AWW: Update progress.
May. 2nd, 2013 08:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexandraerinDoing the rewrite has proved to be tedious in some places, so to reward myself I've been adding more of the fun stuff in... specifically, more Qualities! When the next update goes live, it's going to have at least four more: Brute, Tracker, Smooth-Talker, and Pyromancer. Another possible one, Theurge, is pending some development/conceptual issues.
People who've been following my development logic might notice that these five Qualities fit the theme/pattern of the first ten in the Guide: Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, [Cleric], and Wizard. It's always been my intent to have three Qualities for each of the "basic character classes" present in the Basic Character Guide, to better convey the mix-and-match aspect of things.
Brute (Berserker/Battlerager) is a pretty straightforward "striker" template. It's grouped with the fighter types but as of this writing nothing in its abilities specify close attacks or physical attacks. Anybody who takes the brute force approach can be a Brute. The Brute's presence actually adds to intimidation tactics used by anyone in the group. There's no "uncontrollable rage" mechanic attached to the higher tiers, despite their names... merely abilities that reward the character for not defending/taking hits. Combine with Stalwart for a kick-in-the-door barbarian, with Assassin for a really brutal striker.
Tracker (Hunter/Hawkeye) has tracking and sensory abilities, mostly vision but others at higher levels. The Tracker has an ability similar to "Hunter's Quarry" from D&D 4E, but more tied to actual observation of an enemy than battlegrid mechanics. The third tier needs a betterCommando name... I'm looking for a noun form of "inescapable" and not coming up with anything. I might go with the dramatic, fantasy-sounding "Foestalker".
Smooth-Talker (Charmer/Silver Tongue) can be a con man or otherwise ridiculously persuasive character. They not only make a good "face" character for the party but are good at social combat, to the point that by the second tier they can fend off physical attacks verbally. In the third tier, they get an ability that's called Diplomancy, as a nod to the D&D 3E munchkin trope, but it's a bit more specifically limited in scope.
Theurge (Heirophant/Wonderworker) is the "divine magic" character. Qualities like Life-Touched are there to represent specific divine blessings, but for people who want "cleric spells" that work as analogue to "wizard spells", Theurge is designed around reflavoring the Magic system as divine magic. The thing that's tricky is that this has to provide specific advantages, to be Quality-worthy.
Pyromancer (Fire Mage/Phoenix Wizard) is a specialist wizard. This is going to be a major subset of Qualities when I put out the magic-themed Character Guide. Specialist wizards have a static ability in their first tier that gives a +2 bonus when using magic that relates to their specialty, usually with something that improves that in the second tier, and other abilities that revolve around it.
If it seems disappointing that two of the three wizardy Qualities have so much overlap (Pyromancer and Battlemage are both kind of focused on the fireball-throwing kind of wizard), there will be at least one more specialist wizard in the Basic Character Guide by launch: Illusionist, as part of a cluster of Qualities based around the bard-type character class.
The final slate of Qualities will be between 30-36. I want to pack a lot of value into the basic set, because while I do plan on selling expansions and that being a major source of income within the project (insofar as money made from roleplaying games can ever be "major"), I also want there to be a lot of replay value in just the basic set.
As for the actual rewrite/update... I have the Qualities chapter redone and the Gear chapter redone, and I have started on the Attribute chapter. After I finish that and the Detail chapter, I think I'm going to rewrite the overview as it exists now and put the update up. It won't be "finished" because I want to redo the whole overview with a different approach and add a primer on gameplay terms, but it will be in a state of usability greater than or equal to the original draft I posted.
People who've been following my development logic might notice that these five Qualities fit the theme/pattern of the first ten in the Guide: Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, [Cleric], and Wizard. It's always been my intent to have three Qualities for each of the "basic character classes" present in the Basic Character Guide, to better convey the mix-and-match aspect of things.
Brute (Berserker/Battlerager) is a pretty straightforward "striker" template. It's grouped with the fighter types but as of this writing nothing in its abilities specify close attacks or physical attacks. Anybody who takes the brute force approach can be a Brute. The Brute's presence actually adds to intimidation tactics used by anyone in the group. There's no "uncontrollable rage" mechanic attached to the higher tiers, despite their names... merely abilities that reward the character for not defending/taking hits. Combine with Stalwart for a kick-in-the-door barbarian, with Assassin for a really brutal striker.
Tracker (Hunter/Hawkeye) has tracking and sensory abilities, mostly vision but others at higher levels. The Tracker has an ability similar to "Hunter's Quarry" from D&D 4E, but more tied to actual observation of an enemy than battlegrid mechanics. The third tier needs a better
Smooth-Talker (Charmer/Silver Tongue) can be a con man or otherwise ridiculously persuasive character. They not only make a good "face" character for the party but are good at social combat, to the point that by the second tier they can fend off physical attacks verbally. In the third tier, they get an ability that's called Diplomancy, as a nod to the D&D 3E munchkin trope, but it's a bit more specifically limited in scope.
Theurge (Heirophant/Wonderworker) is the "divine magic" character. Qualities like Life-Touched are there to represent specific divine blessings, but for people who want "cleric spells" that work as analogue to "wizard spells", Theurge is designed around reflavoring the Magic system as divine magic. The thing that's tricky is that this has to provide specific advantages, to be Quality-worthy.
Pyromancer (Fire Mage/Phoenix Wizard) is a specialist wizard. This is going to be a major subset of Qualities when I put out the magic-themed Character Guide. Specialist wizards have a static ability in their first tier that gives a +2 bonus when using magic that relates to their specialty, usually with something that improves that in the second tier, and other abilities that revolve around it.
If it seems disappointing that two of the three wizardy Qualities have so much overlap (Pyromancer and Battlemage are both kind of focused on the fireball-throwing kind of wizard), there will be at least one more specialist wizard in the Basic Character Guide by launch: Illusionist, as part of a cluster of Qualities based around the bard-type character class.
The final slate of Qualities will be between 30-36. I want to pack a lot of value into the basic set, because while I do plan on selling expansions and that being a major source of income within the project (insofar as money made from roleplaying games can ever be "major"), I also want there to be a lot of replay value in just the basic set.
As for the actual rewrite/update... I have the Qualities chapter redone and the Gear chapter redone, and I have started on the Attribute chapter. After I finish that and the Detail chapter, I think I'm going to rewrite the overview as it exists now and put the update up. It won't be "finished" because I want to redo the whole overview with a different approach and add a primer on gameplay terms, but it will be in a state of usability greater than or equal to the original draft I posted.