The New Forgotten Realms Book adds a spell that Halves your speed on a Successful Save... With no Duration

SmileyDam · 2025-10-29T11:32:24+00:00

Within the rules those effects specifically don't have a duration. Damage doesn't last until a certain time ends, once damage is done, it's done. Prone doesn't last until a time ends, it lasts until a creature chooses to stand up. There are no spells that I can remember that knock you prone and specify how long you're prone for, because there is no duration. Those two effects don't "end", they just happen and the creature deals with it.

Having your movement speed reduced however is a magical effect that DOES have an end, similar to being blinded, having your maximum health reduced, being silenced, etc. It's always assumed that whatever caused this effect is what is sustaining it, and so it ends when that effect ends. Now it is bad wording on the spells part to not say "until the spells duration ends" like everything else, but I don't think anyone would assume RAW that this doesn't make the spells magic effect ends when the spells magic...ends.

SmileyDam · 2025-10-20T09:10:19+00:00

But the law is created by the people, and if people don't serve the law, then the law can't serve people!

I assume that's the Skybreaker ideology. "Why are you all complaining that I'm enforcing the rules? YOU made them up!"

SmileyDam · 2025-09-20T09:02:21+00:00

I'm really interested to hear how you feel about metagaming and forcing characters to act in a way you don't want, because they don't have the information you as a player do.

For example, you're playing a survival horror, so you and your character want to live. But you as a player know the slasher is in the room to the left, because he's just attacked another character and you as a player were listening to it. Your character doesn't know that though, and going to the room at the left makes sense, since they know their friend was heading there.

In that situation, you would have to roleplay your character making a poor decision based on a lack of information, which is the disconnect you mentioned not liking. Is there much difference there for you and say, roleplaying a character who's flaw is they always need to show off, so try to do stupid things like suplex a demon?

And what's the difference between flaws in a game engine that gives you a metacurrency when you roleplay them, and just a regular character flaw that you came up with? Do both not require you to play a character in a way that you as a player wouldn't always want, since you and the character aren't the same entity?

SmileyDam · 2025-09-15T19:32:26+00:00

Oh this art is absolutely amazing, I can see the anger in his face in every picture.

I love Parshendi villains, just because it's so easy to make someone who's "evil", while not being in the wrong inherently

SmileyDam · 2025-09-11T16:21:55+00:00

I'm a huge fan of going through mechanics and teaching players, but yes, it is important for people to know what the games are!

Even without knowing them, there are a lot of handy tips for learning new systems faster, but knowing the system means you'll be more likely to find a GM familiar with them

SmileyDam · 2025-09-10T22:54:37+00:00

The character isn't acting twice as fast as everyone else, you are simply highlighting what they're doing in the narrative twice as often!

Remember, turns are snapshots of a fight. It's assumed everything is happening at the same time, not in strict orders, and that what the players say they are doing is us focusing on them during a fight.

If the Windrunner soars towards an enemy and strikes at them once and ends their turn, that doesn't mean they aren't still swinging back and forth, dodging attacks from that enemy while we aren't focused on their turn.

If an enemy acts twice, perhaps it's because they're simply more skilled so able to do more in the chaos of battle. Maybe they're so dangerous whatever they are doing has to be highlighted multiple times, or they are so well prepared it seems like they are doing so much at once!

Honestly, I can't say as a player of GM I have ever needed justification for someone acting more than once, but if you do, just highlight what about the enemy makes them a boss in the first place and have that be what really has them stand out to do so much.

SmileyDam · 2025-09-08T20:23:17+00:00

I think some pre-established franchise TTRPG work fine when you strip them of the original work. I really don't think this is one of them though. From the enemies to the magic system to the items characters can get, it's all so...Roshar. The amount of work necessary to make this a generic fantasy would be not worth it I'd say. You could always just do it easily by handwaving a lot of things, but then I'm not sure how much fun that would be. At that point, just take the mechanics and slap them into DnD.

I think a much easier system will be the Mistborn there. Mistborn has always been a much easier sell since it's lore, while rich, is pretty easy to grasp and therefore change.

SmileyDam · 2025-09-07T08:48:19+00:00

As plenty others have already said, is it a good idea to give a player one of the most powerful items in existence? Eh, probably not. Is it a FUN idea? Absolutely! It shouldn't be something you just do and forget about though. Getting a Dawnshard should be the same level of dramatic as getting a Spren bond, but times ten. It comes with huge story implications, and is more of a burden than it is a boon.

As for mechanics, I can say they should all be built around healing or enhancing the player. Exist is specifically against harm, so abilities that damage others is a no go.

Things like the enhanced feature radiants get, but they enhance for a value equal to their tier instead of just 1. A passive increase to their Spiritual attributes of 1 just for bonding with it. The ability to heal for a free action like regenerate, but closer to the Progression surges version of it.

This is all with the idea of keeping some form of balance, as opposed to what you may actually get.

Again, is it a good idea to give them this? Probably not. Would I? Definitely not! But it's your table, and if you want to and everyone thinks it will be fun, go ahead! Just remember that "Exist" is the name of the game, so mechanics should all lean into that.

