ThinkPad
i'm using this to think out loud so Garden can see my thoughts... Please feel free to ignore or chime in... :-)
Dream Combat: This is taken from Time of Tumult, the Invisible Fortress adventure:
- Valor replaces Strength
- Charisma replaces Dex
- Random virtue replaces Stamina (depends on the nature of the attack: hate filled attack, compassion works best, subversive attacks Temperance works best, etc).
- Willpower replaces Health Levels
- Base init = Wits+Charisma
- Attack roll is Charisma+Ability - people inexperienced with dream combat are at a -2 penalty.
- Damage roll = (Valor + suxx from attack roll) - target's soak.
- Soak - see Stamina above
- Health Levels: 1WP(-4), 2WP(-2), 3WP(-2), 4WP(-1), 5WP(-1), 6+WP (OK) - Dream fighters always start ok, even if perm WP is less than 6. Temp WP can be spent without dropping 'health levels', but as WP 'health levels' drop, so does points of Temp WP available to spend.
- Characters reduced to 0WP are incapacitated in some way (unconscious/zombie state/etc). Loser cannot resist any mental influence from victor.
- Garden
Dream charms:
Silas wants to take equipment into dream world with him... Maybe make a tree loosely based on Wheel Of Time's Tel-Aran'Rhiod that culminates in an enter the dream bodily charm (at ess 4 or 5). Must make it clear that someone with better control of the dream can kill you there and that it is not safe...
Okay, two ideas so far.
Defensive: Prevents the 'winner can automatically mind control loser' thing. Winner now has to roll something v losers Essence in order to mind control them.
Offensive: normal dream combat rules is kind of just a mental punch, with valor subbing for Strength, no weapon bonus or anything - this is definately something Silas wants to add. I was thinking adding Conviction to Valor as a more focussed attack.
- Garden
How about simple charms to allow you to summon dream weapons and armour (weapons can have speed=Wits, Acc=Int, Dmg=Conviction, Parry=Temperance?, armour would add essence to soak?)
Then follow these two basic charms up with meatier ones, like one where you spend a WP and a few motes to get +1 to acc, but if it deals damage you regain 2 WP?
The prevent mind control one would be higher
The first ones would work. But the thing that worries me about just summoning dream versions of weapons and armour is that the dream realm is all about imagination, and I don't want it turning into just-another-place-to-fight-in-exactly-the-same-way. You can do weird stuff there, like grow 100 feet tall and stomp on the enemy. There are no boundaries in that respect - you may only do the same damage as tickling their nose with a dandelion, dependent on your skill, but it needs to retain it's bizarreness.
- Garden
If it's to be used at all regularly then it may well become somewhat samey :( The main problem is that by having charms affect it at all you run the risk of standardising aspects. They could be generic charms (you alter yourself in some way to be more accurate and do more damage - the system effect is this but you can describe it how you like. A good description could well earn stunt dice) so that people could grow to 5000 feet tall or they could transform into a swarm of insects and devour the foe completely, leaving only an animated skeleton...
One thing I would like to see is a disclaimer saying that you do not have to know the charms to use them but if you do not know the charm you have to spend a lot more (maybe 2 wp and tick a virtue box off), so that anyone could have access to these funky powers, but if you've studied you can do it easier. Each charm could be tied to a specific virtue perhaps? Or maybe using any charm should require you to tick off a virtue box, limiting the amount of changing you can do according to your virtues? you do not want to make someone with these charms untouchable in dream combat as that would be sad
When I set out to try and make them, I was actually trying to envisage something more broad spectrum, but it's hard to define things and set rules and limits and keep things broad at the same time.
I was intending them to be for everyone as well, not just Solars, but the idea of opening them up even to people who don't have them I hadn't thought of, I can see why though. But I would still say if you don't have the prereqs you can't use it whatever.
The generic charm idea may work...
- Garden
So something like:
Imagination's Thrust</b>
<b>Cost: 5 motes + special\\ Duration: Scene\\ Type: Simple\\ Min. Conviction: 3\\ Min. Charisma: 3\\ Min. Essence: 2\\ Prereqs: none
This charm allows you to manipulate the "reality" of the dream world in such a way that you become much better at attacking. This could be caused by summoning magical weapons, growing to 100 feet in height, turning into a swarm of insects or anything you can imagine and describe (better descriptions may earn stunt dice). In game mechanics terms, you gain an initiative bonus equal to your Wits, accuracy bonus equal to your Intelligence and a damage bonus equal to your Conviction. This charm does not stack with itself, subsequent uses overwrite the original change. Activating this charm counts as channeling Conviction, so when it is used you must tick off one point of Conviction. In addition, this charm can be used by anyone engaged in dream combat who has a Charisma and Conviction of at least 3, even if they do not know the charm. If they do know the charm then the cost is 5 motes. If they do not know the charm then the cost is 5 motes and 2 WP (as they have to really work to bend the dream reality to their will).
I'm not sure about making Virtues a prereq. I can see that charms should maybe be tied to virtues for the purposes of those who do not 'know' the charm though. Imagination is supposed to be the thing that defines how much control you have over the dream realm, and that in canon is represented by Charisma - the pure force of personality type thing. So it would make more sense to me to have Charisma as a prereq. Or dual prereqs of Charisma and relevant virtue.
- Garden
Added Cha 3 as prereq as well...
Imposition of Order
Cost: 2 motes\\ Duration: Indefinite\\ Type: Simple\\ Min Willpower: 7\\ Min Wits: 3 Min Essence: 2
Conjouring up an image in their mind the Dreamwalker adjusts the flows of the dreamworld and imposes that image on their target. Changes that leave the shape and form of the target essentially the same are simple, whereas causing major changes in size are very hard.
The dreamwalker rolls their Wits+Permanent Willpower-Difficulty against the target's Wits+Permanent Willpower. If the dreamwalker succeeds then the target is locked into that form until the charm is ended.
The target may attempt to break free in later turns by taking an action and rolling Wits+Permanent Willpower against the Wits+Permanent Willpower-Difficulty roll that the dreamwalker originally rolled.
Example difficulties:
- 0: Change clothing of target
- 1: Remove light armour, or weapon.
- 2: Remove heavy armour
- 4: Shrink target to 75% size or change form of target to something humanoid of similar size.
-- Senji
That's a nice idea. Maybe have a prereq charm that enables the character to change the scenery in a similar fashion beforehand though. It's going to be easier to change non-sentient things than it is to change sentient beings.
- Garden
