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imp_fireball
2009-02-19, 05:23 PM
'Kay, so this is merely an outline of what I'll add to the full features, for now. Tell me what you like and what you don't like. It'll be completed whenever I get the time.
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Black Mage

- Size Medium
- Warp and Heighten Spell Metamagic Feats
- Higher than usual spell slots for ECL (up to 1 9th level spell slot)
- 13th level Human Warmage
- Black mage has d4 HD, and has proficiency with only three simple weapons of his choice for the benefit of using INT instead of CHA as his casting stat; additionally, he can select new spells through studying or communing with entities of his alignment (often through plot points)
- Black Mage has very high INT but rather low WIS, CON, STR and DEX
- Three traits (Psychosomatic Ignorance, Objective Morale, Ugly as Sin)
- Chaotic Evil
- Self ordained light warrior (meaning he receives the perks as such)

Psychosomatic Ignorance (trait)

Your psyche makes you ignorant of something, whether it is a person, object, emotion, etc. Even when said thing is mentioned, you may or may not express awareness of it, but avoid all purpose and logic associated with it. In other cases, you are simply unable to contemplate it.



Remember Your Friends

Beware of getting too aggressive, especially when...

Black Mage hears these words, and then immediately ignores it, compulsively forgetting anything to do with this as it is very much against his personal beliefs; such that he would violently disagree with any compulsion (those with free will, such as charm person) in which ordered to do so. Paradoxically, this would technically mean he has no friends nor allies, even when working with others. One can only assume that it is his nature.

Objective Morale (trait)

You are particularly brave one moment and then (for whatever reason) turn and flee the next.

Black Mage can be battle hearty and lusting for destruction one moment, and then turning yellow the next. He has a +4 bonus to morale when he believes he has an advantage. If fooled into thinking otherwise, he will likely turn tail or at least do whatever he can to avoid combat and/or attention. This is different from cowardice, because while Black Mage might be a coward, this condition likely spurs from sociopathic psychosomaticism.

Ugly as Sin (trait)

You have a particularly appalling feature about you on a part of your body. It might be a birth defect, a horrible disfigurement, something related to your race, etc. For whatever reason, when looked upon, it is incredibly disconcerting (even by others of your race if racial); although concealing it can easily avoid the dread of such an encounter.

Black Mage's face is hidden by a wizardly hat that conceals his face in magical shadows for a reason. Looking upon such horror that is to say, him wearing said hat, has been thus known to make small children faint instantly.

Black Mage's charisma is normal, but without his hat he suffers a -8 penalty (cannot be lower than 1) and there is a small chance that an encounter with strangers will lead to at least one step on the diplomacy scale (from indifferent) in the negative direction.

Self Ordained Light Warrior (trait)

For all purposes associated with being a light warrior, Black Mage, while not actually a light warrior, has self ordained himself a light warrior and as such counts as one and automatically convinces others that he is such (until very well proven otherwise with lots of evidence). No bluff checks required.

Destroyer (Epic Destiny)
Required Alignment: Chaotic Evil

You are bound to cause serious destruction at some point, if not to an entire plane, then to an empire or at least something otherwise semi-permanent and beloved of everyone you've ever known. You could be the sole cause of world war or the indirect slayer of a benevolent deity (anything below greater).

Depending on the campaign, Black Mage may have the destroyer epic destiny. He is aware of this destiny, however there is a significant degree of uncertainty in whether or not he will manage to carry it out.

Spell Slots

Black Mage has spell slots up to just above 6th level. Technically, the maximum level of which he can cast spells is ninth level due to his INT, although his levels have not given him any spells to fit into that category, except hadoken which requires warping as a ninth level spell.

