all the setting you really have to care about is the academy, which is a pretty typical "magic high school" location (despite the presence of a wider age range than a high school normally caters to).
for background purposes there are about a dozen major powers in this particular world. Essentially it's a modern day analogue but the continents and peoples of are different. I'll give more detail once I have it all fleshed out. I'm more concerned about the mechanics for right now, since worldbuilding is the easy part, at least for me.
example monsters! (the format is subject to change, I'm still working on the mechanics)
spoilered, in case you wish to be totally surprised, but I would enjoy feedback on this stuff. These are only two of many, many monsters you'll face, so don't think you're being given too much of a sneak peak here.
Spoiler:
Brass Automaton
Level: 1
L:1-5
Construct
HP: 20
ATK: 6
DEF: 6
Mg.ATK: 0
Mg.DEF: 0
Schools: N/A
Brass Automatons are the shambling guardians of the earliest floors of the Dungeon, they attack with fists or wielded pipes, but are generally not a problem for anyone who's passed even the most basic spellcasting exams. Though they can be dangerous in large groups, or in conjunction with other creatures.
Brass Automata resemble a humanoid mass of twisted brass pipes, with only the hands and feet having even basic joints. Their faces are featureless except for two red, cross-shaped spots that serve as their eyes.
and something slightly more dangerous that you'll run into later.
Thief of Souls
Level: 5
L: 6-8
Undead/Spellcaster
HP: 50
ATK: 6
DEF: 0 [Incorporeal]
Mg.ATK: 12
Mg.DEF: 0
Schools: Shadow
Thieves of Souls are among the trickier early enemies, they frequently attempt to separate adventurers by using Shadow Veil, and then pick them off with bow and arrow. They are not much of a threat in of themselves, especially if the adventuring party can manage to stick together. They're also quite fragile.
Thieves of Souls are believed to be the phantoms of dead rangers resurrected by powerful necromantic forces far lower in the Dungeons. However, they are found only rarely, and only on the upper floors of the Dungeon, leaving some to speculate a more sinister, closer-to-home motive than their accepted origin.
Despite resembling black-boned skeletons in hoods, Thieves of Souls are incorporeal (this causes non-elemental physical attacks to simply pass through them), phantasmal creatures.
I always felt themes of monsters to be just as important as their origin and/or creation.
I will spoil for
Spoiler:
Perhaps if Brass automatons, being constructs, slowly regenerated health(or brass, if you will) in the presence of other brass automatons, that would certainly be a reason to fear them in packs.(by slowly I mean not enough to notice any kind of regeneration, but should a damaged automaton collapse behind the other automatons, given a few rounds it would be ok.
2.cents, seems like generic monster types, which is not necessarily a bad thing for this dungeon crawler roleplay.
I actually did consider something like that, and there is a mechanic that's vaguely similar for another slightly later monster, but the thing with that is that I feel like I'd be making first-floor monsters too difficult.
I can always make them more difficult if they turn out to be too easy, but making them easier is significantly harder.
Spell Creation is a pretty simple process in theory, but in practice it's going to require a lot of discussion and work between the player (you) and the DM (me).
Spell Creation is entirely freeform/cinematic. Essentially, you will describe what you want a given spell to do. Not in terms of like, "3d6 fire damage"--I'll crunch the numbers myself--but rather a description, like say "shoots a fireball" (that'd be a very basic example, but you get the point. Basic is also not necessarily bad.)
After determining what your spell actually does in a descriptive sense, I'll assign it some numbers (usually damage and/or duration, which will go up as you level up), and you will have a fully usable spell. Now, you're going to want to think about this. Read over what your teammates picked for their schools, and read over the description for your school, think about what'll synergize well with what, and so on.
You will be able to get more spell slots, but it'll be a fairly rare occurance. You will also be able to upgrade spells to different forms as you level up.
Let's run with the fireball example.
You tell me you want a spell that shoots a ball of fire, I rule that at your first level, it has a Short range and does 1d6 Damage.
