Auranghzeb
2024-02-12, 08:17 AM
Break the skin of civilization and you find the ape, roaring and red-handed
https://imgs.search.brave.com/3FeH8jFjfIWeJum8ogtpZQIzB4Y1_aL3ZvmGqogExiU/rs:fit:860:0:0/g:ce/aHR0cHM6Ly9pLnBp/bmltZy5jb20vb3Jp/Z2luYWxzL2M0L2I1/LzhmL2M0YjU4ZjVj/ZWExOTNhYTNmMzky/MWI2MGIwN2E4ODgx/LmpwZw
The moon hung low in the ink-black sky as Eadric, cloaked in shadows, faced the tyrant king in the heart of his blood-soaked fortress. The air crackled with the tension of impending doom. The clash of steel echoed through the stone halls, as Eadric's blade, forged in the fires of vengeance, met the king's cruel weapon. The two adversaries danced with the ferocity of thunder and lightning, each strike carrying the weight of years of oppression and betrayal. Eadric moved with the grace of a wraith, his eyes ablaze with the fires of justice, while the king fought with the desperation of a cornered beast. In that epic moment, the fate of a kingdom hung in the balance, and the very stones seemed to tremble beneath the thunderous blows!
DM Rolls Nat 20
The cornered king gets a lucky break and leans against the stonewalls of his castle to gain momentum, he swings his axe and guts Eadric like hot butter, his entrails spreading as fast as disease. Eadric the conqueror opened his eyes wide and realized:
"OH FU&$"
***
I have been thinking this for a while. This game comes from several conversations with people and 2 years DMing 5ed and killing exactly one single PC despite running brutal encounters -fair and in their level, I'm not a fan of unbalanced sandbox.
Then I found prof Dungeonmaster's Deathbringer -Completely recomend it- and the game improved, a lot. Since I have been shedding all my conceptions of this game of ours, much as I just love it, and I love making characters, the truth is that there's only an illusion of choice and all the crunch boils down to doing the same with different names.
So, ater all this BS, what are we playing? An open system? a do watchyouwanna? Deathbringer 5e? No. Well, kinda Deathbringer. But not 5ed (yikes)
We are playing with 5 archetypes: The warrior, the scoundrel, the survivalist, the mystic dude/gal and the weird magic dude/gal. Most of DND boils down to those, whatever you call them and whatever insignificant micro-choice they have in a 3.5, PF splatbook or spheres of wonkiness.
My main gripe is that things get too crunchy and specific and when you want to do something cool, you simply don't have it or is completely broken. But don't fret, this is not a new system, a dreaded new standard to conquer all standards. It is but a simple proposition:
Rules: this is 3.5 in regards to abilities, BAB, saves, death, healing, weapon size, spell names (more on that later), action economy, status, etc.
This is 5ed in that we use the wonderful concept of advantage instead of the annoying amount of micro-bonuses to stuff.
And this is 5ed in that buff spells (when they work) require concentration and can't have more than one active.
Warrior: HD 12, Any simple or martial weapon (unarmed strike is a martial weapon) any armor, good BAB, Good fort save. May trade down the HD for a better Ref or Will save.
Advantage on athletic stuff that makes sense.
NOT TODAY: May absorb 1d6 of damage as an immediate action 1/round (you chose if its a parry, a smart anticipation, you take it on your hairy chest and roar and ignore the damage, you snatch that arrow aimed at your head, whatever) this increases one dice category alongside Deathbringer Dice (see below).
Bada$%ery: You may do something cool as a swift 1/encounter (DM's discretion): i.e. attack two enemies at once, spring attack, jump from mount, feint, swing from a chandelier, shove an enemy.
Scoundrel HD 8 Simple weapons and 4 martial weapons. medium BAB good ref, may trade down HD for a better save. Advantage on scoundrely things and skills (more later).
Double damage when flanking.
Slippery: 1/round Swift to Disengage or hide.
Craven's Luck: once per encounter may use an immediate to re-roll or make someone re-roll.
Survivalist HD 10, simple weapons, 2 martial melee weapons, 2 martial ranged weapons. good BAB, good ref and Fort. may downgrade HD for a good will save.
