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Character Generation Saga Episode 4

By : Unknown
Meet Sundered Wind, Student of the Thirteen Storm's Way

So, for this weeks write up, I am going to be talking about mystic martial arts and over the top kung fu movie action. Now, with this said I have some experience in Taekwondo, but that is not what I am shooting for. I want something really fuax Kung Fu at best, so please don't get in to the nitty-gritty on this one. It's supposed to be fun mystical warrior stuff.

So, just like what I have talked about in the previous Savage Write-ups, about Character Creation, and trappings. It's all in how you present your concept. The rules can be used to match your concept. But for this one, I think Deadlands Reloaded actually does a great job, so that's where I would start talking to my GM about this concept. For the background edge, I would use Arcane Background (Chi Mastery) as the source of power. The guys on the Deadlands developing team did a great job, with this one, I think. Basically it is similar to a Superpowers background, but with some minor differences. Of course, this concept does not really fit Deadlands but it doesn't need to. Ideally, to match the crazy over the top action, I want maybe I would save this concept for a game with no power points (using the same backlash for superpowers). Say my GM bought off on it and said lets go for it. I would make up my powers, as if I came from a school of martial arts. Powers should be easy enough, by now, but even when you watch a martial arts movie you see them using fighting techniques, that would not qualify under the Chi Mastery background. So how do we accomplish this? Trappings used in a different way than normal. Now don't be cornered into think this will only work with a martial character, it can be done with any character really.

So, the first thing I do is break out my handy combat survival guide from Pinnacle (see the tools if you need a copy). The best part of bad kung fu movies is that the guys, in them, have ridiculous names for attacks, stances, techniques, and anything else you can think of. So, I want to kung fu up my survival guide. Here are some examples. The best part about this is it will encourage me to think about other tactics, as I have given them trappings and put thought in to that part of my character:

  • Grim Tiger's Tornado(Gang up)
  • Thirteen Storm's Lightning(Agility Trick)
  • Thirteen Storm's Wind(Smarts Trick)
  • Dance of Fallen Trees(Taunting)
  • Fear Hold of the Tornado(Intimidate)
  • Thirteen Storm's First Strike(Wild Attack)
  • Eye of Hurricane(Aiming)
  • Rain of Vengeance(Switching to Ranged Attack)
  • Thirteen Storm's Rending Strike(Called Shot)
  • Thirteen Storm's Second Strike(Wild Attack)
Those are just the quick lists, going down the chart for this character. I would create a notes entry with my sheet with move names. Plus. the best part about this is if the GM gets on board with this crazy kung fu movie idea. he can create other schools and masters so that I can learn new moves. With my current school, the Thirteen Storm's Way, my Chi powers are likely to have trappings to reflect stormy weather. Meaning. I have reason to take up another master's teachings. so that I can learn earth powers and inspired moves. Plus. take a look at tricks. Sure, the survival guide says 'throw sand' but that's not the only option. When you think of a new way, to use one of these tactics, you can call it something else, and keep it in your notes. Next time you use it you know what to call it. Adding another layer on your character. My original concept is a sword saint type character. That means I can learn new styles, with new weapons, and new schools, opening up my character's options for tactics. 

Another thing that might be fun to play with, for this concept, is Skill Specialization, but limit it to only one fighting style, as your primary style. The one you started with, so in this case I would have Fighting(Thirteen Storm's Way) fighting done in this style, would get the benefit, but lets say I learn other schools. I can not specialize in them, because they are not the thing I developed the most time to. If in game I spend massive amounts of time, that the GM finds adequate, maybe I can change it to another style. I would also consider talking to the GM about adding to an edge later, that allows me to create my own style, inspired from Superior Kung Fu. Say after some time, my character has invested in mixing his Thirteen Storm's Way with Snap Dragon Style and Nu Phan Hammer. He can develop a new form called Thirteen Dragon's Hammer, which will become his new specialization. With Superior Kung Fu, I can pick any of the mentioned benefits and just change the school name to match. If it most closely resembles Tan Tui, go with it. If nothing matches, talk to your GM. He probably already has an idea for you, by now. This would also be a good time to talk to your GM, about making new powers or spending time in meditation, to develop new trappings to some of your old powers, to match your newly created school. This also means you have a tradition, to pass on to students or to call a curse, and keep to yourself as much as possible(perhaps a crafty GM would make an NPC observe and learn from our hero. That is if another player is not already doing the same). You could make a whole game, based on these mystical martial arts students, on their Warrior's Journey. Even make a setting, where this is common place. Something I may actually write up for myself and my readers.

Have a Purpose

By : Unknown

Have a purpose. This goes for every character and thing at the table. This can be looked at, in a couple major categories.

People

This is something that I know I have struggled with, in the past. Sometimes your cool NPC really doesn't work with the story, so you make the square NPC(or PC for that matter) fit in the round campaign whole. This only leads to a weird fit. If you have a more strict GM they will not let this fly, for their PC's at least, but then some will make the same error on their own with NPC's.

I find that the more memorable NPC's I make are ones that I have a plan for. Players remember and turn to them, when the time comes to get them involved, and even better they turn to the PC's. The biggest set back I have noticed, when running, is when I have to wing a NPC off the top of my head. My players know that if the NPC has a single syllable first name and no last name (usually a very plain name to top that) he is not of importance. Unfortunately, this has conditioned me that when my players start wandering off the rails and I need an NPC that person will more than likely be named Paul, or what ever first comes to mind. Even if I want the NPC to be important the players wont think of him as much, because I have conditioned them as well. This in turns waters down the story and causes players to step back from the story. People also go into society. Don't be arbitrary about the societies you build. Think about why they are the way they are, maybe a bit of local history in there. Your players will ask.

