War Cry

Re: How's the Turakian Age working out for you? [quote=Hermit;1120631 Now, IIRC, Tuala Morn, another setting that's very Celtic, will have more noridic viking stuff than TA. I'm not sure on that though. So there's yet ANOTHER choice for you You are an evil man, a very, very evil spawn of Joey, the Evil Overlord of Basketweaving and God of All things Neon. When I find my magic spoon that's a +3 Spawn of Joey Slaying, I'll be coming for your head. It should make a good beer mug. Gah, choices. TA isn't going to be released for another few months though and I do have quite a bit of work done on MY vikings. So there. I should know in a couple of weeks what I need/want. I hope. Maybe.

Re: How's the Turakian Age working out for you? Okay now, that just perked my interest way up. The wizardry and craftmanship part sounds a wee bit Nordic. IIRC, some of the sagas mention that viking wizards learned their magic from trolls. Now I have a difficult decision to make. Buy the book and give up working on a world, or push on and hope I can finish sometime in the next few years.

Re: Elves Mmmmmmm..........elves, the other white meat. I use elves to feed the good guys - my orcs. Um, no that's not right. Lessee, elves I've used in the past, High Elves Standard arrogant, aloof, fair skinned,"Tolkien" elves (Elrond and Galadriel wannabes) with a twist. My high elves are evil. Not the outright worship dark gods and offer human sacrifice kind of evil, the "We don't give a rat's patootie about anyone but ourselves" kind of evil. I use them as the major slave traders in my worlds. I figure if they are so arrogant to look down on the lesser races, they should treat them just like the animals they see the others to be. Dark elves Not the evil dark elves so commonly thought of. Called dark elves because of their skin tone, which ranges from rich caramel to copper tones. As far as culture and society, I triy to give them a Ottoman Empire/ancient Arabic kind of feel, complete with harems and concubines, djinn and efreets, scimitars, and all the other kewl trappings commonly associated with "Tales from the Arabian Nights". Wood Elves Celtic, complete with the head trophies, chariots, and limed hair. And they live in the tree tops off course. Blood ELves Same as wood elves, but with all the bloody practices that have been attributed to the Celts, whether they are true or not. Bonfires where they cook captives in giant wicker baskets, trick or treating (give us a present or we'll take your eldest child and eat 'em), and other twisted practices to make people fear them. Those are the ones I have the most fun with anyway, which is weird, cause I really don't care for elves. Unless of course, It's Whats For Dinner.

Re: Creation Myth

Re: How's the Turakian Age working out for you? Hmmmm.....Turakian Age sounds interesting. I've been trying to create my own world but it's time I faced the cold hard truth - I just don't have the time to do it. So, that leaves me with three questions about TA. 1 Is the setting usable if the underground civilizations are sent packin'? With the obvious exception of Dwarves, I absolutely detest underground kingdoms. 2 What about Vikings? Every review I've seen makes no mention of Vikings. I have to have freakin' Vikings! If there are no Vikings, can they be easily inserted into the setting without a lot of rework on existing material? 3 From what I have read, it seems that there is quite a bit of detail. Is there still room to modify and adjust things to suite my particular GM tastes? Sorry to threadjack. Who am I kidding - I'm not really sorry.

Re: Something for all you guests!!!, and members.

Re: Something for all you guests!!!, and members. But I LIKE lurking in the shadows. And I'm not coming out until Thia promises to stop biting - unless I clock him over the head with a brick first.

Re: Predators question Yup yup yup. Gawd, I loved that character. 10+ years ago when I actually ran a DC game, he was my mover and shaker behind the scenes. Everything from arming terrorist to arming the PC's and stirring up all kinds of trouble. I really miss that campaign.

Re: Predators question OUCH! Two strikes in one post. Note to self - dig books out of box before making a comment.

Re: Predators question My memory is quite fuzzy on Strad - I believe he is a minor level villian of Eastern Eurpean descent who hunted and killed his victims with sickle knives. I think he was a vampire also, though as I've said, my recollection could be wrong. The Headless Hangman is an arms dealer. A small, slight man who supplies weapons to both the good and bad guys of the campaign city. Certainly not an old west type of villian, but a very useful and very kewl bad guy that I had great success with. However, there is certainly a lot of very neat and useful characters that run the whole range of vile and criminal. Former special forces soldiers gone rogue, terrorist, arsonist, cyborgs, and a whole plethora of others. It shouldn't be too difficult to find a suitable villian and change his looks to suit your needs. Good Luck!

Re: Feats Galore I don't know if you have done this or not, but I highly recommend checking out all of the packages on KS's website and pilfering as much as you can. I wanted to give each of my various cultures and races a different feel when it came to combat and his site saved me a TON of work. He has a few really kewl abilities that add that extra spice to combat. I had to make some changes to fit my conceptions, but it was minor stuff. Look forward to seeing yours completed. The more y'all do, the less I have to.

