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Somebloke
2007-10-27, 02:08 PM
First time putting something like this on a forum...

Below is a alternate treasure system for low magic, low finance D&D- it is homebrew for a particular campaign setting. Please let me know what you think- I have not had a chance to playtest it.

Three important elements of the campain:

- Hero points are used.
- There is practically no obvious magic- most magical forces tend to be alchemical (steam-rennaisance setting) or probably (but not entirely) figments of the character's imaginations. Think of Battlestar Galatica or the works of Jacqueline Carey. True spellcasters are only half-human by virtue of the powers they wield.
- An overriding theme is 'it's the swordsman, not the sword'- characters should be as unreliant as possible on masterwork or magical items.

Anyway- any sort of critism is welcome.

BLESSINGS


LOGIC
Maganna is a low magic world; the characters are not going to be standard D&D characters, who might well carry a King’s ransom of treasure in the form of magic and masterwork items on their person. The Steel and Roses campaign takes many of it’s cues from the poor, out of luck adventurer; whether it is the three musketeers pawning off the rewards to Queens to pay their food bills, the crew from Cowboy Beebop always on the path to find that elusive big bounty or Conan beginning an adventure fleeing for his life from a failed gamble, swashbuckling archetypes always seem to have to get by with a sword, a couple of copper pennies and a very hopeful attitude.

This may be accurate and very noble in a sort of humble way, but it removed the main benefit of treasure- the sense of reward one obtains. This is clearly something that has to be addressed in a way that still maintains campaign canon. The result was to provide benefits akin to feats that still allowed players some degree of choice and selection. The results are blessings.

WHAT
Blessings are benefits drawn from a pool of sources; bitter experience, personal traits, low-level magic, super- or hyper-natural influences, material rewards or minor vows. They can best be thought of as story-related feats; character benefits that alter or disappear over time. The mechanics for reward combine elements of both character advancement and treasure.

WHY

Blessings represent a number of forces that pervade a low-magic setting; the subtle influence of the gods, narrative effect and character traits given some degree of power; they represent the truly heroic feel of the campaign. They encourage role-playing, daring and focus on successful story completion. They allow a reward system to exist in situations and campaigns where material rewards are, by definition, low on the ground. They allow the characters to (to some degree) optimize and flavor their characters in a fashion similar to treasure, and in a fashion far more effective than feats allow.

HOW

Blessings are obtained in the following manner:

• Story awards: The simplest manner of obtaining blessings are from completing campaign missions, in a fashion similar to story awards; these will include central as well as secondary awards. The blessings awarded in this fashion will form the background of party blessings that will allow even those players with a cautious frame of mind and little talent at acting choices and options. The most common blessings obtained in this manner will be Bounties or Inspirations.

• Feats of Daring: Blessings are also gained from actions of amazing valor or daring; moments when the character takes risks to achieve heroic results. This encourages a style of game play that best reflects the innovative and daring mood of swashbuckling. The most common blessings obtained in this manner will be Tricks or Inspirations.

• Role-playing- Players who role-play well or facilitate the role-playing of others well will gain blessings. Moments of great role-playing, as well as material sacrifices in the name of character development, are excellent catalysts for the development of useful traits that define so many blessings. The most common blessings obtained in this manner are Inspirations and Weirds.

WHEN

Blessings are gained at the same time players receive experience points- when they have had time to rest and reflect. Material benefits, such as Bounties, are usually awarded during this time- if this is impossible due to story restraints then they will be given at the earliest possible moment after.

Blessings are only as permanent as you wish them to be, and they can be ‘switched out’ with new blessings as memories dim, fervor dies, the Gods look elsewhere or a trick is melded into a general rise in talent. A player may not possess, however, a total number of blessings exceeding the below chart:

CHARACTER LEVEL MAXIMUM OF BLESSINGS
1-2 1
3-5 2
6-8 3
9-11 4
12-15 5
16-18 6
19+ 7


TYPES OF BLESSINGS

The following are a list of suitable blessings. The DM should not, however, feel limited to the below ideas- Blessings are best matched to the actions of the character rather than a set rule. As a general rule, the blessing should provide a bonus equivalent to a feat under a particular set of circumstances.

BOUNTIES

Bounties are material rewards bequeathed to the players for services rendered. They take the form of money, positions of influence, favors or items of power. They differ from the spoils of the battlefield in both their provision (they tend to be gifts, rewards or the like) and permanency (they are far less likely to be broken, spent out of game play or lost overboard in a storm). They are almost always awarded as story awards (either as a party or personal). Due to the nature of Bounties and the strain they can place on storylines, a player is entitled to possess only one at any given time.

