Lord Tataraus
2007-09-12, 05:06 PM
I was asking around in another thread if there were any entirely dream-based rpgs, close to the Dreamblade fiction. Seeing as the only games mentioned were not really what I wanted, I figured I might as well make my own. I really like the game and fiction of Dreamblade (http://ww2.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dbm/welcome) so I based this RPG completely off of it, so here it is:
The players: In Dreamblade RPG, the players take the role of a Dreamlord. A Dreamlord is a sentient being who is adept in the manipulation of the dreamscape and its inhabitants. The dreamscape is a quasi-real realm that is the product of the dreams and imagination of all sentient beings. While all sentient beings affect the dreamscape in manners both great and small, only the Dreamlords can control the creatures and manipulate the dreamscape itself at will. The players may play at a variety of skill levels: novice, accomplished, and legendary. For character creation, each player is given a number of points to put into their skills on a one-to-one basis depending on the skill level, it is suggested, but not required that the GM set a maximum starting score for the skills. No character can have a score of 0 in any skill.
{table]Skill level|# points|Max Rank*
Novice|8|4
Accomplished|16|8
Legendary|40|16[/table]
*suggested
A novice usually has a score from 2-3, an accomplished Dreamlord usually has a score of 4-5 and a legendary Dreamlord usually has a score above 10
Traits: Each character is defined by a set of traits which include skills and faction. The skills are as follows:
Creativity – how many abilities you know, also used to craft dream creatures.
Focus – how well you can affect the dreamscape as well as how long you can stay in it.
Knowledge – how much you know about the dreamscape/dream creatures and how many creatures you can accurately summon.
Mana – how much energy you have to summon dream creatures as well as warp the dreamscape.
The Faction a player choses defines what types of abilities you can craft creatures around. A player may choose one of two types of factions, Aspect or Lineage. All dream creatures are aligned to one of the four aspects which are Valor, Madness, Fear, and Passion. A Lineage is a group of Dreamlords who band together to learn from each other and act towards a common goal. All Lineages give the ability to utilize two aspects (with the exception of Hiveling). The Lineages are as follows:
{table]Lineage|Aspect 1|Aspect 2
Janus|Valor|Madness
Hiveling|Fear|--
Hellbred|Fear|Passion
Bloodcut|Valor|Passion
Stitched|Fear|Madness[/table]
If a player chooses to be loyal to an Aspect instead of a Lineage, then they gain a bonus rank to a skill depending on the Aspect chosen. A member of the Hiveling Lineage gains an effective +2 ranks to knowledge only for determining how many creatures the character can have remembered.
{table]Aspect|Skill
Valor|Mana
Madness|Creativity
Fear|Knowledge
Passion|Focus[/table]
Skill checks: This system is d6 based. To make a skill check, you roll a number of d6 equal to your score. Simple enough. There is also the optional (but encouraged) rule: the auto-succeed rule. This states: "if you would roll a number of dice equal to or greater than one half the check DC rounded up, plus 1 [1/2DC+1] you automatically succeed in the check and do not have to roll. This only functions as long as you have no penalty to your Focus skill."
Here is a list of skill DCs by approximate difficulty, the Min refers to the minimum score required to make the check, Auto refers to the score needed to auto-succeed, and Avg refers to the score that will constantly make the DC based on the average roll of 3.5 on a d6.
{table]DC|Difficulty|Min|Auto|Avg
5|extremely easy|1|4|2
10|easy|2|6|3
15|challenging|3|9|5
20|difficult|4|11|6
25|extremely difficult|5|14|8
30|near legendary|5|16|9
35|legendary|6|18|11
40+|near impossible|--|--|--[/table]
Combat (Dreamlords): In combat, each player do not take turns, but instead go through each step together. Combat is played out in a grid-based battlefield. Due to the nature of the dreamscape, the rules of combat must be followed, any attempt to break the rules results in forfeit. To start a battle, one Dreamlord must challenge another and state the terms of losing (such as gaining a piece of the loser's soul, banishing the loser from the dreamscape for a time, etc.). The opposing Dreamlord responds by accepting the terms or defining new ones. When the terms have been accepted, the Dreamlords take positions at opposite ends of the battlefield and combat begins.
