d6TN5-Age of Reason

[erik]

I've played games that used the mechanic proposed by Frank in the Dead Man's Hand thread, wherein characters have piles of d6's and use them in checks in order to determine success by the amount of 5 and 6's rolled (namely Arkham Horror). I like it, and I call it d6 target number 5, d6TN5 for short.

I enjoy the uniqueness of the setting that Frank proposed, but it is probably too unfamiliar for me to sell to my friends convincingly. So I make this analog which uses much of the same mechanics, but is opposite in that instead of having no humans, it's entirely human (albeit some supernaturally altered). Tis still set in the 1800's but not just bound to the Wild West frontiers though it should do just fine there.

I'll call this analog setting, Age of Reason.

Core concept:

It is the 1800's, the Age of Enlightenment has come and lines between technology and the supernatural have become blurred. Stories of golems created from the parts of dead men coming to life through miracles of science are more fact than fiction. Vampires and werewolves lurk among men, preying upon them in the night.


Mechanics:

Whenever something needs to be mechanically resolved via rolling d6's numbering equal to their a character's Attribute Rank plus any extra dice from Skill Ranks and other modifiers (equipment, archtype, penalties, etc). Any 5's and 6's rolled count as successes, and the number (x) of successes required to complete a task will be the Difficulty[x] of the task.

Opposed rolls occur when one character is attempting an action offensively against another character. The defensive character sets the Difficulty by taking their (total defensive dice pool)÷3 plus the successful rolls of any remainder, to a minimum of Difficulty[1]. The offensive character rolls their dice for the opposed check, and if they make enough successes to meet the Difficulty then they succeed at their offensive check. Some modifiers may raise the minimum difficulty higher than 1.

Example: One character fires his rifle at another.
The offensive character has 16 total offensive dice (Coordination+Modern Ranged Weaponry+Class Abilities+Equipment Bonus).
The defensive character has 11 total defensive dice (Reaction+Dodge+Class Abilities+Equipment Bonus).
The Defensive character with 11 dice thus has 3 automatic successes and 2 remaining dice. The Defender rolls both dice and gets a 1 and a 5, which yields one more success. Those 4 successes set the Difficulty to a total of Difficulty[4] that the offensive character must now meet in order to hit with his rifle shot.


Attributes:
I like 6 stat systems. The stats used in this setting are pretty much the same as Dead Man's Hand, though I dropped the Magic and Edge stats, and changed the names to my preferences for a few.

Coordination
(precision-based movement)
Logic
(reasoning)
Perception
(senses)
Reaction
(speed-based movement)
Toughness
(strength and endurance)
Willpower
(strength of personality)

Suggested method for setting attributes for characters would be straight point allocation. This method leads to pointy stats, but there won't be much variation in base stats due to caps on the maximum dice for the base of a stat so that is fine and dandy. Caps only apply to the base stat, and can be exceeded by bonuses from other areas.

Mundane Attributes:
12 total (cap 4)

Elite Attributes:
16 total (cap 5)

Heroic Attributes:
20 total (cap 6)

1 minimum per Attribute for base stats. If a character has a penalty that brings the total dice below 1, then the character automatically fails that check.

Skills:

Skills add dice to Attributes for relevant checks.

I suggest a point buy for determining Skill Ranks via a point buy, since those wind up being more diverse and organic, and less pointy in order to balance out the pointy attributes. One-dimensional characters with respect to atttributes are interesting. One-dimesional characters with respect to skills are not.

Suggested Skill build points
Mundane 100bp (cap 3)
Elite 150bp (cap 4)
Heroic 200bp (cap 5)

Skill costs (price to raise each increment)
1=1bp, 2=3bp, 3=6bp, 4=10bp, 5=15bp


I'm still working on setting guideline difficulties for skills, but here is the tentative complete list of skills.

Coordination:
• Athletics
• Ancient Ranged Weaponry
••
•• Thrown Weapons
• Modern Ranged Weaponry
• Sleight of Hand
• Sneak

Logic:
• Craft
•• Ancient Tech
••• Taxidermy
••• Metal Working
••• Wood Working
•• High Tech
••• Chemical
••• Electronic
••• Gunsmith
••• Mechanic
•• Magic Tech
••• Constructs
••• Potions
• Lore
•• History
•• Legal
•• Local
•• Magic
•• Religion
•• Science
•• Underworld
• Medicine
• Sabotage


Perception:
• Artistry
• Notice
•• People
•• Surroundings
• Track

Reaction:
• Dodge
• Pilot Vehicle

Toughness:
• Ancient Melee Weaponry & Brawling
• Climb
• Swim

Willpower:
• Animal Husbandry & Riding
• Bargain
• Bluff
• Disguise
• Intimidate


Size:
Size will affect some skills.

Sizes for the sake of familiarity will reference adult humans as Medium, and use the d20 size steps of Fine, Diminutive, Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, Huge, Gargantuan, and Colossal. Sizes different than Medium grant bonuses and penalties.

For each +1 over Medium, +2 Grapple and Speed, +1 Climb, Swim and Intimidate, -1 Dodge and Sneak, and double carrying capacity.
For each -1 under Medium, -2 Grapple and Speed, -1 Climb, Swim and Intimidate, +1 Dodge and Sneak, and halve carrying capacity.


Actions and Combat:

6 second rounds are convenient time increments to me, so I plan to keep that arbitrary unit from d20. Characters have two actions per round, which may be used for either attacks or movement. Some actions specify that they take a full round action, these actions cannot be done in the same round as any other attacks or movement.

Combat is much less static than d20. There are no squares, facing or static positions, just vague distances.

Distances used will be
Adjacent (within arm's reach),
Nearby (within 10 meters),
Short Range (within 20 meters),
Medium Range (within 100 meters),
Long Range (within 400 meters).


Melee attacks may only be conducted against adjacent opponents.
Ranged attacks may be conducted at one farther range increment than optimal with a -4 dice penalty.

Again, I envision a system pretty much identical to Dead Man's Hand for combat

Attacks are opposed contests.
Damage is soaked.
Everyone has can take 10 damage before they go down.
Lethal and non-lethal damage stack towards that amount to take someone down.

Attacker's dice to hit are from attribute (Toughness if Melee, Coordination if Ranged) plus dice from relevant skill (Ancient Melee Weaponry/Brawling, Ancient Ranged Weaponry, Ancient Thrown Weaponry, or Modern Ranged Weaponry), plus dice from equipment and any other modifiers.

Defender's dice to dodge are from Reaction attribute plus Dodge skill, plus dice from any other modifiers.

If the attacker's dice meet the number of successful hits of the defender then damage is dealt.

If the attacker has more hits than required to successfully hit the defender, then those extra hits translate into extra damage.

0 extra hits=+0 damage
1 extra hit=+1 damage
2 extra hits=+3 damage
3 extra hits=+6 damage
4 extra hits=+10 damage
5 extra hits=+15 damage
6 extra hits=+21 damage
7 extra hits=+28 damage
... and so forth.

Size will modify how much damage the extra hits deal by shifting the scale such that larger creatures take less damage from extra hits and smaller creatures take more damage from extra hits. So a Huge adult elephant would only take +1 damage from 3 extra hits, and a Tiny house cat would take +15 damage from 3 extra hits.

The bonus towards damage is actually a bonus in the number of dice rolled on a damage check.

Damage for melee and thrown weapons equals Toughness dice plus weapon dice plus other bonuses.

Damage for ranged weapons equals the weapon's damage dice plus other bonuses.

Damage is soaked by the defender's Toughness plus other bonuses. Each successful soak roll negates one successful damage die.

