Well, that was that for the April A to Z challenge!
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and I'm pleased with the end result, looking back now at my post list for April! I did, of course, find the incessant onslaught of posts rather hard at times, especially with some of the challenging hypothetical spell names I'd set for myself -- some of them were really really difficult to come up with anything for in practice (laughing gnome, tessellate, zoetrope!?).
To wrap it up, I've created a PDF of the whole lot, which you can download here: An Arcane Alphabet.
Saturday, 30 April 2011
A to Z: Zoetrope
This post is designated Open Gaming Content according to the Open Gaming License.
Zoetrope
Available to: Magic-users (chronomancers)
Level: 9
Duration: Permanent
Range: 10'
This powerful spell creates an area of space where time is warped so tightly that a single moment is repeated over and over for all eternity. The area affected is a cylinder 10' high and 10' in diameter. Any creatures or objects in this area when the spell is cast, or anything subsequently entering the area is caught in the time loop. From the outside, the time loop appears to be a spinning column of light, wherein can be seen, semi-transparent and phantom-like, the last few seconds of normal existence of everything trapped inside.
The zoetrope is an extremely powerful dweomer, and is unaffected by dispel magic. A wish is sufficient to release a single creature or object from its confines, but if magic ever existed which could undo this spell entirely, it is now lost.
The casting of this spell carries a certain risk to the chronomancer, who has a 10% chance of accidentally being sucked into the zoetrope and trapped.
Zoetrope
Available to: Magic-users (chronomancers)
Level: 9
Duration: Permanent
Range: 10'
This powerful spell creates an area of space where time is warped so tightly that a single moment is repeated over and over for all eternity. The area affected is a cylinder 10' high and 10' in diameter. Any creatures or objects in this area when the spell is cast, or anything subsequently entering the area is caught in the time loop. From the outside, the time loop appears to be a spinning column of light, wherein can be seen, semi-transparent and phantom-like, the last few seconds of normal existence of everything trapped inside.
The zoetrope is an extremely powerful dweomer, and is unaffected by dispel magic. A wish is sufficient to release a single creature or object from its confines, but if magic ever existed which could undo this spell entirely, it is now lost.
The casting of this spell carries a certain risk to the chronomancer, who has a 10% chance of accidentally being sucked into the zoetrope and trapped.
A to Z: Yeast growth
This post is designated Open Gaming Content according to the Open Gaming License.
Yeast Growth
Available to: Druids (myconic)
Level: 1
Duration: Instant
Range: 5' per level
This spell causes the radically accelerated and greatly augmented growth of all naturally occurring yeast organisms within range. As yeast exists virtually everywhere, the result is that all creatures, objects and surfaces in range are rapidly engulfed in a slimy mass of frothing yeast. The yeast itself is normal and harmless, and can be wiped off with some effort. However all affected creatures suffer a 1 in 6 chance per round of slipping over, and a -1 penalty to attacks until they are free of the yeast.
This spell can also be used to accelerate a process of yeast fermentation, such as that used in beer brewing or bread making. Such processes can be completed instantaneously with an application of this spell.
Yeast Growth
Available to: Druids (myconic)
Level: 1
Duration: Instant
Range: 5' per level
This spell causes the radically accelerated and greatly augmented growth of all naturally occurring yeast organisms within range. As yeast exists virtually everywhere, the result is that all creatures, objects and surfaces in range are rapidly engulfed in a slimy mass of frothing yeast. The yeast itself is normal and harmless, and can be wiped off with some effort. However all affected creatures suffer a 1 in 6 chance per round of slipping over, and a -1 penalty to attacks until they are free of the yeast.
This spell can also be used to accelerate a process of yeast fermentation, such as that used in beer brewing or bread making. Such processes can be completed instantaneously with an application of this spell.
