The Legend of Zelda

[Oniya]

Well, as the title obviously suggests, I am working on a Fantasy Craft campaign set in the Zelda universe. I suspect some of you on this forum are familiar with Zelda and could help me out with some of the stat building.


Currently I am mainly working on the playable Races.

These are the races I'm considering playable.

Humans - This is just a general term used for Hylians, Gerudo, and round-eared Humans
Goron
Zora
Kokiri
Deku Scrubs

As for stat blocks for the races, here is what I've done so far.

Humans

For Hylians, Gerudo, and humans, I have decided to just use Fantasy Craft's standard human talents. The differences between these three races are more fluff than anything. I considered allowing Hylians to also be able to choose the "Elf" race, but it really doesn't work. The only real similarities Hylians share with elves are their long pointed ears.

Gorons

Type: Large biped Humanoid with a reach of 1 (footprint 1x1). Your maximum wounds equal your Constitution score * 1.5 (rounded down).

*Attributes: +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity
*Base Speed: 20 ft.
*Enlightened Athletics: Your maximum Athletics rank increases to your Career Level + 5. Only the highest bonus from any enlightened ability may apply to each skill.*
*Improved Stability: You’re considered 1 Size category larger for carrying capacity, Trample attacks, and resisting Bull Rush and Trip attempts so long as you are standing firmly on the ground and not climbing, flying, or riding.
*Iron Gut: You gain an insight bonus equal to your Con modifier with saves against disease and poison (min +1).
*Lumbering: You suffer a –2 penalty with all Reflex saves and become flanked any time two opponents are adjacent to you.
*Restricted Actions: Kick attacks, as well as Jump and Swim checks you make are considered untrained (see page 63).
*Sterner Stuff: The keen quality of each attack made against you decreases by 4.
*Thick Hide 2: You’re considered to be wearing partial armor that provides Damage Reduction 2. This DR does not stack with other armor (only the best protection applies). If you gain thick hide from multiple sources, your hide offers the highest single DR value + 1 per additional hide benefit (e.g. thick hide 4, thick hide 3, and thick hide 1 offer DR 6).
*Trample I: You gain the Trample I natural attack. 1d10 lethal, threat range 20.

Zora

Type: Medium biped Humanoid with a reach of 1. Your maximum wounds equal your Constitution score.
* Attributes: +2 Dexterity
* Base Speed: 30 ft.
* Base Swim Speed: 40 ft.
* Achilles Heel (Cold): When you suffer electrical damage, you also suffer an equal amount of lethal damage.
* Agile Defense: Your base Defense increases by 1.
* Aquatic II: You gain the Aquatic II NPC quality.
* Cold Blooded: You need only one meal per day but take +1/die cold damage and are sickened 1 round per point or as long as you are continuously taking damage.
* Fins I: You gain the Fin I natural attack. 1d6 lethal damage, Threat range of 20.
* Natural Elegance: Your Appearance bonus increases by 1.

I am still in the process of making the Kokiri and Deku Scrub.

Kokiri
Since Kokiri remain as children for their entire lives, I am going to consider them Small Fey.
My main problem with Kokiri is how to give them their Fairy companion that all Kokiri have. Animal Companion doesn't work since fairies aren't animals. Familiar Basics from Spellbound could possibly work, though I'd have to fudge the animal aspect of it, but some of the spellcasting related aspects of the Familiar I'm not sure would work (I'm only allowing Divine Magic in the campaign currently, though I'm considering changing that). I could also just make it a Personal Lieutenant.

Deku Scrub
Deku Scrub will be Small Plants. My main problem with Deku Scrub are trying to figure out how to give them their ability to spit nuts and rocks. The Race creator we have doesn't have a price for Extraordinary Attacks. Another possibility is to give all Deku Scrub a hurled proficiency and just fluff it as spitting the objects; however, this solution doesn't make much sense if the Deku Scrub is hurling axes or throwing knives.


Gods and Alignments

Since I currently don't have the Sorcery campaign quality most magic is done through Miracles. I have currently made an Alignment for the 3 Golden Goddesses. I'm pretty satisfied with these so far, but they could probably use a little tweaking. Din in is the one that I'm definitely not completely happy with.

