New Rule: Dolorous Wounds
As of this evening I am adding in something a bit Arthurian for our home campaign. Dolorous Wounds.
I saw this float past me on Owen K Stephen’s Google + Stream and immediately recognized it as something that would be great in a Planescape game. Here is his take on it followed by my own note on how it will be implemented in our home game. Players take heed, it is in effect as of next game and has already been integrated into the campaign wiki!
Some wounds do not answer to even the most powerful magic healing. When a character would normally be killed, the player may instead choose for the character to suffer a “dolorous wound.” The dolorous wound produces some physical ailment, agreed upon by player and the GM (normally a -1 penalty to one category of skill checks, most often Str, Dex, Con, or Cha-based skills, though a penalty to range modifier for losing an eye or a reduction of movement rate for a limp are also appropriate). The dolorous wound is so severe the damage is duplicated on the character’s soul, making it impossible to heal with normal magic. A special ritual may be able to fix a dolorous wound, but it has at least the cost and difficulty of a true resurrection spell.
DM Note: This option will only be available when offered by the DM. Dolorous wounds do not result from regular combat, the circumstances are always something legendary.
Many thanks to Owen for posting this as Open Content. If you use it elsewhere here is the correct Sec 15 entry for your OGL: Rules+. Copyright Owen K.C. Stephens 2010-2011; Author Owen K.C. Stephens.
Dark Roads and Sacred Necromancers: The Patron Adventures
I love the way that the gaming industry is moving more and more towards a patronage model. For those who might be unfamiliar with it here is the description from Open Design, the pioneers of this new approach to game development:
Open Design uses an old business model called patronage; you directly commission a game designer, mapper, and illustrators to produce an adventure of interest.
As a patron, you can participate in the project discussions, brainstorms, and polls. You’ll read design essays and have the opportunity to playtest and review material. If you’re a senior patron, you’ll have more access: maybe suggest an NPC or a monster, maybe write whole sections, but there’s no requirement to contribute text! Senior patrons also preview maps and artwork. While Senior Patrons have a lot of pull, but a particularly inspired idea can often be snapped up from the lower tier. A great idea is, after all, a great idea.
I’m just getting my feet wet with the process thanks to my lovely wife. Having lived with a Planescape junkie for over a decade she snapped me up a senior patronage for Dark Roads and Golden Hells, the new planar book being developed by Open Design.
It’s quite an experience, while couched in the familiar environment of forums the mere knowledge that you’re working on something that will be going to press seems to supercharge the creativity. It’s also forcing me to really address one of my own weak points – monster creation under the Pathfinder rules. It’s something I have not done a lot of. (I’ve got so much 3.x stuff I just convert or add class levels most of the time.) And having people like Colin McComb and Wofgang Bauer drop in and add commentary is always worth its weight in star rubies!
Then there is Mysteries of the Dead Side, another Patronage project launched using Kickstarter by Zombie Sky Press. It’s not a full book like Dark Roads and Golden Hells, but it is a nice pdf supplement with an interesting set of ideas behind it.
Join the ranks of the undead! Help create the sacred necromancer, a new class for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
This specialist class will explore all the possibilities of necromancy: revenants, “white necromancers,” ancestor worshipers, sin eaters, ghost detectives, exorcists, and more.
The man behind this one is Scott Gable, editor of Kobold Quarterly (magazine, blog, and patron projects) among many other things. The really interesting aspect of this project is that rather than using forums for the development discussions it is test driving Google +, the first RPG project like this to do so as far as I know.
All in all it’s fascinating to see the ebb and flow between patrons and creators. The brainstorming, the pitches, the voting and then the really fun part – the design!
I’ll be posting more about my initial experiences with patron projects as I find more to write about.
Clockwork Gnome goes Pathjamming!
As a Spelljammer DM this little project thrills me. The fine folks over at Clockwork Gnome Publishing look like they have a real winner on their hands with the forthcoming release of Sailing Starlit Sea, a fantasy space supplement.
