The Official OTC TBRPG Planning and Organization Topic

[Toast of Awesomeness]

Yeah, personally I'm leaning towards New York more.

[Alex Humva]

Since most players will end up in a circus troupe or following one they'll probably all move at the same time to the same location.

 

The problem here though is that we're going have the mafia and the cops, and, generally speaking, Berlin cops don't transfer over to New York. Nor do mafias just decide to hop countries on a whim.

Edited March 20, 2013 by Alex Humva

[Robo]

So I'm thinking of starting a My Little Pony RPG. The rules would be mostly the basics; no godmodding, no being obnoxious, no metagaming, no controlling other players characters, etc etc.

 

The MLP part of the game would be, obviously, making your own pony characters and living life in Equestria. Any canon location in Equestria would be open (Ponyville, Cloudsdale, Appleoosa, etc) I think I'll even allow small dragons (ala Spike and Garble) though i may put additional restrictions on them since theyre...well...dragons!

 

Griffons would be allowed. And I suppose I'd make allowances for just about any canon species EXCEPT Alicorns since they're a little on the rare and over-powered size. Gonna be a pretty loosey-goosey RP; more slice-of-life than anything.

 

Thoughts?

[Alex Humva]

Any sort of special hooks or just romp around in the FiM world?

[Havelock Vetinari]

Robo? Oh my. It's been awhile since the Reality days.

 

First thing I'd suggest is some sort of hook. An RPG where you wake up, eat, have a minor tiff with a friend....wouldn't do all that well.

[Robo]

Just a romp around the FiM world. If plots develop on their own, yay! I'll probably fiddle around with NPC permissions to get occasional Ursa Minor or Timber Wolf attacks to spice things up for players, but otherwise...FiM is a relaxing, happy place, so why not a relaxing, happy FiM role play?

[Havelock Vetinari]

I think some of the old judges rejected an idea like that out of hand. I'll check on that. This idea sounds a bit different.

 

That said, an RPG where everything is fine and only the odd monster encounter breaks things up...seems a bit boring. I don't see it doing all that well. Now, you mentioned that plots can develop on their own, so there is that. A sandbox RPG where the plot is left to the player would likely do well enough. I'd need to see a complete concept before I could give an accurate opinion on it.

[Alex Humva]

Alas, I don't think that's on the community's mind right now. Dunno, people may want a relaxing RPG, but personally when I want to relax, I go take a walk in the park, watch a TV show, write a book. Role playing selling apples in the market just... doesn't seem like something worth my time, especially since I RP little nowadays as it is.

[Havelock Vetinari]

http://www.bzpower.com/board/index.php?showtopic=44&page=2&do=findComment&comment=124957

 

Yep. Found it.

 

You may find the following conversation useful.

[Robo]

Complete concept? Aighty, I'll give this a try....

My Little Pony: Roleplaying is Magic

In the place unknown to all, in a land far away

is a place called Equestria where ponies frolic and play.

Its a place of peace and a place of love,

where over the importance of Friendship there is nothing above.

So come! One and all! Come and enjoy this sweet place!

Have excitement and fun, or play at a slow pace.

Seek adventure? Seek peace? Seek family and friends?

RiM is the place where imagination trancends

the limits of structures and the chains we call 'plot'

MLP: RiM is a happy sandbox.

Play as canon? Of course! Who am I to say no?

Be a pony, a griffon, or even a windego!

Just fill out the form, you'll see it below.

You post, I'll read, and if it passes you can go

go and play, and be free; reading books, attending schools

But keep always in mind, there are some rules

Rules you say? That's no fun! Unfortunately they're needed.

I've been in places where rules were not heeded.

They were dark, they were scary, and there were zero bounds.

The liberties some will take can simply astound

The first rule, of course, need hardly be stated;

The rules of the BZpower are enforced, no matter how they be hated

The next rules are common, and very well known,

Such as no controlling a character that is not your own.

Nor metagaming, which is something Pinkie is guilty of

No characters knowing things just because the player does.

Also, I beg of you, please do practice good grammar.

Of course if you don't, I shan't swing the banhammer.

I shouldn't need to tell you not to kill other PC's

but just for the record; do not do it, please.

