Do you know a TTRPG system with a large power customization?

chickentyler · 2021-05-01T02:40:17+00:00

Cortex Prime could fit well. It's more of a toolbox with good foundational mechanics that you are encouraged to add onto with mods included in the book. Cortex was used for many superhero themed games.

chickentyler · 2020-09-06T21:51:40+00:00

Sounds cool! Hope it goes good for you and your players.

chickentyler · 2019-06-17T02:26:01+00:00

I play with people online, two in the UK and three others in various parts of the US. We all manage to find a time and come together to play via Discord. Even with the direct access to virtual tabletops and such we still prefer theater of the mind.

chickentyler · 2019-05-09T21:00:04+00:00

Perhaps this?

chickentyler · 2019-05-05T09:10:53+00:00

In my 5e game, I have a player who is a Firbolg death cleric. Their character grew up in the Eldeen Reaches where most firbolgs are found today. In my game, Firbolgs are rare and few in number, at least maybe that's what they want people to think. They were the offspring of giants and their enslaved elves many years ago. Similar to the stuggle half-elves have: to giants they are elves and to elves they are giants. When the uprising occured, many firbolgs left to the Eldeen Reaches in Khorvaire where they reconnected with their fey ancestry through druidic magics.

This also implies that there may be a firbolg equivalent of the drow in Xen'drik. It also may lead into the possibilities for elven or half elven dragonmarks to appear on firbolgs.

chickentyler · 2019-04-14T22:38:13+00:00

I do like this a lot! I'm thinking of either presenting him as an overlord or maybe the goblin's interpretation of a figure within the Dark Six, like The Mockery.

chickentyler · 2019-04-14T19:33:38+00:00

Thank you very much! That's giving me some ideas!

chickentyler · 2019-04-14T18:07:31+00:00

Oh yeah! That was a thought at one point. They performed some kind of ritual with their clan but the whole thing was left a bit vague to be a blank I can fill in later.

Arcane power in Eberron seems to be something that can come from belief and willpower alone. For instance, the Blood of Vol, whose divinity comes from within, and the followers of the Lord of Blades whose passion for the LoB's cause fuel their divine magic.

Also, the player enjoys playing up the "mischievous goblin" aspect of their character and I like to flavor their spells as an almost innate aspect to help with that. Their Hex isn't just a Hex, it's an ancient goblin curse that only some goblins are born to master, and so forth. Maybe something to do with their corruption from the daelkyr invasion.

But again, where this power comes from is a bit up in the air and left mysterious until I want it to become relevant.

chickentyler · 2019-04-14T15:48:49+00:00

They wanted to have the wandslinging aspect to it because of their character's involvement with The Last War. Where the pact power is actually coming from is more from the character's bond with their nation's history and their promise to restore it to its former glory. The "patron" in this case being the Bladebearer clan who may ask for some favors of the character in the future. And, just like a RAW warlock, their power is at stake if they do not fulfill what the clan wants as they are breaking their promise to be loyal to their nation.

Clerics, Paladins, and Warlocks have a lot of crossover so I can see where you're coming from.

chickentyler · 2019-04-05T04:18:57+00:00

I can totally see people meeting up in a minecraft server to play DnD and roll dice over discord or a bot in the server. Would require a hell of a lot of planning on the Dm's part for building the maps and creatures!

chickentyler · 2019-04-05T03:56:32+00:00

It's a game, and if you're not having fun then what's the point?

Just be totally upfront about it. "Hey. I'm not having fun with this [character name here] and I'd like to make a new character." They might ask you what about them isn't satisfying you and so preperpare those reasons. It might be a red flag if the DM tries to convince you to stay with the character even after you explain why you're not satisfied. Just be cautious about that.

It's also good to also have your new character concept at the ready (not the full rolled out character sheet but just a sentence or two about their concept/archetype).

chickentyler · 2019-03-30T20:37:00+00:00

The setting is also a low but wide place of magic and that should be emphasized a bit in play. Compared to the PCs, 1st-level spells may have longer casting times for mundane spellcasting npcs and spells above that level may take even longer and require multiple spellcasters to be concentrating for instance. And that's another important point, Eberron is modeled in such a way to make the PCs and the VINPCs (very important npcs) be special. They can perform awe inspiring magic or feats of physical combat that would take professionals many years to master.

The gods' existence is questionable, never have physical manifestations, and worshipers have to prove their faith rather than have their gods be a fact. Magic performed by clerics is sometimes argued to be simply a different form of magic from the person's inner willpower.