Some creatures and armors will have damage reduction which functions by treating a subject as though they were of a larger size for the purpose of determining damage from extra hits.

Wounds:
As characters take damage, they become impaired.
A character with 4 wounds is battered. Battered characters take a -1 penalty to all checks.

A character with 7 wounds is seriously wounded. Seriously wounded characters take a -2 penalty to all checks and may begin bleeding.

Bleeding:
A character with 7 or more lethal wounds begins bleeding until healed. A bleeding character will take one additional point of lethal damage in each round that they take any form of vigorous action (including attacking, spellcasting, running, dodging). If a bleeding character stops moving and rests then bleeding damage only occurs once each hour.

A character with 10 wounds is staggered. Staggered characters may only take single actions and are at a -3 penalty to all checks.

Once a character has taken more than 10 wounds, they fall unconscious. Unconscious characters may take no actions until they are woken up. Unconscious characters who are awakened and still have more than 10 wounds are considered staggered and any further damage will return them to unconsciousness.

If the character has more than 10 lethal wounds then the character may not be awoken until they are healed to at least 10 lethal wounds.

A character with 20 lethal wounds is dead. Dead characters can’t do anything other than decay and are mechanically treated as objects.



Grapples may be initiated as a single attack action, set at Difficulty[2] opposed attack check meaning that in order to initiate a grapple the attacker must make at least one extra hit over the defender’s successes in order to meet the one higher difficulty. With a successful hit, instead of dealing damage, the attacker grapples with his hit opponent. This follow-up grapple check is considered part of the attack action.

Grappling is adjudicated by opposed melee combat rolls (so Toughness dice + Ancient Melee Weapons dice) with grappling as a Difficulty[2] opposed check.

Grappled characters are restricted in their action options.

Characters in a grapple may not move unless their opponent is pinned and they must be strong enough to carry the pinned opponent if they wish to move them.

Characters in a grapple cannot aim attacks at opponents outside the grapple nor can they use weapons larger than their hand.

Hand-held weapons take a penalty of -4 when used in a grapple.

Natural weapons take no penalty when used in a grapple.

Successful grapple checks deal non-lethal damage as an unarmed attack.

Escaping a grapple is only a Difficulty[1] opposed check, and may be attempted using Toughness + Ancient Melee Combat or Coordination + Athletics.

Outside parties may join a grapple, and may add their extra successes to one of the grapplers with a Difficulty[2] grapple check.



Disarming is a melee attack action which is resolved by opposed attack checks. If the attacker is successful, then the defender drops their weapon.

Characters wielding a ranged weapon are at -2 to defend against a disarm attempt.



...

...
Things to add to this post:

Table of actions
Other combat actions
More rules on movement

fixing the stupid skill tables


Things to come in the next post:
Archtypes and character advancement

[erik]

Age of Reason Archtypes

I’ve so far come up with 10 different classes, which will be referred to as Archtypes.

A starting character will have 1 Rank in an Archtype of their choosing. Ranks in Archtypes will determine the strength and in some cases quantity of abilities received by an Archtype.

Here are the Archtypes identified by the roles they represent to an adventuring party.


Altered Human (Option of tech/tank/scout/enabler/artillery/etc)

Divine Agent (Buffer, Debuffer)

Golem (Tank)

Investigator (Buffer, Debuffer)

Mad Scientist (Buffer, Tech)

Man at Arms (Artillery)

Sorcerer (Tech, Artillery)

Warlock (Tech, Scout, Artillery)

Werewolf (Tank, Scout)

Vampire (Diplomancer, Jack of All Trades)



Ranks

As characters gain Archtype Ranks they can increase their current Archtype Rank or gain a new applicable Archtype Rank.

Altered Human, Golem, Werewolf and Vampire Archtypes all involve major physical changes which may not be taken together.

Most NPCs are simply zero Rank Mundane humans.


Mundane (Mu)
Unless otherwise noted, all abilities, equipment and bonuses are Mundane.

Supernatural (Su)
Some abilities granted by Archtypes are Supernatural, and as such may interact differently with other abilities.

Rank Bonus
Some Archtypes give bonus dice based upon how many Ranks a character has in that particular Archtype. These dice are referred to as a Rank Bonus.
Example: A Rank 3 Werewolf has a +2 Rank Bonus to its Toughness while in Beast Shape. This means that the Werewolf gets +6 dice to all Toughness checks (2 bonus x 3 Ranks) while in Beast Shape.

Base Ranks
This is the number of Ranks possessed not counting bonuses from abilities. Some abilities have Rank Bonuses capped by a multiple of Base Ranks
(examples: a Divine Agent's Divine Insight, an Investigator's Lore Specialist, a Mad Scientists's Mad Insight)



The Archtypes

Altered Human (Invisible Man, Dr Jekyl/Mr Hyde, Dorian Gray)
“I used to be like you, I’m better now.”

Strange Brew
Altered Humans have created or discovered an elixir or substance which performs remarkable changes to their body. Through intense physical conditioning they are able to induce these temporary changes voluntarily.

As a full round action an Altered Human may activate its power via a physical trigger such as an elixir or oil. At the end of the character's full round action, the transformation is complete. Duration is 1 hour per Altered Human Rank.

Example Alterations:
• Gigantism
The Altered Human grows to double its height and quadruple its weight.
Gain a Rank Bonus of +1 Size, +3 Toughness.
• Invisibility
The Altered Human becomes invisible to the human eye.
Gain a Rank Bonus of +5 to Sneak checks and you take no penalty for using Sneak checks while being observed.
• Shrinking
The Altered Human shrinks to half its height and half its weight.
Gain a Rank Bonus of -1 Size, +1 Coordination, +2 Reaction
• Speed
Time slows for the Altered Human as veins pump with adrenaline and reaction times become supernaturally fast.
Gain a Rank Bonus of +3 Reaction, +1 Coordination.
• Suggestion
The Altered Human becomes incredibly persuasive.
Gain a Rank Bonus of +4 Willpower.
• Vitality
The Altered Human gains Undying and a superior form of Fast Healing
All wounds dealt to the Altered Human are treated as non-lethal. The Altered Human also suffers no penalties from being wounded. If enough wounds have been dealt to incapacitate the Altered Human, it is only staggered and may still continue functioning but with only one action per round.
As a free action, for each Altered Human Rank 2 wounds are healed and all physical status effects are negated each round.


Potion Master
Altered Human has figured out how to recreate their Strange Brew and in the process gained some insight into brewing potions. Gain a Rank Bonus of +2 Craft(Potion) capped by 2x Base Ranks in Craft(Potion). For the Altered Human the Difficulty for all Craft(Potion) checks is reduced by 1, to a minimum of 1, with the exception of their Strange Brew which is reduced to a Difficulty[3] Craft(Potion) check (normally a Difficulty[5] check).

Unconventional Resources
An Altered Human often comes into possession of expensive or hard-to-acquire equipment (sometimes illegally).

Gain a Rank Bonus of +2 Resource which may be used to make a special Resource check.
A Difficulty[1] Resource check for a piece of mundane equipment.
A Difficulty[2] Resource check for a piece of unusual equipment.
A Difficulty[3] Resource check for a piece of rare equipment.
A Difficulty[4] Resource check for a piece of unique equipment.
This Resource check may be done once per session.

Spawn Immunity
An Altered Human’s physiology is so different from a normal human that it cannot be turned into a Werewolf, Vampire, or Golem.

Permanent Transformation
An Altered Human may choose to make their transformation supernatural and permanent by taking an overdose of their unique concoction, however doing so often results in a weakness or vice.


