Nolgroth

Re: The Wheel of Time

Okay, I have been trying to put together different packages. This is what I have so far for Wolfbrother. I'm thinking that I may have to put some sort of bonus to PER roll with all senses, but I haven't convinced myself yet.

I want to add a potential berserk disadvantage to simulate when Perrin has to fight off the wolf-aspect when he talks to the wolves. I don't know, it may be better off as a Psych Lim, since an EGO roll seems more appropriate than a generic roll.

Also, I haven't worked up exactly how I want to do the Wolf Dream/Dreaming powers. Obviously a lot can happen in the Dream, including precognition, reality warping and moving across distances at high rates of speed. Also, what happens in the dream happens to the physical body. Hurm. Will have to think on that one and read up on some of the rules to boot.

Anyway, it is a beginning.

Re: The Wheel of Time

Feel free' date=' let me know where he gets posted. COTH (My website) has a very open policy about others using our stuff. We all draw from the same well so it seems rather bullish to get all whacked about someone else borrowing something.[/quote']

 

Thanks. I'm still working on getting the page to the point where it would be useful (as opposed to a bunch of empty space and a couple of links). Speaking of which, do you mind if I throw a link to Call of the Horn on my site?

 

BTW - his mage sight is a lazy attempt at det channeling. Just rename it to "Det Channeling." I hate it when I get caught being lazy.

 

Mage Sight is from Fantasy HERO? I believe that would work. I assume it is Detect Magic bought as a Sense. I think I would attune it to touch, since one of the fades in TDR referenced to an itch when the three girls were captured. I think I'll read up on Enhanced Senses a little before tweaking anything.

 

The ability seems to have a pretty wide range, but then the rules and limits to channeling were never spelled out in any concrete way. More's the frustration for that.

 

Well, thanks again. I'll keep posting as I get some progress done.

Re: The Wheel of Time

Eosin,

Would you mind me using your Fade write-up on another website? For the most part I really like the write-up as is, but I just noticed that it doesn't have a Detect Channeling ability. I would have to add that onto the sheet.

Reference: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27155

Re: The Wheel of Time

I recall Jordan also saying that he intends to 'keep writing until they put him in the grave'' date=' or something like that. I think he means keep writing in the WoT series... He may "need" three more books to finish the series, but I suspect he'll probably put out 6 or 7 more and then die without finishing it.. [/quote']

 

Yeah, but he also explicitly stated that he wants to punch out a new series immediately following this one. The only bits that I've read about it are that a sailor is marooned on a beach in some sort of Seanchan like society. He didn't give much more details and I'll be Lightblinded if I can even recall where I read it at.

 

Certainly a rich setting, though.. possibly a bit too rich for my gaming tastes. I would always be afraid that someone would have read (or imagined) some story or interview that they'd use to try to rules-lawyer/genre-lawyer things to death.. either that, or some players would have no clue at all about the setting, and all your clever schemes, homages, etc. fall flat because you're forgetting that they haven't read a single one of the ~10,000 pages of narrative out there.. ("Jeez Bill.. ok.. We'll let it go this week, but you better have read at least up until Rand cleanses the Taint by next week's game, or you'll be seeing flecks in front of your eyes!")

 

Congrats and my envy to those of you who can get a great game going in this setting!

 

I can totally understand your concerns there. My counter is that any game setting that a player doesn't know about has the same potential affect. This includes most homebrew game settings as well. I guess that I always took it upon myself to educate the players as we go. In many ways, my GMing style is much like EotW. The first characters to start out in the setting are ignorant and are "educated" by coincidental lore from those in the know. As the players become more familiar with the setting, so too do their alter-egos in the setting.

 

On the flip side, if the players have absolutely no drive to learn the new setting then it is destined for failure. Going into that subject is one that I have seen covered time and time again on the boards. I couldn't tell you how to keep every player motivated. I only know that it is the attempt to run an enjoyable game and have fun that matters. The dead weights will either fall into the fold or gradually stop attending.

 

As for rules/genre lawyers, well I suffer fools about as lightly as lead. I won't say that I rule the game with an iron fist, but I make sure that they all understand that the final arbiter is me. So far, I haven't had any players walk out because they thought me unfair. 'Course the glory days of my gaming career are a decade in the past. I really need to find a decent group to game with.

Re: The Wheel of Time

Or even more likely is that Robert Jordan will never finish the books' date=' and we will have his children or some fan come along and tell us what was meant to happen. He is an odler man and retirement and/or death often comes with age.[/quote']

 

I'd rather not entertain that notion myself. We do have at least one more book due to come out in October. Knife of Dreams is something I have been looking forward to. When Path of Daggers came out, Mr. Jordan stated that he needed three more books to finish the series. Maybe he will stretch it out long enough to finish Wot.

Re: The Wheel of Time

Thanks. There is a bucketload of research in that post fest.