Advantage on survivaly things and skills.
Crafty: 1/encounter immediate action to declare a trick and force 1 enemy to make save DC 12: Dex stops enemy, Fort enemy is dazed 1 round, Will enemy is confused or can't attack. i.e Dex="I throw a snare", Fort "I spit in his face" Will "I feint dead".
Awesome: 1/round may use a swift to do something athletic or acrobatic as part of their movement. i.e jump suddenly, stand from prone, tumble
Mystic: HD 8, simple weapons, 1 martial weapon. light armor. Medium bab Good will save. May downgrade HD for better saves.
Knows 3 cantrips and 2 lvl 1 spells.
Mystic soul: 1/encounter as a swift action may channel mystic energies into something cool: I.e turn undead, lay on hands, smite an enemy, Ki strike, see invisibility.
Gifted: Advantage in mystical things: autohypnosis, concentration, etc. May use those for mystical creative uses off combat: i.e "the sight" minor scrying effect.
Magic dude/gal: HD 6, bad BAB, three simple weapons, good will save. May downgrade HD for better save.
Advantage in spellcasting rolls(more later),
knows 4 cantrips, 3 lvl 1 spells and 1 lvl 2 spell.
1/encounter swift or immediate may do something magically cool: I.e add 1d6 to a spell casting check, try to daze an enemy, counterspell, metamagic (each DD reduce 1 level).
Skills and Backgrounds: skills come from fluff, background and adventuring experience. Are you a warrior from the steppes? Then you can ride and can use as if you had mounted combat and ride by and mounted archery. But you can’t swim.
Are you a mystic from the cold high mountains? Then you can autohypnosis, know religion, heal and sing melodic Ommmmmmsss.
A street urchin from Zamora? Stealth and bluff are your thing. Maybe poison!
A cimerian? Then you are stealthy, athletic, perceptive and noble. But you are probably bad at reading people.
But! Have Your adventures taken you to the high seas? Or to the darkest jungles beyond the black river? Then you are a sailor and can discern what plants kill you.
In sum: pick 10 skills that fit your background. You are considered to have max ranks on those. The rest comes from hard earned learning.
Yes, cherry pick. I can always say no.
Skills can have creative uses that make sense: Heal to recover some hp, handle animal to make a beast sleep, etc.
Spells:
Anyone can learn and cast spells. Anyone. But knowledge is scarce, dangerous and taxing. Casters are living grimoires, they record the spells they learn as runes carved in their skin, and the process can be deadly. All magic is divine and what's divine is arcane. It comes down to what each individual or culture interprets as magic. There's no psionics in this setting, at least not available to characters, and there's 0% transparency between magic, psionics, incarnum, etc. In case it ever matters.
We will use spells from PHB I and II and the Spell compendium, nothing else.
There are no spell points or spell slots. If you know a spell and have it carved in your skin, you can TRY to cast it. Roll an unmodified check vs DC 10+ spell level. Success? You cast. Failure? You don’t. Nat 20? The spell takes place exactly as described in the books! Nat 1? DM rolls a mishap and chaos ensues. DCs are defined by one of your mental scores, up to you and what your character is: bookish, sorcerous, mystical...
Cantrips DC to cast is 8.
Now, one common misconception is that characters are entitled to their magic stuff just working… silly things. Why would it? Magic is powerful and harnessing is a dangerous premise. Magic gals and guys have an advantage on their rolls. But even then… why would casting a spell be more exact than swinging a sword? Why would it work regularly as described? When you pass a casting check, the DM interprets the spell and the situation. Basically, when you learn to cast a fireball, you get the rudimentary manipulation of fire evocation and a general idea of what would happen.
Magic dudes and mystic gals, mystic dudes and mystic gals (and the full spectrum) are constantly looking to learn magic! It Is their Leif motive! The only way to learn a spell is to find one of the ancient books or have someone teach you the secret words! Then carve it in your skin and hope you manage the shock! Once you find a spell, if ever, you must study the words and rites (Spellcraft check varies) and then carve it on your skin, a painful process that drains you. Unmodified check DC 10 or permanently lose 1d4 hp from your max.