Re: KillerShrike.com Fantasy Update Dear Lord, man. Your site has proven to be an invaluable resource for me. Every time I hit a mental block working on my world, your site is the first place I go. I especially love the Var Clans and have pretty much "borrowed" them with some changes to suit my needs. Absolutely great stuff. Keep it up so I have less work to do. Thanx a million for sharing. It's greatly appreciated.

Re: What I learned playing a fighter... Your armor and weapons will only treat you as well as you treat them.

Re: What I learned playing a fighter... First blood is not as important as last blood. Use your surroundings to your advantage and your enemies disadvantage. There's no such thing as a fair fight. Make sure you're the one that made it that way. Never underestimate the power of a 5 foot stick with a sharp pointy end. The mage and healer are your best friends. Keep them that way. If it means giving up a little bit of your own loot - do it. The kindness you show them today will save your life tommorrow.

Re: Character special abilities Good stuff. I think I'll just take a few of these ideas and run whith them. I don't mind giving my players options. Several versions of a death curse will let the player tailor the shaman to fit their character concept better. Keeping players happy is a always a good thing. Still need to work on the battle song, but I should be able to figure that one out. Thia Halmades - The shamanism I am going for isn't holistic for these particular people. I am using an old ICE productions Viking supplement for Rolemaster and old school Hero as my source. While it may not be accurate or fully informative, I really like the way Viking shamans differ from their counterparts. What I am going for is a shaman who recieves her magic from the gods. She enters a trance and makes contact with the spirit world to work her magic which consist of divination, blessings, and curses for the most part. I have made changes to suit my wants and needs, of course. I will be using the more "traditional" sort of shamanism elsewhere. Hope that helps some. Y'all can keep posting stuff here - I'm more than happy to take anything you're willing to give.

Re: Character special abilities

Re: Character special abilities Something to consider. I really don't see it having a long term effect - more or less for as long as the valkyrie can keep her battle song going, hence the incantations throughout. I may move it done the chart a step or two. I should probably set up a couple of "standard" characters and run a mock fight to get a feel for what it does. The suddenly wears off limitation is tempting, but is it really a viable limitation in this instance? To represent that she must sing and her voice heard, I have incantations throughout. Shut her up, and the power stops and wears off. If she is stunned, knocked out, killed, or chooses to stop because the battle is done, it would start to wear off because the incantations have ceased, making the "suddenly wears off" limitation a sort of double for the incantations throughout. (My POV, but that should have nothing to do with the mechanics) Or am I missing what you have said entirely? Thanks for the input.

Re: Character special abilities Transform was the original power I looked at but the cost made it so unappealing. I like the idea of it being an SFX of the shaman. I might set it up so that a shaman character automatically gains this ability based on age, experience, and devotion to their goddess. Thanks Outsider and Sbarron.

Re: Character special abilities The special abilities of valkyries reflect their status as holy warriors. Before going into battle, it is the valkyries duty to pray for the souls of her jarl's warriors. Some she will bless, some she will fate, but all will be consecrated to Ulfgar. Chooser of the slain 1D6 luck, usable against others, 3 charges, only before battle, only vs friends and allies who are lucky, concentrate 0 dcv, extra time 1 turn, incantations 1D6 unluck, usable against others, 3 charges, only before battle, only vs friends and allies who are unlucky, concentrate 0 dcv, extra time 1 turn, incantations, linked to luck Note - these people believe strongly in luck and every character from this culture is required to take a minimum of 1d6 luck or unluck. The idea behind this is that she prays for the gathered army, enhancing 3 people with luck and fating 3 people with unluck. Has the potentialto be very beneficial or very devastating, depending on the aura of luck that the recipient already has. Does this power need continuous to keep affecting its target throughout the battle? Anything that I'm missing? Or does it look workable as is? The 2nd battle ability of the valkyrie is her battle song. The holy warrior of Ulfgar can always be found in the thick of the fighting, her clear voice an inspiration to her fellow warriors and a source of dread to her foes. Battle Song 1d6 presence aid, AOE 16" radius, selective, continuous, 1 charge, incantations throughout, only in battle, requires a skill roll, linked to drain 1d6 presence drain, AOE 16" radius, selective, continuous, 1 charge, incantations throughout, only in battle, requires a skill roll The effect I'm going for is as long as she keeps singing, her allies get braver and braver and her enemies get more and more scared. The selective reflects the friends getting aid and the enemies getting drained. Is this a workable write up or is it in need of change? Gah! I used to be pretty confident writing up little things like this. I am so rusty now.