To help stop this I have a couple ideas for you guys. For NPC's get Masks: 1000 Memorable NPC's for any Roleplaying Game. Great tool, even if you don't find anyone you like. It will make you start thinking of ideas for NPC's that are different, than you would normally on your own. Something I learned from painting, is to be a thief. Always be on the lookout for ideas. Take them and change them to fit your needs if they need it, if not use them. The gaming community is big and has plenty of thinkers out there, doing things that will blow you away. The best thing I can say about societies is learn a bit about cartography if you can. Land can really drive how a society evolves.

Props

Savage Worlds especially is prop driven. If you have ever been to a game, that had props in it. You know the difference it can make, for the story. The more themed things you have, the more unique your game feels even if its just a run of the mill Hellfrost game. Cards, bennies, tokens, maps, handouts, music, websites, and so much more can add more depth, to your game. Fair warning on websites, players need to contribute or else the tool will not be what you want out of it (take Obsidian Portal for example, love the site but I never see it get used as much as I would like). Another thing that I encourage from my players is notes. This may not seem like much, but notes help keep the player engaged. Say its not Jim's turn and the party is split. While he waits his turn, he can review his notes to discover something about the plot, he maybe over looking. If you are a particularly cool GM, maybe you would want to make some sort of notebooks for your players, as a gift for them playing in the game, or just simply offer a bonus to players, who personalize their game notebook, to match the campaign. I knew a guy in the Navy, that during a game set in a zombie apocalypse, where players played themselves, he only used a little green pocket notebook ("pocket brain"). Conveniently the same kind we had in the real world, all over the boat, so at the start of the game he told the GM. He brought one of them, with him, when our characters left the base looking for other survivors and shelter. He only took notes in that one book, and by the time we were done with the campaign it was like he had his own copy of the Zombie Survival Guide. The notes were scribbled everywhere, in anything he could find, to write with when his pen in real life died. The GM actually brought him a pencil, and told him he found it in an abandoned car. One of the coolest props I have seen from a player ever. Something I always do for games done, in person at the table (as most of my games are online now) is look at pages and pages of mini's to find the perfect one, and paint it myself to be my character. Because of that attachment, I find myself enjoying playing the character more.

Settings

By all means, play any setting that your table loves, but make sure that it is cohesive. Nothing brings you out of the game experience, like something completely off the wall, in a bad way. Not to say that your tribal world shouldn't have super advanced tech, buried in the desert to the south, but it should have a reason to be there. Random Hippo-men with laser guns might be weird, if they only show up once, with no reason, and never come back again. Though, to be honest, your players might enjoy fighting off Hippo-men. I guess this goes back to my problem, with truly random encounters. They don't make sense. The Hippo-men should have a reason for attacking, even if they only have animal intellect. Maybe your people have moved into their traditional breeding grounds and are deemed a threat. Make plots mean something and your players will put more into their characters.

In the end, make everything count. People take their time to play your game for a reason. Thank them with a good, well prepared, game. This week is short. Saturday I have one more Savage Write-up on Character creation. This time with the some inspiration from games like Street Fighter and other mystic powered martial arts type stuff.

Character Generation Saga Episode 3

By : Unknown
Meet Parker

Parker is a friend of Clare's. They live in a not so far future. The world has fallen to more base instincts, and all out war has broken out. With war came advances, in technology, so some of his gear has a familiar yet foreign look, when seeing his picture. In this new age of atomic fallout, people are able to manipulate machines into doing things that some might consider magic. While Clare practices her nano-tech, to achieve this means, Parker has taken to worship. Parker has become the embodiment of his new god Umnus. If you listen to Parker's sermons, Umnus is the god "strength through perseverance." He is not a kind god, who gifts his clergy, with healing powers, to simply pray away their problems. Parker is not a heal bot by any stretch. Parker shows his god through his acts, encouraging his fellow adventurers to overcome their challenges and providing help where he can, with out resorting to a magical "fix it" option. Parker empowers his companions for the challenges, they face in this new world. Because of his beliefs, Parker is a bit strange, but we will get to that in a bit.  Now that we understand the basics of what it means, to make a character, lets look at Parker and his trappings.

Parker, Holy Man of Umnus

Parker is a Miracle worker so the Arcane Background (Miracles) make sense to me. As such, I talk to my GM to come up with his religious tenets.

Umnus, God of Strength through Perseverance
Portfolio: Self-perfection, Knowledge, Community
Minor Sins:
  • Willing giving up at a mundane task
  • Taking short cuts
  • Cheating in any form
  • Not learning a lesson from a failed task
  • Exposure of skin, this can lead to faith in the holy man rather than Umnus.

Major Sins:
  • Weakness in adversity, cowardice 
  • Receiving unnatural healing
  • Failing to provide assistance to those in need

Mortal Sins:
  • Giving up when death is the cost of failure
  • Practicing healing magic
  • Allowing those weaker to become dependent on you
This gives my GM a lot to play with and some of it is a bit subjective, while others are set in stone. I want Parker to have more to him than just his faith, so look in to the hindrances. Because of his faith I think Arrogant(Major) sounds perfect. I want him to think his personality is justified in the eyes of his god, and that by being the best he is showing the glory of Umnus. Another one that standouts to me is Anemic(Minor) He has to have a reason for turning to faith, in such a harsh god. Perhaps his sickness is that. Another good option is Aillin'(minor) from Deadlands reloaded, a personal favorite of mine. I would probably talk to the GM and see if he is okay with it, because I love the idea of the character with limited time left, and having him with a strong faith, in a god like Umnus is kind of an amusing thought. As a player I know he will die, but as a character he believes that if he works hard enough he can persevere. What an interesting dynamic. This leads me to think Delusions(minor) would be good. It's a bit different than the read for the hindrance, but my GM agrees that his faith in his actions, to his god, can make him survive is a bit delusional. My GM has decided that in this game we will start as Seasoned Rank. After building up his sheet, like normal, I then look into powers and think Blast sounds good, because I want at least one offensive spell. I already know I will be taking Raise/Lower Trait and other more support focused spells.