...
To be added... weaknesses/vices, more altered human powers.







Divine Agent
“Praise God and pass the ammunition.”

Spiritual Insight
A Divine Agent has gained a spiritual insight that can be applied to a variety of pursuits. For each Divine Agent Rank pick 2 skills with which the Divine Agent has Spritual Insight. To a maximum of double the base Lore(Relgion) Ranks, the Divine Agent Gain a Rank Bonus of +2. Spiritual Insight may not be applied to the same skill twice.

Unshakable Faith
A Divine Agent’s conviction is adamant. A Divine Agent gains a Rank Bonus of +1 Willpower. In addition an opponent must succeed at a +1 Difficulty on an offensive opposed Willpower check against the Divine Agent.

Sheperd to the Flock
Any nearby allies of the Divine Agent who share the same faith as the Divine Agent may receive a bonus when making a defensive opposed Willpower check. For these checks, the Divine Agent grants a Rank Bonus of +1.


Rebuke (Su)
As a supernatural ability Divine Agent may as a full round action make an offensive opposed Willpower roll to negate a known supernatural ability of a nearby target. The Divine Agent’s Difficulty is +1 per each Rank that the opponent has greater than the Divine Agent Rank. If the Divine Agent succeeds then the power is suppressed for one round per Divine Agent Rank.

On grounds considered holy to the Divine Agent, the rebuke becomes more powerful and negates the supernatural abilities of all opponents nearby who fail their opposed willpower roll. Holy grounds are places of worship and burial grounds for those of the same faith.

God Will Provide
A Divine Agent often receives help in their travels thanks to their religious devotion, be it through church connections or tithes from the faithful.

For each Divine Agent Rank the character gains +2 Resource which may be used to make a special Resource check.
A Difficulty[1] Resource check for a piece of mundane equipment.
A Difficulty[2] Resource check for a piece of unusual equipment.
This check may be done once per session.





Golem (Modern Prometheus, The Mummy Imhotep, Alphonse Elric, Robocop)
“What... am I?”

Hulking Form
A Golem may be formed from the stitched together remains of dead men and creatures brought to life via magic or mad science, or it may be a mechanical construct that has gained sentience. Regardless of its origins Golems have remarkable resilience to damage and usually possess incredible strength. Golems are often brought to sentience suddenly and have an under-developed sense of self.

A Golem receives +4 Toughness and -2 Willpower

Damage Reduction
The Golem gains a Rank Bonus of +1 Size only for the purposes of taking damage.

Undying
All wounds dealt to a Golem are treated as non-lethal. The Golem also suffers no penalties from being wounded. If enough wounds have been dealt to incapacitate a Golem, it is only staggered and may still continue functioning but with only one action per round.

Unhealing
A Golem does not heal naturally, but instead must be repaired. A Golem may be healed by skills according to their construction:

• Taxidermy if made from animal or human parts
• Mechanical if it is a clockwork engine

A Difficulty[3] check with the appropriate skill heals 1 damage +1 for each additional success.

Spawn Immunity
A Golem’s physiology is so different from a normal human that it cannot be turned into a Vampire, Werewolf or Altered Human.

Weak Point
All Golems have a Weak Point varying in appearance per individual. For some it is a beating heart, for others it is a glowing spirit reactor.

Once a Golem is staggered from excess damage its Weak Point becomes exposed and vulnerable. 3 extra hits against the Golem are required to successfully hit and break the exposed Weak Point. Once a Golem’s Weak Point has been broken, it becomes inert. Once a Golem is inert, it may be utterly destroyed. If it is not utterly destroyed, then it could eventually be repaired by a Difficulty[5] check as appropriate to its construction.

Bodily Improvements
A Golem continues modifying its body where its creator left off. For each Golem Rank, it may select two of these alterations.

• Armor plating (+2 Size for the purposes of taking extra hits for damage)
• Enlarged Form (+1 Size, +2 Toughness, -1 Reaction)
• Repair Kit (+4 to repair checks using appropriate skill, which can now be administered autonomously)
• Enhanced Physique (+2 to physical Attribute, maximum +2 per Rank per Attribute)
• Enhanced Mental Processing (+2 to mental Attribute, maximum +2 per Rank per Attribute)




Investigator (Abraham Van Helsing, Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce)
“To kill it you have to chop off the head, stuff its mouth full of garlic and then burn it. I’ll demonstrate.”


Lore Specialist
The Investigator gains a Rank Bonus of +2 to any Lore skill in which the Investigator has Ranks to a maximum equal to 2x the Lore skill's Base Ranks.

Identify Supernatural
As a free action the Investigator may make a Difficulty[3] Lore(Magic) check to identify a supernatural creature or a supernatural power. Normally identifying a supernatural creature or power without study in a lab requires a Difficulty[4] Lore(Magic) check as a full round action of examination.

Occult Defense
An Investigator can apply his knowledge in order to defend against supernatural powers. The Investigator gains a +2 Rank Bonus to any opposed roll against a supernatural ability. As an action the Investigator may shout out instructions in order to grant those who listen a +1 Rank Bonus on defensive opposed rolls versus one Supernatural ability.

Nullify Supernatural
An Investigator may as a full round action make an offensive Difficulty[1] Lore(magic) check opposed by the target's Willpower to negate a known supernatural ability of a nearby target. The Difficulty is +1 per each Rank that the opponent has greater than the Investigator Rank. If the Investigator succeeds then the power is suppressed for one round per Investigator Rank.

Supernatural Influence (Su)
An Investigator has seen many horrible and awesome things. Some are still with him.

For each Investigator Rank choose one of these Supernatural Influences.

• Spellcasting (Su)
The Investigator possess a few minor spell powers. In order to cast a spell, an Investigator must spend an action and succeed at a Spellcasting check. A Spellcasting check is resolved by adding Willpower + Lore(Magic) Ranks together against a Difficulty determined by the strength of the power being attempted.

A failed Spellcasting check deals 1 non-lethal damage to the Investigator per successes short of the required Difficulty.

Minor powers are simple tricks that they can use at will without fatigue. The Investigator must make a Spellcasting check of Difficulty[2] to use a minor power.

A Spellcasting Investigator knows 1 minor powers + 1 per Investigator Rank.

• Enchanted Object (Su)
The Investigator possesses a mystical object which has been enchanted with ancient magic. The Investigator is able gain superior performance out of the item. For all checks made with the Enchanted Object the Investigator recieves a Rank Bonus of +1. This object may not be upgraded or altered without ruining the enchantment.

Examples:
An Enchanted sword gives a +1 Rank Bonus to Ancient Melee Weaponry and Damage.
An Enchanted medical kit gives a +1 Rank Bonus to all Medicine checks.
A suit of Enchanted armor gives a +1 Rank Bonus to Size for taking extra damage and Toughness for soaking damage.

Object of Power (Su)
The Investigator has discovered an object that can grants supernatural vitality to an Attribute, if the possessor can understand it. An Object of Power gives a +1 Rank Bonus to one Attribute when worn or held by the Investigator.

An Object of Power may be the same item as an Enchanted Object, wherein the Investigator has simply discovered deeper powers held within. The Investigator may take this Supernatural Influence multiple times in order to find Objects of Power that boost different Attributes or to unlock these powers in the same Object of Power. Bonuses to the same Attribute from different selections of Objects of Power do not stack.




Mad Scientist (MacGyver, Q, Dr. Frankenstien, Captain Nemo, Artemus Gordon, Dr Arliss Loveless)
“What an amazing machine! I think I’ll build a better one.
No, two.”

