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Post by zanshin on Aug 29, 2012 5:35:15 GMT -5
This is my try at a new type for Tunnels and Trolls.
A Captain is a commander and leader of warriors. He or She must be from a race that is used to war and command. Humans, Elves , Dwarves and Urooks have Captains amongst them. Hobbits, Fairies and Leprechauns have many skills, but that of generalship is not one of them.
Captains are trained in the use of all weapons and armour. They derive a bonus benefit from armour they wear equal to their level, but never more than doubling the AP from the armour.
They must have a starting Strength and Charisma of 15 before Kindred modifiers on creation. To be a Captain requires both might and presence.
Captains may learn and make Battle Cries when they fight. They start knowing Inspiring Speech. Cries cost 1000gp x level to learn either from instruction, or through research in ancient, and expensive tomes.
Their relevant attributes for advancement are Strength, Charisma, Constitution, Wizardry.
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Post by zanshin on Aug 29, 2012 5:35:34 GMT -5
Words of Battle
The Captain may fight and issue a Cry in the same round, unless the cry states otherwise. If they do so their personal combat total for the round is halved.
Cries cost WIZ equal to the level of the Cry, as Captains are using intrinsic magical power and forming it into speech.
Cries last for 2 rounds - the round they are made and the following round, unless the Cry states otherwise. The Captain may increase the length of time a Cry lasts by expending more Wiz - double the expenditure doubles the duration. Instant Cries may not be so affected.
To successfully issue a Cry, the Captain must make a saving roll on their Charisma equal to the level of the Cry.
A Cry can only be made when enemies are visible to the Captain, as it is when the heat of battle is upon him that his magic becomes potent. Cries are loud , and certain to be heard by enemies with ears to hear.
Bonuses only apply to the Captains comrades - though two captains could inspire one another.
If there is more than one Captain, bonuses from the same type of Cry do not combine - take the best one.
Calculating Enemy Charisma
An opponent with stats will have their charisma stated. If negative charisma is employed, consider the value, not the plus or minus element (a Dragon with - 47 Charisma will need the Captain to have a Charisma of 48 or higher to be affected by Cries where this is a factor).
Monsters with just a Monster Rating are considered to have a charisma of 1/10th their MR - round up.
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Post by zanshin on Aug 29, 2012 5:35:53 GMT -5
Inspiring Speech
L1 Cry
The Captain raises the morale of his comrades. They each gain a bonus to their adds equal to his level. If deafened or not able to hear the speech, no bonus is received.
Hold you dog!
L2 Cry
The Captain shouts in an intimidating manner at one enemy, who must be able to hear him. If the Captains Charisma is higher than the targets, they are frozen in place for one combat round. The Captain may not fight when making this Cry, but may move (a swift strategic rearward advance perhaps...).
Go for the Eyes!
L2 Cry
The Captain shouts advice to his comrades regarding vulnerabilities in the targets defences. Comrades gain a bonus to missile to hit rolls equal to the Captains level. Enemies reduce the benefit of armour by an amount equal to the Captains level.
Word of Healing
L3 Cry
The Captain revitalises his comrades with a shout of power, filling them with Will and Endurance. They recover 1 Con , 1 Wiz and 1 Str per level of save made. This is an instant effect.
Word of Pain
L3 Cry
The Captains shout creates a shockwave, harming his enemies. Each enemy takes a d6 damage per level of save made. The Captain cannot fight when making this Cry.
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Post by zanshin on Aug 29, 2012 5:40:28 GMT -5
Higher! Faster! Longer!
L4
The Captain encourages his comrades to great feats, granting a bonus of twice his level to any saves attempted.
Scurvy Dogs!
L4
The Captain intimidates the enemy, filling them with fear. Their combat total is halved if their charisma is lower than the Captains, and they can hear him, for that round only. The Captain may not fight when making this cry.
Fly you Fools!
L5
This shout also benefits the Captain. The movement speed of all the party is tripled.
Defend Yourselves!
L5
The Captains comrades get double armour value from their shields.
War Cry
L6
The Captain fills his comrades with righteous fury. They gain a number of bonus combat dice equal to his level.
Take That You Foe!
L6
The Captain inflicts damage on a single enemy equal to his Charisma rating as his shout creates psychic shockwaves. The Captain may not fight when making this shout. This is an instant effect and treated like the other TTYF is concerned as far as combat is concerned.
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Post by zanshin on Aug 29, 2012 6:22:08 GMT -5
Word of the King
L7 Cry
The Captain focuses all his attention on one comrade. That comrade recovers a d6 Con, Wiz and Str for each level of the Captain. The Captain may not fight while issuing this command.
Give your all!
