Monday, July 11, 2011

Building Classes in Play: Examples from Last Fleet

I've made some interesting modifications to our homebrew Action Cards system to run the new Last Fleet campaign. I’ve made some pretty basic modifications to the system to simplify. For this version I opted not to have a universal magic system or set profession tracks. Instead, players could ask for new things to be added to their “Profession Tree” ala WoW every often session. That way they could, as they played, figure out what they needed or shift their role in a new direction. Earlier I posted the talents I created for them for the first session. Below are the new talents I created for each, based on their requests. I’ve put in exactly what they suggested and then what I choose and gave them.

Sherri: Dweena Squint, Goblin Scout/Gadgeteer

Sherri's requests: Hard gear: Blunderbuss tagging shot(s):

1. Chain’s fire breathing makes OIL a natural.

2. The icy comets makes BRRRRR! doable (SLOW or PAINED on living things, COLD on inanimate objects (to weaken them in combo with Chain’s fire breath again). Later, would like AOE ICY…maybe a 2 round set-up---PUDDLE first then the ICE shot to make a slick.

3. The fiery comets make HOT! HOT! HOT! doable. Can (slowly) catch something on fire or make an area very uncomfortable for the unshod—and generally do a 1 round of confusion for anything that wants to protect it’s face.

4. Marble shot (uncertain footing—delightfully friction-free on well-made floors and decks)

5. Gobbo glue (eewww. Don’t ask.)

Soft gear:

Staff/ally personalities that she can deploy for particular jobs (mix, match, rename, ignore at will):

I.e. The Gentleman Seneshal: he’s not so much a great seneshal as he is incredibly good at getting people to compete with him. He lays claim to being the most XXX and people, particularly other stewards, fall over themselves to be even more XXX. He’s Dweena right hand for inter-ship dealings.

Her younger brothers, Dwayne and Dwight—one of them specializes in containers and the other one in packing things. They take a practical approach on weekdays and on Gobdays, they throw in some puzzlin’ to keep things interesting. These are the guys that think up stuff like nailing the lids of jars to the ceiling and screwing the jars into their lids. That way, the jars can’t rattle around and break—and the contents are easy to survey and reach. They’ve got stuff squirreled away that even Dweena doesn’t know about…or where.

The Preservationist: an elderly orcess who some claim has pickled herself so she’ll live longer. Certainly, she smells like vinegar. But if you got stuff you want to keep good and edible, it’s her you’d be wanting to consult with. (She’s essentially one of the three most powerful mages of Forgiveness of Stone.)

*Oil Launcher: Dweena may launch a flask of oil, covering a megahex of targets with the OIL tag. This can cause additional movement and vision penalties to the target. Additionally, targets tagged with OIL are easier to tag with AFLAME and take +2d damage. (Hard Gear 2)

*Gentleman Seneshal: When purchased, assign the gentleman to a particular vessel. Dweena gains a bump to all interactions with that vessel and may use Drama Points to gain secret info or resources there. This talent may be bought up to twice more, with later purchases costing only 4 points. (Soft Gear 2, Req. Expert Staff)

Ward: Marreg Warmane, Orc Warrior

Ward's requests: More kick assery, blade ballet or big attacks. I understand that with big attacks things may not always unfold as planned, more risk more reward. Being the hunter, possibly animal awareness? As to say beast whisperer, not talking, more intuition.

*Hunter’s Voice: Marreg has an instinctive understanding of animals. He can move animals from wary hostility to a neutral stance, and neutral animals to positive through interaction. His knowledge gives him +1d when fighting non-monster animals. (Hunt Chain 2)

*Massive Blow: Marreg may wind up to make a big attack, which does +5d damage. If he does so he, makes his Combat pull and may not make any kind of redraw. If he fails his test, then he may only redraw if he loses any defense tests until his next action or forgoes his next action. If he takes the penalty, he may take his normal redraw, but must take the results of the second pull. (War Chain 2)

Kenny: Whet Bloodlaced, White Elf Pistoleer/Empath

Kenny's requests: Mind Link with Mount

‘Mind’ scan (once familiar with a individual he can find them based on their particular emotional signature.

Project Emotion

Trick Shot

Calming Aura

*Trick Shot: Whet may easily tag a target with Distracted. Additionally, Whet takes no penalties for shooting (while falling hanging upside down, etc) due to movement and position. (Blazing Branch 2)

*Mind Link: Whet has a mind link with his mount- meaning that he can summon it to him, see though its eyes if in relatively close proximity. The link is affected by distance. Whet gains a free drama point to spend in each scene where he's mounted, so long as the action involves his Wyvern. (Vigilant Branch 1)

Scott: Chain Firespinner, Scalebound Brawler/Fire Mage

Scott's requests: Martial : More tail stuff, and claw stuff, I was thinking things like using the tail to support myself to do a double kick which could give someone the unbalanced tag. A rending claw that perhaps is armor degrading. Penetrating claws perhaps to allow me to climb sheer surfaces easily.

Magic : More long range fire magic, or breath attacks. Perhaps a fire spear, or explosive fire ball. Or even surrounding my body with fire like a damage shield, or flaming claws. I was also thinking about the ability to consume mana stone to enhance magic at the cost of taking damage from internal damage.

Defensive : Upgrade to scales to provide fire resistance.

*Fire Claws: Chain may enhance the damage done with his claws by adding fire to them. This adds +1d damage and easily tags Armor Reduction. There is no cool down for this ability, but his hands remain flaming for the round. He may further enhance damage by taking 1 HP damage for +1d, up to +4d. This damage only heals through rest. (Fire Wing 2)

*Climbing Claws: Chain may climb soft or uneven surfaces easily. Flat and solid surfaces require a test. In either case he moves at standard rate on anything up to vertical, and half rate after that. He may spend a point of Focus to “dig in” and avoid being knocked down or off a surface, but may not move from that spot the following round. (Talon Wing 1)

Jeanne: Lira Moondawning, Namir Rogue/Shadow Mage

Jeanne's requests: I'm loving the shadow casting and would like to see more with that. I still have to buy the disguises card (Shadow Guise). Would still like to see some future option of growth for that like creating big scary shadow monsters and stuff... I'd like to see a growth of hiding in the shadows (maybe some kind of stealth shadow to shadow leap), though i'm not sure if that would be along the shadow path or the rogue path, I see it working in either so i guess it depends on how the action actually plays out on the card.

I've already bought both dagger cards on the rogue path, so more with that might be good options too. More damage is always good. Maybe some sort of growth of turning the shadow dagger into other things, like lockpicks that can swirl around to avoid traps and stuff?

another talent I'd like to see is seeing in the dark... She's a cat, she's a rogue, she plays in the shadows all the time... you know, seeing in the dark is almost a necessity. =)

*Cat Eyes: Lira may spend a point of focus to see in complete darkness for a scene. Additionally, she may see through her own darkness at any time (if solely created by her). (Shadow Path 1)

*Shadow Tools: Lira may use her dagger and her magic to aid her in certain tasks. She gains one drama point per scene which may be spent on lockpicking, trap detection, and disarming traps. If a damaging trap does activate, Lira may spend a point of focus to halve any direct damage done to her. (Rogue Path 2)

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