How much of the information is research versus ad-lib? The details are awesome, but I don't remember quite that much breadth of knowledge being passed on through the books. An incredible depth on the topics covered, but not that much breadth.

True, but there is evidence of male channalers being wearily welcomed during the trolloc wars even by the Aes Sedai. They will eventually go insane but once you start a game in WOT you are automatically playing in a Mirror World so why not leave the players guessing as part of the suspense of the game? Just don't tell anyone if the taint will be cleansed or the dragon will be reborn in your game until it happens or doesn't happen.

Again true. I think that would likely be my second favorite time period to play in. I still think the Fourth Age offers many opportunities, without the worry of the Taint. If the effects of the Taint are something that you and your players want to explore, then the Trolloc Wars sounds like a really cool period to play in.

Hmmmn. How would one model the affects of the Taint in HERO terms? I have to think about that.

Re: The Wheel of Time

It would have to be the "Fourth Age" (as called by some ) I also like the idea of playing in the anciant past. But I think things would not be as utopian as they make it out to be. Remember it was "An Age of Legends" and legends often founded on fact are never really fact. But it would be cool to have all that magic controlled and used against the players.... Uh I mean for the good of mankind.

I would agree with you about the not-so-Utopia of the Age of Legends except that Mr. Jordan claimed that it was in The World of the Wheel of Time. He said that the concept of war was forgotten, there were no great diseases, blah blah blah. Now once the Bore was created, things would be a whole lot different. You have the Forsaken going over to the Shadow, Friends of the Dark thinking they can get in on the spoils and soon after, Trollocs and other Shadowspawn. The War of Power (Shadow) would be the best time in the Age of Legends to play. At least in my opinion. As Eosin pointed out, the campaign could be a Mirror World and the Age of Legends could have been different.

Now the Fourth Age would be one of the easiest to run in. I think that I would prefer that to the Third Age or Age of Legends. The absolute hardest part would be to build connections, in the players' minds, with the Wheel of Time setting. The best thing I can think of is to liberally tell tales, from a Gleeman's point of view perhaps, of the happenings during Tar'mon Gai'don and before. The trick would then be to start the exaggeration that occurs over time. Rand could be seven feet tall and wield a sword of Light. Perrin Goldeneyes could transform into a wolf and kill Trollocs by the thousands. Mat could never lose a battle and laughed in the face of Aes Sedai. Even the wondergirls could have their own tall tales, though the truth of their accomplishments will mostly be relegated to Tower lore.

So, the next question is whether or not the Asha'men join with the Aes Sedai and form a unified society of channelers. Do the whitecloaks still exist? What is the state of the nations. Does Andor still exist? Cairhein? Where are the Seanchan? Have they integrated with the remainder of the nations? Do they still seek conquest?

Obviously one or more of these questions may well be answered by the conclusion of the Wheel of Time setting. But who's going to wait six to eight years before running a WoT game?

My, but I can be long-winded. Now back to your regularly scheduled Board Discussion Forum.

Re: New FH GM looking for advice

One of the things I always tried to do when the whole group didn't show up would be to create alternate characters in the same setting. That way I could explore some of the other aspects of the campaign world with them. It didn't always work out well, but it did often enough for the campaign world to feel more solid.

Too bad we've all gotten older and most have gone their separate ways.

Re: The Wheel of Time

Fantastic resource Eosin. I really like the way that each nation was encapsulated into a single message with all the functional details required. I also like the conditions summary at the bottom about the state of the Ways and such. Those little bullet comments are very useful.

My one and only objection to running in any pre-Cleansing of the Taint timeframe would be that male channelers are really not viable, long-term characters. I would also think that if a PC running a male channeler decided to declare himself the Dragon Reborn, their could be problems.

Of couse, that's what Portal Stone Worlds are all about.

By the by, how much useful information (meaning non d20 specific) can be found in the role-playing books? I keep my distance from d20 material so I was just wondering if it would be a reference worth shelling out the cash for.

Re: Your "2005" Pet Gaming Projects

I want to get my Wheel of Time HERO website up. I want to get a group together that is "hyped up" about playing, rather than looking for all the world as if it's a chore. That's all.

Re: The Wheel of Time

Just a link to study the chronology of the WoT setting.

http://www.sevenspokes.com/index.html

Re: The Wheel of Time

Back to a relatively "on-topic" question. What time period do you think would be the best to run a campaign in. As far as I see it you have several choices.

Age of Legends

Sounds very much like our own modern world with the exception of being much more of a Utopia than we have. Ter-Angrael seemed to provide the basis for clean energy and a technology that is at least what we are used to, if not higher. In Nynaeve's first battle with Moghedian, there was a mention of travelling to other planets.

I think a campaign in the Era would have to be after the Dark One's prison was breeched. The War of Power/Shadow would make a great campaign backdrop, though I have the feeling it may end up being like Military Fantasy.

