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Mechanize
2013-03-15, 05:00 PM
I've been writing my own system for a few months now. I am currently thinking of special abilities and boy does this take a long time. If anyone has any unique ideas feel free to let the creative juices flow lol. Here is some background on what I am doing.

Power Source: Every hero will have a power source that fuels special abilities. Each power source will have different mechanics to help give a unique feel. Each hero can dabble in new sources of power when they level up.

Adrenaline: Barbarian type
Tactics: Fighter type
Magic: Caster type
Precision: Rogue/Assassin type
Chi Energy/Ki/Inner Power: Monk type

I am creating a classless system. You are free, upon every new level, to increase your power in a power source you already have, or be diverse and dabble in multiple sources of power. One of my goals is for someone to be able to create any type of PC that they can imagine up... so my first question is this.

- Can anyone think up any other sources of power that a hero would rely on in battle? Something not covered with the above listed?

- Another goal is that each power source is very focused and flavorful, especially magic. For magic, I have Realms that separates magic into very distinct styles and flavors. For tactics I have different disciplines that focus on specific abilities (similar to tomb of battle). Here is a list of magic realms and disciplines. The list is hardly finished or fine tuned. These are just ideas. If anyone has some ideas for realms or disciplines let me know

- And for the abilities themselves. I wouldn't mind a hand because there are hundreds for me to think of. My only goal here is to keep abilities very focused within their power source, realm or discipline. Meaning I don't want mages picking locks or adrenaline users to have finesse.

- One more thing, I am also setting this up to have a lot of options both on or off turn. Off turn reactions consist of blocking dodging or using swift/interrupt abilities.

Realms:

Basic name - Latin name for a fun place holder - idea of the realm

Spirit - Anima - Spiritual magic, heals stamina (I'm using a 2 part HP system with stamina and vitality points), boosts moral, can summon spirits from the afterlife

Necrotic - Morbus - Disease, plague, decay

Telepathy - Dominari - Mind reading, charming, counterspelling, mental domination

Elementalist - Elementum - Molecular telekinesis. They are Elementalists though because some force prohibits them from manipulating living objects. Anything you can think of to do with molecules out of a living entity is fair game.

Cosmic - Omni - Cosmic energies such as gravity, magnetism and time. Able to see into the future or past.

Creation - Genesis - Focuses on life and growth. Can create creatures, enhance living bodies making them stronger/faster or basically anything dealing with nature. Able to cure injuries via enhanced natural regeneration.

Light - Lux, Lumina - Control light, or the abscense of it. Bend light for invisibility, create light/energy or remove it to create cloaks of shadow.



Disciplines:

These are for fighting types. I'm open to new names for the disciplines, abilities for the disciplines or new disciplines in general.

Iron Mountain: A strong defensive dicipline that excells at blocking and defending not only his or herself but close by allies. This Discipline is taught to many soldiers that are part of a phalanx or heavy infantry or to soldiers defending choke points.


Unrelenting Ice: Like an avalanche this Discipline excells at breaking up enemy formation. It was favored by many soldiers who took the point position. Will focus on moving people or knocking them around.

Whispering Wind: A discipline favoring high mobility with hit and run tactics.

Twin Leopards: A discipline focusing on medium or light dual weapon fighting.

Kiss of the Hummingbird: A fast dicipline focused on dueling. Bonuses vs a marked opponent, but penalties vs all others.

Tranquil Shallows: Like a still body of water that gives a clear reflection, you are calm and focused on your opponents actions. A dicipline focused on countering.

Serpent's Embrace: A discipline focused on Grappling.

Power Source is, like mentioned, probably a bad name to use, but its a place holder for now. ^_^

Talents: (special abilities)

Talents are a hero's special abilities. They are separated by Tiers/levels and below that Disciplines and Realms. If you level your hero up, you get to choose from a Power Source to focus in. When you choose a Power Source you get to pick 2 Talents in that Source. My goals here are to allow players to focus and become powerful in one area, or weaker but more diverse by splitting powers all over the place.