Magic items:yeah right! I guess there are some.
Companions and familiars: beasts are food, move on.
Feats: feats are at the rotten core of meaningless specificity. We don’t need them.
Character advancement:
BAB and saves and HD advance with level. Per encounter abilities advance every odd level. Ability score increase ever 4 levels. Nothing else.
What you get, and this is directly from Deathbringer, is Deathbringer dice: every level you get 1 1d6 that become 1d8 at 6th, 1d10 at 10 and so on until 1d20 at 20th. You start with 2 Deathbringer Dice.
These are usable Per encounter, can be combined, and let you do cool stuff as part of actions:
1. Add your dice to an attack, damage, save or other roll.
2. Gain a use of one of your abilities.
3. Spent two to mimic another archetype abilities
4. Gain a benefit from a feat (dm discretion)
5. Gain evasion or mettle
7. Roll for temp hp
8. Spent them to amplify your abilities and make them more epic.
Now, you may ask. What if I want a barbarian, or a bard, or a samurai? Well, that’s easy. None of those are classes nor should they be. Barbarians were what “civilized” folks called those who didn’t speak their language. Barbarian is a background, and it varies widely! A Noble barbarian warlord, Attila the Hun! A “barbarian” dancer or slave. Bards, more of the same. Samurai were a social order, so were knights.
Get too specific and you get dumb classes like the 3.5 samurai… or circumstantial archetypes as in PF.
How do we, then, get the play-like feeling of those? That’s part of your fluff. PF tried to codify some stuff with inspiration, stamina, grit, bushido, etc. the same stuff and again the illusion of micro choices. This is were I’m more open as DM. And also much more restrictive. This right here is what marks alignment, and other choices. I won’t give guidelines until I have a cast of characters, but these could affect your abilities, or add new uses to your skills (BARDS!) or your Deathbringer dice.
Races let's call them species and do what WoC should have done 40 years ago to avoid any debate. You are human AND that really is meaningless as there are no relevant game effects. However, let me hear out if you have demon's blood, or a troll in the family tree, I'll see if has any implications.
Episodic Narrative
I want players that are more interested in the narrative possibilities of the game and want to explore these light rules as a framework to narrate a fast paced pulp adventure. We will level fast, we won't have random encounters, and the adventures will start inmedia res as in the thick of it, as a good story should. If you have the classic Conan adventures, you may get what I mean. Maybe you end an adventure boarding a ship. Next time we see our heroes they have been sailing for 3 years and are crafty pirates. You can even make a new character!
Adventures will be very dungeonish like and very Conan/Lovecraft inspired. Throwing in some gothic novels, mythology from wherever we can imagine from Aztecs to Mughal Empire.
Are you interested?
1. Read the spoiler above
2. Roll 4d6, keep the best 3, add them and add 2 to the result up to a max of 18. Repeat six times.
3. Make a character and give me a paragraph of background adequate for a meaningless 1st level chump from an ancient land that pre-dates history!
4. Be sure to read the spoiler above before you make questions
5. Be sure to read the Q&A spoiler below before asking questions, I'll be updating it as more questions come my way.
6. Ask questions
7. Add your character to the table with a 3.5 or pf myth weavers link
Player
Character
Archetype
Theme
Background
Complete?
Feathersnow
Saxifrage (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/?id=2877520)
Mystic
A tattooed and painted lunatic from far away! that uses magic
Exiled from a Tundra Tribe that has no stuff, only magic.
complete
BloodyMagpie
Alena (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/?id=2877698)
Warrior
The gladiator slave who broke her chains and will use them to strangle anyone who would enslave her again
A mercenary from Corinthia. She became ensnared in a love triangle that ended with her would be romantic rival dead and she herself clasped in irons for the murder. Sentenced to the slave pits to die in the gladiatorial arena, she defied the odds and survived for nearly three years until she managed to free herself and flee the city (and nation) entirely. With no other real skills to speak of, she has turned to mercenary work once again.
yes
BelGareth the myth, the legend himself
GorGarath, the Scourge of the lawless (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/?id=2878015)
Survivalist
Sort of inquisitor law enforcer
Law enforcement (what law?)