Now, as you level up, the spell will increase in power, going from 1d6 to something like 1d8 and maybe 2d6 and so on. But you might also decide you want to change the spell a bit, you decide you now want it to shoot a fire spear instead of just a fire ball. So I might rule that now instead of doing 2d6 damage at third level, it does 1d6 Fire damage, but also 1d6 Physical damage.
This is all hypothetical, and just an example (the numbers are not necessarily representative of what we'll eventually be dealing with), but I think it's a good demonstration of how this whole process is going to work.
If you have any questions, I'll answer them to the best of my ability. If not, you may begin PMing me your spell descriptions at your leisure. Read your class description to find out how many spells you start with.
I actually did consider something like that, and there is a mechanic that's vaguely similar for another slightly later monster, but the thing with that is that I feel like I'd be making first-floor monsters too difficult.
I can always make them more difficult if they turn out to be too easy, but making them easier is significantly harder.
I think this particular mechanic is kind of easier to balance around, given the relative power of it depends on your design of the dungeon floor. Given that you are designing or at least deciding where and when and how many of them there are gonna be each we time we fight them
Hey, Mo. I don't think I'll be joining this time around, but if you guys open up again sometime in the summer I may be more able to commit to it by then.
I've never done formal RPing before so I think I'll watch how this goes first, see if it's my thing. Either way, I wish you guys luck! Have fun! :D
I actually did consider something like that, and there is a mechanic that's vaguely similar for another slightly later monster, but the thing with that is that I feel like I'd be making first-floor monsters too difficult.
I can always make them more difficult if they turn out to be too easy, but making them easier is significantly harder.
I think this particular mechanic is kind of easier to balance around, given the relative power of it depends on your design of the dungeon floor. Given that you are designing or at least deciding where and when and how many of them there are gonna be each we time we fight them
This is true enough. It's still not something I want on first-floor monsters though.
Come third or fourth floor I may introduce an upgraded version with said mechanic. We shall see.
Hey, Mo. I don't think I'll be joining this time around, but if you guys open up again sometime in the summer I may be more able to commit to it by then.
I've never done formal RPing before so I think I'll watch how this goes first, see if it's my thing. Either way, I wish you guys luck! Have fun! :D
While it is possible that I may not have as much time with this as I might like, the chance to use this character is too much of a temptation.
NAME: Kenneth Turk
CLASS: Witch.
SCHOOL(S): Fire Magic.
AGE: About 17.
PHYSICALDESCRIPTION: Not especially tall with a narrow build. Dark red-brown hair, very pale skin, amber eyes. Angular, somewhat androgynous features. Dresses a bit shabbily. Possessed of a tenor voice with an odd accent.
PERSONALITY: Catty in several senses of the word. Likes wordplay, dislikes people. Often casually cruel and manipulative yet incapable of lying. Bit of a creeper; seems to revel in it.
Oh, by the way, @funnyguts, we miss you over at IJBM!
changed my mind. If you want to join, you can.
I think I might end up splitting the characters into a frequent players' team and an infrequent players' team if we get enough to warrant such a split. I'm not sure though.
I'm not sure whether you're going to like this character of mine or loathe him by the end of this...
Well he does sort of seem like a dick.
If it gets to be disruptive to the other players I'll let you know, just keep subtle PvP stuff to a minimum please, I've had problems with that in games before.
I doubt that he'll be at all disruptive, but... he's a fun character to write, and I know exactly what he'll do when he does it, but up to that point, he is somewhat unpredictable. Having a character that actually acts like a real person is a good problem to have as a writer, but it becomes less convenient in a group.
@funnyguts: You should have been here on April 1st; this site looked like IJBM and IJBM looked like this site. Confused several of us who frequent both (including myself).
More people have said that and been killed than there are thorium decay products.
(for convenience) Eris / Ranger / Shadow magic
Desired spell descriptions!
Spell 1: Creates clouds of magical darkness that quench light and make it difficult to see. The more light there is, the less effective this is.