Friday, 29 April 2011
Contemplating nature wizards
Inspired by a suggestion some time ago from Kelvin of Brighton & Hove Roleplayers, I've been musing on the possibility of a nature mage class. I've always been a bit non-plussed by the AD&D druid, who, I guess, is really a bit too clericy for my taste. (Which is fair enough, as it is supposed to be a cleric sub-class, but that's just not really my thing.) So originally I'd not thought there was much room to expand on this already existing list of nature-oriented spells, and that a nature mage class would end up borrowing so heavily from the druid spell list as to make it not worth doing. However, the X spell from yesterday (Xenogamy) gave me a vision of the kind of class I would like to create -- a branch of magic based on manipulating the impartial forces of nature.
Inspirational keywords: parasites, swarms, hive minds, evolution, symbiosis, reproduction, disease, decay, survival of the fittest, birth & death, hibernation, stasis, cocoons, growth & withering, cycles.
I see this hypothetical class as a kind of counterpart to the necromancer in a way. Where the necromancer deals with the forces of death and undeath, the nature mage deals with the forces of life & nature. And those forces can be equally as cruel and twisted as they can kind. So the nature mage is absolutely in no way a protector of nature, like the druid is supposed to be. I want to create a bunch of spells which invoke the creepyness and weirdness of the natural world, the things which are considered normal to non-human members of the animal & plant kingdoms. Praying mantises not being able to reproduce unless the male's head is bitten off. The freakish mutations which can emerge suddenly from a gene pool. Fungal parasites. You know the stuff.
So, it might just happen... I had a mini brainstorm this morning, and came up with some spell concepts. For now here are some names:
Hibernate
Polyvorousness
Extinction
Reptilian metabolism / mammalian metabolism
Transformative pupation
Regenerative pupation
Artificial intelligence
Hive mind
Drone
Accelerated metabolism
Accelerated immune system
Accelerated regeneration
Swarm transformation
Chimera
Impregnate
Mutation
Aging / reverse aging
Immortality
Homing instinct
Contagion
Pair bonding
Compound vision
Skin transformation
Echo location
And a few spells from existing spell lists (LL / AD&D) which would fit in for sure: polymorph self / others, shapechange, clone, creeping doom, summon swarm, water breathing, spider climb, sleep, entangle.
Inspirational keywords: parasites, swarms, hive minds, evolution, symbiosis, reproduction, disease, decay, survival of the fittest, birth & death, hibernation, stasis, cocoons, growth & withering, cycles.
I see this hypothetical class as a kind of counterpart to the necromancer in a way. Where the necromancer deals with the forces of death and undeath, the nature mage deals with the forces of life & nature. And those forces can be equally as cruel and twisted as they can kind. So the nature mage is absolutely in no way a protector of nature, like the druid is supposed to be. I want to create a bunch of spells which invoke the creepyness and weirdness of the natural world, the things which are considered normal to non-human members of the animal & plant kingdoms. Praying mantises not being able to reproduce unless the male's head is bitten off. The freakish mutations which can emerge suddenly from a gene pool. Fungal parasites. You know the stuff.
So, it might just happen... I had a mini brainstorm this morning, and came up with some spell concepts. For now here are some names:
Hibernate
Polyvorousness
Extinction
Reptilian metabolism / mammalian metabolism
Transformative pupation
Regenerative pupation
Artificial intelligence
Hive mind
Drone
Accelerated metabolism
Accelerated immune system
Accelerated regeneration
Swarm transformation
Chimera
Impregnate
Mutation
Aging / reverse aging
Immortality
Homing instinct
Contagion
Pair bonding
Compound vision
Skin transformation
Echo location
And a few spells from existing spell lists (LL / AD&D) which would fit in for sure: polymorph self / others, shapechange, clone, creeping doom, summon swarm, water breathing, spider climb, sleep, entangle.
A to Z: Xenogamy
This post is designated Open Gaming Content according to the Open Gaming License.
