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Optional Rules for Companion

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 2:35 am
by Mataxes
One of the chapters in the upcoming Earthdawn Companion will be a selection of optional rules. There aren't very many right now, so I'm looking for some suggestions of what we might include.

For reference, here's what we've got right now:

* Chain Casting
* Increasing Free Talent Ranks
* Lowering Mystic Defense
* Talent Crises

So... any ideas?

Re: Optional Rules for Companion

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 3:45 am
by MetalBoar
Reducing initiative penalties from armor based on strength...

Re: Optional Rules for Companion

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 3:55 am
by Kosmit
Hit locations and different armor values on limbs?

Re: Optional Rules for Companion

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 8:11 am
by PiXeL01
Quick-gen Npcs?
Modular disciplines?
Guidelines for diy races and disciplines?

Re: Optional Rules for Companion

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 2:57 pm
by Slimcreeper
I'd be interested to see more about the corruption point system - having horror powers and blood magic have a chance of adding corruption points, perhaps.

Does it really need a whole chapter of optional rules though?

Re: Optional Rules for Companion

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 3:26 pm
by Mataxes
Kosmit wrote:Hit locations and different armor values on limbs?
Hrm... the piecemeal armor stuff? That's not a bad idea.
PiXeL01 wrote:Quick-gen Npcs?
Modular disciplines?
For the former, do you mean pre-generated NPCs? Or guidelines on coming up with them quickly? Because there are pre-gen adepts in with the GM Screen, and the GM Guide already covers creating quick-and-dirty NPCs on pages 140-141. (Choose an Attribute step and add a modifier based on their challenge tier and area of expertise.)

(And pre-gen characters aren't really 'optional rules' as such anyway.)

For the second item... what do you mean by "modular" Disciplines?
Slimcreeper wrote:Does it really need a whole chapter of optional rules though?
It's more that in the course of organizing the book and figuring out what it's in it, there are a couple things we want to include that don't fit nicely anywhere else.

The chapter might only end up three or four pages... and if that's the case, fine. We won't end up with everything that's suggested, but it'll give us insight into what people are interested in.

Re: Optional Rules for Companion

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 4:04 pm
by earthdawn66
not really Optional Rules but maybe an Errata page or two at the end for things that have been found and all in GM and Players guide

Re: Optional Rules for Companion

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 7:08 pm
by Loba
It would be nice to see some examples, concepts, guidelines for specializations.

For example: The Weaponsmith (somewhat poorly named - perhaps Armssmith or something):
-- What about one who specializes with copper or bronze or alloys?
-- One who specializes in buildings (stone masonry or carpentry or whatnot).
-- Maybe that Weaponsmith from deep within the Servos Jungle knows the best way to put together bark armor and everyone else suffers an extra initiative penalty when working with it?
-- Maybe there are Talent Knacks that make your smithing better for a type of material (+1 damage for weapons, lighter weapons or armor, -1 initiative penalty for armor, whatnot) so the Ironsmith Knack means your weapons are lighter by 2% per rank in Forge Weapon and do +1 damage and similarly for your armor.

I haven't thought it fully through, obviously - but it is somewhat sad that the best smith is always ANY weaponsmith and that Elementals who cast Fireball cast it all the same way (aside from Signature Spell Styling). It would be nice to know that - if you pick the Pyronesis Talent Knack that you cannot also pick Cryonesis and that you are limited to a number of specialties equal to your Circle/5 round up though you could drop (forget) a specialty to learn a new knack, perhaps.

Re: Optional Rules for Companion

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 3:44 am
by PiXeL01
What I meant by modular disciplines was ways to modify the existing disciplines to better reflect a theme or cultural background. Say a Kaer that opened into an area depleted of metals would train differently than the basic disciplines.

And for quick-gen npcs, most npcs would be mundane people, yet little general guidelines have been given outside old adventures on how to generate them. Hell even a single page of "ordinary" adversaries such as city guards, ruffians etc. would be nice.

Optional rules for weapons made by other materials than iron and steel (bone, stone, crystal weaponry).

Re: Optional Rules for Companion

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 5:36 pm
by Tattered Rags
PiXeL01 wrote:Hell even a single page of "ordinary" adversaries such as city guards, ruffians etc. would be nice.
Panda has a bunch in his "Rogues' Gallery" posts. http://pandagaminggrove.blogspot.com/?m=1