Sean_RDP

Paizo turned its association with WoTC and D&D 3.5 into Pathfinder (via the OGL etc...). That has been a highly profitable enterprise. I know its not a 1 to 1 comparison, but the similarities are there to that situation and this one. With RQ6's system re branded for TDM to license out to those who make settings, it could be the core of something special. I really hope they can make the most of their situation as we can never have too many d100 games.

Rough Draft of Design Document - 100% Skills: 33% - Finally have my names as opposed to old school place holders. Now I have to write a short but sweet description of each. Experience - 100% - REAL happy about this lol Soul Magic - 100% Sorcery - 50% Spiral Magic - 50% Hit Points & Hit Locations - 100% Armor, Weapons, & Equipment - 75% Salt Island - 5% SRD/Design Doc - 20% Skaerune' Setting 32% Quickstart Guide 20% Bestiary 25% - Like my new format Getting a Domain and perm website.. 0.001%

So a few more beasts done this week. I present the Cormoran Giant and the Bakemono. The Bakemono is going to appear in the Quick Start guide and feature in one of the adventures I am writing for it. Also the file for the Bakemono is spelled wrong so don't worry about that. Bakemono is the correct spelling. EDITED: Also these two are the first two to use my final format that will appear in the book (and subsequent books etc..) I think it works better than what I had before. bokemono.pdf giant_cormoran.pdf

We have been trying to create the Perfect RPG for over forty years now. Through new ideas, changing needs and expectations, and a socio-technological boom that allows many of us to jump into that pursuit, game designers in corporate offices, home work places, and nerdy basements have been seeking that ONE system to rule them all (apologies. to Professor Tolkien). We have never found that system and likely never will, but that won't keep various people from trying. Including myself. People change and people want things their own way and to leave their own mark upon legacies. It isn't a betrayal and there isn't anything wrong with it. Admittedly some handle it better than others, but overall we feel threatened by change almost as a knee jerk or allergic reaction. There is nothing logical to our reaction, but there is a great deal of emotion. I think that is fine but it makes for grumpy customers from time to time..... Obviously I am speaking about the recent RQ6/RQNext revelations. Some folks are elated and some are angry and some are passive aggressive and I get it, I really do. It can be exasperating because to the player these are games and settings we are passionate about. Well us designers are passionate to. No one does this to get rich but if you are in some kind of business, you need to do smart things to make money. Business vs. Art. So stay positive. This too shall pass.

That version of Divine Magic is one of the reasons I contemplated doing my own game. I do understand your point and its a valid one, but I think the system suffers from a certain incoherent approach as if those making it were not exactly sure how they wanted to do it. (Which happens in many games). Also I really have found Divine Magic powerful enough to jump through those hoops, with a few exceptions of course.

Using the King of Dragon Pass music to keep me motivated and on task. Rough Draft of Design Document - 100% Soul Magic - 100% Sorcery - 50% Spiral Magic - 50% Hit Points & Hit Locations - 100% Armor, Weapons, & Equipment - 75% Salt Island - 5% SRD/Design Doc - 15% Skaerune' Setting 32% Quickstart Guide 15% Bestiary 20% Getting a Domain and perm website.. 0.001%

I have paired all the skills in Skaerune' down to 4 categories and Athletics is one of them. I use (STR + DEX)/2 for the score. To keep the higher base number concept, I might suggest this: (STR + DEX + SIZ)/2. I am not sure that CON really fits into athletics in terms of pure ability, though stamina certainly does. In that case you could put CON in the mix too, making it an even larger number. If you wanted to keep the number of stats used to a minimum, then STR + CON (though I feel DEX works better instead of CON) would work fine. As for better starting values, I use INTx1 for Knowledge and I think using a single stat for a skill category does make sense. At one point I had thought about having seven skill categories with each stat getting its own. I dropped the idea but it is not without some merit.

Mmmmm Snake Pipe Hollow, we meet again. I will have your treasures!

