Amstaad general discussion (almost there!)

[T-Bone]

YAY!

[T-Bone]

Absorb his soul and become the driving force then!

[T-Bone]

Aspects or gifts or something if someone wants to play a character of wealth.

Perhaps treat this system you have as 'cash on hand'. Then even if someone plays a merchant or noble, yes they are incredibly wealthy, but their wealth is tied into something. A merchant has his wealth tied into his store. A noble has his wealth tied to his estate. For roleplaying purposes these characters are well off and enjoy their society status, but they also don't have enough money in their coin purse to buy the entire city either.

[T-Bone]

Damn, we got a shit load of new content. It was worth the wait for sure. Now to read it!

Also, I want to play a merchant and I want to start out with at least something to sell. But I don't want to make it an easy ride because easy rides are no fun. I sorta like T-bone's idea, but I have never played an RPG so you guys figure it out.

That's how it's done in some other games. It's how I've played it in Call of Cthulu, (it was a credit rating skill) and Ironclaw (it was an external gift). I imagine in Amstaad it could work similarly.

[T-Bone]

Okay, magic is simple. (kinda)

There are two components to casting a spell. First you ability to actually cast it successfully. A Mage under stress might have a harder time casting a spell then say someone who has a ton of time to be cautious. Plus there are hand motions, incantations, spell components, etc. So this is probably where you'd roll your spell skill.

The second component is the range. If this is a touch spell, then you need to be able to physically touch a target. Now if I see someone casting a spell at me, I'm definitely gonna try to avoid it. Now depending on how combat resolves, I suspect I'd roll a dodge skill or something. But that means that my opponent needs to roll and opposing skill. He already rolled his spell skill to cast the spell without any problems. So it's a matter of us wanting another skill to specifically use a spell in combat. "Spell-Throwing" is a common catch all skill for this purpose.

Being a magic user should not be as simple as taking one or two skills. No, a mage needs an entirely new skill set. We're talking skills like concentration, meditation, scry, spell-throwing, cryptography, knowledge of various things, the spells themselves, etc. etc.

[T-Bone]

It's a balancing thing more than anything. Magic is incredibly powerful, there's no way it should be as simple as swinging a sword. Any idiot can do that. Not everyone can cast magic.

[T-Bone]

Actually I have a solution for magic that I'll take from another game and adapt it to this system. With a few changes to the core mechanics, it'll make magic simpler and balanced. But, I'll send you a PM about that DN

[T-Bone]

We need a magic thread.

[T-Bone]

Mutliple threads for different mechanics...

[T-Bone]

I will post my thoughts on magic and copy my post on wealth into the new thread later.

[T-Bone]

I'm looking at the technical stuff, I just haven't posted in anything but the gold thing.

We haven't decided anything new so I haven't needed to update any OPs

[T-Bone]

Crazy idea. Let's forget inventing a new game.

Instead, take an existing system that is structured (IE not DnD), that has quite a bit of source material and lore, and do it that way. Maybe some source material that people know well. I'd honestly recommend Star Wars Saga. Because of the expanded universe, the Mods could still invent their own storyline and setting within the universe, without having to worry about mechanics and complicated lore too much.

Pathfinder wouldn't be so terrible either if we tap into the lore, but it is close to DnD in it's openess.