yup
Meta
Karnn Dhom (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2878286")
Survivalist
Snake/viperish tribe of humans, definitely not Yuanti
complete
Niw18
Finn the savage (https://og.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2878269)
A near feral unarmed barbarian warrior
savage barbarian that loves using his fist to fight
Finn was raised in a poor Fianna clan, and as part of growing up, he was taught about safe herbs to pick and the warrior way like any kid. His village was raided, and his mother and father were captured by Hyperborean slavers and enslaved. He escaped and hid in the forest. Where he learned the hard way to survive or die due to his hiding in fear of the bad man returning, he grew up in the forest and had to learn to protect himself and how to survive on his own. This left him nearly feral but the most savage warrior ever of his people.
Should be completed
Alternates:
Player
Character
Archetype
Theme
Background
Complete?
Redfeline
my sheet (https://og.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2878595)
Escaped slave trained in medicine, healing, and speach
Vengeance upon tyrants
Across the face of this escaped slave runs a streak of eldritch blue. Across her arms and her body similar tattoos appear but with in deep cut scars. Her clothing in plain and simple, her hair lies in messy blonde locks, and her eyes speak of an iron will.
When asked for a name, she holds up 4 fingers. She may not have a name but she speaks with skilled confidence and nuance. She is willing to fight, she has fought her entire life, but she has learned to hide her inner rage well.
At one time there were 5 young slaves, each assigned a number, each forced into the world of arcane torments. They were to serve the noble position of royal magician, a short lived career. Into the flesh of these five captives iron cut runes were carved. Spells to aide his most esteemed and gracious majesty in his conquest over the mortal domains. May he long rule, or preferably may he long rot.
When only two of the slaves remained, perhaps because their supposed elven blood, they served him well. Not that they were ever shown kindness for it. They severed in his barbaric courts, transferring his words to newly conquered lands, ensuring his meals were not pensioned, and tending to even the smallest cuts to fall upon his feet.
As time went on, and the emperor's lust grew for more than just power over the lands. He began to favor one of the slaves with increased attention and unwelcomed closeness. Continued service to his his most esteemed and gracious majesty, became unbearable and only death or escape remained. And so it was that one of the sisters died and the other escaped as far as her feet would carry her.
yes
Dusk Raven
Jacintha, Runaway Thief (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/?id=2878623)
Scoundrel
Cat burglar forced to fight for her survival.
She's a thief and cat burglar who had something decent going with a friend until the local criminal underworld had a probably with a couple young ladies making a name for themselves. With her friend dead and herself on the run, Jacintha just wants to survive - but if she survives long enough, and gains enough power, she might just return for revenge.
Complete
1. Cantrips DC to cast is 8
2. Cantrips require carving but have no risk of damaging the learner.
3. Can there be non-human options? I'm open to creative input as part of the character's theme.
4. Can I fight with two weapons? yes, that's the whole point of this abstract patch. If your character can use a a knife, he can fight with two knives, no feat required. If your character is an archer, is likely he freaking knows how to not hit his allies. Do you want to do something like improved precise shot? Spent a Deathbringer dice. Do you want to ricochet an arrow to cut a corner and hit a target over cover? Spent 3 Deathbringer dice and so on.
5. Can a Mystic gal downgrade the HD twice to get all good saves? Yes, the only one who can't get three good saves is the Magic-person -From now on Grimoire- since
they can only go down to 1D4.
6. No large creatures. Small is ok, if you want to make a small adventurer it's fine, but not even Boombata was Large.
7. Unarmed Strike is a 1d6 weapon damage. It won't advance as monk, but there will be In-story ways of improving it. The Main takeaway is to abandon the notion of guaranteed linear progression of stuff
8. What about starting gear? We won't be tracking gear as much as we won't be tracking bodily needs unless is relevant for the story. Since the stories are episodic, I'll give you gear at the start of each adventure, from weapons to horses, rations, etc. If your character finds a cool item and attunes to it, there's a good chance to keep it through adventures.
