Attributes:3 different attributes exist in the game, Physical, Cunning and Enchantment. Physical represents how strong and tough your character is, Enchantment represents your character's proficiency with magic, and Cunning represents your character's quickness of mind and body. Each attribute is divided into Dice and Keep values. When rolling an attribute, a number of D6s equal to the Dice value are rolled and a number of dice equal to the Keep value are retained. Obviously the highest values are always retained. Rolling an attribute this way is abbreviated to XkY, +XkY for bonuses and -XkY for maluses. If X is lower than Y, then all dice are retained and nothing else happens. Sometimes abilities and the like will refer to the Dice and Keep values of an attribute, in which case nothing is rolled and the straight value is used. The total number of Dice you get is equal to 4 plus 2 per level, starting at 6, and you can assign them to your attributes however you wish.
Attributes are determined to be Primary, Secondary or Ternary at character creation. Your Primary attribute is always dependent on which class you are. Paladins have Physical as their Primary Attribute, Enchanters have Enchantment and Commoners have Cunning. Your Secondary and Ternary Attributes are ordered from the remaining choices however you wish.
The values of each Attributes’ Keep and the total number of Dice you can invest in them per level is on the following table.
Health:A character’s Health is equal to 20 plus their level times 4, starting at 24. It fully recovers at the start of each tale, unless some event prevents it from happening. When it reaches 0 a character is knocked unconscious. They cannot be dealt anymore damage but cannot gain health unless revived by a specific ability.
When an enemy is reduced to 0 health they generally die, unless they have an ability which says otherwise. This includes Calonnau and other supernatural creatures.
Abilities:You get one ability per level, which you must design yourself. Abilities will be vetted by the GM to ensure that they aren’t too powerful or obnoxious in gameplay. Guidelines for abilities are as follows:
- Duplicate abilities are not allowed.
- Passive abilities which directly increase an Attribute in all circumstances are limited to +0k1. For example, ‘This character is innately strong so they get +0k1 to Physical’, ‘This character is a skilled wizard and gets +0k1 to Enchantment’.
- Passive abilities which increase an Attribute in combat situations only are limited to +2k1. For example, ‘This character gets +2k1 Physical when attacking with ranged weapons', ‘This character gets +2k1 Enchantment while casting healing spells’.
- Passive abilities which increase an Attribute in non-combat situations are limited to +3k2. For example, ‘This character gets +3k2 to all tracking rolls’, ‘This character gets +3k2 to playing the violin’.
- Passive abilities which increase health are limited to ‘This character’s total HP is equal to 25 plus 5 times their level’.
- Using an ability to apply a debuff/buff to a target which is already affected by it always refreshes its cooldown. The ability does not apply the same debuff/buff again so as to stack its effects.
- Passive abilities cannot allow a character to dodge attacks. Instead they should force the attacker to adjust their dice rolls. For example, ‘Anyone attacking this character must automatically discard all results which are 2 or less’, or ‘Anyone attacking this character rolls 2 less dice than normal’.
- Active abilities can allow a character to dodge a limited number of attacks when used.
- Abilities with a cooldown period start off on that cooldown. For example, an ability with a one-turn cooldown cannot be used on the first turn in combat but will be first available on the second. Abilities with a two-turn cooldown can first be used on the third turn and so on and so forth.
- Each character is limited to creating one extra stat pool to power their abilities, which can be flavoured as ‘Rage’, ‘Mana’, ‘Prayer’, ‘Luck’, etc. This stat pool is limited to a number of points equal to the character’s level and is refilled at the start of each tale. This limit can be increased to a number of points equal to the character’s level times 1.3, rounded up, by creating a passive ability with that effect. This pool does not have to be explicitly set up by spending an ability but can be implicitly mentioned in the first ability which consumes points from the pool.
Combat:In combat, everyone gets to take a single action per turn and whatever free/simple actions they want (moving, speaking, etc). You can use this action to perform a basic attack, in which you pick an enemy and roll an attribute of your choosing. The enemy takes damage based on the roll you made, modified by whatever abilities or defenses are relevant. Attacking without a proper weapon imposes a -0k1 penalty. Alternatively you can use this action to perform an active ability, some improvised maneuver and so forth.
Tales:Tales, scenes and so forth are a single encounter in the game, whether it’s combat, exploring a location or chatting with the locals. Some abilities are refreshed at the start of a tale, such as a Commoner’s Cunning Plan. Health is usually recovered at the start of a tale, unless told otherwise.
Classes:Paladin (Physical):The original Paladins were the 12 greatest warriors of Charlemagne’s court. Their number included the brave Roland, Ogier the Dane and the great Astolfo. Since then many warriors have styled themselves Paladins, modeling themselves after the great heroes of yore. While not all of them have been highborn knights, they still try to emulate the Twelve through the swearing of Oaths and impressive feats of arms on the battlefield. While the Church rightfully links the swearing of Oaths with pagan traditions of old, they tolerate the practice since they are directed towards good Christian ends.
All highborn knights in the Order of the White Branch are formally titled as Paladins, unless they have some other rank which supersedes that.