More unique rules are need, since this is MLP

It has its own uniqueness, such as the Forest of Everefree

Rules of travel will be lax, but do not get silly.

It'll take more than five minutes to travel from city to city.

Check the map for a layout and assume four or five hours

To take the Train from Ponyville to Canterlot's towers

Now use that distance and roughly guess

Travel times to other places. I'll be lax; just do your best.

I'll impose a random number (not that random, really)

The limit of characters you may play as is three

Now a plot, I am told, is something that's needed.

Read below and be wary, for there are dangers to be heeded.

The Timber Wolves are howling, and a chilly wind blows

Remember, before, when I mentioned Windegos?

Etheral wolves of winter's fury given physical form

From the north they are coming in great numbers; a swarm

From the south are not howls, the Diamond Dogs bark

Even pet dogs are growling, and they're not just having a lark.

From the north and the south, and even from home

something is making the hounds of Equestria groan.

Are they in pain? Are they angry? Are they frightened and scared?

The last few weeks for ponies have been fraught with despair.

Windegos attacked Cloudsdale and Winowna bit Applejack

There are dozens of stories of dog-based attacks.

For now the canines seem to have vanished.

But it was not a feat of Alicorns, and the beasts are not banished.

Small attacks, almost raids, are frequent in towns.

Ponies seem to be the targets of the hounds.

[here ends the rhyming]

 

 

[[insert character form]]

 

[[insert character list]]

 

[[insert map]]

Edited March 23, 2013 by Robo

[Havelock Vetinari]

Alright. You have a plot then. Something is causing things to go awry with the canine species.

 

I assume those are all canine species.

 

That should solve the issues I mentioned.

[Robo]

Yep. All the doggies are going barkin' mad. (Pun totally intended and equally lame)

[Havelock Vetinari]

That said, it is rather confusing for someone who hasn't seen the show. Maybe include a section explaining what these all are?

 

Most of the recently approved RPGs in the topic should provide a nice general template....

Edited March 23, 2013 by Basilisk

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

Yeah a bit more explanation would be good. For a while I assumed that Timber Wolves were just a faction in the Windegos until you mentioned Diamond Dogs and all the pets. And since I don't actually have any idea what any of those are the confusion isn't going anywhere

[Toast of Awesomeness]

Feel free to suggest titles for the 1920s Magic RPG, I'm stuck. We'll be posting the introduction soon!

[Lara White]

@ Power: Google is your friend. Just be careful--I wasn't kidding when I made the Borg comparison in SK.

 

[Advent Child]

Holy creepinola, it's Robo.

 

Reaction aside, The MH RPG is coming along nicely, I'm typing up the main outline of the initial post and such. But, I have reached a stopping point. The question I am putting forth this time is that one of the main points of the MH games, at least as far as hunting goes, is the creation of armor and obtaining of money to increase the quality of the armor. But in my experience, money is always harder to manage than I would like in RP form. And I feel as if managing monster part rewards would be equally as frustrating at times.

 

So, any suggestions?

[Axilus Prime]

[REDACTED]

 

Anyone with the power can delete this.

Edited March 23, 2013 by Axilus Prime

[Krayzikk]

Except, y'know. If you looked in the topic, you'd see he'd already dealt with it.

[Axilus Prime]

I know, I went here first and ended up posting that. It's been redacted.

 

I feel stupid enough as it is, ok?

Edited March 23, 2013 by Axilus Prime

[Blessed Blade]

Advent: Hmm... Just give random breaks depending on the monster and wounded areas? I swear the real game's RNG is truly random for that anyway, so it should help. =PWhat monsters are you planning on including?Also, just for the record in general, I may not be joining any RPGs for the next little while, due to a lack of time; current RPGs will be posted in occasionally, of course, but new ones might take a while. =P

[Toast of Awesomeness]

The year is 1922.Four years after the Great War, Europe still lies in shambles. Across the Atlantic, however, the youngest of the great powers is thriving. New York City is a sprawling metropolis of nearly 6 million people- doctors, shopkeepers, businessmen... And of course, magicians.While the days of potions and sorcery, of stake burnings and pointed hats have been left behind, magic is still just as present as ever. Those who possess "The Gift", as it is widely known, have returned to their modern professions as entertainers, psychic consultants, and the occasional hitman.However, trouble is brewing. The Sicilian Mafia exert an ever arger hold over the city, while the Troupes, groups of circus magicians, compete as underhandedly as ever. Meanwhile, religious fervor has caused anti-magic feeling across the city, causing ever fewer gifted individuals to journey outside the magic quarter. In these times of mystery and intrigue, magic and mayhem, who will you become? The choice is yours in....abracadabra!