Step 1: Spawn phase - Both players make a Mana check, this is the amount of Mana they have available to activate their creature's abilities and summon more creatures. Summoned creatures appear within one one square from the Dreamlord.
Step 2: Combat phase - The players control their respective creatures to make attacks, move, and use special abilities. Each Dreamlord may have their creatures take a move action and attack action or two move actions or two attack actions. All of the Dreamlord's creatures must take the same types of actions in the same order. The Dreamlord's each roll a d6, high roll takes the first action, the low roller reacts.
Step 3: Recovery phase - At this time the Dreamlords may survey the battlefield and move to a new position. No Dreamlord may move more than 5 units in any direction. Additionally, all damage is removed from all creatures. After this step, the combat continues starting with step 1.
If an enemy creature attacks a Dreamlord, the Dreamlord must make a Focus check with a DC equal to the damage dealt, failure means the Dreamlord takes a -1 penalty to his Focus skill. If a Dreamlord is adjacent to an enemy Dreamlord, he may make an opposed Focus check to inflict a -2 penalty to the loser's Focus skill. If a Dreamlord in adjacent to an enemy creature, he may make a Focus check to damage that creature. If a Dreamlord's Focus would become effectively 0 for any reason, that Dreamlord loses and is forced out of the dreamscape.
Attacking: For a creature to make an attack, it must merely be adjacent to an enemy and roll a number of d6 equal to its current power. For every 4, 5, and 6 rolled, that creature deals 1 damage. Disrupting and Killing below explain what damage does.
Disrupting: When a creature is dealt damage equal to his defense, that create may be disrupted (note the may, the Dreamlord may choose not to disrupt that creature). When a creature is disrupted, the dreamlord whose creature disrupted it teleports that creature to any unoccupied square that has no adjacent creatures or Locations.
Killing: When a creature is dealt damage equal to or greater than both its defense and life (not combine, but if a creature has D10/L5 it must be dealt 10 damage to be killed) it may be killed or disrupted. If a creature is killed it immediately disappears and its Dreamlord gains 2 extra Mana on the next Spawn phase.
Summoning: The main ability of a Dreamlord is summoning dream creatures to fight for him. Dream creatures have seven traits: Spawn, Power, Defense, Life, Movement, Abilities and Drawbacks. A creature's Spawn is the amount of Mana it costs for the Dreamlord to summon it. The creature's Power is the number of d6 that creature rolls to deal damage. The creature's Defense is the rating of how easy it is to disrupt that creature. The creature's life is the rating of how easy it is to kill that creature.
At character creation, the Dreamlord gains the knowledge of a number of dream creatures equal to his Knowledge skill. A Dreamlord may learn to summon a number of creatures equal to twice his Knowledge skill. To learn more dream creatures, a Dreamlord must make a Creativity check with a DC equal to [some formula to be determined later].
Dreamstuff Manipulation and Locations: Another ability that Dreamlords have is the manipulation of dreamstuff, the matter that makes up the dreamscape itself. With this ability the Dreamlord may transform part or all of the battle field into a Location. Locations grant various bonus to your allies and may even have special abilities or grant penalties to you enemies. To create a Location, the Dreamlord must succeed in a Creativity check DC [some formula based on the Location, to be determined].