The Breaking

Obviously a dangerous time for everybody. This would very much be a post-apoc type of setting. I can't imagine any sort of stable base for any communities.

We got to see what the Aiel went through with Rand's visit to Rhuidean, but what about the other people that eventually settled the remaining part of the world. Could be fun to play in, but I think a campaign would include a great deal of small conflicts.

The Covenent of Ten Nations

The world is starting to settle down and order is restored. The Ogier have just completed Tar Valon. Plenty of action and intrigue to be had.

Trolloc Wars

Another ideal time to role-play in. What more could you ask for? Massive amounts of Trollocs, Myrdraal and other Shadowspawn crunchiness. Of course, most things would tend to be large scale. Afterall, Manetheran was destroyed and Aridhol became Shadar Logoth during this time period.

Hawkwing's Empire

Another timeframe where intrigue and action can take a very important part. As another option, the journey of Luthair Pendraeg to Seancean might be a fun campaign to play with.

Between Hawkwing and Rand

A huge space of time that could encompass a lot of different styles of adventures. While there were many documented cases of momentous events, there is still enough leeway to do some pretty interesting stuff.

Interlude:

With the exception of the Age of Legends, you are going to have problems with having any male channelers. They are going to go insane, rot to death, and/or be hunted down and stilled or executed. While this would certainly be a feasible character concept, it might make for some mighty uncomfortable role-playing. These time periods are definately a call for non-channeling males.

The Dragon Reborn

This is the most likely time period to play in. Most details of the world setting are known. Male channelers may be able to hold off the effects of the Taint until Rand cleanses it.

Many new and old things are coming into their own in this time. Wolfbrothers and the Hornbound are being reborn. The old rules and expectations are breaking down. Almost anything can happen in a world nearing apocalyps.

The downside to this era would be running the campaign without crossing paths with the majority of the named characters. Also, Tarmon Gai'don would certainly be a campaign pauser, if not stopper.

The Fourth Age

Supposedly the world will be Broken again by the Dragon Reborn. What happens after that is open to speculation. There are a few references to scholarly work completed during the Fourth Age, but very little of the world condition has been revealed.

In some ways, this is an ideal setting to play in. There are no boundaries or expectations to live up to. The male half of the Source is clean and ready to use. You can do almost anything with the setting....

....Almost like creating a new setting unto itself. Moving into the Fourth Age would almost like not being in the WoT universe at all. Of course, references to the Third Age and the Dragon Reborn and the Second Breaking could be intertwined readily into the setting.

So there it is. Any thoughts?

Re: The Wheel of Time

Noy likely' date=' When doing Fantasy HERO he implied he did not like Wheel of Time. [/quote']

 

I remember the thread. Mr. Long was highly disinclined towards WoT. Sounded like he just didn't like the series at all. I've noticed that WoT has the love/hate reaction among those who read it.

Re: The Wheel of Time

I can definately relate to the "other considerations" issue. For the last couple of years, work has been sucking all of my mental energy. Now things have settled down a little bit and I'm starting to feel the urge to create and expand what we've done with WoT (and other stuff too).

Well, if you are planning to re-create the system, I'm open to waiting around for it. I have a lot of stuff to do myself. At least the basic web page layout is prepared so all I have to do is create content. Of course, that is the hard part.

Good luck.

Re: The Wheel of Time

So, Nu Soard Graphite, you said that you were about 3/4 done with the Blademaster martial arts stuff. Have you "officially" completed them yet?

If I were to throw together a Wheel of Time for HERO website, would you mind if I used the blademaster rules? I've been debating the idea for a while and I think that I might have enough mental energy to actually build and maintain a project like that.

(And bump to keep the thread alive.)

Re: Finally figured out what I hate about Star Wars in RPGs

The problem with gaming in the SW universe has much less to do with lightsabers' date=' and much more to do with the fact that a full-fledged Jedi is just grossly more powerful than a non-Jedi character. Further, a huge amount of storyline revolves around Jedi, regardless of time period. [/quote']

 

I have to agree with you there. A game that included Jedi would probably have to be run like an Ars Magica game where every one of the characters is a Jedi.

 

It would be cool, IMO, to run a Star Wars game with Jedi as the primary characters and each player also controls one or more sidekicks. A clever GM could arrange things so that, occassionally, the Jedi characters went one way and the sidekicks another. It would give the players an opportunity to play different types of characters and the campaign world would be enriched with a larger inter-connected storyline.

 

And my take on the Lightsaber is an AVLD vs Force Field or Hardened Armor. Apply the HIt Locations and Impairing/Maiming rules and you're set.

Re: Herophile Fantasy art

Very cool. I really like Mhor. Very nice.

