Would anyone be interested in a setting that combines futuristic cyberpunk with magic?
Kinda like Shadowrun but not.
Anyone?
To make this a little bit more clear, I'm thinking about a setting where we combine magic users (priests, mages, etc) with high class technology (bionics, weaponry, star ships maybe)for now I'm going to call it Magic Punk, (a play off of cyber punk) whether or not this will be similar to cyber punk or not I haven't decided yet. All I want to know, is there anyone interested in reading about this, and are there any suggestions of requests?
Quote from: GnomemasterWould anyone be interested in a setting that combines futuristic cyberpunk with magic?
Kinda like Shadowrun but not.
Anyone?
What's wrong with Shadowrun? :?:
I don't know if it has magic, but this (http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=193&qsSeries=3) is a d20 cyberpunk setting. Given the highly modular nature of the d20 system, one could easily incorporate magic. ;)
Quote from: GnomemasterTo make this a little bit more clear, I'm thinking about a setting where we combine magic users (priests, mages, etc) with high class technology (bionics, weaponry, star ships maybe)for now I'm going to call it Magic Punk, (a play off of cyber punk) whether or not this will be similar to cyber punk or not I haven't decided yet. All I want to know, is there anyone interested in reading about this, and are there any suggestions of requests?
(Took me too long to dig out that link. :-| )
If you're looking at a system that uses the "normal" classes but adds technology and stuff onto it, what do you think about DragonStar (http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/dragonstar.html)?
I will tell you exactly why I will only use those sources (DragonStar and Shadowrun) for inspiration and not just play them. Because that's not what we are about, we are about creation not just using what is tossed at us by companies. Thank you though, that dragonstar site is almost exactly what i was talking about.
...Almost.
Quote from: GnomemasterTo make this a little bit more clear, I'm thinking about a setting where we combine magic users (priests, mages, etc) with high class technology (bionics, weaponry, star ships maybe)for now I'm going to call it Magic Punk, (a play off of cyber punk) whether or not this will be similar to cyber punk or not I haven't decided yet. All I want to know, is there anyone interested in reading about this, and are there any suggestions of requests?
It's a good idea, with a really bad name. Now, don't take what I just said to be a reflection upon you.
it is not meant as an insult of any kind . But the name magic puck just doesn't have a nice ring to it. If I may make a suggestion about the name, i have been working on this type of stuff for a few years now and I have been calling my work techno-fantasy, you are free to use that name if you wish, for your work. But the name of a work or body of works, should give the indication of the elements that the work contains, again that is just my opinion. I just wanted to throw my two cents in.
But we're also not about reinventing the wheel at every opportunity. ;)
If you have any other suggestions or inspirations regarding that topic (and there is much to discuss, I think...), by all means, let me hear it.
:D
Quote from: Ra-TielBut we're also not about reinventing the wheel at every opportunity. ;)
Ah, welcome to the CBG. You must be new here?
[spoiler=Kidding!]Seriously, though, we reinvent the wheel constantly 'round these here parts, whether we really need to or not. And I don't think that's a bad thing. In fact, it would be a
totally awesome thing if any of the reinventions ever actually got completed. :)
Which reminds me... I should probably work on Triad System a bit.[/spoiler]
QuoteWhich reminds me... I should probably work on Triad System a bit.
Yeah, you darn well should!
On a more relevant note, I'd certainly be interested in such a setting, and the more it's less like Shadowrun, the better.
Quote from: GnomemasterWould anyone be interested in a setting that combines futuristic cyberpunk with magic?
Of course! They're my favorite type of setting. Someone mentioned "techno-fantasy." I've been throwing round the term sci-fantasy myself. A bit of semantics I know, but techno infers recognizable technology to me, so it may work for you. With sci-fantasy I see a setting with advanced gadgets that evolve out of rational magic use. Wands instead of guns, magic plate armor instead of power armor, etc.
Are you going to have psionic flavor, or is it going to be predominantly arcane?
Well, I guess some of the ideas I am going to work on tonight (and I will start an actual thread for this since I am getting good vibes) are:
In this universe characters take control of heroes who can wield magical weapons and faster than light starships powered by magic.
There are going to be several powerful factions, but some of the major groups include the Empire of Man, The Alliance (a collection of alien zealots), and the Warped (demon worshiping raiders) to name a few.
Magical guns, magical star ships, robot characters, and chainsaw swords. Need I say more?
Some of my inspirations include
Star Trek, Star Wars, Dune, and
Warhammer 40,000. [/list]
This is not Techno-fantasy, actually I see it more like Science Fantasy. It Combines themes from both, it is a mash up of galactic proportions.
You will see some more later. Let me know what you think of this.
The Nomad rocked hard as missiles exploded against its shields. Aroton's knuckles were white from the death grip he had around the arms of his chair, sparks flew from the nearest console as the ship rocked again.
'Shields are down to 32%' the tactician wizard barked in between chants, his Staff of Shielding was shimmering with arcane might as he tried to repair the damage. Blood trickled from his nose as the mage strained to raise the shields. The ship began to whine as it shuddered violently; the mage fell back into a coma.
'Gods save us!' Aroton shouted. 'How soon until we can make the jump to warp speed?' Artoton turned to Siron who was kneeling on the ground before a small engine shrine clutching his small holy symbol.
'It will take a minute; Vanic must plot our course lest we fly into an asteroid or planet.'
'Well pray harder damnit! The Raiders are coming!' as soon as the words had left his mouth, a deep thud sounded above the bridge. A cutting laser slice through the bulkhead and opened a 4 foot hole. A landing pod had attached itself and formed a magnetic lock, and from within the pod the Raider leapt down. His skin was white a sickly and his teeth had been sharpened with a file resembling the mouth of a lamprey.
In his hand was a chainsaw sword still wet with the gore of a kill, a heavy blaster was in his other hand. He swung his blade at the closest target, a young junior officer, and squeezed the trigger of the weapon. The loud engine drowned out the screams as blood and guts splattered across the deck. That was all the time Aroton needed to activated his personal shield and leap at the intruder. Plasma blasts launched from the raider's pistol and were absorbed harmlessly by Aroton's shield. The captain tackled the Raider and knocked the behemoth over, sending the firearm sailing. The chainsaw was brought down on the captain's shield, causing it to shimmer with strain. Aroton wrestled the blade from the raider's hands and raised it high.
'Do it.' The raider's voice was deep and oily; it made Aroton's flesh crawl. He brought the chainsaw down on the raider's head and pulled the trigger, praying brains and skull fragments all over his chair and uniform. Aroton could feel the ship make the jump to warp speed and he sighed with relief, praying to Vanic quietly.