Edited March 23, 2013 by Toast of Awesomeness

[Alex Humva]

The known histories are scarce. Little has survived since the Long Winter, but some records still do exist, buried in the caves of the north. Millenia ago, the Great Spirit descended and formed the world. With it He formed man and the creatures, to populate and fill it. From that He taught us how to create fire, how to farm our land, and how to survive the elements. Then He left, ascending back to His realm to allow us to survive and flourish. Many did; peoples of untold number filled the land, thriving and learning.

 

But then the Long Winter came. Pictures show a great light light in the sky, then, the darkness descended. The sun itself died, and from it, the first uktena was born. We were scattered as our very crops died and the world grew cold. For centuries snow and ice dominated the landscape, with monstrous creatures of the north migrating downward. The spirits became silent as the world froze, and all life seemed to be at an end.

 

Then the Long Winter ended. Life returned, and with it, so did we. Centuries more would pass, but many would find their way to our land, the Great Expanse. Now we farm, we hunt, and the spirits have returned. Once more we may commune with them, and with them, we can repair this once desolate land. We can become unto the ancients themselves.

 

Brief account of the histories

Shaman Tseg'yin, Green Hand tribe

SPIRITS AND MEN

Created by Alex Humva

Hosted by Alex Humva and Basilisk

Laws of the Land

• All BZPower rules are to be followed.
• Common sense is important in this game, please use it.
• Do not prolong battles longer than they need to be. Continually dragging battles out and refusing to declare a victor will result in the GM coming in to decide.
• Player killing is not banned, but player abuse is. This is a game, keep personal vendettas out of it.
• Metagaming is severely frowned upon. If a player cannot back up why their tribe just so happened to know that the enemy was coming, but said player knew because of OOC chatting, it won't be pretty for that player.
• Use IC when discussing things in game and OOC for discussing things out of game.
• Use the discussion topic when delving into large arguments or large questions. Use OOC to get general quick information and the like. As a rule of thumb if your OOC response exceeds a paragraph or is entirely OOC without anything immediately important to the game, it should go in the discussion topic.
• Common sense. Use it.
• Have fun ya'll.

Removal of Power

The GMs are capable of using any of these punishments to fit any crime, though any punishments denoted with an asterisk require a two thirds GM majority to take effect.

 

• A warning.
• A natural disaster that effects your tribe.
• A plague that effects your tribe.
• Secrets of your tribe leaked to other tribes.
• The genocide of your tribe.*
• Temporary banning from the game.*
• Full banning from the game.*

 

The Duties of Chiefdom

 

In Spirits and Men, players control entire tribes. After going through the tribe creation process, you are promptly dumped into an area about the size of the state of Kansas, with the ability to mark on the map where your tribe has settled down. Now, the task of controlling a whole tribe may seem daunting, but truly it isn't that much of a task. There are no number charts to sort through or complicated rules to follow; simply act within common sense and you'll do fine. Keep in mind the technology level; we're roughly around pre-European contact North American civilization levels. There is no metallurgy to speak of, stone is still the preferred material for weaponry/tools, and medicinal technology isn't the greatest. Written word is, however, an option if you so choose it for your tribe.

 

Managing your tribe rests in three areas; diplomacy, warfare, and spirituality. Diplomacy is your interactions with other tribes, as well as managing your own tribe. Things like negotiating a trade of horses or building new huts for your people fall under this category. It is for the most part run by common sense; unlike other RPGs of its kind, Spirits and Men has no IP system to speak of. Rather, things are done on the fly by whatever GM is present to work it out. Let's use the hut building project for example; your chief orders a new medicine hut to be built. You would then say “I sent # men to collect materials,” the GM would take five minutes to get a ballpark estimate of the effort required, and give you an ETA on when that'll be done. For more complex projects like, say, damming a large river, proportionally more time and thought is put into it.

