Are there any realistic, mathematically complex, flexible, and genre-agnostic RPG systems that use actual skill use1 to level up the particular skills of a character instead of the D&D inspired XP based system?
1I call this "Activity Progression." Activity based progression is when your PC does...
@BESW I should probably take a look back at some of the stuff I've learned and was going to ask about and see if it's actually viable to ask and self-answer here.
Answerin' questions, snaggin' Dat Rep, hating the Forgotten Realms for being confusing and contradictory and written by a hack.
rpg.stackexchange.com/q/30949/6172 <-Note the difficulty I'm having in answering this both clearly and with sources because the bastard ran and based a potentially character-defining mechanic on crap from the novels.
But as a result they're also one of the better-run examples of organized crime since they don't waste their resources because one guy forgot your taco on the food run and now the whole squad has to die.
Anyway, is there a fashion in which I might express my Shadow Weave answer more understandably?
The two are separate but very related. Shar's Shadow Weave has power only where the Weave extends; the Lady of Loss is like that in a lot of ways, having great power to twist, to corrupt, mock, desecrate, and pervert but very little to make for herself.
She's bitter and cynical, full of hate and envy for the children she regrets making.
You could just say up front the shadow weave coexists with the weave and cannot exist without it, so if a dead magic zone is without a weave, it is also without a shadow weave.
do away with the candle metaphor and say that after your first heading in plain terms
(Irony - only users of the Weave can still cast magic in the absence of the Weave, thanks to Cheater of Mystra)
"I guess my conundrum is almost every DMZ discussion has the asterisk that Shadow Weavers can operate normally, so I don't quite understand your first point about DMZ's working. I'm thinking (start of a joke) a wizard and a Shadow Adept walk into a DMZ... The latter would be able to operate normally, wouldn't she?" <-Anyone else encountered this?
Well, Dead Magic Zones Work
The Shadow Weave coexists with the Weave and cannot be present in the Weave's absence. As a result, Shadow Magic is still subject to dead magic, anti-magic, and dispelling (even though Shadow Magic can be more difficult to dispel, it's not impossible) because in the a...
> The Shadow Weave coexists with the Weave and cannot be present in the Weave's absence. As a result, Shadow Magic is still subject to dead magic, anti-magic, and dispelling (even though Shadow Magic can be more difficult to dispel, it's not impossible) because in the absence of the Weave the Shadow Weave cannot exist.
You're repeating yourself!
[keeps reading]
"because that stuff gets rid of the weave, and thus the shadow weave" or something
I want to hide my powers until I can do an awesome reveal of them. The class I am taking is a Volly style Marksman. What is a good level to reveal power powers? I am dual classing as a marksman gunslinger.
And I decided not to wait long. I shared a large chunk of my backstory with the rest of the party, and left my own character's links to it a secret.
My instict was to not reveal it early, but to wait for the AwesomePoint(tm) and do it then.
Problem is, there isn't really one. If I was writing my character's story, I could wait for the point. But for a shared story, I will never find exactly the time I want for it. It will never completely work like I intend.
So instead, I decided to let the rest of the party help me build the story and reach the awesome together, rather than trying to spring it on them, with unknown levels of success.
Swiftblade could. More movement = more jumping around. Take fly as another third level spell, continual haste also gives more movement. Seems to be the biggest limiting factor would be land speed
@Aaron Meaningful mobility isn't a thing non-casters get in Pathfinder. Melee's gotta pay hard, up-front, and deep to even be able to participate in air-based combat and they lag behind enemies they'd face in that fashion and lack a way to take advantage of it.
@LitheOhm More movement is not the same as meaningful movement. Scout, crappy as it is/was, had meaningful movement because it actively encouraged a mobile fighting style and rewarded players for succeeding as a mobile combatant.
Swiftblade makes you faster but it doesn't make the speed worth anything; you're still better off lock-and-dropping with full attacks.
