Celtricia

[LordVreeg]

Wish me a tad of luck.  If I get tired of trying to throw this 25 year-old game setting and rule system on this post, please do not judge me too harshly.  

Celtricia----------This setting is almost 26 years old.  35 players, 142 PC's.  (edit--make that 37 Players and 144 PCs(re-edit-make that 38 players and 145 PCs))
((re-re-reedit...lots of play lately...Steel Isle and the new Igbarians bring this to  44 players and 154 PCs..damnit, LK/SD and LT were not added in...46 and 157 [Carmen])Makes for a lot of gaming.   ANd now, after the new Igbarian and new SIG players, 47 PLayers and 163 characters.  I wonder who the 200th will be?  New from Sigmund and Thanlis...49 and 165..Edit, New Igbarians like Yrtl, Ringo, Oliver, Winnowill, and SIG folk like PLaes_Holdir (yes, really), and James' Bryx make 50 and 171
(edit--the pbwiki is here...World of Factions)
As such, there is much to it.  The tale of years is over nine thousand years old, and the pain of the Age of Legend created the struggles of the Age of Heroes.  And the wars and pathos of the Age of Heroes still frames the great decisions of the Age of Statehood.

There are 3 major continental masses, Lambria being the largest (A little bigger than Asia and Europe combined), Celtricia (being the second (20% larger than the Americas), Tribla is the third.  There is also a major island chain, the Ish Isle groups, a small continent (about the size of california) called Gaesana, which is totally inhabited by undead now, and the sunken continents of David's Delvings, now just 3 small islands.
Lambria and Gesana are also on the other side of the world than the other continents, and have no dealing with each other.  The population Density in all the continents is low, though Celtricia, despite being 22% of the land mass, containes 80% of the Human/humanoid population.  This makes some sense, as it is the cradle of civilization.

The setting itself is very heavily 'faction' based, in that Trading guilds and the Collegium Arcana have as much or more power than any government.  Churches that worship the same deity are often the bitterest of rivals, competing for the some worshipers, and despising the perversions of the other sects.
Factions, in the civilized and cultured world, are more important than race.  The Omwo~ (elves), the Klaxik (the dwarves), the Hobyt, the Orcash, the Gartier (bugbears), the three tribes of men, and the gnomes make up the acculturized beings.  However, loyalty to one's guild and one's family are taken equally seriously.
Since their are no classes, skills are learned from the guild or organizations the characters are allied to.  Building alliances abd social/cultural integration are thus as important as experience gained.  The level of intrigue and politicking is large as well, and often the PC's of this setting have found themselves tricked into aiding their enemies.


[spoiler=Oronath and the Song of Creation]

Before there was land, before there was water, before there was Air or Flame, before even there was the strife of Order and Entropy, there was Oronath, the '˜Song That is Creation'.
Oronath came from the strife of a place and time that was old and burnt out, the last survivor and damaged from his exit from that failing song.  His entrance into the void was without plan, and without hope.  Yet there was in his damaged greatness still the Song of Creation, the Music of Life.
And it was some time in this void that the fits and starts of the Song pulsed and faded.
And alone Oronath knew despair, for in his powerful self the keys of the Song were set, yet as he forced the strains out, with more and more force, they fell upon the void and died.
And time and again, he rallied from the disappointment, steeled himself, and forced the Myriad harmony onto the void. And there, it died again and again, and then a thousand times again. In airless silence, the Song of Creations that dwelt in him, and only in him, pulsed out into the void and was swallowed.
And after so many attempts, Oronath of the Music turned from the void and from his trials of the Song.  And there he found a reflection of himself, a darker brother formed from his despair, peering back at him.  This dark reflection had all the size and much of his determination, yet was cold and empty inside.  And when he reached out to this coldness, he felt the Cacophony of discordance rise to his music, pulling down the harmonies of life from the earlier times.  And the discord drowned the harmony; dismaying Oronath further and the Music began to die.
And the Shadow creature came forward, gaining in power, and the Discord grew.  
Then Great Oronath steeled himself, and thought for the first time in this new version of himself with clear purpose. The song is threatened; the song must be defended.
And the Harmony of life grew in volume, and Oronath stretched forth his strength, and it grew again, and the dark creature drew back.  And though the discord still moved around the Song of Creation, the center of the Harmony held strong, and Oronath was pleased.  
But the dark copy was a deeper creature than Great Oronath perceived, and the Cacophony changed to notes of minor key that added doubt and trepidation to the Music Oronath had cast into this void with.  And yet even as Oronath rose up to create purity in the his Song, the harmony subtly changed around him to something deeper.  The sadness of death and the resilience of Life became the great movements of the Music.  And Oronath recognized himself in the other orchestrator, in reverse.  And thus did Oronath meet the twin he created in his efforts to force the music onto the void, the twin Thanatos, the ender of the old, and the bringer of the new.  This dark copy of himself bore a music of somberness and pain, yet that brought the triumph in his own into greater height.
And for time without end, the musics turned and moved.  And in the order of the music and meter came the slight idea of creativity, of chaos, and thus did Entropy enter the Song of Creation, and thus did Oronath and Thanatos realize it for what it was.
And this also went on for time immemorial, the movement of Entropy and Order and the Cycle of Life and Death.  They circled and moved and grew.  
But there was more to come.

The Planars Brought Forth

After much time was spent on this, Smaller themes and musics began to grow out of the song, created by the twin forces.  And thus was created full grown Madrak the Mighty, from the thought of Oronath, creature of solidity and dependability, Creator and Earth lord.  
And Oronath and Thanatos were amazed, as Madrak picked up his part of the music and wove strands of Earth into it. And as those three began to weave the harmonies, The Valiance of Nebler the Defender sprang forth from the thoughts of Oronath, and there were songs of protection in the Music.  A beauty of sacrifice danced into the notes, of a nobility of defending unknowing fragile hope with blood, and of satisfaction of this job well done.
And the Emptiness of Thanatos was sparked, and he brought forth Anthraxus, the decayed, the Oinodaemon.  Anthraxus brought a dark pathos that made more beautiful the other strains and harmonies.  And Thanatos saw this and brought forth Asmodeus, the dark and violent law.
And all of them kept the music building, introducing interludes and melodies of greater power and complexity.  
And so Oronath Brought forward Amerer, the balance and the inward facing. And then Pablar, the Steel General, the Patron of Lost Causes.  And their music brought forth a power and majesty into the song.  
And lastly, Thanatos brought forth Orcus the lord of the Dead, and Jubilex of Black Comedy.  
And together, these beings strove to bring the great Music into fruition.  
At their heart, despite a conflict of millennia, these great beings understand that the beauty of the whole is lessened without the contribution of the rest, as they heard echo in the void before creation, so that crushing totality of song reverberates in their souls from the beginning. [/spoiler]

The tale of years is a partial reading of important events of the the history of the Celtrician landmass.  
[spoiler= Amended Tale of Years]Amended Tale of Years,
Reckoning of the Founding of the Thoecracy of Nebler
      [/spoiler]   

Major areas being gamed

[spoiler=Igbar, Capitol of Trabler]
Igbar

Igbar is the capitol of the country of Trabler.  Trabler is a coastal country, currently a border state of the Stenronian Alliance in its six-year struggle with the Empire of Argus and it's allies.  The City of Igbar is walled, and is one of the busiest port cities in the Northern part of the Celtrician Continent.  Igbar sprung out of an old fortress placed next to a fishing village, and has grown ever since.  It's current size is just over twenty thousand inhabitants, mostly still crammed inside the walled area.  Since it is at war, up to two thousand inhabitants of the town may be '˜at the border' at any given time.  But these numbers are made up for in the amount of displaced families from the war-torn southern part of the country.

Trabler is a constitutional monarchy, but until 3 years previously, was still ruled by Trabler Aptor, the man who carved this kingdom out of the old Argussian Marches.  So it recently came to a bit of a standstill, and was almost retaken by the Argussians, when Trabler Aptor went missing.  Trabler was nearly replaced with the Minister of Governance, until other members of the House of The Unicorn  discovered that minister was actually in the pay of Heliopolis, Assassin king of Coom Isle, an ally of the Empire of Argus.   A coup was attempted, but a counter insurgency, led by Julian Sempre Lerianolies of the Order of Stenron, recaptured the governance of Igbar and thus Trabler.  Julian was then rewarded by the House of the Unicorn with the title of '˜Steward to the King'.  So currently, Julian is acting constitutional Monarch, until the unlikely appearance of Trabler Aptor.  

There are many groups that vie for power in Igbar.  Most of them are interconnected in some way.  The wealth and the old families have power, but all are allied with others as well.  

The Assassin's guild of Heliopolis , the Blackstripes, are still in town.  The Eye, a rival guild from the north, was instrumental in the coup that brought Julian to power.  The Bully boys have been around for decades near the docks, and the old Collegium Tortoris has recently showed signs of life.  Violence from the shadows is a feature of all cities, but is more apparent in this border city than in more civilized climes.

The Collegium Arcana is an old, multi-country law unto itself for those who study magic.  It has it's own walled in keep where it takes in the money of young spell casters, and teaches them and protects them in turn.  The Alternative School of Magic, run by Samria and Palimar, has opposed them recently.  Still, the Collegium is ancient, rich, and powerful.  Many say it is only a matter of time before it finds the way to extinguish the upstart.  

The knighthoods and fighting schools have flourished in this near-war zone.  The Order of Stenron has a full barracks here; The Blue Turtles also have a large chapter.  The Bowyers of Ceminiar, and the Order of the White Paladin have decent sized followings.  There are dozens of fighting schools attached to the various churches in town, as well.  Knighthoods are often not mutually excusive, so a well-known knight may be a member of three or even more orders.  The Local Scarlet Pilums are an order of knighthood and also the security force of Igbar.  They were hired some fifteen years earlier as a temporary solution to Igbar's need of a City Watch; they are still there.

Which brings us to the religious powers in Igbar.  There are 9 major churches in the town, and many minor ones.  The now-taken country of the Theocracy of Nebler lies to the east of Trabler, and most of the priesthood escaped into Igbar; but there is a large church of the Lawful Triumvirate  (which includes Nebler, along with Rakastra and Abradaxus the harsh), so those two groups are at odds.  The Church of Earth stands next to the Church of the Green Mother, Jubilex of Chaos and Change gathers worshippers next to Belial the True and Clear.  Arlieng the Guide has many shrines in Igbar, as does Ishma the Lucky.  Ogleic, Patron of Trade is worshipped to some extent by all, and Verbren the Tracker needs to be appeased to keep the beasts of the Herb Lands at Bay.  The Church of Geryon, Master of the Wild Hunt, opposes the Church of Verbren at all turns.  
This is just the tip of the religious iceberg in Igbar.