The Mad Scientist is gifted with a one-in-a-million intuition when it comes to machines. Constantly creating new inventions and making tweaks and improvements upon existing creations, the Mad Scientist never rests.

The Machines Talk to Me
A Mad Scientist may spend one minute to attempt completely understand how a machine or tool works with a Difficulty[3] Craft check approrpiate to the item. After he has gained this understanding, he is able to get the maximum efficiency out of the device and gains +1 for any checks made with that object.

Mad Insight
The Mad Scientist gains a Rank Bonus of +1 Logic, capped by Base Ranks in Logic.
The Mad Scientist gains a Rank Bonus of +1 Craft, Medicine and Sabotage skills, individually capped by the Base Ranks in those skills.

Improved Gear
Never one to settle for standard equipment, a Mad Scientist contantly customizes his gear for optimal use. The Mad Scientist may attempt to modify any piece of equipment that he possesses. The Improved Gear gains a Rank Bonus of +1 for one specific check only. To successfully modify an item the Mad Scientist must spend one hour and succeed at a Difficulty[4] craft check appropriate to the item.

Examples of modifications would be:

Extra dice on a tool kit for repairing items
Extra dice on a tool kit for modifying items
Extra dice on an explosive for dealing damage
Extra dice on a weapon for attacking
Extra dice on a weapon for disarming
Extra dice on an object for concealment via sleight of hand
Extra dice on a firearm for quick draws
Extra dice on a firearm for attack rolls
Extra dice on a lockpick set for opening locks
Extra dice on an armor suit for soaking damage
Extra dice on an armor suit for dodging attacks (to negate penalty, up to +0 dice)
Extra dice on an armor suit for sneaking (to negate penalty, up to +0 dice)
Extra dice on a vehicle for performing precision manuevers
Extra dice on a vehicle for performing fast manuevers
Extra dice on a medicine kit for performing first aid
Extra dice on a medicine kit for performing surgery
Extra dice on a medicine kit for treating poisons
Extra dice on a medicine kit for treating diseases

The Mad Scientist may only make one modification per piece of equipment. These modifications require constant tweaking and upkeep. After 1 week they lose their bonus when kept by anybody other than the Mad Scientist. A Mad Scientist may routinely maintain Improved Gear with an appropriate craft check of Difficulty[2] by the Mad Scientist, up to a limit of 4 items +4 per Mad Scientist Rank.

Fantastic Creation
The Mad Scientist occasionally creates a masterpiece of technology the likes of which is beyond modern man. A Mad Scientist may have one Fantastic Creation per Mad Scientist Rank.

Vague Examples of Fantastic Creation:

• A mechanically powered vehicle which can carry 6 passengers per Mad Scientist Rank (double capacity if a water-faring vehicle, halve capacity if a flying vehicle).
• A non-sentient Golem of Rank equal to Mad Scientist Rank -1 that obeys your rudimentary commands. At Rank zero treat it as a Rank 1 Golem without Hulking Form, Damage Reduction or Bodily Improvements abilties.
• A colossal bomb which can destroy everything in 30 meter radius per Mad Scientist Rank.
• An artificial replacement limb that grants a +2 Rank Bonus to a physical ability.

The Mad Scientist may use Improved Gear and The Machines Talk to Me on a Fantastic Creation.

If a Fantastic Creation is ever destroyed, then the Mad Scientist can spend one week in his lab (or one month in an undesirable location) to repair or rebuild his creation.





Man at Arms (Jim West, Alan Quartermain)
“This is a Callahan full bore auto-lock repeater with a 50 round cartridge, it is my very favorite gun. I call it Vera.”

A Man at Arms is trained in combat to an expert level with a variety of weapons. As they gain experience they learn tricks which help them survive dangerous situations.

Weapon Mastery
A Man at Arms is able to become proficient with any weapon after handling it and practicing with it for one day. Practicing with a weapon takes 1 hour.

The Man at Arms gains Weapon Mastery over a weapon that he has practiced with for more than a week. The Man at Arms gains a Rank Bonus of +1 Weaponry with Weapon Mastery.

Signature Weapon
The Man at Arms may choose one ranged weapon and one melee weapon in which he has Weapon Mastery, and may make it his Signature Weapon after week of practice with the weapon. If the Man at Arms already had a Signature Weapon of the same type (ranged or melee), his old weapon now only gains the Weapon Mastery bonus. The Man at Arms' Signature Weapon gains a Rank Bonus of +2 Weaponry which do not stack with Weapon Mastery.

Combat Tricks
The Man at Arms is able to perform difficult manuevers with any weapon he is proficient. The player may choose two Combat Tricks from this list per Man at Arms Rank.

Born in Full Plate
The Man at Arms is an expert at moving unhindered by armor and may ignore up to 3 dice of penalties imposed by armor.

Cleaving Attack
The Man at Arms may make a melee attack against two opponents at once if they both are within melee combat with him.

One Track Mind
The Man at Arms is +3 on defensive willpower rolls in combat.

Nimble Toes
The Man at Arms is +3 on dodge rolls.

Deadly Blow
The Man at Arms deals griveous wounds with his weapon. He deals +3 damage on any successful melee hit.

Haymaker
The Man at Arms may take a -1 Weaponry to a melee attack in order to treat his target as -1 Size for the purposes of damage from extra hits.

Sleeper Hold
The Man at Arms may put a Sleeper Hold on an opponent of no larger than 1 size greater than he. If he maintains a grapple on an opponent for two rounds plus 1 for larger opponents or -1 round per size for smaller opponents (minimum 1 round), then the opponent becomes staggered. If he maintains the hold one more round after that then the opponent becomes unconscious.

Called Shot
The Man at Arms may take a -1 Weaponry to a ranged attack in order to treat his target as -1 Size for the purposes of damage from extra hits.

Crack Shot
The Man at Arms can use ranged weapons at one greater range type (nearby, short, medium, long) without incurring penalties.

Multi-Shot
With a repeating ranged weapon or weapons, the Man at Arms may fire at multiple targets as a full round action by adding +1 Difficulty to the Weaponry check per each additional target after the first. The Man at Arms may fire at one additional target per Man at Arms Rank.

Quickdraw
Once per round the Man at Arms can draw a weapon as a free action and gains +3 Reaction in an opposed quickdraw check.

Sniper
The Man at Arms may spend a full round action for up to 3 rounds before firing a ranged weapon in order to gain bonus dice on the Weaponry roll equal to 1 plus the number of rounds spent taking aim.

Ranged Disarm
With a ranged weapon the Man At Arms may aim for an object held or worn by a target with a -2 Weaponry from a ranged attack. If he hits then the object is damaged and falls to the ground if still intact.

...
To be added:
I’m going to add many more combat tricks.





Sorcerer (The Mummy Imhotep, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce)
“One more word and you’re newt.”

The Sorcerer might be a practicioner of magic from any background- a voodoo priest, a witch doctor, a native american shaman, an oriental mystic, a layman who stumbled an ancient tome of power, or simply someone mysteriously born with innate magical abilities.

Spellcasting (Su)
Sorcerers possess several minor, moderate and major powers. In order to cast a spell, a Sorcerer must spend an action and succeed at a Spellcasting check. A Spellcasting check is resolved by adding Willpower + Lore(Magic) Ranks together against a Difficulty determined by the strength of the power being attempted.

A failed Spellcasting check deals 1 non-lethal damage to the Sorcerer per successes short of the required Difficulty.

• Minor powers are simple tricks that they can use at will without fatigue. A Sorcerer must make a Spellcasting check of Difficulty[2] to use a minor power.