Hadoken
Evocation [Fire]
Level: Sor/Wiz/9
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: Standard Action
Range: Infinite
Area: 5' width and height plus 5'/every five caster levels (line in front of caster)
Duration: Instantaneous damage; exists infinitely
Saving Throw: None or Reflex half; see text
Spell Resistance: Yes

Hadoken is created when a fireball is warped after being heightened to ninth level. Hadoken consumes one ninth level spell slot. Additionally, its length (which appears as that of a white and blue-rimmed plasma-like energy) cancels out once the target envisioned clearly in the caster’s mind is reached. Hadoken is a ranged touch attack that ignores cover and receives a bonus of +1 for each 5’ of width that constitutes it (distances imply conditional modifiers), when applied to targets at ranges greater than 1000 feet; additionally, other characters can be caught in the blast but can make a reflex save to avoid which includes - those along the 'easiest' path to the intended target, those right behind the target, and anyone else at GM discretion from then on up to 500 miles (before it ascends into space). It has infinite range, and if the spell 'misses' (the target envisioned in the caster’s mind is not reached), in which case it deals minimal destruction along its path over the horizon to breach atmosphere and ascend into outer space (much to the caster's annoyance, perhaps). Other forces of energy can subsume a hadoken, however they are likely astronomical in comparison with worldly powers.

Hadoken bypasses all material hardness and does (CL + spell level d6) force and fire damage. The caster can will the hadoken to explode into a dense mushroom cloud similar in strength to that of a nuke created through fission-derived force, throwing all living creatures in a random direction harmlessly (DC 100 FORT save to avoid, where bare failures and successes indicate the condition of 'blown away' at speed of GM discretion; attempting the save also means accepting the consequences of damage unless the roll made is under three quarters the DC - DC 25) out to a hundred mile radius and 500d20 mundane fire and bludgeoning damage to all objects within the radius. Creatures thrown land harmlessly, and creatures taking cover are not thrown at all.

The caster can only will the beam to explode when it is within a kilometer of the caster. The beam itself has a maximum length of 800 feet and travels at a continuous speed of 900,000' (with its 'front' space reaching that distance); achieving a distance of up to half that upon casting it. Thus, even if willing it to explode is an immediate action, the caster must also have the intention of causing it to do such prior to casting the spell itself.


Material Component: Love; not necessary to be present with the caster. Love is not ‘material’, rather it is a portion of ones personality/emotion/state of mind. It affects all beings in the universe and is at GM discretion whether or not the affect ever stacks enough to be noticeable among the PCs.

Warp Spell(Ex)

Prerequisite: Heighten Spell

Warp is a metamagic feature that requires a spell to be heightened and may subject it to additional physical components. Warp can change a spell to a new spell equal to the level that the original spell was heightened to. The spell that it is heightened to sacrifices all spells that can be cast of that level, and the caster must go through their spell recovery phase to regain that level of slots once more.

The original spell used prior to heightening is the only slot that 'counts' otherwise.


Fighter

- Wears ‘Mostly Full Plate’ which does not feature a helm and leaves room for bare arms (a type of armor that fighter is specifically proficient in; counts as full plate for all purposes)
- Benefits from zodiac kenshido (the 12 styles, which consist of five tactical feats on a tree, unique from the ordinary warblade stance build and thus allowing him to remain solely a ‘fighter’)
- Fire resistance granted by ‘fire armor’
- Has 4 int and 'educated' as sub-trait
- Size Medium
- Two traits (Attention Deficit Disorder, Idiot Savant)
- Self ordained light warrior (meaning he receives perks as such)
- Lawful Neutral
- Human Fighter


Thief

- Elf Rogue 12/Binder 1 (if binder allows soul binding and rebinding at 1st level)
- Has plenty of skills, just like a rogue, with ranks in bluff, sleight of hand, climb, hide, forgery, knowledge(nobility), diplomacy, gather information, Knowledge: Local, etc.
- Elven Rogue with above average CHA, INT; average WIS, CON and STR, and high DEX
- One trait (kleptomania)
- Chaotic Neutral
- Self ordained light warrior (meaning he receives perks as such)


Red Mage

- 3rd level Human Fighter, 10th level Red Mage, Order of the Red Magi association
- One Trait (Immense Delusional Psychosis, which can cause episodes)
- Self ordained light warrior (meaning he receives perks as such)
- High INT, very low WIS, average CON, CHA, DEX, and STR


Law Ninja

- Has all the features of the ninja but with skills mostly leaning towards lawsuits
- Low ECL, but with a team feature that makes them powerful in groups of four
- Lawful Neutral


Sarda

- Above Epic challenge rating
- Can modify outside affects and conditions as an instantaneous action
- Has infinite spell slots, but doesn’t bother with the infinite XP penalties associated with the creation of “Spells that would make any other Sage of the Overworld only mildly jealous.”
- One Trait (World Weary on an Epic Level)
- Unknown alignment (closest to ‘True Neutral’)