Paths were chosen in this formula.
<Path most resembling the Goddess's Triforce Aspect>, <Element Associated with Aspect>, <Effect of Magic item in Ocarina of Time>.

For Example:
Nayru has the paths Knowledge (Triforce of Wisdom), Water (Color associated with Nayru is Blue and water is a typical theme), and Protection (Spell creates a protective barrier upon use).

Skills chosen that match the paths and theme of the Goddess as closely as possible, though I'm not 100% happy with my choices.

Ritual Weapon was chosen by typical weapon used by Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf. Link is Courage so the weapon is a longsword. Zelda is Wisdom and so the weapon is a reflex bow. Ganondorf is Power so I was debating between another form of sword (used by Ganondorf) or a Trident (used by most Ganon incarnations). I decided to go with the Trident so we didn't have two swords for ritual weapons.

Din
Din is the Goddess of Power. She used her power to form the earth. Her essence embodies the Triforce of Power.
Paths: Strength, Fire, Destruction
Alignment Skills: Athletics, Crafting, Ride, Tactics
Ritual Weapon: Trident
Avatar: Oracle of Seasons

Farore
Farore is the Goddess of Courage. She used her power to bring life to the world. Her essence embodies the Triforce of Courage.
Paths: Heroism, Air, Travel
Alignment Skills: Acrobatics, Investigate, Search, Survival
Ritual Weapon: Long Sword
Avatar: Oracle of Secrets

Nayru
Nayru is the Goddess of Wisdom. She used her power to bring order to the world. Her essence embodies the Triforce of Wisdom.
Paths: Knowledge, Water, Protection
Alignment Skills: Bluff, Haggle, Prestidigitation, Sneak
Ritual Weapon: Reflex Bow
Avatar: Oracle of Ages

I'm currently happy with only these 3 alignments, though there are other deities that could be chosen (Hylia and the Wind Fish for example).


Currently I have made a few monsters, but I need to rework about half of them, since I'm not satisfied with them. I'll post them up later if people are interested.

[ludomastro]

Thoughts are in no particular order:

Is Fin a listed attack type?  I'm away from my book at the moment but assume that you are shooting for something like the Claw attack type.  I'm assuming that you're modeling the long arm fin on the Zora from Zelda: OoT.

I agree that the Kokiri are small fey; however, why do you need to model the fairy?  Other than annoy the hell out of you, what do the fairies do that has a MECHANICAL advantage.  That's one of the things that I still have to remind myself of from time to time with FC.  Unless it has a mechanical benefit, you can call it fluff.

Deku Scrubs could have either the hurled proficiency or an extraordinary attack (I think there are some fan-conversions for costs on those).  Personally, I would go with the hurled proficiency and call it good.  If you can aim with your mouth, it's not impossible to believe you can throw something with your arm.

I'm confused as to why the religions are separate.  In all the Zelda games I've played (a small subset), the Goddesses act in unison.  Thus, my confusion.  Nonetheless, I like them.  Good flavor.

EDIT: spelling

[Morganti]

Faeries in Zelda provide a free hint in FC terms

[Oniya]

The Fin I attack I gave the Zora is just a Claw I natural attack I fluffed to be a fin.

As for the Fairy portion of the Kokiri, here is why I think it could be important. In Ocarina of Time (OoT), the Faeries are supposed to be guardians of the Kokiri. In the game the only real demonstration of a Fairy at work is Navi, who, like Morganti says, provides free hints. Now, another thing that should be mentioned is that Kokiri are the only characters in OoT that do not appear until you are under 15 steps away from them, but their Faeries can be seen. What this leads me to believe is that many of the Faeries can bestow an Invisibility spell on the Kokiri to hide them from danger. Because of this aspect of the Kokiri, I think that stating out a companion character for a Kokiri makes sense. Now this may just be too difficult or even too powerful of an ability so it may just be better to leave it as fluff.

I'll look for the extraordinary attack fan conversion. I would like it to be special, but it is probably very costly and taking hurled proficiency is probably the better option.