The trading syndicates and old families are another power-center.  Almost all of the trade in the area is controlled by one of these groups, and they gather at the 'Grounds of Dismissal', a coffee emporium in the middle of the city.  As in almost any population, the Trading Families and consortiums are not separate from the other political forces, rather they are intertwined with them.  A visitor to the '˜Grounds' can barely see the old coffee shop in what has become, in three human generations, almost a city block of mercantile activity.    The Vissipee Family, the Winfire Consortium, and the Sceding Tree Associates are three major speculators.  There are over two-dozen Trading Guilds of every size in Igbar.

In the most current weeks, action in the southern front has waned.  There are soldiers from all over the Stenronian Alliance and the Verkonian Duties taking leave, which leads to a certain amount of confusion and tension between them and the natives.  Many merchants are taking advantage of their freedoms and a shortened supply by moving prices up on almost anything.

The supply shortage that has been prevalent in the last 10 Hawaaks was due to a band of Hobgoblins that were preying on some of the caravans from the North.  Recently, The Winfire Trading Consortium and the Scarlet Pilums proclaimed simultaneously that the threat had been eliminated by a collaboration supported by those two groups.

This does not mean there has been a shortage of humanoid activity.  The Church of Vernidale has been blocking most pilgrims and merchants from traveling to the Herb lands in the last few months, but they have been coming under heavy attack from some Orcan/Ogre band.  Sir  Garcellenti Euridios of the Order of the White Paladin  has recently returned from a journey, and lost no time in denouncing both the church of the Green Mother and those that assail it.
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Ocodig]
Ocodig

Ocodig is a coastal town in the heart of the country of Trabler.  The settlement is built around its oldest parts, a walled temple complex.  The dock section of town is also bustling, with most ships going to Igbar stopping here first.  Igbar is the capital of Trabler, some hundred miles to the south and east.

Ocodig's governmental head is the Horn Minister.  Grand Tortoise Geoagia Bruno Axapit of the Blue Turtle knighthood holds that position.  He was a comrade of Trabler Aptor when he liberated the country from Argus, and was rewarded with the leadership of this town, almost a quarter century ago. He pledged his loyalty to Julian Sempre Lerianlolies when the House of the unicorn titled Julian 'steward to the King' upon Trabler's disappearance 5 years before.

There are many groups that vie for power in Ocodig.   Some of these groups are interconnected in many ways.  Money has it's own type of power.

The Blackstripes and the eye vie for dominance of the underworld here.  Huge amounts of money flow through the docks here, and this town has had periodic trouble with Pirates and smugglers.  The Holders of the Straight Way ply their trade in Ocodig, as well.

The major spellcasting school in Ocodig is, of course, the venerable collegium Arcana.  An old manor house on the edge of the original temple-complex is where they have recently moved to.   Enchanter Burt '˜Owlbear' Atminster only recently came to power, but is popular with the students for his '˜hands-on'approach.  There is a tribe of Red Witches outside the town using their Blood Magic live outside of town, and there is a small branch of '˜the tower', the water mages.

There are a good amount of martial schools and knighthoods represented in Ocodig.  There is a small chapter house of the Order of Stenron in Igbar, some thirty brothers strong.  The Blue Turtle and Crying Sun both have houses representing their brands of the honourable warrior path.  The scarlet Pilums,a former mercenary band and now the official guards of Igbar, also have a branch here.  The Bowyers of Ceminiar also have a presence.

Which brings us to the religious presence in Ocodig.  As in most towns, the web of interrelation hits its peak with this part of the big picture.  The center of Ocodig is three large temples and walls done in an ancient style.  The walls are rounded and the towers have minarets.  One of these is the Church of Belial, the Straight and Clear.  The church of Vernidale, the Green Mother is another.  The third is a Church of Minious Stottar, Earthfather of the Hobyts (also known as Madrak the Mighty to the humans and Klaxik).  There is also a shrine to Kiminus the Whole, patron of cowards and heroes, and a Shrine to Jubilex of Chaos and Change.  The most popular new church in town is the Church of happy Inkmisa.

The House of Grayse is the backbone of the trading community.  The Sceding Tree Consortium of Igbar also keeps a house in town, and the Hojijar familu has a whole fleet that calls Ocodig home.  

Ocodig is the closest major town north of Igbar on the Marcher Road.  Much of it's growth comes from this proximity.  In the past few months, many of the caravans have been waylaid by hobgoblins and giant rats, but news just came up from Igbar that that threat had been eliminated, courtesy of the Blue Turtles and the Sceding tree.  There have been many hobgoblin sightings in the Wibble hills south of Ocodig recently, but many ascribe it to the panic around the caravans.  The small glut of caravans that were going south but had stopped is about to leave.
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Miston]
Where the hell are my Miston Notes?  Been running the group out of this frigging town for almost 14 years, and now I cannot find it...pathetic.  Somehone shoot me.
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Stenron]

Stenron, Stenron, Wonder of the Northern World.  
Stenron was the City of WInter, built on the Runs of the Vale of Silence back in -5960 RON.  Since that time, the town grew into a small city, and by -4840 the city of Winter vied with the city of Ambrettus in the north for supremacy.  By -366, it was the City of Winterloo, with some 190,000 inhabitants and already the largest city in Celtricia.  by -130, it was the center of the State of Winter, and in -126 united with the Igboniat City-states to put down the shadow of the Dreadwing.   In -92, Ipre Sipros, the Lord of Order, codified that the monarchy of the Omwo~ Suprosians was over.
By 150 RON, the Winterloo becasme the center and capitol of the Grey March.  Between 485 and 494 RON, the Grey MArch destroys the settlements of coastal Venolvia in the War of the Shield.
in 505 Reckoning of Nebler, Jon Stenron takes over the city and forms the Steronian Alliance in the North between the Grey March, Sembina, Hobyt Inn, the Omwo~ Silverwood, Lapern, and Orbi.  In his honor, the grand city is renamed Stenron.
The players today game in 895 RON.  Stenron is huge, old and strange.  A former boneyard from the 6th century that was once on the outskirts of town has become the Necropolis, surrounded on all sides by settlement, but is 24 square miles.  The Collegium Arcana has 4 major settlements in town, and the 'Gold Dust' area of the city is comprised on estates only, some ancient and walled, some new and flamboyant.
[/spoiler]