• Moderate powers are more impressive feats that can be used at will, but are fatiguing with prolonged use. A Sorcerer must make a Spellcasting check of Difficulty[3] to use a moderate power.

• Major powers are powerful magic can only be used a few times a day and are exhausting. A Sorcerer must make a Spellcasting check of Difficulty[4] to use a major power.

A Sorcerer knows 3 minor powers + 3 per Sorcerer Rank.
A Sorcerer knows 2 moderate powers + 2 per Sorcerer Rank.
A Sorcerer knows 1 major power per Sorcerer Rank.

Examples of minor powers:
Creating a small flame
Creating a source of light
Creating a liter of water per Sorcerer Rank from moisture in the air
Altering the appearance of a handheld object for a short time
Altering the shape of a handheld simple object
Altering the temperature of a nearby stationary small object from 0-100° C, 10°/round.
Telekinetically moving a nearby handheld object
Healing Minor Wounds or Conditions

Examples of moderate powers:
Creating a damaging bolt (flame, electricity, cold, impact) as a thrown weapon attack
Creating a barrier from earth
Telekinetically moving a small object
Altering the shape of a large simple object
Healing moderate wounds or conditions

Examples of major powers:
Creating a large area attack (flame, electricity, cold, impact)
Creating a huge structure from earth
Grant the ability to fly at fast speeds for 1 minute per Sorcerer Rank
Telekinetically moving a large object
Altering the shape of a living object
Healing major wounds or conditions

Spell Focus (Su)
A Sorcerer has come into possession of an object of arcane power which improves his Spellcasting ability. This object may be a mask, wand, ring, tome, or some other fetish with occult ties.

While holding or wearing this item, a Sorcerer gains a Rank Bonus of +1 Willpower for the purposes of Spellcasting and defensive opposed checks and also may invoke powerful Rituals.

Ritual (Su)
The Sorcerer knows one Ritual initially. Additional rituals may be discovered in tomes or from other Sorcerers. A Ritual is a powerful magic rite which usually emulates the effect of a major power on a much larger scale, but with some important differences.

Rituals increase in power according to the number of total Sorcerers performing the rite, and often require a minimum number of total Ranks.

Rituals always require some form of sacrifice.

Rituals take much longer to cast than normal spells.

...
To be added:
Much more detail on spells and spellcasting, likely in its own catalogue.
More detail on rituals, though they are pretty much off-limits to PCs unless playing a party of sorcerers, or a high rank campaign.





Vampire (Angel, Selene, Count Von Count)
“I have tasted the blood of so-called heroes for centuries. Yours will be no sweeter.”


Supernatural Prowess (Su)
As a Vampire loses its humanity it becomes more physically powerful and mentally acute.

Vampire gains a Rank Bonus of +1 Toughness, Coordination, Reaction, Perception, Logic, and Willpower.

Blood Drinking
A Vampire may make a Melee Weaponry attack to bite a creature within one step of its size and latch on via an opposed Melee Weaponry check to grapple. If the creature has not won an opposed grapple by the next round, then the Vampire may begin drinking the creature’s blood dealing one lethal wound each round.

Spawn
If a Vampire deals enough wounds from Blood Drinking to kill the target human, then the dead human will rise the next day as a Vampire itself. If the human had no previous Ranks it becomes a 1 Rank Vampire. If the human had previous Ranks then it replaces 1 Rank with a Vampire Rank. Werewolves, Altered Humans and Golems are so significantly different from normal humans that they cannot raise as Vampire Spawns.

Spawned Vampires are especially vulnerable to a Vampire’s domination ability.

Spawn Immunity
A Vampire’s physiology is so different from a normal human that it cannot be turned into a Werewolf, Golem or Altered Human.

Dominate (Su)
A Vampire can bend the will of lesser beings to its desires.

As a full round action a Vampire may attempt to control a creature by succeeding on a Difficulty[2] opposed Willpower check. A successful Dominate lasts one round per Vampire Rank. The Dominated subject must obey all commands made by the Vampire for the duration.

For each Vampire Rank possessed, the Vampire may choose to permanently Dominate one lesser being. The Vampire must succeed at an opposed Willpower roll versus a target with less Ranks than its Vampire Rank total of Difficulty[3]. If the Vampire has drunk the blood of the target, then it only requires success on an opposed Willpower roll versus the target of Difficulty[2]. If successful, the target’s will is subjugated to the Vampire, and it most obey any command given by the Vampire.

A newly Spawned Vampire may be treated as automatically Dominated by the parent Vampire if the parent Vampire has more Vampire Ranks than the Spawned Vampire has total Ranks, and if the parent Vampire does not already have permanently Dominated subjects equal to their number of Vampire Ranks. A Spawned Vampire Dominated in this fashion requires no check for success.

If a permanently Dominated subject ever possesses an equal number of Ranks to its master’s Vampire Ranks, then the domination ends. A Vampire may also break a subject’s domination at will as a free action.

Permanently Dominated Vampires lack the autonomy to have permanently Dominated minions of their own. If a Vampire becomes permanently Dominated then all of its previously Domainted minions are set free.

Damage Reduction (Silver, Wood) (Su)
The Vampire gains protection from unsilvered and non-wooden weapons. For each Vampire Rank unsilvered and non-wooden weapons are treated as dealing two less hits against it for the purposes of extra damage.

Fast Healing (Su)
The Vampire may spend an action in order to heal one wound per Vampire Rank.

Undying
All normal wounds dealt to a Vampire are treated as non-lethal. The Vampire also suffers no penalties from being wounded. If enough wounds have been dealt to incapacitate a Vampire, however, it is only staggered and may still continue functioning but with only one action per round.

Weaknesses
A Vampire maintains is undeath thanks to an elemental tether to the land where it was spawned in addition to feeding on blood. Vampires while formidable, are still vulnerable to a variety of elemental hazards that threaten its immortal tether. As they continue their unlife and place more strain upon their elemental tether they acquire weaknesses.

All Vampires have the following Weaknesses:

Bloodthist
A Vampire must drink blood once per day (or night). If the Vampire does not drink blood then it will take one lethal wound at the dawn of each day. This wound cannot be healed until it drinks one lethal wound worth of blood and rests properly. If the Vampire takes more lethal wounds than it has hit points in this manner then it lapses into a coma until it is force-fed enough blood and rests properly.

Resting Place
A Vampire must have a Resting Place to return to. To rest properly the Vampire must lay among soil of the land where it lived prior to becoming a Vampire, for 1 hour per day. If the Vampire cannot obtain this rest it will take one lethal wound at the dawn of each day. These wounds can only be healed by obtaining proper rest. If the Vampire takes more lethal wounds than it has hit points in this manner then it degrades into an inanimate skeleton until it obtains proper rest after which the Vampire is fully healed and intact.

Running Water
A Vampire’s elemental connection to its homeland can be severed by immersion in Running Water. A Vampire who remains under a natural body of water takes one lethal wound each round. These wounds can only be healed by obtaining proper rest. If the Vampire takes more lethal wounds than it has hit points in this manner then it turns to dust, destroyed forever.

Sunlight
A Vampire exposed to sunlight takes 5 lethal damage per round. T These wounds can only be healed by obtaining proper rest. If the Vampire takes more lethal wounds than it has hit points in this manner then it turns to dust, destroyed forever.

Stake through the Heart
If a Vampire is ever staked through the heart by either a silvered or wooden stake, it is turned into an inanimate skeleton until the stake is removed. To stake a Vampire’s heart 6 extra hits are required. If the Vampire is staggered then only 3 extra hits are required to successfully stake the Vampire. A resting Vampire requires only 1 extra hit to be successfully staked. Returning from skeletal form takes one full round action from the Vampire after the stake has been removed.


