanity, common sense or fairness need not apply.

Sadly, as long as Russia keeps meddling, hope for peace is slim. The "separatists" keep getting supplies (gear and soldiers) and so the war can continue.

Regards,
Ruemere

Unchaining Fighter should mean , IMHO:
- removing dependency on magic items, for example: ability to turn nonmagic weapons into temporarily magical ones (ditto for armors)
- ability to recover from nasty magic and nonmagic effects
- power to circumvent magic-only advantages (invisibility is 2nd level spell only, but it is just as effective against 20th level fighter)
- skill points
- support for dexterity and constitution based viable builds (for example, ability to base attack and damage bonuses on these statistics)
- support for gaining tactical advantage through use of intelligence and charisma based action rolls
- more defensive and offensive options... that are available at lower levels than critical mastery, and that stay relevant longer than combat maneuvers

Regards,
Ruemere

How about inviting someone new to join your grognard group? Make the switch gradually... start with your family and their friends.

I have recently started GMing for a group of four, two parents and two kids, and it is working pretty well.

Regards,
Ruemere

Yeah we own two copies of 13th age

Read it, played it. Meh. And it's ugly and badly organised publication with lots wasted white space

While I agree that the book may have benefited from more editing, one has to remember that it's mechanics and GM that make a game.

That's why I chose a different world (the original was too logical, too artificial) and allowed for much more horizontal advancement for class progression (I built skill conversion system for hundreds of class abilities from the source game... This allows everyone to mix and match combat options to their heart content).

I feel also that real strengths of the system are in:
- rigid and balanced combat rules
- freeform magic for everyone outside of combat
- class balance... class background skill means that fighters no longer need to be dumb, mooks work better than 4e minions, statblock takes one-twelfth of a page while it can still get pretty complicated and I can decompose it back to base stats
- fewer rolls
- damage scales with level and class abilities, the role of the equipment is reduced... This means that epic paragon can choke a worm for damage close to the one he could do with +3 spear
- yes, this means that magic items may become inconsequential...

And so on. My players are currently at champion levels, leading a huge number of people away from their doomed homeland (for those who care, this is somewhat changed storyline of Prophecies campaign) toward uncertain fate in the traditionally hostile lands of Kryta, and they are about to embark on a mission of clearing pass in Shiverpeaks. And they love it.

Regards,
Ruemere

Gorbacz wrote:

We really need a new version of that video, with a bunch of people trying to figure out if the wizard is casting vanilla magic missile, errated magic missile, essentials magic missile or errated essentials magic missile. ;)

Or cast a dazing one, but that would break the camera

I'm hoping to switch, my chums are a bit mixed due to how much they have spent on PF. I am nearly 50 now and I want my high magic fantasy to be a bit simpler and faster.

Give 13th Age a read. It may be the book you need. And thanks to the rules, it's easy to pick up or convert to.

Regards,
Ruemere

Already switched to 13th Age (custom world based on Guild Wars with some special rules to bring over skill set and magic). Pathfinder is fine but I got burned out a bit (high level gameplay is tiring, among other things) - still retaining my subscriptions though, for the sheer quality of Paizo products.

IMHO, I would like Paizo designers to release Pathfinder 2.0 based on 13th Age system (and expanded toward 30th level).

One thing more: no OGL, no game from WotC. Sorry folks, but I don't like living in walled-off garden.

Regards,
Ruemere

Vendetta spanning generations.

The priest learnt a secret and was silenced for state reason.

The priest offered his life in exchange for someone else's.

The priest lost a poorly worded gamble, and the other party demanded life.

If the train goes faster than flying characters, flying will be useless.

Wall spells of any kind may block access very efficiently.

The bomb trigger may be located inside an extremely mobile automaton, designed to evade pursuers lacking correct identification.

Regards,
Ruemere

I would like to mention another of my personal favorites, 101 Not So Random Encounters: Urban.

The shortest way to describe it: The Godfather. With all implications of this being a monster encounter book.

Regards,
Ruemere

There's Faces of Tarnished Souk Kickstarter going on. This is an incredible resource for mining characters to wrap whole campaigns around.
Each of the NPCs comes with intermediate statblocks, so you can have them earlier, use them as recurring opponents or file away serial numbers to use them for other purposes.
The NPCs, in addition to memorable concepts, backstories and gear, are also built to be really challenging in combat.

Heartily recommended.

Regards,
Ruemere

But they wouldn't need to create Scarred Lands for Pathfinder from scratch... Only update existing d20 materials to it.

They might make their own system though.

There is a lot to convert. Literally years of work of fiendishly creative freelancers.

Regards,
Ruemere

Keeping my cheerleading pom-poms on standby for now.

For many reasons, I do not see Scarred Lands flying under Pathfinder banner (and system) right now, so I will remain cautiously optimistic (or even close to pessimistic right now).
IMHO, the best we can hope now for is for Onyx Path to lease Scarred Lands licenses to an established RPG company.

Regards,
Ruemere

PS. For those who would like to check it out, this is Onyx Path publishing schedule for 2013-2014.
No evidence of d20 experience whatsoever.
Being a former Vampire Dark Ages GM, I would say that they produce highly stylish WoD / Trinity stuff.

Oh, and in case someone forgot to mention, the book is beautiful...

Regards,
Ruemere

Choo-choo. Train's coming. Get on while you still can :)

Regsards,
Ruemere

I think that the source of your issue is discrepancy between ability first sentence and actual ability meaning.

Under standard logic "no alignment" would render any type of alignment-based comparison or requirement meaningless. Therefore, your character would rather fail to meet any alignment requirements.
Consequently:
1. Divine Source - since no domain can match your alignment, you cannot select any.
2. Your cleric would not be able to be within one step of deity's alignment, because your cleric has no alignment, just like you cannot measure distance between here and nowhere.
3. Your PC would not be a valid target for atonement, because your PC's alignment is not opposed to caster's alignment. Again, it's a case of attempting to measure distance between here and nowhere.