Game system.
Celtricia is played with a system we call Guildschool, a skill based system without traditional classes.  Instead, the charactes are affiliated with different guilds/factions that have better, or in most cases, worse experience modifiers in each skill.  So everytime a character uses a skill, the experience goes directly into that skill.  Attribues affect experience modifiers as well.
[spoiler=skill list]
type   Skill Name   bxp   att mods   base   pleve   Commonality   above   below
Acting   Basic Actor   0.7   in-9-.01/ch9-.015   10   1-6   1      Imitate, Project voice, pretend, Stagecraft, Play knowledge
Acting   imitate   0.55   IN11-.01/CH13-.01   3   2-9   2   BASic actor   
Acting   project voice   0.3   HE13-.015/CH12-.01   0   2-10   2   Basic acting   
Acting   Stagecraft   0.6   IN11-.011/CD8-.006   5   2-8   2   Basci acting   
Alchemic   Basic Chemistry   0.5   IN12-.03/WI12-.005   1   1-4   1      Poison ID, Potion ID, Acid Id
Alchemic   Acid ID   0.55   IN11-.02/WI11-.01   2   2-9   2   Basic Chemistry   Create Acid, Acid Mastery
Alchemic   Poison ID   0.6   IN12-.02/WI13-.03   5   2-12   2   Basic Chemistry   Poison immunity, Poison Creation
Alchemic   Potion ID   0.5   IN10-.02/WI10-.003   2   2-9   2   Basic Chemistry   Potion Creation, Potion Intensification.
Alchemic   Acid Mastery   0.2   IN14-.01/WI14-.015   0   3-9   3   Acid Id   
Alchemic   Create Acid   0.3   IN13-.02/WI10-,01/CD10-.008   0   1-8   3   Acid ID   
Alchemic   Poison Creation   0.33   IN12-.04/WI12-.02   5   2-11   3   Poison ID   
Alchemic   Poison Immunity   0.25   HE12-.03   3   2-8   3   Poison ID   Neutralize Poison
Alchemic   Potion Creation   0.15   IN14-.05/13-.01/CD10-.001   0   1-6   3   Potion ID   
Alchemic   Potion Intensification   0.2   WI12-.02   2   3-8   3   Potion ID   
Alchemic   Neutralize Poison   0.15   HE14-.021   0   2-11   4   Poison creation   
Art   Basic Artist   0.7   In 10-.03/WI 8-.01   10   1-4   1      Drawing, Colors,  sculpting,art Knowledge
Art   Art Knolwdge   0.35   WI14-.02   0   2-7   2   Basic Artist   Great Painters
Art   Colors   0.5   WI 13-.03/   3   2-7   2   Basic Artist   Painting, weaving,
Art   Drawing   0.5   IN 12-.02/CD 13-.03   3   2-7   2   Basic Artist   
Art   Sculpture   0.5   WI10-.01/CD 11-.01   3   2-7   2   Basic Artist   Modeling,large scale,
Art   Painting   0.3   WI13-.02/CD 13-.02   4   3-12   3   Colors   Portrait, landscape,
Artisan   Basic  Agriculture   0.7   WI10-.025   10   1-6   1      Ag. Knowledge, Farming, Crop Kolwdge
Artisan   Basic Appraisal   0.4   IN12-.02/WI10-.005   5   1-6   1      Art app, Gem app, Weap apprais, magic apprais
Artisan   Basic Beurocrat   0.5   IN10-.011/CH12-.009   5   2-5   1      delegate, organize
Artisan   Basic cooking   0.9   WI12-.011   10   1-6   1      Mass cooking, Create recipe, Camp cooking, chef
Artisan   Basic Horseman   0.6   ST 5-.002/CD7-.01   5   2-7   1      Trick rider, Combat Rider, Dressage
Artisan   Basic Hospitality   0.9   WI6-.009/CH10-.01   5   2-7   1      Bartender, lodger, crowd control
Artisan   Basic Law   0.7   IN11-.01/WI109-.003   2   1-6   1      Politician, Sheriff
Artisan   Basic merchant   0.6   IN12-.02/CH10-.008   5   2-5   1      Haggling, Pricing, Barter
Artisan   Basic Teacher   0.6   WI11-.013/CH9-.011   5   2-5   1      Teach spell, teach combat, teach esoteric
Artisan   Basic Woodwork   0.5   IN9-.011/CD10-.01   5   1-5   1      Furniture, Wood Knowledge, woodCarving, woodBuiding
Artisan   Bowyer   0.6   St11-.015/WI10-.003   15   1-6   1      
Artisan   Butcher   0.6   ST9-.005/IN10-.01/WI10-.008   5   2-7   1      
Artisan   Chandeler   1.1   WI9-.004/CD10-.009   5   2-8   1      Torchier
Artisan   Distiller   0.8   WI10-.011   10   1-6   1      Vintner, Brewer,
Artisan   Gemsmih   0.55   Wi10-.03/CD11-.011   5   2-8   1      Jeweler
Artisan   Guild Lore   0.45   IN11-.01/WI12-.012   10   2-5   1      Guild secrets (a given skill)
Artisan   Metalsmith   1.1   st12-.004/in12-.009/cd12-.005   5   2-5   1      armorer, blacksmith,preciouswork,
Artisan   Penmanship   0.7   CD13-.02   5   2-7   1      calligraphy, Cartography
Artisan   Public Speaking   0.6   CH14-.03/AP11-.02   5   2-11   1      
Artisan   Weaver   0.8   WI10-.03/CD9-.04   5   1-6   1      Rug Weaver
Artisan   Agriculture KN.   0.67   WI9-.01   5   2-8   2   Basic ag   
Artisan   Art Appraisal   0.45   WI13-.017   0   2-11   2   Basic Appriase   
Artisan   Blacksmith   0.45   ST13-.017, Cd10-.004   5   2-11   2   Metalsmith   Mass productio-metals
Artisan   calligraphy   0.55   WI10-.01/CD14-.01   0   2-9   2   Penmanship   
Artisan   Camp Cooking   0.6   WI9-.009   5   2-11   2   Basic Cooking   
Artisan   Chef   0.4   WI12-.011/ IN9-.006   5   2-12   2   Basic Cooking   
Artisan   create recipe   0.28   IN10-.01/WI14-.021   1   2-9   2   Basic Cooking   
Artisan   Gm Appraisal   0.4   WI12-.01   0   2-9   2   Basic Appriase   
Artisan   Guild secrets   0.4   WI13-.017   5   3-12   2   Guld Lore   
Artisan   Haggling   0.45   IN13-.015/CH14-.01   2   2-12   2   Basic Merchant   
Artisan   Mass cooking   0.5   IN8-.009/ch9-.01   5   2-9   2   Basic cooking   Banquet
Artisan   Sherrif   0.7   WI11-.014   5   3-9   2   Basic Law   
Artisan   Teach Spell   0.4   IN9-.005/WI15-.015   2   2-8   2   BASic Teacher   
Artisan   Vintner   0.5   WI12-.014   0   2-8   2   Distiller   
Artisan   Woodbuilding   0.4   In11-.01/WI10-.01   0   2-10   2   Basicwoodwork   Groupwoodproject
Artisan   woodcarving   0.7   WI9-.009/CD13-.01   0   2-7   2   Basic Woodwork   Music Inst. Carving
Artisan   Music Inst. Carving   0.3   WI13-.012/CD14-.01   0   2-9   3   Woodcarving   
combat   basic axe   0.2   ST12-.023/C4-.003   0   1-4   1      multi, dam bon, att vs, init bonus,critbonus, singleweap special
combat   basic blunt weapons   0.2   ST13-.025/CD10-.004   0   1-4   1      multi, dam bon, att vs, init bonus,critbonus, singleweap special
combat   basic bows   0.2   ST7-.003/CD14-.025   0   1-4   1      multi, dam bon, att vs, init bonus,critbonus, singleweap special, sniper
combat   Basic Crossbow   0.2   ST13-005/CD12-.011   0   1-4   1      quicknock, damagebonus
combat   basic curved swords   0.2   ST9-.019/CD11-.011   0   1-4   1      multi, dam bon, att vs, init bonus,critbonus, singleweap special
combat   basic dagger   0.2   ST6-.011/CD13-.015   0   1-4   1      multi, dam bon, att vs, init bonus,critbonus, singleweap special
combat   Basic Defense   0.3   CD13-.012   0   1-4   1      Avoidance, Protection, shield use
combat   basic dress swords   0.2   ST9-.012/CD12-.018   0   1-4   1      multi, dam bon, att vs, init bonus,critbonus, singleweap special
combat   basic martial   0.15   ST15-.017/WI10-.002/CD13-.02   0   2-5   1      multi, dam bon, att vs, init bonus,critbonus, singleweap special
combat   basic pole weapons   0.2   ST13-.022/CD8-.009   0   1-4   1      multi, dam bon, att vs, init bonus,critbonus, singleweap special
combat   basic spears   0.2   ST10-.018/CD10-.006   0   1-4   1      multi, dam bon, att vs, init bonus,critbonus, singleweap special
combat   basic straight swords   0.2   ST13-.017/CD10-.013   0   1-4   1      multi, dam bon, att vs, init bonus,critbonus, singleweap special
combat   Charge   0.3   ST15-.015/CD11-.005   5   2-7   1      Batter
combat   Hit Points   0.1   ST10-.01/HE10-.03   3   2-5   1      
combat   Attack versus   0.4   ST15-.007/WI13-.002/CD13-.005   5   3-8   2   basic weap   Autohit
combat   Avoidance   0.35   CD13-.03   0   2-7   2   Basic defense   catch/deflect missle, blind fighting/dodge
combat   Critical Hit Bonus   0.15   CD14-.012   0   2-7   2   basic weap   Slay
combat   Damage Bonus   0.25   ST15-.03/CD12-.005   5   2-8   2   basic weap   Call Damage, Stunning attack
combat   Initiative bonus   0.5   WI12-.01/CD13-.04   10   2-8   2   basic weap   Quickdraw
combat   Multiple attack   0.3   ST10-.001/CD13-.025   -1   1-10   2   basic weap   Frenzy, Swarm,
combat   Protection   0.3   CST14-.04/CD11-.04   0   2-7   2   Basic defense   Parry/
combat   quicknock   0.4   ST14-.012/CD11-.012   2   2-7   2   Basic Crossbow   
combat   Shield Use   0.25   ST14-.02/CD10-.003   0   2-11   2   Basic defense   Shield rush
combat   Single weap spec   0.2   ST12-0.015/CD12-.015   0   2-9   2   Basic weap   
combat   Sniper   0.4   CD14.-.04   3   2-7   2   Basic Bow   
combat   Autohit   0.25   ST14-.022/WI9-.002/CD14-.01   0   1-4   3   Attack Versus   
combat   Blind Fighting   0.2   IN10-.002/WI15-.01/CD14-.015   2   2-5   3   Avoidance   
combat   Call Damage   0.3   ST12-.01/WI12-.03   3   2-7   3   Damage Bonus   
combat   Catch/deflect missle   0.35   IN10-.001/CD13-.03   -3   2-9   3   Avoidance   
combat   Dodge   0.25   CD13-.02   0   2-12   3   Avoidance   
combat   Frenzy   0.2   WI12-.005/CD15-.05   0   2-8   3   Multple attack   
combat   Parry   0.3   ST13-.01/CD13-.005   0   1-6   3   Protection   
combat   Quickdraw   0.5   CD13-.02   5   4-12   3   Initiative Bonus   
combat   Shield Rush   0.25   ST12-.01/    5   2-9   3   Shield Use   
combat   Slay   0.1   Wi13-.005/CD16-.01   0   2-11   3   Crit bonus   
combat   Stunning Attack   0.4   CD10-.007   5   1-10   3   Damage Bonus   
combat   Swarm   0.3   CD13-.05   0   3-8   3   Multple attack   
Curative   Basic First Aid   0.8   WI13-.05   5   2-11   1      Basic Cure/bind wounds, Anatomy, midwife
Curative   Basic Cure/Bind Wounds   0.6   WI13-.05   0   1-4   2   Basic First Aid   Cure Disease, Lay on hands, Strengthen, cure poison
Curative   Midwifery   0.7   WI11-.013    5   2-9   2   Basic First Aid   
Curative   Cure Disease   0.4   WI13-.025   2   2-7   3   Basic Cure   contagion/anticontagion
Curative   Lay On Hands   0.2   WI14-.01/CH12-.01   0   1-6   3   Basic Cure   
Curative   Strengthen   0.2   WI 10-.015/HE 12-.03   0   1-4   3   Basic Cure   
Curative   Contagion/Anti   0.25   WI12-.016/CH13-.01   0   2-12   4   Cure Disease   
Dance   Basic Dance   0.4   CD15-.021/HE10-.004   5   1-6   1      Courtly Dance, Dance Knowledge,Mysteriarch slide, Kensai sword dance, Country dance
Dance   Courtly Dance   0.5   IN9-.004/CD11-.01/AP12-.005   2   2-11   2   Basic Dance   Marriage Dance
Dance   Kensai sword dance   0.45   WI9-.005/CD14-.021   0   2-8   2   Basic dance   
Dance   Mysteriarch Slide   0.25   CD14-.02   0   2-9   3   Basic dance   
Detect   Basic Detect   0.65   IN12-.06/WI10-.02   3   1-3   1      detect hidden, detect skill, detect slope/direct/det ill intent
Detect   Detecrt scent   0.4   WI9-.01   5   2-7   1      Scent recognition/Falsify scent
Detect   detect Noise   0.05   wi-13-.01   10   1-6   1      ID noise
Detect   Visual detect   0.5   HE11-.01   0   2-5   1      Longsight/darksight
Detect   Darksight   0.3   HE9-.011   0   2-8   2   Basic visual det   
Detect   Detect Hidden   0.55   IN14-.05/13-.01/CD10-.001   3   2-7   2   Basic Detect   Detect Illusion/Invis
Detect   Detect ill intent   0.25   WI12-.006/CH14-.01   0   2-7   2   Basic detect   detect lie
Detect   Detect Skill   0.3   WI14-.06   0   1-6   2   Basic Detect   
Detect   Detect Slope/Direction   0.8   Wi9-.02   5   2-9   2   Basic Detect   
Detect   Falsify scent   0.45   IN11-.018   0   2-12   2   Basic Scent   
Detect   Scent recognition   0.35   IN10-.005/WI11-.015   5   2-9   2   Basic Scent   
Detect   Detect Illusiion.Invis   0.38   IN15-.02/WI12-.02   1   1-6   3   Detect Hidden   
Detect   Detect Lie   0.25   IN11-.005/WI14-.025   0   2-11   3   Detect ill Intent   
Engineer   Basic Hand skills   0.5   CD-14.015   5   1-4   1      Open Lock, Filch Item, Escap Bonds, sleight of hand
Engineer   Basic Trap   0.45   IN12-.01/CD13-.02   5   2-5   1      Find Trap, Set Trap, Remove Trap
Engineer   Engineer   0.7   IN13-.016/WI10-.009   10   1-6   1      Architecht, Miner, mason, Mechanic, surveyer
Engineer   Architecht   0.6   IN14-.019   5   2-9   2   Basic Engineer   
Engineer   Find Trap   0.45   IN14-.03/W!10-.003/CD12.004   5   2-7   2   Basic Trap   
Engineer   Mechanic   0.6   IN14-.022/CD12-.003   5   2-12   2   Engineer   Enliven
Engineer   Miner   0.5   IN13-.006/WI13-.011   5   2-12   2   Engineer   Detection of ores/stones, passswall
Engineer   Open Locks   0.5   IN13-.018/CD15-.03   5   2-9   2   Basic Hand   
Engineer   Remove trap   0.37   IN13-.02/CD13-.025   0   2-9   2   Basic Trap   Avoid trap
Engineer   Set trap   0.5   IN14-.03/CD15-.015   15   4-10   2   Basic Trap   Build trap
Engineer   Sleight of hand   0.4   IN10-01/CD13-.013/   5   2-8   2   Basic hand Skills   
Engineer   Avoid Trap   0.2   IN14-.011/CD16-.014   0   2-11   3   Remove trap   
Engineer   Enliven   0.2   WI16-.03/CH13-.01   -5   2-7   3   Mechanic   
Langage   Anarch   0.7   In12-.01/WI12-.011   0   2-7   1      Jubilexian, Grazztian, Venolvian
Langage   Hobyt   0.6   IN12-.015/   10   2-9   1      Brightish
Langage   Klaxik   0.5   IN13-.011   10   2-9   1      Underearth, Red Hobbit, Gastax
Langage   Magetongue   0.5   IN12-.02   5   2-7   1      
Langage   Odop   0.6   In12-01/Wi12-.011   2   1-6   1      Neblerian, Hendac, Modron, Devilkin, harnic
Langage   Omwo~   0.5   IN11-.02   10   1-10   1      Marcher, Silverwood, XI~U Omwo~, Delvan
Langage   Sauroid   0.2   IN15-.013   5   1-6   1      
Langage   Vox (Southern Common)   0.6   In11-.01   10   2-11   1      Ambrellian, Omnian
Langage   Westic (north common)   0.7   IN10-.01   15   2-12   1      Horse trader, Violic, Orcash
Langage   Harnic   0.55   INt12-.01   5   2-7   2   Odop   Arcanic
Langage   Marcher (grey March)   0.6   In11-.012   5   2-9   2   Westic   Suprosian
Langage   Omnian   0.4   IN12-.011   5   2-9   2   Vox   
Langage   Orcash   0.7   WI6-.012   5   2-11   2   Westic   Red Pass orcash, Zjymanese
Langage   Silverwood   0.5   IN10-.01/WI5-.005   5   2-11   2   Omwo~   
Langage   Venolvian (coom)   0.4   IN9-.003/WI13-.015   2   2-9   2   Anarch   Ancient Venolvian,
Langage   Suprosian   0.67   IN15-.016   0   3-12   3   Marcher   
Mind   Affect others   0.15   IN15-.01/CH14-.01   0   1-4   1      Confuse, distract, Attract
Mind   Basic meditate   0.38   WI12-.03/HE14-.01   2   1-6   1      Mind over body, Resist, Detect Illusion
Mind   Attract   0.2   IN12-.005/CH12-.02   0   2-9   2   Basic Meditate   Charm
Mind   Confuse   0.15   WI12-.003/CH14-.015   0   2-7   2   Affect others   Hypnotize
Mind   Distract   0.2   CH12-.021   0   2-7   2   Affect others   
Mind   Mind Over Body   0.4   IN12-.003/WI15-.04/HE15-.015   0   2-8   2   Basic Meditate   Aspect, Body  Composition
Mind   Resist   0.2   IN10->003/WI13-.01/HE14-.01   0   2-7   2   Basic Meditate   Resist Poison, Resist Control,Resist Magic,
Mind   Body Composition   0.25   IN10-.006/WI15-0.2   0   2-11   3   Mind Over Body   
Mind   Charm   0.1   IN15-.005/CH15-.01   -5   2-12   3   Attract   
Mind   Resist Magic   0.15   IN13-.015/WI12-.01   0   1-10   3   Resist   
Movement   Basic Move   0.4   CD13-.02   5   2-5   1      Speed Move, Armored Move, Pursure, Free Move, reduce weight
Movement   Amored Move   0.35   ST12-.02/CD12-.02   0   2-11   2   Basic Move   Ignore Encumberance
Movement   FreeMove   0.3   WI14-.02/CD10-.01   0   1-10   2   Basic Movement   
Movement   reduce weight   0.6   WI14-.02   0   2-7   2   Basic Move   
Movement   Speed Move   0.35   CD13-.3   0   1-8   2   Basic Move   Perform Thief act,
Movement   Ignore encumbrance   0.4   WI10-.01/HE10-.011   5   16-Feb   3   Armored move   
Music   Basic Song   0.4   IN13-.02/CH12-.02   5   1-4   1      Song, Wind I, String I, Percus I, Write music, Bard
Music   Bard   0.25   CH14-.02   0   2-7   2   Basic Song   Battlebard,  Arcanic Bard, VestedBard, hum, Natures Bard,skill bard
Music   Write music   0.4   IN9-.005/WI13-.02   2   2-8   2   Basic song   Create epic, Satirize,
Music   ArcanicBard   0.25   IN14-.01/WI14-.01/CH14-.03   0   2-9   3   Bard   
Music   Battlebard   0.3   WI9-.008/CH13-.03   0   2-9   3   Bard   
Music   Nature's Bard   0.37   Wi9-.02/HE11-.005   2   2-11   3   Bard   
Music   Vestedbard   0.25   WI14-.02/CH14-.01   0   2-9   3   Bard   
outdoor   basic nature   0.4   wi10-.005/CH10-.01   2   1-4   1      An charm, An Train, Fauna,animal empathy
outdoor   Basic Outdoor   0.7   WI13-.01    5   1-3   1      Track, Wilderness forage, votanist
outdoor   AnimalEmpathy   0.43   WI13-.016/CH10-.02   5   2-8   2   Basic Outdoor   
outdoor   Botanist   0.5   IN12-.005/WI14-.02   2   1-6   2   Basic Outdoor   Plant Lore/Plant ID
outdoor   Tracking   0.6   IN12-.02/WI10-.01   5   1-10   2   Basic Outdoor   Mind Track, Instill Dread
outdoor   Instill Dread   0.25   IN12-.01/WI12-.006/CH12-.02   3   2-11   3   Tracking   
outdoor   Mind track   0.4   WI14-.03   3   2-7   3   Tracking   detect tracker
outdoor   Plant Lore   0.3   WI14-.02/CH12-.009   0   2-8   3   Botanist   
outdoor   Detect tracker   0.3   WI15-.018   0   2-9   4   Mind Track   
Priest   Basic Priest   0.3   WI2-.01   0   1-4   1      Conversion, Det Godly Align, Det Undead, Aff Undead, ceremony
Priest   Affect Undead   0.35   WI13-.04/CH13-.03   0   2-9   2   Basic Priest   Create Undead
Priest   Ceremony   0.55   WI12-.001/CH14-.02   0   2-9   2   Basic Priest   Sanctify/corrupt
Priest   Conversion   0.3   WI13-.02/CH12-.025   0   3-8   2   Basic Priest   Mass Conversion, resist conversion
Priest   Detect Undead   0.7   WI10-.025   5   2-12   2   Basic Priest   
Priest   Corruption   0.25   WI12-.02/CH11-.01   0   2-12   3   Ceremony   
Priest   Create Undead   0.03   WI13-.008/CH12-.01   2   2-9   3   Affect Unead   
Priest   Mass Conversion   0.15   WI14-.008/CH15-.01   0   2-11   3   Conversion   
Priest   Resist Conversion   0.35   WI14-.02   0   2-12   3   Converstion   
Priest   Sanctify   0.2   WI15-.025   0   2-13   3   Ceremony   
Scholar   Basic Math   0.8   IN10-.01/WI12-.003   5   1-4   1      Astronomer, Higher math, Statistician, architecht
Scholar   Basic Scholar   0.2   IN-13-.02/WI10-.002   0   1-3   1      Read Language, Historical Knowledge, read write
Scholar   Astronomy   0.4   IN10-.016   5   2-9   2   Basic Math   Navigation, Celestial Magnification, Divination
Scholar   Hstorical knowledge   0.45   In13-.01, WI13-.01   5   2-7   2   Basic scolar   Legend/Lore
Scholar   Read/write   0.7   IN11-.01/WI13-.01   2   2-8   2   Basic scholar   Literature, critical Analysis
Scholar   Legend/Lore   0.19   IN15-.02/WI14.003   0   7-Feb   3   Historical Knowledge   
Scholar   Literature   0.5   IN12-.025   5   2-11   3   Read/write   
Social   Basic Carnal   0.7   ST10-.02/WI12-.003/CH12-.015   5   2-5   1      Seduction.control
Social   Basic Leader   0.6   WI13-01/CH12-.03   0   2-5   1      Organize, exhort
Social   Basic social   0.7   WI10-.004/CH11-.02/AP13-.001   5   2-5   1      Social Dynamic, Friendship, Contact, Barrister
Social   Courtly Manners   0.6   WI10-.006/CH13-.02   0   1-4   1      Gesture, Message,
Social   Social Dynamic   0.3   IN13-.02   0   2-9   1   Basic Social   
Social   Barrister   0.5   IN13-.009/WI13-.1   5   7-Feb   2   Basic Social   International law/
Social   Contact   0.6   WI13-.01/CH 12-.04   5   2-8   2   Basic Social   Avoid Contact, Find
Social   Exhort   0.4   CH13-.025   0   2-11   2   Basic Leader   Fight to oblivion
Social   Friendship   0.4   WI10-.005/CH12-.02   3   2-11   2   Basic social   bonding
Social   Organize   0.5   IN8-.009/WI10-.01/   5   2-10   2   Basic Leader   Chain of command, order
Social   Bonding   0.4   WI13-.01/CH12-.017   0   3-12   3   Friendship   
Social   Fight to Oblivion   0.22   Ch14-.02   2   2-16   3   Exhort   
Spell   Amnimist SP   0.6   IN10-.01/WI11-.02/CH13-.01   0   1-8   1      AN Rclamation, An Succ
Spell   Artificer SP   0.4   IN13-.02/CD10-.006   0   1-8   1      Atificer Reclamation, Artificer Success
Spell   House of Air SP   0.4   IN13-.02/WI10-,01/CD10-.008   0   1-6   1      HOA Reclamation, HOA Success
Spell   House of Chaos SP   0.45   IN12-.015/WI12-.015/CD12-.005   0   1-6   1      HOC Reclamation, HOC Success
Spell   House of Death SP   0.5   WI10-.05/HE10-.005/CH10-.005   0   1-6   1      HOD Reclamation, HOD Success
Spell   House of Earth SP   0.4   ST13-.005/WI10-.01/HE13-.01   0   1-6   1      HOE Reclamation, HOE Success
Spell   House of Fire SP   0.4   IN12-.02/CD13-.022   0   1-6   1      HOF Reclamation, HOF Succes
Spell   House of Life SP   0.4   ST10-.004/WI10-.04   0   1-6   1      HOL Reclamtion, HOL Success
Spell   House of Order SP   0.45   ST10-.002/IN10-.01/WI10-.02   0   1-6   1      HOO Reclamation, HOO Success
Spell   House of Water SP   0.45   ST12-.007/WI12-.021   0   2-7   1      HOW Reclamation, HOW Success
Spell   Mentalist SP   0.4   IN15-.06/CH12-.01   0   1-6   1      Mentalist Reclamation, Mentalist Success
Spell   Necromantic SP   0.5   WI12-.011/CH12-.009   0   2-7   1      Necromantic Reclamation, Necromantic Success
Spell   Restorative SP   0.4   WI13-.02/HE14-.014   0   1-6   1      Restoative Rclamation, Restorative Success, Restor sp knowledge
Spell   Shade Sp   0.3   IN15-.022   0   1-6   1      Shade reclamation, shade success
Spell   Spirit SP   0.5   IN12-.04/WI12-.04/ch12-.01   2   2-7   1      Spirit reclamation, Spirit success
Spell   HOW sp knoledge   0.28   WI13-.015   0   2-11   2   HOW sp   
Spell   Mentalist sp knowledge   0.25   IN14-.02    0   2-9   2   Ment sp   
Spell   Necromantic sp knowle   0.31   WI12-.012   0   2-10   2   necro sp   
Spell   Restorative sp knowledge   0.3   WI14-.03   0   2-9   2   Restorative sp   
Spell   Spirit Reclamation   0.3   IN10-.01/WI10-.01   0   2-9   2   Spirit sp   Draw Spirit
Spell   Spirit Success   0.3   IN11-.011/WI12-.01   0   2-9   2   Spirit sp   
Thieves tree   Ascend   0.4   ST11-.01/CD12-.013   2   1-6   1      Climb sheer, Climb Rope,
Thieves tree   Basic Sneak   0.5   In13-.01/CD14-.01   5   2-5   1      Hide, Move Silent, Mix with Croowd, Disguise,
Thieves tree   Surpirse   0.5   CD10-.015   5   1-4   1      Backstab,
Thieves tree   Backstab   0.5   CD14-.016   0   2-9   2   Surprise   Assassinate,
Thieves tree   Climb Sheer   0.3   ST13-.02/CD12-.015   0   3-9   2   Ascend   Fall
Thieves tree   Disguise   0.75   IN13-.014/WI15-.015/ch12-.01   10   2-9   2   Basic Sneak   Impersonate
Thieves tree   Hide   0.4   IN13-.012/CD14-.03   10   2-8   2   Basic Sneak   Shadowplay, Shadow heal, shadowsight
Thieves tree   Mis with crowd   0.75   IN13-.02/CD9-.003/CH12-.005   5   2-8   2   Basic sneak   
Thieves tree   Move Silent   0.45   IN14.018/CD14-.025   10   2-7   2   Basic Sneak   
Thieves tree   Assassinate   0.3   ST10 .002/IN10-.007/CD10-.015   2   2-9   3   Backstab   
Thieves tree   Fall   0.2   CD15-.025   0   1-12   3   Climb Sheer   
Thieves tree   Impersonate   0.3   IN10-.008/CH14-.02   0   2-12   3   Disguise   
Thieves tree   Shadowheal   0.2   WI12-.02   0   2-9   3   hide   
Thieves tree   Shadowsight   0.3   WI14-.012   0   2-8   3   Hide   
Torturer   basic Torture   0.6   IN10-.01/Wi9-.003/CH11-.009   5   1-4   1      Conviction,terror, Extract info, headsman
Torturer   Conviction   0.3   WI11-.01/CH12-.012   0   2-7   2   Basic torture   
Torturer   Headsman's blade   0.4   ST13-.021/CD10-.003   0   2   2   Basic torture   
Torturer   Terror   0.3   CD13-.014/CH12-.01   1   2-7   2   Basic Torture   Shadow of the torturer
Torturer   Shadow of the Torturer   0.1   WI14-.004/CH13-.017   0   12-Mar   3   Terror   
[/spoiler]