The Vampire has additional minor Weaknesses acquired from their undeath. For each Vampire Rank the player must choose one minor Weakness.

Example Minor Weaknesses:

The Vampire cannot cross bodies of water under its own power.

The Vampire cannot enter a private residence without being invited by an occupant.

The Vampire’s reflection does not appear in mirrors.

The Vampire cannot enter holy ground.

The Vampire takes one non-lethal wound from touching a holy symbol or holy water.

The Vampire must drink the blood of a human to satisfy its Blood Thirst.

The Vampire must drink the blood of a particular niche of humans (male, female, young, old, virgin, non-virgin, recently deceased, Werewolf, Vampire, etc.) to satisfy its Blood Thirst. The Vampire knows immediately after drinking blood whether the blood was sufficient.

The Vampire requires an additional hour of rest in order to properly rest.






Warlock (Elvira, Paracelsus)
“I have allied with beings more powerful than you can imagine. Let me show you what I learned.”

Pact (Su)
A Warlock has made a bargain with an ancient being of power. In exchange for its soul, a Warlock has been granted supernatural powers.

The most basic boon granted is an improvement upon the Warlock’s physical or mental being.

The Warlock gains a Rank Bonus of +2 to an Attribute of its choosing.

Familiar
A Warlock’s benefactor has granted it a minor servitor beholden to the Warlock’s will.

This Familiar is in the form of a mundane animal of size small, tiny or diminutive, and it initially has the attributes as a zero Rank Mundane. Even though the Familiar has the form of an animal, it is actually an entity of human intelligence and it can speak and understand the language of its master.

Empathic Link (Su)
The Warlock and Familiar have an empathic link which lets them know when the other is wounded and their emotional state regardless of distance.

Spellcasting Familiar (Su)
The Familiar has Spellcasting as a Warlock with Ranks equal to the Warlock’s Rank.

Powerful Familiar
The Familiar gains a Rank Bonus of +1 Coordination, Reaction and Toughness.


Spellcasting (Su)
A Warlock’s benefactor also grants supernatural lore which enables the Warlock to dabble in Spellcasting.

Warlocks possess several minor and moderate powers. In order to cast a spell, a Warlock must spend an action and succeed at a Spellcasting check. A Spellcasting check is resolved by adding Willpower + Lore(Magic) Ranks together against a Difficulty determined by the strength of the power being attempted.

A failed Spellcasting check deals 1 non-lethal damage to the Warlock per successes short of the required Difficulty.

• Minor powers are simple tricks that they can use at will without fatigue. A Warlock must make a Spellcasting check of Difficulty[2] to use a minor power.

• Moderate powers are more impressive feats that can be used at will, but are fatiguing with prolonged use. A Warlock must make a Spellcasting check of Difficulty[3] to use a moderate power.

A Warlock knows 2 minor powers + 2 per Warlock Rank.
A Warlock knows 1 moderate power + 1 per Warlock Rank.

Taint of Evil
The Warlock’s missing soul is accompanied by a physical mark or abnormality, and sometimes behavioral oddities. For each Warlock Rank choose one Taint.

Example Taints:

• A third nipple grows on the Warlock’s upper body. Ew.
• An occult symbol appears on the Warlock’s skin marking him as a lost soul.
• An extra mouth grows on the Warlock’s upper body.
The Warlock must feed it as well as himself, but he gains a +3 melee bite attack with +1 damage which may bite as a free action while grappling.
• Blood red eyes mark the Warlock’s fate.
-1 Animal Husbandry, Disguise, and Socialize
+1 Intimidate
• Webbing on hands and feet grow between the Warlock’s digits.
-1 Climb and Sleight of Hand
+1 Swim
• Maddening whispers constantly haunt the Warlock with lost lore.
-1 Notice
+1 Lore(Magic)


...
To be added:
More taints and such





Werewolf
“I can smell your fear.”

Heightened Senses
Werewolves have a keen sense of smell, vision and hearing. The Werewolf gains a Rank Bonus of +2 Notice and Tracking.

Damage Reduction (Silver) (Su)
A Werewolf gain protection from unsilvered weapons even in human form. For each Werewolf Rank unsilvered weapons are treated as dealing one less hit for purposes of extra damage.

Beast Shape (Su)
As a full round action a Werewolf may attempt a Difficulty[2] Willpower check to change shape from human form into either a humanoid wolf form, or a full wolf form. To change back into human form only requires a Difficulty[1] Willpower check.

During a full moon, the changing into a Beast Shape requires only a Difficulty[1] Willpower check; however, to change back to human form requires a Difficulty[2] Willpower check.

After a Werewolf has successfully made the check to change shape, the wrenchingly painful transformation takes one more full round action to complete.

While in either Beast Shape a Werewolf’s Attributes change dramatically. The Werewolf gains a Rank Bonus of +2 Toughness, Athletics, Climb and Swim, and +1 Reaction. A Werewolf in Beast Shape has -2 Logic and Willpower.

While in Beast Shape, the Werewolf’s Damage Reduction (Silver) becomes more effective. For each Werewolf Rank unsilvered weapons are treated as dealing two less hits for purposes of extra damage.

While in Beast Shape the Werewolf possesses menacing natural weapons. For each Werewolf Rank gain +1 Weaponry and Damage on claw and bite attacks.

Fast Healing (Su)
While in Beast Shape, a Werewolf may spend an action in order to heal one wound per Werewolf Rank.

Spawn
If a Werewolf deals lethal damage to a human with a bite while in Beast Shape then that character must make a Difficulty[3] Toughness Check or be infected with lycanthropy. If the bitten human does not receive medical treatment before the next full moon rises, then it will permanently become a Werewolf. A Difficulty[3] Medicine check is required to cure lycanthropy before metamorphosis. Treatment with a sprig of belladonna will lower the Medicine check to Difficulty[2], but the afflicted must pass a Difficulty[1] Toughness check or else the human suffers death.

If the new Werewolf had no previous Ranks it becomes a 1 Rank Werewolf. If it had previous Ranks then it replaces 1 Rank with a Werewolf Rank. Vampires, Altered Humans and Golems are so significantly different from normal humans that they cannot become Werewolf Spawns.

Spawn Immunity
A Werewolf’s physiology is so different from a normal human that it cannot be turned into a Vampire, Golem or Altered Human.

[erik]

This spot reserved for later postin of in-depth Skill descriptions and Difficulty...

[erik]

This spot reserved for later postin of in-depth Equipment descriptions/stats...

[erik]

This spot reserved for later postin of monsters/antagonists which don't exactly fit the Archtype Rank schema and how to make some fit that don't seem like they would... Dragons, Sphinx, Lovecraftian critters, etc.

[erik]

Whew, those 5 posts ought to cover the full material once I'm done. Thanks to Judging Eagle for suggesting I reserve a little more space.

I just started in earnest on this last weekend when I couldn't get my body into a dayshift schedule for my couple days off. So this me being a bit more prolific than usual.

My current concerns:

With a few extra hits, the numbers of dice being rolled are pretty imposing. Granted, that only happens for damage, and damage is the only instance where you really care about getting tons of extra successes (since you wanna get enough to drop someone as hard as possible).

In the Dead Man's Hand thread, it was bandied about that a good number of dice to stop at being around 20, and depending upon party composition and how pointy characters are, they can likely get around 25 in a specialty as a rank 1 character (say a Golem who maxes out Toughness and Ancient Melee Weaponry, and has a Mad Scientist buddy modify his claymore into a chain-sword).