Challenge of Umnus(Blast)
Rank: Seasoned
Power Points: 2–6
Range: 24/48/96
Duration: Instant
Trappings: Focus (a Mace must be thrown, the intersection it hits will be the center of the Burst Template. This does not destroy the mace), Prayer/command ("I command you to rise to the Challenge of Umnus"), Fly Weapons (the spell create weapons of light that fly into the burst template)
Blast is an area effect power that can put down many opponents at once. The caster first picks where he wants to center the blast, then makes the appropriate skill roll. Normal ranged attack modifiers apply.
The area of effect is a Medium Burst Template. If the roll is failed, the blast deviates as a launched projectile. Targets within the blast suffer 2d6 damage. Blast counts as a Heavy Weapon.
►►Additional Effects: For double the Power Points, the blast does 3d6 damage, or the size is increased to a Large Burst Template. For triple the points, it does both.

Side Note: I am late

Sorry guys for posting late this week, the radiator in my car went out so pretty much all of Saturday was spent fixing that. Will be back to normal posting schedule for next weekend and Tuesdays as always. Though I may have to push back the publish time on Tuesdays to be 9 pm Central Time instead of 8 pm, as I have recently received a promotion and new schedule at work.

Camping for Bennies

By : Unknown

The camp site, just another place to get harassed by random Orcs. It might just be me, but I hate random encounters. I want a better reason than, "they attacked you because they are orcs, and I rolled it on the chart." Beyond that, I want the campsite to be a place where RP can actually happen, rather than a means to an end like refreshing spells. In the vain, started by Telecanter's Receding Rules and The Signe of the Frothing Mug, I give you some suggestions on how to make the campsite more important to the characters. I am not going to go into great detail about this stuff. I recommend reading Telecanter's blog for the longer version. Campsites can be used in many different settings, so don't feel restricted to fantasy adventure. It can just as easily function in post apocalypse, scifi, or even modern game.

Food & Drink

Campsites are a great way to work around using rations. Hunting can supplement your supplies. You should take some time to think of game, in the area. This too can be a "random" encounter but its less forced. Players can make Tracking Roll to find game in the area, and begin the hunt. This can lead to players getting in over their heads, sometimes. Maybe, while tracking a deer they stumble across an angry bear. Now you can throw in a chase, if the players do not immediately try to take it down. Fishing is also an option, if the area has water near by. And if you are in a post apocalypse, maybe your just scavenging for Twinkies in a dead city. This can lead to cooking. If you want to roll it I would suggest Common Knowledge, because people cook generally what they grew up with. This can lead to some interesting RP, as characters from different places try foods from other regions. They may think the food is weird or even bad. 

If you want to add a mechanical reason to help motivate players how about this, with fresh food provided players may add +1 to a Trait Roll for the next day.

Music/Stories (Interludes)

This is more related to fantasy adventures, but again that can go for anything. I would treat this as an Interlude. Nothing in the book says an interlude has to be story, explicitly. Beyond that, music has always been a form of storytelling. For the players, I would make them give an interlude, like normal, from the book, but say at the beginning that they want to tell the interlude as a song. I would even give a player an extra benny, if they actually had a story written up, in song format for the table. Think back to, in the hobbit, when the Dwarves sang in Bilbo's house. The words to that song are a story, and that is an interlude friend. Keep in mind, though, this should not be the only time an interlude can be done. One of the best ideas for an interlude I have heard was in the middle of Mass Combat. Basically, they used it as an inspiring speech for the troops, giving the inspiration boost and gain a benny for the interlude.

Gear

Pretty strait forward here. In the real world, weapons and armor require maintenance. You could use a system like Telacaster's gear rating. I would modify his simplified rule system, by saying that weapons have three conditions: sound, damaged, and ruined. You give weapons a rating from 1-5 to show the craftsmanship that went into making it. 1 for mastercrafts, 3 for standard items, and 5 for ruined. If a player gets snake eyes, on his trait dice, to attack the weapon becomes damaged. Damaged weapons go down a rank. With this system it would make the item less effective. So, say you go to a master sword maker and get a +1 Katana and like a good GM he names it something cool like Sekisetsu (Snowfall). Well, Sekisetsu has been with me for some time and I finally rolled a 1 on my dice. Dropping the quality from 1 to 2, no change yet, but if I get down to a 3 I treat it like a normal weapon. At 4 the trait rolls with that weapon would get a -1, at 5 a  you get a -2 penalty to trait rolls with the weapon. Any damage, further, to the weapon would destroy it. In the case of armor, I would just use the normal Breaking Things rules. I would also use the Breaking Things rules, if you have characters trying to destroy weapons, but maybe raise the toughness of items with higher quality, to show the higher craftsmanship. As for repair costs, for weapon maintenance I would make it simple, half the price of the weapon if it was new. Magic weapons may need to be returned to their makers for repair beyond rating 3. This means having good relations with the weapon-smith actually has merit. Of course, nothing is stopping a player from becoming a smith, but it will make them that much more important. With the right tool, they may be the groups weapon-smith. The search for rare materials can even be used as an adventure.