Example 1: At level 1, I choose to focus in the Magic Source, and in that source I have to choose a realm of magic. I'll choose the Elemental Realm. This gives me access to Tier 1 Elemental Talents.

To gain Tier 2 Talents, I need to focus in a Discipline or Realm or Power Source (for sources that don't use separate disciplines like Adrenaline) for 2 levels.

At level 2, I decide to focus further in the Elemental Realm

At level 3, now that I have 2 levels focused in the Elemental Realm, I now have access to Tier 2 Elemental Magic.

Example 2:

At level one I choose Tactics and the Serpents Embrace Discipline, unlocking Tier 1 Talents from that Discipline.

At level two I choose Magic and the Elemental Realm, unlocking Tier 1 Talents from that Realm

At level three I do not get to unlock any Tier 2 talents yet because I have yet to focus twice.

Power Source Mechanics: This is where it gets interesting and difficult at the same time. I want each Power Source to have different mechanics so that there is a distinct feel between them. The difficult part is that if you guy suggest a ton of different Power Sources, its very hard to have a whole bunch of different mechanics. Just something to keep in mind.

Adrenaline: To build adrenaline you must deal damage or receive damage. When you build up enough Adrenaline you are able to spend the Adrenaline on Talents. This is very similar to Diablo 3, or Guildwars Adrenaline meter.

Intent: Get stronger as battle progresses. Adrenaline Talents will be more brutal, but harder to use freely.

Tactics: When you unlock a Discipline you gain a stance for that Discipline which gives specific bonuses. You also get to pick Talents pertaining to that Discipline. The Talents have no cost, the only requirement is that you are in the proper stance. As you level up you will be allowed to choose new Disciplines and switch between stances.

Intent: I want fighter types to feel smarter and more tactical in a way... having to choose between stances for different situations. I want to avoid once per encounter/once per day abilities because fighters should be able to do the same technique 20 times if they want. Tactics will remain mundane, if they want super natural abilities like flaming swords and flying, they would have to dip into magic.

Magic: A regenerating mana pool system. Tier 1 spells cost 1, Tier 2 cost 2 etc. You regenerate 1 point per round. Meaning Tier 9 spells will be powerful but you could only cast 1, then be stuck casting level 1 spells round after round. Or, you can sacrifice stamina to cast spells you can not afford. This act won't kill you, but it can knock you out and leave you exhausted for the rest of the day.

Intent: Casters can always cast with the regen every turn, but they can't cast huge spells turn after turn, unless they want to knock themselves out.

Precision: I may combine this with tactics... not sure yet. So far I am using a dice pool system that has been done before with other systems. Each Tier of Precision unlocked gives you another die to use for precision/sneak attack damage, or you can spend the dice on special abilities that will cost a certain amount.

Chi Energy: Not exactly sure what to do here yet. I want a mechanic that relies on focus/meditation. I know I'd like this to be a little more epic than D&D monks. Think Dragon Ball Z powering up, kamehameha, crazy stuff lol.

Again I am open to all sorts of suggestions. If the magic seems to basic and "already done" then by all means, let me hear your idea. All feedback is welcomed as it gives me more ideas for my project.

Thanks to everyone ahead of time!

LeoLionxxx
2013-03-15, 05:43 PM
Power Source: Every hero will have a power source that fuels special abilities. Each power source will have different mechanics to help give a unique feel. Each hero can dabble in new sources of power when they level up.

Adrenaline: Barbarian type
Tactics: Fighter type
Magic: Caster type
Precision: Rogue/Assassin type
Chi Energy/Ki/Inner Power: Monk type



I don't see divine on here. In most anything I have seen a wizard type will get their magic from, well, magic, while a cleric/divine type will get their magical powers from a god. If you are including cleric-like abilities, You should deffinatly add that to the list.