WINDFALL:

This is simply money- the purest, most simple form of reward. The player gains a total equal to 50gp x half their level every level. This money is not bound by the ‘half away’ rule established in the campaign (the rule that states that half of the player’s savings are lost every week of campaign time) and will tend to express itself in some material benefit even if the player washes up naked on a deserted Island. Windfalls rarely amount to very much in the way of cash, but they can be very handy in a tight spot.

FAVOR

You gain a degree of influence with a particular patron. Note that a ‘patron’ does not have to be a more powerful individual; they could be oppressed peasants that hide you from the authorities, a local surgeon that is happy to attend to you after you saved his daughter, and so forth. Once per week, you may attempt to gain a favor from them as per the Favored in House feat from Eberron setting (pp) (see also the favors class ability for the Noble class). This blessing assumes that you have access to your patron to function; if you re-locate to a new region, this blessing cannot be used.

SIGNATURE ITEM

You come into possession of an item of masterwork quality (or greater, at higher levels) that tends to be far more difficult to lose. It almost certainly has an emotional as well as material function; perhaps it is your father’s honor knife, the holy book you received from the High Priest himself, or a locket given to you by your now-kidnapped love. Whatever the item, it grants you a masterwork (or, in certain circumstances, an insight) bonus; furthermore, it cannot be easily lost. If the character is imprisoned, it will almost certainly be in the next room or in the possession of the brutally incompetent jailer. Even if the item is dropped into a volcano or swallowed by a whale, the character will shortly stumble across or even forge a replacement (“I see you have constructed another light saber…”).

TRICKS

Tricks are neat or impressive signature actions that characters develop over the course of adventuring. They are a means of showing off a character’s particular fighting style, supernatural talents or ability to wriggle out of dangerous situations. They allow for cinematic actions or impressive feats in the midst of combat. Tricks are most often earned for heroic deeds as well as acts of daring.

MANEUVER

The player gains a maneuver from the Book of Nine Swords, usable once per encounter. This represents some clever trick, secret technique or of-used method of swordplay in the character’s martial skill base. While the exact type of maneuver should depend on the character’s style and decided by the DM, two general rules should apply- a) when selecting maneuver level, treat the sublime class level as half of the class level, and b) unless it has a particularly supernatural justification, obviously magical effects are banned.

TALENTS

The character gains a single Skill Trick from the Complete Scoundrel, usable once per encounter (or else once per minute if this is not an option). The character must possess the relevant skill ranks in order to meet the requirements.

PROPHECY

The character gains the use of one single spell, used as a supernatural ability, once per day. Unless the effects of this spell are extremely subtle (i.e. aid or Bull’s Strength) this trick will not be offered to any character class other than the Prophecy or Arcane Scholar (unless, of course, circumstances permit otherwise…)

INSPIRATIONS

Inspirations are the most common Blessings a character can receive. They are spiritual bulwarks and hard-learned lessons that provide the characters with simple bonuses to certain skills and talents in certain situations. A player may possess a certain number of Inspirations. Note that the feats ‘Vengeful Soul’ and “The Job In Front of You’ are essentially inspirations (although they do not add to your Blessing total).

FOCUS

Once per day, the character may gain a bonus action point to be used for a single type of skill check, such as Heal or Move Silently. This action point can be used if it was part of the player’s regular stock; furthermore, all action points (including the bonus action point) add d8 rather than d6 to the character’s d20 result. A player may not possess more than one Focus for a single skill.

FURY

Similar to the Focus, the Fury grants the player a daily action point to your attack roll to use in a particular situation or circumstance. Typical examples include when the player is fighting a particular person or organization (nemesis); when the player is within a certain distance of a particular individual or place; or when they character is directly fighting for a particular idea, value or goal (such as protecting the weak). All action points used to aid combat rolls when in this particular situations use a d8 rather than d6. Like a focus, a player may not possess more than one type of Fury at any given time.

WARD

You gain a bonus action point, usable once per day, to a saving throw. The Action point is specific to a particular type of threat (prophecy magic, disease, exhaustion, etc). You cannot possess more than one type of ward at any given time. All action points used to augment saving throws for this check use d8 rather than d6.

WEIRDS

Weirds are perhaps the rarest of Blessings. They are almost entirely plot-centric, and relate to supernatural or luck-related influences. More than any other blessing, Weirds hint at a low-level, unseen but strangely felt sense of power.