It isn't that the religions are separate, but more of a "Which Goddess does your character most relate to?" For example, Link would be aligned with Farore, since his defining characteristics is Courage. Zelda would align with Nayru because of her affiliation with Wisdom. Ganondorf would align with Din with his association of Power. I'd say a lot of Gorons would align with Din, since they hold power in high regard, though Courage would also work. Zora would typically align with Nayru since they are a wise race.

The character doesn't even necessarily have to worship Din to be aligned with her. I'm thinking of it more as what the character values most of the three aspects Power, Courage, and Wisdom. That is another reason why I'm hesitant to add any more deities, like the Wind Fish or The Goddess of the Sands, since they break the mold so much.

[ludomastro]

So, the alignment happens whether the character chooses to be or not?  Thus, Ganondorf, the most vile, evil thing to visit the land - ever - gets divine blessings because he happens to be interested in Power?  Does he also get miracles to go along with it?

That came out harsher than I had intended; however, I do think that you need an in-game explanation for that.

-----

Could you substitute the Terrain Basics (Forrest) as the effect of the fairies for the Kokiri?

[Oniya]

So, the alignment happens whether the character chooses to be or not?  Thus, Ganondorf, the most vile, evil thing to visit the land - ever - gets divine blessings because he happens to be interested in Power?  Does he also get miracles to go along with it?

That came out harsher than I had intended; however, I do think that you need an in-game explanation for that.

That's a good point. To fix this problem, I think the best solution is to change the alignments so that they aren't focused on the Goddesses, but instead on what they represent. So instead of alignments being Din, Farore, and Nayru, the alignments are Power, Courage, and Wisdom. This allows for what I had essentially intended, without the awkward, "Din is giving Ganondorf his powers" bit. The alignments become more about what aspect fits the character best.

I think I might put on the strict universe campaign quality, so every character has an alignment, even if they aren't getting any benefits from it.

Could you substitute the Terrain Basics (Forrest) as the effect of the fairies for the Kokiri?

Pathfinder Basics (Forest) certainly could work. Looking at the species creation list, I can pick out a few aspects that I think could work as the fairy: Free Hint, Camouflage (Forest), and If I Recall.

I think you guys are right in that I don't need to worry about creating an NPC for the faeries.

[ludomastro]

That's a good point. To fix this problem, I think the best solution is to change the alignments so that they aren't focused on the Goddesses, but instead on what they represent. So instead of alignments being Din, Farore, and Nayru, the alignments are Power, Courage, and Wisdom. This allows for what I had essentially intended, without the awkward, "Din is giving Ganondorf his powers" bit. The alignments become more about what aspect fits the character best.

I think I might put on the strict universe campaign quality, so every character has an alignment, even if they aren't getting any benefits from it.

A very good idea for what you want, sir.

[Oniya]

I just finished creating stat blocks for the Kokiri and Deku Scrubs.

Kokiri
Type: Small biped Fey with a reach of 1 (1×1 footprint). Your maximum wounds equal your Constitution score x 2/3 (rounded up).

*Attributes: +2 Dexterity
*Camouflage (Forest): You gain +5 gear bonus with Blend checks while in Forests.
*Free Hint: 1/session you may request a free hint from the GM, If he refuses you gain an action die.
*If I Recall…: You gain a +5 bonus with Knowledge checks.
*Limited Proficiencies: you begin with 2 fewer proficiencies (min 0).

Deku Scrubs
Type: Small biped Plant with a reach of 1 (1×1 footprint). Your maximum wounds equal your Constitution score x 2/3 (rounded up).

*Attributes: +1 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom, -2 Constitution.
*Achilles Heel (Fire): Double damage and no resistances against Fire as Lethal damage.
*Camouflage (Forest): You gain +5 gear bonus with Blend checks while in Forests.
*Cat Fall: You suffer 1 less die of damage from falling.
*Nut Spit: Once per round as a half action, you may spit a nut as a standard ranged attack (range incr. 20 ft x 2) inflicting 1d6 + Str Modifier in subdual damage.

The Nut Spit ability is an attack I made myself. I put the cost at 1.5 points on the species creator. This is based off of the Breath Weapon (2.5 pts). The damage is reduced greatly and it is single target, so I thought 1.5 is a good value.