9. We are using PF merged skills as in Stealth (MS & Hide), Perception (Spot and Listen), But we are keeping Concentration and merging Climb and Swim into Athletics.
https://imgs.search.brave.com/3FeH8jFjfIWeJum8ogtpZQIzB4Y1_aL3ZvmGqogExiU/rs:fit:860:0:0/g:ce/aHR0cHM6Ly9pLnBp/bmltZy5jb20vb3Jp/Z2luYWxzL2M0L2I1/LzhmL2M0YjU4ZjVj/ZWExOTNhYTNmMzky/MWI2MGIwN2E4ODgx/LmpwZw
The moon hung low in the ink-black sky as Eadric, cloaked in shadows, faced the tyrant king in the heart of his blood-soaked fortress. The air crackled with the tension of impending doom. The clash of steel echoed through the stone halls, as Eadric's blade, forged in the fires of vengeance, met the king's cruel weapon. The two adversaries danced with the ferocity of thunder and lightning, each strike carrying the weight of years of oppression and betrayal. Eadric moved with the grace of a wraith, his eyes ablaze with the fires of justice, while the king fought with the desperation of a cornered beast. In that epic moment, the fate of a kingdom hung in the balance, and the very stones seemed to tremble beneath the thunderous blows!
DM Rolls Nat 20
The cornered king gets a lucky break and leans against the stonewalls of his castle to gain momentum, he swings his axe and guts Eadric like hot butter, his entrails spreading as fast as disease. Eadric the conqueror opened his eyes wide and realized:
"OH FU&$"
***
I have been thinking this for a while. This game comes from several conversations with people and 2 years DMing 5ed and killing exactly one single PC despite running brutal encounters -fair and in their level, I'm not a fan of unbalanced sandbox.
Then I found prof Dungeonmaster's Deathbringer -Completely recomend it- and the game improved, a lot. Since I have been shedding all my conceptions of this game of ours, much as I just love it, and I love making characters, the truth is that there's only an illusion of choice and all the crunch boils down to doing the same with different names.
So, ater all this BS, what are we playing? An open system? a do watchyouwanna? Deathbringer 5e? No. Well, kinda Deathbringer. But not 5ed (yikes)
We are playing with 5 archetypes: The warrior, the scoundrel, the survivalist, the mystic dude/gal and the weird magic dude/gal. Most of DND boils down to those, whatever you call them and whatever insignificant micro-choice they have in a 3.5, PF splatbook or spheres of wonkiness.
My main gripe is that things get too crunchy and specific and when you want to do something cool, you simply don't have it or is completely broken. But don't fret, this is not a new system, a dreaded new standard to conquer all standards. It is but a simple proposition:
Rules: this is 3.5 in regards to abilities, BAB, saves, death, healing, weapon size, spell names (more on that later), action economy, status, etc.
This is 5ed in that we use the wonderful concept of advantage instead of the annoying amount of micro-bonuses to stuff.
And this is 5ed in that buff spells (when they work) require concentration and can't have more than one active.
Warrior: HD 12, Any simple or martial weapon (unarmed strike is a martial weapon) any armor, good BAB, Good fort save. May trade down the HD for a better Ref or Will save.
Advantage on athletic stuff that makes sense.
NOT TODAY: May absorb 1d6 of damage as an immediate action 1/round (you chose if its a parry, a smart anticipation, you take it on your hairy chest and roar and ignore the damage, you snatch that arrow aimed at your head, whatever) this increases one dice category alongside Deathbringer Dice (see below).
Bada$%ery: You may do something cool as a swift 1/encounter (DM's discretion): i.e. attack two enemies at once, spring attack, jump from mount, feint, swing from a chandelier, shove an enemy.
Scoundrel HD 8 Simple weapons and 4 martial weapons. medium BAB good ref, may trade down HD for a better save. Advantage on scoundrely things and skills (more later).
Double damage when flanking.
Slippery: 1/round Swift to Disengage or hide.
Craven's Luck: once per encounter may use an immediate to re-roll or make someone re-roll.
Survivalist HD 10, simple weapons, 2 martial melee weapons, 2 martial ranged weapons. good BAB, good ref and Fort. may downgrade HD for a good will save.
Advantage on survivaly things and skills.