So if this is not the place for this, please feel free to move... I have been going over different rule ideas and was toying with alternate attack methods. Long story short I contemplated what fanning a six gun in a BRP might look like Fanning Fanning of a revolver was a common means of firing multiple shots in a short amount of time. To do so in combat a character declares he or she is "fanning" on their attack and picks 1 to 3 targets in their line of sight. On the character's normal attack SR, he or she makes a single attack roll at a 25% penalty. If the roll succeeds, roll 1d3 to determine which target is hit and allow that character to make a dodge roll (if applicable). Even if the attack fails, the firing character pits his or her POW against the POW of each of the targets. If the attacker succeeds against a target, that target has a 15% penalty on all actions for one round. So the idea is that even though inaccurate, fanning can be intimidating because of the hail of bullets. Here are some thoughts I had on it Is 25% enough of a penalty for the shooter? Is 15% too big a penalty for the targets? If using Special Successes, 2 targets are hit on a special success If the roll is a critical, all three targets are hit Just curious what others might think. I may actually do a Wild West version of Q21 after Skaerune' and Runed Worlds, so it is not just a throw away thought.

I definitely plan to play it. Introduce it in game days to other players (along with Skaerune; of course) and generally be as subversively d100 as I can be. I will see what I can cook up on Fronela as I suspect everyone will be bouncing around in Prax. Just for something different.

So I have been playing with formatting and working on individual sections as I have pieces of them in place. I re formatted the bestiary and I like the new format, but it still looks like one entry per page. I pondered that a bit but decided this was my game and no player I have ever heard has said "there are too many entries in the monster section", at least as long as everything else is good too. I did notice that so far the creatures tend towards the dangerous side and tonight's beastie, the Cormoran Giant, is no exception. So I am not quite done with them, but I told myself I had 10... no 15 more minutes of working on this before hitting the sheets (since it is 0h Cr4p 41 here). That was 40 minutes ago. I decided to spend a little time on the first small adventure to go into the Quickstart. Its called Delivery to the Sea and it is part 1 of 3. I think the best part of it was that I am writing an adventure for my own game. Not the design of someone else, which is still a great feeling btw, but for my set of rules however quirky and descended from other rule sets it is. I feel pretty good about that. It will also introduce both Salt Island and the Rakshasa / Glorious Empire in a small but hopefully powerful way.

Its all part of the master plan, if there was/were (a) bod(ies)y, which I am not saying there is/are.

You might find this of interest. there are probably some spoilers in here though. http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?255803-Stormbringer-Warriors-for-Balance

Work on Skaerune' is going very well. The rules are falling into place and the setting is coming together nicely. I will be updating the sneak peak this upcoming week. And I totally get where you are coming from with eschewing the military aspects. Many of the RPGs do involve military or para military forces as an integral part of the setting.

My expectations for Skaerune' were that it would likely be third in line of the games I was working on. When I came here and really started getting into the site, I thought it might move up to #2. Well, now it's number one on my list and no regrets. The game is falling into place nicely and I feel like I have a good handle on it. I have made templates for myself. The layout is under way and looking good. Once I have a version people can look over, I have a good feeling about it. I am also keeping more of the OpenQuest 2 SRD than I imagined, which is as testament to that game and to Newt on designing a great version of d100. So now I think I need a stuffed Rakshasa to sit on my office (i.e. desk) and demand I work harder, as stuffed mythological characters are want to do.

I totally agree with the no balance thing. It just makes it even more messy and wouldn't make sense for say a race based off black widow spiders where (in this instance) the female is much larger than the male.

I had not even looked at stretch goals until just now. Who do I have to sacrifice to ensure it gets to $50k? Cause I will gladly do so.

I have not seen the book, so I apologize if this is covered or would just not work at all. If you are doing a generic kind of build to support multiple settings, couldn't you try "This is the traditional "human" from d100. This is the baseline, now let me give you three examples of other potential character races, based off that mode." And do the same with Culture and Professions. I would not even get as detailed down the "barbarian" or "nomad" etc... I guess I am saying, instead of standard character creation, you give people the ability to construct their own everything. When trying to be generic and broad, I would think a less is more / austere design is going to work better. Again though, I have not seen it and this could be very well what you are doing. That said, the sexual dimorphism makes less sense in any case. I am not going to beat the dead horse, but if you have a rule that "people can take or leave" (true of all rules) then its not much of a rule, is it? In a more generic game design, this could be an option for building alien or hominid species. It could even be worded as "In some species there is a difference in the sexes. In some hominids and primates, the male has an advantage in strength. In some arachnids, the female is larger (SIZ) and generally the more aggressive sex." That gives solid examples without it sounding like "Women are weaker than men".