The Hearth

This is actually my favorite part of the whole thing, the idea of a hearth magic steeped in tradition. This spawned from a previous post he wrote:
"A cleric, or anyone versed in the Old Ways, can take a stone weighing a half-stone or more from the night's fire.  By incorporating it into the next night's fire ring they make that fire a hearth.  Each night of doing so makes the hearth magic stronger.  Undead and shape changers can not enter the light of a true hearth. 
Half-stone is ~7 pounds which is one of my simple encumbrance slots.  I'm not interested in the bookkeeping part now.  Maybe just, using the hearth a second time on gives the protection, but skipping a use in a fire will mean you have to break the stone in again.  Particularly old stones taken from ruins or abandoned cottages might function as magic items that give extra bonuses."
I would also like to mention the bit added by Josh Graboff:
"Furthermore, Osvean priests (who are priests of the hearth) may bless each campfire to provide a CoP Evil 50' if they cast a bless spell on it when it is built. The Circle of Protection vanishes once the fire goes out for any reason." 
For Savage Worlds I would make it something like:
Those who have the Arcane Background(Miracles) may take a stone weighing, a half-stone or more from the night's fire. By incorporating it into the next night's fire ring, they make that fire a hearth. Each night of doing so makes the hearth magic stronger.  Casting Hearth Blessing when the fire ring is complete:
Hearth Blessing (Heavily modified Barrier with influences from Protection) Rank: Novice
Power Points: 2
Range: Touch
Duration: Special(Until the fire goes out)
Trappings: Material (Hearth Stone weighing a half-stone pr more), Completion (Create a fire ring), Prayers, Gesture, Invisible, and Intangible  This power create an aura around the campsite, starting with a small burst template. For every new fire ring created with a Hearth Stone from the previous nights fire you may increase the burst template used until reaching the Large Burst Template. Those within the template receive a +1 to Notice, Vigor rolls for Natural Healing and Fear Checks. With a raise this increases the bonus to +2. If the fire goes out for any reason the spell's effects end. If camp is not made every night you must start over with a small burst template.
A supernatural creature that wants to directly enter the burst template must first win an opposed test of its Spirit versus the caster’s arcane skill roll for the Hearth Blessing spell.
This makes protecting your fire all that more important. It gives you protection and light. Players will want to make camp to get these minor bonuses.

In General

Keep in mind, you should also consider bonuses and penalties for the quality of the campsite, making finding a good campsite its own little adventure.








Character Generation Saga Episode 2

By : Unknown

Meet Clare

Clare is a lot of things, but mostly she is trappings. Savage Worlds is awesome for it's trappings. They allow you to make a very basic power, into something truly unique. So, here is some imaginative trappings we can add to good old Clare here. I purposely picked an ambiguous picture, for this one, While the first thing that comes to mind, for me, looking at it is this character image might belong in a tradition fantasy setting. Look at her further. She can fit into a hard sci-fi setting, a post apocalyptic setting, a dark world setting, or even in modern. This look is essential, because in Savage Worlds, Clare can be anything if you build her right. For more ideas, for trappings, download a copy of Savage Spellbook. It will help get the idea's flowing. Also look at the different setting books. They typically have some trapping suggestions for you. Deadlands Reloaded is my favorite example of this.

First example

Clara, the Fantasy Setting Wizard
We should start here, because this is where most people are the most familiar with, thanks to the big flag ships like D&D. Say you want to make a true(ish) cross over, for some reason. Please don't on your first try, you will only be hurting your Savage Worlds experience. I would give her Arcane Background(Magic) and talk to my GM, about her trappings for the background. I would add that she is a Vancian, meaning she is like a battery. She needs to sleep for 8 hours and study. She is dependent on her spell book for her spells. Then, because I don't like generic D&D fantasy background, I talk to the GM, I want to up the anti on my character. The backlash on the Background is cool and all, but I want her magic to be a little more dangerous, like she doesn't have the best control over it. So, after some discussion, we add the trapping "Dangerous" to the background, that says I will use a modified malfunction chart from weird science. Now when I roll a 1 I consult the table:
Suit - Affect Effect
Clubs - Catastrophic Malfunction
The arcane energies expload for 2d6 damage in a Large Burst Template
Hearts - Major Malfunction
Forgot power, for some reason the correct words or movements to cast escape you. You cannot use this power until you study it for 2d6 hours.
Diamonds - Minor Malfunction
Too much power, for the rest of the scene all power checks will be made with a -2.
Spades - Glitch
The power works, but does the reverse of its intent. A firebolt heals instead of damages. If a reverse effect makes no sense, treat it as a Major Malfunction instead.
 So, this has got me excited to play a very unique caster, from what I set out to do, so I go and make the character, deciding to pick up the Soul Drain Edge as well. Now, Clare feels like she would fit well as a novice (or just plain unlucky) caster, in a setting like Dragonlance. In fact, I want to push it further and I add the Bad Luck Hindrance. Without going much further, I have a great start that evolved from talking with my GM about my idea. I wont go into numbers, but here is one of her powers:
Drain Power PointsRank: Heroic
Power Points: 3
Range: Smarts
Duration: Instant
This spell removes a spellcaster’s source of power, limiting his ability to cast magic.
The caster picks a single target within range and makes an opposed arcane skill roll. The caster suffers a –2 modifier if the target power is of another type (magic vs. miracles, superpowers vs. mad science, for example).
With a success, he drains 1d6+1 Power Points from the victim. On a raise, the victim loses 1d8+2 Power Points. These rolls don’t Ace. Targets with Arcane Background: Weird Science lose the Power Points from all “gizmos” on their person equally.
The victim cannot be reduced below zero Power Points. Drained Power Points are not taken by the caster — they are simply lost to the victim. Drained Power Points recharge as normal. The spell works only on creatures with an Arcane Background — it has no effect on magic items except those created through Arcane Background: Weird Science as noted above.
Pretty straight forward, but I want to make it unique. So, I look at the trappings in SWD, the power suggests prayer, whispered words, gestures. I do like gestures and whispered words, but not too keen on prayers, so for now I will keep those in mind. Then I will visit the trappings section of the book... I don't really see anything that I like a lot so I talk to my GM, and other players, using our game's Google Community. One of the guys, at the table, brings up threads of destiny, kind of like the game Kingdoms of Amalur. I really dig it, but since she is has bad luck, I want to make those threads something tangible rather than mystic wonder threads.  After discussing it, with the GM, my threads that I send out can be cut or broken by normal attack, by another character, but the have to beat a target number equal to my magic roll for that round. This will change the power to:
Aether Threads(Drain Power Points)
Rank: Heroic
Power Points: 3(2/round)
Range: Smarts
Duration: Instant
Trappings: Gestures (Clare must move her hands before casting and to direct the threads), Whispered words (Aetherium ligō), Tangible (While power is maintained threads can physically be cut by another character)This spell removes a spellcaster’s source of power, limiting his ability to cast magic.
The caster picks a single target within range and makes an opposed arcane skill roll. The caster suffers a –2 modifier if the target power is of another type (magic vs. miracles, superpowers vs. mad science, for example).
With a success, he drains 1d6+1 Power Points from the victim. On a raise, the victim loses 1d8+2 Power Points. These rolls don’t Ace. Targets with Arcane Background: Weird Science lose the Power Points from all “gizmos” on their person equally.
The victim cannot be reduced below zero Power Points. Drained Power Points are not taken by the caster — they are simply lost to the victim. Drained Power Points recharge as normal. The spell works only on creatures with an Arcane Background — it has no effect on magic items except those created through Arcane Background: Weird Science as noted above.