Arbane
2013-03-15, 08:09 PM
Madness: The character gets their powers from being so deluded that the universe breaks to humor them.
Drugs: The character's powers are fueled by medicines. Probably in a destructive way.
Psychology: The character's only 'power' is being able to influence other people and predict their actions.
Ontological: The character may or may not actually exist. They have immense powers usable on the condition that no independent witnesses survive to say what they've seen.
Luck: The character wins through coincidence, fate and happenstance.
Divine Favor: The character's powers are a literal Gift From God(s) (or something else supernatural).

Kadzar
2013-03-15, 08:43 PM
Technology: This character gets their "powers" from the gear they wield or wear.
Alien: This character is from another planet or dimension where everyone has evolved some special abilities for inadequately explained reasons
Mutant: This character gets their powers from some sort of mutation.
Cyborg: This character has had body parts replaced with cybernetic upgrades.
Ancient Artifact: This character has a special item that gives them powers.

Sgt. Cookie
2013-03-15, 09:03 PM
Determination: You live by one creed and one creed only. Never back down.

Wits: You rely on your ability to out think your opponent, rather than out fight.

ReaderAt2046
2013-03-15, 09:29 PM
Discipline: Roaring Fire- A heavily offensive discipline, focused on dealing extra damage and cutting through defenses and resistances.

Some Precisions: (domain name for rouge-types)

Fanged Serpent: Focuses on the use of poison. Poisons used by followers of this Precision are more subtle and virulent (higher DCs and greater damage).

Amethyst Smoke: Focuses on stealth and misdirection. Followers of this Precision can hide in plain sight so well as to become effectively invisible, or accomplish slight-of-hand feats such as swamping an enemy's weapon for a broom while on the other side of the room.

Golden Key: Specializes in creating and disarming traps, locks, and alarms.

nedz
2013-03-15, 11:24 PM
Tactics is what you do, it's not a power source. It should be Logistics anyway :smallbiggrin:

Fitness is all based around Strength/Stamina/Suppleness; beyond that it's technique.

Arbane
2013-03-16, 02:38 AM
Conceptual: The character is the embodiment of some basic concept of the universe, from the great (Time, Poetry, Boundaries, Love) to the trivial (Density, Procrastination, Cheese). They can control or alter anything that can be rationalized as being within their concept.

avr
2013-03-16, 02:51 AM
How about a discipline for a sniper-type? There was a homebrew ToB discipline called Falling Star IIRC.

If there is any magic which can affect other magic, even just at the level of detect magic or dispel magic, it needs a home somewhere. Perhaps as a general set of powers available to all realms.

ArcturusV
2013-03-16, 03:18 AM
I suppose conceptually I'd look at some of the power sources and rethink them a bit. Particularly ones that aren't really a "power source" but more a technique. This is to avoid some problems which other systems have, where a variety of characters are defined by some trait like "I'm the sneaky guy" or "I'm the guy who knows advanced physics" or something, basically they are defined by skills or application of skills, but in reality anyone can really do what they do, negating their identity.

For example you list "Precision". But that's not really a power source, it's a way power is applied. While the idea might be to have "Assassins", their role can be subsumed by any other power type, based on the vague descriptions there. Adrenaline based characters will be able to fit the "Assassin" profile through controlled bursts of hyper reflexes and quick action. Magic based characters would be able to do it through reality warping abilities with small, precise single targets. Especially since you have such vaguely defined magic there that seems to fit into a Kitchen Sink variety where you can do anything.

That being the other thing I would warn you of. Your magics are more or less defined at this point as "I can do anything" really. I mean I know there are the realms, and the realms are supposed to provide a distinction, presuming a caster cannot learn them all or practice multiple ones.

