Callos_DeTerran
2010-11-01, 02:05 AM
Now, the purpose of this thread is really simple, but could involve quite a bit of searching about. I'm working on a steampunk setting (using Dragonmech's rules for coglayers and, possibly, steamborgs) that's a bit grim and has low magic. Now, I realize this doesn't help much in making combat interesting and dynamic. Without much magic, coglayers become much more interesting because they have more options in combat.
To keep melee classes looking appealing, I'm thinking about introducing Tome of Battle, with homebrew disciplines allowed, into the game in order to keep combat varied and interesting. Now, rather then have all the disciplines available to a class being available to all members of that class, I've gone a bit of a different route and decided to group up disciplines by 'country' to show which disciplines are taught in which countries and, in a sense, show the combat style favored by people in those lands. Combinations of the nine from ToB COULD work, but I'd like to vary it up more (and I'm not even sure if I'll include supernatural disciplines). I used to have a TON of links to homebrew ToB material, but I don't now so...what homebrew disciplines would you suggest for a gritty and low-magic steampunk game?
So far the various groups are...
a militaristic and expansionist group of humans (and others) with powerful steam technologies that focuses more on group combat (White Raven is a GIVEN, as is Black Rain), ranged warfare with steamguns, and warmachines.
a country of skarn who value single combat, melee, and physical perfection while favoring power armor. (Tiger Claw and Iron Heart seem like naturals for this group)
roaming bands of halflings who are..not exactly happy people. Wrestling and grappling are what they are good at considering they usually don't have weapons (using Setting Sun and Stone Dragon to show wrestling in part).
an aquatic race of fish-people who've been devastated by the first group, but haev not perished. I imagine they like spear-like weaponry and using their natural terrain to their advantage. Not...sure what of the original disciplines they would prefer though. Diamond Mind maybe?
a kobold sub-nation that's almost like the first group except it's more...mob tactics with more regular melee weaponry and thrown weapons. White Raven seems like a natural here too, but other inclusions beyond the Fool's Grip discipline elude me.
There's also two nations of elves, one of which favors steam-tech to replace waning magic while the other favors magic over tech. I picture them both as favoring maneuverability and what supernatural disciplines I DO allow into the game.
I'm not worried about overlap, since it'll allow players to use disciplines they want, without being constrained to a specific culture, but I figure that establishing 'combat styles' for different nations/groups will help to distinguish them from one another mechanically, and not just in flavor. But there's a huge amount of homebrew out there, most of which I HAVEN'T seen, so I turn to the playground for assistance in what homebrew disciplines would be good choices. Note, I won't be using many supernatural disciplines though. They don't fit the game (for the most part) tone, aside from the elves.
To keep melee classes looking appealing, I'm thinking about introducing Tome of Battle, with homebrew disciplines allowed, into the game in order to keep combat varied and interesting. Now, rather then have all the disciplines available to a class being available to all members of that class, I've gone a bit of a different route and decided to group up disciplines by 'country' to show which disciplines are taught in which countries and, in a sense, show the combat style favored by people in those lands. Combinations of the nine from ToB COULD work, but I'd like to vary it up more (and I'm not even sure if I'll include supernatural disciplines). I used to have a TON of links to homebrew ToB material, but I don't now so...what homebrew disciplines would you suggest for a gritty and low-magic steampunk game?
So far the various groups are...
a militaristic and expansionist group of humans (and others) with powerful steam technologies that focuses more on group combat (White Raven is a GIVEN, as is Black Rain), ranged warfare with steamguns, and warmachines.
a country of skarn who value single combat, melee, and physical perfection while favoring power armor. (Tiger Claw and Iron Heart seem like naturals for this group)
roaming bands of halflings who are..not exactly happy people. Wrestling and grappling are what they are good at considering they usually don't have weapons (using Setting Sun and Stone Dragon to show wrestling in part).
an aquatic race of fish-people who've been devastated by the first group, but haev not perished. I imagine they like spear-like weaponry and using their natural terrain to their advantage. Not...sure what of the original disciplines they would prefer though. Diamond Mind maybe?
a kobold sub-nation that's almost like the first group except it's more...mob tactics with more regular melee weaponry and thrown weapons. White Raven seems like a natural here too, but other inclusions beyond the Fool's Grip discipline elude me.
There's also two nations of elves, one of which favors steam-tech to replace waning magic while the other favors magic over tech. I picture them both as favoring maneuverability and what supernatural disciplines I DO allow into the game.
I'm not worried about overlap, since it'll allow players to use disciplines they want, without being constrained to a specific culture, but I figure that establishing 'combat styles' for different nations/groups will help to distinguish them from one another mechanically, and not just in flavor. But there's a huge amount of homebrew out there, most of which I HAVEN'T seen, so I turn to the playground for assistance in what homebrew disciplines would be good choices. Note, I won't be using many supernatural disciplines though. They don't fit the game (for the most part) tone, aside from the elves.