L7 Cry
The Captain encourages his comrades to make a last ditch desperate attack. Their combat total is doubled, but they lose 2d6 Str (temporary) at the end of the round. The doubling effect lasts one round.
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Post by zanshin on Aug 29, 2012 6:46:00 GMT -5
held for any more shouts
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Post by zanshin on Aug 29, 2012 6:47:47 GMT -5
Ok, thats it for the moment - modelled on such figures as Boromir and Eddard Stark, it attempts to provide a type for T&T style leaders.
Comments and suggestions welcomed.
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Post by mahrundl on Aug 29, 2012 8:43:08 GMT -5
The concept looks very interesting, zanshin. Have you played it at all yet?
An Exalt for you!
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Post by khaboom on Aug 29, 2012 13:15:35 GMT -5
Cool, Zanshin - I immediately like captains better than leaders.
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Post by zanshin on Aug 30, 2012 5:06:25 GMT -5
Thank you for the feedback mahrundl and khaboom. I have not tried it yet - a Captain would not be best suited to solo adventures, for obvious reasons! Just putting it out there before trying it out, so my ideas can be forged in the crucible of Trollbridge
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Post by ProfGremlin on Aug 30, 2012 16:46:17 GMT -5
Just putting it out there before trying it out, so my ideas can be forged in the crucible of Trollbridge Zanshin, reading over your proposal I'm given to wonder what Type you see Captains a subset of. I realize you say they are commanders of warriors though with the abilities, i.e. Cries, you suggest a reasonable argument could be made that they are a subset of the Rogue or - on the extreme - specialist Wizards, especially with a prime attribute as Wizardry. It might help to more clearly identify the parent Type - "The Captain is a Specialist Warrior with all the rights, privileges and capabilities pertaining thereunto with the exception of not doubling armor and the addition of the Cries as listed below."* This way you could better clarify the Captain's other abilities with respect to their parent Type. The only difficulty I see with not clarifying the parent Type is that it leaves some abilities open to interpretation by the prospective player and requires adjudication by their GM (As Warriors do they still double armor or are they Rogues and have to learn their Cries from other Captains? As a Specialist Wizard where can they learn these spells?). I realize you most likely meant them to be a subset of Warriors I just thought I should point out another interpretation. In regards to the various Cries you have listed, in several descriptions you state, If the Captains Charisma is higher than the targets... implying the target's Charisma. Can this also be interpreted as If the Captains Charisma is higher than the targets Monster Rating (MR)... or would you be inclined to divide a MR by six to more accurately represent each individual ability score? I can't recall if I read anything more specific about that in any of the rule books or on the Bridge, though I do have a faint memory of reading someone's interpretation of translating MR's to ability scores. The Level 2 Cry Go for the Eyes! seems to double count the bonus with Comrades gaining the Captain's level bonus to missile weapons and Foes losing the Captains level from their armor points. So, for a Captain succeeding at a Level 2 Saving Roll to use this cry their would be an effective +4 to his Comrades (Bonus of 2 to comrades missiles and penalty of 2 to foes armor). I don't note this necessarily as a problem if that's how you wanted to have the ability designed. I just wanted to point it out. Succeeding at a L3SR on CHR adds an effective d6 to each attacker. By level three Captains become quite a force to be reckoned with. Word of Healing costs three Wiz to use but has no limit to the number of comrades it can influence. A delver party of four gains 12 points on abilities for that three point expenditure. Quite a bargain. Word of Pain is even more impressive. At it's minimum, it's a 3d6 ability vs. every foe in combat. Compare that against Take That You Fiend! and the wizard's spell comes off looking positively anorexic. Though to be fair, the Captain has no Hit Point Total when using this Cry. I'm not saying these abilities should be moderated or tempered, I'm just pointing out that third level Captains can kick some serious MR. Looking back over the type description, there's nothing stating a minimum benchmark that needs to be reached for a Captain to utilize any particular Cry other than their capability to have learned the Cry, a.k.a. gold expenditure, and having the Wiz to power it. So, an Elven Captain (racial bonus of x2 to Charisma) could have a Charisma of 30 at character generation. If they somehow learned Word of Pain at generation or shortly there after, they would be well on their way to a serious reputation. To borrow a quote from River Tam, "Also, I can kill you with my brain" Again, reading back over the Cries, while it's not explicitly stated, the level of Cry is not tied to character level. So my example(s) above in regards to specific point bonuses vs. Wiz expenditure is not quite so clearly defined. Perhaps that's something that should be a bit more clearly delineated, either that or I need to start drinking coffee again (Sorry, Order99, no offense meant )... I'm going to leave my review as it is for the moment as I'm clearly a little muddle minded (muddle darn it not Muggle!). We can use what's here for further discussion and see where it takes us. In any event, with the ability roll minimum requirements akin to that of a Paragon I don't foresee that these issues, such as they are, will come up all that often. *Note - For those interested in this sub-type, this is only my personal suggestion of one means of clarifying the parent Type and shouldn't be taken as the intent of the creator. Let him speak for himself in the Captain's description.
