Thane of Fife
2008-09-25, 06:22 PM
"I am Adam, prince of Eternia and defender of the secrets of Castle Greyskull. This is Cringer, my fearless friend. Fabulous secret powers were revealed to me the day I held aloft my magic sword and said,
'By the power of Greyskull!'"
-Intro to He-Man
It has recently struck me that, as far as I'm aware, there's no good way to really play a game set in Eternia, Mer, or simply the apocalyptic Earth of Thundarr the Barbarian. Certainly, one could houserule some edition of dungeons and dragons to fit, but it wouldn't quite capture the spirit of the programs. Hence, we have Action Cartoon d20 (and if you can think of a better name, I'd be grateful). Note that this does not encompass anime - that's a different style.
Why use d20?
1. I don't want to create a whole new system.
2. I think that a system as broad as d20 can be shoved into where I want.
Alright, with that done, to work:
Quirks of the Subject Matter:
1. Non-lethal combat: The heroes (PCs) never actually kill anybody. While they have weapons, they never actually hack people open with them.
2. Weird mix of sci-fi and fantasy: Sorcerers + Robots = Cool
3. Fairly simple storylines.
4. Archetypes: Most characters fit into one of a number of definable character types, which we can use as classes.
Source Material:
He-Man, Pirates of Dark Water, Thundarr the Barbarian, among others
Classes:
(These are the ones I think are necessary - if you have other ideas, shoot)
Barbarian - A warrior who relies primarily on his strength and agility to see him victorious. He's a skilled warrior, and uses his physical might to best advantage. Does things like throw really big rocks, or pound the floor to create shockwaves. See He-Man, She-Ra (maybe) and Thundarr.
Swashbuckler - The swashbuckler uses flashy moves to fight off his foes. He swings from ropes, disarms and trips his foes, etc. See Ioz and Ren. Possibly Teela.
Blaster - The blaster fires rays and blasts from his hands, and may boast a number of other gadgets. He is more physical than magical, and may also boast some sort of weapon. See Man-at-Arms, most Robots, and Space Ghost.
Archer (Possible Class) - Does what it says on the tin. Shoots a variety of specialty arrows, bolts, or bullets. Best example is Bow.
Specialist - A fairly generic class, focuses on some weird schtick, like jumping or flying. Best examples are Ram-man, Stratos, or a person with a scorpion stinger.
Animal - An incredible physical specimen, the animal is basically all about having good ability scores and natural attacks. Disadvantages include inability to use most equipment and probably multi-class penalties. See Battlecat and Ookla.
Sorcerer - The first magical class, the sorcerer is somewhat similar to the blaster in that he relies primarily on beams and such. The difference is that the sorcerer's beams generally cause status ailments - levitation, sleep, etc. See Ariel.
Wizard - Not recommended for a PC class, the wizard is moderately capable at fighting, but is primarily based around using Artifacts of Power, and can use such items better than any other class, most of whom can use only the most rudimentary powers of such items. The wizard is dependent upon his artifacts of power in that most of his abilities focus on using them better, but is moderately competent even without. See Skeletor or The Sorceress.
Magician - The final class, the magician covers the remainder of magical effects - summoning, influencing, teleportation, and transformation. Such magic is generally difficult to use, and often requires moderately lengthy amounts of time to use effectively. See Orko and Tula.
Weapons:
General idea is that, instead of causing damage when hitting with a weapon, a character can choose to make an immediate unarmed attack, which will not provoke an attack of opportunity. Should perhaps be better. Should allow for some method of parrying blasts.
Hit Points:
This system uses the Vitality Points / Wound Points system. When a character is reduced to 0 Wound Points, he is either knocked unconscious or slain, depending upon how the damage is done.
Alignment:
All characters have 1-2 alignments, a Primary Alignment and, possibly, a Secondary Alignment.
Alignments are things like Heroic, Loyal (Cause), Villainous, Greedy, etc. Alignment is read Secondary Primary, so a character might, for example, be Loyal Heroic or Villainous Loyal.
Needs work, but is underway.
Alter-Egos:
The idea of characters with two identities is a common one in the source material - see He-Man, She-Ra, Samson and Goliath, etc. Such characters should be possible here as well. They will generally function as two separate characters, with one of them receiving attribute bonuses. I'm not really sure how this should work.
Bonus Feats:
Final big change (as far as I can see right now), will be feats. Normal bonus feats are gone. Instead, when characters hit certain levels of ability, they automatically acquire certain feats. For example, a character might gain the Disarm Feat once his BAB hits +1. Not a high threshold, but more potent feats will have higher requirements.