'Praise to Vanic.' The chaplain breathed as he rose to his feet. 'The god of star travel has truly blessed us this day.' Aroton stared hard at the gore covered weapon in his hands, it whispered dark thoughts into his mind.
Kill the crew.
Aroton dropped the weapon to the bulkhead and shook his head. 'Send this thing and it's belongings out an airlock, it will not taint my ship.' Aroton rose as a few of his men dragged the body away. 'Set a course for the Phosta system.'
You mentioned shields. Well, alone there are several options you'd have to consider.
Option 1
Do shields function like in revised d20 SW, where you have a separate pool of "shields points" that refresh with time?
+: easy mechanic, sort of "realistic" where several weaker weapons can wear down even a powerful shield system
-: bookkeeping, shields effectively worthless when under fire from multiple enemies unless you have a rediculous amount of shield points
Option 2
Or do shields merely add a "shield bonus" to the ship's AC/defense like in DragonStar?
+: very easy mechanic, no additional bookkeeping required
-: "unrealistic", impossible to wear down the shield with continuous fire, either on or off
Option 3
Or do shields grant DR/hardness to the ship like with the droid shields in revised d20 SW?
+: quite easy mechanic, no additional bookkeeping required
-: effectiveness depends on enemy weapons, if enemy has weak weapons shields are "teh uber", if enemy has strong weapons shields are more or less worthless, also impossible to wear down with weaker weapons
Then you mentioned FTL travel. Also, there are countless possibilities that affect the flavor and theme of your setting.
Option 1
Can ships move at FTL speed from anywhere, like in SW and ST? If so, do they need to wait for a computer to plot a course (SW) or can they simply "make it so" ( ;) )?
+: characters are free to move as they wish, "random encounters" are possible
-: hard for the DM to motivate characters to follow a certain path if they don't want to, possibly avoiding important plot hooks or evens as they literally "fly around them", can require added mechanics for plotting the course
Option 2
Do ships require a special gate system to travel at FTL speeds, similar to B5, Fading Suns, or Freelancer? If so, is travel only from gate to gate, or can they move anywhere with this technology?
+: easy travelling, potentially less dangerous, DM can easily put storyelements into the characters' way
-: limited freedom of movement, limited possibilities for "random encounters"
Option 3
Does FTL travel take place in normal space (ST) or in some sort of "hyperspace" (SW, B5)? If so, is this other dimension save to navigate (SW) or are there potential hazards like getting lost (B5) or radiation poisoning? Can this space be entered from anywhere (SW) or does it require special "jumppoints" or "jumpgates" (B5)?
+: additional storyelement ("saving lost ship", "invaders from other dimension", etc), allows for "random encounters"
-: requires additional mechanics for moving and navigating in other space, possibly too dangerous for low-level/low-equip characters
Option 4
Is FTL travel [almost] instant (SG) or does even travelling by wormhole take quite a long time (Blue Planet)? If it is instant, does it have any negative consequences, like eg aging the travellers, giving them a radioation poisoning? If it takes time, does it require the travellers to enter some sort of cryostasis (Lost in Space, Blue Planet), or can the crew and passengers be awake during the journey?
+: if instant, easy way to travel around, no time lost to moving from A to B, little break in the action
-: if stasis required, possibly long breaks and downtime (in Blue Planet making the journey from Earth to the other world takes with all pre- and postflight processing included almost a whole year!)
I hope you see it's not that easy to come up with the mechanics for a cyperpunkspacefantasy setting. Each of the above options, while being thematically and mechanically more or less related, substantionally alter the settings flair. ;)
I never said it would be easy, but to address some of your questions:
1. I prefer the wear down your shields method. In my opinion, that is the way to go (like Star Trek). Shields are controlled by wizards who cast spells similar to Mage Armor, this is just one of the many ways a wizards can upgrade and enchant a spaceship.
2. FTL is brought to you thanks to Vanic, god of star travel. Priests pray to Vanic, who blesses the priest with navigational skills as well as the ability to travel faster than light speed. If you remember, it is impossible to go faster than the speed of light. So there fore, without having to use a whole bunch of technobabble about subspace and so on, I use the idea of magic. Vanic allows humans to travel faster than the speed of light. Every ship has at least one wizard or priest. I see these characters as being able to upgrade weapons, vehicles (both ground vehicles and starships) etc.
For now I am going to say that these ships are traveling through normal space, the only thing saving them from crashing into each other is the holy might of Vanic, only a powerful omnipotent god could keep track of billions of starships in the universe.
Quote from: GnomemasterI never said it would be easy, but to address some of your questions:
Well, what is easy after all? ;)
Quote from: Gnomemaster1. I prefer the wear down your shields method. In my opinion, that is the way to go (like Star Trek). Shields are controlled by wizards who cast spells similar to Mage Armor, this is just one of the many ways a wizards can upgrade and enchant a spaceship.
As said, this is prone to be a bookkeeping nightmare. Imagine the characters escorting a trade convoi of 4 heavy cargo haulers with their small frigate, the other escort ships are 5 light starfighters, and then 8 raider ships attack. You'd have to keep track of the current shield points of 18 ships, let alone the respective recharge rates. Either that, or space combats are so brutal that recharge in combat doesn't matter, but then why bother with it at all?
My personal favorite would be the AC or DR variant. If you wanted to implement a continual "wear down", you could always say that every time the shields are "breached" (read, a hit is scored despite the AC bonus or the ship takes damage despite the DR), the bonus is reduced by 1. Or that shields can only be kept active for a limited amount of time before some capacitor or generator needs to recharge or cooldown or whatever.
The AC/DR variant also solves the problem of "space debris". I can imagine that it hurts like hell if you fly with 50000mph into some satellite or small asteroid. So, the ship would (or rather should, if we assume an even remotely "realistic" approach) take damage each round it moves faster than some threshold, as small debris and other particles crash into its shields and hull with extreme force. If you have a shield point variant for shields you'd have to keep track of the recharge and current points everytime the ship moved faster than some hundred miles per hour.
Quote from: Gnomemaster2. FTL is brought to you thanks to Vanic, god of star travel. Priests pray to Vanic, who blesses the priest with navigational skills as well as the ability to travel faster than light speed. If you remember, it is impossible to go faster than the speed of light. So there fore, without having to use a whole bunch of technobabble about subspace and so on, I use the idea of magic. Vanic allows humans to travel faster than the speed of light. Every ship has at least one wizard or priest. I see these characters as being able to upgrade weapons, vehicles (both ground vehicles and starships) etc.