 

This system is very effectively summed up as common sense with a bit of GM research thrown in.

 

Inter-tribal diplomacy follows a similar system. So long as you're specific on what you're trading, things will work out beautifully. If you aren't then things are going get messy really, really, quickly, so try to be specific and everyone leaves happy.

 

The Art of War

 

Warfare! Its bound to happen at some point, so it stands to reason that some regulation needs to be laid out. First, a quick briefing of warfare of the time. Wars like we think of them today didn't really happen in stone-age civilizations. Rather, raiding was the preferred method of combat. The idea of subjugating another civilization was far from a foreign one, but generally speaking there simply wasn't enough resources for that. Raids ultimately were far more profitable than, say, empire building. Keep this in mind when planning your over-arcing strategy; it might sound like fun to go conquer the entire map, but how practical that will be is... debatable.

 

Now, onto actually waging warfare. For that you'll need warriors; warriors follow a sort of experience system that indicates how effective they'll be in combat. For the most part your warriors will be hunters, as that's where they're most useful to society while still practicing their craft. In a tribal system, you can't afford for a bunch of strong peeps to be hacking at straw dummies all day long. Because of this, you'll have a surprising amount of population to warrior ratio, simply by the virtue that you need a lot of hunters. This does not mean, however, that you can rock everyone with a bunch of warriors. Hunting elk and fistfighting bears is slightly different from hunting the most dangerous prey of all, which is where the experience system comes in.

 

Experience is based off of two things; age, and the number of battles/raids/skirmishes/whathaveyou participated in. These two things are kept with your warriors; feel free to use whatever formatting system you're the most comfortable with. How does this effect things in-game? We have no things like health points or damage points, so this simply serves as a convenient way of demonstrating seniority and helping to judge a battle's outcome. In all likelihood a middle aged man at his prime with ten battles under his belt will be able to beat a freshly recruited boy easily. When things are more balanced, the standard logic of RTSRPG style games comes in; poke each other until the GM gets fed up and declares a winner. Reaching a resolution without GM interference is generally preferred though.

 

Logistics is something of a non-factor. Your warriors will undoubtedly be trained hunters; in small raiding groups, they can easily fend for themselves in the wild. The only cases logistics come up is during the winter months and in the more barren areas of the map. This will be handled on a case to case basis, with a GM ruling on what sort of debuffs will be present.

 

The Concepts of Spirituality

 

Arguably the most complex and confusing part of this RPG, so strap yourselves in. In the world of Spirits and Men, shamanism is a big thing. We don't call it magic because, erm, too middle-age. It's tribal shamanism. A shaman is a person who is capable of communing with spiritual beings and in some instances drawing mystical power from these spirits. A shaman can be born with this ability, or sometimes be taught to become more receptive to the other half of our world. For most civilizations, their shaman is just as important as their warrior, if not moreso. A shaman can invoke spiritual power to perform great feats, from healing the sick to summoning rain.

 

The spirits themselves are odd creatures. Nearly everything in the world has some sort of spirit to represent itself; in a way, the spirits serve as a distorted mirror of our half of the world. Most spirits are sapient creatures, though the untrained shaman may take their simplistic nature as a lack of intelligence. Spirits are creatures of simplistic wants and simplistic needs. Take for instance, a wind spirit. For it there is no greater achievement in its eternal life than to float on currents of air forever. To the unknowing shaman, a wind spirit could appear to be totally inanimate; to the experienced shaman, it is simply a matter of finding a way to hold that spirit in one spot long enough to have a meaningful discussion.

 

But how can the spirits influence our half of the world? Well, spirits themselves do very little to alter the physical world, though they are quite capable of exhibiting their influence on our mortal plane. Usually though, their power is channeled through that of a shaman. A shaman can, after creating a bond with a spirit, take that spiritual influence and use it to manipulate certain aspects of this world. In practically all cases, shamans are simply manipulating forces of nature in their mystical works. Summoning rain, for instance, is simply manipulating the environment to produce it. No new energy is created, no new matter formed, simply an adjustment of the natural weather patterns. The long term consequences of this though can be potentially disastrous, creating a situation where active shamanistic interference is in fact required to prevent catastrophe. Other examples include healing the sick, the shaman's power simply bolstering and reinforcing the subject's natural immune system, or summoning the dead, which creates a pathway from the nether realms to the physical world so as to converse with said dead.