Re: Random Musing about PC Concepts

I've seen the only/orphaned child syndrome way too often myself. From what I gathered, even before my players knew what a DNPC was, they detested the very idea of having somebody that might rely on them. On the heavy handed control approach, I tend to both agree and disagree.

On the one hand, giving the player a firm background lets the GM have access to a whole lot of plot hooks that are not available when a player throws the whole orphaned thing at you. For instance, I once wanted to run an adventure where one of the character's uncles left him a piece of property. Of course, the adventure was a micro-dungeon crawl, but it would leave the character (and the group) a base of operations. Problem was that every one of the characters was either a) orphaned or from far distant lands blah blah blah. I got over that one by having a close and childless friend of the character's deceased uncle be the one leaving him an inheritance.

On the other hand, I tend to treat my players as I would hope to be treated. I try to get creative with my character background and I wouldn't want a terribly intrusive amount of GM involvement in my characters' backgrounds.

Maybe the compromise is to state that you will only accept one background that includes orphanage from the entire group. If more than one person wants that background, then they dice for it. All the rest are required to give you at least a brief overview of parents and siblings and possibly a few members of the extended family. That allows for the potential for one vengeance driven character in the campaign and the remainder as relatively normal.

Just my thoughts.

Re: My group voted ... It's Star Hero!

I have Alien Wars and I think it is a great book. The background is actually pretty lite, with lotsa crunch factor when it comes to alien races, package deals, gadgets, ships, and even monsters. I would recommend it.

Re: Fuzion

It's kind of funny how this topic resurfaces every few months. That alone tells me that the HERO Community has at least a little to thank Fuzion for. Comments like Greatwyrm's have been made before. A lot of new fanbase has walked the Fuzion road and ended at the HERO destination.

As far as Fuzion itself goes, I'm consistently torn between HERO and Fuzion for which game system to develop stuff in. I like both systems a great deal and it always boils down to which does more. Fuzion is so much easier to use (IMO) than HERO, but HERO has more crunchiness. In fact, I like the basic mechanic in Fuzion so much, that I usually dispense with Power Points and just use Option Points to buy HERO crafted powers. For point balance, I also change the Hits score to more accurately reflect the BODY characteristic from HERO. Now all I need is a more detailed combat system for Fuzion. That is the one area that HERO does better. There are pages and pages of combat options in HERO and less in Fuzion.

Re: Literary Write Ups

Nice write-up for the Fade. What was the Side Effect for the Shadow Walk ability?

Re: Anyone ever written up Garrett?

I've never written Garrett up, but I was so enthralled with the Thief concepts that I wrote something like three or four adventures for the concept of a lone thief character and a GM. Then the hard drive crash of 2002 destroyed all of it. Maybe I should try to resurrect the ideas....

So, in writing up Garrett, he would have some pretty interesting abilities. His Stealth roll would be monstrously high. He has a few combat skill levels, mostly in things like sneak attacks. He has a few mystical abilities, but those are mostly in his ability to detect the runes that the Keepers use. His melee skills are sub-par in a straight on fight. He has a technomagical eye that lets him zoom in.

He has lots of enemies; Hammerites, City Guard and Pagans. Watched by the Pagans. Reputation as the Thief of the city.

Am I missing anything? What point range would he be?

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it...

Just reread the Belgariad after about twenty years. Starting on the Mallorean. One thing I couldn't escape noticing is that Robert Jordan borrows freely from these for his Wheel of Time series. I am somewhat more fond of Jordan's fleshing the world out style than I am of Eddings, but I like Belgarion a lot more than Rand. He doesn't whine nearly as much.

I believe the Belgariad is a practical mans alternative to Wheel of Time. The plot is a little less complex than WoT, but somehow just as satisfying. The characters are just as rich (and borrowed extensively from for WoT). I like the fact that little character details are revealed as the story develops. Very subtle. There is also a great deal of humor written into the interaction of the main characters. Something that I'd almost forgotten existed in books. (Of course, I just tried to read Game of Thrones and had to set the second book down after being thoroughly disgusted by it.)

Where the Belgariad/Mallorean falls flat, is the bad guys. All of them are evil through and through. Instead of being written as characters in their own right, they seem to be cardboard cutouts or plot devices. Of course, I like a complex story where even the antagonists have some sort of redeeming quality about them.

Overall, I would say that the Belgariad is a very fun and easy read. 4/5

Re: Campaign: The Turakian Age

Just to update- there was no game this week.

 

In case anyone's still keeping up...

 

JG

You might just say that some of us are keeping up. Vicarious gaming. You may have just started a new trend.

(Although, it was fun reading the notes from Stu's campaign that used to be at the Secrets of the Kargatane website. For a D&D-based site, they had a lot of cool stuff. Too bad they closed the doors. This is better, as it is updated in "real time.")

Re: Campaign: The Turakian Age

Ya'll gotta wait till next time we play to get another fix.

So. get to it.