This is imho another problem. You basically place the question of "where do we go when how fast" completely into the GM's hands. After all, the players have no choice to do otherwise when some omnipotent and -scient god controls and navigates all interplanetar and -stellar travel. If by all means star travel must have to do something with magic, why not go a similar route as DragonStar did? Each interstellar space ship has a "starcaster" on board, a huge magical device. Its function is quite simple, when activated it casts some sort of "teleport" spell on the whole ship, moving it instantly from one place to another. As with the normal teleport, there is a chance to arrive off-target, and it gets worse the farther you attempt to "jump".
Quote from: GnomemasterFor now I am going to say that these ships are traveling through normal space, the only thing saving them from crashing into each other is the holy might of Vanic, only a powerful omnipotent god could keep track of billions of starships in the universe.
See my point above. Also, it's completely unnecessary to keep track of all ships everywhere at the same time, because in most normal circumstances you will never interact with more than 0.000000000001% of all currently flying ships in the whole universe. Typically, you'd only have to track ships in your close proximity, eg a lightsecond or -minute for STL travel; at most you would be tracking all ships in the planet's atmosphere/orbit, and if all ropes are cut you track all ships in the local solarsystem. And this is something even today's computers would be able to do. So, no need for a god to fly from one planet to another in the same system.
And for FTL travel it depends.
Well, as I was lying in bed last night, I thought about the shields. In a futuristic game it seems that all the weapons deal a lot of damage (3d8 sometimes) that can spell certain doom for low level characters, so I thought that these shields can act as extra HP. the lowest would be 25, the kind of shield a low level character might wear, and when he is shot up, the shield shimmers and takes the damage. I don't think it is too much paperwork. You are already keeping track of HP, all this does is add a little bonus. The recharging won't happen. In my opinion you are in combat for all of 5 rounds on average, that's fifteen seconds (saying that every round is three seconds long) so your personal shield won't have time to recharge. Out of combat it recharges over time (just like you heal over time) and of course spells can be cast on the shield.
FTL travel: It is NOT controlled by the DM, I probably didn't explain myself properly (I do that) In star wars you have to plot the course using a computer so that you don't crash into asteroids, planets, etc. Praying to Vanic is similar. The idea I had would be for a priest to sacrifice a spell to Vanic, and depending on it's level depends on how fast you can go. The Player's choose where they go, and in my opinion it doesn't really matter how long it takes the players to get from point A to point B, the DM will speed up the travel time anyways.
The Teleport Idea is pretty good, I may use it, but one thing I want to avoid is people saying "Wow, this is a cool game, it's a lot like Dragonstar, only without dragons."
Quote from: GnomemasterWell, as I was lying in bed last night, I thought about the shields. In a futuristic game it seems that all the weapons deal a lot of damage (3d8 sometimes) that can spell certain doom for low level characters, so I thought that these shields can act as extra HP. the lowest would be 25, the kind of shield a low level character might wear, and when he is shot up, the shield shimmers and takes the damage. I don't think it is too much paperwork. You are already keeping track of HP, all this does is add a little bonus. The recharging won't happen. In my opinion you are in combat for all of 5 rounds on average, that's fifteen seconds (saying that every round is three seconds long) so your personal shield won't have time to recharge. Out of combat it recharges over time (just like you heal over time) and of course spells can be cast on the shield.
Ok, some ideas. 3d8 hit on average for 13.5 points of damage. So after an average of 2 hits your shield is already gone. This is what I meant with "possibly useless". Especially in a fight against multiple opponents shields will do null for the characters. Yeah, the tank dies in round 3 instead of round 2. ;) If you made [body]shields give DR or an AC bonus, it would benefit characters
much more.
However, making shields have "virtual HPs" makes for some very easy implementation. Just treat shieldbelts as universal (psionic) items that can manifest
vigor 3/day or something. The ML used by the item would be the "shield rating", ranging from 1 to 20, obviously.
Quote from: GnomemasterFTL travel: It is NOT controlled by the DM, I probably didn't explain myself properly (I do that) In star wars you have to plot the course using a computer so that you don't crash into asteroids, planets, etc. Praying to Vanic is similar. The idea I had would be for a priest to sacrifice a spell to Vanic, and depending on it's level depends on how fast you can go. The Player's choose where they go, and in my opinion it doesn't really matter how long it takes the players to get from point A to point B, the DM will speed up the travel time anyways.
I see. Interesting idea. However, keying FTL travel to a god instead of technology always brings up the "how can HE let that happen?" thing. Civil wars, invasions, desasters where interstellar cargo haulers full with extremly radioactive waste crash on cities, etc. Either the god is an (sorry) utter asshole who gives a crap about his followers, or you'd have to handwaive every such occurance.
It also removes the "engine failure" element from the DM's repertoire. If FTL travel is based on technology, one could always sabotage the engine, or a critical hit in combat could damage it and cause it to fail some minutes after the party got away from the battle, leaving them temporarily stranded where the DM wants them to be. If a god moves each ship with his power in FTL travel, however, the only explaination for such an event would be "because Vanic sucks".
Quote from: GnomemasterThe Teleport Idea is pretty good, I may use it, but one thing I want to avoid is people saying "Wow, this is a cool game, it's a lot like Dragonstar, only without dragons."
There are always alternatives. You could, for example, construct huge gates that emulate a
teleportation circle (similar to ring gates, but orders of magnitude larger), or a FTL engine that uses
plane shift instead of
teleport. You could use "anchor gates" that allow only origin-based travel instead of destination-based travel (read: each ship has a special artifact onboard that can be fed with a "origin key"; each key is bound to a specific gate; if the ship with an activated key flies through any "anchor gate", it can use the key to jump back to the key's original gate, mimicking the
instant summons spell).
As for engine failure, you could always kill the priest.
So what's the deal? do you just need to naysay everything? Don't get me wrong, it's helpful, but it's getting a bit ridiculous. We have been going back and forth now for the better part of a day over shields and engines, I shudder to think about going over anything more complex with you. It could take weeks! I also feel you are thinking in the confined boxes of DnD. This game isn't about technology that uses magic (like plane shift). I'm going to actually write some of this up, and 25 is a low level shield. I was picturing closer to 100-200 for higher levels.
Quote from: GnomemasterAs for engine failure, you could always kill the priest.
Now that's definitively an alternative. Less so, however, if the priest happens to be a PC. :-|
Quote from: GnomemasterSo what's the deal? do you just need to naysay everything? Don't get me wrong, it's helpful, but it's getting a bit ridiculous.
How comes? Because I'm pointing out the things I could imagine being important to the setting? The things that could throw up problems in game?
Quote from: GnomemasterWe have been going back and forth now for the better part of a day over shields and engines, I shudder to think about going over anything more complex with you.
