The Blessed, the druid/magician/shaman class for #Stonetop.
I put this playbook up a while back, but had two versions (one with a “spell list” and the other more-or-less like this), but couldn’t decide which I liked better for a long time. Now that I’ve got the Seeker worked out, and the idea of minor arcana as spells, this version definitely seems like the way to go.
They have a lot of potential magic, but I’m particularly fond of the idea that the magic mostly needs to be prepped in advanced but the player doesn’t actually roll for the move until its tested.
As always, feedback and criticism appreciated.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0lFq3ECDQDQQkZ5b3ZNcTIwaDA
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“Amulets and Talismans” crafted for protection from stabbing, with a result of “9”. Then, an enemy does 8 damage with a dagger. What “I feel it, but avoid the worst of it” means, in this case?
How do you inflict a malady stored in the pouch on someone else?
It says you start with 4 stock but can only have 3 max at starting level. Also some of the buffing and healing abilities seem really strong. And I didn’t think the whole human sacrifice thing goes with this class. Kinda evil I think, but maybe that’s what a character alignment is. Is Danu evil? Still like how it treats wildshaping and spells. Keep it low magic, subtle and mysterious.
Andrea Parducci I’d probably go with half damage in that case. I left it vague because I didn’t necessarily want it to always be “half damage or effect.” Like, if you get caught in a gout of flame I’d like to be able to say “sure, take the damage buy you’re not, you know, on fire.”
But in retrospect, just saying “They suffer only half the damage or effect” still gets that across. If a source of harm includes both damage and worsening fictional position, the GM could halve both, or drop one or the other, whatever makes the most sense.
So… consider that changed.
Peter J Intentionally ambiguous. Ask the player!
Maybe they use it like poison? Maybe they convince a spirit to deliver it? Maybe they blow it on the wind, or work it into a fetish? It’s some pretty black magic, however they do it.
Gerard Snow regarding stock: editing mistake. Should start with 3 stock.
I’m not too worried about the buffs & healing being too strong. Healers Arts requires tending to someone’s wounds, so it’s going to be slow. And most of the buffs require that you walk into danger without knowing how effective the magic is going to be. Plus, your Stock doesn’t auto-renew every time you Make Camp. It requires that you forage, which isn’t a sure thing (especially in a dungeon). But I might be wrong! We’ll see in playtesting.
As for the human sacrifice bit… that’s there as a bit of a reminder that magic is bloody. Human sacrifice was all the rage in the bronze age… if you believe Ceasar, the druids were throwing people in the pyre or the bog all the time. Danu’s not evil, but she is a goddess that takes offerings…
And it’s a meaningful choice. If you don’t have 1 Surplus to spare and the town’s Fortunes are low, but Winter is coming, you need a solid hit on the next Season’s Change roll.
Jeremy, are you going to be collecting all of this eventually?
Jeremy Strandberg That makes sense but the things Julius Caesar said were Roman war propaganda and not historically founded, but make a great concept to play out and see what happens. I wonder what the other deities thoughts are human sacrifice and similar issues. I only review and critique because Im super interested in stonetop.
Chris S yup, definitely.
Gerard Snow I hear you regarding the war propaganda, but last I read about it there’s archaeological evidence of bog-sacrifices. Of course, archaeologists have a tendency to go “eh, maybe it’s ceremonial?” for any object or behavior they can’t fathom the purpose of. And pop-archaeologists tend to run with that cuz sensational. But still… it’s part of the vibe I’m going for.
As for what the other deities think… who knows? I’m certainly not going to put anything explicit in the material about that. Hell, it’s entirely possible to play in this setting and not believe that the deities even exist (or that they’re just anthropomorphisms or once-mortals who got labelled as gods). None of the classes that are tied to the deities have anything close to a direct line of communication with them, so basically, it’s the players who decide what their deities think.
And, yeah, I can’t wait to see what happens when the town is on the verge of collapse and the Blessed suggests sacrificing a child and the Lightbearer says “no way, man.”
Jeremy Strandberg
looking forward to that. Your work is always very solidly thought out.
Jeremy Strandberg Yeah man Lightbearers are awesome! They are my favorite class. I love the atmosphere you’ve formed. Makes me want to set up long running campaigns. Way better than the original druids and clerics respectively of DW.
Who rolls to test “Amulets & Talismans”, the Blessed or the character bearing the charm?
“Potent Workings” is potentially a very big upgrade. If you choose “remains potent” and whoever is rolling the test has a +2 INT, then the amulet is 50/50 likely to be effective against five attacks, not one. If they have a +3 INT, it’s likely good against nine.
“Danu’s Grasp” lists a “7–9+” result, which seems incorrect. Also it lists the “7–9” result before the “10+” result for what seems like no good reason.
The 7–9 result on “Heed My Words” seems weak. I can’t quite imagine the circumstance where “at least they stop and think about it” feels like a partial success.
“Borrow Power” is awesome. I love it. So are “Trackless Step”, “Veil”, and “Wards & Bindings”. This is the witchiest RPG class I can remember seeing.
“Talsimans”, misspelled.
“Dire straits”, misspelled.
[Edit: Fixed the expectations for Potent Workings.]
Maybe the heed my words could cause the NPCs hands to shake, to go about it slowly, and overall do the job poorly have heartedly and with trepidation.