(very similar to Nue's dark clouds seen here: )
Spell 2: Creates a dark cloud inside of which Eris can slow down a fall to descend safely.
Spell 3: Uses a dark cloud to dampen sound, enabling Eris to move more silently. The darkness technically could make her more visible though, depending on the environment.
Spell 4: Creates a dark cloud and crystallizes it into a weak, un-aimed danmaku ring.
(Rumia is seen creating similar weak danmaku rings here: )
Would it be within reason to have a spell that absorbs MP from elemental attacks? Like, a spell that puts up a barrier, and any elemental attacks that hit the barrier give the caster MP. I like the idea of it as a second or third-tier spell, but I think it might be too OP.
Any chance for a mana restoration spell of sorts that could work within either fire or summon? If so, I have an idea (Likely summon, takes you out of the action for a few rounds in terms of magic, if you or the summon get hit or if you use magic during this time the spell cancels and you receive no mana)
If not, then I have an idea for a straight up healing spell
Actually, I'll swap Mana Burn for the healing spell and wait for an answer on the mana healing spell
Fairy Kiss
Summons a fairy to heal the caster or an ally of the caster. The "kiss" is more due to the wings being close to your body, resembling the feeling of butterfly kisses
Mana Fix
Summons a sprite who performs a ritual to restore your mana. During this ritual you can use your back up weapon, but if you cast a spell or if you or the sprite get damaged, then you receive no mana. Best used between battles or when being protected by others
This requires a lot of discussion between the player and DM and I'm not going to flood this thread with that for every single person. It's just easier to do it in private.
Appearance: On the short side as far as fifteen-year-olds go (will probably be taller when she hits her growth spurt); neither neither fat nor skinny. Has darkish brown hair with an unflattering widow's peak. Wears a poncho (wide sleeves are good for hiding things in) that goes to her lower legs. Her feet are in practical, if boring, boots. Wears makeup over her right cheek to cover a burn from a failed experiment with poisons. Wears a rather tasteless, rather shapeless beret with a hole in it.
Personality: In life, there are two main reactions to fear: Flight, and Fight. Lucrezia has plenty of the first, but not the second. Something of a coward, she'd rather turn the air into smoke and hide; or try to poison her enemies, or try to run away. This isn't to say that her chemical concoctions aren't useful as an offensive; as anyone who has been hit in the face with a vial of one of her sulphur-based acids can attest; or as anyone who has inhaled smoke can attest. She's fast and light on her feet enough to serve as a scout; and can be useful for attrition; but in straight hand-to-hand combat; all she has is a dull kitchen knife.
Backstory: despite being nothing of the sort, Lucrezia tries to be an upper-class twit; scorning "lowly peasants" and claiming to be some long-lost noblelady. Callussed hands, a farmer's tan, and a decidly non-posh accent tell otherwise. Lucrezia has dedicated a few years of her life to the study of chemicals and potions; but, after a severe burn to the face, decided to expand into air magic as well. She tries to be a suave, know-it-all, regal, beautiful poisoner; but she's just a young, inexperienced, peasant, rather normal-looking student of chemistry. Don't tell that to her face, though, or you'd better watch anything you drink or eat.
27 is far too old for a student. Even with the large-ish age range the academy caters to.
I'd keep it between like 15-22. We do have one character younger than that but that's easy to explain as a child prodigy or whatever.
Otherwise your character is fine except for the weapon, if she goes to school at the academy she's going to have a proper weapon, even if it's something unreliable.
It goes well with her backstory of actually being a serf/peasant to have a purely physical/low-class/dull/boring weapon like a sling instead of a bejeweled sword or rune-inscribed bow.
Is the descriptions too long? I can delete them and bring those qualities out in her character in the game.
It goes well with her backstory of actually being a serf/peasant to have a purely physical/low-class/dull/boring weapon like a sling instead of a bejeweled sword or rune-inscribed bow.
