"Balor's Head" Cad Goleór IRC: Planning

[sparkletwist]

Here's my idea for a Q&D Witch.

[ooc=Witch]Witches commune with spirits from beyond this realm, granting them esoteric powers. Witches wield potent magic, but it can sometimes be difficult to control.

Class Features:

• Hex: The Witch snarls a curse on her target, bringing ill will upon it. She can always perform maneuvers using her Occult, which the opponent resists with Willpower. In addition, by spending an AP upon success, she can increase the potency of the Hex to a more lasting curse. This causes the maneuver's effect to endure for the rest of the scene or beyond, depending on the exact nature of the Hex decided upon by the player and GM.
• Spirit Contact: Witches commune with mysterious and strange spirits, petitioning them for aid. By spending an AP and spending her turn petitioning a spirit, the Witch is to temporarily draw it into her body, calling forth potent magical effects. However, the spirits are capricious entities; when petitioning the spirits, the Witch should roll a d6. On a 1, the spirits are unhappy, and inflict their wrath on the Witch, bringing misfortune roughly equivalent to a "Negative Consequence." A Witch should keep track of the spirits that she knows of. She can only petition spirits that she knows. As she travels and adventures, she can certainly gain contact with more.
  [ooc=Spirits]
  The exact list of spirits should vary depending on the setting, but here is a list of interesting powers a Witch might wish to utilize.
  
  
  • Invisibility: The Witch draws in a hidden spirit of the the shadows, causing her body to become as invisible as the wind. She gets a +15 bonus to any Deceit to hide, Athletics to avoid ranged attacks, and other skills that would benefit from her being unseen. The power lasts for the rest of the scene, but the shadow spirits are skittish-- the spirit will vacate her body, ending the invisibility, if the Witch enters melee combat or does something else aggressive that would frighten the spirit.
  • Shattering Scream: A horrific banshee momentarily possesses the Witch. She emits an ear-piercing screech. She makes a ranged attack using her Occult, that, if successful, inflicts d8 damage as well as a successful combat maneuver of the Witch's choice on the target. Alternatively, she can screech a command that the target must obey if it fails to oppose her roll. This command can be nearly anything, but it must be simple and not obviously suicidal.
  • Hideous Swarm: A spirit of vermin and decay takes hold of the Witch, causing her to vomit forth a horde of insects or other small, disgusting creatures. They move independently, taking their turn just before the Witch does. Each turn, they perform a random combat maneuver on whatever enemy is nearest the swarm, rolling 2 skill dice. At the end of the scene, the swarm disbands, skittering off in a multitude of directions. The Witch can also attempt to vomit the swarm directly onto an enemy, who treats it like dodging a ranged attack. If it hits, the swarm inflicts d6 automatic Stress per turn on that creature until it is taken out or they are removed. They then act as normal.
  • Flight: A sky spirit possesses the Witch, and she takes to the air for the rest of the scene. She can traverse vertical distances as though they were flat horizontal terrain, and she gets a +2 bonus to dodge any ranged attacks made against her. Melee attacks are made as normal, but only if she's actually in range for them to hit at all, which she often won't be. This flight effect only lasts for a few minutes at most, and is mainly used for maneuvering and quick escapes. It cannot be used to traverse large distances.
  • Charm: A charismatic spirit possesses the Witch. She may immediately take an action that involves a Charm roll, which she gets a +10 bonus on. For many things, this is enough to have a request granted or make a good impression on someone. However, if the conversation continues, she gets a +5 bonus on further Charm rolls against that target for the rest of the scene.
  • Arete: A pragmatic spirit possesses the Witch. It has great expertise, albeit in a limited area. She gets a one-die bonus on any skill of her choice for the rest of the scene.
  [/ooc]
• Witchcraft: Witches get a +5 bonus on Knowledge checks related to "witchy" things, like spirit lore and brewing potions.

[/ooc]

It's a bit more complicated than I hoped, but at least it contains everything that makes Sorcha feel like Sorcha, which was, admittedly, one of my goals. :grin:

I'm fairly unsure how the power level compares with, say, a Warrior's ability to add a combat maneuver to attack, a Cleric's Prayer, or a Wizard's Ritual... or, for that matter, a more general use of "spend an AP to say something happens," but, in the spirit of Q&D, I feel like it's tweakable to match the feel that we want for the game.

[/list]

[Seraph]

Are people going to be able to make it tomorrow?  With Q&D versions of their characters?

[sparkletwist]

I will be able to make it!

I'm not sure if I'll be quite ready to go Q&D-- I kind of forgot, and then I was busy with holiday stuff.
Perhaps we should stick with Pathfinder for one more session?

[Steerpike]

I probably won't be able to.

[HippopotamusDundee]

Unfortunately some work stuff has come up and I probably won't be able to make it either.

