Grey
Dialectical Hermeticist
OOC goes here. All questions welcome.
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Fantasy The Cruelest Animal
- Thread starter Grey
- Start date
ManicMuse
I ax-o-lotl questions.
Really excited to be working on this with everyone. I was wondering, what everyone else is planning to play. I have a few ideas rolling around in my head. However, I wanted to ensure I was heading in a workable direction.
TheDaftStudent
I ain't 'fraid of no ghosts.
Stranger lamplighter?
ManicMuse
I ax-o-lotl questions.
I am feeling a newly arrived Outlander living in Providence with a gypsy vibe.
TheDaftStudent
I ain't 'fraid of no ghosts.
Is the history section needed? I assume so, but I just wanted to double check.
TheDaftStudent
I ain't 'fraid of no ghosts.
welp my history is short as hell, but i can make it longer.
Wolf Rawrrr
Wolf-Knight
I for one have always preferred a relatively short, but to the point history. Like a teaser, if you will. After all, game's about the future, not the past (not to mention no one is likely to read a page-long text full of painful details about your character's background).
I will try to submit mine tonight. I do have some questions, though @Grey:
1) Umbra is a city in a dark place where the Sun never rises, ruled and inhabited by... the kind of creatures you'd expect. I assume we are only going to RP within city limits, but is there more to the world beyond? Or is it an isolated pocket plane?
2) Leaning towards an Outlander. As I understand, the normal, real world exist somewhere out there and vampires from Umbra venture out to abduct mortals from it and bring them to their dark city-world. But is there any way an Outlander might arrive to Umbra sans vampiric capture?
3) The Botanical Garden is part of the city, but its denizens apparently outright oppose the authorities. Is there fighting because of it? The Thanatocracy trying to bring them in line? If not, why not?
I will try to submit mine tonight. I do have some questions, though @Grey:
1) Umbra is a city in a dark place where the Sun never rises, ruled and inhabited by... the kind of creatures you'd expect. I assume we are only going to RP within city limits, but is there more to the world beyond? Or is it an isolated pocket plane?
2) Leaning towards an Outlander. As I understand, the normal, real world exist somewhere out there and vampires from Umbra venture out to abduct mortals from it and bring them to their dark city-world. But is there any way an Outlander might arrive to Umbra sans vampiric capture?
3) The Botanical Garden is part of the city, but its denizens apparently outright oppose the authorities. Is there fighting because of it? The Thanatocracy trying to bring them in line? If not, why not?
budgieboo
And they said it changes when the sun goes down
I plan on finishing my character application when I come back from school. I'm thinking of making a human journalist, but I'm not a hundred percent sure yet.
Grey
Dialectical Hermeticist
[QUOTE="Wolf Rawrrr]
1) Umbra is a city in a dark place where the Sun never rises, ruled and inhabited by... the kind of creatures you'd expect. I assume we are only going to RP within city limits, but is there more to the world beyond? Or is it an isolated pocket plane?
2) Leaning towards an Outlander. As I understand, the normal, real world exist somewhere out there and vampires from Umbra venture out to abduct mortals from it and bring them to their dark city-world. But is there any way an Outlander might arrive to Umbra sans vampiric capture?
3) The Botanical Garden is part of the city, but its denizens apparently outright oppose the authorities. Is there fighting because of it? The Thanatocracy trying to bring them in line? If not, why not?
[/QUOTE]
1. The city appears to stretch for miles inland - no one is quite sure where the limits are, you see, other than the coast. It seems the sea stretches back out into the living world.
2. I cannot currently think of one, but I would consider it possible that a shipwreck victim could wash up in Umbra.
3. Yes, but the Thropes are difficult for the Thanatocracy to find and catch in the sprawling gardens - they have home-turf advantage. Thropes out in the city are hard to distinguish from Outlanders or Strangers until the transform. So violence does happen, but it tends to be short, nasty skirmishes and terrorist attacks.
For reference, folks, Outlanders last remember the year in the real world being anywhere between 1850 and 1899 depending on who you ask. While the Reavers take anyone they chance across, Londoners have adapted to Umbra the most speedily.
1) Umbra is a city in a dark place where the Sun never rises, ruled and inhabited by... the kind of creatures you'd expect. I assume we are only going to RP within city limits, but is there more to the world beyond? Or is it an isolated pocket plane?
2) Leaning towards an Outlander. As I understand, the normal, real world exist somewhere out there and vampires from Umbra venture out to abduct mortals from it and bring them to their dark city-world. But is there any way an Outlander might arrive to Umbra sans vampiric capture?
