Death-Touched
May. 23rd, 2012 05:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexandraerinJust to give an example of what constitutes a Special Ability in A Wilder World and an example of the sort of thing I was talking about in my post about clerics, I'm going to share a sample entry for the cleric supplement.
This ability is currently called "Death-Touched". It might end up being called "Blessed By Death" or "Favored By Death". It's one in a set of abilities that will follow the same model for their names, but replacing Death with something like Life, Fortune, Flame, Storm, Nature, etc. "Marked" might also end up being the final language.
Whatever I end up calling them, they're intended to represent the idea of blessing from a specific force or deity. In each case there will be other abilities that can stand in as a blessing, but these ones are 1) clearly supernatural but 2) don't fit into the magic system.
So, taking this Special Ability gives you a character who can sense/predict death and stand between death and another (or else help facilitate the meeting between them, as the case may be). The majority of the ability doesn't directly involve die rolls, it simply expands what your character can do. It's presented as the sort of ability that a priest of death might have, but it could also fit a character who is a psychopomp, a necromancer (with appropriate magical abilities on top of it), or who has been touched by death in some fashion.
A note on technical nomenclature: "Free Actions" don't mean the same thing as they do in D&D. You have three normal actions a round, but you can also use a (as in one and only one) Free Action if you have an ability that gives you something you can do with it. So the death-touched individual can use this ability to protect another from harm (or hasten them towards death) once each round, but not the same round they're using another ability as a Free Action.
"Undeclared" means that you don't have to say you're going to do this at the start of the round, you can wait to see what happens and then use it reactively, in response to an ally's narrow defeat or an enemy's narrow survival.
A note on non-technical nomenclature: sub-abilities of the "ask the GM" type are not exactly a staple of the game but are an important part of it, and probably will occur more frequently in the divine/mystical abilities than elsewhere. The full book description of the ability would include GM guidelines for how to handle specific cases, but everything the player needs to know fits in the nutshell description.
There are no mechanics attached to this and no direct statistical bonus... the next sub-ability is meant to cover the practical benefits of being able to sense a pall of death over events. The "ask the GM" ability is essentially a storytelling device that can also be used to the advantage of a clever or cautious party. Because specifics are at GM's discretion, it doesn't have to ruin the drama of a surprising twist and can in fact be used to ratchet up the tension.
During a combat scene or in the middle of a dangerous, trap/monster-filled environment, the answer will probably always be something like "death hangs all around you" (though it can also be used in combat to tell if your foes are playing for keeps or not), but in a supposedly more safe environment it can help you be aware of hidden threats.
This ability is currently called "Death-Touched". It might end up being called "Blessed By Death" or "Favored By Death". It's one in a set of abilities that will follow the same model for their names, but replacing Death with something like Life, Fortune, Flame, Storm, Nature, etc. "Marked" might also end up being the final language.
Whatever I end up calling them, they're intended to represent the idea of blessing from a specific force or deity. In each case there will be other abilities that can stand in as a blessing, but these ones are 1) clearly supernatural but 2) don't fit into the magic system.
- You can ask the GM if anyone is likely to die or be in mortal peril during the current scene, and if it’s someone in your group or outside of it. More specific information is at the GM’s discretion.
- Add +2 to checks to notice potentially deadly traps or hidden threats, notice or identify deadly substances, or discern deadly intentions. You can give your allies a +1 bonus on such checks.
- As an undeclared Free Action, you can adjust the physical damage anyone else suffers from an attack up or down by 2 points if it makes the difference between them being above 0 HP or not.
So, taking this Special Ability gives you a character who can sense/predict death and stand between death and another (or else help facilitate the meeting between them, as the case may be). The majority of the ability doesn't directly involve die rolls, it simply expands what your character can do. It's presented as the sort of ability that a priest of death might have, but it could also fit a character who is a psychopomp, a necromancer (with appropriate magical abilities on top of it), or who has been touched by death in some fashion.
A note on technical nomenclature: "Free Actions" don't mean the same thing as they do in D&D. You have three normal actions a round, but you can also use a (as in one and only one) Free Action if you have an ability that gives you something you can do with it. So the death-touched individual can use this ability to protect another from harm (or hasten them towards death) once each round, but not the same round they're using another ability as a Free Action.
"Undeclared" means that you don't have to say you're going to do this at the start of the round, you can wait to see what happens and then use it reactively, in response to an ally's narrow defeat or an enemy's narrow survival.
A note on non-technical nomenclature: sub-abilities of the "ask the GM" type are not exactly a staple of the game but are an important part of it, and probably will occur more frequently in the divine/mystical abilities than elsewhere. The full book description of the ability would include GM guidelines for how to handle specific cases, but everything the player needs to know fits in the nutshell description.
There are no mechanics attached to this and no direct statistical bonus... the next sub-ability is meant to cover the practical benefits of being able to sense a pall of death over events. The "ask the GM" ability is essentially a storytelling device that can also be used to the advantage of a clever or cautious party. Because specifics are at GM's discretion, it doesn't have to ruin the drama of a surprising twist and can in fact be used to ratchet up the tension.
During a combat scene or in the middle of a dangerous, trap/monster-filled environment, the answer will probably always be something like "death hangs all around you" (though it can also be used in combat to tell if your foes are playing for keeps or not), but in a supposedly more safe environment it can help you be aware of hidden threats.