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Super Squirrel

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  12. Astromancy

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: Astromancy

     

    I'm not sure there are any other planets. Its a question I have never asked myself. There are, however, two moons. One has an extremely slow rotation and another that is exactly 30 days.

  13. Nature + Fire = What?

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: Nature + Fire = What?

     

    If we could see the entire grid, maybe get an idea what's generally being called for, might make it easier to come up with an answer.

     

    Everything that comes to my mind is fairly abstract.

     

    "Fertility" perhaps?

    You know... I see Fire as an element of creation and destruction. In that contest, Fertility makes a bit of sense.

  14. Via: The Eighth Age

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: Via: The Eighth Age

     

    One of the major early themes of this game is "What happened to the previous heroes?"

     

    This, in part, is going to depend a lot on what happens at the end of the current campaign we are in. As the GM really only kills if we do something very, very stupid and I keep my head on my shoulder, the chances of that happening are very slim so I've been sort of half-assured by the GM that Zalvin will survive. The rest, I'm not thinking about until I know the full outcome of our campaign.

     

    Of the original heroes, only one is going to be partially answered early on. However, the answer to that question is troubling. Zalvin ix'Daris Sebastian Corrielle is alive and still managing Z&C Enterprises. The campaign starts off with the players being hired bodyguards for a trade caravan of Z&C Enterprises. After an unusual attack on the caravan, Zalvin requests to meet those responsible for (hopefully) saving the shipment.

     

    Alice, don't read:

     

    Zalvin is extremely thin. He looks like he hasn't slept or eaten in days though he has at least recently bathed. Midway through the meeting, he begins apparently talking to himself. He makes statements such as "Why should I help you? You weren't there for us when Arachnae needed you most!"

     

    Questions about his family or his wife or anything of that nature will result in either a distant, distracting stare of a person his is quite depressed or an outburst of extreme anger. He simply won't mention anything about his wife.

     

    The effect is supposed to bring across that his wife has died and brought Zalvin to madness. In truth, she is alive but during the Eighth Upheaval, magic suddenly went crazy including the Dragon innate ability to use magic. Cyl, was trapped in her full grown dragon body and all attempts to try and get in touch with Micael, the messiah, fell on deaf ears. Then, about fifty years later another Dragon decided he'd try and raid Cyl and Zalvin's treasure trove. In the battle that followed, the muscles that operate Cyl's left wing were severed. She happened to be mid-flight at the time and the landing nearly killed both her and Zalvin.

     

    The dragon, thinking he would only be putting Cyl out of her misery, landed to finish her off. Zalvin, however, was still concious. He drew Avella's Revenge (his intelligent sword for those who don't read the logs) and drove back the dragon. Without access to Holy or Innate Dragon Fae magic, Cyl has been cave bound and has become very depressed over the years. Zalvin is equally depressed for no matter how much he manages to improve her trove by, the place of power still will not grant her magic.

     

  19. Astromancy

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: Astromancy

     

    If you want to complicate it even more' date=' limit the casters to being able to use only those constellations that are up at the time & place of the casting. That makes more GM work, though that could be front-loaded & automated.[/quote']

    What are you, reading my notes?

     

    Actually, for the purposes of the one shot game, I wasn't going to bother with that element but here are couple of other flukes related to Astromancy:

    Your Ecliptic Birth Constellation Doesn't Consider any stars Unused for purposes of penalties to the roll.

    The Current Ecliptic Constellation doesn't count in the multiplier for # of Constellations accessed.

  20. Astromancy

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    I present, for discussion, the most complicated magical system ever.

     

    For the past few months, I've been working on the background and origin story of my world that most of my writing takes place in. After a discussion of how to get myself out of a gaming rut, it was recommended I run a one shot game of something totally different than I normally run. I had the idea of running an extremely simple game set place in The Age of Steam.

     

    In my world during the Age of Steam, on a purely conceptual level, the world has three unique "occupations" if you will. Each of the three occupations is an embodiment of two of the three elements that make up how the world operates.

     

    Magic + Physical Application = Alchemy

    Magic + Energy Application = Astronmancy

    Physical + Energy Application = Steamology

     

    Now, Alchemy is pretty simple to run in a one-shot game. And while I plan on making the Astromancy fairly simple to run. By this point in time you must be wondering what it is that makes Astromancy so difficult.

     

    In the creation mythos, the creator created an entity to govern magic of the land, an entity to govern the magic of the sea, and an entity to govern the magic of the sky. In the case of the magic of the sky, it has been locked into the stars. Each constellation group represents its own unique purpose but, at the same time, is a combination of Magical Elements.

     

    For Example:

    The Chained Flame is a constellation consisting of 4 stars. 3 of the stars are of the element of fire and the last star is a spirit element.

     

    Getting a bit into the game mechanics aspect of it, on a character sheet, I'd use a separate section of paper for the magic system. I'd write down the constellations the character has learned like this:

     

    The Chained Flame (3 Fire, 1 Spirit)

     

    When using a constellation to cast a spell, you have to look at the requirements of the spell you are casting. You need to have at least as much elemental access as the spell requires to cast the spell. For example, I might consider a spell that creates a glowing orb of light that follows you around to be a 2 Fire, 1 Spirit spell. The fire aspects create the light itself, the spirit binds it to you so that it follows you around.

     

    So we have a player who can access The Chained Flame (3 Fire, 1 Spirit) and he decides to cast Orb of Light (2 Fire, 1 Spirit). However, access a constellation accesses all elements of that constellation. The Astromancer has 1 extra Fire element he is tapped into. Expert Astromancers should be able to handle the uncontrolled, tapped magic, but a novice isn't going to have as easy of a time.

