[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

Welcome to the third thread of AA's OOC chat. By now, people really ought to know what an OOC thread is...

As before I'm asking that no one posts until the character sheets are up. In addition, I’d prefer said character sheets in spoiler tags. For the sake of saving scrolling space.

Incidentally, the ruleset has been ‘upgraded’ so please adjust your characters to the new one. It should be more ‘streamlined’. (Important: Existing characters - those that are being rebuilt get 200 points to use, not that 150 points new players get)

Index of currently active characters
Isokla
Ydalon
Nivram
Telryn Gale
Jason

Because I’m lazy, here’s a copy and paste job of the five basic rules.

– No posting with sigs, please. If you do, just edit it out.
– DM's ruling is final
– No controlling another person's character without his/her permission (including the DM's NPCs/Villains)
– No uber crazed actions or killing five plus people in a row without taking a scratch... I'll let you decide your own damage for the most part, but there will be times when I'll "force" a character to take damage.
– Basically summed up: Common Sense & Courtesy

Feel free to use colours for speech, action or general text, but please, no eyesore colours... people have to read it after all.

Spoiler for Character Creation Rules...:

The premise of this system is a tier-based (1 to 5) “point-buy” where a set number of points (or XP) are allotted and the character ‘buys’ the abilities he or she wishes. (Note that only third tier is permitted at character creation; once s/he is awarded XP in-game then s/he may raise to a higher tier)

As a rough guide:
A Novice is 1 in 10
An Expert is 1 in 100
A Master is 1 in 1000
A High Master is 1 in 10, 000
A Grand Master is 1 in 100, 000 (there are perhaps five or six of these in the entire world)


There are several categories:

Core rules:
Attributes (your basic stats)
Skills (skills of what your character knows and what your character can do) Weapon Mastery (Weapons your character can use (well))
Magic (A form of energy that is supernatural, but still follows laws. There are five categories)
Signature Techniques (Signature techniques (attacks or defensive) known to the character – also includes ‘innate powers’)
Essence Pool/(Essence Points) (This fuels/allows your abilities)
Currency (the amount of cash your character has on hand)
Equipment (your character's inventory!)

Optional Rules:
Disadvantages

Other Rules:
Character Creation: The Costs (What you start with)
In Game Costs
Level Up Costs
Character Sheet Template

Core Rules

Spoiler for Attributes:

Your key, primary stats. There are eight attributes and they are ranked on a scale of 1 to 5. Everyone starts with a single tier in every statistic. The ratings are as follows:
1 is below Average
2 is Average
3 is above Average
4 is Genius
5 is Superhuman

Strength (Gee, if I have to explain this...)
Agility (Your speed, dexterity, etc)
Endurance (Your Constitution) Intelligence (Somewhat obvious, but your ability to learn, retain knowledge)
Perception (I'm not sure how to explain it other then "your perception and ability to notice things)
Aura (your "charisma" and force of will)
Spirit (Your “magic”, “supernatural”, “innate energy” stat; the ability to control and resist it) Luck (How lucky you are - increases the chance at succeeding at impossible odds or gambling)

Spoiler for Skills:

Skills are fairly self-explanatory, and though I've tried to keep the list fairly simple, if you want to add more, feel free to. I've have absolutely no objections to anyone adding additional material (provided they clear it with me first).

Skills have three levels of expertise to them: Novice, Adept and Master



Acrobatics
Animal Handling (& Training) [Domestic]
Animal Handling (& Training) [Wild]
Animal Handling (& Training) [Exotic]
Appraise
Armoursmith (inc. repair of armour)
Blacksmithing (inc. repair of blacksmithy items)
Brewing
Climbing
Crafting [..] (anything you want to "make" that isn't already listed)
Dance*
Disguise
Fishing
Flight (winged critters only)
Forgery
Gamble
Gem/Stone/Rock Cutting
Haggle
Herbalism (using herbs to treat wounds/infections)
Hunting
Jumping
Knowledges (Pick something, like Diplomacy & Negotiation, Astrology or Forests or...)*
Instruments/Music
Lock Picking
Persuasion (inc. influence, intimidate, manipulate, seduce, etc)
Pickpocket
Read Lips
Riding
Sabotage (disable devices and such)
Sprinting/Running
Stealth
Swimming
Tailoring
Tracking
Traps (disarm/set, etc)
Weaponsmith (inc. repair of weapons)
Woodworking

