AGE of Tamriel - Special Materials

Been spending the last few days going over the rules for special materials, not to mention which materials from the Elder Scrolls games I wanted to include. Initially, I tried to give flat modifiers, but with how minimal Fantasy AGE details arms and armor, I found it quite difficult to make each material feel unique. After some time thinking (and looking into FA's magic rules), I decided to try to connect each material to a combat stunt, leaving flat bonuses to those the most powerful, or I didn't have a good idea for.

With all that said, here is what I have currently settled for:

---

Special Materials

The Elder Scrolls setting has several unique materials in which arms, armor, and other items can be crafted from. These special materials can be used to create Masterwork items, items that are superior to your everyday items.
Special materials come in four grades; Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Legendary. An item's grade determines how hard it is to craft, a character must have an equivalent degree in the Master Crafter talent to work with the material. The only Legendary material is Daedric, it cannot normally be crafted by characters, it is included here for completeness. Outside of crafting, Uncommon and higher Masterwork items should be acquired as loot during adventures, or as rewards.

Tidying up and adding old files

Spent the morning tidying up the static pages for 5th edition, Fantasy AGE, Basic fantasy, and the Other Games, adding back links to some of the missing game materials that I've previously had around here.

One thing I have also had added a long time ago but never made a mention of (I think), was my attempt at bringing the Stargate setting to True20. To fix that, here is a link to the PDF. Enjoy.

Edit ---

I've also gone and added lot more old files that I once had on my website long ago. These files are OLD! Old enough for me to feel kinda guilty about how bad they look and read. But, at the time I was having a blast writing up all those things. Still wished I had that kind of enthusiasm and energy back then, would post more often here if I did.

I've added...

... four PDFs detailing my long-forgotten Aliens vs Predator project for Alternity; covering character backgrounds, the Colonial Marines, the Yaujta, and Xenomorphs.

... a PDF detailing set of guidelines to creating starship identification codes for Alternity's Star*Drive setting.

... two PDFs detailing an insectoid race called the Waspfolk. One for True20 and one for Alternity.

... a PDF with new True20 options for adept characters.

... two PDFs detailing two monsters for D20 fantasy. The pettrin, a large flightless bird (possibly a conversion from a Dark Sun creature?), and the spider demon (basically a re-branded xenomorph).

... two PDFs concerning the divine for True20. First is the Avatar template for divinely-empowered mortals, and second is the Deity template for true divine beings.

Fantasy AGE - Expanded Rules for Shields

A month or so ago I ran across a thread on the Roninarmy.com forums talking about rules for shield bash attacks. At the time I was going to write my own set of rules and post them, but I got side-tracked, as usual. However, today while writing the AoT rules concerning special materials like skyforge steel or dwarven iron, I kinda hit a snag.

Shields in Fantasy AGE have only one identifying trait, their Defense Bonus. This makes it rather difficult to create rules for special materials because it there is only one trait you can modify. My approach to handling special materials is similar to Dragon Age*. Each special material modifies the base stats of the item (minus granting talent levels). I also didn't want to the materials to grant stunt bonuses, either. Then the idea hit me, treat them as weapons! Treating them as weapons made it easier to make each special material unique between shields, as well as giving me an idea on how to handle shield bash attacks.

* Geez, I get so many ideas from Dragon Age. Maybe I should just switch to that system instead?

---

Expanded Rules for Shields

Here are my expanded rules for shields in Fantasy AGE.

WEAPON GROUP

Shields now are their own Weapon Group. However, it is not a "true" weapon group in that Warriors cannot pick this as one of their starting weapon groups at 1st level.

SHIELDS GROUP (FIGHTING)
Weapon          Defense   Damage    Mn. Str.  Cost
----------------------------------------------------
Light shield      +1      1d6-1       -1      15 sp
Medium shield     +2      1d6          1      30 sp
Heavy shield      +3      1d6+1        2      60 sp
Shield spikes*    --      +2          +1      +10 sp

* Shield Spikes can be added to any shield for an additional cost.

ABILITY FOCUS

Fighting (Shields): Proficiency in using shields as off-hand melee weapons. This ability focus is only used when making shield bash attacks.

TALENT

Shield Mastery Talent
Classes: Rogue, Warrior.
Requirement: None.

You have trained to use your shield as a proper melee weapon.

• Novice: When armed with a shield you can perform the Lightning Attack combat stunt for 2 SP, instead of the usual 3 SP. This extra attack comes from your shield.
• Journeyman: When armed with a shield you can perform the Knock Prone combat stunt for 1 SP, instead of the usual 2 SP.
• Master: You can counterattack an enemy's poor melee attack. When an enemy makes a Melee Attack against you and misses by 4 or more, you can make an immediate shield bash against them as a Free action. However, this counterattack cannot generate stunt points, and you only add half your Strength (rounded down) to the damage roll. You can only perform one counterattack in a single round.

Warriors: Warriors add this talent to the list of starting talents from which to choose from at 1st-level.