Dream Creature Abilities: Valor
{table]Name|Activate Type|Description
Stalwart|H|Gains +1 defense and life for every 6 rolled on damage|
Trample|P|May attack while moving through an enemy
Crit|H|+1 damage for each 6 rolled
Bodyguard|P|Allies immune to melee attacks
Skirmish|P/S|Do not provoke attacks of opportunity for movement
Bolster X|S/A/M|Adjacent allies gain +X defense
Teleport|S/M|Move anywhere in the dreamscape instantly
Attract|S/A|Pull all enemies forward
Unstoppable|P|Never provoke attacks of opportunity or flanking
Protect|P|Allies immune to on melee attacks
Rally X|S/A/M|Adjacent allies gain +X power and defense
Heroics X|S/A/M|Adjacent allies gain +X life
Mass Wound|H|Deal +1 damage to all enemies in reach for each 6 rolled
Bladestrike X|A|Roll X fewer dice to deal 1.5X damage[/table]
Madness
{table]Name|Activate Type|Description
Warpstrike X|S/A|Attack from range with a power of X
Swap|S/M|Switch positions with ally
Raise|S|Can return a creature from death
Mimic|S/A|Gain target creature's abilities
Fortunate X|H|May reroll X damage dice
Regenerate|P|After death, 1/2 this creature's mana returns to the Dreamlord and this creature may be summoned again
Lockdown|S/H|Creature can't use abilities
Dominate|A|Grants control of a creature to this creature's dreamlord
Deathform|P|Upon death, allows for a new creature to take its place
Phantom|P|Creature can't be killed but can't kill
Respawn X|P|After death, this creature may be summoned again by paying X mana
Brainblast|S/A|Attack multiple targets from range
Transpose|S/A/M|Switch positions with enemy
Deathrip|H|Absorb one ability from killed enemy
Shapechange|S/A/M|Sacrifice self to help create another creature
Mindcrit|S/A|Channel a Dreamlord's attack
Shackle|S/H|Targeted creatures must move together and take a -1 to power
[/table]
Fear
{table]Name|Activate Type|Description
Nullify|P/S|Adjacent creatures can't use abilities
Enrage X|S/A/M|All adjacent allies gain +X power
Detonate|S/A|Sacrifice to destroy location
Expel|S/A|Push an adjacent enemy away
Scare|S/A|Push an enemy away
Ambush X|P|May make attacks of opportunity due to movement against skirmish and unstoppable enemies with a power of X
Dominate|S/A|Grants control of a creature to this creature's Dreamlord
Flanking X|H|Deals +X damage against flanked targets
Purge X|S/A|Remove creature from Dreamlord's memory for X rounds
Panic|P|Adjacent enemy creatures take -1 power
Venom X|S/H|Deal X venom damage
Terrify|S/A|Push all enemies away
Shadow|P|Can't be targeted by abilities
Raise|S|Can return a creature from death
Petrify|S/A|Target creature is killed
Blight|P|Negate location abilities
Curse X|P|Force adjacent enemies to reroll X damage dice
Deathform|P|Upon death, allows for a new creature to take its place
[/table]
Passion
{table]Name|Activate Type|Description
Lure|S/A|Pull all enemies forward
Crit|H|+1 damage for each 6 rolled
Bomb|H|Sacrifice self to deal +X damage to all adjacent creatures
Ferocity|P|Kill creatures that would normally be disrupted
Ambush|P|May make attacks of opportunity due to movement against skirmish and unstoppable enemies
Energize|P/H|Give +X mana on the spawn
Pack X|P|Gains +X power for each adjacent ally
Demolish|S/A|Destroy location
Enrage X|S/P|All adjacent allies gain +X power
Spur|S/A|Cause a creature to make an attack
Trample|P|May attack while moving through an enemy
Warcry|S/M|Pull nearby allies forward
Provoke|S/A/M/H|Cause adjacent enemies to attack only this creature
Shapechange|S/A/M|Sacrifice self to help create another creature
Deathblast X|P|Make an attack of X power upon death to all adjacent enemies
Venom X|S/H|Deal X venom damage
Ragestrike X Y|A|Roll X less dice to deal Y damage
Glory|P|Gain +1 power for each adjacent enemy
Unstoppable|P|Never provoke attacks of opportunity or flanking
[/table]
Activate Types:
S - cost Mana, oly usable in spawn phase
H - on a successful hit
P - passive, always on and cannot be nullified
A - replaces an attack action
M - replaces a move action
Venom Damage: A creature who takes venom damage equal to half his Spawn is immediately killed, even if another ability prevents death (i.e. Phantom)
The players: In Dreamblade RPG, the players take the role of a Dreamlord. A Dreamlord is a sentient being who is adept in the manipulation of the dreamscape and its inhabitants. The dreamscape is a quasi-real realm that is the product of the dreams and imagination of all sentient beings. While all sentient beings affect the dreamscape in manners both great and small, only the Dreamlords can control the creatures and manipulate the dreamscape itself at will. The players may play at a variety of skill levels: novice, accomplished, and legendary. For character creation, each player is given a number of points to put into their skills on a one-to-one basis depending on the skill level, it is suggested, but not required that the GM set a maximum starting score for the skills. No character can have a score of 0 in any skill.