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Post by wilowisp on Aug 30, 2012 18:54:42 GMT -5
On the one hand- really interesting and creative, and I would never want to squelch the enthusiasm it shows. In fact, the next paragraph is nothing but a statement of taste, and should be so taken; but......
On the other hand- WAY more complex than I would ever want. I play 5e. One of the things that attracts me to it is the true simplicity it represents; a broadness, and a crisp brevity. This reminds me of things non-T&T.........
Although, with further thought, it might be OK if the captain DID NOT actually gain Warrior traits. I guess it would in fact be a lot like a Wizard mechanics-wise, then........
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order99
7th Level Troll
Coffee-fueled Carrion That Walks Like a Man
Posts: 1,039
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Post by order99 on Aug 31, 2012 13:24:41 GMT -5
Did somebody mention COFFEE? ;D Oh, wait, it's Virtual Coffee isn't it? May as well be Decaf.. I love the Captain BTW-a kind of easier-to-qualify-for Warrior-Wizard with limited Warrior abilities and a limited spell set...now where's that Exalt Blunderbuss, I know I repaired the barrel after that last, er, incident... Just curious Zanshin-were you flashing back to Final Fantasy Tactics when you made this Type? As I recall, the central avatar could mix and match careers like all the other models, picking up cool abilities from them...but returning him to Peasant mode allowed the Avarar (and Only this one) to unlock Yells similar to the ones you mentioned. Some of the best ones as I recall targeted Faith-my Fighter and non-magic guys eventually had permanent Faith of 01(had to pretty much rely on Potions for cures and such but devastating enemy spells would barely give them a tan) while the magic-wielders had Faiths of 99 and could devastate entire countrysides (which led incidentally to the tactic of indiscriminate area attack spells that murdered every foe on the map and left the allies with slightly frazzled hair, heh heh heh...). Also, if the main Avatar was struck by the Ultima spell while in Peasant Mode, Ultima became one of his tricks as well. If memory serves, one of my favorite models in that game was the Mediator-field a couple of those with a few Fighty types to defend them, prolong the encounters by holding the Finishing Blows and you were nearly guaranteed some new Monster recruits! At one point I had an entire battalion of Dragons just because I COULD- Oops, stepped in a Flashback there, sorry.... I might be tempted to Port this Type to 4th Edition if my old group ever returns from the far corners of the globe (or if my Press Gang stops returning empty-handed ). Just change the Power source from Wizardry to ST (screaming your enemies to death in battle can take a lot out of you!) and tweak "Fly you Fools" to read-'increases the speed of allies one range-Slow becomes Normal, Normal Becomes Fast and Fast becomes a new category of Even Faster than that' and we're good (all Speed references courtesy of Monsters! Monsters!). In Brief-love the Captain! Now lessee, load with Exalting powder, then the the wadding, THEN the jellybeans and Then tamp down, forgot the sequence last time I tried to load this thing..
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Post by Billiam Babble on Aug 31, 2012 15:17:37 GMT -5
I like the idea of minimum Charisma for this type. (...but can't un-charming Dwarves still become Captains? - ah yes, but not without the skills or support so they are just warriors, okay I see how this works - that's profession vs. Type...) The Words of Battle war cries and rallying calls are inspired idea. High level cries requiring the experience of a "leader of men", but also the spirits/Gods have to back the righteous cause hence the magical element - makes sense. It also makes me think that NPCs or evil characters could have similar skills as talents where they strike enough fear or dogma into their own party or troops that driving forward and smashing aside the hurty-halberds seems like the only option (that, and the threat of being eaten my the minotaurs at the back....) Motivation is a curious thing. "You pathetic weasel-dogs, By His Evil Hand, I swear, the last one to taste blood will be SUPPER!"-Okay, that's a little camp, but you get the idea, the anti-captain...
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Odder
4th Level Troll
DON'T LOOK AT ME!!
Posts: 264
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Post by Odder on Aug 31, 2012 18:38:28 GMT -5
I love what you did here. Great attempt!
That said however you deviated too far from the simple core class structure to make it. It's simply a LOT more complex than T&T does things.
Now perhaps if you leveraged your idea into a simple system of talents,combined with a spell list from T&T spells and cooked it down to its base it might fit.
I definitely don't want to discourage you.
I exalt thee!
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