Fantasy AGE "Multiclassing" Rules

My first roleplaying was Dungeons & Dragons, and like many others, I use to spend hours creating all sorts characters. This was helped greatly by D&D's multiclassing rules (well, for 3rd edition at least). In Fantasy AGE however, there are no such rules.

At first, I found this to be a sticking point for me; I really liked mix-matching classes to create more interesting characters. I tried spending hours thinking about how to implement D&D-style multiclassing into Fantasy AGE, but I've come to accept there is no multiclassing in Fantasy AGE.

However, I also like to tinker with various aspects of the rules. And this time, I tried using Fantasy AGE's specializations as a method to produce multiclassed characters. When I was writing these specializations, I tried to keep their benefits equal to about a 6th-8th level character in the class it is trying to emulate.

ADEPT [Rogue and Warrior Specialization]

Requirements: Intelligence and Willpower 2 or higher.

You have trained in the magical arts at the local mages' guild.

Novice: Magic Training: You learn one magic arcana of your choice.
Journeyman: Magic Training: You learn one magic arcana of your choice.
Master: Magic Training: You learn one magic arcana of your choice.

Magic Talents: You are considered a Mage for the purposes of meeting the requirements on magic talents. However, you are limited to the Novice and Journeyman degrees in a magic arcana.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SCOUNDREL [Mage and Warrior Specialization]

Requirements: Accuracy and Dexterity 2 or higher.

You have taken a few lessons from the local thieves' guild.

Novice: Rogue Talent: You gain a degree in a Rogue talent (see below). You can also perform the combat stunt, Pierce Armor, for 1 SP.
Journeyman: Pinpoint Attacks: You gain the Rogue ability, Pinpoint Attacks.
Master: Rogue Talent: You gain a degree in a Rogue talent (see below).

Rogue Talents: You are considered a Rogue for the purposes of meeting the requirements on the following talents: Archery style, Dual weapon style, Scouting, Single weapon style, Thievery, Thrown weapons style.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

FIGHTER [Mage and Rogue Specialization]

Requirements: Constitution and Fighting 2 or higher.

You've spent time in the training yards of the local warriors' guild.

Novice: Warrior Talent: You gain a degree in one of Warrior talent (see below) of your choice. You also learn one new Weapon Group of your choice.
Journeyman: Dual Strike: You can perform the combat stunt, Dual Strike, for 3 SP.
Master: Warrior Talent: You gain a degree in one of Warrior talent (see below) of your choice.

Warrior Talents: You are considered a Warrior for the purposes of meeting the requirements on the following talents: Archery style, Armor training, Dual weapon style, Pole weapon style, Single weapon style, Throwing weapon style, Two-hander style, Unarmed style, Weapon-and-shield style.

Fantasy AGE - Encumbrance Rules

One of the few things that I didn't see in Fantasy AGE were rules for encumbrance. Now, like most gamers, I normally ignore tracking encumbrance in-game. However, one of my side-projects for Fantasy AGE is a set of wilderness exploration/survival rules, in which I want to include rules for encumbrance.

My goal is for a simple set of rules for encumbrance that meshes well with Fantasy AGE, but also tries to capture the idea of having to deal with a limited carrying capacity, where you must pick-and-choose which items you'd think would best help you. The rules presented here are in a very rough state, with no real descriptive text, but they should be playable. However, they also haven't been properly playtested, so just a note to anyone trying these rules.

These rules were originally written with Fantasy AGE in mind, but I do think they would work for nearly any roleplaying game. The only things that would need changing are how Encumbrance Penalties work and you would need a replacement for Ability Focuses.

Kits and Kaboodles (5E, Basic Fantasy, Fantasy AGE)

In a bit of late-night inspiration, I had an idea for simplifying the process of equipping characters, and that is with Kits and Kaboodles. Kits and Kaboodles are a collection of items intended for a specific task; such as adventuring, healing, cooking, wilderness survival, etc. Now instead of buying equipment piece-by-piece, you just buy a Kit or Kaboodle for whatever purpose you want and get on with the game.
Admittedly, this idea is nothing new; I've seen similar ideas in other games many times before. Even so, here is my take on the concept for 5th Edition D&D, Basic Fantasy, and Fantasy AGE. But, really, it can be applied to any game system with a bit of tweaking.

Kits and Kaboodles

Kits and Kaboodles represent a collection of items for a broadly-defined purpose, such as adventuring, healing, cooking, wilderness survival, etc. However, there is a key difference between them; Kits are re-useable items that modify a character's chance of success, whereas Kaboodles have a limited number of uses before being exhausted.

Examples

Here is a sample list of Kits and Kaboodles. Obviously, this isn't a complete listing, so use your imagination for other uses.

Kits: Adventuring, Blacksmithing, Climbing, Cold-weather, Grooming, Warm-weather, Leatherworking, Riding.
Kaboodles: Alchemy, Cooking, Fishing, Food/Water, Healing, Perfume, Traps/Snares.