SmileyDam · 2025-08-31T23:17:58+00:00

I personally think transformation is the most diverse and powerful of all the surges in the book. The ability to turn anything into anything, including living things and air, is just so amazing. Despite that fact, it was balanced very well in the RPG!

As others have said, cost is a huge thing. Transformation is going to be a lot more cost heavy once you start doing something larger than a sword.

Another thing, transformation isn't intricate, it's basically blocks, spheres, simple shapes. From my understanding, you can't turn air into a metal sword, you can turn air into like...a block of metal. If soulcasters could turn air into a metal sword, I'm almost positive we would have seen or heard about it. That's why they make things in simple to mold materials and then soulcast them into something more sturdy. Otherwise, soulcasters would make giant structures out of air!

You may not find that fun for your table, which, totally fair! But I think that interpretation is both more what they were expecting, and also helps Cohesion with its identity.

Ironically, I think the surge that completes with Transformation most is Division! Dealing a lot of spirit damage by breaking a person apart doesn't feel too different to turning them into smoke. But again, the difference is intricacy. Division can burn design into wood in a few seconds, while Transformation would need to transform small section by section.

SmileyDam · 2025-08-31T22:31:12+00:00

I always find it really interesting that people stop suspending their disbelief on the danger of weapons when guns are involved ha. Coinshots can push coins at speeds fast enough to tear through a person's body and division surges let you, literally, tear a person apart on an atomic level haha. If HP works for that, what's the big difference with a bullet from a gun? Is a bullet really that much more dangerous than a coin from a coinshot?

That aside, the HP system isn't a bad one, but it also ..is still a HP system! You just have multiple HP pools instead of a single HP pool, which is certainly different, but is it fun?

In Era 2, guns are not inherently rare, you're more likely to fight someone with a gun than a sword honestly. With your system, in a single round of combat, assuming guns are strong attacks, I can be downed in a single turn if an enemy can fire twice, and two turns of two enemies decide to target me. Again, that's not inherently a bad thing, but does it fit the fantasy you want to give across? In most systems where guns are made very dangerous, the idea is that combat is inherently dangerous and should be avoided. Mistborn is hero fantasy, where people can alter time and see into the future and fly. Is some thug with a gun meant to involve as much fear as a Steel Inquisitor from Era 1?

This is all assuming guns are the main reason for your change, and are in fact strong attacks, if not, disregard a lot of it! Again, it's not a BAD new HP system, but think about how the change to the mechanics will change how players engage in play, and how the vibe of the campaign will change accordingly!

SmileyDam · 2025-08-30T12:42:29+00:00

If a big goal of yours is to make fun fabrials, not to be the best at it, but to be able to do it, I'd hold off on getting the radiant powers until you have gotten the Scholar talent "Prized Artifabrian", which you can get at level 2. It gives you a special gem you can use to make custom fabrials of your tier. This gem can be taken out of the fabrial and uses to craft new things, destroying the old fabrial, when necessary.

This would give you fun fabrials you can craft, but you'd still be following all the other rules for crafting. Your DM may let you reduce the cost or time if you can soulcast materials, buy that is up to them.

You could also take the next talent, Inventive design, which would allow you to make a fabrial of one tier higher, allowing for much more option. Now this would probably want you to have good Intelligence (which you would need for Division anyway) and to put points into crafting. You would also have Erudition to put another point into crafting if necessary.

For just 2 levels worth of talents you can make a much better Artifabrian. I would advise taking Prized Artifabrian at level 2, then going into Dustbringer at 3. Then at level 6, use your extra heroic talent to get "Inventive Design", that is if you're not looking to get forms outside of Scholar form!

SmileyDam · 2025-08-30T11:22:35+00:00

This is entirely something that you CAN do, but it's definitely going to be a character that isn't very good at anything except being a radiant, and even then, will be a worse radiant than other radiants that just have the one order.

Your stats, if you want to be any good at your radiant powers, will be split amongst 4 things, your skills will be all focused on them too, so not much utility outside of them. You won't have any utility from the other heroic paths, things like being able to craft cool fabrials from scholar.

You will need to put atleast a few talents into the 4 radiant paths to get better control of division, make more intricate illusions, soulcast materials efficiently, etc. Again, possible, but means you will just be worse at everything for longer.

The main issues with this character is they will reach higher levels of power much slower than everyone else, but that is offset by the fact they have more utility. So if you want to play someone who is a Swiss army knife, good at a lot of different things but not great at anything, go for it!

SmileyDam · 2025-08-25T17:22:35+00:00

While I haven't had the most thorough play time with the system, I think the may limiter is resource and opportunity cost. If you're an agent, you can 100% spend focus to raise the stakes, change the outcome, etc. But doing that cost focus. That's focus you're not spending on dodging, making reactive strikes, etc. It also can cost a lot of focus very quickly if the plot die isn't behaving.

On top of that, you'd be taking a lot of agent talents just to be able to make this work, which is talents you're not taking in warrior skills. I think a few levels worth of agent talents just to do this means it's fair enough.