So what? Just as a reminder, these aspects of the game have a major influence on your setting's flavor. Whether shields can stop all but the most powerful weapons (of a certain level), or if you can bring down the most powerful shield by just throwing enough stones at it or not, whether FTL travel can happen without someone making magic-mojo and is instant or not, all that poses the basics for your setting. A setting where travelling long distances is dangerous, complicated, and longwinded has a completely different feel than one where FTL travel is fast, easy, and safe. Same thing goes for shielding, medical tech, daily life, provisioning of food, trading, etc.
Quote from: GnomemasterIt could take weeks!
Again, so what? Are there some mafiosi pointing a gun at your head, threatening to kill you if you haven't finished the setting by next week? :?: Believe me, I've seen dozens of "hey, this sounds cool, let's make a setting of it" endeavors die a silent, slow death because one tried to force-march the development. To implement some mechanics just to find out that it's horrible to use in game. Or to make background decisions just to find out that it rather scares players away from the plot instead of attracting them.
If you think you can stomp a cool, playable, cyberpunk w/ magic setting out of the ground in no time, more power to you.
Quote from: GnomemasterI also feel you are thinking in the confined boxes of DnD.
Trust me, I barely know one (either in real life nor on any message board) who has tinkered with more aspects of the d20 system than me. And that's not an exaggeration. If you think I'd be "thinking in the confined boxes of DnD", you might want to take a look at the mechanics of the Worldgate Campaign Setting, or some of my suggestions in the "Campaign Builders' Setting" thread.
Quote from: GnomemasterThis game isn't about technology that uses magic (like plane shift).
Well, but this
Quote from: GnomemasterWould anyone be interested in a setting that combines futuristic cyberpunk with magic? [...]
looked like exactly that to me. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Quote from: GnomemasterI'm going to actually write some of this up, and 25 is a low level shield. I was picturing closer to 100-200 for higher levels.
Of course, please go ahead.
*sigh* I'm sorry, I should actually be thanking you, you've given me a lot to think about.
My idea for armor is that the players have two components. An energy shield that takes so many hits then fizzles out. There are going to be different ratings of shields, then the players wear power armor which grants DR and AC. When the shields are active, your power armor DR and AC don't apply (So you use your touch AC) then once the shield gives out you have to rely on your Steel-ceramic armor. Kinda like Halo, how Master Chief has a shield and Armor you know?
The Star Caster concept and space travel: I see Priests who can cast buffs on a ship, or repair parts of the ship with spells. To them, ship maintenance is part of their religion. When they turn to the engine shrine (which must be fueled daily with at least one spell to operate at sub-light speeds) This to me is the game mechanic behind ship fuel. I think the spell might be an Osiron, and basically powers a ship for a short while (a day of flying around at 75% of the speed of light) then maybe more powerful spells can power it longer. The Priest then must sacrifice a spell slot of any level to travel at warp speeds, depending on the level depends on the speeds and how far it can fly.
Then I see the classes coming out like this: Fighter, Wizard and Sorcerer, Cleric, Rogue, Ranger, Druid (I have some fun ideas for that), Barbarian, Paladin (Some more fun ideas), and monk. The only class I want to drop is the Bard and maybe the Barbarian, although I can see where the Barbarian can work out.
Then I will have a few prestige classes, new spells, and of course lots and lots of Magitech.
Quote from: Gnomemaster*sigh* I'm sorry, I should actually be thanking you, you've given me a lot to think about.
Awww, no worries. I'm fine. :D
Quote from: GnomemasterMy idea for armor is that the players have two components. An energy shield that takes so many hits then fizzles out. There are going to be different ratings of shields, then the players wear power armor which grants DR and AC. When the shields are active, your power armor DR and AC don't apply (So you use your touch AC) then once the shield gives out you have to rely on your Steel-ceramic armor. Kinda like Halo, how Master Chief has a shield and Armor you know?
Ahh, now that's more information to work with. ;)
A similar idea has been used in the "Fading Suns" rpg. There were also personal shields, but those worked different. First, each shield could only be activated a certain number of times (10 for the weakest, 25 for the most powerful ones). Second, a shield only became active once a certain minimum amount of energy (read damage) entered its field. Third, the shield completely negated the damage unless it was higher than a given threshold (in that case it merely reduced the damage, working like DnD DR). Fourth, one could not wear thick armor under shields, as the shield needed to be closely layered to the body to work; however, the more powerful shields had a greater field of operation and allowed thicker armor to be worn.
Quote from: GnomemasterThe Star Caster concept and space travel: I see Priests who can cast buffs on a ship, or repair parts of the ship with spells. To them, ship maintenance is part of their religion. When they turn to the engine shrine (which must be fueled daily with at least one spell to operate at sub-light speeds) This to me is the game mechanic behind ship fuel. I think the spell might be an Osiron, and basically powers a ship for a short while (a day of flying around at 75% of the speed of light) then maybe more powerful spells can power it longer. The Priest then must sacrifice a spell slot of any level to travel at warp speeds, depending on the level depends on the speeds and how far it can fly.
Now I see where you're going. ;) My suggestion, however, would still be to work this into some artifact or other "magitech" device and not make it happen mysteriously. If you wanted to add some creepy feeling to the religion, you could eg require the priest to give some of his own blood when powering the ship's engines ("...and the fuel that drives my systems shall thus drive thy systems..."). Also, how about this:
Quote from: GnomemasterThen I see the classes coming out like this: Fighter, Wizard and Sorcerer, Cleric, Rogue, Ranger, Druid (I have some fun ideas for that), Barbarian, Paladin (Some more fun ideas), and monk. The only class I want to drop is the Bard and maybe the Barbarian, although I can see where the Barbarian can work out.
Then I will have a few prestige classes, new spells, and of course lots and lots of Magitech.
I'm really curious on your ideas for classes. :) Keep 'em coming! :D
Well, classes represent archetypes in fantasy, I want those classes to represent archetypes in my Universe.
A Fighter is the soldier character, they can choose to specialized in combat (both ranged or melee) or train as pilots (taking piloting feats)
A Rogue represents not only the thief, but could also be the pilot. Rogue get a lot of skills and could apply those toward piloting.
A Cleric is not only the healer but also the engineer aboard the ship. They also preserve the crew from demonic threats.
A Wizard/Sorcerer controls a lot of the weaponry aboard a ship and also can enchant weapons (imagine firing molten bullets)
Paladins are the militant arms of the religions, they lead giant crusades across planets and can choose a speeder or motorcycle as their mount instead of just animals.
Rangers are bounty hunters and sometimes law enforcement. They also tend to serve as soldiers in the planetary legions. Rangers can also be alien assassins.
Monks train in combat as well as the paths toward enlightenment, this can be a hard one to implement. Any suggestions?
