DI #3 (Mid-October 1994)
- Mythic Revelations: Tom's Mythus Prime, Part II
- Commentary: Curbing the Power Spike
- Organizations: The Realm Knights
- Enemies: The Kriig Spider (Yikes!)
- Magickal Items: Potent Jewellry
- Request: Heka-Forging
- Finis: Notes from Hawkeye
MYTHICAL REVELATIONS: Well, that's my new name for the Rules section. This
issue, we're continuing our simplified (yet quite useful) Mythus Prime rules
put together by Tom (BluSponge@AOL.com). The only thing left to ask of him
is: what the heck is a Blue Sponge? :)
This section deals with Magick (heka generation, Full/Partial Practice,
Known/Recallable castings, etc.) and Combat (Damage bonuses, initiative
modifiers, quality of weapon/armor tables, etc.). There MAY be a few
references to Erath or Aedonn, which is my campaign setting. These should be
removed and/or modified to suit. As for the rest, enjoy! I've played about
half a dozen games with these rules and they work great.
Magick
Generating Personal Heka
All living things are capable of generating the magickal force known as
Heka. However, only a skilled group can properly tap that force for their
use. This is where Heka -generating K/S areas come into play; they allow the
HP, OP, EP, etc., to tap their own Heka as a source of power channeled into
spell-like effects.
To calculate the personal Heka of a persona, the player simply takes the
three Heka generating K/S of the highest STEEP from his bundle, multiply
they're combined STEEP by 2, and to this figure the combined total of all
other Heka generating K/S STEEP. For example, an alchemist persona would
have the following personal Heka:
Alchemy STEEP x 2, plus
Dweomercraeft STEEP x 2, plus
Magick STEEP x 2, plus
any other Heka-generating K/S STEEP
At the same time, a Physician Persona would generate personal Heka this way:
Herbalism STEEP x 2, plus
any other Heka-generating K/S STEEP.
It is important to note that only Heka-generating K/S recieved as part of
the initial bundle, not from bonus K/S, can receive the multiple. There are
other modifiers possible, the most prominant one from Full Practice.
Full Practice
Note: There are some Vocations which are not permitted Full Practitioner
status (such as the Theurgist) as it is part of their character. Check the
Vocation listing on page 1 under the status column to see whether or not FP
is allowed for the Vocation in question.
Dweomercraeft: Any HP possessing the dweomercraeft K/S and the Magick K/S
can attempt to be a Full Practitioner (FP ). They must possess both K/S from
the start, either from their initial bundle or through bonus K/S attributed
upon the creation of their HP. In addition, the HPs Mental TRAIT must be at
least 55.
If the HP meets these criteria, they may attempt for FP status. The HP
must roll vs. his Dweomercraeft K/S x 0.5 (counting any bonuses afterward).
If the player succeeds, than he/she generates Heka at STEEP x 5 for the
lower, Dweomercraeft or Magick, rather than at 2.
Priestcraeft: Priest HPs may roll for FP status in the same manner as HPs
possessing the Dweomercraeft/Magick STEEP combination. In the priest's case,
however, this is qualified by the possession of both the Religion and
Priestcraeft K/S Areas. Also, an HP MUST be of the Priest Vocation! Also,
the Spiritual TRAIT is the key for priest FP status.
It should be remembered that Partial Practitioner priests may latter try
to make a Vow or, in special circumstances, may enter the game with a vow.
Known and Recallable Castings
Once HPs have been given their Available Castings, they must then contend
with Known and Recallable Castings. The difference: Known Castings may be
called upon immediately for casting, as they are considered to be tried and
true to the Practitioner and known backwards and forwards, though there might
be a modifier for casting under stressful circumstances. Recallable castings
must be rolled for twice; once to see if the Practitioner remembers all of
the intricacies of the Casting, and the second to determine that actual
success of the casting procedure. This can be dfficult if it is a high
stakes moment in the game.