I know you said you don't want this to be the way it goes. But that seems to be how it's going from the first design philosophy. It's a very dangerous thing. Like take... Anima, Beyond Fantasy. It's magic system is very, very powerful without intending to be powerful. I ran a mage in it, and using almost entirely low level spells, I was wrecking encounters. Because the low level "simple" spells were so open ended that I didn't NEED high level magic. It was literally a case of:

"Hmm... I could use a lot of my magic power up to launch 5 rocks at someone with my earth magic, which don't do THAT much damage, AND I have to roll to hit... or for a third of the magic power, I could cast a simple spell that would allow me to rewrite a large section of the battlefield, create my own terrain, or just have the earth swallow up my opponent whole... Hmm...."

And that's the sort of problem I see coming up with the basic concept of your magic. It's insane levels of control over the world, really. Least as the things are called out so far. It might not negate the need for other characters, especially if you do turn them into Glass Cannon types that can do anything, but never have enough magic to be able to do anything very often. Anima took this sort of balance type, where Mages might be able to "Go nova" one time... and then they'd take a solid week, or more, or get back the magic they spent. Compared to other characters who could use their powers at will, or with only an hour rest, etc.

Of course this sort of balance also conflicts with your design philosophy of always giving the player something to do, both on and off turn, if your Mage goes and blows his wad and has to wait far too long to make Narcoleptic Adventuring (Go Nova for a fight. Immediately rest a day to get all your magic back, repeat) an alternative.

Sorry for being a downer on that. But I'd be remiss if you asked for honest feedback and I did not share my thoughts. As for helpful ideas?

Fighting Style:

Tidal Crash: You focus on wearing down an enemy by constant, minor assaults with relentless action. You won't take an enemy out quickly, but there will be little they can do to stop you and each wave that batters into them leaves them just that much weaker until they inevitably fall. Focuses on disabling strikes which, while minor, will eventually handicap them so severely that defeat is inevitable.

Silver Arm: You focus on raw power. Things are done from a position of power, both offensively and defensively, or they are not done at all. There is a lack of finesse in the style which is made up by brute force that punishes people, attacks will harm a target even if they successfully defend from your strikes, and defenses which have a lower chance of success but create weaknesses in the enemy when they are successful.

Mechanize
2013-03-16, 09:27 AM
I don't see divine on here. In most anything I have seen a wizard type will get their magic from, well, magic, while a cleric/divine type will get their magical powers from a god. If you are including cleric-like abilities, You should deffinatly add that to the list.

All magic will be divine in a way.. power granted by either gods or the different realms the gods reside in, or just the ability to tap into different energies of the world.

Mechanize
2013-03-16, 09:34 AM
Tactics is what you do, it's not a power source. It should be Logistics anyway :smallbiggrin:

Fitness is all based around Strength/Stamina/Suppleness; beyond that it's technique.

Power Source may be a bad term. Basically, a Power Source is just how someone deals with combat. Some learn martial disciplines, sword fighting, martial arts, etc, some focus on being quick and sneaky, some use magic etc. I'm open to ideas for renaming things in order to have them make more sense.

For example, one of the players helping me test said he wants to make a PC after Riddick from Pitch Black or Chronicles of Riddick. We are going to test out level 3 so I said he should probably take 2 levels of precision with 1 level of Tactics and learn the Tranquil Shallows discipline focused on cool and calm counter tactics. This is the most important thing to me with this game, that players can make just about anything they can think of as long as it fits in the world.

Mechanize
2013-03-16, 09:43 AM
How about a discipline for a sniper-type? There was a homebrew ToB discipline called Falling Star IIRC.

If there is any magic which can affect other magic, even just at the level of detect magic or dispel magic, it needs a home somewhere. Perhaps as a general set of powers available to all realms.

I've been thinking of combining the tactics and precision power sources into one and just making rogue/assassin/sniper disciplines.

I had intended that the Telepathic/domination realm be based on counterspelling and the cosmic/omni realm be focused on removing magic that had already been cast. One is proactive while the other reactive. not sure yet... a lot of it honestly depends on how many abilities I can get out of each realm. If one realm lacks, I'll try to combine it with another if it makes sense.

Mechanize
2013-03-16, 09:57 AM
Sorry for being a downer on that. But I'd be remiss if you asked for honest feedback and I did not share my thoughts. As for helpful ideas?



