October playtest typos / comments

A thing that's not included in the playtest rules (unless I've missed something again) is how to determine the starting repertoire for a newly created eldrich caster or ceremonialist. In ACKS, the guideline for arcane spellcasters was "One of these ~4 broadly-useful spells as chosen by the Judge, plus a number of rolls on the first-level arcane spell table equal to the mage's intelligence bonus." I'm guessing eldrich casters and ceremonialists should probably use a similar guideline, but there are a couple of things that complicate that:

  1. Eldrich casters and ceremonialists may have slightly larger repertoires than mages for the same intelligence bonus. Should the number of random table rolls made by an eldrich caster class with be increased similarly?
  2. There are three different first-level eldrich spell tables, one for each of the different shades of magic. Should the table(s) an eldrich caster rolls their starting ceremonies/spells on be determined randomly? Or should it be the player's choice, or based on their choice of alignment or class?

On an unrelated note, will there be any specific guidance on how to generate magic treasures when combining content from heroic fantasy and ACKS core in a single campaign? I ask because I've been pondering using Heroic Fantasy as a splatbook for my own existing core campaign, and I'm worried that using only a single random treasure table might make it harder for eldrich and/or arcane casters to find the scrolls and spellbooks they need to fill out their repertoires. (No worries if the answer is no; I'll just confine eldrich magic to certain regions of the map/realms beyond mishapen portals, and let my players choose where to adventure.)

Repertoire is determined exactly as for arcane casters - you start with a number of spells in your repertoire equal to the number on the spell progression table. What am I missing?

As far as treasure, the HFH treasure tables are going to assume you're only using eldritch magic. A combo table that combines eldritch, arcane, and divine magic will have to wait for AXIOMS.

[quote="Alex"]

Sweeping attack I think creatures with attack range more than 5' should make targets go prone rather than withdrawing. I can't think of a clean way to write this though :)


I'm not sure why? Anecdotally when I've fought opponents with reach weapons I fall back, I don't fall down, to evade their reach.

[/quote]

I’m imagining sweeping dragon claws, giant clubs, kraken tentacles. Not simply large weapons. But I think this is a bit “outside” the system, as we don’t have longer reach for bigger creatures as a general rule.

[quote="Alex"]

Spells: Delay Death: I also don't see the scenario in which this spell is useful. At 5th level, a cure critical wounds is quite likely to heal to 1 hp.


Not sure I agree with your critique of the spell. It really depends what degree of negative hit points the victim has been reduced to. In one of my last games of ACKS, a character that was already at low hp due to wounds (5hp out of 25hp) got dropped 120' and suffered 12d6 damage, reducing him to -25hp and mortally wounded. His base healing rate was 1d8, so Cure Critical Wounds would heal 5d8 - 5*4.5=22.5 - less than a 50% chance of keeping him alive.  Mathematically, the spell is most valuable when cast on badly-wounded low-level characters.

Note also that Healers can emulate this spell non-magically, and cannot emulate Cure Critical Wounds.

[/quote]

I had missed the part where this can be done with the horsetail herb and healing proficiency. Thinking as a PC with limited repertoire, the cost of having this spell as one of my very limited 5th level spells is quite high. But I see the scenario and agree that it has a use.

Unrelated: your example has a character with 25 hp going to -25. Is there a cap on negative hit points equal to max hp, or is that just a coincidence?

I think the question is… there are now 3 spell lists for each level. Do you have a proposal for selecting starting repertoire spells, like…

Choose each starting spell at random. First select a spell list, based on the character’s alignment:

Lawful: 1-4: White, 5-6: Gray
Neutral: 1-2: White, 3-4: Gray, 5-6: Black
Chaotic: 1-2: Grey, 3-6: Black

Etc…

Or possibly: 1-7: Black, 8-14: Gray, 15+: White, but Lawful characters add +3, and chaotic characters subtract 3. A character may add or subtract his or her Intelligence bonus.

[quote="DrPete"] I think the question is... there are now 3 spell lists for each level. Do you have a proposal for selecting starting repertoire spells, like... Choose each starting spell at random. First select a spell list, based on the character's alignment: Lawful: 1-4: White, 5-6: Gray Neutral: 1-2: White, 3-4: Gray, 5-6: Black Chaotic: 1-2: Grey, 3-6: Black Etc... Or possibly: 1-7: Black, 8-14: Gray, 15+: White, but Lawful characters add +3, and chaotic characters subtract 3. A character may add or subtract his or her Intelligence bonus. [/quote]

Oh. Ohhhhh. I'll have to give that some thought.

Now that ceremonialists no longer cast spells with divine power, should black lotus (pg 74) reduce stigma in some fashion instead of giving divine power? (Figuring out what it gives non-casters is more complicated!)

Revised Find Traps description (page 86) says it takes 1 turn to search 10 square feet. I think this should be 10 feet square (a 10’x10’ area)?

[quote="Alex"] Repertoire is determined exactly as for arcane casters - you start with a number of spells in your repertoire equal to the number on the spell progression table. [/quote]

Eh? According to page 67 of the core rules, the number of spells in an arcane caster's spell progression table is irrelevant to how many spells they start with in their repertoire. Such characters start with a number of spells that's between one and one-plus-their-intelligence modifier. Was this errata'd?

