The Netherworld - a realm darker than the deepest abyss, located far beneath where mortals tread. It is a cursed land where evil reigns and foul beings dwell. Nobody knows its whereabouts, but everybody fears its existence...
Here's a rundown of doing Disgaea as a campaign setting for the SAME system. The setting is between the death of the Overlord and the reawakening of Laharl. Demonlords vie for control of the Dark Congress, and everything is going to Hell. So to speak.
Patronage and Rank: The Netherworld runs on patronage to a ridiculous degree. The only way you gain Rank is by getting minions of your own. You are expected to be the minion of someone else even if you have minions of your own. While getting minions makes your rank increase, it doesn't directly do anything for your minions.
Your Rank is added to everything you do, and also determines how many abilities you have.
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[br]R G M S W Minions Required[br]1 2 1 - - Zero, Prinnies only[br]2 3 2 - - 0[br]3 3 3 1 - 1[br]4 4 4 1 - 3[br]5 5 4 2 - 5[br]6 6 4 2 - 7, Must have Rank 3 Minion[br]7 7 5 2 - 9, Must have Rank 4 Minion[br]8 8 5 3 - 11, Must have Rank 5 Minion[br]9 8 6 3 1 13, Must have Rank 6 Minion[br]10 8 7 4 1 15, Must have Rank 7 Minion[br]11 9 7 4 2 17, Must have Rank 8 Minion[br]...[br]Rank, Gimics, Manuvers, Schticks, Warcrafts[br]
Stats and Resistances:
A character starts with 10 points that they can assign to the stats of Strength, Agility, Moxie, and Elan. No stat can be valued higher than 4. There are three resistances, Water, Wind, and Fire. Every character has one Resistance at Zero, one Resistance at 4, and one resistance at 8. On character creation you can choose which is which.
Reincarnation:
Reincarnation is easy and fun, between adventures you can reassign your abilities, your stats, even your race as you choose. Only your Rank and Resistances stay static.
Abilities and Race:
Every character has the combat manuvers basic strike, which allows a character to make a no range attack based on Strength or Elan that has a base damage of 9 and ignores resistances, and defend, which makes the character slightly harder to hit. These do not count against a character's allotment of Manuvers.
Every ability category has Gimics - which are generally non-combat in application and appoximately equal in impressiveness to carrying a backpack full of specialized equipment; Manuvers - which are direct combat applications of the ability set and useful as combat actions; Schticks - which are generally non-combat in utility but are staggeringly impressive; and Warcrafts - which are capable of turning the tide of massive battles and available only to demons of such rank that they have at least small armies at their disposal.
There are 18 categories of abilities, which are further divided into 10 Physical and 8 Magic categories. There are three gimic levels of physical abilities: Basic, Advanced, and Expert; and every character begins with the Basic level of each physical ability (unless it is banned to their race, see below). For Gimics, there are only Advanced and Expert gimics in Magical Ability Categories. Manuvers come in Advanced, Expert, and Master levels; Schitcks come in Expert, Master, or Grandmaster levels; and Warcrafts come in Master, Grandmaster, and Super Awesome levels. Magical Manuvers, Schticks, and Warcrafts all have all three levels of mastery.
In order to gain a Manuver in a category, you must have at least Advanced level Gimics in that category. In order to gain a Schtick in a category, you must have Expert Level Manuvers in that category, and in order to get a Warcraft you must have Master level Schticks in that category. Thus, in order to get a mastery level in any category, you must have the previous mastery level in the same category or the same mastery level in the previous category.
Physical Abilities:
Athletics
Basic Gimic: Jump/Climb
Force
Basic Gimic: Physically lift / move objects of more than 4 kilograms.
Hard Sell
Basic Gimic: Intimidate / Threaten Foes
Lore
Basic Gimic: Research basic information
Perception
Basic Gimic: Notice Hiding foes and small details.
Resilience
Basic Gimic: Operate without Food/Sleep
Soft Sell
Basic Gimic: Diplomacize
Speed
Basic Gimic: Run
Stealth
Basic Gimic: Hide/Move Silently
Thumbs
Basic Gimic: Use Tools
Magic Abilities:
Fire
Geomancy
Healing
Illusion
Star
Ward
Water
Wind
Race:
A character's Race provides one bonus gimic (this does not count against the character's maximum gimics for their Rank). It also provides a Ban. A race starts without the first gimic of the ability category that is their ban, and can't ever gain any abilities in that category.