 

But what is the extent of shamanistic power? Well, spirits have what we call mana; a sort of shaman resource system that is used up by a shaman's deeds. Spirits have a set amount of mana, and it recharges based on the act in question. Spirits and the things shamans can do them are based on a ranking system, demonstrated here:

 

• Minute spirit: The insects of the spirit realm, their influence is small and irrelevant. While as common as the insects of our own world, a shaman's own spiritual influence far surpasses these.
• Wild spirit: Spirits that often manifest themselves as animals in our world. Their influence is on par with a human's spirit, though is used for different applications.
• Average spirit: Where many spirits set on the spiritual ladder. Patron spirits are always of this influence, and most spirits a shaman will come across are in this area. Perhaps the most diverse of all the spiritual steps.
• Regional spirit: A spirit commanding great influence and knowledge; these spirits are rare, but it is not unheard of for a shaman to find at least one in their lifetimes.
• Legendary spirit: Truly massive spirits, these spirits are speculated to of been the first created at the start of the world. To meet one is a great honor, and a great risk.
• Great spirit: Not a class of spirits, but a spirit. The very first, and the very greatest. It has not manifested itself since the creation of man, and its current were-abouts are unknown.

 

From this you see the outline of how spirits work. Minute spirits are too weak to be of any practical topic and wild spirits serve a function described further down. Thus we have average, regional, and legendary spirits to work with here. Acts shamans do are subsequently classified as average, regional, and legendary acts. An average act can be done with all three, a regional act, with the latter two, and a legendary act, only with a legendary spirit.

 

From this you can begin to see how these things work. An average spirit can be used for one average act; a regional spirit, one regional act, and two average acts. A legendary spirit, one legendary act, two regional acts, and four average acts. This seems really simple, but alas, it gets more complicated. Average acts refresh daily; regional acts refresh monthly. Legendary acts refresh yearly. This is done with in-game time, which we'll discuss later.

 

Now, you might be wondering what your shamans can actually do. This is where a system of discovery to replace a nonexistent technology tree comes into play. While the RPG will start off with knowledge of how to do some shamanistic rituals and acts (think healing the sick, communing with the dead, fun stuff like that), your shamans are capable of far more. How do they do this, though? Well, there are a number of ways. One is to hold an intertribal shaman meeting and discuss ideas. Another is to go into the wilderness, meditate, and hope something comes to you. Arguably the most successful way is to actually commune with the spirits themselves. Your shaman goes out in search of a particular spirit, and talks to said spirit. Depending on how the conversation goes, you might get useful knowledge, you might not. If you get something that you think you can use though, go out, try it. You might discover some powerful act that you can do.

 

At this point it's important to pull out the holy trinity of spirits. You see, not all spirits are made the same; due to this, there are three distinct classes of spirits, capable of doing different sorts of shamanistic goodness. These are patron, wild, and nature spirits. Patron spirits are your go to jack of all trades spirits. Your patron spirit is the spirit of your tribe, and all patron spirits start out as average spirits on the power level. It is possible to move your patron spirit up the spiritual ladder, though the specifics of how need to be discovered. So if patron spirits are so generic, what's their importance? The fact that they're generic. You see, nature spirits are the spirits that you find roaming the land, protecting their trees and sleeping in mountains. They are also defined by what they are. If your shaman bonds to a nature spirit, he or she is restricted to what that spirit has known. For example, if you bond to a... mountain spirit. That mountain spirit will have an innate understanding of earth, of being strong and unmoving. You could perhaps use that to imbue your warriors with increased hardiness. You cannot use that spirit to make it rain. It is a mountain spirit. It might get a good look at the sky all the time, but it knows no more about making it rain than a river spirit does about making trees spontaneously combust.

 

What is the point of this? Patron spirits can do any act, so long as its in their influence bracket. A mountain spirit may be more powerful, but a patron spirit can both imbue your soldiers with hardiness and make it rain. This genericness is important because constantly swapping between spirits is generally a bad idea, as it usually requires several days of meditation and rituals before it actually happens.