Is the descriptions too long? I can delete them and bring those qualities out in her character in the game.
Her being a peasant wouldn't determine what kind of weapon she has. They're provided by the academy.
Mojave, should we discuss what limits my character has with his spider mechs, since he makes the things he summons? As in discuss what things he can do to them before they no longer can be summoned by the spell?
No, what I mean is that it makes sense that a peasant would have experience using a sling while a noblelady would be taught fencing or archery or something.
Non-magic damage is determined entirely by the weapon the user is holding. Generally, main weapons do more damage than backup weapons, and ranged weapons do less than melee weapons to compensate for their longer range.
When attacking non-magically, the ATK stat of the attacker is checked against the defender's DEF. stat, at which point one of two things happens:
1. If the ATK stat is the higher of the two, the Attacker rolls their weapon's damage dice (for instance, say it's a 1d6), and simply inflicts that much damage on the defender's HP.
2. If the DEF stat is the higher of the two, the defender has a chance to have their DEF stat "chipped". To determine whether or not the DEF stat is chipped, roll the damage dice of the attacker's weapon. If the dice lands at the top of its range (to use the 1d6 example, the dice would need to land on a 6), the DEF stat is chipped. The Attacker then rolls damage again to determine how much the DEF stat is chipped by. DEF chipping only lasts until the end of the current battle.
Magic attacking and defending works much the same, except substitute "weapon" for "spell" and ATK and DEF with the magically equivalent stats.
These rules will likely be subject to some in-game tweaking, but I'm not sure I can make them better without playtesting, so that's what we'll be doing.
Comments
all the setting you really have to care about is the academy, which is a pretty typical "magic high school" location (despite the presence of a wider age range than a high school normally caters to).
for background purposes there are about a dozen major powers in this particular world. Essentially it's a modern day analogue but the continents and peoples of are different. I'll give more detail once I have it all fleshed out. I'm more concerned about the mechanics for right now, since worldbuilding is the easy part, at least for me.
example monsters! (the format is subject to change, I'm still working on the mechanics)
spoilered, in case you wish to be totally surprised, but I would enjoy feedback on this stuff. These are only two of many, many monsters you'll face, so don't think you're being given too much of a sneak peak here.
and something slightly more dangerous that you'll run into later.
approval'd.
Unless anyone else desperately, desperately wants in and is sure they can commit frequently, I will now be locking up signups.
backgrounds will be doable soon, I need to get Ye Grandiose Setting Introduction written.
in the meantime let me lay down how spells are going to be made, and we'll start doing PMs for that.
I will spoil for
2.cents, seems like generic monster types, which is not necessarily a bad thing for this dungeon crawler roleplay.
I actually did consider something like that, and there is a mechanic that's vaguely similar for another slightly later monster, but the thing with that is that I feel like I'd be making first-floor monsters too difficult.
I can always make them more difficult if they turn out to be too easy, but making them easier is significantly harder.
Spell Creation
Spell Creation is a pretty simple process in theory, but in practice it's going to require a lot of discussion and work between the player (you) and the DM (me).
Spell Creation is entirely freeform/cinematic. Essentially, you will describe what you want a given spell to do. Not in terms of like, "3d6 fire damage"--I'll crunch the numbers myself--but rather a description, like say "shoots a fireball" (that'd be a very basic example, but you get the point. Basic is also not necessarily bad.)
After determining what your spell actually does in a descriptive sense, I'll assign it some numbers (usually damage and/or duration, which will go up as you level up), and you will have a fully usable spell. Now, you're going to want to think about this. Read over what your teammates picked for their schools, and read over the description for your school, think about what'll synergize well with what, and so on.
You will be able to get more spell slots, but it'll be a fairly rare occurance. You will also be able to upgrade spells to different forms as you level up.
Let's run with the fireball example.
You tell me you want a spell that shoots a ball of fire, I rule that at your first level, it has a Short range and does 1d6 Damage.