Spoiler for *A note on Knowledges (& Dance).:

Dance:
Dance is divided into styles (example being country/empire name then high/classic, folk and unique, (the first being for royalty/nobility at balls; folk is country used by commoners/rural nobles and unique is a dance unique to that empire.)
Certain dances do not go under "skills" but rather under "Weapon Mastery" due to their nature as doubling up as martial arts. These dances can be learned by characters who cannot ordinarily take 'Weapon Mastery' (Check with DM)

Knowledges:
Music: knowledge of that empire's music
History: First the empire/country is chosen, and then the skill is divided into two categories: Ancient and Modern.
Mythology: the empire/country/racial(in certain cases) name is chosen

Spoiler for Martial Abilities (or “Weapon Mastery”):

As previously noted, Weapon abilities have five categories: "Acolyte", "Expert", "Master", High Master & Grand Master. Mastery is the best you can be and Acolyte is proficient - or "able to use". Expert is somewhere in between. It's really that simple.
The list is unfinished and you can apply it to almost any weapon (within reason - no Far Eastern style weapons please in a medieval 'pseudo European' for that matter and likewise, no scimitars in a European setting. Each weapon must fit the background of the realm the character comes from.)

Unarmed Martial Arts (boxing/wrestling, etc)
Bow
Crossbow
Sabre
Short Sword
Spear
Sling
Quarterstaff
Short Lance
Dagger
Whip
etc

Spoiler for Magic:

The long and short of magic is this: Magic is an extension of nature. It's supernatural, but it still follows laws. It's a form of energy tapping; manipulation & wielding of energy. It comes from within the user. External sources are sometimes tapped, but they have dire effects. Magic is not 'nuke' style, although it can be, but it always exacts a cost on the wielder. The more magic used, the greater the cost.

There are five tiers per magical discipline, and each tier must be purchased in sequence.

Here are some examples of spheres of magic.

Spoiler for Magical Disciplines:

Air
Blast of Air (channel air into a focused punch; or focus it form an "air bubble" around you that can block some attacks)
Gust (stir a wind strong enough knock others backwards)
Twister (stir up a five foot 'twister' with the power to batter/damage things/people)
Tornado (if there is a storm present, conjure a tornado - lasts a short while)
Cyclone (stir up a cyclone that can destroy houses)

Mental
Mind Speak
Mind Read
Telepathic Bond
Dominate Mind
Voices across the Void

Sight Sphere
Sense Magic
See the Unseen: (View beyond the physical veil to see invisible persons and the like)
Sense Aura (sense if an aura is true, or false – or if its nearby)
Discern True Form (see a creature’s true form)
Foresight (see a flash of the future)

Fire Sphere
Fiery Blaze(short range flame attack)
Searing Torch (touch attack)
Jet of Flame (long range attack)
Smoulder (touch attack that reduces living targets to ash over time and melts non-living)
Incinerator Cloud (area of effect spell that sears and burns all within it)

Ice Sphere
Freezing Touch
Diamond Shards (icy daggers: thrown)
Ice Strike (lance of ice: thrown/from the sky)
Freezing Ray (long ray of freezing ice)
Storm of Ice (ice shards fall from the heavens)

Water Sphere
Divine water (a 'mental radar' of emotion rather than blips; learn about where it is, how much, how deep, exact details etc)
Manipulate water (change the flow, make it run in different ways; heat it, cool it etc)
Torrents (make geysers; walls of flowing water; may be used indirectly or offensively - a torrent of water at the target)
Cause waves (as the name. wave size varies depending on how much essence is poured in. may also turn waves away)
Control the flow (a far, far stronger version of manipulate water)

Earth Sphere
Shift soil (shifts earth - the amount depends on the amount of essence used)
Shape mineral (can shape certain metals and other minerals (the more complex the shape, the more essence is needed)
Grow stalagite/stalmite (magically grows a stalagmite/tite rapidly; the bigger it is, the more essence needed)
Rockslide (causes a magical/artificial rockslide)
Cave in (caves the roof in)