Second Example 

Clare, the Hard Scifi Setting Technomage
Basically, we could do the same thing, but flavor it for tech instead of magic. I like nanites, so that's how I would explain it, if the GM allowed them in the setting.  But, for the sake of this post, I will do something else. In this setting, the GM tells us he wants us to imagine something akin to Terminator. Basically, Google got way too big for their britches and started making AI, that evolved and grew at an alarming rate, and to top that Google has its software hands in everything. Everything that the Rebels haven't made themselves. Basically, the rebels are developing tech, on a much more limited scale to fight back. Get too fancy and Google can take over. Clare is a Rogue Technomage, from the bad lands. She discovered a military facility in the heart of Wisconsin. Here, they were working with nanorobotics, both as weapons and as support for soldiers in the fields. These isolated nanites could be programmed to do anything, so she spent the last five years of her life programming them with new software and making them into what she needs them to be. They self replicate at a pace, that can be programmed, to fit the casters needs. The GM is impressed this time with my pitch and let me run with it. I decide I want to be a healer/support this time, because when it comes down to it Clare wont kill. She has the hindrances of Pacifist Minor and Vow Major (Hippocratic Oath). The GM is open to us using stuff from settings, like Interface Zero, but after looking it over I talk to him about superpowers from SWD. Basically, I want them to be harder to learn and gain new powers but have the feeling, like when she gets it down she becomes an expert. Plus, the book entry for Super Powers talks about alien tech. This stuff might as well be, its alien to the rest of the world. The GM considers it and give the okay. So I go with it, and create a power strait forward this time but it this one doesn't need all that extra:
Nanograft(Healing)
Rank: Novice
Power Points: 3
Range: Touch
Duration: Instant
Trappings: Exposing wound to nanites, Touch
Healing repairs recent bodily damage. It must be used within the “Golden Hour,” though, for it has no effect on wounds more than one hour old.
For Wild Cards, each use of the healing spell removes a wound with a success, two with a raise. The roll suffers a penalty equal to the victim’s wounds (in addition to any the caster might be suffering himself).
For Extras, the GM must first determine if the ally is dead (see Aftermath on page 78). If so, no healing may be attempted. If not, a successful arcane skill roll returns the ally to the game Shaken.
Healing can also cure poison and disease if used within 10 minutes of the event.
The best part about the nanites is I did make them fool-proof. Remember when I said I could program their self replication process? Well the GM Ruled it could only be done, with the right type of equipment, which means I need to keep the facility I found safe. Plus, if I mess up reprogramming them I could do anything, from kill all of them, to letting them reproduce out of control, which will open that tech up to being discovered by Google and used against us. The GM can make a dramatic task, of on the fly modifications, if not using the benny to change a power rule. From here you should get the idea. With Savage Worlds, trappings are something that you, as a player, put together to make your character fit concept. Its that simple.



Social Contract

By : Unknown

For most regular gaming groups, the social contract is an unspoken thing. You come to understand it through time and playing with the same people. Occasionally, doing a social contract can yield very beneficial results. Take for example my group. We've been playing together for 4 years, and I can't say that beyond the first times we played together, that we have actually sat down and discussed a social contract.  This unfortunately has led to misunderstandings in games, and misunderstanding from both the GM and the players. This week I did not run Star Wars. Instead I discussed a social contract, for the upcoming Savage Worlds game. This discussion actually helped our communication, through the other 3 games, that we play. Since we generally have the same expectations, it helped to reiterate this this, as we have had some problems with attendance. Or more importantly alerting the group, as to when you would be missing a game. This led me to the idea that, all social contracts, should have an underlying format, that is universally true.


  • Attendance Policy - to include expectation by the GM, for when games will be held ,and players for how they will alert someone, that they will be missing. My group uses Google Hangouts, and a community for our games making it easier to keep everything together, plus with smart phones its easy to let people know if your going to be late to the game.
  • Code of Conduct - This usually as simple as be respectful of the other people at the game, but what does that mean to each person? You may find out that what one person thinks of as fine is not with another.
  • Expectations - This one breaks down a couple ways. Expectations of the GM for the GM, GM for the game, GM for the Players, Players for GM, Players for the game, and Players for Players. This is probably the best part about discussing the social contract and the very reason its good to revisit the contract with every new game. Another thing to talk about is the pre-game and post game expectations. For example in a game like Pathfinder with levels, we have the rule that if you gain a level you must apply it to the sheet before coming to the table and send a copy to the GM before the day of the next game or else your level gets held until next week.
  • If its a different session from your Campaign Framework revisit - this is a great time to revisit it, like I said our social contract discussion kind of turned into a three campaign discuss and we revisited every game's Campaign Framework even if we were already well into the other games.