Your eye for the physical design of a game is pretty outstanding. Is there going to be any bits about military vessels? The development of the modern navy is something that has always interested me and any changes in that because of, well, space, would be fascinating. For instance if there are no torpedo boats, no torpedo boat destroyers are needed and the term "destroyer" never becomes part of naval parlance. Anyway, this looks great, I look forward to more bits.

Definitely in.

This might be helpful http://www.unboundbook.org/?p=82 And this thread at EN World. http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?318623-Recommend-a-Call-of-Cthulhu-One-Shot My recommendation is to find someone's Convention module. They are designed to run in 3 to 5 hours and very well may have pregens. If not you might be able to find pre gens and the adventure separately.

If the layout is tight enough, a paragraph or two of Sanity rules would certainly be easy to do and that is all you need really.

So I want to talk a little about the Cosmos of the world of Skaerune' and a little bit about the gods themselves. The World Skaerune' was a plain sphere of thought, cast aside by the gods so that they could use it later. After a time it became clear the world and its random inhabitants needed someone to take care of them. This when they created (or imported) the Caretakers / Zero People. Skaerune' itself is not the center of the Universe and despite it having some Earth - like cultures, it was never, is not, and will never be Earth. What it has become though is a place for the lost and ambitious to come and make a name for themselves. Even the Rakshasa, as ambitious and malevolent as they are, still suffered as menial demon servants until by chance, they followed the call of the Nameless One and took the Fourth City as their own. Skaerune' is still mostly wasteland with a series of interconnected seas and small oceans that border the land areas. Some of the wastelands are hot and some are cold, but rarely are they temperate. Despite this they team with life, some of it unseen as few have traveled the whole world to see its delights. Morninglands This is where most of the spirits live. The Morninglands are also full of temples and doors to other places. Some of the Heathen Gods live here even though the place is timeless. If you can imagine the best spring morning, not too cold and not too warm with a breeze that is light as well as the perfect temperature, you can imagine the Morninglands. The sun (Palas) is always half way up the sky to the east. The terrain is a mix of flat plains and gently rolling hills, with occasional rock outcroppings. One does not have to eat here or drink or eliminate if one does not wish to. If you walk far enough north, south, or east you will find rocky hills and steep limitless mountains. These are known as the Doors of Heaven and the many caves here lead to places and times interesting to those known as Myth Walkers. Those dead who have passed on from the Shadowald come here, perhaps to be reborn or to stay. A few who journey ever westward will find the Last Sky and an escape from life on Skaerune'. No one who has ever ventured to the Last Sky has returned. Shadowald This is the land of the dead, tended by Tuon and other (as yet unnamed) death gods. It is a thick forest full of tall trees. The sun is never seen here though to the west is the glimmer of last light. All the dead come here and find clearings filled by others who huddle around a fire. Sometimes they play games or drink or tell stories and some sit in utter silence. A few weep or wander madly. For a one marked by Tuon or the other gods as having fulfilled their lives, the dark forests will eventually lead them to the Dawnroad, which leads to the Morninglands. For others, they may be chosen to sit with Tuon or be destined to be tormented by fierce wolves who devour souls and then pass them out through their bowels. It is a horrific experience that many experience more than once. For necromancers however, there is much worse awaiting them in the Burning Pines. The Twin Moons Legends say that people live on the moons. Some say dragons live there too or instead. It is known that some adepts of moon cults travel there but either never return or are so mad when they do their words have no meaning. The Night Sky Stars can be seen at night. Legends say the people came from the stars and the Last Sky leads back there. No one is sure if the legends are true or not. Gods of the Old World These vastly powerful beings are timeless. They do not age and despite their interactions with mortals they live a very different existence than mortals or the other gods. It is said that so vast is the power of even the least of these, that the life of Skaerune' is the single blink of their eye. Heathen Gods There are many types of Heathen Gods. Some are powerful animal lords. Some are mortals who were chosen by the world or Gods of the Old World to become gods in their own right. Some were demigods who tagged along with their people when a city was summoned to Skaerune'. Many of the Heathen Gods, especially the animal lords live on Skaerune' proper. Angels & Demons The roles of Angels and Demons is indifferent to the will of the gods. They serve no gods, but instead serve Creation & Order (Angels) and Destruction & Chaos (Demons). One is not necessarily good or evil, though demons tend towards pursuits that put them at odds with the work of those who wish to see a better world. No one created either group; they were instead drawn to the world when Skaerune' became a vibrant and living world. Over time some have gained many followers and personalities and cults. The Immortals Some mortals become immortal, through a series of quests, Myth Walking, and beating death. There are rituals involved as well and at some point a person just knows when he or she is on that path. One in a thousand even have a chance and only one in a thousand of these begin the path. Only a handful have managed it. The Old Man was thought to have been immortal before he came to Skaerune; but he is considered the first immortal. As with the Angels and Demons, some immortals have gained cults of their own.