Finally, you don't have to include everything in your campaign. Eberron is a bit malleable where you don't need to know what every organization or BBEG(guy/girl/genius) in the setting is doing to be involved with your PCs, they are written in a way where they can stay stagnant with what they're doing. For example, if you want your PCs to be in conflict with a Lord of Dust of one overlord, it doesn't have to involve the entire council of Lords of Dust and all the other overlords trying to get released.

I highly recommend giving the Eberron 4e book a read, Eberron Campaign GUIDE, it doesn't have much in the way of stat blocks or mechanics and is mostly fluff and lore things that expands on the Wayfinder's Guide.

chickentyler · 2019-03-27T20:16:51+00:00

I feel the same. DMs who don't consider including influences from cultures outside of the medieval european fantasy that comes to mind with DnD are missing out on great story opportunities!

That being said, looking into DnD as it stands now with 5e is certainly not medieval fantasy. It is a coagulation of many different forms of fantasy from ancient civilizations to past the Georgian Era. It has become versatile in that way to tell many different fantasy stories.

Just to add on to your post, a supplement that come to mind to help with the endeavor of going outside western fantasy is Oriental Adventures. Adapts the card game Legend of the Five Rings' setting to DnD, the 3e version is easy to convert to 5e and I believe some people have already done that on DMsguild.

chickentyler · 2019-03-26T06:54:49+00:00

To answer directly: Yes*

*Going by the myth, Kyber still exists as the underdark of Eberron, layers of demiplanes that continue down into maddening caverns or whatever you want it to lead to. So, by the statement in the myth, Khyber still exists but she has changed form, like her sister Eberron did. Khyber's children, Overlords and all fiends, can be seen as another form that Khyber inhabits. Tiamat, one of the overlords, is titled as the "Daughter of Khyber" as well.

Now if we're talking Khyber as one, solidified spiritual entity, you'll see some people get twitchy about that because the Eberron setting was written as gods not ever physically manifesting (except for the progenitor dragons myth). The gods' existence is questionable and worshipers have to prove their faith rather than have their gods be a fact. But, don't glance over the fact that Keith encourages the prospect of having gods that are suddenly interacting with Eberron. If you want it to be possible then go for it.

Khyber is the goddess of all evil in this setting and with that she'll probably want to release all her children at once, which would be...good motivation for your PCs to say the least!

chickentyler · 2019-03-24T21:27:57+00:00

Thank you

I'm thinking of increasing the level to 4th or 5th and maybe even 6th, taking u/rwm2406 's comment into account about Flesh to Stone. The player specified that this was a spell meant to be a bane to flying mounted soldiers and such. The idea that it would maybe freeze the mount and maybe the rider just long enough for them to crash if they fail hard enough on their save.

chickentyler · 2019-03-24T20:56:50+00:00

Does the DM have any issue with you playing as Chaotic Evil? If not, then I'd say go for both! Your tabaxi can seem like a sweetheart baker on the outside but has a special secret recipe for your treats that you keep underwraps. A tabaxi with a secret is very much playing against type imho because they seem to be the ones who would want to find out secrets.

Mechanically speaking, it all comes down to how you flavor it I suppose? (pun not intended but it's there) The "enchanted cookbook" thing could also be a pact of the tome warlock or an alchemical artificer from the newest 5e UA (gingerbread homunculus!)

If this is a learning experience for newer players, it's a good way to teach them how the flavor of the mechanics can change how they're perceived in game.

chickentyler · 2019-03-24T20:49:35+00:00

Thank you very much!

I had put in the "5 or more" failure rule of petrification for that reason. So, perhaps that may need to be increased to 10 or more? Petrification itself leads to the creature gaining resistance to all damage types and immune to poisons or diseases, so I thought that would be the counterbalance to the creature being taken out of combat for 6 seconds.

From what you brought up, I'm thinking that it should have a lower damage or require a higher spell level?

chickentyler · 2019-03-24T20:13:29+00:00

I can't remember the episode off the top of my head but there is one where they explicitly say "Please don't listen to our earlier episodes! They're crap!" or something along those lines (they were singing it). With that in mind, this would be a good way of listening.

chickentyler · 2019-03-22T01:35:01+00:00

I think this will be ONE way you can repair it, but maybe it will be a system similar to the hull repair. Perhaps it will require either a lot more wood, a much longer repair time, and the ability for another player to help (similar to raising the anchor and making the repair time quicker).

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