     

    For a spell the difficulty is:

    Astromancy Skill - # of Stars Used + (# of Stars Unused * (Number of Constellations + 1))

     

    In the above example, a caster with a 14- in Astromancy would have a 9- Roll to make to cast an Orb of Light Spell.

     

    The magical system becomes increasingly difficult the more constellations you involve. Lets say you want to use a Fireball type spell. Lets say, that it is a 6 Fire, 2 Wind spell. Obviously The Chained Flame isn't enough juice to pull it off. So the caster also taps into The Phoenix (5 Fire, 3 Wind, 1 Spirit). Here's what we have:

     

    The Chained Flame (3 Fire, 1 Spirit)

    The Phoenix (5 Fire, 3 Wind, 1 Spirit)

    Total: 8 Fire, 3 Wind, 1 Spirit

    Used Elements: 6 Fire, 2 Wind

    Unused Elements: 2 Fire, 1 Wind, 1 Spirit

     

    The first, immediate danger is that you end up getting more unused elements when you add a second constellation in. The second problem is the formula for calculating the activation roll:

     

    Astromancy Skill Roll - 8 used - (4 unused * 3 2 constellations + 1)

    Astromancy Skill Roll - 20

     

    Okay... so that's a really difficult spell to pull off unless you are really good at Astromancy. Fortunately, there will eventually be designs for 90 to 110 constellations so you will have lots of combinations available.

     

    Failing a skill roll, however, will be problematic. I'm thinking the more unused stars the greater the negative outcome. 1 or 2 unused stars might be a fizzle or a bit of stun. 5 unused stars could result in an explosion or something related to the elements of the unused stars. This is an area I haven't quite worked out just yet.

     

    Overall the cost of the system works like this:

    Knowledge of a particular constellation: 1 point per Star.

    Knowledge of a particular spell formula: 1 point per Element Required

    Astromancy: 3 points for an INT Based Skill, 2 points per +1

     

    Discussions?

  21. Via: The Eighth Age

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    I'm probably being silly, but I'm planning a campaign to run with Alice and a friend of mine in New York when we move. We may not be moving for at least a year but I'm designing it and getting ready to run it as if it were happening today.

     

    Cast of Characters (Characters of Old):

    Michael Williams - The Messiah. If you haven't read Alice's Via Logs this can fill you in quite a bit. Basically, he is the Messiah of the world and the son of the creator. After his father's death. Michael became the sworn protector of the world. Michael is a superhuman from the Champions Universe with Mimic powers and a bunch of other powers related to the Via world.

     

    Zalvin ix'Daris Sebastian Corrielle - My current PC from the still going campaign. Zalvin was granted immortality by the creater (not invulnerability) so that he could always remain by his love's side... Cyl, a dragon. Zalvin is the founder and co-owner of Z&C Enterprises, the first trading business established in Via.

     

    Cyl (aka Arachnae) - Zalvin's wife and partner in operations of Z&C Enterprises

     

    A Brief History of the World:

    Events of the current campaign come to an end. Michael Williams leaves, and remains the worlds protector. He remains in the Champions Universe and doesn't return to Via, at least that anyone knows about. A long period of time for Via passes while only a few years passes in the Champions Universe.

     

    Michael Williams meets the mystery love of his life and gets married. During his wedding ceremony, an old villain returns and fires a nano-disease at Michael Williams. This disease causes Michael's powers to behave all screwy when he tries to use them. This includes his ability to try and travel to Via.

     

    Back in Via, there are no true Heroes in the world. Magic is almost completely gone. The seraphim of the heavenly realm no longer appear when summoned by members of the church. And then things start to grow problematic as Z&C Enterprises starts becoming targetted, not for theft but outright destruction.

     

    Anything I post beyond this point will be spoilerish for any players I might have in my game.

  22. WWYCD Fantasy HERO Edition #2: Sophie's Choice

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: WWYCD Fantasy HERO Edition #2: Sophie's Choice

     

    I should probably clarify one of Josh's points' date=' since it's his character's opinion that the sorcerer is Pure Evil. Some evidence has come to light, from the party bard, who (reluctantly) revealed that the sorcerer is capable of doing good deeds. He should know; he was captured by this sorcerer and treated well. Of late, Aciarren has done nothing to directly stymie their efforts, and actually helped Daris in defeating a very angry demon on the loose, then ignored Daris entirely, even after Daris tried to use the opportunity to kill him. Aciarren has been behaving differently since the sword (which was posessed by an evil spirit, and has since been exorcised) was taken from him.[/quote']

    I haven't read your cut, but I really must ask then... where was Al when we last checked in on him?

  24. WWYCD Fantasy HERO Edition #2: Sophie's Choice

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    I normally don't create these types of game threads but I'm curious what you guys would do if presented with a similar situation as we were.

     

    Aciarren is an evil, powerful necromantic sorcerer vampire. He has complete control over a region of land that is known for abducting people and forcing them into slavery. He is pure evil to the bone. Your party, at one point in time, faced him and at the sacrifice of the life of one of your party members, were able to get his sword away from him. This sword gave him great magical powers and defenses and is considered to be the most powerful artifact in the world.

     

    Ryllis is an elf who, upon her death, will unleash an cataclysmic event known as the sixth upheaval. The event will happen at some point in time because Ryllis is not immortal and this is destined to come but coming at the wrong time could cause massive death and destruction across the world.

     

    Aciarren has abducted Ryllis and one of his messengers presents you with a choice. He will release Ryllis unharmed to you if you return to him, his sword. Rescue is not an option as the last time you tried to rescue someone from there... well it wasn't pretty.

     

    What Would Your Character Do?

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