Thursday, March 20, 2008

Fantasy: Stunts, Status-Weapons [Melee]

Sorry for the big delay. Rest assured, I'm still neck-deep in this stuff. Recently I've gotten a little side-tracked with a related project -- mass combat rules -- but here are the last few stunts.

Status: New skill!

  • Of The People: Whether you used to be one of the little people or simply bother to show an interest in their lives, they love you. When dealing with someone whose Status is below yours, you may use Status in place of Rapport.
  • Imperious Mien [Prerequisite: Highborn Arrogance]: You never let anyone forget you're better than them. Status can only complement Intimidation for you, and never restrict. Additionally, you may defend against Intimidation with Status.
  • Highborn Arrogance [Prerequisite: Highborn]: The affairs of others mean little to you, or so it seems. You may defend against any Rapport attempts with Status.
  • Friends in High Places [Prerequisite: Highborn]: Your position in society makes you better connected than most. When trying to find people or information through your own network of informants, you may use Status instead of Contacting.
  • Blood of Forebears [Prerequisite: Associated Aspect]: You are descended from an inspirational (or feared) figure whose blood flows strongly in your veins. When rallying (or bullying, as the case may be) people to your banner -- that is, lead them on the field of battle -- you may use Status instead of Leadership.
  • Highborn [Prerequisite: Associated Aspect]: The character is of recognized nobility of some kind – landed gentry, the daughter of a duke, a prince, or the like. Even if his actual Status skill is not high, he is still considered to be of high birth, just not necessarily the highest. The character receives a +1 reputation bonus when using Status in his own country. He may also pick a specialty (such a specific city or a sparsely populated county) for which he receives an additional +1 specialty bonus.
  • Some other skills require a reciprocal Status-related stunt, such as a Leadership stunt that lets you use your Leadership in place of Status to defend against Intimidation. Those will go in later.

Stealth:

  • Change prerequisite for "Shadowed Strike" from "Master of Shadows and Vanish" to "Master of Shadows or Vanish." I would like someone to actually be able to take "Shadowed Strike" for once.

Survival:

  • Some of these Beasts stunts need a flavor change from Tarzan to druid. They can work as-is, for the most part, but they need a different vibe.
  • Change "Animal Friend" to "Wild Speech."
  • Change "King of the Beasts" to "Wild Born."
  • Move "Hell Bent for Leather," "Ride Anything," and "Breaking It In" to Ride.
  • Rename Orientation to Woodcraft.
  • Trackless Step: You are difficult to track outdoors. Anyone trying to track you suffers a -2 penalty, and all such attempts take twice as long. For a Fate Point, this benefit applies to anyone you're traveling with, as well.
  • Hunter's Grace [Prerequisite: Trackless Step]: So accustomed are you to the outdoors that your tread is as soundless as an animal's. When in a natural setting, you may use Survival in place of Stealth.
  • Champion of the Wild [Prerequisite: One other Survival stunt]: You see the wilderness not just as a home, but as tactical terrain, and know how to use it to your advantage. When in a natural setting, your Survival skill complements either your Melee or Missile skill (pick one when you take this stunt).

Weapons [Melee]:

  • Keep all Proficiency stunts as-is. Nearly all Fists and Weapons stunts now apply equally to unarmed and armed attacks alike.
  • Cut all Thrown stunts (they're under Missile now).
  • Rename "Weapon of Destiny" to "Signature Weapon"; it functions just as the stunt of the same name under Missile, but for the Melee skill instead. In fact, it'd probably be better to just make that a General stunt.
  • Martial Training [Prerequisite: Associated Aspect]: When you gain this stunt, you must pick a category of weapons: unarmed, one-handed, or two-handed. Your training in martial pursuits have honed your abilities into a finely disciplined form that is part combat skill, part art form. This gives you an acute insight into the means and methods of warfare.
    You may use your Melee skill to study an opponent by engaging him and testing his defenses with your own martial techniques in your chosen category. You must do this as a full action during an exchange. Your target must defend against this action, which is essentially a maneuver, with his Melee skill.
    If you succeed, you have gained insight to your target’s fighting techniques, and may place an Aspect on the target, as with a successful maneuver. In addition, whenever you tag this or any other of your opponent's Aspects during combat, you gain an additional +1 to your roll, for a total of +3 instead of the normal tagging bonus of +2. These bonuses and effects only apply when using a weapon from your chosen category (unarmed, one-handed, or two-handed).
  • Remove all prerequisites requiring "Brawler."
  • Rename "Dirty Fighter" to "Opportunist."
  • Rename "Crippling Blow" to "Critical Strike."
  • Rename "Mix It Up" to "Steel Whirlwind."
  • Rename "One Against Many" to "Tavern Regular."
  • Rename "Fists of Fury" to "Frenzy."
  • Cut "Fist of Death." The alternate consequence system in use here just makes it a bit too powerful, IMO.
  • Cut "Lethal Weapon" for the same reaosn.
  • Cut "Signature Strike." Personally, I like this as a quality for heavy weapons, and I don't want to dilute the coolness of that by making it freely available as a stunt.
  • Hold The Line [Prerequisite: One other Melee stunt]: When blocking an opponent's movement, you may use Melee instead of Athletics. If your effort results in spin, the blocked opponent takes a point of Health Stress, as per Riposte.
  • Armored Fighter [Prerequisite: Martial Training]: When wearing medium or heavy armor, reduce the armor's penalty to Athletics by 1.
  • Duelist [Prerequisite: Martial Training, associated Aspect]: When using a one-handed weapon without a shield in your off hand, efforts to defend or block using Melee receive a +1 bonus.
  • Reaver [Prerequisite: Martial Training, associated Aspect]: Once per scene, when an attack you make using a two-handed weapon results in your opponent taking a consequence, spend a Fate Point to immediately make a second attack against a different opponent in the same zone. If that attack results in a consequence as well, you may spend a second Fate Point to immediately attack a third opponent, and so on. No opponent can be attacked twice in the same round using this stunt, but as long as you have enough fresh opponents taking consequences, this can go on for as long as your supply of Fate Points will allow.
  • Two-Weapon Style [Prerequisite: Duelist, one other Melee stunt, associated Aspect]: When you gain spin on a defense, spend a Fate Point to immediately make an attack against that opponent. This can only be done once per opponent per scene, and does not count as your normal action in the exchange. You cannot gain the benefit of both this stunt and Turnabout in the same round.
  • Hold At Bay [Prerequisite: Martial Training]: This stunt only applies to weapons with the "Long"Aspect. When invoking your weapon's "Long" Aspect in combat, whether to attack, defend, or block, get an additional +1 from doing so, for a total of +3 instead of the usual +2.
  • Shield Defender: When using a shield, get an additional +1 to a full defense (total +3) or block action.
  • Trust The Shield: When wielding a shield, you may sacrifice it to reduce an incoming attack's damage by 2. This reduction stacks with that provided by taking consequence.
  • Combat Monster [Prerequisite: Martial Training, one other Melee stunt]: In combat, after successfully attacking an opponent, you may spend a Fate Point to immediately make an Intimidation check against that or a different opponent in the same zone. Your Intimidation check is complemented by your Melee skill.
  • Master of Battle [Prerequisite: Martial Training, two other Melee stunts]: Once per scene, whenever one of your attacks results in an opponent taking a physical consequence, you may spend a Fate Point to adjust the severity of that consequence up or down by one degree. For example, if your opponent chooses to take a Medium consequence, you could spend a Fate Point to make that a Minor or Severe consequence (essentially, a choice between making him take more Health Stress, or letting him reduce Health Stress taken in exchange for inflicting a more long-lasting injury). No consequence may be increased in severity beyond Severe or below Minor.
  • Cut all other Kung Fu stunts. It's all possible, but it's not especially genre-appropriate.

2 comments:

Jonathan Breese said...

Some guys at work are interested in role-playing a bit, and they are really into World of Warcraft. I was considering using what you had written up here to do Spirit of Warcraft. Interestingly enough, I can keep all the gadget stuff in it because Warcraft has engineering in it.

For that same reason (being able to keep the gadget stuff), I was also looking at doing Cadwallon with it.

Mike Olson said...

Guys you work with are into WoW? No....

Yeah, cool. Please do. Play/Playtest away. Everything oughtta work out just fine with all of the gadget stuff intact.