Now, as you level up, the spell will increase in power, going from 1d6 to something like 1d8 and maybe 2d6 and so on. But you might also decide you want to change the spell a bit, you decide you now want it to shoot a fire spear instead of just a fire ball. So I might rule that now instead of doing 2d6 damage at third level, it does 1d6 Fire damage, but also 1d6 Physical damage.
This is all hypothetical, and just an example (the numbers are not necessarily representative of what we'll eventually be dealing with), but I think it's a good demonstration of how this whole process is going to work.
If you have any questions, I'll answer them to the best of my ability. If not, you may begin PMing me your spell descriptions at your leisure. Read your class description to find out how many spells you start with.
I've never done formal RPing before so I think I'll watch how this goes first, see if it's my thing. Either way, I wish you guys luck! Have fun! :D
This is true enough. It's still not something I want on first-floor monsters though.
Come third or fourth floor I may introduce an upgraded version with said mechanic. We shall see.
thanks TreNAME: Kenneth Turk
CLASS: Witch.
SCHOOL(S): Fire Magic.
AGE: About 17.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Not especially tall with a narrow build. Dark red-brown hair, very pale skin, amber eyes. Angular, somewhat androgynous features. Dresses a bit shabbily. Possessed of a tenor voice with an odd accent.
PERSONALITY: Catty in several senses of the word. Likes wordplay, dislikes people. Often casually cruel and manipulative yet incapable of lying. Bit of a creeper; seems to revel in it.
BACKGROUND: [blank as per suggestion]
eh.
I said I wasn't gonna take any more suggestions but y'know what it's fine.
the more the merrier.
he's geordie?
now I'm going to picture this any time you do anything with him
Oh, by the way, @funnyguts, we miss you over at IJBM!
changed my mind. If you want to join, you can.
I think I might end up splitting the characters into a frequent players' team and an infrequent players' team if we get enough to warrant such a split. I'm not sure though.
Well he does sort of seem like a dick.
If it gets to be disruptive to the other players I'll let you know, just keep subtle PvP stuff to a minimum please, I've had problems with that in games before.
Desired spell descriptions!
Spell 1: Creates clouds of magical darkness that quench light and make it difficult to see. The more light there is, the less effective this is.
(very similar to Nue's dark clouds seen here:
Spell 2: Creates a dark cloud inside of which Eris can slow down a fall to descend safely.
Spell 3: Uses a dark cloud to dampen sound, enabling Eris to move more silently. The darkness technically could make her more visible though, depending on the environment.
Spell 4: Creates a dark cloud and crystallizes it into a weak, un-aimed danmaku ring.
(Rumia is seen creating similar weak danmaku rings here:
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Would it be within reason to have a spell that absorbs MP from elemental attacks? Like, a spell that puts up a barrier, and any elemental attacks that hit the barrier give the caster MP. I like the idea of it as a second or third-tier spell, but I think it might be too OP.
Minor Fire Wall
Creates a small wall of fire. At this strength level it is more to cover ones escape
Fireball
YOINK!
Summon (Insert Low Level Fire Creature Here)
Summons ILLFCH for a few rounds to battle for you
If not, then I have an idea for a straight up healing spell
Fairy Kiss
Summons a fairy to heal the caster or an ally of the caster. The "kiss" is more due to the wings being close to your body, resembling the feeling of butterfly kisses
Mana Fix
Summons a sprite who performs a ritual to restore your mana. During this ritual you can use your back up weapon, but if you cast a spell or if you or the sprite get damaged, then you receive no mana. Best used between battles or when being protected by others
dudes
PM me these.
This requires a lot of discussion between the player and DM and I'm not going to flood this thread with that for every single person. It's just easier to do it in private.
Darn.
NAME: Lucretia Wenlock
Class: Wizard
Schools: Venom magic, Air Magic
Melee Weapon: Dull kitchen knife.