Known and Recallable Castings are both determined by taking the Persona's
highest Heka-Generating (and Casting) area x 0.25. Full Practitioners
receive 3 more for every Heka producing K/S possessed that must be spread
evenly between the two categories. Therefore, a Partial Practitioner with a
Dweomercraeft of 60 STEEP would have both 15 Known and Recallable Castings to
draw from, the rest becoming Studiable Castings. A Full Practitioner would
recieve the same. However, if that FP also possessed Magick, Conjuration,
Astrology, Alchemy, Sorcery, and Religion, than he/she would have a total of
24 Known and Recallables - a total of 48 Castings that could be called upon
during an adventure.
Studyable Castings are normally considered to be those that the Persona
rarely makes use of. Yet occasionally, the Persona will want to use those
castings to perform a task. There are two cases to be considered. (1) If the
task is in a controlled environment (such as a laboratory) than the persona
may use the Studyable as though it were a Recallable Casting, performing the
Casting directly from the spellbook. The catch to this is that the Casting
will always take double the normal time to perform (i.e. a charm will take 2
CTs, a Spell will take 2 BTs, etc. (2) The Persona may take a period of
time to study the Casting and committ it to memory. This Casting can replace
a Recallable Casting with no penalty and no need for a K/S roll. However, in
order to committ it as a Known Casting, the Persona must make check the
required K/S to make the switch. If the roll succeeds, than one Known
Casting is replaced with the new Casting (the old one being of the Persona's
choice of course). If the roll fails however, the new Casting is NOT learned
and the casting to be replaced is removed from memory anyway. Either casting
may then be studied again with no more penalties, but the K/S check is still
required.
Combat
Initiative Modifiers in Combat
The Physical TRAIT is intended to represent the many physical sides of the
persona; sheer strength,, stamina, dexterity and eye-hand coordination. And
as such the Initiative modifier comes into play. Whereas encumbeing armor
and the like will remove the persona's ability to move around freely, there
is that persona natual agility to take into consideration.
The persona's Initiative modifier is roughly his/her (P TRAIT x 0.15) - 1,
rounded down. This produces a range of 9 to 2. A Persona with a P TRAIT of
70, the human maximum, will have -10 while one with a lowly 20 P would have a
modifier of -2. This modifier is subtracted from the initial die roll before
Speed Factor penalties from armor or other notedly encumbrant equipment is
taken into consideration.
Damage Bonus and Dodging Factor in Mythus Prime
The amount of damage done varies with the weapon being used as well as
contributing factors from the Persona's Physical TRAIT and STEEP in the
weapon being used. Quite simply, the stronger the Persona is, the more
damage is done with a weapon, be it a sword or fist. Likewise, a highly
skilled swordsman can deliver large amounts of additional damage regardless
of his strength.
The Persona's Dodging Factor also relates to the Physical TRAIT. Assumed
from his/her agility, the DF is added to the opponent's attack roll in
combat. The figure is seldom much and does not take the place of armor, but
it can make the difference between a hit and a miss just the same. Note that
armor categories above Chain (D) halve this figure.
Damage Bonus for High Physical TRAIT
P TRAIT x 0.3 Damage Bonus
13-14 + 1 Add +1 for every 2
15-16 + 2 points beyond 22.
17-18 + 3
19-20 + 4
21-22 + 5
High STEEP Damage Bonus Dodge Factor
STEEP Damage Bonus P TRAIT x 0.3 Dodge Factor
41-50 + 1 16 1 %
51-60 + 2 17 3 %
61-70 + 3 18 5 %
71-80 + 4 19 7 %
81-00 + 5 20 9 %
21 11 %
22+ +2 % per point
Cost of Weapons and Armor
The Weapons/Armor cost multipliers table should be used to calculate the
price of weapons and armor, based on their general quality of craftsmanship,
or how they have been maintained if they are not new. Higher quality weapons
tend to deal further bonuses to PD cause, as will poor quality weapons
negate such.