Crafty: 1/encounter immediate action to declare a trick and force 1 enemy to make save DC 12: Dex stops enemy, Fort enemy is dazed 1 round, Will enemy is confused or can't attack. i.e Dex="I throw a snare", Fort "I spit in his face" Will "I feint dead".
Awesome: 1/round may use a swift to do something athletic or acrobatic as part of their movement. i.e jump suddenly, stand from prone, tumble
Mystic: HD 8, simple weapons, 1 martial weapon. light armor. Medium bab Good will save. May downgrade HD for better saves.
Knows 3 cantrips and 2 lvl 1 spells.
Mystic soul: 1/encounter as a swift action may channel mystic energies into something cool: I.e turn undead, lay on hands, smite an enemy, Ki strike, see invisibility.
Gifted: Advantage in mystical things: autohypnosis, concentration, etc. May use those for mystical creative uses off combat: i.e "the sight" minor scrying effect.
Magic dude/gal: HD 6, bad BAB, three simple weapons, good will save. May downgrade HD for better save.
Advantage in spellcasting rolls(more later),
knows 4 cantrips, 3 lvl 1 spells and 1 lvl 2 spell.
1/encounter swift or immediate may do something magically cool: I.e add 1d6 to a spell casting check, try to daze an enemy, counterspell, metamagic (each DD reduce 1 level).
Skills and Backgrounds: skills come from fluff, background and adventuring experience. Are you a warrior from the steppes? Then you can ride and can use as if you had mounted combat and ride by and mounted archery. But you can’t swim.
Are you a mystic from the cold high mountains? Then you can autohypnosis, know religion, heal and sing melodic Ommmmmmsss.
A street urchin from Zamora? Stealth and bluff are your thing. Maybe poison!
A cimerian? Then you are stealthy, athletic, perceptive and noble. But you are probably bad at reading people.
But! Have Your adventures taken you to the high seas? Or to the darkest jungles beyond the black river? Then you are a sailor and can discern what plants kill you.
In sum: pick 10 skills that fit your background. You are considered to have max ranks on those. The rest comes from hard earned learning.
Yes, cherry pick. I can always say no.
Skills can have creative uses that make sense: Heal to recover some hp, handle animal to make a beast sleep, etc.
Spells:
Anyone can learn and cast spells. Anyone. But knowledge is scarce, dangerous and taxing. Casters are living grimoires, they record the spells they learn as runes carved in their skin, and the process can be deadly. All magic is divine and what's divine is arcane. It comes down to what each individual or culture interprets as magic. There's no psionics in this setting, at least not available to characters, and there's 0% transparency between magic, psionics, incarnum, etc. In case it ever matters.
We will use spells from PHB I and II and the Spell compendium, nothing else.
There are no spell points or spell slots. If you know a spell and have it carved in your skin, you can TRY to cast it. Roll an unmodified check vs DC 10+ spell level. Success? You cast. Failure? You don’t. Nat 20? The spell takes place exactly as described in the books! Nat 1? DM rolls a mishap and chaos ensues. DCs are defined by one of your mental scores, up to you and what your character is: bookish, sorcerous, mystical...
Cantrips DC to cast is 8.
Now, one common misconception is that characters are entitled to their magic stuff just working… silly things. Why would it? Magic is powerful and harnessing is a dangerous premise. Magic gals and guys have an advantage on their rolls. But even then… why would casting a spell be more exact than swinging a sword? Why would it work regularly as described? When you pass a casting check, the DM interprets the spell and the situation. Basically, when you learn to cast a fireball, you get the rudimentary manipulation of fire evocation and a general idea of what would happen.
Magic dudes and mystic gals, mystic dudes and mystic gals (and the full spectrum) are constantly looking to learn magic! It Is their Leif motive! The only way to learn a spell is to find one of the ancient books or have someone teach you the secret words! Then carve it in your skin and hope you manage the shock! Once you find a spell, if ever, you must study the words and rites (Spellcraft check varies) and then carve it on your skin, a painful process that drains you. Unmodified check DC 10 or permanently lose 1d4 hp from your max.
Magic items:yeah right! I guess there are some.