[quote="Alex"] What am I missing? [/quote]

DrPete has the right of it: Heroic Fantasy features three different tables for spells of each level. Making the selection of which to roll on purely random could produce some weird results (e.g: a lawfully-aligned and high-minded nobrian wizard whose spells are all sould-scarring black magic), but giving players the ability to choose which table to roll on adds a big-and-slow decision to otherwise-fast ACKS character creation.

Related, but not really, question: are magical scrolls going to be categorized by tradition the way trinkets and talismans are in the HFC?

Destroy Dead is not listed in the main spell list tables.

Also, is it black magic because it can target inanimate corpses? It feels odd to have a spell specifically designed to destroy the undead that is black magic.

 

Freebooter: I want to like this class,

How about giving them D6 HD. To compensate the thief value becomes 1 (loss of 2 skills), arrmour selection becomes broad and the damage bonus is available for both missiles and melee weapons (another 2 skill choices). Each path of wealth can remain unchanged, but now the character must choose 5 of the 9 skills or bonus proficeinces listed instead.

The total cost if I calculated this correctly is exactly the same as the experience points listed in the heroic fantasy book: (1000(fig)+500(HD)+200(T)) + 3 trade offs for the fighter (instead of 5) +450=2150.

Now they are little tougher and fit a more diverse role.​ They are also seem to have a distinct archeyype when compared against similiar choices such as assassins and explorers, that use the same type of build.

All the best 

KAW

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey KAW, thanks for the feedback! The Freebooter was a deliberate attempt to create a very particular style of character - a hard-hitting but fragile striker. There are already a lot of classes built with HD 1, Fighter 2, Thief 1 -- it's practically the "default" adventuring class for ACKS -- so I wanted to try something different.

 

Will the Minimum Hit Points for Unadventurous XP Accumulation and civilized decadence rules be added to the next draft?

 

[quote="KAW"] Will the Minimum Hit Points for Unadventurous XP Accumulation and civilized decadence rules be added to the next draft? [/quote]

If so, I really hope they'll be presented as optional. If experience from domain management makes for permanently weaker characters, there's no easy way to train up your PC's heir to a reasonable level so that you can use them as a replacement character when your PC dies or retires permanently.

Plus those rules go against the political-power-equals-personal-power thing in a weird half-hearted way... If you want unadventurous characters to be weak, why not just remove XP from unadventurous sources from the game?

frankly i see the HFH in it's entirety as optional, almost like Unearthed Arcana.  It's a collection of rules that allows you to turn dials in a direction of creating a game that I don't think is 100% compatible with all of the original conceits of ACKs.

Berserker: HD 2 and Fight 2 yields a 2,000 XP cost with fighter attack and saving throws. Armor selection is reduced to “narrow” for two (2) class powers (+300 XP). Damage bonus is reduced to one type for one class power (+150 XP). Fighting styles reduced to two types for one class power (+150 XP). Weapon selection reduced to “broad” for one class power (+150 XP). This yields six class powers. 

2 + 1 + 1 + 1 == 5, and I think that's the right count based on PC. Six class powers at 150XP a pop is also gonna be 2,900XP rather than 2,750 XP.

If you drop to Narrow weapons (for 6 individual weapon choices) that's 2 powers granted; for a total of 2+1+1+2, or six.

Edit: outmathed myself, also, we're halfway to the best part of Clue: The Movie

I kinda like the Narrow weapon selection from a stance of "keep it simple, stupid", as in keeping your weapon selection to something you know instinctively because half the time you're on the autokill setting.

 

 

[quote="koewn"]

Berserker: HD 2 and Fight 2 yields a 2,000 XP cost with fighter attack and saving throws. Armor selection is reduced to “narrow” for two (2) class powers (+300 XP). Damage bonus is reduced to one type for one class power (+150 XP). Fighting styles reduced to two types for one class power (+150 XP). Weapon selection reduced to “broad” for one class power (+150 XP). This yields six class powers. 

2 + 1 + 1 + 1 == 5, and I think that's the right count based on PC. Six class powers at 150XP a pop is also gonna be 2,900XP rather than 2,750 XP.

If you drop to Narrow weapons (for 6 individual weapon choices) that's 2 powers granted; for a total of 2+1+1+2, or six.

Edit: outmathed myself, also, we're halfway to the best part of Clue: The Movie

I kinda like the Narrow weapon selection from a stance of "keep it simple, stupid", as in keeping your weapon selection to something you know instinctively because half the time you're on the autokill setting.

[/quote]

Actually I believe the error is that I decided Greater Berserkergang costs just one class power. Its effect is +2 damage and -1 damage per die, which should be worth 2-3 powers, but it can only be used once per day, it takes a round of prep to use, it risks friendly hits, and it exhausts you after usage. 

I'll make the adjustment.  Thanks!

Given some of the other conversations about special components, etc; would it be too much for things like Vermin Slaying, or other sorts of * Slaying profs, to grant the ability to draw components from vermin or whatever?

"Only good goblin is a dead goblin. And their livers make good Slipperiness potions."

(L0 henchmen leveled as a side effect of crit'ing a giant black widow and living to tell about it, thought I'd reward the effort.)

 

The 'O' entry on the treasure table says

90% 3d6 common, 70% 1d6 uncommon,30% 1d2 rare, 15% 1 rare, 5% 1 legendary

I'm guessing the "15% rare" is "15% very rare"?

Yes! Good catch.

 

Eyes of Petrification and Flying Carpet are listed under both Very Rare and Legendary.

As an aside, and with risking the wrath of players across the world, there aren't any cursed items?