Life/Healing Sphere
Cure
Antidote
Heal
Regenerate
Restore Life (not resurrect)

Light Sphere
Illuminate (lights a globe of bright white light, illuminating the area)
Shatter the Darkness (shatters shadows and light shines on those hiding in the darkness, may also blind opponent temporarily)
Bolt of Light (ranged attack that deals damage from a blinding bolt of white light)
Outward Sphere (A globe of light emanates from you and spreads outwards in a single burst pulse, creating a shockwave of light and damaging opponents twice; first the initial and then the wake; the ripple effect may also temporarily blind if the initial burst does not)
Pulsar Beam (projectile long ranged attack of a wider spread that deals blinding and physical damage)

Enchantment Sphere
Hypnotism
Bewilder
Charm
Control
Dominate

Animal Sphere
Commune with Beasts
Calm Beasts
Charm Beast
Summon Beasts
Share Mind

Illusion
Split Reflections (up to five projections of yourself (spr + aur/2)
Projection (project an illusion up to a short distance)
False Strike (confuses opponent with fake attacks)
False Aura
Clone (Create illusionary self that lasts a long time - just how long depends on the caster's power and will)

Shadow
Shadow Image (your shadow fights for you // may be multiple shadows depending on the light; (if there is only one, or no light source: spr + aur/2))
Shadow Merge (Hide in the darkness)
Dark Strike (ranged attack that damages opponent with their own shadow)
Control Shadows (control other's shadows)
Shadow Shroud (shroud the entire area with shadow)

Battle Magic
Shield (spherical globe of invisible force surrounds you or ally)
Enhanced Strike (your blows do more damage)
Armour (Invisible force protects you or ally)
Multi-Strike (strikes several times rather then just once)
Avatar (invisible force surrounds you and chosen allies rendering you invincible for a short time against all but the strongest magicks and attacks)

Divination ~ Ydalon
Mindread
Detect Magic
Foresight
Scry
Find Trouble

Protection
Sentry
Blend
Spiritward

'Raw Force' Sphere
Stun Strike (stuns opponent; no actual injury)
Discharge (magical discharge that injures/wounds opponents)
Mind blast (stronger version of 'stun' but freezes the mind and blinds the senses temporarily)
Detonation (area of effect blast that shatters objects and stuns those within blast radius)
Shock Wave (lethal version of detonation)

Hidden*
Conceal (person blends in with natural surroundings more readily)
Invisibility (conceals person completely from sight)
Undetectable (the person is completely undetectable from sight, sound and other mundane means of scrying)
Untraceable Presence (The person cannot be tracked, leaves no tracks and his/her presence is little more than a 'void' both magically and mundane)
Apathy (the person cannot be read emotionally, physically, mundane or magically; cannot be traced, cannot be analysed, is completely devoid of emotions, signature energy, magic, etc. It is not so much an effect as an absence of effects)
*Division magic of equal or higher level may counter this sphere

Weather/storm
Influence Rain
Manipulate Winds
Control Lightning
Call clouds (to an already cloudy area)
Bring Storm (call a storm to the area)

Spoiler for Signature Techniques:

Signature Techniques are innate or learned abilities, so to speak. Special attacks, or special defensive manoeuvres, innate powers – that sort of thing. There are three tiers of these: Lesser, Greater and Unique. Naturally, as the name suggests, the last is unique to the character, and cannot be taken by anyone else.

Below are some examples of attacks.