Xenogamy
Available to: Magic-users (nature mages)
Level: 8
Duration: Permanent
Range: Touch
This spell enables the caster to create an infinite variety of bizarre creatures by a process of genetic melding. Two living creatures of any species must be selected and contained within a laboratory for a period of 2d4 weeks. During this period the two creatures gradually begin to merge into a single being. Each week there is a 10% chance that the hybrid creature will die. If the process is successful, the resulting creature will have qualities and appearance reflecting both of its 'parents'. The Labyrinth Lord should determine which qualities are retained from which parent.
If intelligent creatures are melded with the spell, the resulting monstrosity has a 90% chance of being utterly insane.
Xenogamy
Available to: Magic-users (nature mages)
Level: 8
Duration: Permanent
Range: Touch
This spell enables the caster to create an infinite variety of bizarre creatures by a process of genetic melding. Two living creatures of any species must be selected and contained within a laboratory for a period of 2d4 weeks. During this period the two creatures gradually begin to merge into a single being. Each week there is a 10% chance that the hybrid creature will die. If the process is successful, the resulting creature will have qualities and appearance reflecting both of its 'parents'. The Labyrinth Lord should determine which qualities are retained from which parent.
If intelligent creatures are melded with the spell, the resulting monstrosity has a 90% chance of being utterly insane.
Thursday, 28 April 2011
A to Z: Whale speech
This post is designated Open Gaming Content according to the Open Gaming License.
Whale Speech
Available to: Druids (aquatic)
Level: 3
Duration: 1 hour per level
Range: 100 miles per level
In addition to giving the caster the ability to communicate with whales, this spell, when cast underwater, allows him to send messages through the aquatic medium, which can be received and understood by a single recipient somewhere within the spell's enormous range. The recipient must be someone whom the caster knows personally, or has met at least once.
Whale Speech
Available to: Druids (aquatic)
Level: 3
Duration: 1 hour per level
Range: 100 miles per level
In addition to giving the caster the ability to communicate with whales, this spell, when cast underwater, allows him to send messages through the aquatic medium, which can be received and understood by a single recipient somewhere within the spell's enormous range. The recipient must be someone whom the caster knows personally, or has met at least once.
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Thoughts on thief skills and competency
I recently played a d20 based game (Call of Cthulhu, in fact), and found myself amused and frustrated by the fact that our 1st level characters, who were supposed to be experts in one field or another, did nothing but fail our skill checks for almost the whole session. My character was an 80 year old expert on the occult, and, due to unlucky skill rolls, I think I barely came up with a single piece of useful information about any of the occult mysteries we were confronted with! Given several thousand experience points (if level advancement still works that way in CoC d20, I don't know if it does...), and a careful allocation of skill points and selection of feats, I'm sure my character could gradually have worked his way up to being the expert which he conceptually was. But not at 1st level.
As a contrast, the other two game systems I've played recently are Savage Worlds and old-school D&D in the form of Labyrinth Lord. In Savage Worlds this phenomenon is not an issue at all. It's easy to create a beginning character who is very good at at least one useful thing. Meanwhile, in Labyrinth Lord / early D&D, the only character to have skills which require checks to be made is the thief. Characters of most classes can just do their thing -- fighters wear armour and wield weapons, magic-users cast spells, clerics heal wounds and turn undead. They may not have the most stupendous abilities at 1st level, but what they can do, they can do fairly reliably. Except the poor old thief, who can climb walls pretty well, but is really wiser to forget any of his other very cool abilities (like removing traps and moving silently) until he's at least 5th level.
And the mechanic for thief skills is exactly the system which was taken and used as one of the core elements of D&D 3rd edition -- skill checks -- leading up to my poor beleaguered occult 'expert'.
Alongside my recent re-experiencing of and reflections on the d20 system, I'd noticed that not a single player in my Labyrinth Lord campaign has expressed any interest in playing a thief. (Actually, one thief was rolled up, but he only had 1 hit point, so was sort of discarded.) I've always thought of thieves as a very cool class, but taking a look at their percentage chances of success at all the things they're supposed to be good at, I can understand their undesirability.
And then I read JB's post on auto-success thief skills. Brilliant stuff. As a player you totally want your character to be good at something, to be able to do something that no other character can do -- and all of the time! Not 14% of the time.