The races of the Netherworld are:
Prinnies Prinnies are human souls in penguin suits sent to Netherworld to work off their karma. Prinnies start at Rank 1, and cannot reincarnate into anything else until they achieve a higher rank. Prinnies are banned from Hard Sell, and have no bonus gimic. Prinnies are explosive, and not reccommended for player characters.
Beastfolk The Beastfolk are demons who are partially human, but have identifiable body parts of cats, pigs, or bulls. Humanoid in shape, they are nonetheless monstrous in appearance. Beast Folk are banned from the Soft Sell ability, and can't ever make a social appeal that is not based on power. Beastfolk start with Advanced Athletics gimic.
Succubi The Succubus (or Incubbus) appears as a human with bat wings. Succubi rarely wear much in the way of clothing. The Succubus is banned from Lore and incapable of paying attention to anything for very long. Succubi start with Advanced Soft Sell gimic.
Dark Knight Dark Knights are animated suits of Armor that stalk the Netherworld on grim errands. They have no eyes or ears and only the most basic awareness of what goes on around them. They are banned from Perception and begin with Advanced Speed.
Fey The Fairies are mischievious creatures that haunt and malign the Netherworld. Fey are banned from Stealth and begin with Advanced Illusions.
Vampires Bloodsucking terrors of the night, Vampires stalk the Netherworld with Eurotrash accents and snazzy attire. Vampires begin with Advanced Stealth and are banned from Resilience. A Vampire is thus incapable of staying awake past his bedtime, which is generally dawn.
Stumps The spirits of bitterly departed trees, stumps are foul tempered and murderous pieces of wood. Stumps have no feet, and cannot run. They have stickly arms and are tireless. They are banned from Speed and begin with Advanced Hard Sell.
Imps Ghastly creatures lacking a lower body that rampage across the Netherworld at the behest of their dread masters, the Imps are mistrusted and distained. Imps are never told anything useful and would scarecely be able to remember it if they were. They are banned from Lore, and begin with Advanced Athletics.
Jacks Resembling a scarecrow with a jack-o-lntern for a head, the Jack is a nightmareish creature that is generally known for concealed weapons and bad attitudes. Jacks are filled with straw and knives, and are noone trusts them - with good reason. Jacks are banned from the Soft Sell ability, and begin wih Advanced Speed.
Nightmares A dreadful gibbering sound accompanies these empty cloaks whereever they go. Nightmares are virtually incapable of affecting he material world, but they are quite dreadful to look upon or hear. Nightmares are banned from Force, and begin with Advanced Hard Sell.
Gargoyles Gargoyles are animated chess pieces inhabited by evil spirits. Like stumps they have no legs, and cannot achieve more speed than a ludicrous hop. They are made of stone, banned from Speed, and begin with Advanced Force.
Manticores Monsters with only slightly human faces, the Manticore has no arms, but is quite powerful. Manticores arre banned from Thumbs and have Advanced Force.
Ghosts Disembodied spirits doomed to wander the Netherworld, the Ghosts are quite numerous. Ghosts are completely intangible, but in the Ditko Space that is the Netherworld touching them is in no way difficult. Ghosts, however, still have difficulty moving things. Ghosts are banned from Force and begin with Advanced Star Magic.
Zombies: Foul smelling and foul tempered, the rotting animated corpse is a tireless staple of Netherworld society. Trapped in a filthy and rotting shell, Zombies are barely able to move at all, and are banned from Athletics. They are tireless however, and begin with Advanced Resilience.
Humans Many spirits in the Netherworld appear in death much as they did in life. The human-form demons of the Netherworld are simply not taken seriously by the monstrous residents. Humans are banned from Hard Sell. Humans begin with Advanced Perception.
Majin The Demonic Aristocracy, the Majin have no weaknesses. Only characters of Rank 5 or more can be Majin. Majin have no bans, but must purchase all of their Advanced Gimics normally.
On Equipment:
Characters in Disgaea SAME are constantly getting new swords and special glasses that make them see better and whatever. In game terms this is in no way important. Characters may have any combination of natural abilities or equipment and this doesn't matter.
Natural Weapons can't be taken away and are in all ways obvious. Characters with at least basic perception can simply see a Manticore's claws or a human brawler's martial aura. A gun, on the other hand, is both concealable and removable. Even battle axes and greatswords can be concealed under clothes with little difficulty because the Netherworld is simply funky like that.
The few times that it might become important that a character can pretend to not be armed are intended to roughly balance out with the few times it might come up that a character who fights with a sword can be disarmed.
..more to follow...
-Username17