Each skill has an experience modifier based on the guild or school it was learned from, modified by attributes.  In other words, a character learns their skills from a faction, and that gives them their base experience modifier for the skill.  
[spoiler=example]Hit points, for example, have a basic experience modifier of .1. (ST 10-.01/HE10.03), which means that every Strength point above or below 10 modiefiers the .1 by ,01, and every Health point above or below 10 adjusts it by .03.  So a character with a 10 Strength and a 10 Health has a .1 Hit point EXP mod, which means every experience point earned in Hitpoints is multiplied by .1.  But a character with a 15 Strength and a 15 health gains 15-10*.01+ 15-10*.03 added to their .1 which gives and EXP mod -f .3 for Hit points, which means they gain EXP and levels in hit points three times as fast.  All skills work this way.
[/spoiler]
So in the above example, a character with a low EXPMOD for hit points (say .15) and a warrior with a decent Hitpoints EXPMOD (say .35) both enter into a combat, both suffer 6 points of damage and are in the melee.  Both would get 60 raw EXP directly in HP for being hit 6 points, but the first character gains 9 real exp, and the fecond one gains 21 real exp.  Very important theme of the Guildschool rules...you only get experience in skills that are used or practised!!!  No getting better at lockpicking by killing things!!  A character can evolve this way, not merely progress.