Weapon/Armor Cost Multipliers
Quality Price Multiple Effective PD/BAC Bonus
Poor 0.25 - 2
Below Average 0.5 - 1
Average 1 --
Above Average 2 + 1
Exceptional 5 + 2
Unsurpassed 10 + 3
Damage to and Repair of Armor
Armor will be considered whole, fully intact up to and including the tenth
time it absorbs its maximum amount of damage and transmits remaining Physical
damage to the wearer. That is, the persona must take at least partial damage
10 times. If attacks score insufficient damage to inflict any points on the
wearer, the armor having negated all of the attack, ignore such attacks.
Keep a record of attacks which scored full damage on the armor and passed
one or more points on to the wearer, and which were not subsequently
repaired. After the 10th such attack, on the 11th and succeeding attacks,
the wearer in unprotected, i.e. the armor is ruined and offers no more
protection. The persona will have to find an armorer and pay for costly
repairs or else buy new gear. It should be mentioned that personas
possessing the arms & armor K/S are capable of these repairs themselves,
regardless of the armor type in question.
Of course, the quality of the armor worn will have some barring on how much
of a beating it can take. 10 protection surpassing hits is a base number.
Adjust the number of times armor's protection value can be exceeded as
follows for non-average-quality armor:
Quality modifier Through Hits
Poor - 7 3
Below Average - 5 5
Average 0 10
Above Average + 2 12
Exceptional + 5 15
Unsurpassed + 10 20
I think that's it for now. Tom said he may send more this way, but who
can say? What I'd really like to do in the future is include rules that will
cover areas untouched (or touched poorly :)) in Mythus. I know I have some
interesting house rules, and I know you readers do--so send 'em in!
COMMENTARY: This is a passage which Matt (Anaxamenes@AOL.com) sent to me a
few weeks ago. It has some really intelligent solutions to a common problem.
We all have our own ways in dealing with these things, but Matt's suggestions
are clear, concise, and do not require learning any more rules!
Matt (Anaxamenes@AOL.com)
There seems to be a common problem for most JMs out there, and that is the
"Power Player." Power players are those players who push the rules to their
maximum extent, unrestrained by some . They say stuff like "Hey, why can't I
put a breast plate on over my plate armor? The rules don't say I can't."
They do stuff like pile all their AP's into one K/S, or want to have their
HP spend 3 months straight doing nothing but lifting weights and sleeping, in
order to boost their PM characteristic. They play the game like a bad
lawyer, their only concern being the structure of the rules, and to hell with
what an actual person their persona's position might really do.
The usual response to such a player is to make new rules to keep them under
control. I have had this problem with some players in my campaign, and I do
appreciate the necessity of finely crafted rules to keep them in line. I
would like to suggest, however, that this is not the only resource that the
JM has for keeping power players under control.
The rules are a structure to run the campaign by, but are not the whole
campaign or world. The rules are a guide to certain areas, but fail to cover
all of the pseudo-reality that is a campaign world. These areas outside of
the rules, the color and circumstances of the world, are a powerful tool for
keeping power players in line. It can be utilized through at least the two
basic principles or strategies I want to talk about here. The two principles
are 1) that all actions are committed in a setting, and will have
consequences in that setting that are not specified by the rules, and 2) That
players are not simply statistics and ratings, they are people, and even
heroic people have feet of clay. Let me be more specific
Mages who have a bunch of time on their hands can be a problem. They
immediately want to go into their study and research 10 new ways to kill all
their enemies and credit all their wealth to the HP's bank account without
even leaving the lab. Either that or they want to learn 20 spells a day for
20 days in a row. One solution is to make up elaborate rules about spell
research and learning. But there are other, complimentary options, that can
be used also, so that the rules are reasonable and flexible enough not to
hobble your average player, but enough to keep the power player under
control. For players who you feel are spending an unrealistic amount of time
on arcane study: give them headaches. Hey, theoretically I could read Kant
all day, but I'd never make it without a massive headache at the end of the
day, and doing it day after day would be impossible. I'd lose my marbles.