Greater:
Cutting the Wind: (A powerful sabre attack performed from horse that has potential to deliver a critical or crippling injury. On lesser opponents there is a small chance of an insta-kill.)
“Skewer” – Impale: (Impale an enemy (usually through the throat with the sabre tip reversed). This may also be used with for a "Slaying downwards thrust" style attack –used to slay a downed enemy instantly by thrusting the sabre into him)
Backstab (can backstab opponents for increased damage)
Sunder: (sunders an opponent's weapon or armour, damaging it.)
Cut-throat: (sneaks up on an unaware (mostly behind) a target and cuts their throat)
Silent Kill: (sneak attack from behind using a knotted cord for strangle attack, or a knife for cut-throat)
Dismember: (destroys/cuts off a limb, or severs a joint.)
Critical Strike: (breaks through defences and deals severe damage)
Rapid precision shot: (as name)
Whirlwind: (a series of highly concentrated and focused blows in rapid succession)

Minor:
Trample: (When on horse, may select the option to rear and trample adversaries underfoot.)
Ride Through/Overwhelming Charge: (From horse: Can elect to attempt to break-through a formation or those blocking the rider’s path. (may result in scattering/breaking the formation))
Disarm: (can attempt to disarm an adversary)
Deflection & Parry-counter thrust: (deflects an incoming attack and counters)
Bull’s Eye: (can throw a knife to an uncanny accuracy from a medium to distance range)
Camouflage: (may hide in natural terrain, adept and move more easily than most others. (not an actual attack per say))
Claw-kick: (brawling combo with brass knuckles or claws. Scratchy-catty.)
Careful Aim: (takes longer to aim, but gets a more precise shot)
Thrust: (stab attack that penetrates defences)
Sneak Attack: (when catching an opponent unaware, may choose to use a signature sneak attack for extra damage)
Street-fighter: (dagger and brawling in combination - eye-gouge and whatnot)
Steady aim: (can fight as normal during rolling seas or drunk, or otherwise movement impaired)
Bar fight: (can use improved weapons while fighting with daggers, such as tankards, chairs and generally rowdier weaponry)
Low blow: (hit vital areas on targets while in close combat)
Brawling: Grapple & Trip - unarmed combat; as name

Spoiler for Essence Pool/(Essence Points):

The Essence Pool is the sum of the character’s power; it is their inner energy, an innate source that fuels all their powered abilities, from magic to hypnosis to meditation techniques to signature attacks – it is what gives a character their power.

Simply put, the Essence Pool is a metre of Essence Points. If say, our character “Bob” has an Essence Pool of 10 EP (essence points), he may choose to spend those points on anything that uses Essence Points to power it. We’ll say that Bob has fire magic and his first spell costs five essence points to use; that leaves him with five to spend on other spells or signature techniques. Next Bob swings his sword (because Bob uses both magic and swordsplay), and spends three points on a lesser signature attack – that leaves him with two essence points left. Bob has been hurt in combat, and so, uses hypnosis on himself to speed up his recovery rate for as long as he’s in a trance. That costs his last two essence points and his pool is empty for the day, until he rests. He will recover one essence point a day, and by the end of ten days, his metre will be fully charged again. Until then, Bob had better be careful. (The values in this example are not set and should not be viewed as ‘accurate’.)

A character starts play with five Essence Points in his pool.

Spoiler for Currency:

There is a simple three coin type tier system (though the last is rarely seen):
Crowns & Pennies

(10) Ten Pennies (CP) is worth a (1) Single Crown (SC)

Pennies come in copper
Crowns come in silver


There is a third, final coin – a golden sovereign (GS).

A golden sovereign is worth (50) Silver Crowns (and subsequently, (500) five hundred Pennies)

Pennies tend to be smaller than their counterparts, being 2.5 cm in diameter.
Silver Crowns tend to be the highest form of currency that anyone aside from Merchants, Minor and Upper Nobility and of course, Royalty will use. It's rare to see gold coins in use, as gold tends to be valued a lot more highly in this world than in ours. Copper tends to be regarded as the lowest form of currency, and some 'classier' merchants won't accept it. Generally, its regarded as the currency of the peasantry - so even if you have bagfuls, it may not buy you anything within the upper regions of a city (unless you know where to look). Likewise, most peasants won't accept gold - usually because its too valuable for them to use.

You can assign yourself however many coins you wish, but as a general rule of thumb, I personally wouldn't recommend you take more than 5 Silver Crowns at the very, very most and even that may be excessive. Two SCs and a few Pennies should be more than adequate. Unless you're a noble, in which case, I'd suggest no more than three Gold Sovereigns

Spoiler for Equipment:

Equipment is pretty much left to the player's discretion but bear in mind there are no magic items or weapons. Although weight isn't taken into account, don't go over the top. The character still needs to carry everything. Check to confirm with the DM. Aside from that, you've pretty much completed your character stuff, save for the background and the like.

