Neitherworld Stories - Page 27 of 56 - Tabletop roleplaying games and other geekery

January 11, 2008

Heroes of the Second Age

So… who are the PCs in a Second Age campaign? PCs are individuals who have learned (consciously or unconsciously) to empower their anima and/or affect the spirit world. These fall, roughly, into three categories: 1. Those who have learned techniques (through study, natural talent, or happenstance) to manipulate the spirit world. Wizards fall into this category. 2. Those who have...

January 9, 2008

Necromancy in the Second Age

Upon death, the spirit of a living thing shatters. Shreds of it stay with the physical remains, becoming the spirit of the corpse (or the spirits of the pieces of it). What happens to the rest varies. In some cases, however, it is known to remain more-or-less intact as a free-floating spirit, or ghost. Other times, the shattering of the...

January 8, 2008

Soon

I will have my life back. Maybe. Next up: Necromancy in the Second Age

January 4, 2008

Arcane Texts of the Second Age

Spirits are governed by the laws that created their hosts. For the spirits of living things and the spirits of nature, these are simply the laws of the natural world itself. The true gods are the spirits of concepts, themselves, and would not exist but for the ideas in the minds of mankind – which is why they feed off...

January 4, 2008

The Experience Equation

Rate of Character Advancement = 1 / Character Capability Something like this was an assumption of early D&D, but it has been lost. In today’s D&D, as it is meant to be played, you advance a level every 11 balanced encounters or so, and each level is roughly balanced with every other. Who knows what tomorrow’s D&D will bring? Well…...

January 1, 2008

Happy New Year

I was woken this morning by a car alarm going off. Repeatedly. I think it started around 8am. Last I heard it was not too long ago. This is not fun. The thought of taking a sledgehammer outside was tempting, even given the warmth of bed. I feel for those of my neighbors with champagne-induced hangovers. I don’t generally do...

January 1, 2008

Dashing Swordsman

Over on EN World, some people were trying to come up with a (made-up, as far as anyone knows) prestige class that was mentioned in The Order of the Stick. Here’s my version: Dashing Swordsman (V 1.2) Hit Died8. RequirementsTo qualify to become a dashing swordsman, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Base Attack Bonus+6. SkillsPerform 8 ranks,...

December 30, 2007

Rules of the Second Age

I can see running this with a variety of rule-sets: d20, heavily-modified D&D, house-ruled Burning Wheel, high artha flow Sorcerer (& Sword) Maybe something else? The first two here are more differentiated by degree than type of rule-set. If we went the heavily-modified route, I’d be tempted to write a modified magic system that looked a bit like the stuff...

December 28, 2007

Taxonomy of Spirits, Addendum

All spirits benefit from attention – whether that is emotion directed at them or, even better, conscious worship. Such things not only empower the spirits who receive them, but gradually shape them. This is reflected in animae as well. For example, a creature (or a person!) who is feared will gradually become more dangerous while a child-prince who is beloved...

December 28, 2007

The Taxonomy of Spirits in the Second Age

It looks like the Thundarr/Exalted mash-up is likely to happen. I’m personally trying to flesh out the setting in my head. I came out with a bit of cosmology the other day – it will probably have little bearing on the game, but I think it is neat. The Taxonomy of Spirits in the Second Age Inanimae are the spirits...