Give the mage who spends all his time studying new spells headaches and
backaches, and blurred vision. If they don't take the hint, mess up their
vision permanently, make them nearsighted. Why do you think so many
academics have glasses? Ever hear of scholar's hump? Just because the rules
say a player can do something, doesn't mean you will be able to in these
circumstances, or will want to, and certainly doesn't mean there won't be
consequences. Extremely driven people in any field pay a heavy price in the
rest of their life. This should be so in a Mythus world also.
Maybe the amount of APs you give out sneaks up on you, the Necromancer in
your campaign gets his STEEP up to 80, and can raise legions of undead under
the rules. What to do? The way to prevent him from doing so is not by the
rules, but circumstances in the world. He's got to go find all these bodies
lying around to raise. Maybe he gets chased around by the cemetery-yard dog
which wakes the local priests; maybe he finds that the people in this area
have their priests perform a ritual that prevents their loved ones corpses
from ever being animated. When he finally does get some animated, all his
living servants run away; his horse won't go within 1,000 yards of the
undead; the keep where he lives begins to STINK; he starts to have
nightmares from hanging out with the dead all the time. There are hundred
of "real world" problems that can be used to curb players who are pushing the
rule limits.
One particular instance of such a non-rule consequence I am about to
institute in my campaign involves casting major amounts of spells. When a
character, especially a full practitioner with large amounts of heka, uses
most of their heka in a day, they are really tired. This doesn't affect
actual adventuring much, because they are all usually exhausted at the end of
the day anyway. What is does effect is the mage who gets up in the morning,
wants to drop 1500 heka into her brand new super heka reservoir, then spend
the rest of the day researching new spells, and finally go out and party 'til
midnight keeping up on current events and searching for rumors about a
certain mercenary she has a score to settle with. All these are allowed
within the rules, and on a single day where it was really important, might be
possible (with a little help from a lot of coffee or some Endurance heka).
But there is no way this will go on for a week. Pushing out 1500 heka is
going to make you tired, like getting up and running 20 miles. Yeah, the
full practitioner is better acclimated to doing so, but that is why she is
equivalently exhausted to the dabbler with only a 300 heka who uses up 250 in
a day. This also opens up the possibility that the character will end up
using stimulants to reach that desired performance level. Let them do it.
This is how drug addictions can begin.
Another related problem is power player's putting all their APs into only a
couple K/S areas, and so within a few sessions you have people with a Combat,
Hand Weapons of 98%. There was a new rule by Adam Mortara in DI #2 about the
cost of STEEP advancement that made alot of sense. But alone it may not
completely solve the problem. Some power players will continue to pour their
APs into a couple K/S areas, they just won't get as far ahead. If you want
players to use their APs in a more realistic manner, make your world require
it of them. Make them roll against Mental and Physical Perception to see the
bad guy in the alley. They can't hit what they don't know is there. Have
unarmed people get into bar fights with them. If they pull a weapon, it's
murder (or attempted murder). That will make them put some points in Combat,
HTH, Non-lethal (and maybe Law, also). Make them roll against their riding
STEEP whenever they try and chase someone on horseback. You can all think of
these examples. The main point is that player's will put their APs into the
areas that they end up needing to roll against, and what they need to roll
against is determined by how you have the world interact with them. So make
something besides weapons skills important. Make characters want and NEED to
be something other than a 1-dimensional sword-slinging thug.
In the campaign I play in right now, Influence, Etiquette & Social Graces,
History, and the various language skills are some of the most important K/S
areas for the characters. A lot of us have put APs that could have gone into
combat skills into them. The situation you want your player's in is having
too many K/S areas they want to put APs into at the end of the adventure, and
that comes from what you make them use.
Curbing the power player can be done very effectively by using rule
modifications and by thinking outside of the rules. Relying solely on rules
can sometimes result in gaming sessions that sound much more like the
pretrial arguments in the Simpson case than people having fun. Use the rules
when effective and necessary, but also put yourself in that player's position
and think about the problems you might have. The characters are supposed to
be heroic, but they are not gods. Not even Lancelot slept in his plate
armor. As a JM, making sure that the characters are aware that their feet
are made of clay, and that their action will have consequences may go a long
way to curbing power player's excesses, or attempted excesses. I realize
many other JMs are aware of this strategy, but I thought I would write this
because there still are a lot of people who are fixated on the rules, and
don't realize the power available from this more narrative aspect of the
game. After all the rules are just a device to help you and your players
write/play out a story that is a surprise to everyone. Don't let the rules
take over from the story. Thanks for listening; any comments would be
appreciated.
