Spes Magna Games

One of my current projects is Scyld Heim, a campaign book that hopes to emulate a pseudo Viking/Dark Ages setting. In such a setting, a character’s ancestry is an important part of who he is and what he can accomplish. To reflect this importance of a character’s ancestry, I’m working on rules for lineage. The following is an excerpt of the current draft of these rules.

New Ability Score: Lineage

Lineage represents the heroic accomplishments of a player character’s ancestors. These deeds reverberate across time, affecting a character’s fortune. Of course, this assumes the character has a positive Lineage modifier. Characters with a +0 Lineage modifier have no significant ancestral achievements, while characters with a negative Lineage modifier labor under the burden of a blighted family tree.

Effects of Positive Lineage

Lineage potentially affects a single attack roll, combat maneuver check, saving throw, skill check, or ability check. Before making any of the aforementioned rolls, a player may decide to add his Lineage modifier to the d20 roll.

Each time a player decides to add his Lineage modifier to a die roll, his character’s Lineage modifier temporarily reduces by one point (minimum +0).

Effects of Negative Lineage

A character with a negative Lineage modifier is affected differently. Before an attack roll, combat maneuver check, saving throw, skill check, or ability check, the DM may decide to apply a character’s negative Lineage modifier to that single d20 roll.

Each time the DM applies a character’s negative Lineage modifier to a die roll, that character’s Lineage modifier temporarily increases by one point (maximum +0).

Recovering Lineage Modifier

A character’s Lineage modifier resets to its original value after a 10-Minute Rest Period, but only for the cost of one honor point. Otherwise, a character’s Lineage modifier resets once per day.

First, some news intended to make me a little bit of money. Ars Metamagica is available at DriveThruRPG for $1.50 US. Here’s my brief sales pitch:

Underwhelmed by metamagic feats? Wish your casters had more flexibility when modifying their spells? Then get Ars Metamagica today.

This 13-page, printer-friendly PDF describes an alternate metamagic system that replaces metamagic feats with a metamagic check mechanic. Spellcasters daily select a palette of metamagic arts with which to modify their spells. Whether a prepared caster or a spontaneous caster, the spell-slinger makes a metamagic check at casting time to successfully reshape the magical energies. Success means greater customization of spells, but failure risks magical feedback. Also included are these:

* Specific recommendations about modifying class features, spells, and other rules impacted by Ars Metamagica.
* Five new feats that let casters dig deeper into the metamagic arts.
* Two new traits for casters with an affinity for the metamagic arts.
* A new type of metamagic rod that works with rather than replaces the metamagic system.

On the homefront, a year of underemployment and unemployment came to end on 9 August. I’ve been hired as the library coordinator and part-time physical education teacher at Aristoi Classical Academy. This isn’t quite the job I was wanting. I’m much better teaching history or literature. Still, there are benefits that cannot be ignored. The princpal, who I’ve worked for before, is top notch. I’ve not met anyone who understands classical education for children better than Mr. Johnson. Also, my kids are enrolled now, which got them out of the achievement-challenged public school we suffered through last year. Lastly, I have a job. Employment beats unemployment.

Yesterday, the family and I trundled over to the dollar theater. (It’s really a buck-fifty theater, but why quibble?) We watched the homage to the original Karate Kid. Surprisingly more affecting than I anticipated, but I ought not have been caught flat-footed. I’ve maintained for years that Jackie Chan is a fine dramatic actor, albeit finding examples of these talents is harder since he overwhelmingly favors action-comedies. Best of all, it wasn’t a remake of the original so much as a re-imagining. Also DVRed Shane and High Plains Drifter for the family to watch. Two very different but excellent westerns riffing the theme of the mysterious drifter facing injustice.

But back to writing.

I’ve done some more writing for Game Geek. The most recent issue includes me opining about the virtues of in media res as a storytelling device in adventure design. My thoughts about how only substandard DMs nerf character abilities in order to make situations more challenging are likely to show up in October’s issue.

Worked a bit on Quid Novi? XVII. I’m off-schedule with Quid Novi? due to adjusting to the new job, but issue 17 will hit subscriber in-boxes this coming Sunday, 12 September. The upcoming issue will include a Chance Encounter, a Five-Room One-Shot (probably inspired by a favorite Jonny Quest episode, and some more Recommended Reading.

Well, that’s it for now. Good gaming!

Well, August is shaping up to be a good month, at least in Spes Magna world. Sales are going well at both DriveThruRPG and Paizo. On the former site, In One’s Blood actually hit number 32 on the Top 100 Small Press Items list. I’ve gotten a few good reviews as well. The aforementioned In One’s Blood has a 5-star review at Paizo and a 4-star review at DriveThruRPG. Making Craft Work received three 5-star reviews at Paizo and another at DriveThruRPG. Rewarding Roleplaying has a 5-star review at Paizo.

With the constant stream of rejections from prospective employers this week, it’s nice that at least that much goes well.

The Barbaric Traits Preview PDF lands in Quid Novi? subscriber in-boxes this Sunday. This preview of character traits inspired by Robert E. Howard and Thundarr contains 12 new traits, divided evenly between the Combat, Faith, Magic, and Social categories. The for-sale Barbaric Traits PDF sits on my table in very rough draft form. The for-sale PDF offers 36 new character traits. I’m shooting to have it available for public consumption by about 15 August 2010.

Playtester volunteers still have their capable hands on Ars Metamagica. I’ve received some insightful feedback already. A couple of playtesters homed in on some unintended quirks in the system. I’ve got high hopes for this PDF. Ars Metamagica guts the metamagic feat system in the core rules, replacing it with a metamagic check system not tied to either skills or feats.

