PDA

View Full Version : The Audience (3.5)



Orzel
2011-09-21, 05:56 AM
" The Kingdom of the Dwarves. Thor's handy work. A bunch of drunks! Dumb Norse!"


The Audience system is a optional addition to the ruleset that adds a little flair

In this variant, divine beings constantly watch the exploits and deed of heroes and villains. They have favorites and even secretly despise some mortals. Their cheers and boos are the powerful energy the mighty feel and they use it as fuel to do the incredible and unexpected. The game will swing all over the place as people drop and fall in showy fashions.


The Audience system add 3 more characteristics: Gimmick, Stardom, and Popularity.


Gimmick

The Divine Audience likes some people and hate others. They just do. A character's gimmick determines if the Audience cheers for, boos at, or ignore the character. And this is not permanent. A gimmick can change easily but there are consequences.

There are 4 Gimmicks.

Favoreds: The Audience loves them. The majority of them cheer for them. The backing of the divine crowd grants them defensive bonuses that keep them in fights and prevents them from failure.

Hateds: The Audience hates them. The majority of them boo them. The curses of divine crowd fuel the Hated and allow them to anger the audience more.

Wilds: Sometimes the Audience loves them. Sometimes they hate them. Wild characters don't care. Wilds use both cheers and boos to get them closer to their own desires.

Nobodies: The Audience forget the Nobodies exist. This grants them resistance to the incredible effects the Favored and Hated may use against them since the crowd isn't watching or is taking a bathroom break.

Starting characters can be Favored, Hated, Wild, Nobody or choose to have no gimmick. Once chosen, a gimmick can be chosen, removed, or changed once per day as a free action.

Stardom

Stardom represents how interesting you are to the Audience. The more Stardom, the powerful the effect the Audience grants you or harms your enemy.

Stardom can be between 0 (the lowest) and 9 (the highest). A character's starting stardom is equal to their character level + his Charisma modifier (minimum 0, maximum 9). A character retains his Stardom even when dead.

Stardom rises and fall when doing Audience actions. It also might rise when preforming certain actions

{table=head]Action| Stardom change
Dying a spectacular death| +2
Defeating an archenemy| +2
Pulling a humiliating prank on an enemy | +1
Removing a curse| +1
Showing mercy to the fallen +1
Winning a contest| +1
Gaining a level| +1
Defeating monsters| +1/CR above character level
Gain negative levels| -1/ 2 negative levels
Losing a contest | -1
Losing to an inferior opponent of the same class| -1
Dropping to negative Hit Points| -1
Dying a embarrassing death| -2
Changing a Gimmick| -3[/table]


Popularity

Stardom represents how interesting, popularity (or pop) is how much the Audience cares about you. The more pop you have, the time you can call on, taunt, or hide from the Audience.

Popularity can be between 0 (the lowest) and 100 (the highest). A starting character has 10 popularity and gains 10 popularity each time he gains a level. If a character popularity hits 0, they take 10 damage per Stardom of the creature who caused the lose of popularity.

Popularity rises and falls greatly when doing Audience actions. It also might rise when by defeating enemies. (5 popularity per HD if the target's HD is equal or greater than yours).

Once per day a character can make a Perform check as a move action and gain pop equal to the result.


Performing Audience Actions:

Characters call on, taunt, or hide from the Audience using Audience actions. A character must be able to speak and have a matching gimmick to perform an audience action. Unless noted otherwise, performing an Audience action is a standard action.



Challenging Appeal (Any)
You ask The Audience who is better: you or your enemy. They decide

Effect
One creature within 30ft of you loses Popularity equal to five times your Stardom unless it succeeds on a Will save (DC is 10+ your Stardom + your Charisma modifier).

Cost:
20 Popularity 1 Stardom


Concealing Appeal (Nobody)
The Audience isn't watching you so no one else can either

Effect
You are invisible to creatures with Stardom lower than you for 3 rounds .

Cost:
50 Popularity

Complimenting Appeal (Favored or Wild)
You talk about what a great crowd the Audience is, how awesome their favored heroes are, and so on. The cheers enhance you with power.

Effect
You gain an enhancement bonus equal to your Stardom equal to the ability of your choice for 1 round per Stardom.

Cost:
25 Popularity

Insulting Appeal (Hated or Wild)
You insult The Audience. You hear the anger in your ears. You channel that anger at others, sapping their strength.

Effect
One creature within 30ft of you takes a penalty to an ability of your choice equal to your Stardom unless it succeeds on a Will save (DC is 10+ your Stardom + your Charisma modifier) for one round per Stardom.

Cost:
25 Popularity

Direct Appeal (Any)
You compliment or Insult the Audience directly and feed off their reaction. This is cheap of course and hurt your notoriety.

Effect
You gain 10 Popularity.

Cost:
1 Stardom.

Horrific Appeal (Hated)
You have chosen a theme song or catchphrase. You start singing or saying it. The Audience's fears shake your enemies.

Effect
Each creature within 30ft of you becomes panicked and takes 1d6 per Stardom damage unless it succeeds on a Will save (DC is 10+ your Stardom + your Charisma modifier) for one round per Stardom. If cornered, a panicked creature begins cowering. If the Will save succeeds, the creature is shaken for 1 round and takes only half damage. Even if the creature is immune to fear or mind effecting abilities, they still take damage.

Cost:
50 Popularity

Restoring Appeal (Favored)
The Audience loves you and your friends benefit as well.

Effect
Your touch immediately ends any and all of the following adverse conditions affecting the touched: ability damage, blinded, confused, dazed, dazzled, deafened, diseased, exhausted, fatigued, feebleminded, insanity, nauseated, sickened, stunned, and poisoned. It also cures 5 hit points of damage per Stardom

Cost:
50 Popularity

Disregarded Appeal (Nobody or Wild)
You ignore the Audience and the world ignores you back.

Effect
Physical attacks, spells, and powers targeting you have a 20% chance of not affecting you for 1 round per Stardom.

Cost:
25 Popularity

Domriso
2011-09-22, 01:10 AM
This... I... I love it. It's a great idea. I would totally play in a game using this.

Debihuman
2011-09-22, 05:20 AM
Horrific Appeal should have a save that makes you take half damage. If you have 1 stardom, the way you have it now the recipient takes 1d6 whether it makes the save or not. That doesn't seem fair.

Also, since your max Stardom is 9, the max damage from Horrific Appeal is also 9d6.

I am an evil DM sometimes, I can envision creatures also gaining from these rules. Minions of Evil all with Horrific Appeal (muhahaha...).

Popularity is well done, except this sentence: "It also might rise when by defeating enemies (5 per HD)."

You already get Stardom for defeating creatures so there is no reason for this.

At this rate, a low-level party could quickly rack up popularity by defeating a lot of low CR creatures. Killing 10 goblins (1 HD each) would garner 50 points of Popularity. While that may garner local favor from the populace that was threatened by the goblins, I don't see why it should sway Audience Popularity.

Debby

Orzel
2011-09-22, 06:54 AM
Changed Horrific appeal.
Added Challenging appeal (somehow it didnt get pasted.)

@Debimhuman: You are supposed to get Popularity at a quicker rate than Stardom. But I just put a HD limit on who gives it out.

Also the Audience are deities not the local mortals. In this variant, dirties are equivalent to fanboys too lazy to smite morals that taunt and insult them.