Furthermore, all skills have base skills and sub skills, so that anyone with the 'Basic Trap skill has that ability in 'Find Trap, Set Trap, and Remove Trap', to a small degree.  However, base skills give a very small amount per level (normally between 1-3 and 2-5), so eventually, the sub skill needs to be learned to be decent at anything.

Combat system.
I really don't even know where to start, again.  I use a continuous initiative system, lower HP than normal, avoidance and protection are seperate (i.e. heavy armor makes you slow and easy to hit...just hard to damage) and a dividing die in damage, so that the traditional bell-curve damage ditribution is replaced with one based on the size of the dividing die.  
[spoiler=damage examples]
a dirk may do 11-17/d10 damage, which means 11-17 hits dividied by a d10.  Do the math, and this means 10% of the time will there be significant damage..but the dagger is capable of it.  
a midsize weapon like a broadsword may do 17-25/d6, and a huge axe like a Widowmaker my do 20-34/d5.
[/spoiler]

Spells and Magic.
getting sleepy and tired here.  Will leave this for later, except for this.  Spell points and the skills that go with them are as follows.
Amnimist SP
Artificer SP
House of Air SP
House of Chaos SP
House of Death SP
House of Earth SP
House of Fire SP
House of Life SP
House of Order SP
House of Water SP
Mentalist SP
Necromantic SP
Restorative SP
Shade Sp
Spirit SP
These are all the different schools of spell ability that make up the pools of power available to casters.  
All spells cost some spirt, as that is the part of the spell that comes from the castrer,k the trigger of the spell.  Any type of spell point the caster does not have can also be made up by spirit, but at a 4/1 ratio.

[LordVreeg]

More Combat System

I use a continuous initiative system,

And what does that mean?  It means that combat initiative is kept continuously instead of stopping at the end of a round or a turn and starting again.  A character in combat, anfter they have attempted a feat or action, will roll intitiative for their next action, and add it on from there.  This can often mean a character with a fast weapon might attack two or three times before a character with a slower weapon.  However, since smaller weapons normall do less damage and have higher dividing dice, they penetrate armor less...

creatures in a melee roll a d10 and add it to their speed factor, creatures outside of a combat but somewhat dependent on actions within the melee (like an archer on the fringes, or a character preparing to backstab someone in the melee) use a d8, and characters not affected at all (like a spellcaster casting a non-targetted spell) roll a d6, and add that to their speed factor.



 

[Tybalt]

I like the general feel of this setting--it reminds me of the western countries in Hyboria like Aquilonia and Nemedia--slightly decadent yet martial and vibrant. I find your initiative idea intriguing--I'll think about how it could be applied for my own game though I kind of like to keep things as my players and I have come to enjoy them. (though you never know)

One thing that is enjoyable about it is that it has small level conflicts. I have to admit that some settings leave me cold because everything is so BIG--you'd have to spend a lot of time figuring out how your pcs could fit in. I like that you have the big and the small view and that it is a definite setting and not largely a cosmology.

[LordVreeg]

THE 3 ANNOYANCES

These three windmills were the spur that caused myself and my players to tilt them.  Three things about gaming (especially back in the 80's) that drove us nuts.  And while the many of these problems have been solved to one degree or another by later incarnations of rule systems, it is still interesting to see other solutions.

Hit points have always made me nuts.  The highest HP in Celtricia for a PC is 34 currsntly, for a character that has been played for 12 years averaging once a month.
[spoiler=The WarHorse Idiocy]
Issue 1-The warhorse rule.
This actually has nothing to do with mounted combat.  The warhorse rule has to do with the amount of damage that characters in most games can take, and in one rulebook we found a stupid justification of it that involved a warhorse.  Why it was okay in that system for a relatively low level person do be able to take more damage than a warhorse.  The idea that some relatively medium power person would be able to take more physical damage than a horse, and that some powerful person can take as much of a pounding as a dragon is just mind-boggling.  I guess it was fun when I was 12 or so.  But we needed to change a lot of the ratios here.  So everyone in Bip starts out with 3 hp, and since hit points, like everything, is a skill, goes up 2-5 per level of the character in that skill.  This means someone with 10th level hit points still has an average of 33, while most starting characters have between 7 and 13.  So there is growth, but not this outrageous ability to take as much damage as 10 '˜lesser' people.  
If you peel back a layer here, what we were trying to bring back into the game was a little of the threat factor.  That weapons can be dangerous to almost anyone.  And that if a dragon breathes on you, and that breath can sink a ship, it can probably sink you as well.
This was another problem we were having.  An axe blow in a lot of games had no chance to kill most adventurers.  Wearing no armor, tied to a rock, a relatively low power person would need to be hit 4-5 times with an axe to have to worry about it.  Just stupid.  But we needed to find a mechanism for changing it so that a person had to worry about it, not die every time.  So we got rid of the bell curve of regular damage, and made the damage amounts and protection amounts for armor pretty high but gave them a dividing die, so that the distribution curve is large in the lower damage side, but can have a large tail on the high end.  Imagine an axe doing 22-34 damage, but with a 6 sided dividing die.  So 4 out of 6 times, you are doing 9 damage or less, 5 out of 6 times you are doing under 15 damage, but there is a 1 in 6 chance of doing 22-34 actual hits of damage.  
Understand?  Between slowing down the Hit Point growth and increasing the damage potential, players have to play smarter, because the Bip world is just a little more deadly.
[/spoiler]