Honour: At character creation and anytime they are not in the midst of combat, Paladins may swear up to 3 different Oaths. For example, these Oaths could be ‘Never tell a lie’, ‘Never retreat against even odds’, ‘Protect the weak’. For each Oath they swear, Paladins gain a point of Honour. Every point of Honour they have adds a bonus to all Physical rolls equal to half of their Physical Keep (up to 1.5 times their Keep at 3 points of Honour).
Paladins lose Honour by breaking their Oaths or failing to follow them. Ultimately they are responsible only for their own actions but using others to circumnavigate their Oaths may cause them to lose Honour as well. For example, a Paladin with an Oath to not steal would lose Honour for using or profiting from items which they know to be stolen. They do not lose honour by failing to prevent others from using or profiting from stolen goods, though they should follow their conscious and make at least a small effort to do so. Once they lose a point of Honour by breaking an Oath, a Paladin will not lose additional Honour by failing to follow that particular Oath. For example, a Paladin who loses Honour for breaking an Oath to always tell the truth can then tell as many lies as they want without losing any more Honour.
Paladins may regain honour by performing heroic deeds or performing an appropriate penance for their misdeeds. The exact process depends on the situation and the Oath sworn. At any time Paladins may change broken Oaths to different ones if they judge it prudent. These changed Oaths are still broken and so no Honour is gained until they are repaired by penance or heroic deeds. Ideally these changed Oaths should prove to easier to follow once they are repaired.
Enchanter (Enchantment):The knowledge of magic can be traced well into humanity’s past, well before Aristotle or Hermes the Thrice-blessed were even born. Over the generations, experimenters and philosophers have refined their understanding of the world and turned sorcery into an exact science. As such apprentices must undergo rigorous examinations to prove their knowledge before they are certified to use the title of Enchanter. Many students prefer to travel from university to university and so Enchanters in Galwalas can come from anywhere in Europe, from universities as close as Oxford or Swalen or as far away as Vicenza or Salamanca.
The title of Enchanter functionally supersedes other titles in the Order of the White Branch, reflecting the prestige and honour which are given to those who attain their certifications. Of course, with the Kingdom in disarray, no one will notice if one's credentials are not what they actually are.
Ritual Enchantment: Every Enchanter knows a number of Runes equal to their level divided by two, rounded up. Thus they know a single Rune at level 1 and learn an additional Rune every odd level. These Runes take the form of single words such as ‘Stone’, ‘Make’, ‘Unmake’, ‘Move’, ‘Water, and so forth. Enchanters may combine up to three of these Runes into a Ritual with powerful and far-reaching effects. Multiple Enchanters may contribute Runes to the Ritual, so long as the total does not exceed three. For example, three different Enchanters may contribute three different Runes which only they know and so form a single Ritual.
The effect and preparation for a Ritual depends on the Runes used and its intent. When making a Ritual, Enchanters should always state what they are trying to accomplish, lest they end up with an outcome which is drastically different from their intent. The amount of preparation needed for a Ritual varies on its effects. Even small Rituals take hours to prepare and so starting one in the middle of a battle is ill-advised since the fight will be over before the Ritual is ready. Large Rituals may require exotic ingredients, placement on the intersection of leylines, or esoteric knowledge before preparation can begin. For example, creating a stone bridge over a river by magic may require permission of the river’s Calon or situation of the Ritual in a place of power to overcome its will.
Due to bans against the practice of blood magic, necromancy and other dark magics, certain Runes cannot be learned via leveling up. These include but are not limited to, ‘Blood’, ‘Death’, ‘Bone’, ‘Demon’, etc, etc. These Runes may be taught by others, though their acquisition will be quite difficult. Knowing even one of them is enough to be burned at the stake as a heretic and devil-worshipper.
Commoner (Cunning):More than nine tenths of Galwalas’s people are commoners, either serfs tied to the soil they till or freemen able to go where they please. As such commoners occupy a wide range of professions, from lowly farmers to skilled blacksmiths to respected merchants. Theoretically the meanest knight is higher than the wealthiest merchant, but money has a power of its own and so the burghers of the cities and towns are a formidable political force. Outside of the cities many freemen and serfs earn their daily bread tilling the soil, under the protective gaze of their local lord.
The Order of the White Branch has plenty of room for those of lowly birth. Men with cunning, intelligence, and the ability to think on their feet, who have needed and sometimes shady skills. While not as honoured as their noble comrades, they are richly rewarded nevertheless.
Cunning Plan: What Commoners lack in breeding they make up for in wit and quick-thinking. Once per tale they may declare that they have a Cunning Plan as an action. A Cunning Plan represents forethought and careful preparations conducted beforehand and not any magical or superhuman efforts. Thus using a Cunning Plan enables the Commoner to retroactively succeed at an action carried out before the current tale, so long as it is reasonable for it to have occurred. Thus you cannot use Cunning Plans to steal the crown jewels, travel to Rome and back, or lead an entire army through enemy lines. What you can use Cunning Plans for include pickpocketing the keys off of an inattentive guard, earn a favour from the Lord Mayor by cheating at cards, or drugging the wine given to other knights in the tournament.
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Topic: Order of the White Branch: Arthurian High Adventure - Sign-ups (OOC Thread) (Read 13841 times)