Quote from: Sigmund;601599Seems like Captivation is a bit too useful

Yes. This has been a major point of discussion between me and the other two designers. We are trying to balance the need to keep power levels even, with the need for fun and interesting spells. So what I have done in my revisions of captivation so far is focus on rewording things a bit. Basically, i have emphasized that while it makes people friendly toward you, it doesn't make them stupid or cause them not to do their job properly. A modern example would be a cop arresting you for drunk driving. He might really like you, but he is still a cop and still has a duty to perform. So if you cast the spell at normal power, it will be more about getting people to like and trust you. When you cast it at full power it will still be quite powerful, which is fine because full power castings come with a good deal of risk.

I think having Sertori having some kind of spell-sense (the Detect-rolls you mentioned) will give the players themselves a chance when Captivation is cast against them (always a good test of a charm spell -try it against the players at some point).

Ran another playtest on Saturday. This time the threat was a dragon, halfling intrigue and some vampires (were trying to test a lot of features of the system). Dragons are very powerful in Sertorius and unfortunately we had to stop just as the PCs were about to attack it. They did face some vampires though and that proved a solid and interesting challenge.

We also had a chance to test the followers and disciples rules. We only just scratched the surface but so far, so good.

Another playtest on Friday. Ran a scenario similar to the previous one: vampires and a dragon. Vampires worked as expected with no hitches. This was also an excuse for me to delve more into one area of the setting.

Have revised the core rules a bit. Removed some inconsistencies in the starting wealth section and found a couple of gaps in the Impaling Spike spell. Starting the process of writing up the skill section (we have the master list of skills and have been using them, but need to get some text into the manuscript so we can gauge how much space there is for spells, monsters and other setting specific material).

Knowledges work a bit differently from previous network games. When we made slayers we used a concept where your rank in a knowledge skill indicates 1-4 levels of mastery and provided the information you are hoping to know is within your level of mastery, there is no need for a roll. So a character with rank 2 in History: Ronia knows about the broad strokes of Ronian history but may be missing some of the more involved details. So he doesnt need to roll to know what year the first Ronian emperor ruled, but he might need to roll to know the name of the first emperor's brother.  Basically if itis beyond your normal scope of knowledge, you can try to make an educated guess or hope you picked up a key detail and happen to remember it. This worked very well in Slayers, but will need to see how well it works in Sertorius.

Also looking to revise some of our armor entries.

Quote from: Tommy Brownell;591431The "magic with consequences" sounds promising. "Cast all you want...if you dare."

I agree, I think this idea isn't utilized enough. I always liked the Dark Sun version where if you voluntarily limited yourself you could cast safely, but you always had the option (temptation) to go crazy Sounds like this might be similar, which rocks

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;591404Just posted this on our blog. It is for a playtest of our fantasy RPG: Sertorius-

We playtested Sertorius this month, running a full scenario. Things went well. The changes we made to the system work for what we are trying to achieve. Sertorius are more durable than standard Network system characters and this allowed the players to take on multiple combats without too muh risk. In the adventure we ran, the party was trying to track down and destroy a Monstra, a kind of magical beast driven to the brink by its powers. This led them through perilous forests where they encountered undead and hostile humanoids similar to goblins. It was interesting to see our spell system in action for an extended period. Every spell can be cast endlessly, so characters never run out of juice. But casting a spell at a high level of power comes with some risk. In one instance a player character was able to summon an avalanche of flame against their foes, and in another one character went mad from channeling too much magical energy.

The adventure culimnated in an ancient ogre temple dedicated to a dead lion god. There they fought a Monstra inhabiting a giant lion, with all kinds of magical abilities (its roar unleashed a tide a thorns that ripped the party's flesh for example). In the end, the characters were victorious but wounded.

So far we are pleased with the game. It has 20 spells so far, and that list is going to grow considerably (we want to playtest in small batches though). Character creation works great.

Most characters are assumed to be powerful people called Sertorius. In the ancient history of the setting (called Gamandria) a powerful god named Senga (the lion god from our playtest scenario) was killed by his Ogre worshippers. This resulted (after some other developments) with the scattering of his soul which was then reborn into living creatures as fragments (rebirth plays an important role in the Gamandrian cosmology).