Companions and familiars: beasts are food, move on.
Feats: feats are at the rotten core of meaningless specificity. We don’t need them.
Character advancement:
BAB and saves and HD advance with level. Per encounter abilities advance every odd level. Ability score increase ever 4 levels. Nothing else.
What you get, and this is directly from Deathbringer, is Deathbringer dice: every level you get 1 1d6 that become 1d8 at 6th, 1d10 at 10 and so on until 1d20 at 20th. You start with 2 Deathbringer Dice.
These are usable Per encounter, can be combined, and let you do cool stuff as part of actions:
1. Add your dice to an attack, damage, save or other roll.
2. Gain a use of one of your abilities.
3. Spent two to mimic another archetype abilities
4. Gain a benefit from a feat (dm discretion)
5. Gain evasion or mettle
7. Roll for temp hp
8. Spent them to amplify your abilities and make them more epic.
Now, you may ask. What if I want a barbarian, or a bard, or a samurai? Well, that’s easy. None of those are classes nor should they be. Barbarians were what “civilized” folks called those who didn’t speak their language. Barbarian is a background, and it varies widely! A Noble barbarian warlord, Attila the Hun! A “barbarian” dancer or slave. Bards, more of the same. Samurai were a social order, so were knights.
Get too specific and you get dumb classes like the 3.5 samurai… or circumstantial archetypes as in PF.
How do we, then, get the play-like feeling of those? That’s part of your fluff. PF tried to codify some stuff with inspiration, stamina, grit, bushido, etc. the same stuff and again the illusion of micro choices. This is were I’m more open as DM. And also much more restrictive. This right here is what marks alignment, and other choices. I won’t give guidelines until I have a cast of characters, but these could affect your abilities, or add new uses to your skills (BARDS!) or your Deathbringer dice.
Races let's call them species and do what WoC should have done 40 years ago to avoid any debate. You are human AND that really is meaningless as there are no relevant game effects. However, let me hear out if you have demon's blood, or a troll in the family tree, I'll see if has any implications.
Episodic Narrative
I want players that are more interested in the narrative possibilities of the game and want to explore these light rules as a framework to narrate a fast paced pulp adventure. We will level fast, we won't have random encounters, and the adventures will start inmedia res as in the thick of it, as a good story should. If you have the classic Conan adventures, you may get what I mean. Maybe you end an adventure boarding a ship. Next time we see our heroes they have been sailing for 3 years and are crafty pirates. You can even make a new character!
Adventures will be very dungeonish like and very Conan/Lovecraft inspired. Throwing in some gothic novels, mythology from wherever we can imagine from Aztecs to Mughal Empire.
Are you interested?
1. Read the spoiler above
2. Roll 4d6, keep the best 3, add them and add 2 to the result up to a max of 18. Repeat six times.
3. Make a character and give me a paragraph of background adequate for a meaningless 1st level chump from an ancient land that pre-dates history!
4. Be sure to read the spoiler above before you make questions
5. Be sure to read the Q&A spoiler below before asking questions, I'll be updating it as more questions come my way.
6. Ask questions
7. Add your character to the table with a 3.5 or pf myth weavers link
Player
Character
Archetype
Theme
Background
Complete?
Feathersnow
Saxifrage (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/?id=2877520)
Mystic
A tattooed and painted lunatic from far away! that uses magic
Exiled from a Tundra Tribe that has no stuff, only magic.
complete
BloodyMagpie
Alena (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/?id=2877698)
Warrior
The gladiator slave who broke her chains and will use them to strangle anyone who would enslave her again
A mercenary from Corinthia. She became ensnared in a love triangle that ended with her would be romantic rival dead and she herself clasped in irons for the murder. Sentenced to the slave pits to die in the gladiatorial arena, she defied the odds and survived for nearly three years until she managed to free herself and flee the city (and nation) entirely. With no other real skills to speak of, she has turned to mercenary work once again.
yes
BelGareth the myth, the legend himself
GorGarath, the Scourge of the lawless (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/?id=2878015)
Survivalist
Sort of inquisitor law enforcer
Law enforcement (what law?)