Now here is the part I really love. You see, every attempt at fantasy space since Spelljammer has felt obligated to address space travel differently. This project allows for a lot more versatility by allowing you a number of options including the traditional Spelljamer perspective [emphasis below is my own]:
However, one of the key parts of Sailing the Starlit Sea will be the Campaign Overlays. These will provide advice on how to alter the standard assumptions to your tastes. Campaign Overlays will address everything from methods of interstellar travel to adjusting the physical laws of the universe. So if Platonic inspired crystalline spheres are your preference,Sailing the Starlit Sea will provide a way to accommodate that choice while still preserving the rules and setting presented in the book.
With the final product not due out till early 2012 how can we judge what to expect from it? Easily, my dear cutter, they’ve just released a few teasers with info about their main solar system and more. Check them out:
- The Major Planets of the Seren System
- The Moons, the Shattered Wanderer, and Other Celestial Bodies of the Seren System
- Monsters of the Starlit Sea
This looks like fun, here’s hoping the crunch is as good as the fluff is so far.
By the way if, like most Pathfinder DMs I know, you scavenge old 3.x material for your game you might be interested in this old chestnut I wrote looking at some that are very useful for a PFRPG/3.x campaign: Contraband – Some Third Edition Spelljammer Resources.
Planejammer- The Spelljoined Campaign of the Month on Obsidian Portal April 2011
Today we bring to you guys, a truly awesome showcase of campaign depth and intricacy. The very dedicated and friendly DungeonMasterLoki shares with us a bit about his game, his players and gives us some sound advice. The Spelljoined campaign has been going on since before some of us were born! So ‘ave a seat cutter, and stop rattlin’ your bone box for a just minute and park your ears right here!
So begins the blog post which announces our status as the feature Campaign for the entire month of April on Obsidian Portal! I can’t thank our contributing players, artists, and writers of crunch enough. You are all brilliant!
So rest assured that there is still a lot to go up on the Campaign wiki, we’re talking 30 years of setting development here. I’m slowly getting The Seven Stars and The Misfits formatted and online.
Additionally, all of the campaign journals, rules and such are undergoing a full migration to Obsidian Portal. This website will be transitioning to general RPG news and updates on the forthcoming line of pdf supplements we are working in for Pathfinder.
So here they are, the last three campaigns of the Planejammer series in various states of construction:
The Spelljoined (current) | The Misfits | The Seven Stars
We love feedback and comments!
Spelljammer: Wildspace Domain (Pathfinder)
Wildspace Domain (Pathfinder Conversion)
Deities: Celestian of Greyspace, Ptah
Granted Powers:
Spelljamming Adept (Su): The cleric gains +2 SR when manning a spelljamming helm, and can Locate Portal in an adjacent crystal shell as a spell-like ability twice per day as long as the cleric is within 400′ + 40′ /level of the sphere’s surface.
Inspired Flight (Su): At 8th Level the cleric gains an additional +2 SR that stacks with the one from Spelljamming Adept. In addition the cleric also gains a +4 to all Pilot Spelljammer skill checks. The later ability may be used for a number of rounds per day equal to 3 + Wis bonus + 1 per every five cleric levels.
1st Create Air. Provides air, 2nd Contact Home Power. Contacts your god from any crystal sphere, 3rd Chill Fire. Makes the phlogiston less flamable, 4th Create Portal. Opens a portal in the adjacent crystal shell, 5th Create Minor Helm. Makes a temporary minor helm, 6th Find The Path. Shows the most direct way to a location, 7th Repair Ship. Repairs major damage to a ship, or builds a liferaft, 8th Renew Ship Atmosphere. Completely refreshes most ship’s air envelope, 9th Living Helm You become a major spelljamming helm.
Please note: the spells linked are still in their 3.5 configuration. They are next on my list.
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