Optional Rules:

Spoiler for Disadvantages:

Fore word: these are optional, and it is not necessary that you take it.

How they Work:
As with the rest of the system, you ‘purchase’ disadvantages. However, disadvantages work a little differently: rather than pay XP for your disadvantages, you are awarded XP for taking them based on the severity of the disadvantage. There are five tiers of severity of Disadvantage, which each one growing increasingly in ‘deadliness’. The more severe (and how common/rare) the disadvantage, the more XP you're granted. Simple, eh?

Disadvantages may include phobias, allergies, vendettas, addictions, psychotic/compulsive disorders and the like.

A general scale to go by is:
Tier I: Will do everything within the legal boundaries to obtain objective/minor allergy/slightly annoying to others

Tier II: Will consider breaking the law for objective/prolonged exposure will make you sick/annoying to others

Tier III: Will break the law, steal – will betray friends’ trust for objective/can tolerate a small amount of exposure before being ill/people will go out of their way to cause you misfortune because you spoke to them

Tier IV: Will kill/mass murder for objective/a small exposure will make you seriously sick/you’ll be beaten, and they’ll do their best to bring about your ruin and downfall for inflicting your annoyance others

Tier V: Will do whatever it takes to obtain objective (would sell your own – and your mother’s soul)/The slightest exposure may kill you/people will kill you for speaking to them


For rare disadvantages you will get only a small amount of XP**:
Tier I: 1
Tier II: 2
Tier III: 3
Tier IV: 4
Tier V: 5

For common disadvantages, it may be a lot more – between:
Mild:
Tier I: 2
Tier II: 4
Tier III: 6
Tier IV: 8
Tier V: 10

Severe:
Tier I: 3
Tier II: 5
Tier III: 7
Tier IV: 9
Tier V: 12

Examples of common disadvantages: an allergy to nuts, heyfever, pollen, fear of the dark; vendetta against the Lords of Vision(you’d be surprise how common that is), obsession with a specific person(read: stalker); needing to bathe every day, annoying personality: arrogance – you know, that sort of thing.

Examples of rare disadvantages: fear of hornbilled toad, hunted, necrophilia(com’on, it’s not that common), allergy to a specific fruit/nut* - I’m sure you can think of some unusual conditions

There is a limit of 30 CP awarded for disadvantages. If you feel your character is some poor depraved soul who must suffer horribly – speak to me and I’ll consider it. The absolute maximum is 50 CP, however, and it may never go over that.

Finally, disadvantages may be redeemed*** and bought back over the course of the game and new disadvantages may be added. Currently, I’m thinking a straight cost exchange: a rare Tier 1 advantage would cost you 1 CP to buy out (just as you paid 1 CP for).

*Note I: this sort of thing may net you even less XP depending on how rare it is.

**Note II: the reason that 'rare' disadvantages bag a character less XP is this: the rarer something is, the less likely you are to encounter it, therefore, the less XP you receive. The more common it is... well, you get the idea.

***Note III: you can’t cancel a disadvantage unless you have XP to buy it out with though.

---

Spoiler for Character Creation: The Costs:

The first part of Character Creation covered what each section consists of. The second part details the costs:

New Characters start off with 150 Character Points(CPs) to spend. Up to an additional +25 Character Points may be granted in exceptional circumstances (check with DM)


They may spend these on any aspect of their character up to and including Tier III of any attribute, skill, martial ability, magic, & signature techniques. Use the “Level Up” thread for the cost of purchasing upgrades.
All attributes start at base 1 and may not be lowered. A character with a “0” in any attribute cannot exist and therefore, is deemed “dead”. A character may not raise any attribute past ‘3’ at character creation.
Signature Techniques “Unique” abilities cost 20 Character Points and must be justified in the character’s biography as well as approved by the DM. Unique abilities are generally more powerful than their lesser and greater counterparts.

