Gol darn whippersnappers...

* Waves his now rounded soft plastic dice with yellowed crayon filling.

My thoughts exactly.  The 3.0 -> 3.5 -> 4.0 rules changes were nothing like the 1st edition to 2nd edition changes (remember character kits, anyone?).

<grumpy old man>
I have dice older than these so-called "veteran" players.
</grumpy old man>

Thanks, Alex.

I figured there was a better mechanic than I was looking at.  I appreciate the simplicity of your suggestions and that they are expandable to multiple triggers and conditions.

[Species Feats]

Thanks for the responses, but I was thinking in the opposite direction.  The Reviled trait would be used for some Species builds, but not necessarily all.

This trait reflects a "conflicted nature," i.e., that the character doesn't have full control over themself and they actively fight against it.  The examples listed in the first post are only the most obvious (vampire, werewolf, etc.) some other examples would be "Ella Enchanted" who had to do whatever someone commanded her, and Barak from the Belgariad when he turns into a bear whenever Garion is in trouble.  In these cases, the character does not have the Reviled trait.

Here is my stab at the trait in game terms:

Tormented Soul: You have a dual nature that causes you to lose control of yourself and do things you don't want to.  Roll a Will save whenever X is triggered.  If you fail the save, your character becomes an NPC for the next 1d6 hours of game time. [-3.5]

Potential triggers (talent designer selects one):
Stress (a la Dr. Jekyll) - when the character becomes Shaken II and each higher level
Battle Rage (like a Berserker) - when the character draws first blood on the second opponent and each subsequent opponent
Blood Lust (like a predator) - when the character kills his second opponent and each subsequent opponent
Fatigued  - when the character becomes Fatigued II and each higher level

Species Feats

Greater Will...
Requirements: Tormented Soul talent trait
Benefit: +2 to Will save against Tormented Soul.  Can re-try save every hour.

...To Do What is Right
Requirements: Greater Will
Benefit: +1 to Wisdom.  Tormented Soul trigger occurs one step higher, i.e., Shaken III instead of Shaken II.  If you fail the save, the time is only 1d3 hours.

At Peace With Oneself
Requirements: To Do What is Right
Benefit: Trigger occurs one step higher, i.e., Shaken IV instead of Shaken III.  +4 to Will save against Tormented Soul.

----------------

I want the drawback to be heavy, thus the NPC status for such a long time, but I also want the potential for it to be overcome, thus the feat chain.  The feats seem underpowered, though, even with their ability to remove a trait drawback.

Any ideas?

I need some help designing and cost-sizing a Species Drawback called Tormented Soul. 

There are many examples of the "good" evil creature - vampire, werewolf, demonspawn, drow - where the creature (i.e., character) is fighting against his nature to be something better.  Could this be condensed into a Species trait?  I know it is better to have it be role-played, and probably involve subplots, but I was curious if it could be reduced to a game mechanism for beginning players. 

I envision there being two ways a character can remove this trait, one positively (through a subplot) and one negatively (by willfully succumbing to the "evil" nature).

I can see the big picture, but the details are extremely fuzzy.

Thanks,
itinerant

Very cool concept, one that I would like to use.   

I agree the gamebreaker is very weak.  I also noticed that there is only one Level 2 benefit and all it does is raise the maximum level of ranks by 1.  It doesn't even give any bonus ranks, so it is effectively useless.

Other than those two things, I like very much.

Does anyone know which fonts were used for the first page writeup of the Fantasy Craft Iconics?

I would like to make some of my own and have them as close the the official ones as possible.

Thanks,
itinerant

It's funny how intelligent you think you are until someone asks you what subjects you really know. 

I would consider myself knowledgeable in:

• Political Theory
• American political system
• Economics
• American History between 1750 and 1830
• American Old West between 1850 and 1890
• Philosophy
• Broadway Musicals
• Stagecraft (lights, sound, set construction, makeup, directing, etc.)

Thank you very much!

This is a very snazzy character sheet.  Would you be willing to post the Inkscape version so we could modify the non-standard skill foci?

Thanks.

I spent some months converting the entire SRD of monsters.  They are fairly easy to do on an individual basis for playing, but assigning "official" xp is more problematic. 

For example, the Shambling Mound is immune to electricity, and even gets healed by it.  On the spot rulings make this easy to play, but there is no simple way to define it using the current NPC rules.

One other problem (as mentioned in other threads) is that the Monster Manual does not have a sliding threat level.  Thus, for a single adventure where the strength of the party is known, converting a monster is somewhat easy (just decide how powerful you want it relative to the party), but coming up with a definition that applies to all party levels is much more difficult.

Edited for spelling

So let me see if i understand. Scientist will be the new class for the "one skill Wonders" types like wheelman and hacker? if it's so, please, change the name of the class to something more general... like Prodigy or something in that line... The name Scientist doesn't fit very well in the kind of games that these classes were used usually

al

But the name of the class is not relevant in character.  I have a character who is described as an Broadway Actor.  His class is Scientist, but his Ph.D. was in Theater (aka Impress).  The class and the concept are two entirely different things.  When talking to other players or characters, the role or concept is more important than the character build. 

I am holding off my opinion of MasterCraft until I can see it.  I am, however, giving Crafty the benefit of the doubt.  I have had more fun with the rules they provide than with most of the other RPGs I have played.  The Crafty rules expand my vision while other games constrain it.

Rather than military cooperation, why not economic? There must be different technologies between the Old World and the New World that each other can appreciate.

For example, maybe the torture devices used by the Old World "magisterium" would be desired by the New World cults, while the New World could provide special metal alloys for making "magical" arms and armor.  (The reason the alloys are so unique is that they are created as part of the worship process and include a sizable amount of human blood in them.  This side plot could create its own tension in the campaign.  )

Another possibility, taken from the real world, is that some of the New World peoples want the assistance of the New World to destroy other peoples in the New World.  This "enemy of my enemy" scenario could likewise have its own tension.  Perhaps a group of runaway Orc slaves can convince the New Worlders of the injustice they are subjected to, all the while conspiring to destroy the New Worlders as soon as they achieve their freedom.

[Lurker (+0 XP)]

Lurker (+0 XP)

One or more characters must remain silent for entire playing session, except for a single "Me Too" comment during a Dramatic Scene.

[Fanbois (-50 XP, +2 GC Action Dice per player)]

Fanbois (-50 XP, +2 GC Action Dice per player)

All characters must be exact replicas of a character from a popular book or movie.  Any time something goes wrong in the mission, the PCs are obligated to whine and complain that such occurrence could never actually happen to their character because of their significant experience with [insert capability here] according to [insert extremely long retelling of a scene from one or more books/movies].

NOTE: The extra GC dice are d100s for throwing at the PCs when they begin their monologue.

[Strict Purity (-1000xp, -5 GC Action Dice, Seasons Only)]

Strict Purity (-1000xp, -5 GC Action Dice, Seasons Only)

No references, depictions or descriptions of guns, explosions, violence, gore, anger, race relations, theft, dishonesty or deception are allowed under any circumstances from either the PCs or the GC.