So, after a bit of reading around (including the Jovial Priest's very interesting take on the matter), here's what I'm thinking I'll offer to thief characters in my campaign. Not a rules change, but a simple re-interpretation of what the numbers mean and when the rolls are necessary.
Pick locks: Attempting to pick a lock takes 1 turn. If the roll fails, the thief is free to try again, spending another turn. However, time is often of the essence.
Find & remove traps: As per pick locks. The thief's find traps percentage can also be used to find secret doors, if it is better than the standard 1 in 6 chance.
Move silently: A thief can always move quietly. The % roll is only required when he needs to move completely without sound. Usually in the middle of a battle there is enough noise being made that this roll is not necessary to sneak up on an opponent who is unaware of the thief's presence.
Hide in shadows: Thieves are experts at hiding, and usually do not need to make a roll to hide from view, except in situations where shadows are the only concealment available. Even then, a thief can always successfully hide in sufficient shadow, given time to position himself (i.e. before the start of a battle). The % roll must be made in order to disappear into shadows in the middle of combat.
Climb walls: Thieves can climb normally without making a roll. The % roll must only be made when climbing up sheer surfaces such as walls or cliffs.
Pick pockets: No change.
Hear noise: No change.
As a contrast, the other two game systems I've played recently are Savage Worlds and old-school D&D in the form of Labyrinth Lord. In Savage Worlds this phenomenon is not an issue at all. It's easy to create a beginning character who is very good at at least one useful thing. Meanwhile, in Labyrinth Lord / early D&D, the only character to have skills which require checks to be made is the thief. Characters of most classes can just do their thing -- fighters wear armour and wield weapons, magic-users cast spells, clerics heal wounds and turn undead. They may not have the most stupendous abilities at 1st level, but what they can do, they can do fairly reliably. Except the poor old thief, who can climb walls pretty well, but is really wiser to forget any of his other very cool abilities (like removing traps and moving silently) until he's at least 5th level.
And the mechanic for thief skills is exactly the system which was taken and used as one of the core elements of D&D 3rd edition -- skill checks -- leading up to my poor beleaguered occult 'expert'.
Alongside my recent re-experiencing of and reflections on the d20 system, I'd noticed that not a single player in my Labyrinth Lord campaign has expressed any interest in playing a thief. (Actually, one thief was rolled up, but he only had 1 hit point, so was sort of discarded.) I've always thought of thieves as a very cool class, but taking a look at their percentage chances of success at all the things they're supposed to be good at, I can understand their undesirability.
And then I read JB's post on auto-success thief skills. Brilliant stuff. As a player you totally want your character to be good at something, to be able to do something that no other character can do -- and all of the time! Not 14% of the time.
So, after a bit of reading around (including the Jovial Priest's very interesting take on the matter), here's what I'm thinking I'll offer to thief characters in my campaign. Not a rules change, but a simple re-interpretation of what the numbers mean and when the rolls are necessary.
Pick locks: Attempting to pick a lock takes 1 turn. If the roll fails, the thief is free to try again, spending another turn. However, time is often of the essence.
Find & remove traps: As per pick locks. The thief's find traps percentage can also be used to find secret doors, if it is better than the standard 1 in 6 chance.
Move silently: A thief can always move quietly. The % roll is only required when he needs to move completely without sound. Usually in the middle of a battle there is enough noise being made that this roll is not necessary to sneak up on an opponent who is unaware of the thief's presence.
Hide in shadows: Thieves are experts at hiding, and usually do not need to make a roll to hide from view, except in situations where shadows are the only concealment available. Even then, a thief can always successfully hide in sufficient shadow, given time to position himself (i.e. before the start of a battle). The % roll must be made in order to disappear into shadows in the middle of combat.
Climb walls: Thieves can climb normally without making a roll. The % roll must only be made when climbing up sheer surfaces such as walls or cliffs.
Pick pockets: No change.
Hear noise: No change.
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