PROTECTORS OF THE COMMON GOOD: This organization, the Realm Knights, I
created to give players in one campaign of mine a common background. They
provide what I believe to be a coherent, easily transferred organization
that anyone can use. What I mean is, you could probably get this set up to
use in your own campaigns in a matter of minutes. All you'd have to do is
change some names, really...of course, maybe I don't know what I'm talking
about!
Hawkeye (v105nk9r@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu)
The following is an overview of the Realm Knights, Tora's most elite
human fighting force. Loved by most, respected or feared by all, the Realm
Knights set the standard for virtue and ability on Tora.
General Description
The Realm Knights are the closest thing Tora gets to a universal
protector. They are one of the only organised groups of warriors other than
specific countries' armies. They are warriors of legend, champions in the
struggle between good and evil.
In Cordmarren culture, and indeed over most of Tora, the Realm Knight is
a mighty hero, who is respected and admired by the common folk (excepting, of
course, the evil and criminal elements). The Realm Knight has the good will
of the Western Toran nations (Sylvanos, Rohar, Anthur, Bandar, and of course
Cordmarre, plus the other small lands). Indeed, the Realm Knight is often
looked to to solve crimes, settle disputes, and otherwise serve justice in
the community he or she is visiting.
History
The history of the Realm Knights is well-documented in the historical
archives in Shiva (the capitol of Cordmarre). Their history is full of great
heroes and even greater deeds, performed with the greatest of skill. Rather
than focus on individual stories (of which there are literally hundreds),
this will simply deal with the Realm Knights' history as an organization.
Formed by Gerran Talorsblade, the first King of the Third Kingdom of
Cordmarre (see The History of Cordmarre for more details on that nation), at
the end of the Black Age, the Realm Knights are currently just over 500 years
old, yet still remain a small, select force. The Realm Knights were organized
for the purpose they serve today--to protect the weak and innocent from the
forces which threatened (and still do) to tear apart the fledgling nation.
The Knights organization was designed for the best of warriors, although today
select members of other vocations have been given honorary Realm Knight
status.
The Realm Knights are commanded by the Lord High Preceptor, who commands
from the Kingshome of the Knights in Shiva. Gerran Talorsblade was the first
of the Lord High Preceptors, and currently the leader of the Realm Knights is
an old Marrean cavalier named Genned.
In many of the larger Toran cities, the Realm Knights maintain
Knighthomes, or Knightholds. Each Knighthome has a leader, titled Preceptor,
who is in command of any Knights currently in that particular city (excluding
certain knights, but the ranks and order will be detailed later...). The
Knighthomes are a place for travelling Realm Knights to stay, and are very
useful for organization.
Over the past few centuries, the Realm Knights have been involved in
almost every major battle with evil. Heroes, who happen to be Realm Knights
are common in many tales. Occasionally, however, a Realm Knight will "go
bad," but these renegades are usually hunted down by other Knights.
The Realm Knights have always been an elite group, and their numbers
reflect this philosophy. There have never been more than 5000 members, and
the number is usually half that.
Social Customs
The Realm Knights, as stated above, are respected throughout Tora. Often
they are seen attending the courts of various national governments
(particularly in Cordmarre, not surprisingly). They are taught etiquette for
most situations (although some Knights choose to ignore that particular
skill). Most Realm Knights take advantage of their position to "hobnob" with
the aristocracy. Some Knights actually dislike the higher social classes, and
instead live amongst the peasants. These are the Knights who are most
respected (by the general populace, anyway).