So this is the cult of Tuon, one of a few "Death" gods. Tuon is a god of the Old World, the world as it was before the coming of the First City. He is therefore Timeless and in theory cannot be destroyed. (A theory put to the test more than once for various gods.) The Gods of the Old World are the most powerful associated with the world. Cult of Tuon Before the coming of the First City and even before the coming of the Caretakers, there was Tuon. He Who Speaks for the Dead was one of the many powerful entities who had helped to shape the world. Tuon is a dark figure but he is not “evil” as many would like to believe. He enjoys punishing those who took life for granted, but treats gently those who savored the moments, whether successful or not. Tuon does not judge how one lives as much as he judges IF one lived life to the person's full potential. If they have he may have them spend time in the Shadowald around the comforting fires teaching those who need life lessons. Then after a time release them to the Morninglands to find their way back to Skaerune' or go forward to the Last Sky. The cult focuses on proper burial rights to ensure the spirit will make its way to the correct place, good or ill. Tuon is also no friend to necromancers and treats them harshly when they die and come into his domain. Cult Power: God of the Old World Worshipers. The faithful of Tuon are a mixed lot, cutting across all the cultures of the world. From all different walks of life, races, and classes they come to the dark shrines and pray for ancestors or themselves. Community leaders will often call on them to hunt down rogue necromancers or destroy an infestation of undead. Many of those who venerate other gods also venerate Tuon. Duties of the Faithful. One must live life to the fullest by both living for today and planning for tomorrow. That is most basic tenet of the faith. Additionally, funeral rites must be preserved and handed down from generation to generation. Then they must be executed precisely by those conducting the burials (or pyres or what have you). The Ordained. Those who are clergy of Tuon use the common titles of their position around others or in general conversation, but wear masks and use those titles with one another. To become an Adept, one must have Religion (Tuon) at 50% and Ritual at 50%. Each additional level requires 5% more knowledge in Religion(Tuon) and in Ritual. Chosen of the Red Mask (Adept) Chosen of the Blue Mask (Acolyte) Chosen of the Green Mask (Ordained) Chosen of the Brown Mask (Priest) Chosen of the Black Mask (Oracle) Chosen of the White Mask (Hierophant) Rites. The Cult of Tuon has the following rites: Special Rites: Dissipate Spirit Major (6pt) Rites: Heal – Harm; Bless – Curse; Consecrate – Desecrate; Offer Communion – Excommunicate; See – Obscure; Enhance – Decay; Possess – Exorcise; Summon – Banish; Divine Intervention - Divine Reproach; Minor (4pt) Rites: (none)

Thanks Well a lot depends on how big the basic bestiary is. I do want enough info for people to play in the world without the setting weighing things down. Plus a large magic chapter with decent spell list. I would like it all to be right around 100 pages, 96 to 108 or so. That is what I am aiming for. Well also depends on art. Could be less without art.