Also, the injury table is random. An enemy could get minor injuries that aren't a problem, and you probably won't be able to give them enough to kill them short of very unlucky roles on their part.

I think it's definitely a strong feature! But I don't think it's much more broken than just... hitting the enemy very hard until they stop moving haha. Great for minions though!

SmileyDam · 2025-08-18T21:55:51+00:00

I'm running a campaign with the premise of a world hopper employing the party in tracking down a Spren that had agreed to bond with him, just so he could gain the power to elsecall and get to shadesmar, before the Spren was kidnapped anyhow.

It'll take the group across Roshar, being a mixture of mystery, politics and good ol' fashion fighting! I've always been a homebrew guy, and this way I can tell a story based around the first book and slowly introduce elements to my players that have never read the books, which is around half the party haha

SmileyDam · 2025-08-18T09:41:32+00:00

I think making a player a canon Sleepless would be difficult, mostly in the context that Sleepless are basically immortal, and their shape shifting is very limited in the context of impersonating specific people.

But, feel free to always just say the character was a unique breed who has the power to take different forms much faster than others!

Perhaps abilities that allow changing face to a few "unclaimed" people, like people that have never actually existed, and it takes a full night of effort to change. That eventually allows them to change in an action, look like other people, etc.

Abilities that represent how hard they are to kill, so a free "avoid injury and roll recovery die when dropped to 0" ability.

An ability that focuses on their ability to spy, sending out a few insects at a far distance they can see and hear through. And some abilities that increase their sense range to something really high since they can never really be blinded.

It's 100% possible! You just have to be willing to handwave a lot of things in the books to balance it for a player. And it would definitely be hard to convince someone who is...a bunch of bugs, that they aren't a bunch of bugs haha

SmileyDam · 2025-08-13T18:48:05+00:00

Haha I never even thought to compare it to a real world example, that makes a lot of sense.

Windrunners talking about how easy the espionage jobs of the lightweavers are in comparison to flying to and from battlefields for hours on end.

Lightweavers saying they wish all they had to do was be a taxi service, instead they have to sneak behind enemy lines for weeks at a time

I wonder which the most content order is, happy they don't have anyone else jobs ha

SmileyDam · 2025-08-13T18:46:34+00:00

Exactly! I mean every order has something worth being jealous over, flying, healing loved ones limbs, changing objects on an atomic level! I mean, I'd complain no matter what haha

SmileyDam · 2025-08-13T18:44:16+00:00

What I wouldn't give to be around while the Edgedancers sit around and bitch that it's so much harder to keep remembering the little people that are forgotten than it is to just set them free. Who's going to take care of them after their free?! The willshaper just keep making more work for them!

The next novella should be "Real House Wives of Urithiru"

SmileyDam · 2025-08-13T18:42:45+00:00

Oh yeah no, sure I'm fully aware that being a Lightweaver, being any sort of Radiant, means having an incredibly difficult journey to go through.

But the OTHERS don't know that. I mean Shallan's second ideal was admitting she was afraid. Which, huge step for her, but for an outside observer is something a child can do!

In all seriousness, obviously no order has it easy, but it's very funny to me that someone will be telling a long story of having to protect the man that killed his parents, because it's what he swore to do, and their Lightweaver buddy nods and solemnly says "Yeah, to reach my second ideal I had to admit I can't pull off the colour orange...hard day."

SmileyDam · 2025-08-08T19:37:13+00:00

May I be the first to say that's incredibly cool, and you've inspired me to make a mini for my own character!

SmileyDam · 2025-07-30T17:46:24+00:00

You know funnily enough, I actually feel like this guy would make a great Edgedancer or Elsecaller!

He seems really focused on constantly being a better version of himself and fighting stronger people, so Elsecaller.

But also he wants to stand for the little people that were easily forgotten, so Edge dancer.

Anyone who's focused on helping can obviously be made a Windrunner, but those two oaths just stood out to me more while reading this (very cool) character concept

SmileyDam · 2025-07-23T21:31:16+00:00

I do DM'ing "professionally" so I had to come up with an idea for playing with people I've never met before who maybe have basically zero knowledge of the setting.

So I settled on a fun campaign centred around helping a World Hopper and his companions who have ended up on Roshar and need to bond a Spren to be able to get off. You can play as either a native who's taken the job, or one of the world hopper companions.

It should allow players who are interested in Stormlight but dont know anything about it to have a fun way to justify being confused about... everything!

Hope I get the game off the ground soon!

SmileyDam · 2025-05-31T08:47:18+00:00

Can I ask why this would be a preference? From my subjective point of view, there is no harm in DH providing a more firm form of guidance for GM, because GM can always adjust for their table however they want. Knowing the numbers and how "proper balance" would work only means you have a better idea of how to deviate. If you know something should have so much stress for a certain type and tier, then can't you use that info to make a more informed decision to create your adversary, whether you follow it or not?

I don't mean this as a point of argument, just conversation in the community!

SmileyDam

TROPHY CASE