[Seraph]

Ah, well if some people won't be able to make it at all, then we should probably postpone until next week.  That will give some more time to get Q&D character sheets together too.

[Seraph]

Just realized that today is Wednesday, and that that means game is tomorrow.  How are people feeling about game tomorrow?  If no one is ready to make the switch we can continue in Pathfinder for another session.

[Steerpike]

I am flying tomorrow so I won't be around for gaming, sadly!

[sparkletwist]

I won't be around either, sorry.

[Seraph]

Ok, so no game tomorrow after all.

[Seraph]

For a sample, I took the liberty of statting up a potential Q&D version of Steerpike's character Arngrim:

Animals    0
Athletics    4
Charm    0
Deceit    0
Knowledge (Sailor)   5
Melee    5
Occult    0
Perception    0
Persuasion (Intimidate)   4
Ranged    3
Willpower    4

And for class abilities, any 3 of the following seem like they are potentially applicable to Arngrim in some way or another:

• Rage: A Barbarian that has entered battle and either scored a hit or been injured can unleash a furious rage. The Barbarian gets +2 to Melee, Intimidation, and any other skill that would be relevant to battle, for the rest of the scene. In addition, if a raging Barbarian has just scored a hit and spends an AP to get another turn, the bonus is increased to +5 for that extra turn. However, Raging Barbarians also suffer a -5 penalty to Knowledge, Charm, Deceit, and other such skills. The Rage cannot be "turned off" at will; the Barbarian must wait until the scene ends to be able to calm down.
• Armor: Armor reduces the Stress from a successful non-magical attack by one die size. The exact flavor of the armor is up to the player; anything from a simple shield to a full suit of plate mail is mechanically identical.  Magical attacks are handled on a case-by-case basis: a fireball would probably be reduced by armor, but a psychic blast directly into the mind would not.
• Fierce Attack: Warriors are able to call up their strength and deliver crushing blows. A Warrior can spend an AP upon making a successful attack and inflict an extra d6 Stress, or, alternatively, something else the player and GM deem is suitable from the "Combat Maneuvers" or "Bonus Awesomeness" tables.
• Cantrips: Wizards know lots of small, utilitarian spells. By concentrating on the spell for a turn and spending an AP, the Wizard is able to cast a minor spell to solve a problem. It should be something that can in theory be accomplished by mundane equipment, such as creating light, opening a door, lifting something, and so on. Sometimes a skill roll may be necessary; the Wizard can choose whether to roll the relevant skill, or Occult.
• Simple Soul: Barbarians have simple and rugged souls as well as bodies, and are not nearly as affected by the esoteric, subtle effects of magic. Attempts to resist enemy magic get a +5 bonus.
• Sailor: +5 to Athletics, Perception, and Willpower rolls relating to operating a ship, or working on board one.

[sparkletwist]

Well, we'll see what Steerpike thinks, but, in my opinion as the designer of Q&D, this is pretty good.

One issue is that "Knowledge" is actually intended to be more like Knowledge skills in Pathfinder, and isn't really specific: 5 levels in Knowledge would make Arngrim quite the scholarly type. (It's an average of 17.5, which, in Pathfinder, would be like having 18 or 20 Int, a class skill, and either 10 ranks or ~6 ranks and traits or feats helping you) I'm not sure if it applies for a "Profession."

However, I think you've solved the problem with the "Sailor" class feature. It seems like each Q&D class has one of these "+5 in certain things you're good at" profession-type class features. I'll write that more formally into the rules.

[Seraph]

Well, we'll see what Steerpike thinks, but, in my opinion as the designer of Q&D, this is pretty good.

One issue is that "Knowledge" is actually intended to be more like Knowledge skills in Pathfinder, and isn't really specific: 5 levels in Knowledge would make Arngrim quite the scholarly type. (It's an average of 17.5, which, in Pathfinder, would be like having 18 or 20 Int, a class skill, and either 10 ranks or ~6 ranks and traits or feats helping you) I'm not sure if it applies for a "Profession."

However, I think you've solved the problem with the "Sailor" class feature. It seems like each Q&D class has one of these "+5 in certain things you're good at" profession-type class features. I'll write that more formally into the rules.

Yeah, I think it would be better to take some points off of knowledge and redistribute them to a few other things.  Maybe Occult, since the character in Pathfinder had a level of Oracle and some minor abilities from being haunted.  Or some perception.

[sparkletwist]

Something like this...

Sorcha
Animals   0
Athletics   2
Charm    1
Deceit    2
Knowledge  5
Melee    3
Occult    5
Perception   2
Persuasion  1
Ranged    1
Willpower   3

[Steerpike]

I think he looks awesome!  Thanks for doing that Seraphine!!