{table]Skill level|# points|Max Rank*
Novice|8|4
Accomplished|16|8
Legendary|40|16[/table]
*suggested
A novice usually has a score from 2-3, an accomplished Dreamlord usually has a score of 4-5 and a legendary Dreamlord usually has a score above 10
Traits: Each character is defined by a set of traits which include skills and faction. The skills are as follows:
Creativity – how many abilities you know, also used to craft dream creatures.
Focus – how well you can affect the dreamscape as well as how long you can stay in it.
Knowledge – how much you know about the dreamscape/dream creatures and how many creatures you can accurately summon.
Mana – how much energy you have to summon dream creatures as well as warp the dreamscape.
The Faction a player choses defines what types of abilities you can craft creatures around. A player may choose one of two types of factions, Aspect or Lineage. All dream creatures are aligned to one of the four aspects which are Valor, Madness, Fear, and Passion. A Lineage is a group of Dreamlords who band together to learn from each other and act towards a common goal. All Lineages give the ability to utilize two aspects (with the exception of Hiveling). The Lineages are as follows:
{table]Lineage|Aspect 1|Aspect 2
Janus|Valor|Madness
Hiveling|Fear|--
Hellbred|Fear|Passion
Bloodcut|Valor|Passion
Stitched|Fear|Madness[/table]
If a player chooses to be loyal to an Aspect instead of a Lineage, then they gain a bonus rank to a skill depending on the Aspect chosen. A member of the Hiveling Lineage gains an effective +2 ranks to knowledge only for determining how many creatures the character can have remembered.
{table]Aspect|Skill
Valor|Mana
Madness|Creativity
Fear|Knowledge
Passion|Focus[/table]
Skill checks: This system is d6 based. To make a skill check, you roll a number of d6 equal to your score. Simple enough. There is also the optional (but encouraged) rule: the auto-succeed rule. This states: "if you would roll a number of dice equal to or greater than one half the check DC rounded up, plus 1 [1/2DC+1] you automatically succeed in the check and do not have to roll. This only functions as long as you have no penalty to your Focus skill."
Here is a list of skill DCs by approximate difficulty, the Min refers to the minimum score required to make the check, Auto refers to the score needed to auto-succeed, and Avg refers to the score that will constantly make the DC based on the average roll of 3.5 on a d6.
{table]DC|Difficulty|Min|Auto|Avg
5|extremely easy|1|4|2
10|easy|2|6|3
15|challenging|3|9|5
20|difficult|4|11|6
25|extremely difficult|5|14|8
30|near legendary|5|16|9
35|legendary|6|18|11
40+|near impossible|--|--|--[/table]
Combat (Dreamlords): In combat, each player do not take turns, but instead go through each step together. Combat is played out in a grid-based battlefield. Due to the nature of the dreamscape, the rules of combat must be followed, any attempt to break the rules results in forfeit. To start a battle, one Dreamlord must challenge another and state the terms of losing (such as gaining a piece of the loser's soul, banishing the loser from the dreamscape for a time, etc.). The opposing Dreamlord responds by accepting the terms or defining new ones. When the terms have been accepted, the Dreamlords take positions at opposite ends of the battlefield and combat begins.