yup
Meta
Karnn Dhom (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2878286")
Survivalist
Snake/viperish tribe of humans, definitely not Yuanti
complete
Niw18
Finn the savage (https://og.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2878269)
A near feral unarmed barbarian warrior
savage barbarian that loves using his fist to fight
Finn was raised in a poor Fianna clan, and as part of growing up, he was taught about safe herbs to pick and the warrior way like any kid. His village was raided, and his mother and father were captured by Hyperborean slavers and enslaved. He escaped and hid in the forest. Where he learned the hard way to survive or die due to his hiding in fear of the bad man returning, he grew up in the forest and had to learn to protect himself and how to survive on his own. This left him nearly feral but the most savage warrior ever of his people.
Should be completed
Alternates:
Player
Character
Archetype
Theme
Background
Complete?
Redfeline
my sheet (https://og.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2878595)
Escaped slave trained in medicine, healing, and speach
Vengeance upon tyrants
Across the face of this escaped slave runs a streak of eldritch blue. Across her arms and her body similar tattoos appear but with in deep cut scars. Her clothing in plain and simple, her hair lies in messy blonde locks, and her eyes speak of an iron will.
When asked for a name, she holds up 4 fingers. She may not have a name but she speaks with skilled confidence and nuance. She is willing to fight, she has fought her entire life, but she has learned to hide her inner rage well.
At one time there were 5 young slaves, each assigned a number, each forced into the world of arcane torments. They were to serve the noble position of royal magician, a short lived career. Into the flesh of these five captives iron cut runes were carved. Spells to aide his most esteemed and gracious majesty in his conquest over the mortal domains. May he long rule, or preferably may he long rot.
When only two of the slaves remained, perhaps because their supposed elven blood, they served him well. Not that they were ever shown kindness for it. They severed in his barbaric courts, transferring his words to newly conquered lands, ensuring his meals were not pensioned, and tending to even the smallest cuts to fall upon his feet.
As time went on, and the emperor's lust grew for more than just power over the lands. He began to favor one of the slaves with increased attention and unwelcomed closeness. Continued service to his his most esteemed and gracious majesty, became unbearable and only death or escape remained. And so it was that one of the sisters died and the other escaped as far as her feet would carry her.
yes
Dusk Raven
Jacintha, Runaway Thief (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/?id=2878623)
Scoundrel
Cat burglar forced to fight for her survival.
She's a thief and cat burglar who had something decent going with a friend until the local criminal underworld had a probably with a couple young ladies making a name for themselves. With her friend dead and herself on the run, Jacintha just wants to survive - but if she survives long enough, and gains enough power, she might just return for revenge.
Complete
1. Cantrips DC to cast is 8
2. Cantrips require carving but have no risk of damaging the learner.
3. Can there be non-human options? I'm open to creative input as part of the character's theme.
4. Can I fight with two weapons? yes, that's the whole point of this abstract patch. If your character can use a a knife, he can fight with two knives, no feat required. If your character is an archer, is likely he freaking knows how to not hit his allies. Do you want to do something like improved precise shot? Spent a Deathbringer dice. Do you want to ricochet an arrow to cut a corner and hit a target over cover? Spent 3 Deathbringer dice and so on.
5. Can a Mystic gal downgrade the HD twice to get all good saves? Yes, the only one who can't get three good saves is the Magic-person -From now on Grimoire- since
they can only go down to 1D4.
6. No large creatures. Small is ok, if you want to make a small adventurer it's fine, but not even Boombata was Large.
7. Unarmed Strike is a 1d6 weapon damage. It won't advance as monk, but there will be In-story ways of improving it. The Main takeaway is to abandon the notion of guaranteed linear progression of stuff
8. What about starting gear? We won't be tracking gear as much as we won't be tracking bodily needs unless is relevant for the story. Since the stories are episodic, I'll give you gear at the start of each adventure, from weapons to horses, rations, etc. If your character finds a cool item and attunes to it, there's a good chance to keep it through adventures.
9. We are using PF merged skills as in Stealth (MS & Hide), Perception (Spot and Listen), But we are keeping Concentration and merging Climb and Swim into Athletics.