The Knights realize that they are the protectors of Tora, and they enjoy
their job. Most strive for glory, and try to do the most heroic thing
possible (which may also account for their numbers never growing very
large...). Some people find this philosophy unintelligent, but many a plot to
overthrow local governments has been foiled by the Knights.
There is no common language spoken by the Knights, but most know a decent
amount of Low Toran. What is common, however, is a simplistic form of sign
language. The signs are inconspicuous so that two Realm Knights can
communicate without someone else even realizing that there is another
conversation going on. What their signs cannot do, however, is convey anthing
too complicated--it is meant to communicate during battle, when hearing is not
always possible.
Religion
Obviously (or not...), Talor is the most commonly worshipped god amongst
the Knights. Many other religions are seen, as there is no official religion
which all Realm Knights must adhere to. The only other commonly worshipped
goddess is Fortuna. Of course, almost any other deity could be found to be
worshipped by the Knights, but the Dark Lords and Chaos Gods are mostly fought
against, not prayed to.
Tom is a sick guy I think. Anyone who can throw together some
_thing_ like this ought to get help. :) But, it would make a particularly
interesting opponent for your HP's, especially in a campaign where there are
some truly vile wizards on the other side...
Tom (BluSponge@AOL.com)
Kriig Spider
Identifier: Monster, arachnoid
Habitat: AErth, exterior
Size: Human-sized
Number Appearing: 1d3
Modes & Rates of Movement:
Crawl: 125 yds/BT
Scurry: 250 yds/BT
Initiative Modifiers: Human Standard
Joss Factors: 0
Dodging/Avoidance: 4%/10, 35
Attractiveness: 0
Average Armor Protection: 4
Quirks: None
Attacks BAC Type Base Bonus
Claw (x2) 48 P/C 2d3 9
Tongue barb* 65 P 1d3** 9
* If used on a held victim, this attack ignores armor.
** plus blood loss for 3d3 damage each round until removed.
Powers:
Extreme Attractiveness (dazing, "easy"/fleeing, "easy")
Web Net
Area of Effect: 2 yards
Delivered by: Gesture
Range: N/A
Time: 1 AT
Duration: until destroyed
Frequency: at will
Description: This power is similar to the CG V Dweomercaeeft Casting,
Invisible Chains Charm. It appears as aa thick, silken net with a slight
blueish glow, though this glow will not give away the position of a hidden
Kriig.
Hypaeaesthesia (dark vision: sees equally well in light and darkness)
Shadow cloaking, self
Area of Effect: self
Delivered by: thought
Range: N/A
Time: 1 CT
Duration: until removed
Frequency: at will
Description: The Kriig Spider is nearly totally undetectable in shadows.
Detection DRs are at +2, while its suprise attempts are at -1 DR.
Furthermore, it has an effective Ambushing K/S of 45, allowing it to attempt
Total Suprise.
Statistical Detail:
Base Scheme (+/- 2d3)
M (cunning): 34 P: 125 WL: 93 CL: 113
MM: 17 MR: 17 PM: 65 PN: 60
MMCap: 7 MRCap: 7 PMCap: 35 PNCap: 25
MMPow: 5 MRPow: 5 PMPow: 15 PNPow: 15
MMSpd: 5 MRSpd: 5 PMSpd: 15 PNSpd: 20
Armor Scheme:
Area Pierce Cut Blunt Fire Chem Stun Elec.
Ultra Vital 12 12 12 - - 12 -
Super Vital 10 10 10 - - 10 -
Vital 6 6 6 - - 6 -
Non Vital 2 2 2 - - 2 -
Average 7 7 7 - - 7 -
Commentary & Description:
No one is truly sure of the origins of the Kriig spider. Some sages would
speculate that they are the result of some bizarre magickal experiment, or
perhaps they are the result of indigenous breeding with some extra-planar
fiend. Regardless of their origin, there can be no doubt of their malign
behavior. Though they are not truly intelligent, or no more so than another
insect, they are cunning in the extreme and act with a certain sense of
inherent evil. They often reside in shallow caverns or abandon ruins. They
do not appear to be territorial though they have proved to be cannibalistic.
