Mr. R

Amfortas is one of the normal looking ones, which mean of course his defects are internal. But I also think he's one of the scarier members if only because he can mess with the party in so many ways! Played right this could be the member the PCs most want to take right out! You want to power him down, not much you can do. Getting rid of the Red. End. on his powers other than the Desolid would limit him more. Powering him up would be adding an Invisibility (linked to Desolid) and a couple of dice (raise to 12d6) the Mind Control!

As Killer Shrike said: And so I present the History of Aerelios (Instalment One) Please feel free to add ideas. Basically I will be taking the timeline they have, condense it (Sorry but 6000 years and the nations have the same borders? And I thought the elves were unchanging!), add new nations, (Both in the Basin Area but also in the Northern Jungles and plains area, something other than here abide primitive tribesman we can enslave, because jungle nations do not exist)

Gurnemanz takes the deformed idea and goes even further, giving one arm. I hope the publishers change this section. I have a friend who is blind and epileptic. Is he evil? But as an NPC he does fill a need for the opposition, team brick. He's not super strong, but is earth powers make him a front line combatant! You want to power him down, make the MP just an EB and make it 10 d6. Powering him up means more damage, maybe 14 d6.

I am indeed planning to do just that. The history they give has 1) a major war 2) plague that kills 50% of the population 3) invasion by goblyns that lead to 400 years of occupation 4) drought 5) one country forging the rest into an empire 6) 600 years of peace 7) second goblyne invasion 😎 second plague 9) breakdown of empire..... All this over a time span of 6000 years AND all the old cities and borders go right back to where they started. Also my friend an I realized borders will follow drainage paths. Countries will want to control the river (food/transport) and will place borders along hills and mountains. So I will try to come up with possibly multiple versions of Aerelios and Danris. (destroyed/ rebuilt/ abandoned/ repopulated) What will be fun is coming up with all new cities in the Northern Jungles. For years the Basin states would send "catch parties" to get northern jungle people as slaves (can we say leaves a bad taste in my mouth). Wanna a bet some of them will decide to get organized (Slavery illegal here) and develop their own cities. Also the people of the Northern Plains. Yeah I have a bit to do!

Been to Quebec City a few times. Never fails to impress. This also reminds me of a city from the old Fantast Hero "Western Shores" campaign.... Wyrmcliff. It is a plateau on which a city is built. (Overcrowding is a bit of a problem. Thanks for the ideas!

It is an inland lake as it is separated from the ocean on the west by a bout 1500 km of land. The eastern side is much closer to the ocean by about 500 km of land. The sea itself is a HUGE Basin with hill or mountains on all sides. But you are right, flooding would be a constant problem for coastal regions. The river as drawn seems to be that WIDE slow moving type!

I know all about Abraham and Jephthah Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jephthah Out of courtesy and not wanting to say something I may regret, I will not make any further comments here on this thread!

Good point!

! True

Sorry if I was not clear, but the river flows north to a set of bays that lead to the ocean ( think a James Bay, leading to a barely larger Husdon's Bay, leading to a similar sized Unknown Bay [and all three bays are about the same size] that finally leads to the ocean). The closest RW example would be the MacKenzie River that starts at Great Slave Lake and goes all the way north to the Beaufort Delta. Oh I am using Turakian Age as some of my inspiration. That is something I am thinking about. I am torn with 1) making it the capital of its own country that controls the only outflow to the basin. At which point Danris is a rival for control of the river or 2) making it a city state ( as would most of the nations surrounding this Sea) , but the richest and most powerful (it gets its army the old fashioned way, it buys them)

Now for Jotunn's.... Children. One I will not be posting as his powers and restrictions are disturbing. As well the source material describes them all as disfigured in some way (are we saying disfigured and ugly = evil. I HOPE NOT) But they are a group that buys into daddies ideology. They do make for either a team to support daddy on one of his personal missions or as a strike team on their own supported by a cadre of agents complete with cutting edge gear. First Tannhauser. Powers were Flight and Vampiric Abilities. I probably have them wrong, but as is he's scarry. The longer the fight goes, the more he'll outlast you. Not much to go on here, he's basically his father's agent. But he is questioning his purpose, which gives a role playing hook! Powering him down is difficult as he is bare bones as it is. Powering him up is easier. Add a strength transfer and reduce the recovery rate. But that also places him on the "first to get blasted out of the sky" list!