King Steve

1st level Aristocrat
Size/Type: Medium Humanoid (Human)
Hit Dice: 1d8+1 (5 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 10, touch 10, flat-footed 10
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/+0
Attack: Unarmed Strike +0 melee (1d3+0/20)
Full Attack: Unarmed Strike +0 melee (1d3+0/20)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: —
Special Qualities: Apathetic (trait)
Saves: Fort +1, Ref +0, Will -2
Abilities: Str 11, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 4, Cha 16
Skills: Listen +1, Spot +1, Bluff +8, Intimidate +9
Feats: Persuasive, Skill Focus (bluff), Skill Focus (
Environment: Corneria Throne Room
Organization: Solitary or with Queen (50%)/Princess Sara(10%)/Left-Hand Man Gary (80%)
Challenge Rating: ½
Treasure: Kingly Robes(100%), Crown(100%), Sceptor (30%), Piece of String (10%), Shoes made out of baby skin(20%)
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +0

King Steve is a delusional despot, clearly one of whom inherited the throne to Corneria kingdom after the likely natural death of its previous owner (Steve could not possibly have plotted the assassination).

King Steve, despite being a full grown man, delights in many strange activities, openly displaying his opinion of Corneria as a whole and regarding the whole kingly stint as a complete and very lengthy joke (hey, it's fun being a king after all). As such, he has been known to waste vast treasury resources on 'mana drilling' and spontaneous wars with Corneria's neighbors.

Although likely to turn evil in a hoot, Steve is merely oblivious to the morality of his crimes, currently. Others suspect he is a madmen; his powers of persuasion are frightening in person. Those influenced by him are left to assume, amidst his seemingly jolly demeanor that this is simply because he's king and that he can order the victim of such persuasion's death in less time than it takes to roll one character's initiative.

Apathetic (trait)

You couldn't care much for achievement or cause. You take a - 4 penalty to skill points with no benefit.

King Steve runs the Corneria throne like it's a joke and really could not care much for the consequences (if not because he is unable to perceive them).


Special Feature of the Setting

- Deities can’t actually exist in the overworld, since the only true deity is Sarda
- There are worshippers, cults, and supernatural planar entities, however
- Unique clerical orders such as those of White Magi, exist without the need of specific deity worship (closely karma based)

Mando Knight
2009-02-19, 06:12 PM
...Thief is an elf.

Why is Black Mage small? He doesn't look significantly smaller than the others... only a little shorter than Red Mage...

Lappy9000
2009-02-20, 12:26 AM
Couple things:

Why is Black Mage Small size? I doubt that he is shorter than 4 feet and weighs less than 60 lbs.
I know Fighter isn't the brightest card in the deck, but Intelligence 3 is barely above that of an animal. He would be hard-pressed to form sentences, much less spout out his normal non-sequiturs.
Thief is an elf.
Of all the supporting characters, why law ninja? They haven't been seen for several hundred strips.
I see what you're trying to do but statting these guys out would be extremely difficult and likely unbalancing, since they are fairly high-powered for their levels, yet woefully incompetent at the same time.

On that note, why are you statting these guys in the first place? Just for fun?

imp_fireball
2009-02-21, 03:02 AM
Couple things:

1. Why is Black Mage Small size? I doubt that he is shorter than 4 feet and weighs less than 60 lbs.
2. I know Fighter isn't the brightest card in the deck, but Intelligence 3 is barely above that of an animal. He would be hard-pressed to form sentences, much less spout out his normal non-sequiturs.
3. Thief is an elf.
4. Of all the supporting characters, why law ninja? They haven't been seen for several hundred strips.

I see what you're trying to do but statting these guys out would be extremely difficult and likely unbalancing, since they are fairly high-powered for their levels, yet woefully incompetent at the same time.

On that note, why are you statting these guys in the first place? Just for fun?

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1. Call it a joke. White mage originally called him a 'morally bankrupt, violent little man', which may have been slightly literal (as to the latter part where everything else is of course, completely literal).