Finally we have wild spirits. Wild spirits can't actually be harnessed to do shamanism, but they have two defining abilities; they can be seen by normals, and they can make pacts with humans. Wild spirits usually manifest in animals, and upon creating a pact with a human, the human and wild spirits merge into a sort of duality. This grants the wild spirit's abilities or characteristics to the human; in some cases, it even allows for full transformations. Thanks to this, you can get some very strange effects and abilities, depending on what you do exactly. However, once a pact is made, it is permanent. It cannot be removed and no others can be made until death. Pacts made after death are another story.

The Creatures of Myth

Now, if spirits and shamans weren't enough for you, guess what! You get supernatural beasties to deal with. Now, some of you will instantly know these guys from Cherokee mythology; while I've done the best I can with a number of sources to ensure some measure of accuracy, artistic license ultimately wins whenever I make some mistake in the nature of these creatures. Said nature of these creatures is detailed below; the creatures that will appear are not limited to this list, but if an odd one does pop up, it'll get a spot here edited in.

Nunnehi: A sapient race of wandering nomads, these humanoid creatures stand at an average of seven feet in height and are know for their immense strength. They have a fondness for humans, though are invisible to the naked eye unless they chose to reveal themselves.

Tlanuwa: These giant birds are the size of a full grown man and live in the mountainous regions of the north. Their feathers are impenetrable and cover the entirity of their body, making killing one quite the feat. At the same time, their feathers are as light as any other feathers of a bird.

Uktena: Serpents with legs, these creatures have foul tempers and are similar in nature to that of Chinese dragons. While accounts vary, the Uktena are generally very malicious creatures, though many still possess a human level intellect. Reasoning with one rarely works, and in battle their tough scales make killing them difficult.

The Flow of Time

Time here exists in a sort of spurty way. There is no formal progression of time, though if there's no interaction going on a 1:1 ratio of time progression is assumed. There is, however, date keeping and time skipping. Every so often, preferably weekly but sometimes more often and sometimes not as often, a time skip will take place, using seasons as their unit of choice. Usually this'll take place when there's a slump in interaction, or the game simply needs to progress. The GM doing so will take the situation into account, see who all is still interacting with each other, and from there make a decision on how big of a time skip will follow. This may be democratized in some cases. The current season and year is always kept recorded by one of the GMs.

Tribal Perks

In an effort to make tribes feel more customized and unique, this RPG has a system of perks. You chose one perk when you make your profile, which drastically changes how you play the game. Its a one time only thing, so make sure you choose wisely.

Universal Shamanism: Your entire tribe possesses the gift of a shaman. They can all enact their own spiritual feats, but at the cost that they can only tap into a single spirit rather than having individual bonds.

Spiritual Communion: Your tribe has a far greater understanding of the overarching spiritual world. Spirits speak easier to your shamans and your people are more in tune with the oddities of the universe, giving them sight of things not seen by others.

Necromantic Shamans: Your shamans are empowered by the cycle of reincarnation; with each generation, a new shaman takes the place of the old, embued with the experiences and knowledge of all the tribe's shamans before him.

Fearless Minions: Via thorough training and a tribal lineage of the spirits themselves, your warriors know no fear. They will never route nor waver in battle, meeting their deaths with the intelligence of men and the viciousness of predators.

Unclean Ground: Your entire tribe is cleansed of the spirits; no spirit will go near it, and no shaman can effect it. Your warriors are protected from the influence of enemy shamans, but have no shamans of their own.

Influential Diplomats: Via powers stemming from your patron spirit, your diplomats are incapable of being deceived or led falsely.

Animal Pact: In times long ago, your tribe made a pact with the spirits of the wild. With this their very spirits are merged with that of an animal, granting the ability to transform at will into the creature.

NewGame+

Here's something you don't see often; in this game, you, as the player, can be utterly destroyed. Wiped from the map and your remains spat on. Really adds some tension doesn't it? However, because we GMs aren't completely cruel, you have the NewGame+ feature. In game, your patron spirit flees after the destruction of your tribe and finds its way to another tribe, merging with its spirit and transferring some spiritual knowledge. This means two thirds of your discoveries are transferred to the new tribe, meaning you don't have to play a total catchup game with everyone else in the RPG if you get the business end of a sword. Or tomahawk. Whichever one really. Other than that, you start out with the same stuff as a normal new player.