Don't be sorry, its good constructive feedback! It sounds like I need to be specific with what I have so far, it will help you guys give even better feedback. I was afraid of having 10 pages for you guys to read and no one being interested. I'll make a post with intended mechanics with each source and hopefully ways to balance out what you mentioned with magic. I'll also edit the original post for new readers.

Btw I appreciate all of the responses so far! Thank you guys. Keep it coming.

Mechanize
2013-03-16, 10:39 AM
Power Source is, like mentioned, probably a bad name to use, but its a place holder for now. ^_^

Talents: (special abilities)

Talents are a hero's special abilities. They are separated by Tiers/levels and below that Disciplines and Realms. If you level your hero up, you get to choose from a Power Source to focus in. When you choose a Power Source you get to pick 2 Talents in that Source. My goals here are to allow players to focus and become powerful in one area, or weaker but more diverse by splitting powers all over the place.

Example 1: At level 1, I choose to focus in the Magic Source, and in that source I have to choose a realm of magic. I'll choose the Elemental Realm. This gives me access to Tier 1 Elemental Talents.

To gain Tier 2 Talents, I need to focus in a Discipline or Realm or Power Source (for sources that don't use separate disciplines like Adrenaline) for 2 levels.

At level 2, I decide to focus further in the Elemental Realm

At level 3, now that I have 2 levels focused in the Elemental Realm, I now have access to Tier 2 Elemental Magic.

Example 2:

At level one I choose Tactics and the Serpents Embrace Discipline, unlocking Tier 1 Talents from that Discipline.

At level two I choose Magic and the Elemental Realm, unlocking Tier 1 Talents from that Realm

At level three I do not get to unlock any Tier 2 talents yet because I have yet to focus twice.

Power Source Mechanics: This is where it gets interesting and difficult at the same time. I want each Power Source to have different mechanics so that there is a distinct feel between them. The difficult part is that if you guy suggest a ton of different Power Sources, its very hard to have a whole bunch of different mechanics. Just something to keep in mind.

Adrenaline: To build adrenaline you must deal damage or receive damage. When you build up enough Adrenaline you are able to spend the Adrenaline on Talents. This is very similar to Diablo 3, or Guildwars Adrenaline meter.

Intent: Get stronger as battle progresses. Adrenaline Talents will be more brutal, but harder to use freely.

Tactics: When you unlock a Discipline you gain a stance for that Discipline which gives specific bonuses. You also get to pick Talents pertaining to that Discipline. The Talents have no cost, the only requirement is that you are in the proper stance. As you level up you will be allowed to choose new Disciplines and switch between stances.

Intent: I want fighter types to feel smarter and more tactical in a way... having to choose between stances for different situations. I want to avoid once per encounter/once per day abilities because fighters should be able to do the same technique 20 times if they want. Tactics will remain mundane, if they want super natural abilities like flaming swords and flying, they would have to dip into magic.

Magic: A regenerating mana pool system. Tier 1 spells cost 1, Tier 2 cost 2 etc. You regenerate 1 point per round. Meaning Tier 9 spells will be powerful but you could only cast 1, then be stuck casting level 1 spells round after round. Or, you can sacrifice stamina to cast spells you can not afford. This act won't kill you, but it can knock you out and leave you exhausted for the rest of the day.

Intent: Casters can always cast with the regen every turn, but they can't cast huge spells turn after turn, unless they want to knock themselves out.

Precision: I may combine this with tactics... not sure yet. So far I am using a dice pool system that has been done before with other systems. Each Tier of Precision unlocked gives you another die to use for precision/sneak attack damage, or you can spend the dice on special abilities that will cost a certain amount.

Chi Energy: Not exactly sure what to do here yet. I want a mechanic that relies on focus/meditation. I know I'd like this to be a little more epic than D&D monks. Think Dragon Ball Z powering up, kamehameha, crazy stuff lol.