Personally, I would make your ships run off of a variant of the VP/WP system, where the VP is the shield, and WP is the ship itself.
This looks very interesting. I've got a suggestion about the 'engine'; What if the cleric's holy symbol was this monstrosity of an altar, and the more damaged it is, the worse it performs.
Also, about how the God controls space travel, to get around the 'how does he let this happen?' problem, you could make it so that it was some sort of ancient pact, and he's duty-bound to honor his end of the bargain, no matter what the purpose is?
I like the idea of the altar, I would probably take that and run with it. If you remember the engine rooms in Star Trek, I see something similar only it is a huge altar which is the focus for all of the magical upgrades a ship can receive. I would probably make it the center of the ship, that area would be called the Chapel of the ship, where not only do the crew members go to pray, but the Chaplain can help keep the ship running.
Okay, I believe I have enough feedback now to start a true and real thread. The thread's name will be "Universe" (The playtest name for my game)
I will begin writing for Universe as though I was writing a Player's Handbook. One of my favorite sourcebooks has to be The Player's Guide to Eberron. Everything is broken up into delicious bite sized bits, so that's what I'm going to work with first.
Most of my information concerning important parts of the game will be written like those small articles, I will also include a section about building a Universe characters. keep in mind that I will hold off on writing too much crunch for now, I've decided to not make any big decisions until 4th edition comes out, just know that I will probably follow that. For now I will work on the peoples, planets, factions, gods, and some of the magitech of the Universe.
OK, so I have been doing a bit of work on this setting and hope to have two threads moving, one for my posting and one for discussion (this thread) and something that I want some feedback on is my idea for how classes will work.
As I work more and more on this I am moving farther and farther away from d20 and that excites me. What I want is for the games to have 4 levels of play: heroic, which are adventures that have a very localized area, like a large city or group of small towns. Superheroic, which is a worldwide adventure that spans several cities or perhaps a huge hive-city. Legendary which would encompass entire solar systems, and finally epic that would span galaxies.
Each of these levels of play allow for classes, what I am trying to do is shorten down on the time it takes to create a character, I am also shortening the class system. My classes are going to be five levels or so, and these are going to be very specialized classes (think prestige classes) each with their own individual spell lists and spell points (no more vancian system).
http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?37487.last
Go there to see a little bit about what I am talking about. I hope to do a bunch of these that have to do with my science fantasy universe.
It's a bit tough because I am not only re-doing classes but also spells. I hope to have every class use spells, even fighters and rogues, however those types of spells will seem more like feats or other powers. (Such as a fighter-type of character might get a spell that allows him to rage for a little while.)
It's similar to the star wars game where other characters can tap into force abilities.
Let me know what you think, Ra-Tiel I miss your comments.
The Gnomemaster
Quote from: GnomemasterMonks train in combat as well as the paths toward enlightenment, this can be a hard one to implement. Any suggestions?
What if enlightenment lies somewhere out among the stars, and walking the path towards it gradually moves a person toward ability to operate in zero-G situations, survive a lack of air and heat, etc. Sufficiently advanced monks could spacewalk safely with no protective gear-- they're just that "in tune" with the universe.
Eh?
Quote from: Luminous CrayonWhat if enlightenment lies somewhere out among the stars, and walking the path towards it gradually moves a person toward ability to operate in zero-G situations, survive a lack of air and heat, etc. Sufficiently advanced monks could spacewalk safely with no protective gear-- they're just that "in tune" with the universe.
Eh?
Well with the exception that this violates nearly every law of physics, it's cool.
Quote from: Stargate525Well with the exception that this violates nearly every law of physics, it's cool.
I did it that way on purpose, so they'd be just like fantasy-genre D&D monks. :yumm:
Good Ideas, Im moving past the D&D core classes, but I will keep that in mind.
Quote from: Gnomemaster[...] Let me know what you think, Ra-Tiel I miss your comments.
Sorry, I got "distracted" lately. :( But now I'm back. :D
Quote from: GnomemasterWell, classes represent archetypes in fantasy, I want those classes to represent archetypes in my Universe.
So, let's see... ;)
Quote from: GnomemasterA Fighter is the soldier character, they can choose to specialized in combat (both ranged or melee) or train as pilots (taking piloting feats)
A Rogue represents not only the thief, but could also be the pilot. Rogue get a lot of skills and could apply those toward piloting.
Here I see the first problem. I can imagine the rogue being the actual pilot and fighters being the gunners and "tactical officers", but unless you seriously improve the fighter's class skills and skillpoints, a rogue will
always outperform a fighter as a pilot. A rogue only misses 5 points BAB compared to the fighter, while the fighter misses 6 skillpoints per level and a huge amount of class skills to the rogue.
Quote from: GnomemasterA Cleric is not only the healer but also the engineer aboard the ship. They also preserve the crew from demonic threats.
Something similar occurs here. Unless ships in your setting are
completely built from magitech, a cleric has just not enough skillpoints to learn electronics, mechanics, etc well enough to actually keep the "mundane" systems of a ship running and operational. And while there are several spells that could take care of that, there are situations where it's just not possible ("that hull breach has to be repaired
now, and not one day later when the cleric has refreshed his spells").
On a related note, why don't you consider using the Artificer for that role? You could always tweak the flavor so that artificers also belong to a church and gain their powers from Vanic (or some other god). Just like paladins are the "martial" arm of a church, artificers could be the "technological" arm of a church.
Quote from: GnomemasterA Wizard/Sorcerer controls a lot of the weaponry aboard a ship and also can enchant weapons (imagine firing molten bullets)
While being a good idea, spontaneously enhancing a ship's weapons is impractical. Most of these spells (I guess you think of
greater magic weapon and similar spells) usually only work on a single weapon or 50 units of ammunition. What good does it do have one of your ship's 30 lasers being +4 or something? You'd only have to track attacks and damage from this single laser seperately, which makes combat more complicated and time consuming.
Also, contrary to mounted combat or combat occuring on "typical" DnD vessels (open ships, wagons, etc), a starship will almost always block either line of sight and/or line of effect to an outside target, thus negating most of an arcane caster's arsenal.
Quote from: GnomemasterPaladins are the militant arms of the religions, they lead giant crusades across planets and can choose a speeder or motorcycle as their mount instead of just animals.
Did I hear someone say "KITT" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KITT)? :D
Quote from: GnomemasterRangers are bounty hunters and sometimes law enforcement. They also tend to serve as soldiers in the planetary legions. Rangers can also be alien assassins.
No problems here. :)
Quote from: GnomemasterMonks train in combat as well as the paths toward enlightenment, this can be a hard one to implement. Any suggestions?