Once characters get up there in ranks, things will go off the rails a bit since some can classes boost other classes. One upside with a d6TN5 system is that going off the rails is far gentler than in a d20 system. Also, I don't really expect players to get higher than Rank 5, as there isn't much need to go higher. Heck, Rank 1 characters start out ready to compete with the world just fine. No rat hunting bullshit here.

Vampires with Vampire Spawn chains are a definite problem for brokenness once you get to Rank 3+... but they make for decent enemies. I suppose I should snip that loop hole by stating that Dominated Vampires can't control permanent minions of their own. I think I'll do that.

I believe Frank suggested subtracting defensive dice pools from offensive dice pools as a mechanic in the Dead Man's Hand thread. While I do like that that cuts down on the number of dice hitting a table, and the amount of rolling (thus speeding up the game), I am not currently espousing that mechanic here.

If we subtract defensive dice pools from offense, then defensive masters would be utterly unhittable by mundanes with shot guns and pitch forks (rather than simply very hard to hit). That kinda takes the steam out of a modernesque campaign in my grandiose opinion.

Forgive me for the polishing that needs and is going to be done, though feel free to be harsh as ya like. I've certainly doled out enough, I ought be able to take it.

Whew, again.

[Judging__Eagle]

Hence the PM.

[Username17]

If we subtract defensive dice pools from offense, then defensive masters would be utterly unhittable by mundanes with shot guns and pitch forks (rather than simply very hard to hit). That kinda takes the steam out of a modernesque campaign in my grandiose opinion.

There are several ways to address this subjective problem.

• Defensive penalties (or attack bonuses) for multiple attackers on one target. If enough people with pitchforks attack a target, someone gets a blow in. Of course, one guy with a shotgun is then never a threat to a defense specialist.
  
  
• Minimum Attack Dice = 1. This way everyone can at least get a basic grazing hit from time to time. Of course, then every attack has at least a 1 in 3 of success. Perhaps more importantly, the characters are going to have to get a decent soak to possibly qualify as a defensive specialist - essentially eliminating tinkerbelle as an archetype.
  
  
• Defender always gets the average result. This way a very good roll on the part of a wanker can potentially strike a defensive specialist, but they are still very unlikely to do so. Of course, average results only come in units that are roughly three times the size of bonus or penalty dice - which limits the potential for power gradients.

Remember that an opposed test is inherently more random than a non-opposed test. It becomes more like a coin flip, since you have two chances for an a-typical result to skew the results. Especially for checks where essentially only one character has the opportunity to "win". Opposed tests have the same average disparity - but have bigger wins for both characters. And since there's no difference between successfully dodging and really successfully dodging - it basically just makes attacks stronger.

-Username17

[erik]

Hrmmm... I may use a bastardized version of 'Defender always gets the average result.'

For every 3 dice the Defender raises the difficulty for the attacker by 1. For remainders, the Defender rolls those dice.

Weirdness that ensues there is that remainders with 2 dice can often be better than having one more die for the automatic success. I could live with that weirdness and could even sell it I think. It would definitely cut down the rolling and thus speed up gameplay anywho.

[Username17]

You should definitely check your numbers. A Divine Agent, for example, adds +5 to his rank in skills, which as a starting character means that he "only" gets +5 to one skill. Also he gets a Willpower bonus. This compares very favorably to transforming into a werewolf or a Mr. Hyde. And you just... do it.

Of course, given enough ranks the werewolf will leave the Divine Agent whimpering in the dust, as the Divine Agent just gets a bigger list of skills that are +5 while the Werewolf keeps adding +1,+2, or +3 to the same list of skills over and over again. By rank 5 the Werewolf urinates on the Divine Agent to mark his territory.

A nifty crew of guys, but it seems like they aren't rolling even vaguely similar piles of dice. Unless resource checks are way more important than it looks like they are, I honestly have no idea why a team would want an Altered Human on it.

You might want to set the supernatural packages to ability minimums. A Mad Scientist, for example, might work better as a Teslatastic Breakthrough option for someone who already has a lot of science skills rather than a package that eventually hands you enough arbitrary bonuses on your craft skills that you end up not putting experience points in craft. This approach might also help reign in the dicepool bloat.

-Username17

[erik]

Yah, I've been tweaking the dice and am continuing to do so. Altered Humans started out even shittier than they are now if it can be believed. The Altered Humans are supposed to either have an ability that isn't well replicated by another class or just bring big dice to one niche (meaning I likely need to buff up the face and speed altered humans).

I'll probably change Divine Agent's Spritual Insight to get +2/Rank up to a maximum of +2/Lore(Religion) Rank. Mechanically so far, I'm only really rewarding a few skills, and I don't like that. Spiritual Insight was a jab at that dislike. I think I'll apply that mechanic to Mad Scientists and the like in order to put incentives for skill Ranks. In a Divine Agent-Werewolf 1v1 matchup at any Rank, the Divine Agent almost always wins thanks to Rebuke. I should probably reign in the Divine Agent's Willpower a little bit to keep things sporting. Rebuke seems a bit unfair though Divine Agents are supposed to perform better against the supernatural and worse against the mundanes.

My original design theory for Archtypes was basically that they give about +4 dice per rank to their specialties, +/- 2 depending upon whether it was spread all over the place with other tricks (vampires), or focused in one very tight niche (golems).

I don't really intend to get away from diverging bonuses entirely since I'm imposing a cap on Archtype Ranks at 5.


Hopefully I can keep on working on this at pace near my prodgious rate from this weekend. Having no internet was a boon then.

[Catharz]

You should probably say which abilities count as supernatural

[erik]

Changes made:

Added minor glossary at top of Archtypes
(Mundane, Supernatural, Rank Bonus)

Changed defense on opposed checks to the compromised version of Frank's suggested 'Defender always gets the average result'.

Added (Su) tags per Catharz’s good idea... hopefuly the Rock-Paper-Scissorsesque balance I was hoping for is more obvious.

Anti-Supernatural beats Supernatural beats Mundane beats Anti-Supernatural.
Anti-Supernatural= Investigators, Divine Agents
Supernatural= Warlock, Sorcerer, Werewolf, Vampire
Mundane=Mad Scientist, Man at Arms, Altered Human, Golem

It’s not a perfect system of one trumping the other (nor should it be!), but usually one side is at an advantage over another. So hopefully one team will have at least one member from each group, though it isn’t mandatory.

Retooled language to incorporate Rank Bonus (mostly an editing thing)

Altered Humans:
Beefed up Altered Humans a bit- mostly 1 more die here or there

Capped Potion Master bonuses to 2x Craft(Potion) ranks, to incentivize taking Craft(Potion) Ranks. Made potions 1 Difficulty easier to craft by Altered Humans.

Potions are supposed to be moderately useful, which will shore up an Altered Human’s usefulness to the party.

Divine Agents:
Dropped Willpower boost to +1 Rank Bonus
made Divine Insight into a +2 Rank Bonus, capped by 2x Lore(Religion) Ranks, but applicable to 2 skills/rank now.

Golems:
Reduced Toughness bonus from Hulking Form to +4 from +5
Dropped the 3rd option of them being animated spirit thingies. It didn’t really bring much beyond the options of stitched taxidermy creations versus clockwork mechanical creations.