3) The Botanical Garden is part of the city, but its denizens apparently outright oppose the authorities. Is there fighting because of it? The Thanatocracy trying to bring them in line? If not, why not?
[/QUOTE]
1. The city appears to stretch for miles inland - no one is quite sure where the limits are, you see, other than the coast. It seems the sea stretches back out into the living world.
2. I cannot currently think of one, but I would consider it possible that a shipwreck victim could wash up in Umbra.
3. Yes, but the Thropes are difficult for the Thanatocracy to find and catch in the sprawling gardens - they have home-turf advantage. Thropes out in the city are hard to distinguish from Outlanders or Strangers until the transform. So violence does happen, but it tends to be short, nasty skirmishes and terrorist attacks.
For reference, folks, Outlanders last remember the year in the real world being anywhere between 1850 and 1899 depending on who you ask. While the Reavers take anyone they chance across, Londoners have adapted to Umbra the most speedily.
Wolf Rawrrr
Wolf-Knight
@Grey (sorry I keep tagging you but I'm not sure you are getting alerts otherwise)
I'm feeling a bit dumb to be the first and only one to ask this (since people already built characters without needing to ask at all), but I'm not sure how to distribute my points when I don't know much about the Traits. I get that they're supposed to be self-explanatory, but... I just don't understand their individual relative importance. The only thing that's crystal clear is that Vigor is the crux of the system, since it decides success/failure.
How do the other Traits come into play then? Is Fortitude a health bar? What is the difference between Intellect and Wit?
I'm feeling a bit dumb to be the first and only one to ask this (since people already built characters without needing to ask at all), but I'm not sure how to distribute my points when I don't know much about the Traits. I get that they're supposed to be self-explanatory, but... I just don't understand their individual relative importance. The only thing that's crystal clear is that Vigor is the crux of the system, since it decides success/failure.
How do the other Traits come into play then? Is Fortitude a health bar? What is the difference between Intellect and Wit?
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Grey
Dialectical Hermeticist
Brutality is your facility with violence. This is not necessarily just physical violence - intimidation, personal insults, and other forms of interpersonal aggression are covered by this Trait.
Grace is about flexibility and beauty. It is for sincere charm and clever lies, for the dagger in the back or the flashing rapier.
Poise is resilience and balance. Your ability to absorb harm, whether psycholgical or physical.
Intellect is education, logical reasoning, and sheer raw intelligence.
Wit is intuition, oberservation, instinct and cunning.
(the difference between these two is that no amount of Wit will solve a complex equation, and no amount of Intellect will tell you exactly what someone is thinking.)
Fortitude is health, not only of the body but also the mind. Sanity-shredding visions will reduce this just as surely as blades and bullets.
While you spend Vigor to beat Difficulties, the other Traits cap how much Vigor you can spend on a relevant action - for example, if you have Intellect 4, you can only spend 4 Vigor on the action - and serve as pre-requisites for other abilities.
Grace is about flexibility and beauty. It is for sincere charm and clever lies, for the dagger in the back or the flashing rapier.
Poise is resilience and balance. Your ability to absorb harm, whether psycholgical or physical.
Intellect is education, logical reasoning, and sheer raw intelligence.
Wit is intuition, oberservation, instinct and cunning.
(the difference between these two is that no amount of Wit will solve a complex equation, and no amount of Intellect will tell you exactly what someone is thinking.)
Fortitude is health, not only of the body but also the mind. Sanity-shredding visions will reduce this just as surely as blades and bullets.
While you spend Vigor to beat Difficulties, the other Traits cap how much Vigor you can spend on a relevant action - for example, if you have Intellect 4, you can only spend 4 Vigor on the action - and serve as pre-requisites for other abilities.
Wolf Rawrrr
Wolf-Knight
Hm, alright.
I'm just looking at the Callings and they don't seem to list their respective Core Traits. Is this information intentionally withheld?
I'm just looking at the Callings and they don't seem to list their respective Core Traits. Is this information intentionally withheld?
Grey
Dialectical Hermeticist
No, that was an oversight I'll fix now.
Is it making more sense following that breakdown, though? You seem dissatisfied.
Is it making more sense following that breakdown, though? You seem dissatisfied.
Grey
Dialectical Hermeticist
And fixed. This is essentially an alpha build so I apologize is balance seems janky.