Some class abilities may actually be attack or ability modifiers, so as to make the acquiring of bonus feats easier.
Comments, questions welcome. Help/Collaboration are definately appreciated.
'By the power of Greyskull!'"
-Intro to He-Man
It has recently struck me that, as far as I'm aware, there's no good way to really play a game set in Eternia, Mer, or simply the apocalyptic Earth of Thundarr the Barbarian. Certainly, one could houserule some edition of dungeons and dragons to fit, but it wouldn't quite capture the spirit of the programs. Hence, we have Action Cartoon d20 (and if you can think of a better name, I'd be grateful). Note that this does not encompass anime - that's a different style.
Why use d20?
1. I don't want to create a whole new system.
2. I think that a system as broad as d20 can be shoved into where I want.
Alright, with that done, to work:
Quirks of the Subject Matter:
1. Non-lethal combat: The heroes (PCs) never actually kill anybody. While they have weapons, they never actually hack people open with them.
2. Weird mix of sci-fi and fantasy: Sorcerers + Robots = Cool
3. Fairly simple storylines.
4. Archetypes: Most characters fit into one of a number of definable character types, which we can use as classes.
Source Material:
He-Man, Pirates of Dark Water, Thundarr the Barbarian, among others
Classes:
(These are the ones I think are necessary - if you have other ideas, shoot)
Barbarian - A warrior who relies primarily on his strength and agility to see him victorious. He's a skilled warrior, and uses his physical might to best advantage. Does things like throw really big rocks, or pound the floor to create shockwaves. See He-Man, She-Ra (maybe) and Thundarr.
Swashbuckler - The swashbuckler uses flashy moves to fight off his foes. He swings from ropes, disarms and trips his foes, etc. See Ioz and Ren. Possibly Teela.
Blaster - The blaster fires rays and blasts from his hands, and may boast a number of other gadgets. He is more physical than magical, and may also boast some sort of weapon. See Man-at-Arms, most Robots, and Space Ghost.
Archer (Possible Class) - Does what it says on the tin. Shoots a variety of specialty arrows, bolts, or bullets. Best example is Bow.
Specialist - A fairly generic class, focuses on some weird schtick, like jumping or flying. Best examples are Ram-man, Stratos, or a person with a scorpion stinger.
Animal - An incredible physical specimen, the animal is basically all about having good ability scores and natural attacks. Disadvantages include inability to use most equipment and probably multi-class penalties. See Battlecat and Ookla.
Sorcerer - The first magical class, the sorcerer is somewhat similar to the blaster in that he relies primarily on beams and such. The difference is that the sorcerer's beams generally cause status ailments - levitation, sleep, etc. See Ariel.
Wizard - Not recommended for a PC class, the wizard is moderately capable at fighting, but is primarily based around using Artifacts of Power, and can use such items better than any other class, most of whom can use only the most rudimentary powers of such items. The wizard is dependent upon his artifacts of power in that most of his abilities focus on using them better, but is moderately competent even without. See Skeletor or The Sorceress.
Magician - The final class, the magician covers the remainder of magical effects - summoning, influencing, teleportation, and transformation. Such magic is generally difficult to use, and often requires moderately lengthy amounts of time to use effectively. See Orko and Tula.
Weapons:
General idea is that, instead of causing damage when hitting with a weapon, a character can choose to make an immediate unarmed attack, which will not provoke an attack of opportunity. Should perhaps be better. Should allow for some method of parrying blasts.
Hit Points:
This system uses the Vitality Points / Wound Points system. When a character is reduced to 0 Wound Points, he is either knocked unconscious or slain, depending upon how the damage is done.
Alignment:
All characters have 1-2 alignments, a Primary Alignment and, possibly, a Secondary Alignment.
Alignments are things like Heroic, Loyal (Cause), Villainous, Greedy, etc. Alignment is read Secondary Primary, so a character might, for example, be Loyal Heroic or Villainous Loyal.
Needs work, but is underway.
Alter-Egos:
The idea of characters with two identities is a common one in the source material - see He-Man, She-Ra, Samson and Goliath, etc. Such characters should be possible here as well. They will generally function as two separate characters, with one of them receiving attribute bonuses. I'm not really sure how this should work.
Bonus Feats:
Final big change (as far as I can see right now), will be feats. Normal bonus feats are gone. Instead, when characters hit certain levels of ability, they automatically acquire certain feats. For example, a character might gain the Disarm Feat once his BAB hits +1. Not a high threshold, but more potent feats will have higher requirements.
Some class abilities may actually be attack or ability modifiers, so as to make the acquiring of bonus feats easier.
Comments, questions welcome. Help/Collaboration are definately appreciated.