Quality Control

Another aspect of a Kit and Kaboodle is its Quality. Quality determines the item cost and weight of the Kit/Kaboodle, a Kit's modifier, and a Kaboodle's number of uses.

ITEM        COST*   WEIGHT    NOTES
===================================
KITS
  Poor        4      3 lb.    -2/-1** penalty to any related ability tests
  Common      8      6 lb.
  Fine       12     12 lb.    +2/+1** bonus to any related ability tests

KABOODLES
  Poor        2      2 lb.    3 Uses
  Common      4      4 lb.    6 Uses
  Fine        8      8 lb.    12 Uses

* Costs are in gold pieces (gp) for 5th Edition and Basic Fantasy.
   In silver pieces (sp) for Fantasy AGE.

** 5th Edition and Basic Fantasy modifiers are +/- 2.
    Fantasy AGE modifiers are +/- 1.

The Kit AND the Kaboodle!

Now, it is possible to have a Kit and a Kaboodle both intended for the same purpose. However, in-game they are both still treated as separate items. For example, you can have a fine-quality Alchemy Kit (for a +1 bonus), but have poor-quality Alchemy Kaboodles (for 3 uses).

Lost or Damaged Items

When using Kits and Kaboodles, it is still possible to lose or ruin items.
For Kaboodles, a lost item is easy to deal with, you simply lose 1 use of the Kaboodle.
Kits are a bit more involved, however. First, make a note on what Kit item was lost. Now, anytime you attempt to perform an action that would require the lost Kit item, you cannot perform that action. But you are still able to use the Kit for any other actions unrelated to the lost item.

Weapons, Armor, and Specialty Items

Another concern is that certain items, especially weapons and armor, cannot be found in a Kit or a Kaboodle. These types of items must be purchased individually.

The Exception: Ammunition Kaboodles

Ammunition may be bought as a Kaboodle. But instead of tracking individual pieces of ammunition, the Kaboodle tracks the useage of ammunition in an abstract way. After each combat encounter in which you use a weapon with ammunition, you lose 1 "Use". In addition, you may lose addition "Uses" whenever you roll badly on attack rolls made with such weapons. How this is handled in-game depends on the system being used. When your ammunition Kaboodle reaches 0, you are out of ammunition.

5th Edition / Basic Fantasy: Whenever you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll, you lose 1 "Use" of ammunition.
Fantasy AGE: Whenever you miss on an attack roll AND the Stunt Die rolled a 1, you lose 1 "Use" of ammunition.

Fumble Points

Sometimes, Lady Luck doesn't smile on you during a game session. Roll after roll you continue to fail during the more important scenes.

The idea for Fumble Points came after watching a youtube video showcasing a certain player's remarkable "ability" to fail nearly every roll by a wide margin through two gaming sessions. It got me thinking how frustrating that would be during a session, sitting there and continually failing and not doing anything useful. So I had the idea for Fumble Points.

Fumble Points tries to help alleviate a player's string of bad luck with a mechanic that grants the player free re-rolls whenever they fail miserably. Now, I know this idea is nothing new, I've read/heard about similar mechanics in other games, but since I can't remember what those games are, I came up with my own rules.

Below, I have describe using Fumble Points for 5th Edition, D20-based games, and Fantasy AGE. But I think these rules can be used with nearly any roleplaying game that relies on dice rolls to resolve actions and doesn't already have a similar mechanic.

5th Edition Fumble Points

(1) Earning Fumble Points: Whenever a player rolls a 1 or 2 for an action and fails, they receive one Fumble Point.
(2) Spending Fumble Points: Spending a Fumble Point works like Inspiration.
(3) Success, Failure, and Fumble Points: If the action succeeds, the Fumble Die is spent as usual. However, if the action fails even by spending the Fumble Point, the Fumble Point is not spent.
(4) Limits on Fumble Points: A character can only have one Fumble Point at a time.

D20-based Fumble Points

(1) Earning Fumble Points: Whenever a player rolls a 1 or 2 for an action and fails, they receive one Fumble Point.
(2) Spending Fumble Points: Spending a Fumble Point allows the player to get a second roll for one action, choosing the better roll. Fumble Points can be used on ability checks, skill checks, saving throws, and attack rolls.
(3) Success, Failure, and Fumble Points: If the action succeeds, the Fumble Die is spent as usual. However, if the action fails even by spending the Fumble Point, the Fumble Point is not spent.
(4) Limits on Fumble Points: A character can only have one Fumble Point at a time.

Fantasy AGE Fumble Points

(1) Earning Fumble Points: Whenever a player rolls a 6 or less on an ability test and fails, they earn a Fumble Point.
(2) Spending Fumble Points: Spending a Fumble Point allows the player to re-roll all three dice on a single ability test, using the better result. Fumble Points can be used on ability tests, spellcasting tests, and attack rolls.
(3) Success, Failure, and Fumble Points: If the action succeeds, the Fumble Die is spent as usual. However, if the action fails even by spending the Fumble Point, the Fumble Point is not spent.
(4) Limits on Fumble Points: A character can only have one Fumble Point at a time.