Age: 15
Appearance: On the short side as far as fifteen-year-olds go (will probably be taller when she hits her growth spurt); neither neither fat nor skinny. Has darkish brown hair with an unflattering widow's peak. Wears a poncho (wide sleeves are good for hiding things in) that goes to her lower legs. Her feet are in practical, if boring, boots. Wears makeup over her right cheek to cover a burn from a failed experiment with poisons. Wears a rather tasteless, rather shapeless beret with a hole in it.
Personality: In life, there are two main reactions to fear: Flight, and Fight. Lucrezia has plenty of the first, but not the second. Something of a coward, she'd rather turn the air into smoke and hide; or try to poison her enemies, or try to run away. This isn't to say that her chemical concoctions aren't useful as an offensive; as anyone who has been hit in the face with a vial of one of her sulphur-based acids can attest; or as anyone who has inhaled smoke can attest. She's fast and light on her feet enough to serve as a scout; and can be useful for attrition; but in straight hand-to-hand combat; all she has is a dull kitchen knife.
Backstory: despite being nothing of the sort, Lucrezia tries to be an upper-class twit; scorning "lowly peasants" and claiming to be some long-lost noblelady. Callussed hands, a farmer's tan, and a decidly non-posh accent tell otherwise. Lucrezia has dedicated a few years of her life to the study of chemicals and potions; but, after a severe burn to the face, decided to expand into air magic as well. She tries to be a suave, know-it-all, regal, beautiful poisoner; but she's just a young, inexperienced, peasant, rather normal-looking student of chemistry. Don't tell that to her face, though, or you'd better watch anything you drink or eat.
27 is far too old for a student. Even with the large-ish age range the academy caters to.
I'd keep it between like 15-22. We do have one character younger than that but that's easy to explain as a child prodigy or whatever.
Otherwise your character is fine except for the weapon, if she goes to school at the academy she's going to have a proper weapon, even if it's something unreliable.
It goes well with her backstory of actually being a serf/peasant to have a purely physical/low-class/dull/boring weapon like a sling instead of a bejeweled sword or rune-inscribed bow.
Is the descriptions too long? I can delete them and bring those qualities out in her character in the game.
Spell 1: "Dark Cloud"
Spell 2: "Gravity Minus"
Spell 3: "Sound Dampen"
Spell 4: "Dark Spray"
I replied to all your PMs.
I'm still working on stuff, I just haven't had much to say in the thread itself lately.
By all means though if you've got questions, ask.
@Icalasari:
side note: when submitting your spell lists please remember how many spell slots your characters have.
Skalds and Rangers have four, Witches and Wizards have six.
Sorry if that came out wrong.
Oh. I guess that does make sense.
Yeah she can have a sling I guess.
so, I've got the mechanics mostly done. I just need to write the OP.
So I'm gonna need everyone who's still definitely in to post. And for everyone who hasn't submitted a spell list yet to do so.
Damage Rules
Non-magic damage is determined entirely by the weapon the user is holding. Generally, main weapons do more damage than backup weapons, and ranged weapons do less than melee weapons to compensate for their longer range.
When attacking non-magically, the ATK stat of the attacker is checked against the defender's DEF. stat, at which point one of two things happens:
1. If the ATK stat is the higher of the two, the Attacker rolls their weapon's damage dice (for instance, say it's a 1d6), and simply inflicts that much damage on the defender's HP.
2. If the DEF stat is the higher of the two, the defender has a chance to have their DEF stat "chipped". To determine whether or not the DEF stat is chipped, roll the damage dice of the attacker's weapon. If the dice lands at the top of its range (to use the 1d6 example, the dice would need to land on a 6), the DEF stat is chipped. The Attacker then rolls damage again to determine how much the DEF stat is chipped by. DEF chipping only lasts until the end of the current battle.
Magic attacking and defending works much the same, except substitute "weapon" for "spell" and ATK and DEF with the magically equivalent stats.
These rules will likely be subject to some in-game tweaking, but I'm not sure I can make them better without playtesting, so that's what we'll be doing.
Most everything else is freeform.