They do not spin webs as many other surface dwelling spider, but rather
conceal themselves in tight crevices. Other than these facts, the ecology of
the Kriig is virtually unknown.
Kriigs are horrid in appearance; they have a vaguely arachnid body, covered
with coarse black, wiry hairs, much like that of the tarantula. They have a
pasty-white, bloated humanoid face covered with 6 spider-like eyes that can
see quite well in any light condition. From the mouth of this head protrudes
a long fleshy tongue, tipped in a nasty barb. The Kriig attaches this tongue
to and from it sucks the blood of its prey. The front two legs are reverse
to point upright, and are scythe-like in appearance. The Kriig uses these
forelegs to fight in close quarters.
The Kriig traps it prey by spinning a magickally strong web "net", which it
holds over its hiding spot with its forelegs. When prey passes beneath it
drops the net, which can easily tangle and hold a thing twice the size of any
man. From here, the Kriig falls upon its prey and attaches its vile tongue
and begins to feed. It the victim is still capable of resisting, the Kriig
attacks it with its forelegs. In such a case, the Kriig strikes at twice its
BAC (96). These creatures are fearless, and will often attack individuals
within a large group, fending off the others with its forelegs while it feeds
from the trapped victim.
These simple devices are all quite useful, especially for
HP's. They are all simple pieces of jewellry, and have simple magickal
effects. Try to extrapolate on these ideas and send in some of your own
design! :) (Begging for submissions again...) What I've done is eliminate the
visual details of these items, since you can make them look like whatever you
desire. I'm just sticking to game terms with these...
Hawkeye (v105nk9r@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu)
Dodger's Ring: Probably "discovered" by a thief named Dodger, this ring is
most useful during combat situations. Its simple magick adds five percent or
STEEP to any roll which involves dodging. Normally, this means the Dodge
Factor of the HP (or Dodge Ability, for those with the MMM article about
Dodge rolls...) and his or her Physical Avoidance.
Ring of Realization: This ring will increase the wearer's Perception. In
particular, it will increase the following Sub-Areas by 10 STEEP points:
Anticipation, Detecting, Noticing, Searching and Understanding. A limitation,
for those who want one is to say that it will only function when the HP is
concentrating on the ability. Otherwise, it will remain dormant.
Hearrings: These wonderfully jewelled earrings actually increase the wearer's
ability to hear things, thus increasing his or her STEEP in Perception,
Physical (Hearing) by 10 points. It may also allow the wearer to concentrate
on one sound source, to the point where it will deaden all other noise for
that person so he can hear the particular sound. This works well when there
is a lot of noise and the persona wants to listen in on a conversation on the
other side of the tavern. This second ability would require a DR roll against
Hearing, depending on the amount of extraneous noise.
I hope this at least gives you all ideas for future items. If so, take about
2 minutes and type one in and send it to me! :)
Before the Great Crash of September, there was a lot of talk on
Mythus-L about the Heka-Forging K/S. People wanted more and better info about
the K/S Area, and wanted to know how other people were role-playing it. Now,
what I'm doing here is a group project. I have included a few of the many
questions posed on Mythus-L regarding this subject. What I would like is for
everyone reading this to answer some or all of these questions, and send in
all the answers to me.
The end result of this will be an issue of Dangerous Ideas devoted to Heka
Forging. In the best case scenario, we will be able to re-write the K/S Area,
making it more complete, coherent and clear. This really needs to be done, in
my view, as Heka-Forging can be one of the best K/S Areas in the game, as well
as one of the most unique. So, here's what I have at the moment...
From: BluSponge@AOL.COM
- What equipment is nessecary to accomplish the tasks? Do I need a simple
forge or what?
- Do the "sub-areas" reflect the Castings acquired at that STEEP/Grade, or
are they completely seperate activities that may be accomplishd without the
help of Castings?
- How do you roleplay it???? This is the main reason I have removed this
K/S from the lists for my Prime game despite complaints from a few of my
players. The description of Heka-forging doesn't contain enough meat to ham
up or even describe in detail. If I had more insight into the activities of
the Heka-forger, I might have less of a problem with this K/S.
