Cwheeler
First Post
Here is my take on having a tier before the heroic tier: Imaginatively named the 'Pre-heroic tier'!
View attachment Pre-heroic.pdf
I've gone for more of a 'how the characters became heroes' feel, rather than a 'let's run around and farm pigs!' situation.
There are a couple of things that I should probably explain:
Sparks vs Experience Points.
I have chosen not to use experience points because I wanted a system that encouraged storytelling rather than number crunching. Also, starting the characters on negative Xp or modifying the experience table seemed superfluous. As it stands, characters simply emerge from this system as first-level adventurers.
Racial powers.
I am unsure as to wether players should start out with them or gain them with their first spark. Do all Dragonborn have a breath attack? Can all Eladrin Teleport? Or is it only those with at least some spark of heroism?
Somehow I find the idea of dragonborn peasants and commoners being able to deal enough damage to easily kill each other en-masse… unsettling.
Backgrounds.
I plan to make backgrounds available to all characters, as in the dragon article on SoW. I find some of the backgrounds listed there to be a little too heroic in for my purposes, so I’ll probably make a generic list of the things that you can have and encourage players to make their own backgrounds.
Still to come:
Encounters, opponents, skill challenges and sample storylines for pre-heroic characters.
View attachment Pre-heroic.pdf
I've gone for more of a 'how the characters became heroes' feel, rather than a 'let's run around and farm pigs!' situation.
There are a couple of things that I should probably explain:
Sparks vs Experience Points.
I have chosen not to use experience points because I wanted a system that encouraged storytelling rather than number crunching. Also, starting the characters on negative Xp or modifying the experience table seemed superfluous. As it stands, characters simply emerge from this system as first-level adventurers.
Racial powers.
I am unsure as to wether players should start out with them or gain them with their first spark. Do all Dragonborn have a breath attack? Can all Eladrin Teleport? Or is it only those with at least some spark of heroism?
Somehow I find the idea of dragonborn peasants and commoners being able to deal enough damage to easily kill each other en-masse… unsettling.
Backgrounds.
I plan to make backgrounds available to all characters, as in the dragon article on SoW. I find some of the backgrounds listed there to be a little too heroic in for my purposes, so I’ll probably make a generic list of the things that you can have and encourage players to make their own backgrounds.
Still to come:
Encounters, opponents, skill challenges and sample storylines for pre-heroic characters.