This one could become very interesting, as LC's comments already suggested. ;)
Quote from: Stargate525Personally, I would make your ships run off of a variant of the VP/WP system, where the VP is the shield, and WP is the ship itself. [...]
Also an interesting idea. But how would then armor fit into the calculations? Armor would then need to function as DR, or it wouldn't make any sense. Using armor as AC wouldn't work, because the "shields" are hit before the blast reaches the hull.
Quote from: Stargate525Also, about how the God controls space travel, to get around the 'how does he let this happen?' problem, you could make it so that it was some sort of ancient pact, and he's duty-bound to honor his end of the bargain, no matter what the purpose is?
But wouldn't this basically cement the Vanic's alignment into LN or N (or possibly LE)? In the past, he could have been good, but after centuries and millenia of people using and abusing his granted powers for all sorts of bad things, and he wouldn't dare to interfere would change everybody imho.
Also, what would be the other end of the deal? Why should he have agreed to such a contract?
Quote from: Ra-TielAlso an interesting idea. But how would then armor fit into the calculations? Armor would then need to function as DR, or it wouldn't make any sense. Using armor as AC wouldn't work, because the "shields" are hit before the blast reaches the hull.
Think about what you're putting the armor on. You've got a huge-ass ship being fired at by another huge-ass ship. Neither one, barring smaller craft and horrible gunners, will miss at any real rate. And armor in its normal sense wouldn't work in either case; it wouldn't make the other guy miss, and it certainly won't allow the GIANT LASER BOLT to glance off the hull.
I'd say make the various armors give a multiplier to the 'wound points' of the ships, which represent the extra stuff you've got to fire through before you get to anything really critical. This might work best as a three tiered system, where you need to fire through the shields, then the armor, then you get to the crippling of the ship.
Quote from: Ra-TielBut wouldn't this basically cement the Vanic's alignment into LN or N (or possibly LE)? In the past, he could have been good, but after centuries and millenia of people using and abusing his granted powers for all sorts of bad things, and he wouldn't dare to interfere would change everybody imho.
Is that really a problem? I would see a god of roads as neutral, and Vanic is essentially the god of very long, very fast moving walkways.
Quote from: Ra-TielAlso, what would be the other end of the deal? Why should he have agreed to such a contract?
Gods gain power through worship. Using that contract, Vanic has just secured the direct worship of all FTL ships' engineers, and indirect worship from everyone who uses FTL travel. The answer; POWER, and lots of it.
Quote from: Ra-TielWhile being a good idea, spontaneously enhancing a ship's weapons is impractical. Most of these spells (I guess you think of greater magic weapon and similar spells) usually only work on a single weapon or 50 units of ammunition. What good does it do have one of your ship's 30 lasers being +4 or something? You'd only have to track attacks and damage from this single laser seperately, which makes combat more complicated and time consuming.
Also, contrary to mounted combat or combat occuring on "typical" DnD vessels (open ships, wagons, etc), a starship will almost always block either line of sight and/or line of effect to an outside target, thus negating most of an arcane caster's arsenal.
My guess is that any bonuses like that would be increased to a ship-wide bonus. Similarly, have you never seen spaceships with windows? You're moving pretty far away from normal D&D, so line of effect will probably have a radically different meaning in ship to ship combat.
well now, we got some good stuff going down now.
First of all, I have been working on some new classes, and moving farther and farther away from the d20 system. These are going to be similar to the PHB classes, but more focused. A lot of the spells that are going to be cast will be new and unique (so no, we probably won't be using greater magic weapon or anything) There are a few new things, like ritual magic that requires other casters to help you (thus more powerful spells), then I was thinking of using the Altar to Vanic as a central hub for spells, magic flows through it and is redirected or strengthened through it's circuitry.
So if you wanted, you could arm the rear battery guns with +2 EMP shots by casting it through the altar. this of course won't be free.
Someone mentioned the price to pay, The price I want is for your sanity to be on the line. The more and more we deal with more powerful magic and bizzare demons from Hell the more crazy we become.
Certain spells will require you to make a Will save to cast them, once done the spell is cast, but if you fail you take insanity damage.
Reminds me of River from Firefly; nuts, but can do stuff that's absolutely INSANE.
Quote from: Stargate525Think about what you're putting the armor on. You've got a huge-ass ship being fired at by another huge-ass ship. Neither one, barring smaller craft and horrible gunners, will miss at any real rate. And armor in its normal sense wouldn't work in either case; it wouldn't make the other guy miss, and it certainly won't allow the GIANT LASER BOLT to glance off the hull.
I'd say make the various armors give a multiplier to the 'wound points' of the ships, which represent the extra stuff you've got to fire through before you get to anything really critical. This might work best as a three tiered system, where you need to fire through the shields, then the armor, then you get to the crippling of the ship.
The problem is that at some point you HAVE to include a hardness/DR mechanic, and if just to avoid the situation where a guy in a spacesuit kills a main fleet carrier by shooting 10k times with his handgun at it. Or could you destroy an M1 Abrams or Leopard 2A6 with your slingshot?
Quote from: Stargate525Is that really a problem? I would see a god of roads as neutral, and Vanic is essentially the god of very long, very fast moving walkways.
Definitively an option. I just got the impression that Gnomemaster wanted Vanic to not be the stereotypical "don't care" type of travelling god. ;)
Quote from: Stargate525Gods gain power through worship. Using that contract, Vanic has just secured the direct worship of all FTL ships' engineers, and indirect worship from everyone who uses FTL travel. The answer; POWER, and lots of it.
Not necessarily. The principle "gods gain power through worship" always creates a "hen and egg" problem, sort of. How did the god happen to be a god in the first place? If he has always been a god, who worshipped him at first?
IIRC, Deities and Demigods had some good points on these problems.
Quote from: Stargate525My guess is that any bonuses like that would be increased to a ship-wide bonus. Similarly, have you never seen spaceships with windows? You're moving pretty far away from normal D&D, so line of effect will probably have a radically different meaning in ship to ship combat.
If you rework the rules regarding LoS, LoE, targets and ranges for ships, there are two possible outcomes.
1) The rules change on the whole range, opening up a MASSIVE loophole in "normal" magic. Suddenly, you can use a spell to make a wall transparent and cast
baleful polymorph on someone behind it, the range of your
disintegrate suddenly increases by a huge amount just because you now sit in a car, and other possibly... well... let's call it "unintentional" results.
2) The rules only apply to spells regarding spaceships, creating a dichotomy in the rules. Why should these rules only work on a spaceship, and not on an airplane, zeppelin, sea-going vessel, trainwagon, mule-drawn cart? This would force the DM and players to work with two seperate systems for one and the same thing.