HOWEVER, the actual meaning of the ability can be paraphrased as follows:
- your alignment matches any comparison or requirement in the most favorable for you way
- the only way for you lose anything due to mis-aligned action, is that when someone else can judge morality of your action and consequently declare you not eligible

As per this interpretation:
1. Divine Source - select any domains you want. Good and Evil, Chaos and Law - it's all the same to you.
2. Your cleric is always within 1 step of deity's alignment, UNLESS the deity (or its properly empowered representative) declares you're not.
3. Your PC is always a valid target for atonement if the atonement is something your PC would like to be a target of.

IMHO, the first sentence should be stricken out, or replaced with "Your alignment matches any requirements and restrictions, as long as you deem this favorable."

Regards,
Ruemere

My copy reported for duty yesterday (Krakow, Poland) along with Freebooters Guide.

What a beautiful pair!

#308

Regards,
Ruemere

Trove of Treasure Maps, i.e. short writeup of location + puzzle + guardians + legend. Fakes, baits welcome.

Cursed Lineages, a bunch of secret backgrounds to pin on player characters to invite them on journeys of dark discovery of skeletons in closets.

Flowers of Evil, objects of art with dark history and terrifying haunts.

Mysterious Societies, 10 secret groups or cults to upset balance of power in your campaign.

PR is Everything, short list of good deeds for your villains to win over local populace so that the job of the PCs became that much harder.

Regards,
Ruemere

[...]As for "is a police state", that depends very much on what your definition is. We're definitely more of one than we were 20 or 30 years ago. Probably less of one than we were much of the time before that. It also depends on where you live and what color your skin is. Obviously the surveillance has increased with technology, but that's not the only marker.

But calling us one also diminishes the term when applied to actual police states. [...]

Guantanamo. Imprisoning citizens of different country (possibly countries) while denying them right to due legal actions. Confirmed cases of torture.

This is one terrifying proof how easy it is to quickly establish an instrument of repression. After all, the facilities can be adapted to allegedly criminal individuals of any type.

Note: I am not claiming nor considering US to be a "police state". I would however urge to remember Bradley Manning & Wikileaks, and Edward Snowden, as symptoms of issues that should be officially addressed and cleaned up. Though, if I were to speculate, the case of Agent Orange bodes ill for any reasonable resolution (hint: major financial compensation and official acknowledgement of blame for Agent Orange victims would be a start).

*casts animate thread, lesser...*

I have just began my test campaign in Guild Wars 1 setting using 13th Age rules. To facilitate painless rules transfer, here are the hard and fast rules, quite possibly applicable to your situation.

1. There are three arcane caster specializations (applies to: Sorcerer, Wizard and other arcane classes, be it full arcane or half-progression): Elementalist, Mesmer, Necromancer.

2. All specializations have access to all spells as per class standards, however in order to be actually to use them, the spells need to be converted as per class specific template. If the conversion is not possible, the spell is beyond the reach of a given specialization.

3. Mesmer spell template:

Limitations and changes:
- your spells can affect only living creatures (note: under GW1 setting, the undead, elementals are living beings)
- damage type of all spells is converted to psychic damage
- saves against your spells are always against Will (at GM's discretion, Reflex can be used against visible attacks; note that this means that Phantasmal Killer requires two Will saves)
- spells which inflict force damage or allow for telekinetic manipulation may be allowed, however they should take a slot at least two spell levels higher (that means that magic missile either inflicts psychic damage or requires 2 levels higher to inflict force damage)

Benefits:
Upon completion of full rest, Mesmer can select one of the special abilities from the list below. Once the Mesmer reaches 11th level, two benefits can be selected.
- Fast Casting - as long as you have access to spell slots of appropriate level, you can use Quickened Spell feat (1+Charisma bonus) times per day. Additionally, you can apply this feat to spells cast from magic items (potions, wands, staves, rings).
- Domination - +2 to spell penetration or spell save DC (your choice at the moment of casting)
- Inspiration - at the end of the encounter, you may recover one of the spells cast during the encounter.
- Illusions - at the time of the casting, you may attach a Bestow Curse or beneficiary spell to any of your illusions (use a spell slot for the effect spell as normal). Attempting to dispel the illusion spell, interact with the illusion spell or pass through the spell area causes the creature to become an automatic target of the spell.

Regards,
Ruemere

This is what Baba Yaga should represent - raw strength to beat iron mortar into flying, fondness of puzzles and challenges, existence too epic to be simply magicked.

Regards,
Ruemere

Note to self: check out what the DnD Next is all about. And whether it's OGL or not. Next month or, possibly, September.

Regards,
Ruemere

PS. Current status: PFRPG campaign on hold. Prepping 13th Age test run. Waiting for Numenera to come out. Next... can take a place in this queue.

Graveknight gets destroyed. The armor changes the next person to don it into a new graveknight. Problem solved.

Regards,
Ruemere

Here is to your speedy recovery, KT7FISH!
And to Nick's dad's, too.

Regards,
Ruemere

PS. Lost a good friend this Christmas - there should be some reality limiter for events like this.

For the same reason her costume looks as if designed by sex-starved certain banner fetishist :)

Regards,
Ruemere

There are quite a few interesting Kickstarter projects going on right now, Razor Coast for example, and so we have to manage our funds accordingly.

Regards,
Ruemere

Pledged.

Regards,
Ruemere

His reflex seems kind of crappy, that could probably be abused somehow

Sun beam.

Regards,
Ruemere

Granted. Also, your enemies learn about your inability to be vindictive and so they start to abuse you to their heart's content.

I wish for an incorruptible wish.