TIE THAT BINDS

The player possesses a spiritual bond with an NPC or (more rarely) another character. The exact nature of this bond is variable; the other person may by a terrible nemesis or a beloved charge. Whatever the situation, the player may, once per day as a standard action, attempt to determine the following information concerning the subject. The player makes a d20 roll and adds their character level. They may then select a single piece of information from the chart below that has a Binding score less or equal to their result.

BINDING SCORE INFORMATION

0 or less The player gains an insight bonus equal to half their level to any one attack roll against the subject, or any one skill check directly concerning or in opposition to the subject. If this bonus is not used within one minute it is lost.

10 or higher The player is aware of the subject state of health (healthy, bloodied, dying, dead, diseased, etc). The player is also aware if the subject is in immediate danger (DM’s discretion as to what this constitutes).

14 or higher The player is aware of the subject’s emotional state, as well as a general idea as to what they are thinking (typically no more than a ten-word description). The player gains a +5 bonus to all interaction checks when dealing with the subject, as well as a +3 bonus to their armor class when the subject attacks them.

18 or higher The player is aware of the subject’s general location; this may include ‘in the port of Varalia’, ‘a few miles North of here, moving away’, ‘in the Imperial Super-Star Destroyer we’re passing now’ or even ‘right behind you’. It should at the very least be helpful at allowing the character to plot the next movements of the subject, or quickly set a course to meet them.

22 or higher The player is aware of the subject’s general plans, as well as their current situation (such as, planning to flee by boat but hampered by storms wracking the coast). The player also has a sense as to whether the subject is in danger (immediate or not).

26 or higher You may impart of brief image to the subject, as though if you cast a Sending spell. The message takes the form of a hallucination, dream or sudden sense of inspiration on the part of the subject. You also gain a vague sense of the subject’s general location (as above).

Note that in most cases the information is provided via leaps of logic, intuitive senses, odd hallucinations, or other strange yet explainable phenomena. Only rarely does the spiritual bond between the two break out into vulgar, clear-cut magic.

LUCK OF HEROES

One of the most helpful Weirds, this blessing may only be used once per level. The character gains a significant (but not ridiculously so) stroke of luck that can be used to help complete some task or circumnavigate minor problems completely. Note that the players will not get out of problems Scott-free; if the character is locked in a prison, this is enough for a slave girl to unlock their chains and perhaps sneak them a dagger, but not for a Magi to open every door in the dungeon and put the entire garrison to sleep.

DARK BLESSINGS

Important note: Players are not the only characters to obtain blessings. Inevitably, the dark deeds committed by many villains attract the attention of powerful forces beyond space and time; their insanities and cruelties drive them to acts of terror beyond the ability of mere henchmen. DMs may allow certain noticeable NPCs to possess Blessings; these may include the above, as well as other powers that the characters would not expect.

Somebloke
2007-10-28, 11:51 AM
Good? Bad? Terrible? Worse than 2e psionics?

Somebloke
2007-10-31, 01:44 PM
I'll settle for one-word comments. I don't want to start the campaign without at least some idea as to whether this works or not.

PlasticSoldier
2007-10-31, 02:08 PM
From what I read it seems like a good substitute for adventurers being their own banks, but I'm not sure what effect it will have when put together with all the house rules you seem to be using.

Deesix
2007-10-31, 04:08 PM
Looks pretty school. I skimmed it only, because I'm at work, but I could see some potential for this. However, one must be careful of throwing high CR creatures against players, as that is designed to include the christmas tree worth of magic items, and it would be hard to balance these Blessings against the power of those items in any reliable way without making it just as bad as using magic items.

Somebloke
2007-10-31, 04:18 PM
Looks pretty school. I skimmed it only, because I'm at work, but I could see some potential for this. However, one must be careful of throwing high CR creatures against players, as that is designed to include the christmas tree worth of magic items, and it would be hard to balance these Blessings against the power of those items in any reliable way without making it just as bad as using magic items.The majority of opponents would be humans/animals/exotic beasts, although from what I hear of 4th ed, hobgoblins would make good imperial soldiers, etc. A great deal of monsters would be unique/legendary/Things that Should Not Be.

I had considered using real magic items as two-or-three slot items, giving characters powers (and drawbacks) similar to the pact of a binder.

Given the increase in 'special moves' in 4th ed, I will probably end up dropping Tricks as well. The idea is to give the players cool things to do that they have some control over.