Aside from Social Contract I want to direct my readers to another new tool, the Savage Worlds Survival Guide. I completely forgot to add that. Also a couple shout outs:
  • Nova Praxis (Hard Sci-fi) has launched a Savage Worlds Setting Kickstarter.
  • Another great blog Living for Crits or more percisely his post on The Partner System Setting Rule, great post will be using the setting rule. Check it out when you can.
  • Lastly Dice Ritual, another great blog. The Author has expressed an interest in maybe running Savage Worlds with a Eastern Pseudo-Realism, so stop by read his stuff and provide some help if your an expert.
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Character Generation Saga Episode 1

By : Unknown
"As I have gotten older, I have realized that my learning style tends more toward the visual and experiential. With that, does anyone know of a good illustrated rules tutorial? I haven't seen any live action or actual play tutorials, but the ones that stand out for me in print are the Mentzer Basic D&D players guide, and more recently the upcoming Atomic Robo Fate RPG."F. Turfler from G+ Savage Worlds Community

Mr. Turfler color me intrigued, now I am admittedly an artist, but honestly I am not really much for illustration and comic books. They have always been a great source of inspiration and storytelling, for myself and so many fans of the tabletop genre. So, I am going to try to help fluff up the available education pieces for Savage Worlds out there. My first entry in the series, called Savage Write-ups, is on Character Generation, something that every player including the GM should know how to do. This one is a bit long, because I will detail the process kind of heavily. In reality this process should take less time than to read this entry.

Rules:

Savage Worlds Deluxe Edition only for simplicity, no setting rules, using the organic character build style.

Meet Baeldre

Concept

Lets start with the Fantasy Genre, since people are mostly familiar with the basics of what you should expect to see in a game. Also, for now I am going to avoid magic, because that is a topic in and of itself. Baeldre is a character concept I have tried to force, into many different rule sets. I use force as the key word here, because in many settings wielding a dagger is about as combat awesome as a spoon. At least, if you use a spoon you will get a rep and be able to make intimidate checks on your enemies, while you spoon out some mook's eye. Sure, you can make a rogue and get sneak attack, but that's not the concept. Think about how deadly a knife is in the real world. In the hands of a skilled fighter, it doesn't matter if he has the drop on you (think S.P.A.S.). In Pathfinder, with almost every book that came out, I have tried and tried to make this concept work in game, but the rules don't encourage you to know armed and unarmed combat. You're encouraged to hyper specialize, something never seen in movies or TV shows (besides the fact that most characters in movies and shows by RPG stats are usually pretty powerful). That's really more of a combat style choice. The RP stuff is kind of easy to play up in any game. I want him to be a cross elf with a chip on his shoulder and penchant for grudges. Kind of a scoundrel type who is willing to do what it takes to get the job done. I wrote him up for a free form play by post once, and since I have not been really happy with his build, so here it goes in Savage Worlds. Note, this is not intended to be optimal or a god build that uses a knife. This is a character for a story.

Move on to Stats

Race: Elf
Attributes: Every stat starts at d4 and you get 5 points to bump/change those stats. As an Elf, I get to start with a d6 in Agility instead of a d4. Each point raises a die, easy enough, but I really want to focus on my concept rather than my stats at this point, so I skip this part and move to hindrances and advantages as a preference.
Hindrances: So he is a workaholic, with a chip on his shoulder... After reading through SWD I know I can take 1 Major and 2 Minor hindrances. As an Elf, I start with All Thumbs(minor), kind of a set back since I am kind of a rogue/scoundrel type, but I can work with it and it doesn't count against my total, that I can take. I really like the idea of Code of Honor(major). I have always played him super dedicated and takes his promises very seriously, even if it's something trivial. Vengeful(minor) sounds good too, plus I am going to throw in Enemy(minor) because I want to have a NPC from my past be the one person I can't seem to capture. In fact, I may go back to the concept with that and add a childhood friend who is now my most elusive quarry. While not super powerful, he is not super deadly to me as well. That gives me 4 points (2 for the major and 1 each for the minors)
Edges: Since this character has already been thought up, and made elsewhere, there are a few different edges that look great. Looking through the book, I found about nine different options that sound great, but I only get one at the start, so I want to look for the one that shows him at the start of his adventures. So Luck sounds pretty good, or maybe Brawler. After some deliberation, I have decided to go with Luck at least. No stat requirements are needed for it, but I may want to pick up brawler pretty early, if not at character creation, so I want to make sure I get Str d8.
Back to Attributes: I have the basic 5 points to spend first, then I have to decide if I want to pay for two edges, or buy something else like an attribute bump.
Original Attribute Points Used Modified Attribute Gained points Used Final Attribute
Agility d6
1
d8


Smarts d4

d4


Spirit d4
1
d6


Strength d4
2
d8


Vigor d4
1
d6



Those numbers look pretty good, so far, but I don't want to commit the points earned from hindrances, just yet. I will move on to skills and derived stats first, to get their base line, so I can best decide how to use those points.
Skills: You get 15 to spend. So I take a quick look at the skill list... and these are my winners:
Selected Skill Points Used Modified Skill Gained points Used Final Skill
Fighting(Agility)
3
d8


Stealth(Agility)
2
d6


Throwing(Agility)
1
d4


Notice(Smarts)
3
d6


Streetwise(Smarts)
3
d6


Tracking(Smarts)
3
d6



Okay, not bad. My choice to make him have a d4 in Smarts kind of cost me, a bit, when I made his skills, but I am kind of digging the RP value of it. Those skills are things he does not come to naturally and he had to work to get them there, a cool concept you don't really see that much of, in tabletop games anymore.
Spending the Gained Points: I have four points to spend from my hindrances. I know I want to pick up the Luck edge, which will cost me 2 points. For the remaining amount, I can buy more skills, another edge, bump and attribute, or get more starting money. I don't really need much money, since he starts off as a street-tough with little more than dagger. I am thinking about bumping Smarts, since it will lower the cost of three of my skills, giving me 3 more skill points to spend. Which is more cost effective than just getting one skill point. And then there is the Brawler edge, as it complements my combat style and vision of the character well. After some thought, I go with a Smarts bump for the last 2 points and reassign my skills. Plus, with adding to Smarts, I would meet the requirements for another edge, I want later.
Back to Attributes: I have the basic 5 points to spend first, then I have to decide if I want to pay for two edges, or buy something else like an attribute bump.
Original Attribute Points Used Modified Attribute Gained Points Used Final Attribute
Agility d6
1
d8