My adventure-writing funk still hasn’t completely passed. My much delayed The Case of the Purloined Princess still remains unfinished. A shorter adventure, Down the Rabbit Hole, is closer to completion. I’m not sure why I’m having such a hard time getting these done. I used to love writing adventures.

On the homefront, I got sick and tired of sitting around the house this week. My daughter was visiting one of her friends. I woke up my son Giant Boy and urged him to get bathed and dressed posthaste. We then walked about a mile to Denny’s and split the discount biscuits and gravy, pancakes, eggs over easy, sausage, and hashbrowns. After breakfast, we mosied over to the movie theater and saw Salt. It is a wildly improbable action flick, which, as Roger Ebert notes, manages to do everything that bad movies do in a really good way. Giant Boy and I then trekked through the 100-degree Fahrenheit heat to relax in the dim, air-conditioned comfort of our living room.

Tags: Salt movie

I’ve recently been re-reading the Berkley Publishing Corporation’s authorized editions of Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories published under the titles The Hour of the Dragon, People of the Black Circle, and Red Nails. Howard’s tales have stood the test of time for about four score years, and they remain fertile fields for fantasy RPG inspiration.

While Howard’s vibrant prose holds my attention rapt, I wasn’t so awed that I couldn’t pause every now and then to jot down a noteworthy adjective or colorful phrase. Out of this list grows new the traits for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Here’s a sample of one each combat, faith, magic, and social traits.

Battle-Born: You were born under and/or into violent circumstances. Perhaps you were born on the field of battle when raiders attacked your village. Perhaps from an early age circumstances forced you kill or be killed. You have learned to face down unfavorable odds and still emerge victorious. You gain a +1 trait bonus to attack rolls in melee combat when you are threatened by more than one foe.

Barbaric Mythology: You grew up among so-called barbarians. Against the night, your people would light bonfires and gather to hear tales of gods and demons, heroes and villains, and intrigues and wars. You gain a +1 trait bonus on any two of Knowledge (history), Knowledge (local), and Knowledge (religion). One of the two chosen skills is always a class skill for you.

Superstitious: You know the world is a dangerous place influenced by unseen forces and malevolent spirits. The unwary and incautious are more likely to fall victim to these malign supernatural powers. Fortunately, you are well-versed in the little rituals and taboos necessary to defend yourself against harm. You gain a +1 trait bonus on saving throws against the spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities of evil creatures.

Iron Nerves: You don’t scare easily. You don’t rattle easily. Nothing seems to phase you, at least not for long. You gain a +2 trait bonus to Will saves against fear effects. If someone uses Intimidate to demoralize you, you are demoralized for 1 fewer rounds (to a minimum of 1 round).

In other news, Spes Magna Games PDFs are now available at DriveThruRPG. Check the link in the sidebar to the left. Quid Novi? subscribers please note that the ultra double-dog top secret discount code does not currently work at DriveThruRPG. I’ll fix that once I figure out how.

Tags: Conan

Spes Magna Games has two new PDFs for sale via the Purchase link above.

Brand new in our inventory is Gazae et Monstri: Treasure & Monsters from Greek & Roman Myth, which sells for $0.99 US. Six new magic items wait to be looted from the pages of this PDF. Five monsters wait to be defeated by your players. Previous posts on this site have previewed G&M content:

More Flesh-Eating Mares & Delphic Mists
An Awful Giant & Flesh-Eating Mares
Magic Items & Monsters of Greek and Roman Myth

Make your game more mythic with G&M!

The other new PDF is Latina Facta & Versatile Performance Redux, which combines two products previously available only to Quid Novi? subscribers and puts them on sale for $0.75 US. Latina Facta presents 15 new feats, each one inspired by a Latin phrase or saying. For example:

Age. Fac Ut Gaudeam! (General)
Go ahead. Make my day!
Prerequisite: Intimidate 3 ranks.
Benefit: When you successfully demoralize an enemy via Intimidate, that enemy is not only shaken but is also forced to delay his initiative for his next turn by 10 points.

Fas Est Et Ab Hoste Doceri (General)
It’s proper to learn even from an enemy.
Prerequisite: 1 rank in the chosen Knowledge skill.
Benefit: Choose a one Knowledge skill from this list: Arcana, Dungeoneering, Local, Nature, Planes, or Religion. You gain a +4 bonus on checks to identify monsters and their special powers or vulnerabilities with the chosen skill.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new Knowledge skill.

Versatile Performance Redux offers an alternative Versatile Performance class feature for Pathfinder bards. With VPR, your bard not only gets an additional skill point at certain levels, but also lears different Associated Arts. An Associated Art is a special ability inspired by terms and techniques of acting, dance, and music. For example:

Dissonance (Su) Dissonant music is harsh, discordant, and lacks harmony. A bard using Dissonance with Inspire Courage applies half the bonus as a morale penalty to his enemies saving throws against fear, attack rolls, and weapon damage rolls (minimum -1). Enemies must be within 30 feet and able to hear the bard’s performance. The effect persists for as long as the enemy is within 30 feet and the bard continues the performance. The bard’s allies receive no benefit from Inspire Courage when the bard uses Dissonance. This is a mind-affecting ability with audible components.

Breakaway (Sp) A breakaway is a specially designed prop or set piece that looks solid but shatters easily. By expending 1 round of Bardic Performance as a standard action, the bard grants increased ability to damage objects to a single ally within 30 feet who can see and hear the bard. Until the end of the affected ally’s next turn, that ally enjoys a +2 competence bonus on checks to break or burst objects, including attempts to sunder.

All told, VPR includes 14 Associated Arts divided into acting, music, and dance categories.