Wolf Rawrrr
Wolf-Knight
Not at all. I am content with the breakdown provided. I'm just busy mulling over a character idea so I forgot to make it clear I appreciate it 
*woof*
So we have a Guardsman (16 years old... but still counts), a Lamplighter, and a Courtesan. Interesting. I am trying to decide between Lamplighter or Guardsman since that would work best with the character I wanna play. Did you intend this to be an RP where the party sticks together? Should we be thinking of party balance?
*woof*So we have a Guardsman (16 years old... but still counts), a Lamplighter, and a Courtesan. Interesting. I am trying to decide between Lamplighter or Guardsman since that would work best with the character I wanna play. Did you intend this to be an RP where the party sticks together? Should we be thinking of party balance?
Grey
Dialectical Hermeticist
I foresee some sticking together, but there is honestly no reason to shy away from duplication - especially since Guardsmen are pretty numerous and you can always try dividing points differently to cover different bases (marksman Guardsman vs. melee; unusually diplomatic and charming vs. government thug).
You can also differentiate yourself through Talents.
You can also differentiate yourself through Talents.
Wolf Rawrrr
Wolf-Knight
So to make a Talent I add a keyword to one of my skills to upgrade/personalize it?
So instead of:
Acrobatics:
Awareness
Bureaucracy
... ... ...
it becomes:
Acrobatics (Free-Running):
Awareness:
Bureaucracy:
So instead of:
Acrobatics:
Awareness
Bureaucracy
... ... ...
it becomes:
Acrobatics (Free-Running):
Awareness:
Bureaucracy:
Grey
Dialectical Hermeticist
Precisely.
Wolf Rawrrr
Wolf-Knight
So... The point of talents is that you can apply Vigor to talented skills, whereas normally you couldn't? (normally Vigor only applies to Traits)
Or is that wrong?
Or is that wrong?
Grey
Dialectical Hermeticist
Typical task resolution is Trait + Skill = max Vigor expenditure. Your Talent will reduce the Difficulty by at least 2, if it applies, allowing you to overcome the obstacle more efficiently.
Wolf Rawrrr
Wolf-Knight
Ah, I see. So we needn't describe the talent, just state which skill is talented to qualify for the bonus. Then we can have one Talent only, right?
I don't think any of the others have defined any Talents, Spells, etc. so I have nothing to compare to. Hey maybe I'm not the only one confused *woof*
I don't think any of the others have defined any Talents, Spells, etc. so I have nothing to compare to. Hey maybe I'm not the only one confused *woof*
Grey
Dialectical Hermeticist
Wait, scratch that, I misread my own notes. Sorry, hadn't worked on this in a while.
You should describe the Talent, and what it essentially does is completely change the nature of a Difficulty. The Difficulty to use Poise + Acrobatics, say, on the spiky fence is 10. But if you elect to use Free Running to get onto a nearby ledge, jump the fence, and roll onto the rooftop on the far side, the Difficulty is reduced by up to 5.
You spend creation points on the Talent up to 5, so that in circumstances where it applies it can reduce the Difficulty by that much.
You should describe the Talent, and what it essentially does is completely change the nature of a Difficulty. The Difficulty to use Poise + Acrobatics, say, on the spiky fence is 10. But if you elect to use Free Running to get onto a nearby ledge, jump the fence, and roll onto the rooftop on the far side, the Difficulty is reduced by up to 5.
You spend creation points on the Talent up to 5, so that in circumstances where it applies it can reduce the Difficulty by that much.
Wolf Rawrrr
Wolf-Knight
Makes more sense.
That's the first I heard of "creation points", though. Is this a separate pool for Talents/Spells/etc?
Sounds like this isn't what you mean when you say "When picking a Talent, you can assign points to it. The 'Rank' of the Talent indicates how much Vigor you can spend to use it."
That's the first I heard of "creation points", though. Is this a separate pool for Talents/Spells/etc?
Sounds like this isn't what you mean when you say "When picking a Talent, you can assign points to it. The 'Rank' of the Talent indicates how much Vigor you can spend to use it."
Grey
Dialectical Hermeticist
Same points as you spend on Traits and Skills, actually. As an alternative to just pumping a load of Traits to 5.
Wolf Rawrrr
Wolf-Knight
Oh! So:
Acrobatics (Free-Running): 5
=/=
Acrobatics (Free-Running 5):
In other words, I am using those 10 total points to increase Skills but also the value/rank of the Talent?
Acrobatics (Free-Running): 5
=/=
Acrobatics (Free-Running 5):
In other words, I am using those 10 total points to increase Skills but also the value/rank of the Talent?
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