Profile

Tribe Name: [Really, you can go wild on this. Tribe Blue Mountain? Tribe Xhognsuea? Use your creativity.]

Tribal Population: [This is a spot for the GMs. Everyone starts at fifty villagers and it'll hover between fifty and seventy five unless something happens in game to change that.]

Tribal Characteristics: [Anything that really defines these guys? This can be skills, common birthmarks, a societal norm, something that makes your people more unique in this world.]

Tribal Society: [No need for anything complex, but if you feel like writing an essay please do so. Are your people led by a chief? Is it communistic? Do they abhor violence? Worship the spirits? Just use this to give us a good baseline of what to expect about your people.]

Starting Acts: [Ok, so, this is arguably the hardest part. Your shamans can do spiritual acts and be all shaman-y and cool. This is where you put your three starting acts. Or spells if that's the name you want to assign. These all will of course be average level. Pick three reasonable ones and I'll help you tone it down or buff it up if need be.]

Tribal Perk: [Feel free to pick from the list, or suggest your own to me over PM.]

Tribal History: [use this to mention any important events in your tribe's past. Keep in mind all of our tribes are relatively recent; the most your tribe can go back to is three centuries.]

Edited March 28, 2013 by Alex Humva

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

Toast: The intro doesn't really tell us anything new, so I have little to actually comment on. You give us a name, which I like. So...100% success rate when you think about it like that

 

 

Humva: You are going to give it an intro or something I assume? Since you've said this is just the technical specs and all.

Although could you clarify whether the experience works something like this:

Two tribes skirmishing against each other. Tribe One has two veteran warriors, Tribe Two has one veteran warrior and two adolescents who've done a lot of hunting but no real battles. Tribe Two has more guys overall but Tribe One has the more experience overall so they'd have the upper hand (barring any aces in the hole or tricks up their sleeve Tribe Two has) and most logically win the fight

Edited March 24, 2013 by Lord of Adders Black

[Blair the Cat]

I can't quote because of my iPod, but Robo, Windigos aren't canine.

Edited March 24, 2013 by The Phoenix

[Toast of Awesomeness]

Ha, well good I guess. I'll have more to post soon.

[Alex Humva]

Yeah, there'll be some form of backstory to the world in the form of an intro. Basilisk may need to close his eyes and scoot away for it. =P

 

That would be the immediate assumption. However, tribe 2 could augment their inexperience with something like, an ambush, sneak attack, or maybe just dumb luck. But barring all other factors (which the GMs will not be doing) and putting it into a gladiatorial match, yes, tribe 2 won't come out with the upperhand. Experience is simply too powerful a thing. Occasionally though, dumb luck is sure to make an appearance, as it so often does IRL.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Of course, having experienced warriors comes with the responsibility of playing as if they're experienced warriors. If the player can't pull that off, and ends up making a big mistake or five, I doubt the GM is going to bail them out just because their warriors should, in theory, be above such errors.

[Toast of Awesomeness]