Agility d8
Smarts d4

d4
1
Smarts d6
Spirit d4
1
d6

Spirit d6
Strength d4
2
d8

Strength d8
Vigor d4
1
d6

Vigor d6

Adjusted Skills
Selected Skill Points Used Modified Skill Gained Points Used Final Skill
Fighting(Agility)
3
d8

Fighting(Agility) d8
Stealth(Agility)
2
d6

Stealth(Agility) d6
Throwing(Agility)
2
d6

Throwing(Agility) d6
Notice(Smarts)
2
d6

Notice(Smarts) d6
Streetwise(Smarts)
2
d6

Streetwise(Smarts) d6
Tracking(Smarts)
2
d6

Tracking(Smarts) d6
Taunt(Smarts)
2
d6

Taunt(Smarts) d6

You will notice I added Taunt and increase Throwing. I wanted taunt in the first place but I ran out of points, so this seemed like a good place to add it since I gained 3 back.
Derived Stats: Charisma is 0, because I invested nothing into it. My Pace is 6, my race did not alter that. Parry requires a little bit of math, 2 plus half your fighting skill plus any bonuses from gear... so my baseline Parry is 6(2+4). Toughness uses basically the same formula but with Vigor and armor(over torso) instead, meaning the baseline is 5(2+3).
Gear: You get $500 to spend on gear, unless otherwise dictated by the GM so a quick look at the list... and I get 3 Daggers for 75(can be thrown so I might want a few), Leather Armor for 50, Backpack for 50, Bedroll for 25, Waterskin for 5, Flint and Steel for 3, Manacles for 15, 60 ft of rope for 60, Whetstone for 5, Normal Clothing for 20, Trail rations for 10. That leaves me with $182 left over at the start of the game.
Flavor: At this point, I would come back and add trappings to flavor the character. Maybe, I will want to talk to my GM about making blinding into a crowd as a trapping on stealth, because I have made it a point that he is more a thug than a true rogue. Maybe I will just call it Blending(stealth) on my sheet, and talk to the GM about having the fault that he is actually bad at real stealth. Maybe it lowers a die type by one. Even without, powers I have room for trappings.

Stat Block

Baeldre
Rank: Novice
Race: Elf
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d6
Skills: Fighting d8, Blinding (Stealth d6), Throwing d6, Notice d6, Streetwise d6, Tracking d6, Taunt d6
Charisma: 0, Pace: 6, Parry: 6, Toughness: 6
Hindrances: Code of Honor, Enemy Minor (Rhodes, Half Elf), Vengeful Minor
Edges: Luck
Gear: 3 Daggers, Leather Armor, Backpack, Bedroll, Waterskin, Flint and Steel, Manacles, 60 ft of rope, Whetstone, Normal Clothing, Trail rations
Background: Baeldre is a street hardened elf, who grew up in Alona. The boy always a touch of luck, in everything he did, probably the one thing that kept him alive all these years. As he grew up, he learned that life is not cheap, in fact it can be very profitable. He picked up bounty hunting to pay the bills, but since he has taken a liking to it. It has caused him to make a few enemies, in the past, but none more than Rhodes, the man has defied him at every corner. Always evading capture, through magical and vile means such as putting innocent people him harms way to get away. He has become somewhat jaded, causing him to become a bit more violent when on the job, but he always follows his Bounty Hunter's Code. 

  • No bounty is worth dying for
  • People don't have bounties, only "acquisition" do
  • Capture by design, Kill by necessary
  • No hunter shall slay another (unless they have become acquisitions)
  • No hunter shall interfere with another's hunt (competition is not interfering)
  • One captures or kills, never both
  • No hunter shall refuse aid to another hunter.

Character Creation

By : Unknown
Every game has very different rules to create characters, but a few things remain the same. Lets face it the first thing that most people look at is a trope, and that's a great start. I generally encourage players to start with tropes rather than classes, skills, feats, or advantages. This is more geared toward my players, but I am going to write this in a very generic way. So some of these details may be below your current experience as a player but a refresher is always nice. For my players, please read as this is the method I would like you to follow when building your characters.

Get with the GM

Get with the GM, get with the GM, get with the GM for the love of all pantheons. At this point hopefully you have had at least a minor role if not larger in creating the game world and you already have some thoughts on character concepts that could work and what you want to play because you know the world. Do not start filling in a sheet until you talk to him/her. They may have special rules that they want you to follow or that awesome character concept you have in mind is part of the villainous faction and the GM wants pure heroic types, that doesn't mean you cant play that character it just means that you have to adapt to the plan of the campaign. I know most of our last games have been character creation at the table. This has worked out well for scheduling and building a balanced party. Though honestly I am a bit on the fence about character building as a group, as a story teller I kind of want bits of character backgrounds to not be player knowledge. I want things to come out during play naturally and sometimes the thing that makes you a special snowflake is revealed during these group build sessions.

Characters like people have depth

As an artist you learn to make things with depth, details make things interesting. Look at the da Vinci sketch provided, it is way more interesting than a smiley faced stick figure because of depth. I recommend that in every system instead of building "a human swords-woman who is blind" build a "blind swords-woman, human." The second has a different connotation to it, your character is blind and you also happen to be a swordsman but that doesn't necessarily define you. One of my characters was actually this example, she was blinded in combat as an out to flat killing her in combat. I had to spend a bit to convenience her into continuing to play a blind bushi in L5R. She finally decided to continue play the character and had a blast, I even gave her Dare Devil like scenes eventually because her character over came her challenge and created a school of blind fighting (entirely player created, no school actually exists, or should I say existed at the time). This was a great story and it was only available to her because she had to overcome a challenge. I always recommend that you look at disadvantages (as Savage Worlds puts it) before anything else in character creation because that is who your character is, after that go to advantages because that is the same coin. And if you use defining interests in your game go there next. Bam! You have a concept and that's what Savage Worlds and really every other game needs for story and building unique characters because when it comes down to it every swordsman is going to mechanically operate about the same as every other swordsman, what make you special is who you are. This is the stage where my 20 Questions could be filled out, or if you have created your own insert here.