I don't like the 'memorize and release' rules to begin with.  The power sources that spell casters pull from for their spells are the same power sources, to some level, that the Gods use.  I'll get into the descriptions of what those are at a slightly later date.    
[spoiler=The Fireball Idiocy]
Issue 2-the fireball rule
This complaint is a little different.  In a lot of game systems, acquisition of spell powers go through strange leaps and bounds.  The fireball ruling is based around the character in a system that has just become a little more powerful, but can suddenly cast spells that make them a holy terror to a community.  Normally, this happens when the get some variation of a fireball, or some big explosive spell, which in most systems happens relatively early in a spellcaster's lifespan.  And it doesn't take away from the ability to cast anything else, or anything, they just go up one level, and become a much bigger pain in the ass for everyone else.  And they can do it again tomorrow.
Many, many years ago, Bip went to a spell point system, so that there was only so much magical energy you could use in a day, and if you chose to cast a big flashy spell, it really wipes out most lower and mid level characters.
Later on, we decided that casters actually pulled power from different sources to cast spells, so spell casters in Bip will often have skills in many, many types of spells power sources.  And most spells in Bip require multiple sources of power.  So a player can't just become fifth level, and blow up that warhorse suddenly.  And when a player casts a spell, they get back Spell points a little bit at a time, and from only one source at a time.  So most casters are a little more leery of blowing a ton of Spell Points, and taking hours to get them back if they blow them all on a big spell.
[/spoiler]

I have always cringed at a character becoming better at skills they have not used when they gain experience.
[spoiler=Why do I become a better thief by killing things?]
Issue 3-character classes and levels
This one was a big one, too.  It's a little easier to explain to most gamers, though.  Like a lot of maturing gamers, we couldn't deal with the constraints of a '˜class' based system, and went to a skill-based system.  But instead of a '˜skill point-buying' rule set, where a character breaks a level and gets '˜x' amounts of points to buy skills, we use a skill-level system where characters actually gain experience in the skills they use, and break levels in those skills.  So when Joe the Priest casts a spell that uses Spell points from the House of Death and Restorative Spell points, those 2 skills are where experience goes.  Characters in Bip that don't fight don't get better Hit Points, and better yet, thieves who are part of a winning battle don't suddenly get better thieving skills.  Bob the engineer does get experience in basic trap skill (and maybe the sub skill of find trap, if he has it) when he looks for traps in a room, and saves his buddies from eating poison darts hidden in the ceiling above a door.
We determine the ability of a person to use a skill by an experience modifier.  A good thief might have .5 as an EXP modifier for basic trap.  Someone who had a bad teacher, with mediocre intelligence and Coordination might have a .2 EXP modifier, meaning they take a lot longer to gain experience in that same skill.
There is a really happy side effect of these rules that shows up in the game.  Guilds and churches and knighthoods, these organizations that teach skills become embedded into the game, and are all over the place.  It makes for a lot more entertaining game when characters are constantly networking with these groups to learn and to gain sway in the world.  It is kind of cool when a someone joins a knighthood, then decides to learn some basic restorative spells abilities, or when a Basic warrior joins a Bardic group'¦The total variety in character development we have seen has been amazing.
Just as cool is when players find alternative uses for skills, like using basic artist to determine the racial style of a fresco or Basic nature to determine what the plants in that same fresco are.
[/spoiler]

[LordVreeg]

More on spell rules
Spell Casting in Celtricia

   Spell casting in the bip system is done by the expenditure of spell points.  Ability in a spell skill is the game vehicle for a caster's knowledge and connection to that power source, except for Spirit spell points.  
   Spirit spell points are the part of a spell the caster supplies himself; the internal power a caster learns to harness to trigger a spell. Every spell takes spirit spell points, and a caster can use Spirit to fuel any other type of spell point skill he may be deficient in, normally at 1:4 ratio.  This is the game mechanic that allows a caster to use energy from his own personal stores to fuel a spell that uses an ability he may be deficient in.



Rules for Spell Point Conversion

   If all things were perfect, we would always have enough Spell Points to cast the spells we learn.  But often, due to past spells cast, or spells not perfectly suited to our characters, we need a little help to cover all the bases in a spell.
   Our characters have been trained in some areas and not others; quite frankly this is purposeful.  There is much to know in the world of magic, and the work of many lifetimes to master any part of it.  So often, a caster must throw more of their personal power to make up for the area they are lacking in.
   However, if a character is very familiar with a power source, the conversion factor will be less, due to the innate affinity with that source, and the understanding of it.



   Characters achieving 'specialized' or 'devoted' status will be grandfathered in that status when they achieve the next level in spirit.  However, they must achieve another level in the specialized or devoted category before they achieve another spirit level or they will lose the status (unless they are over the permanent status level).

Rules for Spell Level

   Spell level is normally determined by the characters highest achieved level; normally spirit.  However, there are mitigating factors.  If the spell that is being cast's primary focus is a category the character has, they may add ¼ of that spell type's level onto their Spirit level.  So if Joe Templar is L5 Spirit, L3 Order, L2 Water, and L1 Artificer, and was casting a Water based spell, he would be considered level 5.5 (5 for Spirit and .5 for Water).  
   This effect is increased if the spell cast comes from a in which the character is specialized or devoted, to ½ that skill level being added on.  So if our friend Joe Templar was casting an Order base spell, his functional level would be 6.5.

Rules For Spell Point Reclamation
Spell points also take a while to return to the caster.  The caster's Spell point reclamation skill determines this.  That skill is a 50% auto dropdown from the spell points, so until the caster grows in power, the spell point reclamation skill is normally ½ the casters actual skill in that type of spell points.  This translates into the caster reclaiming at .05* their reclamation skill per hour while active, and .15* their reclamation skill per hour while sleeping.  
   Also, a caster can reclaim up to 3 different types of spell points back in a given hour while awake, but up to 5 different types per hour while sleeping.
   So this means a character with 20 spirit points has probably a 10 Spirit reclamation skill.  He will reclaim .5 points an hour awake, and 1.5 an hour while sleeping.

[Tybalt]

I think that in the original AD&D Game that the way experience worked was meant to speed the game along; Gygax wrote that he knew that fighters should be practicing for training, wizards should be studying and conjuring, thieves should be climbing and spying and sneaking and so on, but that the point of the game was to get into the adventures.

On the other hand I understand what you're getting at, it's an effort to make the roleplaying experience more rich. Your system makes sense certainly though I wonder in the case of your fireball blurb if you don't feel that the very fact that you always get just one or two added on higher level spells acts as a balance of sorts?

[LordVreeg]

Tybalt,
I need to say I love your city descriptions.  The dog fighting had me cracking up.
I frankly despise the way experience is done in 3 and 3.5.  I guess it is a good thing to give the GM huge control of when the players level, but I personally see it as a crutch for bad Gming. Bad GM's in old AD&d games had overpowered chatacters within a year, so I guess the change was needed.  
I will take the 'role-playing more rich' comment as a treasured compliment.  Due to their unearthing of an Ancient clan-Antroo vampyre, the whole enviroment of my Igbarian area is changing, and 4 of my 6 players from that group are rolling new characters due to that.

[LordVreeg]

I mentioned recently that my Igbarian group, the 7 player group that is centered in the City of Igbar needs to go through something of a partial reboot, as a few of them passed on recently, and the group dynamic was such that the 5 full timers are creating a new set of characters.  This is the document that all the players are getting as well to give them more of a background on what the feeling in Igbar is like.

 [spoiler=Current Igabrian Scenario]Igbar

Igbar is the capitol of the country of Trabler.  Trabler is a coastal country, currently a border state of the Stenronian Alliance in its six-year struggle with the Empire of Argus and it's allies.  The City of Igbar is walled, and is one of the busiest port cities in the northern part of the Celtrician Continent.  Igbar sprung out of an old fortress placed next to a fishing village, and has grown ever since.  It's current size is just over twenty thousand inhabitants, mostly still crammed inside the walled area.  Since it is at war, up to two thousand inhabitants of the town may be '˜at the border' at any given time.  But these numbers are made up for in the amount of displaced families from the war-torn southern part of the country.

Igbar is the closest major population center to the fabled Herb Lands of old Astrikon , within a three-day ride.  Though a deathtrap for the unwary, the chaotic Herb lands continuously draw in Druids and others, trying to fill the orders of the wealthy for poultices and reagents.  Despite the Herb lands and the size of Igbar, the lands to the West, in Central Trabler, are nearly empty, dotted only by ruins of once-proud Astrikon Traders.

Trabler is a constitutional monarchy, but until 3 years previously, was still ruled by Trabler Aptor, the man who carved this kingdom out of the old Argussian Marches.  So it recently came to a bit of a standstill, and was almost retaken by the Argussians, when Trabler Aptor went missing.  Trabler was nearly replaced with the Minister of Governance, until other members of the House of the Unicorn  discovered that minister was actually in the pay of Heliopolis, Assassin king of Coom Isle, an ally of the Empire of Argus.   A coup was attempted, but a counter insurgency, led by Julian Sempre Lerianolies of the Order of Stenron, recaptured the governance of Igbar and thus Trabler.  Julian was then rewarded by the House of the Unicorn with the title of '˜Steward to the King'.  So currently, Julian is acting constitutional Monarch, until the unlikely appearance of Trabler Aptor.  

There are many groups that vie for power in Igbar.  Most of them are interconnected in some way.  The wealth and the old families have power, but all are allied with others as well.  

The Assassin's guild of Heliopolis , the Blackstripes, are still in town.  The Eye, a rival guild from the north, was instrumental in the coup that brought Julian to power.  The Bully boys have been around for decades near the docks, and the old Collegium Tortoris has recently showed signs of life.  Violence from the shadows is a feature of all cities, but is more apparent in this border city than in more civilized climes.

The Collegium Arcana  is an old, multi-country law unto itself for those who study magic.  In Igbar, the Collegium Arcana bought it's own walled keep 60 years ago, where it takes in the money of young spell casters, and teaches them and protects them in turn.  The Alternative School of Magic, run by Samria and Palimar, has opposed them recently.  Still, the Collegium is ancient, rich, and powerful.  Many say it is only a matter of time before it finds the way to extinguish the upstart.  

The knighthoods and fighting schools have flourished in this near-war zone.  The Order of Stenron has a full barracks here; The Blue Turtles also have a large chapter.  The Bowyers of Ceminiar, and the Order of the White Paladin have decent sized followings.  There are dozens of fighting schools attached to the various churches in town, as well.  Knighthoods are often not mutually exclusive, so a well-known knight may be a member of three or even more orders.  The Local Scarlet Pilums are an order of knighthood and also the security force of Igbar.  They were hired some fifteen years earlier as a temporary solution to Igbar's need of a City Watch; they are still there.