Step 1: Spawn phase - Both players make a Mana check, this is the amount of Mana they have available to activate their creature's abilities and summon more creatures. Summoned creatures appear within one one square from the Dreamlord.
Step 2: Combat phase - The players control their respective creatures to make attacks, move, and use special abilities. Each Dreamlord may have their creatures take a move action and attack action or two move actions or two attack actions. All of the Dreamlord's creatures must take the same types of actions in the same order. The Dreamlord's each roll a d6, high roll takes the first action, the low roller reacts.
Step 3: Recovery phase - At this time the Dreamlords may survey the battlefield and move to a new position. No Dreamlord may move more than 5 units in any direction. Additionally, all damage is removed from all creatures. After this step, the combat continues starting with step 1.
If an enemy creature attacks a Dreamlord, the Dreamlord must make a Focus check with a DC equal to the damage dealt, failure means the Dreamlord takes a -1 penalty to his Focus skill. If a Dreamlord is adjacent to an enemy Dreamlord, he may make an opposed Focus check to inflict a -2 penalty to the loser's Focus skill. If a Dreamlord in adjacent to an enemy creature, he may make a Focus check to damage that creature. If a Dreamlord's Focus would become effectively 0 for any reason, that Dreamlord loses and is forced out of the dreamscape.
Attacking: For a creature to make an attack, it must merely be adjacent to an enemy and roll a number of d6 equal to its current power. For every 4, 5, and 6 rolled, that creature deals 1 damage. Disrupting and Killing below explain what damage does.
Disrupting: When a creature is dealt damage equal to his defense, that create may be disrupted (note the may, the Dreamlord may choose not to disrupt that creature). When a creature is disrupted, the dreamlord whose creature disrupted it teleports that creature to any unoccupied square that has no adjacent creatures or Locations.
Killing: When a creature is dealt damage equal to or greater than both its defense and life (not combine, but if a creature has D10/L5 it must be dealt 10 damage to be killed) it may be killed or disrupted. If a creature is killed it immediately disappears and its Dreamlord gains 2 extra Mana on the next Spawn phase.
Summoning: The main ability of a Dreamlord is summoning dream creatures to fight for him. Dream creatures have seven traits: Spawn, Power, Defense, Life, Movement, Abilities and Drawbacks. A creature's Spawn is the amount of Mana it costs for the Dreamlord to summon it. The creature's Power is the number of d6 that creature rolls to deal damage. The creature's Defense is the rating of how easy it is to disrupt that creature. The creature's life is the rating of how easy it is to kill that creature.
At character creation, the Dreamlord gains the knowledge of a number of dream creatures equal to his Knowledge skill. A Dreamlord may learn to summon a number of creatures equal to twice his Knowledge skill. To learn more dream creatures, a Dreamlord must make a Creativity check with a DC equal to [some formula to be determined later].
Dreamstuff Manipulation and Locations: Another ability that Dreamlords have is the manipulation of dreamstuff, the matter that makes up the dreamscape itself. With this ability the Dreamlord may transform part or all of the battle field into a Location. Locations grant various bonus to your allies and may even have special abilities or grant penalties to you enemies. To create a Location, the Dreamlord must succeed in a Creativity check DC [some formula based on the Location, to be determined].