I am working on a viking type of culture for my world and I am pretty satisfied with what I have so far. However there are a few things that still cause me to raise an eyebrow and think "Did I do this right? Does this make sense?" Knowing this board is populated by genre gurus and hero rules mechanic monsters, I am turning to you for a little aid. A couple of powers specific to Shamans Weapon blunting - it is said that a shaman can blunt the edges of weapons merely by looking at them, rendering herself completely immune to bladed weapons of iron. This does not affect weapons of silver or steel and can only be used 3 times per day. Weapon blunting 8rpd armor, hardened, only vs iron edged weapons, 3 charges, must see weapon to affect it, requires a perception roll, concentrate 1/2 DCV Questions regarding this power - Does the current write up cover the fact that the blunted weapons cannot harm her for the entire duration of the day, or will she need to make a roll every time someone takes a swing at her? Another ability attributed to shamans is the death curse - it is said that some shamans can curse their killers with their dying gaze or breath. Death curse 6D6 unluck, usable against others, ranged, uncontrolled, 1 non recoverable charge, can only be cast as shamans dying deed, only vs shaman's killer, must make eye contact with victim, activation 11-, concentrate 0 DCV I dunno, this one seems a bit "clunky" to me. I am almost positive there is smething wrong with the way this is written up, but my mind is coming up blank. As it stands, it is a 13 point power that can only be used when a character dies. I may need to knock the cost down some more. I had questions on rune magic, but those were resolved easily enough by a liberal amount of borrowing from Killer Shrike's website. Great stuff and it has proven most useful. I hope you don't mind. Next post - the special abilities of the Valkyrie

Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel MR SUNGLASSES Man in his mid 30's , always wearing dark sunglasses, day or night, rain or shine. Dresses in blue jeans, shirt sleeves and a dark sport coat, sometimes the faint outline of a bulge is visible under the sportcoat, possibly a gun. Also has a barely visible earpiece that could be a phone, radio, or communication device. No one has ever heard him speak, knows his name, or even knows if he is even staying in the hotel, but wherever the PC's are, he is there, in the background watching them intently. THE EX CON A notorious local legend of the infamous variety who recently got out of prison. His was a violent and evil past, well documented by the local papers and news media. Covered in scars, piercings, and tattoos, he immediately invokess fear and loathing in anyone and everyone he meets. The problem is, he has the same reaction. The baddest man in the history of the town is scared to death of someone (or something) out there. THE VAMPIRE Never seen during the day. Sickly white complexion. Has an androgenous appearance which makes his/her gender extremely difficult to determine. Can always be found in the hotel bar between the hours of 1 and 3am, flirting with good looking men and women, trying to get someone to go back to his/here hotel room for the night. Is it a LARPer stuck in la la land? Is it someone with a rare and terrible disease who really is allergic to the light of the sun? Or are you its next meal?

Re: Alien Invasion Something to consider.......in the older Warhammer 40k fluff the tyranids would often infiltrate a heavily populated planet with genestealers. They would crossbreed with the native races and produce offspring that looked less like tyranids and more like the other host (but still retain a proper "demonic" appearance). The next step was to start cults across the planet within the cities in preparation for the main assault from the fleets. If you're looking to draw it out, this could be an option for you. On a side note - Tyranids RAWK! I love fighting those things. The game's always a nailbiter.

Re: ?? "Ach! Laddy, that's a fine lookin lass ye got there. D'ye mind tellin me where I might find one o' me own, and fer how much? Or might ye be willin to part wit da wee lass for a bit o' coin?" "What's that? Ye don' be needin coin? Well how 'bout me horse here as I taint got much use for da beast. It smells worse than the knight o'er yonder and tis 'bout as useful."

Re: Moderately Large Creatures and DCV Several good ideas have already been thrown out here but here's something I did for a large critter of my own with a nasty temper. It had a pair of massive wicked sharp horns with several spines adorning its head and to freak out my players I wrote it up as a 2d6k damage sheild, only vs head shots, only vs hth combat. If you want to be particularly evil, you could also put a disarm on the horns, as a trigger (the beast swings its head side to side as a weapon is swung at it).

Re: Help save a campaign BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! It went pretty well. They realized just how deep they were before I even had a chance to get the ball rolling. The 1st hour or 2 was just the players characters conversing among each other trying to figure out what was exactly going on. Apparantly, they are paying more attention than I have been giving them credit for. They managed to figure out all on their own that somehow the liche, high chancellor, and a 3rd party were working together (and they correctly surmised the 3rd party to be Kaliderius, the Arch mage) It was a joy to behold. They even gathered all the NPC's together in the main hall of the manor and had a sort of "conference" to pool their knowledge and figure out the best course of action. Sprinkle in a surprise visit by a band of roving gladiators and the laws of hospitality to add a little tension (cuz' I was feeling left out). The night ended with the Arch mage appearing to them via an illusion and in a grand villianous fashion let the PC's know of his plans. They weren't impressed. Feng went so far as to stand up to the image of the Archmage. "This is MY house and you are not welcome here. Your day is coming. No matter how powerful you think you may be, there will always be someone bigger and badder than you. You have slaves. I have friends. We will destroy you.":thumbup: Color me impressed. The players did it all on their own. They have chosen to go to Demon's Cleft and the route they have decided on will take them through mostly wooded areas, and the northern borders of the wood elf kingdoms. These guys even found a way to get the most out of the wood elf. Only real criticism I have is the large number of NPC's. A dwarf, a moneylender (who they view as a "financial advisor"), an enchanter of the 2nd Circle, a old man ranger and his son, a drug dealer and thief, the Eldrethi swordmaster's mistress, and an Inniathi (High Elf) trader and spy. It's a long journey, I'm sure I'll get a chance to kill a few of them off.