Investigator
made Lore Specialist into a +2 Rank Bonus, capped by 2x Lore Ranks
fixed Nullify Supernatural (didn’t realize it was written as a Lore(Magic) opposed check... was meant to be offense Lore Magic vs. defense Willpower. (oops)

Added Supernatural Influence. That should buff up the Investigator so that he isn’t utterly useless when dealing with non-supernatural/non-lore stuff.
... and subsequently nerfed Enchanted Object down to +1 Rank Bonus since that was even better than Man At Arm's Signature Weapon, and as such a bit over-compensating.

Mad Scientist:
reduced Logic Bonus to +1 Rank Bonus
and capped Mad Insight as I did Divine Insight.
gave option for rank zero golem Fantastic Creation

Man at Arms:
Tweaked dice on Combat Tricks, and added a couple more.

Sorcerer:
Spell Focus now adds to defensive willpower opposed checks, but only grants +1 Rank Bonus.

Warlock:
Added physical bumps to Familiar, as it was supposed to get tougher as the Warlock advanced. (oops)


Archtypes that I am most concerned about:

•Altered Human- some of the power options are kind of meh
•Man at Arms- He fights okay, but not fantastically. I wonder if that's enough.
•Sorcerer- since I haven't fully fleshed out spells, I don't know whether this guy is too weak or too off the hook.
•Vampires- too boring since they basically use Dominate or else put out slightly smaller dice than everyone else, including their thralls?

That said, I could see myself enjoying playing any of these so far... with the exception of some of the Altered Human types. A suggestion spamming diplomancer and a speedy juicer aren't my cup of tea. Maybe I need to throw something else on those to make them more appealing.

[Catharz]

Ok, this might sound a little crazy, but from the "Age of Reason" flavor I don't see much difference between the mad scientist who undergoes a bizarre transformation into Wolfman (plenty of stories about that) or the Hulk. In a modular system, they could both probably be rank 1 mad scientists/rank 1 altered humans. Similarly, vampires. The only thing I have difficulty seeing as a product of that route are golems. I'm not sure if cyborgs should count as such.

That doesn't mean that you shouldn't have multiple classes of this type, but also note that golems aren't transformational, while wolfmen, vampires, and hulks are. That's to aid the metaphor of 'the darkness within us', as opposed to the golem's warning of 'playing god'.

At the most conservative I'd combine the wolfman and the augmented human. Vampires as you currently have them are more limited (severe sunlight allergy), less ugly (or at least inhuman), and more charismatic.

A combined class would basically give the stipulation that you can transform, but it takes a special trigger (a special brew, the moon) chosen by the player (plus the normal stuff to make it work in a game, like anger). Once you transform you're ugly (or at least scary and inhuman), and you get some abilities and drawbacks from the list.

I'd change Dominate to make it less powerful. A fascinate ability that gained greater effect based on your net hits might work better.
So in combat a vampire can spend his actions keeping someone out of combat, but the target gets another save is they're attacked. If the target is particularly weak willed, the vampire can use suggestion or command on them as long as concentration is maintained. Anything stronger requires actually feeding from someone (which extends the suggestion effect indefinitely (or at least until a skilled priest exorcises them).
In this situation a vampire's 'offspring' aren't so much dominated spawn as cowed children, unable to directly disobey their parents (although you might want to come up with situations in which, wolf-like, the spawn turn on their masters).

[Jacob_Orlove]

Golems:
Dropped the 3rd option of them being animated spirit thingies. It didn’t really bring much beyond the options of stitched taxidermy creations versus clockwork mechanical creations.

That's disappointing; neither of those have much to do with actual Golems. I'd change the name if you're going for more of a Frankenstein's Monster/Rossum's Universal Robots vibe.

[Username17]

I'm also not really feeling the distinction between the Divine Agent and the Hunter either. One hunts supernatural enemies for some reason (perhaps religious conviction) and the other hunts supernatural enemies for the specific reason of his religious conviction. I really fail to see how the one isn't just a subset of the other.

But the more I think about it, the more I think I like purchasing the templates based on prereqs better than what you've got now. Imagine for the moment that you straight up said that becoming a Vampire would turn you into an NPC spawn unless you had certain Willpower minimums and spent a certain amount of points. Then you could just stand back and not worry about people being Vampire Mad Scientists and crap.

So really people should be doing almost everything (including qualifying for magic powers) with their attributes and skills. The guy who is a Vampire has a set of magical powers (mesmerization, mist form, damage reduction), and the guy who is a mad scientist has a set of pseudo-scientific breakthroughs (say: freeze rays, hydrolic power arms, and fluid dynamics knowledge). But neither one of them is a bonus which is duplicable by just having higher stats.

I think the concept works better if you write up the powers so that Vampires want to have a high set of social skills rather than setting it up so that Vampires get a high set of social skills for free. Noone wants the situations where it turns out that it's “cheaper” to play type A as character Type B and just take the saved points and invest it into A type powers. That is bullshit, and it happens virtually every time with class-based flat bonus schemes.

That is why Clerics end up surpassing Fighters afterall.

-Username17

[erik]

Those are both valid notions (combining Vampires and Werewolves into Altered Humans, and having religious spirit-Golems), however I'm not planning on doing either for one big reason and lots of little ones.

Big reason being that I was trying to set up a Supernatural vs. Mundane feel, and as it stands I've decided to have Altered Humans and Golems be on the Mundane side, and Werewolves and Vampires on the Supernatural side.

That dichotomy could be duplicated by simply having (Su) tagged versions of Altered Humans and Golems, but maybe I'm too much of a fanboy for Werewolves and Vampires since I feel like they deserve their own particular flavor and extra prestige.

I actually did read that very page on wikipedia on Golems while I was constructing the classes, and likewise on several ones for Werewolves, Vampires and age of enlightenment period schtuff, so my decision wasn't as off-hand as I presume I made it sound.

I like the idea of replacing the Vampire's Dominate with a Suggestion/Command ability that increases in power with extra successes. Hopefully when I wake up today I'll have enough time before going in to work tonight in order to write that up.

After that, I think I'm going to start working on/finishing the skills and spells (I definitely want to flesh out spells so I can take them out of the Sorcerer description).

[edit: add-on-responses to Frank's comments:

I don't have much of an argument against why Divine Agents and Investigators can't be the same class. Enchanted shit could just as easily be Holy shit. Combining those Archtypes seems like a done deal to me now. I don't know how I missed that.

For the record, I actually have no problem whatsoever with Vampire Mad Scientists and would encourage it, though it is a suboptimal choice as I've written the archtypes so far.

My only restriction on Multiclassing was that there couldn't be mixing of a Vampire/Werewolf/Altered Human/Golem with each other. Golem-Sorcerers and Werewolf Men at Arms would be fine and dandy (Imhotep from the Mummy and Al from Full Metal Alchemist make decent Golem-Sorcerer examples). The restriction between mixing those "racial" types was mostly for flavor reasons. A Vampire-Werewolf or Vampire-Golem or Altered Human-Werewolf, ugh... blah. I don't like any permutation of those 4, and I am enforcing my prejudice.

My initial design theory was that people had nearly equivalent dice but their means of having dice were flavorfully different. I still had/have a way to go in balancing those dice, and I'm probably on a road to failure in keeping things equivalent.

I'm willing to try scrapping the whole gaining piles of dice from classes and instead converting it into applying piles of dice via classes. I still feel like I should hand out *some* dice, maybe just not so much.

Dammit, that's some work though since it involves rewriting every single Archtype, and I'm working 54 hours these next 5 days aaaaand I just got off a 12.5 hour shift (so 66.5 hours in 6 days, wheee). So that kind of work won't get done proper til next weekend.

Thanks to all for the input and help. I really do hope to have this as a finished project with some polish on it by the end of October.

[Username17]

Double Post?

-Username17