Also, I must say that the setting's current stage somehow reminds me on WH40k. :D Demons, gods, bad aliens, magitech. ;)
Quote from: Ra-TielThe problem is that at some point you HAVE to include a hardness/DR mechanic, and if just to avoid the situation where a guy in a spacesuit kills a main fleet carrier by shooting 10k times with his handgun at it. Or could you destroy an M1 Abrams or Leopard 2A6 with your slingshot?
Er... yes?
Seriously, in a system where a God can be hit, FOR DAMAGE, once every 400 attacks, does the fact that a guy can sit at a ship, firing for almost four hours and destroy a starship matter?
If you want, you could make ship hitpoints and people hitpoints different numbers, say 10/1. That way, someone shooting a gun (calibrated on human hitpoints) needs to divide the damage by ten, round down, then apply it. Best of luck shooting through those shields.
Quote from: Ra-TielNot necessarily. The principle "gods gain power through worship" always creates a "hen and egg" problem, sort of. How did the god happen to be a god in the first place? If he has always been a god, who worshipped him at first?
New on your reading list is Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett. Explains everything.
Quote from: Ra-TielIf you rework the rules regarding LoS, LoE, targets and ranges for ships, there are two possible outcomes...
Or you could make each 'gun' a receiver of the arcane power, and allows you to gain line of sight and effect without exposing yourself to the vacuum of space.
To answer your 40K comment, I love 40K, but honestly, you can sit there and say "Wow, that sounds a whole lot like..." about almost anything. My goal is to take inspiration from several sources (Warhammer 40k, Star Trek, Star Wars etc.)
Am I to infer that Vanic was a mortal who pioneered the human empire's expansion, and ascended to godhood to continually foster that expansion by facilitating FTL travel? The image of Vanic as a sort of distant god-emperor is quite compelling.
Quote from: Stargate525Er... yes?
Seriously, in a system where a God can be hit, FOR DAMAGE, once every 400 attacks, does the fact that a guy can sit at a ship, firing for almost four hours and destroy a starship matter?
If the guy is using a weapon that is stopped by an average kevlar vest, imho HELL YES! :P
Quote from: Stargate525If you want, you could make ship hitpoints and people hitpoints different numbers, say 10/1. That way, someone shooting a gun (calibrated on human hitpoints) needs to divide the damage by ten, round down, then apply it. Best of luck shooting through those shields.
And that is in what way easier and faster than applying DR? Also, I thought shields were just "a ship's vitality points", so why would I have to have much luck beating those? Even if my attack only dealt 1 point per hit, eventually I would wear down
any shield and would perforate
any hull armor, no matter if I was using a 4mm pistol, a .50 sniper rifle, or a 30mm anti-tank cannon. :?:
Quote from: Stargate525New on your reading list is Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett. Explains everything.
I usually don't read Pratchett. :-|
Quote from: Stargate525Or you could make each 'gun' a receiver of the arcane power, and allows you to gain line of sight and effect without exposing yourself to the vacuum of space.
This is a very powerful effect. However, I could imagine it being possible if you can only apply this to specially prepared "mage-fire weapons(tm)" or something. Perhaps
project image could be used as a prerequisite for constucting such special weapons, with a more powerful version being available with
astral projection. To use a mage-fire weapon, a caster would have to put his personal
arcane mark on it first to "attune" the weapon to himself, but then he could cast his spells directly onto them. Same thing could work for special "mage-sight cameras(tm)".
Quote from: Luminous CrayonAm I to infer that Vanic was a mortal who pioneered the human empire's expansion, and ascended to godhood to continually foster that expansion by facilitating FTL travel? The image of Vanic as a sort of distant god-emperor is quite compelling.
I'm thinking so. The idea is that the humans of my game are all descendants of some of the dregs of Earth society. Not sure if they are actually refugees or convicts sent on a suicide mission. If I were to use the latter, we will see two human faction, the original probably benevolent humans from earth, and the more ruthless Empire of Man.
Vanic was indeed a man, possibly an emperor, but I prefer the idea of an explorer who helped recreate FTL travel (because the Imperial humans had lost it) through magic. Now your comment of god-emperor being compelling, what do you mean?
Quote from: Ra-TielAnd that is in what way easier and faster than applying DR? Also, I thought shields were just "a ship's vitality points", so why would I have to have much luck beating those? Even if my attack only dealt 1 point per hit, eventually I would wear down any shield and would perforate any hull armor, no matter if I was using a 4mm pistol, a .50 sniper rifle, or a 30mm anti-tank cannon. :?:
I thought we were also going to do the 'shield points slowly regenerate'. Either way, you would have to do more than 10 points of damage to even DO damage, and even then only 1 point. And seriously, if you've got to worry about someone HACKING AT YOUR SHIP WITH A SWORD, you need to rethink your battle plan.
Quote from: Ra-TielI usually don't read Pratchett. :-|
Then I'll boil it down for you. Essentially, there are millions of Gods, buzzing around in a semi-animalistic state, awaiting worshipers, and with little to no power. Once they manage to get a single follower (the muttered prayer of thanks for finding a lost sheep, for instance) they get the ability to perform more and more powerful things, finally becoming a God in the typical sense. The God can also die when no-one believes in the God, but believes in the hierarchy built around the God.
Quote from: Ra-TielThis is a very powerful effect. However, I could imagine it being possible if you can only apply this to specially prepared "mage-fire weapons(tm)" or something. Perhaps project image could be used as a prerequisite for constucting such special weapons, with a more powerful version being available with astral projection. To use a mage-fire weapon, a caster would have to put his personal arcane mark on it first to "attune" the weapon to himself, but then he could cast his spells directly onto them. Same thing could work for special "mage-sight cameras(tm)".
I don't see how this would be a very powerful effect... You don't want it to be too damned difficult to shoot a gun, do you?
I also am strongly against the personal mark, as then all you have to do is kill the caster, and the gun is rendered totally inoperable.
Quote from: Stargate525I thought we were also going to do the 'shield points slowly regenerate'. Either way, you would have to do more than 10 points of damage to even DO damage, and even then only 1 point. And seriously, if you've got to worry about someone HACKING AT YOUR SHIP WITH A SWORD, you need to rethink your battle plan.
Don't you remember
one of the very core rules of the d20 system? ;)
d20srd.org says: (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/theBasics.htm#roundingFractions)
Rounding Fractions
In general, if you wind up with a fraction, round down, even if the fraction is one-half or larger.