Picture a HUGE inland lake. It makes the Great Lakes seem small. 650 mi (1040 km) east west and varying from 125 mi (200 km) at its narrowest to 300 mi (450 km) at its widest. Basically it resembles an hourglass turned on its side. ALL the rivers flow into this lake (it basically is a huge basin) EXCEPT for one, that flows out at the top left corner. I would think that this river is Huge, basically a couple of miles from bank to bank. This river flows upward where it is joined 350 mi (560 km) by another river and both continue up to the northern jungles. Now my questions: 1) I think one Large City (Aerelios) should be at the mouth of the river. Should the city be on the shore of the lake leading to the city OR more downriver where it can get shelter from the storms? 2) There is a city (Danris) located where the two rivers meet. It also has an advantage that trade that flows from the north, either along the river OR along the trade corridor that leads to the Northern Plains, has to go by this city. But Aerelios has access to EVERY city and island in the basin. So which would be the pre-eminent city of the region. Basically which would be the Greyhawk, the Constantinople, the Chicago of the region, the city on the lake shore or the city up river. Note it does appear like one city controls all east west, while the other has more of a grasp of most north south!

Please look up Euthyphro on Wikipedia. Basically an argument between him and Socrates comes down to "Is something pious because God approves of it or does God approve of it because it is pious?" This is the can a worms you may be opening up. Also, as a personal comment, I would hesitate being in a game where human sacrifice was considered a good act. I would certainly ask for a reason and if the GM could not give me a satisfactory answer other that "Because he said so!", then I am out of there!

I think that is because they represent to common man, the everyman. The farmer who works his fields every day. The village smith, who makes the little items that people need every day. the seamstress who makes and mends the cloths that people use every day. Historical research was usually of the "Great Men" types. Who were the movers and shakers who moved nations. The common people? What can we learn from them? (It turns out a lot, but it takes some digging) Tolkien was defined by his times. There needed no great history to the hobbits, because, well, they were common folk, not Great Folk.

Consider it modified!

Gods of Order God of Commerce: Also the traveler, the explorer, of keeping your word, oaths (for good or ill). The god of the legal cheat. The collector, the god of wonder and exuberance! Master of language. (any other ideas?) God of Justice: The balancer, the god of just endings. God of vengeance. the god of honour, (any other ideas?) Feuds? Perseverance? Retribution Goddess of Earth: Mistress of Agriculture. Lady of Seasons. Birth, death and milestones. Queen of the Forest/Jungle. The herbalist / poisoner. (any other ideas?) God of Knowledge, learning, tactics, logistics, Healers, cooking (Added to the god of Knowledge) Gods of Neutrality God of the Sky: Lord of the sun. The one who gives warmth. The drought lord. Mountains (any other ideas?), Goddess of the Night Sky: Lady of the Stars, the navigator, Patroness of sailors, desert travelers. The night predator. romance. (any other ideas?) Poetry, beauty Lord of Storms, the rain bringer, Thunderer, Destroyer, Renewer, Pestilence, Purges, sickness, (Moved healing to God of learning) Gods of Chaos The Lady of Luck/Trickery, the queen of chance, the thrill seeker, the one who brings down the mighty, fortune favours the bold War God. Blood, suffering, Fire Lord Heat, chaos, Uncontrolled fire, Revelry thieves, generosity, the potlatch, Alcohol, Celebrations (Made War God more the blood suffering type. Fire Lord is now fire uncontrolled as well as the heat provider. Added a God of Revelry, sort of god of good times, wine, celebrations, bards [and thieves])