Magic system:MagicThe following is an excerpt from Dr. Benjamin Rosen's 1896 work On the Classification and Explanation of Natural Magical Phenomena."As we have stated, all magical phenomena in the human being can be classified on a scale of four "classes" or groupings- A, B, C, or D. To account for smaller differences in power(here defined as the ability to affect the world around oneself in a greater fashion that a "mundane" human) the scale also consists of numerical "sublevels", from .1 to .9, meaning that a magician's class would be read as "B.3," or "D.8," for example. An explanation of the various levels follows, using the example of the gift of levitation, defined as the ability to vertically move an object at a distance.. Assume all levels describe a .1 numerical value, with the understanding that a higher value would necessarily dictate a higher level of power.(Editor's note: The highest recorded magical level has been an A.3, with the lowest being a D.4)Class D: The magician can levitate a small coin or pebble. (Note: As previously stated, such a low level has not been recorded.) Twenty per cent of magicians are Class D, colloquially known as "Duds." It should be mentioned that the "Gathering Effect," to be described in Chapter Four, has little effect on Class D magicians, for currently unknown reasons.Class C: The magician can levitate medium sized objects- for example, a dog or chair. Class C magicians account for forty per cent of the magical community.Class B: The Magician can levitate other people, multiple medium sized objects, and amorphous substances such as water. Class B Magicians account for around thirty eight per cent of magicians.Class A: The Class A magician is a tremendous store of power, being able to levitate automobiles, direct the curvature of bullets to defend themselves, and lift other persons to dizzying heights. There have been records of A-level levitators uprooting houses and levitating themselves, but these have yet to be confirmed. A-level magicians account for only two percent of the magical community."Players are allowed to play as Class D, C, or B magicians to start, but Class A magicians are reward only(unless you can convince me why I should give you one). Your character is probably not aware of their magical level, as most magicians avoid testing, however, they may have some idea of the letter value they fall under.A note on the "Gathering Effect".When magicians get in close proximity of each other, their power level begins to drop. Enough magicians in a small space can even rob them of their abilities entirely. This has been theorized as a result of the idea that magical abilities draw a sort of ethereal energy, known as "mana" out of the atmosphere- however, this is all conjecture and should be taken with a grain of salt.Also, for role playing purposes, unless you're in the Magic Quarter of New York, the ratio of Magicians to Non-Magicians in the city is 1:9.

[Alex Humva]

Yes, player stupidity/ignorance isn't going go away just because ingame the warriors have been through ten bazillion battles. If a player makes a tactical blunder, no amount of ingame experience will save them.

 

@ToA: If we can start out with class B, C, and D magicians, and a D is less than a C and a B, why will anyone but Rover choose an D?

 

EDIT: Sooo many typos xD

Edited March 24, 2013 by Alex Humva

[Toast of Awesomeness]

I doubt anyone will, but a lot of NPCs will be D's. it's just player preference.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

To avoid the persecution possibly. People with higher traits are more obvious targets and someone with a class D talent would be a lot better at slipping around unnoticed.

Besides, I can still see a fair bit of use in D class...If I can levitate a pebble I can hurl that pebble at someone and shatter their skull in a method that will baffle police. Boom, untraceable mob hitman

[Toast of Awesomeness]

Well, with just levitation that's just vertical movement. :PBut if you have telekinesis and are a high D, yeah, you could do that.

[ZTG]

Hitman: Magician XDTerrible jokes aside, do the ABCD ranks apply to other types of magic users?

[Toast of Awesomeness]

Yeah, they do. While evey ability, or set of abilities, is different, you should be able to gauge where your character is in terms of power and give them a level.

[Alex Humva]

Well, let's see. The 9x19 Parabellum is the world's prevalent nine millimeter bullet. It weighs 7.2 grams and it impacts with a force between 570 and 700 joules. It hurts quite a bit.

 

So using our handy Ke=0.5*M*V², we can use that as a baseline to figure out how much force a telekinetic needs to throw a pebble at. Assuming a weight of 10 grams, that means at a velocity of around 390m/s it impacts with the force of 700 joules. The amount of energy required to actually through it at that speed is going to be roughly around the 700 joule mark as well, though obviously higher as you've got to work against stuff like gravity, inertia, friction, such things.

 

For reference, one large calorie is about 4.2 kilojoules. So it's well within a D telekinetic's ability to ram a pebble into someone's brain. Multiple pebbles really.

Edited March 24, 2013 by Alex Humva

[Toast of Awesomeness]

Also, btw, the more you specialize your magic, the higher a level ill accept. For example, I could possibly be talked into a well thought out A-level levitator. For a full telekinetic, I'd only accept a lower level. The point is to get the players to be creative, both with making uo their abilities and how they use them.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Heehee. It's going to be very hard to remember that I am not giving my character a hockey stick.

[Alex Humva]

Considering that I've already proven that with the energy provided by a twelve ounce bottle of soda you could send the equivalent of a couple hundred nine millimeters into someone's head, I don't even see the point in an A level telekinetic. I can murder people with a D.1. =P

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Well, sending rocks into skulls may be effective, but it's not very impressive. If you want to play as a flashy magician - or maybe a mob hitman with some style - you're going to want something more powerful.