Swiftblade's haste focus is best taken advantage of in situations where you can move as a swift (Sudden Leap, Shadow Blink, Anklets of Translocation) and then unload with your bajillion attacks
That extra action won't work during a spring attack, which explictly allows an attack instead of an action
@Metool - Swashbuckler, Acrobatic Adept, any of the spellcasters (obv reason), Crane (needs second track to take advantage of mobility), Destruction (loves mob, doesn't provide it), Fire Elemental (firewalker especially)
@LitheOhm I've read the class. It's wonderful. It just doesn't make mobile combat meaningful
The Time Stop doesn't do that and the extra action is better on a charge or full attack
@Aaron It's worth looking into in general ^_^ Tome of Battle's system encourages mobile fighting because maneuvers replace full attacks, permitting you to move and melee in the same round.
Tiger Claw is worth mentioning because many of its maneuvers involve jumping and leaping like a freak on their own.
In fact I think you can straight-up model Cloud, magic-enabled and everything, if you go Warblade/Wizard/Jade Phoenix Mage, focus on Tiger Claw, Diamond Mind, and Iron Heart maneuvers and snag Monkey Grip to use a Large Greatsword. Alternately, Exotic Weapon Proficiency in Fullblade (Arms and Equipment Guide)
(Definitions: [Battered] kills healing abilities, and any effects that would heal and remove it instead just remove it. A [Bonus attack] is the attack haste and similar would grant, you can only use one per round. [Precision] is a style of damage you can't get while Raging etc., like Sneak Attack.)
Because after you spend quintuple the resources on using your gun than anyone spends to just use a longbow you're already lagging behind in damage, burning non-renewable character resources just to catch up on number of attacks and suffering from severe out-of-combat utility problems
Meanwhile Captain Archery has been able to spend his resources on not using a bow, but rather using a bow well
@Aaron Since all your resources go into being able to use a gun you can't spend any on being able to deal with things like the Queen's birthday ball, riddles, puzzles, traps, etc
Outside of a fight you run into problems having Things To Do
Our dm tends to throw money at us like it's going out of style. Otherwise his wife (Co DM) who loves to throw stuff that should kill us, would slaughter us. She chooses the monsters we fight. At level 10 we went up against a balor.
Ah. I've got one of those in my current game. I've had to learn that they advance a bit differently from other characters. They are /much/ more reliant on receiving gear improvements at fixed intervals
Rise of The Runelords (Anniversary edition) doesn't really account for the needs of equipment-heavy classes. So I'm having to tweak loot drops so that the players abilities don't become useless because the gear they're all tied to isn't advancing enough.
@Metool I am literally going to be the only gunslinger in the world. I am coming in from a separate dimension so I will have to craft all my own stuff.
If you're the only gunslinger in the world, fixed prices may not be the best approach. That's totally worth asking your DM "Would we do this by the book or would there be options?"
For example, popping off a shot in the air in a crowd of peasants may provoke a grand intimidation check (DM judgement call). A bow would not have that effect.
I built a race called Lamonts. They have a standard stat +2 dex -2 str and +2 wis. They have 4 arms, wings with flight, 3 eyes and are half constructs.
They choose between +2 dex -2 str or +2 str -2 dex the +2 wis stays the same.
So with rapid reload on a pistol (If I recall that makes it a free action to reload. correct me if wrong.) I can hold three pistols and leave one hand free to reload. Or hold a large gun and a pistol leaving 1 hand free still.
@Lord_Gareth Ah. Thanks for that clarification I was going to get it when I got home.
> Shadow Blink [Combat] - As a swift action, you can add the [Teleport] descriptor to your movements until the beginning of your next turn. Instead of moving, you choose a target square within range of your movement and appear there.
When you first play your characters meeting at a table. Remove your character sheets from the table and get some real food and sit and eat in character.
4
Nothing but RPing your characters talking back and forth
I loved that idea
I hope to make it a everytime we meet to play thing.
I have in my digital hands the Aeon Wave Fate cyberpunk mini-campaign by Sly Flourish, if anyone is interested in playing and/or running it in the near future.
Are there any realistic, mathematically complex, flexible, and genre-agnostic RPG systems that use actual skill use1 to level up the particular skills of a character instead of the D&D inspired XP based system?
1I call this "Activity Progression." Activity based progression is when your PC does...