I was bouncing ideas for my campaign with a friend and he looked at the list of gods and made some suggestions, mostly that between the gods of Order and Chaos there will be some who are Neutral (sort of reminisiant of Dragon Lance or Turakian Age) But he agreed not to go good/neutral/evil. So I present to you my new modified list and ask for any suggestion / recommendations Gods of Order God of Commerce: Also the traveler, the explorer, of keeping your word, oaths (for good or ill). The god of the legal cheat. The collector, the god of wonder and exuberance! Master of language. (any other ideas?) thieves? generosity, the potlatch? Alcohol (deal over drinks), Celebrations (buying drinks) God of Justice: The balancer, the god of just endings. God of vengeance. the god of honour, (any other ideas?) Feuds? Perseverance? Retribution Goddess of Earth: Mistress of Agriculture. Lady of Seasons. Birth, death and milestones. Queen of the Forest/Jungle. The herbalist / poisoner. (any other ideas?) God of Knowledge, learning God of Wisdom (New gods here of Knowledge and of Wisdom. Idea that they need not be synonymous. Any ideas to flesh either of them out?) Gods of Neutrality God of the Sky: Lord of the sun. The one who gives warmth. The drought lord. Mountains (any other ideas?), the god of investigators [brought to the light of day], Goddess of the Night Sky: Lady of the Stars, the navigator, Patroness of sailors, desert travelers. The night predator. romance. (any other ideas?) Poetry, beauty Lord of Storms, the rain bringer, Thunderer, Destroyer, Renewer, Pestilence, Purges, sickness, HMMM Really stuck here, Maybe healing? Hospitals? Healers (Whole list is basically old gods moved to a new list. Only real change is god of pestilence is also god of healers) Gods of Chaos The Lady of Luck/Trickery, the queen of chance, the thrill seeker, the one who brings down the mighty, fortune favours the bold War God. Blood, suffering, tactics, logistics Fire Lord Heat, hearth, cooking, freedom, chaos, Forges (Nothing new here, but can anyone suggest a fourth deity that encapsulates chaos for good and ill?)

Aaron Allston commented that to make a team act like a team one way is to make a villain who was as strong as the brick, as dexterous as the martial artist, fast as the speedster. And give him something that will majorly make people miserable. And then have the heroes try and stop him. Jotunn serves that purpose here. As written he will give any starting team a run for their money. Jotunn fill another niche in the game world, the villain you don't feel bad about stopping / fighting. Is he powerful? Yes. Is he acting on his convictions? Yes. It is just that his convictions are .... not very acceptable. To power him down, get rid of the Reduced End on strength, bring flight down to 25", and Dex down to 25. If still not enough a Speed of 5 should do it! To power him up, Strength 80, And a selection of Brick Tricks (AE no range, AE line, etc!) If you really want him scary a Speed of 7

Even better to combine both Temple of Laosha, Goddess of Healing! (don't forget to pay your tithe as she knows how to hurt you also!)

I love this concept. Not to derail the thread, but How does this work? Also in answer to your question: Potter Glazier Dye maker Scribes Map maker Heraldry Specialist (Q: so what image do you want on your shield? A: A bar code) Brewer / Vintner

I was going to go for a Hit Locations system, then I saw Savage Earth (Thanks LL) and he uses an Activation Roll system. So which do you guys use? Opinions and suggestions welcome!

Zuriel of the Angelos Do You Want to Play an Angel of The Lord? Do You want people to be in AWE of you Flaming Wings? And your Sword of Fire? Then this is the faction for you. Long ago they set in motion events that resulted in all the monotheist religions being dominant (the fact that they resemble angels is not a coincidence) They were part of the same ship as the Elohim, but were the jailers and guards. But it has been so long and many are questioning their original mission. Angelos get no powers. Instead they are allowed to buy high tech item at a discount (beyond even the discount you get for it being an item. Most often they go for a power armour set up, so think Iron Man. With a religious motif! Despite the trapping, Zuriel is a classic Power Armour type. Can go ranged or HTH and is very durable and hard to hurt. To power him down, not much. He's bare bones as it is. Remove the CSLs if you must. To power him up is easier. Spd of 5. And extra Strength through the armour. I would even go with more armour like 15/15!

Sorry to burst your friend's bubble, but that is what is called writers fiat. It happens like that because the writers wanted it like that. But if he wants to really emulate it, then +5 DCV, cost endurance. The SFX is he appears between two opponents and they foolishly try to shoot him, he aborts to dodge and activates the Mini Bamf. This places the DCV at +10. Of course now you have to roll for each agent to see if they hit the other (if he says they should hit each other automatically, tell him there are NO absolutes in Hero, and if he insists, then when Dark Bamfer does it to the PCs, they get the same treatment [yeah other players will not let this fly]) We can get close to comics, but EVEN TSRs Marvel SHG didn't have this stated.

I'd go with a combo of KB resist and Clinging (with limitations )