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The Magical Martial
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<blockquote data-quote="NotAYakk" data-source="post: 9333567" data-attributes="member: 72555"><p>I mean, Batman is supernatural. He bends reality all of the time to make his crazy plans work and survive.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And he's supernaturally good at those. His detective skills are not just amazing, they are plot-backed. His piloting and driving skills are beyond what any mortal can do. Being a ninja lets him do impossible things. Martial arts in this world are supernatural, in that they let you do things beyond what a human can do in our reality. Etc.</p><p></p><p>It is like saying "he's just strong, but not supernatural" in a world where you can learn to lift a battleship by lifting something 1% heavier every day until you are that strong (start with 1 lbs, increase weight by 1% every day, in 5 years you can lift a battleship). (log(35,000*2000)/log(1.01) / 365 = a bit under 5)</p><p></p><p>Does that battleship-lifting person have supernatural strength? In-world fiction, no, she just got gud.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I'm playing with this actually.</p><p></p><p>1. You get 1d8 HD at level 1. The "non-class HD". (if you are small, it is 1d6).</p><p>2. Maximize all HP from HD.</p><p>3. Bandaging wounds takes 10 minutes and lets you spend HD, faster with a healers kit check.</p><p>4. Short rest is a reasonable overnight sleep (including while camping). It recovers half of your HD. You can spend a HD on recovering a level of exhaustion, and HD on regaining ability damage.</p><p>5. Long rest is a week in a safe spot, like a city. You can do downtime activities and the like; anything adventure-like (fights, etc) extends it.</p><p></p><p>HD sizes matter a bit more than they do in baseline games. This also opens up substantial space to give classes additional power-ups.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I find most skill powers to end up restricting what you can do with skills rather than enhancing them, unless they are written to aim for near-exalted levels.</p><p></p><p>Not that I'm against that.</p><p></p><p>The Talent system (inspired by a pre-Basic Thief I read about) I keep on futzing around with is basically a half caster spell-slot like progression. But instead of Vancian or fuel, each Talent is an ability, from level 1 to 5.</p><p></p><p>Level 1 abilities cover 1-4, Level 2 5-8, Level 3 9-12, Level 4 13-16, and Level 5 17-20.</p><p></p><p>T1 is L1 Talents</p><p>T2 is L2 and some 3 Talents</p><p>T3 is L3 and some 4 Talents</p><p>T4 is L5 Talents</p><p></p><p>Each Talent provides a mechanical veto. X just happens. No check based on your character's abilities; maybe a save on the target.</p><p></p><p>Ie, Tumble might be a level 1 Talent that states "On your turn you do not provoke opportunity attacks before you take your action". And lets give it some more utility: "You can make an Acrobatics check as a reaction in a number of situations. When falling, you can reduce falling damage you take by the amount of your check. When failing a Dexterity saving throw, you can roll an Acrobatics check against the same DC and pass if you beat it. When hit by an attack, you can roll an Acrobatics check against the to-hit roll, and the attack misses if you succeed."</p><p></p><p>There, a nice level 1 martial Talent.</p><p></p><p>We can extend this up to level 5 Talents, which are similar in narrative impact scale to "you can cast wish once per day".</p><p></p><p>...</p><p></p><p>Now, as we want to have some distinction between Magical, Supernatural and "Mundane" martials, I'd shoe horn in the concept of Power Sources.</p><p></p><p>Each Talent is tied to a Power Source. Marital Power Source Talents have a requirement of a certain skill being trained (or the like). But other Power Sources can exist, and Talents tied to them can be less Mundane.</p><p></p><p>Getting a Power Source can be like getting a magic item. In legends, we have heros that drink the blood of a dragon to get its power; that might be a way to get a Power Source. In fact, we could have Power Sources beyond the basic Martial one require attunement slots in 5e, and the Power Source itself grants abilities like a magic item does.</p><p></p><p>So now we can have a series of Power Source fueled talents.</p><p></p><p>Having Wings might be a L3 Talent. The Draconic Power Source might give access to "Wings", as could the Fey, Fiendish, Celestial and other Power Sources. If you Have Wings, you just get a 60 fly speed; when you take damage at 1/2 HP and below, you have to make a Concentration check or lose control and fall 200'.</p><p></p><p>Other talents could be:</p><p>You are bigger. Large, Huge, Gargantuan.</p><p>You can run very fast (100'+ per turn).</p><p>You can regenerate.</p><p>You are insanely strong (double dice weapons, 10x lifting capacity)</p><p>You inspire loyalty, and your loyal follows are inspired to being badasses</p><p>Inhuman levels of Rizz</p><p>You can disappear</p><p>You are inhumanly prepared</p><p>You can walk on raindrops and leaves</p><p>You can run on walls</p><p>You can climb anything</p><p>You can walk on water</p><p>You don't get tired</p><p>Your blows leave craters in the ground and smash walls</p><p>You can bounce thrown stuff with inhuman power and precision</p><p>You can jump inhumanly far</p><p>You can unlock things instantly</p><p>You can modify and disable traps insanely fast</p><p>Animals you ride are capable of impossible feats</p><p>You can convince someone to be your friend</p><p>You can reconstruct what happened in a room in the last 24 hours at a glance</p><p>You always know if someone is telling a lie</p><p>Your lies appear as truth to anyone detecting them including magic</p><p>You can force someone to answer your questions honestly</p><p>You know the exact price someone would require to do something</p><p>Your words act like Suggestion</p><p>Your mind cannot be read</p><p>Illusions are obvious to you</p><p></p><p>but really, just look at <a href="https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Solar_Exalted_Charms" target="_blank">List of Solar Exalted Charms</a> - more than half of them can be converted into a non-spell like "you are just awesome, you can do X whenever you want".