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2. INT 3 still indicates sentience. There's no effective line-blur between sentient and animal (meaning that there is a drastic change between 2 and 3 INT in that the creature suddenly becomes sentient and can reason). 'Educated' is a special little trait I invented that gives people a +1 to three knowledge skills of their choice and also indicates proper speech as a fluff feature. D&D is about simplicity, where one feature can go a long ways in terms of realism; so 'idiot savant' under decent roleplaying would allow fighter to make frequent quips. 'Attention Deficit Disorder' still gives him a wild imagination despite his horrible INT; he also has relatively average, or slightly above average WIS. If you want I could up it up to INT 4 or 5 (-3), although for comical purposes, Brian Clevinger would probably offer the affect of Fighter having record abysmal IQ on a test (or perhaps the situation where he happens across a brain wave meter, gets hooked up, and registers barely a flicker on the reader).

So it's either the low INT, or of finding a way to imply that fighter wants to help his friends, but is too distracted by his own imagination to even reason half the time.


Here's how I look at it:

INT 0: Brain dead, machine (magical/technological), or souless object.

INT 1: Represents a creature that can only perform actions according to what instinct has programmed within it; actions are considered basic unless evolution has done some serious overtime (and from what I know, there isn't any 'dumb animals' out there that are really up on the food chain).

INT 2: Represents an animal that is capable of independent survival. Can be 'taught' certain actions.

INT 3: Not to demeanor the handicapped or anything of that sort; but those sorts of people, unless they also have a speech impediment and a part of their illness effecting particular areas of their brain, they can still form sentences quite well (and thus communicate, however chances are the conversations would have to be simple). However, supposedly it is still humanly possible to flunk out solely due to IQ.

Can perform basic tasks given a lot of concentration (unless a special trait prevents them from doing as such; sentient cattle, ie.), which includes learning to speak and enunciate language given the right environment and enough time.

Will not fail the mirror test, unless they've never seen a mirror before (say, in their adult life up to that point).

INT 4-5: Stupid. Can perform basic tasks as well as anyone else, but the 'higher stuff' doesn't come so easily and they will quite often fail without adult supervision. Are somewhat rarer without 'defects' in the modern world, due to the prevalence of education. Maybe this is more realistic for fighter.

INT 6-7: Still stupid. Still flunks out of school when trying, unless they happen to try immeasurably hard. Most humans will recognize that they are stupid if they fail to maintain a conversation that happens to be interesting; the kind of stuff that affects relationships. Arguably, this is Elan the Bard (although Elan has been stated as one category higher).

INT 8-9: Slightly below average. People that don't actively pursue education and do basic grunt stuff all their life end up like this. Some of these people aren't considered 'stupid' depending on their environment. Among the slums where education is very little, it may be average for humans whereas 'dim' might involve the category just below this.

If they study hard, they can succeed.

Higher Categories

INT 18: Brilliant. Not quite genius, but their IQ is up there and they can entertain their minds with any mental venture that presents itself. Represents the higher categories of the 'metaphysical nerd hierarchy of IQs'.

INT 19+: Indicates super-human, or at least 'highly beyond normal'. Geniuses can occupy this category, and they often vary in the 20s depending on level of IQ (130 and higher). Superhero quality 'super-intelligence' surpasses this by orders of magnitude, of course.

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3. Oops.

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4. You guessed it.

Shalizar
2009-02-21, 04:34 PM
Here's how I look at it:

INT 0: Brain dead, machine (magical/technological), or souless object.

INT 1: Represents a creature that can only perform actions according to what instinct has programmed within it; actions are considered basic unless evolution has done some serious overtime (and from what I know, there isn't any 'dumb animals' out there that are really up on the food chain).

INT 2: Represents an animal that is capable of independent survival. Can be 'taught' certain actions.

INT 3: Not to demeanor the handicapped or anything of that sort; but those sorts of people, unless they also have a speech impediment and a part of their illness effecting particular areas of their brain, they can still form sentences quite well (and thus communicate, however chances are the conversations would have to be simple). However, supposedly it is still humanly possible to flunk out solely due to IQ.

Can perform basic tasks given a lot of concentration (unless a special trait prevents them from doing as such; sentient cattle, ie.), which includes learning to speak and enunciate language given the right environment and enough time.

Will not fail the mirror test, unless they've never seen a mirror before (say, in their adult life up to that point).

INT 4-5: Stupid. Can perform basic tasks as well as anyone else, but the 'higher stuff' doesn't come so easily and they will quite often fail without adult supervision. Are somewhat rarer without 'defects' in the modern world, due to the prevalence of education. Maybe this is more realistic for fighter.