Essence Pool/(Essence Points): A character begins with a base ‘5’ Essence Points (just as a character has a “1” in every attribute). This may be expanded at the cost of additional character points in character creation.

Spoiler for In game Costs:

Costs using the Essence Pool/(Essence Points) (per usage/charge) are as follows:

Magic:
Tier I: 1 EP
Tier II: 2 EP
Tier III: 3 EP
Tier IV: 4 EP
Tier V: 5 EP

Signature Techniques:
Lesser: 2 EP
Greater: 4 EP
Unique: 6 EP

Spoiler for "Level Up Rules"...:

The DM decides how many points a character is awarded at any given time, but usually XP is given after a task is completed, or the chapter ends - or occasionally for outstanding roleplay.

Usually though it is when a 'quest' is completed that XP is given and this is often in the realms of between 3 to 7 points, depending on the difficulty of the task and how well the characters succeeded at it.

In order to "level up", a character is awarded XP in the form of Character Points with which to purchase “Upgrades”. These may Character Points be spent on any of the items on the character sheet found below (Equipment & currency are the exception, which is bought/acquired by more conventional means - i.e. money, theft, or rewards and the like.) The costs of purchasing upgrades are listed below:

Attributes
Skills
Weapon Mastery
Magic
Signature Techniques
Essence Pool/(Essence Points)

Important: Just to clarify everything must be raised in tiers; you cannot jump ahead and buy the mastery rank from nothing. Each tier is bought and paid for separately, in order.


Upgrades

Attributes:
An attribute costs are as follows:
6 points to increase to 2
8 to raise it to 3
12 points to raise to 4
16 to raise to 5

Skills:
A skill raised to Novice level costs 2 points
A skill raised to Expert level costs 4 points
A skill raised to Master level costs 6 points

Weapon Mastery
Martial skills raised to Acolyte cost 3 points
Martial skills raised to Expert cost 5 points
Martial skills raised to Master cost 7 points
Martial skills raised to High Mastery costs 15 points
Martial skills raised to Grand Mastery costs 20 points

Magic

Tier I – costs 5 points
Tier II – costs 7 points
Tier III – costs 10 points
Tier IV – costs 15 points
Tier V – costs 20 points

Each tier grants a single spell per ‘type’ of magic. Each tier must be bought in order before the next rank of tier may be bought.

Signature Techniques

Each Lesser Meditation Technique purchased costs 10 points
Each Greater Meditation Technique purchased costs 15 points
Each Unique Meditation Technique purchased costs 20 points*

Essence Pool/(Essence Points)

A character may purchase additional (or extend) Essence Points for his Essence Metre/Pool. Obviously, this increases the amount of times he can use his powered/charged abilities.

It costs five Character Points to extend the metre. The metre is extended three EPs. This may be bought multiple times and each time, the metre increases.

Note: No more than fifteen essence pool total at startup for mortals, and in-game above twenty requires DM permission.
*Unique Signature techniques may only be bought once and must be cleared by the DM.

Final Note
Any left over or unspent character points are added to the XP header - example: Bob has spent all but five of his character points. He now puts those he has not used on his sheet:
XP
Current XP: 5 Character Points
Spent XP: - Character Points
Total Awarded XP: - Character Points (+ reminder 5 from creation)

Spoiler for Character Sheet Template:

Name:
Gender:
Age:

Height:
Weight:
Build:
Skin Tone:
Hair Colour:
Eye Colour:

Level-Up Points:
Current XP: - Character Points
Spent XP: - Character Points
Total Awarded XP: - Character Points

Attributes
Str
End
Agi
Int
Per
Aur
Spr
Luck

Disadvantages
Rare: (Tier I-V)
Common:
Mild: (Tier I-V)
Major: (Tier I-V)

Skills

Magic

Sphere
Tier I:
Tier II:
Tier III:
Tier IV:
Tier V:

Weapon Mastery
Mastery:
Adept:
Acolyte:

Signature Technique
Lesser:
Greater:
Unique:

Essence Pool
Total Metre: # (5 + upgrade)
Spent/Remaining:

Inventory

Background
Appearance & Personality:
Biography: