Your solution that followers and creatures gain legend at a set rate in tandem with their owners is very elegant, but I was wondering how you increased the stats of such a creature as they gained legend. Using the hound of lugh as an example please show how he goes from legend 2 to 3, and legend 3 to 4. Also I have many specific questions about your crafting system, will you answer them for me please?(paraphrased).
I dont have a "formula" for statting followers or creatures, but I do have a system. I shall attempt to share it with you.
According to the book, (ok, not really the book, its in the other room, Im copying this from a website that I hope copied the book correctly) the hound of lugh should be:
Strength 3 + 1 epic
Dex 3
Stamina 3 + 1 epic
Charisma 0(what? ...the fuck? Dogs have excellent charisma)
Manipulation 0(uhuh...you try not giving a dog some food while you're cooking)
Appearance 2 + 1(ok, maybe depending on breed)
Perception 2 +1(bullshit, dogs less perceptive then most humans?)
Intelligence 2(but as smart as many humans?)
Wits 3
Athletics 2, awareness 3 brawl 1 integrity 1 investigation 1 presence 2 fortitude 3 stealth 1 survival 4
8 health levels
3 willpower
5 legend
Some virtues
Im just gonna start the hero at legend 2, and thus the dog would actually start at legend zero.
(I just realized I did this exact thing for tigers a few months ago...I should have just linked that). Its a very big dog, so some basic adjustments(and fixes). Also we'll stick with it being a 4 dot birthright. This translates to 2 stats going up every legend, and 2 stats going up every other legend(stats can be abilities, although they go up faster, attributes or purview-esque things, ill explain later).
Strength 5
Dex 3
Stamina 5
Charisma 3
Manipulation 2
Appearance 3
Perception 4
Intelligence 1
Wits 2
Athletics 3, Awareness 3, Brawl 3, Empathy 2, Integrity 3, Investigation 4, Presence 3, Fortitude 3, Stealth 1, Survival 4
8 health levels
This is a beast of a dog. Yes, the guy who chose a bear or an elephant is probably a little bit ahead. But something that powerful would cost an extra birthright point, and something much smaller would probably cost less for the same build scheme.
Then the Scion goes to legend 3, and the dog becomes legend 1. Deciding that Strength and Stam were its two main stats. Those dont gain an epic, cause hes only legend one, but they go up significantly. Instead of knacks, creatures get powers more akin to how I do titanspawn. At legend 1 they get 1 of these that relates to one of their powers(epics, abilities, purviews) that will be gaining in future legend. This prevents worrying about having to spend their legend. This applies to willpower and virtues as well. You can give the creature the "sense" of one of those virtues, he can be very courageous, but its messy to worry about the creature channeling, and really unnecessary. Sometimes I'll give small bonuses as creatures go up to just make them feel a little more growth, usually these are in abilities. Like below I added a dot of empathy to show hes getting more used to people and understanding them a little better. This isnt necessary and should be done for rp purposes more then stats.
Legend 1 Hound
Strength 8
Dex 3
Stamina 8
Charisma 3
Manipulation 2
Appearance 3
Perception 4
Intelligence 1
Wits 2
Athletics 3, Awareness 3, Brawl 3, Empathy 3, Integrity 3, Investigation 4, Presence 3, Fortitude 3, Stealth 1, Survival 4
8 Health Levels
Although he doesnt have epics yet, remember that strength that high is equal to strength 6, 1 epic. So max for even an aesir legend 2 scion.
Scion goes up to legend 4, dog goes up to legend 2. At legend 2 he'll get strength and stamina again, but in addition will get a point in each of his auxiliary ones. For this I chose perception and darkness to play no his theme of running through the moors or hills or whatever. He'll also get his first "powers" here, one from each of the things that are being added.
Strength 8 + 1
Dex 3
Stamina 8 + 1
Charisma 3
Manipulation 2
Appearance 3
Perception 4 + 1
Intellignece 1
Wits 2
8 health levels
Same abilities
Special powers:
Here I try to pick individual things, usually based on knacks that the creature/follower can have up all the time, or automatically pop when certain events hit(blessing of bravery when ever combat starts). This lets them be useful, but free so that we dont have to worry about legend and they dont become a chore that you have to manage. Also, usually anne adds flavorful names to the powers...but Im rather utilitarian, so you get boring names.
Leap Attack: Hounds massive legs throw him towards the first opponent he attacks in a scene, doing 5 additional dice of damage on a successful attack.
Extensive Running: The hound does not tire when running. Ignore any stamina fort rolls to continue running. It need only rest for food water or sleep.
Scent poison: Much like a drug dog, the hound can automatically roll perception + investigation(in secret...otherwise players know whats happening) to find out if something is poisoned. Its owner can also command him to do check if he suspects something may be poisoned.
Fear of the Moor: Apparently this dog is a scary thing. When someone first lays eyes on it, they roll W+I+L vs its 10 dice(arbitrary, balance as needed) or lose 1 point of willpower and have -2 to all rolls for the rest of the scene
When the heros reach demigod(and god) I have them invest in their creature again if they want him to continue to grow with them. I do a lot of weird stuff for demigod upgrades that would take too long to explain, but basically pay 4 points at demigod to keep him growing with you(he'd become a 6 dot creature at that point) and the option to pay more points to make the creature even more powerful(for each dot adding a regular upgrade or an auxiliary one). Also at this point you could change what the regular and auxillaries were if you felt the creature was changing.
Each odd legend the creature hit he'd get plus to both regular upgrades(strength and stamina) and at even legends upgrades to both regular and auxiliary.
At odd legends you get one power from any of the regular upgrades and at even you get 3 powers chosen from any of the regulars or auxillary. As you get more of each kind they should get more powerful.
Common upgrades for stamina are body armor always on, extra health levels, big boost to regular stamina. They take a bit of work and imagination, but work out very well.
When the creature reaches legend 5 I also generally give it a large boost by adding a template to it. Some templates are in the book(some are bad or imbalanced, I usually find nemean pretty basic) and I have a bunch of adjusted templates that I may get around to posting one day.
I hope this was helpful and not as confusing as it looks like its gonna be. Please ask lots of questions and hopefully I can help guide people through this better.
O YEAH! There was that question about crafting. Crafting is a huge thing to talk about, and instead of a normal post itll be covered in a future Vlog. So, excitment!
I dont have a "formula" for statting followers or creatures, but I do have a system. I shall attempt to share it with you.
According to the book, (ok, not really the book, its in the other room, Im copying this from a website that I hope copied the book correctly) the hound of lugh should be:
Strength 3 + 1 epic
Dex 3
Stamina 3 + 1 epic
Charisma 0(what? ...the fuck? Dogs have excellent charisma)
Manipulation 0(uhuh...you try not giving a dog some food while you're cooking)
Appearance 2 + 1(ok, maybe depending on breed)
Perception 2 +1(bullshit, dogs less perceptive then most humans?)
Intelligence 2(but as smart as many humans?)
Wits 3
Athletics 2, awareness 3 brawl 1 integrity 1 investigation 1 presence 2 fortitude 3 stealth 1 survival 4
8 health levels
3 willpower
5 legend
Some virtues
Im just gonna start the hero at legend 2, and thus the dog would actually start at legend zero.
(I just realized I did this exact thing for tigers a few months ago...I should have just linked that). Its a very big dog, so some basic adjustments(and fixes). Also we'll stick with it being a 4 dot birthright. This translates to 2 stats going up every legend, and 2 stats going up every other legend(stats can be abilities, although they go up faster, attributes or purview-esque things, ill explain later).
Strength 5
Dex 3
Stamina 5
Charisma 3
Manipulation 2
Appearance 3
Perception 4
Intelligence 1
Wits 2
Athletics 3, Awareness 3, Brawl 3, Empathy 2, Integrity 3, Investigation 4, Presence 3, Fortitude 3, Stealth 1, Survival 4
8 health levels
This is a beast of a dog. Yes, the guy who chose a bear or an elephant is probably a little bit ahead. But something that powerful would cost an extra birthright point, and something much smaller would probably cost less for the same build scheme.
Then the Scion goes to legend 3, and the dog becomes legend 1. Deciding that Strength and Stam were its two main stats. Those dont gain an epic, cause hes only legend one, but they go up significantly. Instead of knacks, creatures get powers more akin to how I do titanspawn. At legend 1 they get 1 of these that relates to one of their powers(epics, abilities, purviews) that will be gaining in future legend. This prevents worrying about having to spend their legend. This applies to willpower and virtues as well. You can give the creature the "sense" of one of those virtues, he can be very courageous, but its messy to worry about the creature channeling, and really unnecessary. Sometimes I'll give small bonuses as creatures go up to just make them feel a little more growth, usually these are in abilities. Like below I added a dot of empathy to show hes getting more used to people and understanding them a little better. This isnt necessary and should be done for rp purposes more then stats.
Legend 1 Hound
Strength 8
Dex 3
Stamina 8
Charisma 3
Manipulation 2
Appearance 3
Perception 4
Intelligence 1
Wits 2
Athletics 3, Awareness 3, Brawl 3, Empathy 3, Integrity 3, Investigation 4, Presence 3, Fortitude 3, Stealth 1, Survival 4
8 Health Levels
Although he doesnt have epics yet, remember that strength that high is equal to strength 6, 1 epic. So max for even an aesir legend 2 scion.
Scion goes up to legend 4, dog goes up to legend 2. At legend 2 he'll get strength and stamina again, but in addition will get a point in each of his auxiliary ones. For this I chose perception and darkness to play no his theme of running through the moors or hills or whatever. He'll also get his first "powers" here, one from each of the things that are being added.
Strength 8 + 1
Dex 3
Stamina 8 + 1
Charisma 3
Manipulation 2
Appearance 3
Perception 4 + 1
Intellignece 1
Wits 2
8 health levels
Same abilities
Special powers:
Here I try to pick individual things, usually based on knacks that the creature/follower can have up all the time, or automatically pop when certain events hit(blessing of bravery when ever combat starts). This lets them be useful, but free so that we dont have to worry about legend and they dont become a chore that you have to manage. Also, usually anne adds flavorful names to the powers...but Im rather utilitarian, so you get boring names.
Leap Attack: Hounds massive legs throw him towards the first opponent he attacks in a scene, doing 5 additional dice of damage on a successful attack.
Extensive Running: The hound does not tire when running. Ignore any stamina fort rolls to continue running. It need only rest for food water or sleep.
Scent poison: Much like a drug dog, the hound can automatically roll perception + investigation(in secret...otherwise players know whats happening) to find out if something is poisoned. Its owner can also command him to do check if he suspects something may be poisoned.
Fear of the Moor: Apparently this dog is a scary thing. When someone first lays eyes on it, they roll W+I+L vs its 10 dice(arbitrary, balance as needed) or lose 1 point of willpower and have -2 to all rolls for the rest of the scene
When the heros reach demigod(and god) I have them invest in their creature again if they want him to continue to grow with them. I do a lot of weird stuff for demigod upgrades that would take too long to explain, but basically pay 4 points at demigod to keep him growing with you(he'd become a 6 dot creature at that point) and the option to pay more points to make the creature even more powerful(for each dot adding a regular upgrade or an auxiliary one). Also at this point you could change what the regular and auxillaries were if you felt the creature was changing.
Each odd legend the creature hit he'd get plus to both regular upgrades(strength and stamina) and at even legends upgrades to both regular and auxiliary.
At odd legends you get one power from any of the regular upgrades and at even you get 3 powers chosen from any of the regulars or auxillary. As you get more of each kind they should get more powerful.
Common upgrades for stamina are body armor always on, extra health levels, big boost to regular stamina. They take a bit of work and imagination, but work out very well.
When the creature reaches legend 5 I also generally give it a large boost by adding a template to it. Some templates are in the book(some are bad or imbalanced, I usually find nemean pretty basic) and I have a bunch of adjusted templates that I may get around to posting one day.
I hope this was helpful and not as confusing as it looks like its gonna be. Please ask lots of questions and hopefully I can help guide people through this better.
O YEAH! There was that question about crafting. Crafting is a huge thing to talk about, and instead of a normal post itll be covered in a future Vlog. So, excitment!
I also felt creatures are a chore in games. I usually roleplay them but let the stats be handled by the PCs (I make their sheets, but I don't roll for em).
ReplyDeleteIt came to me as either the creature was as powerful as a Scion and gave an unfair advantage or he was so weak he didn't even scratch enemies he was fighting.
So I came up with an alternative. Instead of using them solely on the combat axis, I began to give them magical utility abilities. These are useful in certain circonstances, making them neat and helpful but not overpowered.
My Freyrsdottir has Gullinburstison (Gilles for the intimate), a fat pig that can sniff out a trail, take a beating, run fast (like Lightining Sprinter but I gave him a higher base speed)as a mount and run on water (he also has issues about not being able to fly yet). He has a hard time in battle because the ennemies are hard to hit for his low Dex, but he can soak up a hit and have other uses.
By making them cool and unique, they can add their spice without being another NPC in the fray (I already have to much, thank god Ragnarok is coming).
This is awesome.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I kinda want to see your work on tigers ^_^
http://johnsscionresources.blogspot.com/2012/05/league-of-lions_09.html#comment-form
DeleteApparently I meant lions. They are close.
Lions?! You've lied to me! This is an outrage! Grumblerumblebumble...
Delete(All right, awesome, explains why I didn't catch it on the site's google search)