From: Edward Bromley
- The discussion on heka reservoirs (MM15-17) appears to indicate that they
can be created by an HP with dweomercraft alone and without the use of
specific spells (see particularly the discussion on gylphs). The third HF
sub-area also lists the creation of heka reservoirs. Does this mean that you
can use either (or both) dweomercraft and HF to create reservoirs? How do
you determine how a reservoir is disjoined/dispelled when it is created by
skill and not a specific spell?
- The description of the Permanence Ritual casting states that it creates a
Resistance to any dispelling under 250 heka points, but that "heka added by
the attacking practitioner to overcome Resistance will count towards this
level." Does this mean that the Grade I casting Disjunction Charm can be
used to dispel a magic item that has been made permanent (if cast by a
practitioner with a sufficiently high STEEP)? This leads to many questions
regarding heka forging, such as how does a HP with a STEEP of 51 (MY167)
create magical armor without the use of Permanence if it may be dispelled
just like any other casting? Yes, I've asked this question before, but
nobody had any ideas at the time so I'm asking again!
- What is the effect of different materia(ls) on HF castings? For example,
if you cast an Attack Bonus II Formula on a steel sword is this any different
from casting it on a mithral or adamantite sword? Perhaps steel would accept
only an Attack Bonus I Formula and mithral would accept up to Attack Bonus
III (or higher!) Formula.
- What is the effect of multiple items with various Defense Bonus castings
on them? For instance, if an HP finds a helm (US AP Cat.) with Defense Bonus
I Formula on it, and greaves (N AP Cat.) with a Defense Bonus II Formula on
it does the character have 15 total points of bonus armor? or simply 10? Or
does the character get a 5 point bonus to the US AP Categories and a 10 point
bonus to the N AP Categories?
- An example of HF in each of the sub-areas (MY167) would be a great help
for players and JMs alike!
From: John Teske (via gullerud@leland.Stanford.EDU )
- Do Heka-Forging subareas require 10 APs and 10 weeks of study to
acquire, as per DJ p. 135, bottom of column 1?
- What particular subareas and spells would be required to make items
falling under each subarea, particularily detection/information items,
armor, and weapons? A wand with aural sight (Grade 3 Fortune Telling
Cantrip), and amulet of aura of awareness (Grade 9 Divination Ritual)
were mentioned as possible examples for information items.
- What is the difference in spells and cost necessary to create an item
with a continuous effect, and one which requires an expenditure of heka
to activate?
(Examples: - Sword with continuous +5 BAC, and sword with +5 BAC after
HP spends 50 heka.
- Ring of 15 points armor vs. physical damage, and one which
requires 150 heka to activate temporarily.)
- On what sort of items is the Permanence casting necessary for successful
creation? Is it necessary for armor or weapons? Wands?
- What spells, costs, and skills are necessary to create an item which
has a limited number of uses before becoming useless?
So, anyway, I have a feeling that what we ought to do is re-create the whole
Heka-Forging K/S. Maybe we can leave the Sub-Areas the way they are, maybe
not. I'd also really like to come up with some really logical, coherent
(blame this on Anaxamenes and EPB3 @AOL.com!!), and sensible rules for the
creation of magickal items. As an aside, a way to determine how much they're
worth would be nice, too...
I'll be taking everything that people send me, and put it all together,
then put it all out as a special D.I. issue, hopefully number 5 or 6!
Well, that's all I can do for now! Hopefully, things will continue as
currently progressing. This issue made it over 700 lines! But, now that
Tom's Mythus Prime articles are complete (for now), I need something else to
fill in that gap. I'd like to do more with magickal items and enemies, so
I'll need people to send in specific things...
As for next issue, look for it soon! It'll hopefully be out before the
end of the month, as I do have some stuff to place there already. But, you'll
have to tune in then to see what it is, since I don't remember right now!!
Back to the index.
msphil@widomaker.com