Manipulator Talent Tree for D20 Modern

[drawingfreak]

A friend of mine had an idea for a game where one can manipulate the elements, your element depending on your highest ability score. Sounds like Avatar, right? But let's face it, manipulation of the elements isn't all that original in the first place.

I've been looking at the Avatar classes set up by Mophibosheth as well as the sister thread created Eigth_Seraph for inspiration. I also have looked at a D&D 3e third party supplement for super powers and the Mutants and Masterminds power listings.

What we feel would be right is making a talent tree based somewhat on the forms available in Mophibosheth's Avatar classes (lesser, moderate, greater) while drawing from the new Star Wars Saga Edition idea of how to use Force Powers (each power costs a certain amount of points to use and you can only use that move once per encounter).

First off, the elements. Each ability score is tied to an element:
Strength- Earth
Dexterity- Water
Constitution- TBD
Intelligence- TBD
Wisdom- TBD
Charisma- Fire
(elements left: Air, Wood, and one other...perhaps Life or Soul which would be more into healing or status effects, or maybe Lightning)

A manipulation would be one standard action, and attacking while attempting to manipulate would be a full round action. You spend X amount of Manipulation Points (how those are determined we have yet to figure out) to get a chance to use a power. You then roll some kind of manipulation check and that determines your success. If you fail the roll, you don't get the power or Manipulation Points back until you rest.

Not much to go on but that is all we have right now (that I can recall). I will like to hear some ideas on how to begin constructing the Talent Tree for this as well as anything else you think we can add to it.

[drawingfreak]

Feat:

Manipulation Arts
Prerequisite: main class ability score of 15, Combat Martial Arts, trained under another manipulator of the same element
Benefit: You can use martial arts to manipulate a certain element and gain access to a Manipulation Talent Tree.
Normal: Martial Arts are performed normally without the use of the elements or access to the Manipulation Talent Tree.

[jindra34]

i thought wind was generally associated with dex and water with int.

[drawingfreak]

It might be...all i remember from the conversation last night was that we thought water was all fluid, ergo Dex. Always up for rearranging.

[drawingfreak]

New idea:

Each element gets two trees...one for offense and one for defense. Each tree has about 4 or 5 selections.

[Lyndworm]

Normally I refrain from practicing threadomancy, but I feel that I can help your cause. I would suggest that the stats and elements be aligned like so:

Strength - Earth (Earth represents sheer force and resistance.)

Dexterity - Lightning (Lightning represents speed and accuracy.)

Constitution - Wood (Wood represents healing and resurection.)

Intelligence - Water (Water represents knowledge and new ideas.)

Wisdom - Air (Air represents travel and cunning.)

Charisma - Fire (Fire represents passion and will.)

Hopefully this helped.

[jagadaishio]

Rather than having lightning or something like that, you should use metal, as it is one of the eastern elements, along with wood. Lightning is the only one listed which tends not to be a part of any culture's mythos of elements.

[Lyndworm]

Jagadaisho speaks truth. Metal is often included in Eastern elements, and Lightning is included in virtually none. If you prefer a more "accurate" layout, perhaps this will help:

Strength - Metal
Dexterity - Air
Constitution - Earth
Intelligence - Water
Wisdom - Wood
Charisma -Fire