Lastly have goals, be invested in the story this does go further than character creation, but back to the point. At the beginning of the game if you start as a simple goat farmer maybe your goal is to marry the girl next door and live a successful life. That is a great plot hook for a GM, I kid nap the girl. Now your goal shifts to rescuing her, you still want to marry her but that will come later. But if I am a really mean GM I hit you where it hurts. You track down the kidnappers, defeat them somehow with the help of you faithful goat Billy and she is gone. Some investigation later you find out these kidnappers are the kings men to another kingdom, she has been taken to be wed to the tyrant who rules the next kingdom over. You find friends, lets call them "adventurers" and you form a "party" to go save your fair maiden, you do it, but now that tyrant king starts a war with your homeland because you where identified and told other travelers your tale. Now you have to decide is your love worth the lives of many innocent people? Should you return home where your nation will most likely turn you over to the tyrant to avoid war, but the girl will be safe at home again? Should you try to kill the tyrant and stage a coup, hopefully saving many of your own people's lives for those that live under the tyrant? Look at that, I just made a whole story arc around your goat farmer and his love. More depth means more room for GM's to create. If you want a basic dude with a sword killing things play Dynasty Warriors and ignore the cut scenes.

Move on to Stats

Stats are actually the least important thing about character creation, unless you are playing a very heavily instructed game like Pathfinder where the book says what you can do. In Savage Worlds that problem does not exist, or at least is much more limited. There are basic rules to follow but much of the onus is on the players to create flavor for their abilities. An example of this is a ray gun, ok so mechanically we will make it using Weird Science since it does not fit the norm of the campaign it uses bolt as its power. Ok, that sounds cool. Except that it is not, so...

Trappings

Add them, they make that ray gun do way cool things. Say I want to go way off the wall. I want a necromantic ray gun that shoots leaches from the backpack/tank on me. Go for it and here is how:

Shards: Ranged attacks splinter on impact, creating shrapnel that does +1 damage versus unarmored targets but –1 damage versus foes with Armor.

Wow that's pretty cool. but trapping go way further, they do things that many seasoned players do automatically without thinking about it. Say you have caster gets his power from eating a strict diet of rice and water, if he doesn't follow that he loses his powers. That my friend is hindrance with a trapping, its that easy. Your character always takes his shoes off before entering a building, that's weird in a western game but it is also a trapping to your character. Trappings help create depth, and again plot hooks for GMs.

Write it down

I probably should have said it before, but write it down. Save it if your on a computer, and give your GM a copy if at all possible. Nothing is more irritating than having to rebuild your character at a normal game session. And if you do have to rebuild, please try to do it before the game or at least quietly if the game can move forward without you.

Links:

In this order please:

For my players

I would like messages sent to me privately with initial concepts, you may share them with the others but no background sharing just yet.

May the 4th be with you & Story Telling

By : Unknown
May the 4th be with you. As many of my readers may have already figured out, I am a huge Star Wars fan in addition to S&S. Interesting fact I speak Mando'a.

I think the reason I have always loved both Space Operas and Sword and Sorcerer is kind of the same, its heavily based in story telling. The heroes are pulpy and big but at the same time have very real feelings and stories that you can connect to. Not to say that any game cannot have story telling in it without following those genres. The key to good story telling in a table top game is passion.

Every gamer can recall a great game where the story had you coming back every week, wanting to see what happened next, asking the GM questions in email, text, side conversations during the week. You remember getting together as a party, working to defeat the BAMF and feeling the victory that your characters felt at the time. I think, over time, the gaming industry has kind of gone full circle on this concept. At first games were more tactical warfare influenced, then game creators like Gary Gygax came along and opened it up with first edition D&D, some very basic combat rules but the rest was up to the GM. Since that first wave of products, game makers have turned more and more toward simulations play, with rules upon rules for combat. But lets face it, when you go back to that awesome victory you so fondly remember, you really don't remember every round of detailed combat maneuvers, facing, attacks of opportunities, and the hundred of other rules that have become common at the table. You remember the decisive blow. You can recall the rules that went into that, but the rest was just wash because combat was slowed down. People were building dice towers and chit-chatting. It wasn't as exciting when it was your turn, just a fact. This is the very fact that has led many of my past players to confessing that they make min-maxed combat machines so that they can push through combat to get back to the story. Why is it, with that kind of attitude, do we see more and more combat crunch and rules to govern how and when you can swing your sword? Listen to a game store game combat. You may have one guy who narrates his attack, but the rest of the table is looking at him like "come on bro, we have already sat on your turn for five minutes..." Why then do we get excited about new editions that "streamline combat",  which in most cases means more focused rules? Why don't we go back to focus on story, as a culture?

Star Wars is all about the story and the struggle. It amazes me that players and GM's will jump head first into story, under that flag ship, but not treat their fantasy game with the same love. Characters are made with more depth and more hooks to get them involved, where as other game systems(especially those with a focus on kill XP) have almost one dimensional characters. I have grown bored of running games for characters that are simple lone wolf murder hobos, as I am sure many others have. I want heroes, but in reality that is up to me to enforce. Its not a player problem its a GM problem. I have not been engaging as much as I should have, in the past with my players. Player drive is directly proportional to player input. The more a player puts into the story the more they get from it, and want to further their stories. With enough team effort, those parts where Chris is doing his side arc with the GM no longer becomes dice tower time. You will see people listening and hanging on to the edge of their seat. So go with the force, and encourage your players to do something epic with story, even if it's them getting their asses handed to them by some goblins. Do more than run a game, tell a story.
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