</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="NotAYakk, post: 9333567, member: 72555"] I mean, Batman is supernatural. He bends reality all of the time to make his crazy plans work and survive. And he's supernaturally good at those. His detective skills are not just amazing, they are plot-backed. His piloting and driving skills are beyond what any mortal can do. Being a ninja lets him do impossible things. Martial arts in this world are supernatural, in that they let you do things beyond what a human can do in our reality. Etc. It is like saying "he's just strong, but not supernatural" in a world where you can learn to lift a battleship by lifting something 1% heavier every day until you are that strong (start with 1 lbs, increase weight by 1% every day, in 5 years you can lift a battleship). (log(35,000*2000)/log(1.01) / 365 = a bit under 5) Does that battleship-lifting person have supernatural strength? In-world fiction, no, she just got gud. I'm playing with this actually. 1. You get 1d8 HD at level 1. The "non-class HD". (if you are small, it is 1d6). 2. Maximize all HP from HD. 3. Bandaging wounds takes 10 minutes and lets you spend HD, faster with a healers kit check. 4. Short rest is a reasonable overnight sleep (including while camping). It recovers half of your HD. You can spend a HD on recovering a level of exhaustion, and HD on regaining ability damage. 5. Long rest is a week in a safe spot, like a city. You can do downtime activities and the like; anything adventure-like (fights, etc) extends it. HD sizes matter a bit more than they do in baseline games. This also opens up substantial space to give classes additional power-ups. I find most skill powers to end up restricting what you can do with skills rather than enhancing them, unless they are written to aim for near-exalted levels. Not that I'm against that. The Talent system (inspired by a pre-Basic Thief I read about) I keep on futzing around with is basically a half caster spell-slot like progression. But instead of Vancian or fuel, each Talent is an ability, from level 1 to 5. Level 1 abilities cover 1-4, Level 2 5-8, Level 3 9-12, Level 4 13-16, and Level 5 17-20. T1 is L1 Talents T2 is L2 and some 3 Talents T3 is L3 and some 4 Talents T4 is L5 Talents Each Talent provides a mechanical veto. X just happens. No check based on your character's abilities; maybe a save on the target. Ie, Tumble might be a level 1 Talent that states "On your turn you do not provoke opportunity attacks before you take your action". And lets give it some more utility: "You can make an Acrobatics check as a reaction in a number of situations. When falling, you can reduce falling damage you take by the amount of your check. When failing a Dexterity saving throw, you can roll an Acrobatics check against the same DC and pass if you beat it. When hit by an attack, you can roll an Acrobatics check against the to-hit roll, and the attack misses if you succeed." There, a nice level 1 martial Talent. We can extend this up to level 5 Talents, which are similar in narrative impact scale to "you can cast wish once per day". ... Now, as we want to have some distinction between Magical, Supernatural and "Mundane" martials, I'd shoe horn in the concept of Power Sources. Each Talent is tied to a Power Source. Marital Power Source Talents have a requirement of a certain skill being trained (or the like). But other Power Sources can exist, and Talents tied to them can be less Mundane. Getting a Power Source can be like getting a magic item. In legends, we have heros that drink the blood of a dragon to get its power; that might be a way to get a Power Source. In fact, we could have Power Sources beyond the basic Martial one require attunement slots in 5e, and the Power Source itself grants abilities like a magic item does. So now we can have a series of Power Source fueled talents. Having Wings might be a L3 Talent. The Draconic Power Source might give access to "Wings", as could the Fey, Fiendish, Celestial and other Power Sources. If you Have Wings, you just get a 60 fly speed; when you take damage at 1/2 HP and below, you have to make a Concentration check or lose control and fall 200'. Other talents could be: You are bigger. Large, Huge, Gargantuan. You can run very fast (100'+ per turn). You can regenerate. You are insanely strong (double dice weapons, 10x lifting capacity) You inspire loyalty, and your loyal follows are inspired to being badasses Inhuman levels of Rizz You can disappear You are inhumanly prepared You can walk on raindrops and leaves You can run on walls You can climb anything You can walk on water You don't get tired Your blows leave craters in the ground and smash walls You can bounce thrown stuff with inhuman power and precision You can jump inhumanly far You can unlock things instantly You can modify and disable traps insanely fast Animals you ride are capable of impossible feats You can convince someone to be your friend You can reconstruct what happened in a room in the last 24 hours at a glance You always know if someone is telling a lie Your lies appear as truth to anyone detecting them including magic You can force someone to answer your questions honestly You know the exact price someone would require to do something Your words act like Suggestion Your mind cannot be read Illusions are obvious to you but really, just look at [URL="https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Solar_Exalted_Charms"]List of Solar Exalted Charms[/URL] - more than half of them can be converted into a non-spell like "you are just awesome, you can do X whenever you want". [/QUOTE]
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