Which brings us to the religious powers in Igbar.  There are 9 major churches in the town, and many minor ones.  The now-taken country of the Theocracy of Nebler lies to the east of Trabler, and most of the priesthood escaped into Igbar; but there is a large church of the Lawful Triumvirate  (which includes Nebler, along with Rakastra and Abradaxus the harsh), so those two groups are at odds.  The Church of Earth stands next to the Church of the Green Mother, Jubilex of Chaos and Change gathers worshippers next to Belial the True and Clear.  Arlieng the Guide has many shrines in Igbar, as does Ishma the Lucky.  Ogleic, Patron of Trade is worshipped to some extent by all, and Verbren the Tracker needs to be appeased to keep the beasts of the Herb Lands at Bay.  The Church of Geryon, Master of the Wild Hunt, opposes the Church of Verbren at all turns.  
More recently, the shrine of Woerter, of the Meeting and the Host, has gained a full church Status, and the Shrine of Kiminus the Whole have been gathering a flock.
This is just the tip of the religious iceberg in Igbar.

The trading syndicates and old families are another power-center.  Almost all of the trade in the area is controlled by one of these groups, and they gather at the 'Grounds of Dismissal', a coffee emporium in the middle of the city.  As in almost any population, the Trading Families and consortiums are not separate from the other political forces; rather they are intertwined with them.  A visitor to the '˜Grounds' can barely see the old coffee shop in what has become, in three human generations, almost a city block of mercantile activity.    The Vissipee Family, the Winfire Consortium, and the Sceding Tree Associates are three major speculators.  There are over two-dozen Trading Guilds of every size in Igbar, and their allegiance is only to the gold horn.
 
In the most current weeks, military action in the southern front has waned.  There are soldiers from all over the Stenronian Alliance and the Verkonian Duties taking leave, which leads to a certain amount of confusion and tension between them and the natives.  Many merchants are taking advantage of their freedoms and a shortened supply by moving prices up on almost anything.

The supply shortage that has been prevalent in the last 10 Hawaaks was due to a band of Hobgoblins that were preying on some of the caravans from the North.  Recently, The Sceding Tree Trading Consortium and the Scarlet Pilums proclaimed simultaneously that the threat had been eliminated by collaboration supported by those two groups.  Both groups take credit for supporting the Grey Legion, and adventuring band that has been smashing the Firehazer tribes of the Wibble hills.

This does not mean there has been a shortage of humanoid activity.  The Church of Vernidale has been blocking most pilgrims and merchants from traveling to the Herb lands in the last few months, but they have been coming under heavy attack from the Zyjmanese Tribe, an orkash and Ogre band led by one of the zealots of the original Zyjman .  Sir Garcellenti Euridios of the Order of the White Paladin has recently returned from a journey, and lost no time in denouncing both the church of the Green Mother and those that assail it.


Recent news of Igbar
In the beginning of WinterWane, right after the Lithe and the New Year began, it has come to the common light that there has been a series of bloody murders in the Steel Libram.  A family member of a Senator of the House of the Unicorn (the Assembly of Igbar) was found beheaded there.
A horse trader, from the Renshurein House traders, was nearly strung up by a mob, which declaimed loudly how he had taken advantage of the caravan strangulation.  The Scarlet Pilums barely saved him.
 A few days later, there was a reported sighting of Lady Flagrenza and Laughing Jory on the docks.  Both are well known Blackstripes from Coom Isle, where they are supreme.  Every merchant is still locking their doors, and anyone with a price on their head is finding reasons to stay in.
On WWN 19, word came in that Igtiche was almost a pitched battle area.  Igtiche is the last settlement before the road to the Herb Lands, as well as a popular resting area for the Earth Churches.   It is a slow days ride west and a little north of the old Henit Road.  It seems that the Green Mother's moratorium on the Herb Lands has drawn some martial forces from a few churches, including Verbren and Geryon.
   Around that time, The Grey Legion rolled back into town, bearing trophies of their harrying of the Firehazer tribes of the Wibble Hills.  They spend money like water, and every merchant called to them from their doors.
   On 1-45, Magistrates from the tax roll Hallows declare an investigation of Gresolio family (part of Vissippe trading family).
Rumors also began abounded in some bars about the supposed creation of golems in the city.
   The next day, The Church of Bamik the Weaver is selling a huge and wondrous purple rug, depicting the Horation Plague relief, after the plague of '˜77'.  They are doing it to raise horn to pave the weaver's section of the city.

On WWN 50, The Church of Reluctant Grazzt (the sect that believes that Grazzt repented after banishing Pablar) opened to take new clerics for the School of the flamberges' way.
   On the 51st, The Hand of Jubilex, a group of Adventurers, came into town from the east.  They are staying in the Upper Crust.  They are led by Volikan the Unworthy, a priest of Chaos.
Also, that day, there was unrest between the churches of the Lawful Triumverate and of Vernidale, as the Triumvirate sees the Green Mother as illegally blocking access to the Herb lands.  The Hierophant Kaexiol has started putting pressure on the House of the Unicorn to step in politically.
   On 1-52, there is a notice on the North and South boards that says the Axemans House of Chance (238) will be holding a Western Drawhand tourney, with a 350 horn as the top prize.  
The Island Kings Merchant group sets up a fund to build a new trade building in the south west of town.

Then, at the end of the month, the Grey Legion adventuring group comes through the North gate late at night.  The winds push the clouds past both moons, running shadows over the faces of the weary crew.  According to the guards accounts, on of their members is carried over the saddle, and they are in a hurry to get to the Church of the Lawful Triumverate.  One of the scarlet pilums that was on watch overhears Lady Rumble Lou of the Blue Turtles telling the other members to be on the watch for the Vargoyles that seem to be following them.  
The next night, tales come in from the Teque Hospitality guildhouse to the north, where travelers spoke of being chased by a band of zombie hobgoblins led by a pair of ghouls all the way to the gates of the guildhouse stockade, and of the dark band milling about the walls throughout the night.  The Scarlet Pilums manning the towers of Igbar's walls report finding a guard with his throat ripped out, and of hearing black wings and laughter on the air.  The whispering begin.  Lock your doors, the night is not safe.

   Two nights later, Hosta Hab Needleswine and Raphael Tungstolen, the Frigid Masterskalds, are awakened by the sound of a struggle in the Frigid Song Guildhall, and they rush to the bardic bachelor apartments, to find some dark man-like creature feeding on Pharren, Frigid Skald and member of the Grey Legion. They surprise it and manage to drive it off, but the walls are running with red wetness. Pharren's left hand is missing, and blood pumps through his wrist and his throat.
The two of them raise an alarum, and find 4 other apprentices in the downstairs hall and 2 other journeymen drained of blood, dead and dismembered.
Raphael and Teque Manus rush Pharren's unresponding body to the closest church, the Lawful Triumvirate, only to find it also in an uproar. Collective Hierophant Kaexiol, the most senior father of the Lawful Triumvirate, says that some awful presence tried to force it's way through the wards of the church earlier that night. The priesthhod begins work on Pharren right away, with his fellow Grey legionnaire Eodl standing vigil all night.
The next morning, As Pharren is pulled through the worst of the damage and after a ceremony of Restoration has restored most of the damage and cleansed Pharren, Eodl comes in with the news that Levy, Rumble Lou, Sam, and Martin are all missing. The rest of the Grey Legion is gone.  The halls of the White Palladium are bloodstained, and there are already stories of Sir Garcellenti, Sir Thomasen and Sir Jamesen in a titanic struggle with some unclean evil during the night.
Pharren's hand partially regenerates, and he has a huge swath of white running through his hair. He can still play music, but the hand is gnarled and it has not the strength to wield his great bow. The struggle with the Undead leaves deeper scars as well, and Pharren is determined to find out what happened during the night, and what happened to his friends.

Another Hawaak passes.  The night becomes even more dangerous.  The Scarlet Pilums double the size of their patrols inside and outside of the gates.  The homeless cry to not be left alone at night, and crowd together in the gates of the Pilum Towers.  The boneyards become walkways each day with families bringing priest to bless their family dead and prevent them from walking the night, and patrols walk quickly through those same boneyards at night.  One night in Early Spring, two members of a Scarlet Pilum Patrol return covered in blood and gore.  They are the remnant of a 12-man group, and they say that a pair of skeletal Ogres along with dozens of other skeletal creatures set upon their band as they skirted the Wibble Hills.

   Now, drawn yet resolute, Skald Pharren of the Frigid Song visits Vinivixias, Trader Prime of the Sceding Tree trading family.  Lay-Brother Eodl at his side, Pharren walks heavy-hearted, bearing a secret guilt, but he has resolved to rebuild the Legion.
   The call goes out through Igbar, and the folk of the city pause from the busy work they try to distract themselves with.  The Grey Legion were heroes of Igbar before.  Could they be so again?
 

[/spoiler]
 

The ideas behind all this rigamarole is that the Grey Legion did, despite warning of every type, let loose an ancient Vampyre of old Hagenos.  It had been sealed in a tomb beneath the ruins of a refuge of one of the Orbaian Exile Clanhouses.  Vampyres in Celtricia are similar to Liches, except that they are made and not self-created.  This particular one, Kexiol Antroo, Justicar of Mammon's Hand, was imprisonned there some 475 years before, walled up behind his hidden temple.  Letting this creature loose has brought a powerful undead lord, one that gained strength over the years, into the affairs of the Igbar area.  He has taken over the caverns of the Underdark of the Orbian Exiles, where his people retreated to from Orbi half a millenia before.  He has subjegated most of the firehazers tribe of the Wibble Hills.
So now they have paid the price.  2 of the group was killed in-game be the Vampyre, and the players made a mature decision to create a new group rather than be unbalanced.  
I am allowing them to start with 6500 exp to spend on skills, instead of the 4800 that is standard for beginning characters.  This is to simulate a slightly experienced group that Pharren is gathering, as well as allowing the players to create a more mature character with a slight advantage in their areas of expertise.  The players are also being allowed to choose one guild to major with and a minor guild as well, which gives them more potical power, as well as more skill choices.  It also simulates a more mature and better connected character.

[LordVreeg]

and what does 6500 exp get you in Celtricia?  Glad I asked...

6500 exp is more properly termed 6500 'raw' or 'unadjusted' exp. It gives me a rough idea of progression for players and NPC's as to where they stand.

We keep track of how much experience is gained in every skill seperately, but all experience is given out in 'raw' format.  Every skill a character has has an 'EXP Modifier' that dternines 'adjusted EXP's'.  Character's break level in each skill based on adjusted EXP's.