Exception: Certain rolls, such as damage and hit points, have a minimum of 1.And that last part with the guy with a sword... I take the orc frenzied berserker with an adamantine greatsword as the single member of my boarding party... :P
Quote from: Stargate525Then I'll boil it down for you. Essentially, there are millions of Gods, buzzing around in a semi-animalistic state, awaiting worshipers, and with little to no power. Once they manage to get a single follower (the muttered prayer of thanks for finding a lost sheep, for instance) they get the ability to perform more and more powerful things, finally becoming a God in the typical sense. The God can also die when no-one believes in the God, but believes in the hierarchy built around the God.
Ahh, interesting. But I wonder how this would work in a scifi setting...
Quote from: Stargate525I don't see how this would be a very powerful effect... You don't want it to be too damned difficult to shoot a gun, do you?
You don't see how creating magical effects without direct line of sight AND line of effect is powerful? Damn, I know at least 3 wizards who would KILL for such an ability. :huh:
Quote from: Stargate525I also am strongly against the personal mark, as then all you have to do is kill the caster, and the gun is rendered totally inoperable.
Are you now making the wizard the sole gunner on a ship? Where did I say that the gun would require the mark to be used? It would merely require that mark to receive certain weapon enhancing spells. ;)
Quote from: GnomemasterNow your comment of god-emperor being compelling, what do you mean?
Maybe I've jumped to too big a conclusion, but your post in the other thread seems to imply that it's Vanic's leadership that allowed the human empire to become successful, and he presumably became their Emperor.
Now, somehow or other, Vanic has reached the status of a god, and guides all FTL travel-- technology that the empire uses to discover new lands, conquer them, and subjugate their natives. So in a way, by providing FTL travel, god-style-Vanic is still playing a very important role in vital imperial affairs. (Even if he doesn't ever do anything anymore except grant spells, etc.)
So, what if Vanic didn't step down from his position as Emperor when he became a god? Even if god-style-Vanic is too "abstract" to communicate with his followers at all, the Empire might continue to hail him as a leader, especially if he was influential and powerful while still a mortal. You could easily end up with an empire whose operation is governed by, say, some sort of council of mortals who "interpret Vanic's mysterious will", but who expand their territory in the name of their nominal Emperor, the Great Star-God Vanic.
Maybe Vanic got some magic/technology from the Voth that allowed him to transcend the mortal state and become a god. Maybe he made some sort of
serious trade with them for the privilege of godhood, or maybe he stole the power somehow. Maybe it did something to him that he didn't expect, like render him incapable of leading his empire directly the way a mortal Emperor could, and no one else realizes the truth of his miscalculation.
Anyway, Vanic is already going to be "everywhere" in this setting, just for the fact that he's required for all FTL travel. Perhaps a mysterious or silent Vanic who is also revered as a holy Emperor could be an interesting centerpiece for the empire.
Quote from: Ra-TielDon't you remember one of the very core rules of the d20 system? ;)
d20srd.org says: (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/theBasics.htm#roundingFractions)
Rounding Fractions
In general, if you wind up with a fraction, round down, even if the fraction is one-half or larger.
Exception: Certain rolls, such as damage and hit points, have a minimum of 1.
Okay, Mr. 'I need to be perfect,' all ships have DR 1/-. :-/
luminous Crayon: Great Idea, but too much like Warhammer 40K, they have a god-emperor. I prefer the idea of Vanic being a cross between George Washington and Jesus
OK... I did a shorty, short write up of the Empire on my Universe thread, I also included a real definition of Vanic and included a look at my new spell system.
You may have noticed that I do not allow you to augment damage of a spell, to me that would make higher level spells obsolete when you can just cast a low level spells. Now I haven't made any real decisions but basically we are looking at this:
No more spells/day or spells/known. Instead classes each have a small spell list (about 16-20 spells) that are unique to that career. They can cast any of those however times they want as long as they have enough spirit points.
So shazam! I think that may just work. If you have any suggestions, sock it to me.
By the by, I enjoy reading your discussion over the ship designs, although that's something I haven't touched yet, trust me I will. I kinda see Large ships (capital ships like the Impervious) as being more like settings or plot devices. Just a different type of dungeon. Small fighters and cruisers (1-10 crew) are going to be the ships people deal with.
Quote from: Stargate525Okay, Mr. 'I need to be perfect,' all ships have DR 1/-. :-/
Now, why not just increase this amount based on the ship's type and size?
[table=suggestion]
[tr][th]Type/size[/th][th]DR bonus[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]Civilian[/td][td]+5[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Paramilitary[/td][td]+10[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Military[/td][td]+15[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Finy[/td][td]+1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Diminuitiv[/td][td]+2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Tiny[/td][td]+5[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Small[/td][td]+10[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Medium[/td][td]+15[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Large[/td][td]+20[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Huge[/td][td]+25[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Gargantuan[/td][td]+30[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Colossal[/td][td]+35[/td][/tr]
[/table]
OK, so we have had a lot of discussion in this thread. Right now what I want to talk about is my dream of how I originally saw this game going concerning classes:
What I kind of thought about was instead of having levels, players choose a character that fits into the four power levels (The DM decides which power level they are using). The characters are premade, there are tons of different types of characters, the only part a Player usually decides is the race, sex, descriptions, and gear of that character. Things that take up tons of time, such as abilities, spells, powers, skills, etc. are already made. This way it makes it easier for the players to drop a character or for characters to die.
I just find that I spend hours rolling characters, especially for new players. Any thoughts?
Quote from: Luminous CrayonQuote from: Ra-TielBut we're also not about reinventing the wheel at every opportunity. ;)
Ah, welcome to the CBG. You must be new here?
Personally, I liberally steal from real world history and geography at every opportunity... ;)
Well, back to the topic. Another book I recommend as inspiration is GURPS Technomancer (http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=SJG30-6087), which melds magic with technology in a contemporary setting. And it treats magic as much more of an understandable science than, say, Shadowrun, and it allows for its integration with conventional technology (I especially like their "depleted necronium" ammunition, but that's just one of the many technomagical items they offer...).
In fact, the entire GURPS system is rather good for this kind of genre-mixing, and such concerns are regularly addressed in their genre sourcebooks.
This looks very interesting. A few responses:
Quote from: Stargate525Well with the exception that this violates nearly every law of physics, it's cool.
Your FTL involves
praying to travel FTL. Adherence to physics shouldn't be that high on your list of priorities. ;)
Quote from: GnomemasterThey also preserve the crew from demonic threats.
Vanic's neutrality:[/b] Boccob in the Greyhawk pantheon has a neutral view of magic; he doesn't care whether Country A is massacring People B or vice-versa as long as they're using magic to do it. Likewise, I could see Vanic as focused on the act of travel itself, transporting ships regardless of their purpose because they're asking him to do it, and that's what he
does.