Dream Creature Abilities: Valor
{table]Name|Activate Type|Description
Stalwart|H|Gains +1 defense and life for every 6 rolled on damage|
Trample|P|May attack while moving through an enemy
Crit|H|+1 damage for each 6 rolled
Bodyguard|P|Allies immune to melee attacks
Skirmish|P/S|Do not provoke attacks of opportunity for movement
Bolster X|S/A/M|Adjacent allies gain +X defense
Teleport|S/M|Move anywhere in the dreamscape instantly
Attract|S/A|Pull all enemies forward
Unstoppable|P|Never provoke attacks of opportunity or flanking
Protect|P|Allies immune to on melee attacks
Rally X|S/A/M|Adjacent allies gain +X power and defense
Heroics X|S/A/M|Adjacent allies gain +X life
Mass Wound|H|Deal +1 damage to all enemies in reach for each 6 rolled
Bladestrike X|A|Roll X fewer dice to deal 1.5X damage[/table]
Madness
{table]Name|Activate Type|Description
Warpstrike X|S/A|Attack from range with a power of X
Swap|S/M|Switch positions with ally
Raise|S|Can return a creature from death
Mimic|S/A|Gain target creature's abilities
Fortunate X|H|May reroll X damage dice
Regenerate|P|After death, 1/2 this creature's mana returns to the Dreamlord and this creature may be summoned again
Lockdown|S/H|Creature can't use abilities
Dominate|A|Grants control of a creature to this creature's dreamlord
Deathform|P|Upon death, allows for a new creature to take its place
Phantom|P|Creature can't be killed but can't kill
Respawn X|P|After death, this creature may be summoned again by paying X mana
Brainblast|S/A|Attack multiple targets from range
Transpose|S/A/M|Switch positions with enemy
Deathrip|H|Absorb one ability from killed enemy
Shapechange|S/A/M|Sacrifice self to help create another creature
Mindcrit|S/A|Channel a Dreamlord's attack
Shackle|S/H|Targeted creatures must move together and take a -1 to power
[/table]
Fear
{table]Name|Activate Type|Description
Nullify|P/S|Adjacent creatures can't use abilities
Enrage X|S/A/M|All adjacent allies gain +X power
Detonate|S/A|Sacrifice to destroy location
Expel|S/A|Push an adjacent enemy away
Scare|S/A|Push an enemy away
Ambush X|P|May make attacks of opportunity due to movement against skirmish and unstoppable enemies with a power of X
Dominate|S/A|Grants control of a creature to this creature's Dreamlord
Flanking X|H|Deals +X damage against flanked targets
Purge X|S/A|Remove creature from Dreamlord's memory for X rounds
Panic|P|Adjacent enemy creatures take -1 power
Venom X|S/H|Deal X venom damage
Terrify|S/A|Push all enemies away
Shadow|P|Can't be targeted by abilities
Raise|S|Can return a creature from death
Petrify|S/A|Target creature is killed
Blight|P|Negate location abilities
Curse X|P|Force adjacent enemies to reroll X damage dice
Deathform|P|Upon death, allows for a new creature to take its place
[/table]
Passion
{table]Name|Activate Type|Description
Lure|S/A|Pull all enemies forward
Crit|H|+1 damage for each 6 rolled
Bomb|H|Sacrifice self to deal +X damage to all adjacent creatures
Ferocity|P|Kill creatures that would normally be disrupted
Ambush|P|May make attacks of opportunity due to movement against skirmish and unstoppable enemies
Energize|P/H|Give +X mana on the spawn
Pack X|P|Gains +X power for each adjacent ally
Demolish|S/A|Destroy location
Enrage X|S/P|All adjacent allies gain +X power
Spur|S/A|Cause a creature to make an attack
Trample|P|May attack while moving through an enemy
Warcry|S/M|Pull nearby allies forward
Provoke|S/A/M/H|Cause adjacent enemies to attack only this creature
Shapechange|S/A/M|Sacrifice self to help create another creature
Deathblast X|P|Make an attack of X power upon death to all adjacent enemies
Venom X|S/H|Deal X venom damage
Ragestrike X Y|A|Roll X less dice to deal Y damage
Glory|P|Gain +1 power for each adjacent enemy
Unstoppable|P|Never provoke attacks of opportunity or flanking
[/table]
Activate Types:
S - cost Mana, oly usable in spawn phase
H - on a successful hit
P - passive, always on and cannot be nullified
A - replaces an attack action
M - replaces a move action
Venom Damage: A creature who takes venom damage equal to half his Spawn is immediately killed, even if another ability prevents death (i.e. Phantom)