[spoiler=level breaks in GuildSchool]
100=1
200=2
300=3
500=4
800=5
1300=6
2000=7
3000=8
4400=9
6300=10
[/spoiler]


When a character is created in Celtricia, they need to choose a primary guild or School (hence the name of the system, GuildSchool).  The school will have certain skills that have favorable 'BXPMOD', or Base Experience Modifiers.  A good example of this is a character that tries to learn the 'Alchemic Spell Point ability' from the Martial school of Song has a .09 BXPMOD.  Learning that same skill from The Church of Jubilex of Chaos has a BXPMOD of .2.  The ALtrnative School of Magic, however, teaches that skill with a .39 BXPMOD.  (and you don't ever bother learning a skill from a school that sucks at it...like learning astrophysics from a landscaping company).  The effect of these modifiers is the speed that a character breaks level in something.  The .39 BXPMOD gains actual, modified experience 4 times as fast as the idiot who asked the Martial School of Song to teach him.

The actual EXPMOD of a skill comes from the BXPMOD of the school and the ATRIBMOD.  All skills have an attribute modifier as well, so that smart characters are good at things that need smart, and strong charcters are good at combat, etc.  
[spoiler=Hitpoints expmod calculation]
HP is a skill that has the least to do with the school a character comes from, and the most to do with the ATTRIBMOD.  It is, however, the only skill EVERY character gets.  Still, it is a good illustration of how this works.  The BXPMOD froma fighting school might be .15.  the notation on ATTRBMOD for HP reads ST10-.01/HE10-.03, which means that for every point of Strength a character has over or under 10, the gain or lose .01 on their EXPMOD, and for every point of Health over or under 10, the EXPMOD goes up or down by .03.
So, A character from this school with a 10 ST and a 10 HE has no ATTRIBMOD, and ends with the .15 from their BXPMOD as their total EXPMOD for that skill.  If the character had a 15 Strength and a 15 Health, this means they have ((15-10*.01=.05)+(15-10*.03=.15))=.2 as the ATTRIBMOD, added to the .15 BXPMOD= an EXPMOD of .35 for Hit points.  This character will gain levels in HP over twice as fast as a character with the lower Attributes.
[/spoiler]


So the effect of the EXPMOD mechanism in Guildschool is to show how good a character is at a skill, by determining how fast they break levels in it.  It also allows us, in-game, to place experience in a skill ONLY WHEN IT IS USED.  So in my 12 year old Mistonian crew, the fighters may have 28-38 HP, whereas the non fighters normally have 12-16 hp.  You can put experinece in HP, you see, from comabt exp given after the fight, or when you get hit.
This has been kind of cool, as it does not allow for characters to gain EXP in things they do not use.

So anyone who looks at the level break chart and thinks that it seems easy to break levels, guess how many skills a beginning character generally starts with as full skills?  Normally 7-12.  The Mistonians average about 28k experience (and this group has averaged a session a month for 12 years), but they aslo average 18-22 skills each.  Characters grow and change based on what they learn and what they use.

 
Next post, I'll get to Base skills, sub skills, and dropdowns.  

[Tybalt]

I was going to ask at first how organizations like the assassins and Arcanum survive as factions when others might seem better armed but i suspect now that it is because there are so MANY factions? It seems like a society in upheaval, is that a correct estimate? Is there any kind of general movement to create a more clear public order?

I think that in your last post you made something very clear about your setting: the importance of guilds. You might want to consider that if you ever formally present this on a website or something that that would be something to draw a potential player or dm's eye, that there is a very clear difference between this and most typical fantasy settings that gives it a flavour of medieval realism mingled with the fantastic elements.

[LordVreeg]

sub skills and drop downs.

Luckily, anyone who reads this should already have realized their inner geek.  

Skills in Celtricia are also based on the familiar tree system, in that 'Basic Trap Skill' has sub skills of 'Find Trap, remove Trap, and 'Set Trap'.  'Avoid Trap is a sub skill of 'remove trap', etc.

Now, since you understand that skills have sub skills, how do sub skills affect the game?  It is first important to understand how 'base skills' work.  The basic Trap skill has a 1.0 dropdown for Remove trap, Set trap, and find trap, which means that 100% of the skill amount is dropped down as an ability in those skills.  SO why would anyone bother to learn the find trap skill?
Because BAsic skills have lousy amounts gained per level.  'Basic Trap, for example has a base of 5% with 1-4 gained per level.  This means that a thief-type who does not learn the sub skills may be fifth level in Basic Trap, but it will only give an average of 17.5% skill in the trap abilities, which is pretty lousy.  (that 17.5 it gives to the subskills is called the 'dropdown').

Find Traps, the sub skill, has a base of 10% with a 2-7 gain per level.  So the amount gained per level is higher, though the scope is narrower.  The same thief-type from before, with a second level skill in 'Find Trap' added to his fifth level 'basic trap' skill dropdown, will have a 36.5% Find Traps skill.

[LordVreeg]

Igbar's Guilds
   
   Alchemical
   The Green Flame   Fire mages, and the eye's alchemical branch
   Vasko's Brew   The blackstripe's poison makers

   Archer
   Bowyers of Ceminiar   Martial order of the Ceminiarians
   Calling Shot   Quasi Military group, Official Martial order

   Assassin
   Collegium Tortoris            old and tiny (and weird)
   Holders of the Straight Way         Belial's Assassins, Ritualistic
   Jocien's Knives               The blackstripes warrior arm,
   Karin Machinations           The strong arm of the Eye.

   Bard
   Bertrand's Bard School   drummer warriors.  Very Loud and annoying
   The Frigid Song   Warrior Bards from the frozen north

   Church
   Church of Bamik   weaver god, many Hobbits
   Church of Belial the True and Clear      Belialist believe in Order, and in getting what
   Church of Change (Jubilex of Chaos)    Very social, and Chaotic
   Church of Direction (Arlieng the    many sages worship here.
   Church of Fair trade (Ogleic)   Mercantile church, called the Platform of Trade
   Church of Fortune (Ishma)       Goddess of thieves and the hopeful
   Church of The Earth (Madrak)      Huge, solid  and Popular
   Church of the Green Mother        Druidic and neutral
   Church of the Harvest (Amrist)   very small, From the North
   Church of The Hunt (Verbren)   The warrior arm of nature
   Church of the Lawful Triumverate   Nebler, Rakastra, Abradaxus--very popular
   Church of the Theocracy of Nebler   Many transplants worship here, denounces the LT
   Church of the Wild Hunt (Geryon)   Chaotic and wild
   Church of Woerter               Church of the Host, Hospitality and The Meeting
   Shrine of Amerer              very small, neutral mages and beurocrats


   Cooking
   Tolmar's Bakery   3rd generation
   
 
   
   Cooking, service
   Hostem's Hospitality   The huge and famous restaraunt

   Druid/ranger
   Defenders of the Land   of Madrak/Vernidale.

   fighter
   Terrors of the Knife   Assassin/Fighters of Vernidale

   Governamental
   Ministry of the Unicorn   School of government

   Kensai/Bard
   Martial School of Song   the "Archers are pansy's" guild.  

   Mage
   Alternative school of magic     Independent, Irreverent, and in money trouble
   Collegium Arcana            The huge, multi national consortium
   Red Witches             Just Outside of Town, blood magic
   Shell of defense            Igbar militia mages.
   The Tower                    The Water-mages

   Martial Artist
   Brightblue Limbs     martial artist from Xamdu hold
   Green Dragon Clan     Draconian and sly
   Mysteriarchs of Lathe    warrior Commando-monks from Gwynell

   painting
   Goodeval Art school   From the Stenron branch

   Ranger
   The Hunters of the Shade   Verbren's Hunters, tracker's non-pariel

   sage
   Greta's Words   sages who specialize in scrolls
   Steel Library   strange old sages' guild,

   Sailing
   Igbar sails!   sailing school.  Young navy ensigns,

   Samurai
   Blue turtles   The honorable enemy of the Red circle
   Unicorn Swords   female -heavy school of spear users

   Smith
   Collishaw's Ironmongery   Great place to learn how to mend armor

   Social
         House of Twazinia           Harou hospitality school, old orbic version
   Parshan House of Chance   learn how to lose money like a pro
   The Grounds of Dismissal   Banneti's Coffee House

   thieve's guild
   Blackstripes             Helipolian
   Padisha of Pilfering   independent, real thieves, not political
   The Bully Boys   The dock's underside.
   The Eye       Kasarack's boys, Local version of the Stenronian Eye

   Trade
   Wello House of Adornment   learn the value of everything!
   Winfire Trading Consortium   trading guild

   warrior
   Caleb's Tactical            Specialized vs humanoids
   Lance and Slay        How to kill on the open plains
   Order of Stenron      The largest military order in the North
   Order of the White Paladin        wear white and like it!
   The Armor of Trade       Knighthhod of the Platform of Trade
   Toffler's Defenders    Marines for the Navy
   Trabler Scarlet Pilums   Military School of Trabler, heavy into cavalry
   Tristonian knights           The knights of John of Triston, Neblerian Saint
   
[/spoiler]

Also, some few of these are local groups, but almost all of these factions are affliated with some larger, multinational group.  The Collegium Arcana, for example claims lineage going back 2100 years.  The current organization is more like 750 years old, but still, that is ancient.  They have a seat on the Arcanic Table of the Country of Orbi (a mageocracy nearby), a seat in the Senate of the Grey March, as well as politcal power in almost every settlement they are in...and they are everywhere.

[Tybalt]

Very cool--I take it you probably have plans to write this up with a quick glance of advantages/disadvantages for players/Dms to see? Are there any that can't be joined by players?

[LordVreeg]

Tybalt is corrrect, as usual.
I have been cleaning up and enlarging the guilds of Igbar.  The Mistonians, my 12 year old sesion from Celtricia, started in a town far to the north, on the ege of Civilization.  Miston was a smaller town, around 1500 inhabitants, so there were less factions/guilds/schools to choose from.  you may find this funny (based on some of our recent posts), but Miston had been taken over by giants allied with the Blue/White alliance, and had been in Giant hands for 4 years when that game started.  Having the PC's working around the Giants and Ogres with the Marcher UNderground was fun.  But that was a major 'outpost' town, and going back to running a game in Igbar, one of the earliest used locations in Celtricia was a good size to have alot of guilds, just not too many.

SO I'll post some of the fleshed out versins of the factions in Igbar.  It will be complicated as hell, as there is so many alliances and backstabbing, as well as support from outside forces, but I'll try.

Next post will probably include the recent history and political climate of the northwest corner of what the Omwo~ call the Dise'mi (cradle) continent.  If I knew how to get a friggin' jpeg on a post, i'd load a map.  maybe next later.  I'm also going to get into the relative power level of PC's, etc and how it is played.

[Tybalt]

You can upload images using the image key which is down below any post you make, fifth from the left.

For me it's more a matter of finalizing what I want my map to look like and then putting it together. Between me and one of my players we should be able to do it but not in the immediate future.

BTW--with regard to the Yuan-Ti perhaps there are some similarities? I had thought that in my setting they might be willing to make alliances with demons, forment disorder in various places and so on, using whatever means necessary to gather the resources to accomplish these things.