INT 6-7: Still stupid. Still flunks out of school when trying, unless they happen to try immeasurably hard. Most humans will recognize that they are stupid if they fail to maintain a conversation that happens to be interesting; the kind of stuff that affects relationships. Arguably, this is Elan the Bard (although Elan has been stated as one category higher).

INT 8-9: Slightly below average. People that don't actively pursue education and do basic grunt stuff all their life end up like this. Some of these people aren't considered 'stupid' depending on their environment. Among the slums where education is very little, it may be average for humans whereas 'dim' might involve the category just below this.

If they study hard, they can succeed.

Higher Categories

INT 18: Brilliant. Not quite genius, but their IQ is up there and they can entertain their minds with any mental venture that presents itself. Represents the higher categories of the 'metaphysical nerd hierarchy of IQs'.

INT 19+: Indicates super-human, or at least 'highly beyond normal'. Geniuses can occupy this category, and they often vary in the 20s depending on level of IQ (130 and higher). Superhero quality 'super-intelligence' surpasses this by orders of magnitude, of course.



Just to point out that a 10 is supposed to be average in human society, in other words, everyone has around a 10, while genious would be around 11-12 (a.k.a. IQ of 130 or higher) and mentaly retarded woudl be lower, im staying away from this, but I would say put Fighter at 8 INT. Also just so you can put it in perspective I believe that they have put Einstein at a Int of I believe 14 or 13, something like that, but again your rules and you can completely ignore this.

Athaniar
2009-02-21, 04:56 PM
Really? I'd have to disagree with the squirrel and go with the imp here. No way such a small range is plausible. I'd consider myself at least Int 13.

Baron Corm
2009-02-21, 05:25 PM
Your hadoken spell doesn't actually do anything, according to the text. All it says is that it's a ranged touch attack... what happens when you hit?

imp_fireball
2009-02-21, 07:28 PM
Your hadoken spell doesn't actually do anything, according to the text. All it says is that it's a ranged touch attack... what happens when you hit?

Obliteration. No... I just gave the raw details.

This is hardly finished, it'll get done later if I'm not lazy.

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I forgot to mention that 'Self Ordained Light Warrior' is a special quality that makes the light warriors surprisingly powerful despite their low level. It's a cop out excuse, I know.

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On the squirrel's note, I'd say that that would suggest that 20 STR means you can lift houses, because:


STR 12 - Very strong instead of just 'jock buff' or 'slightly muscular'. The guys with raging biceps that always win arm wrestles and nearly break your hand with handshakes.

STR 14 - Bodybuilder several times world champion (Ah-nold).

STR 16 - Inhuman; stuff of legends.

STR 18 - Superhuman. If humans could actually achieve this, then it is assumed they in fact, can, because science hasn't reached the point where it has determined a physical human peak. Makes strong man competitions look like child's play; when from my perspective, most of the competitors have STR 18 to endure that kind of punishment on a continuous basis.

STR 20 - Very much beyond human. Can lift houses.
STR 22 - The max for an orc, but enough to sunder a truck in twain let alone phonebooks; instead of say, break and enter through drywall in two seconds.

Anything less than 8 would be incomprehensible on its level of pathetic-ness. Even suggesting that Int 3 makes one barely able to form sentences, suggests that ogres are so inept with their -4 int that they would be utterly incapable of forming a civilization under any scenario (and thus, setting ideas are limited).

Also, I'd like to say that a very low line-blur of +1 meaning 'innately superior' ultimately leads to the inability to create all that many races that are more pathetic than humans and suggests that humans are the most pathetic aside from animals being unable to reason at all.

And that this is not first edition.

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On that note, here's what I think of lower STR categories:

STR 3 - Mr. Burns. Anything less implies movement penalties (even though Mr. Burns probably has movement penalties due to being very old/venerable).
STR 4 - Anorexic (likely also low CON although the STR reflects that of the low exertion energy that a long-time anorexic likely has).
STR 6 - Gaunt. Reflects older women.
STR 8 - No noticeable muscle. Can look 'toned' depending on other attributes (such as DEX).
STR 10 - Some noticeable muscle or a little muscle. Good for getting on with daily life or working in the fields; whichever. By no means a frequent power lifter (which would reflect STR 14).