So a Sertorius is simply the reincarnated fragment of a shattered god. This sets them apart from other characters, giving them more health and access to magic. However players have the option of playing mundane people or creatures as well. In most cases this means an inferior character, which we clearly state to the readers of the book. But in the case of Ogres, things are a bit different. They are a cursed race because their ancestors killed a god. As a result Sertori are never born among them. Ogres have no access to magic. While they were the first to establish civilization, inventing agriculture, writing and engineering, they no longer excel at these things (due to the curse) and live mostly on the outskirts of other societies (this is expressed mechanically as a penalty to related Trade skills). However they have one small benefit from their curse: resistance to magic. As an Ogre grows in power, his ability to withstand spells (and therefore fight Sertori) goes up. Ogres also have a large amount of health.

We are quite excited by the game so far and looking forward to developing it over the next year.

Has a very "Birthright" vibe that I'm very much digging Brendan. BR is my favorite D&D setting, so making a setting like it sounds good to me Keep up the good work.

Quote from: Sigmund;609233Has a very "Birthright" vibe that I'm very much digging Brendan. BR is my favorite D&D setting, so making a setting like it sounds good to me Keep up the good work.

I played and enjoyed Birthright, but never ran it or read many of the books, so I am glad to hear you make the comparison, though I am not all that familiar with the details of the setting. What is becoming fun is how the game changes as the players start to acquire followers. There are downsides to it though so some groups might take pains not to acquire followers and disciples if they choose. A lot of what has come up in play reminds me a bit of the movie Agora with the different religious factions in Alexandria.

Quote from: Sigmund;609232I agree, I think this idea isn't utilized enough. I always liked the Dark Sun version where if you voluntarily limited yourself you could cast safely, but you always had the option (temptation) to go crazy Sounds like this might be similar, which rocks

This is the key to the magic system in the game. Basically when you cast at full power, you risk acquiring Grim Points which corrupt your body and mind. I think the Dark Sun comparison is apt. I would say it is a bit across between dark sun magic and ravenloft powerschecks in some respects.

Been working on monsters this week. I really needed more monsters and encounter tables for upcoming playtests.

Been working a bit on the Divination Skill. We had this in Servants of Gaius, but I wanted to alter it to fit the Sertorius setting better. These are not meant to reflect real world magical beliefs, though they are inspired by them. We took a lot of liberties so we could work them into the setting the way we wanted. This is just an early draft of the mechanics and will probably undergo a lot revision as we playtest:

Divination
Divination is a broad range of techniques used to either interpret the will of the gods or see into the future (as well as the past and present). Diviners draw on practices such as astrology, reading animal entrails, casting lots, and many others. Most such methods require at least two hours of effort (in some cases much more). The Diviner must also have the necessary materials available. The effects of a Divination Roll vary depending on what kind of questions the person is trying to answer. Divination is a closed skill, so with ranks in it you can use any of the methods described below. However each method does have its own advantages and drawbacks:

Astrology: This takes more time than other approaches because it requires the Diviner to create a chart or horoscope based on the alignment of the stars in relation to a person’s time, place and conditions of birth. This is at least a full day of work. But it tends to produce much more accurate readings of the future than other methods. It is much less reliable for determining the will of the gods.

Bibliomancy: This is a quick method of Divination that usually produces highly ambiguous results. It is done by asking a question and opening an important text to a random passage (usually the sacred scripture of the god in question). The bibliomancer senses the hand of his deity guide him to the most appropriate text in the book. He must then interpret the text for himself. Again, this usually is quite subjective, as most passages are not directly applicable to the situation. A bibliomancer may ask Sul “Should I go to war with the Marites?” and on a successful attempt land at a passage that reads “The serpent’s venom coursed in the blood of Ashan, and made him a tyrant.”

Palmistry: This mode of divination is very good at assessing a person’s history, but not very reliable for reading their future or accessing the will of the gods. It takes a little over an hour to perform properly and can usually provide vague details about the person (how many siblings they had, whether they are married or in love, important personal events like having served in a major battle).

Lithomancy: This method reads previous stones as a method of divination. Suited primarily to the past, this method takes up to three hours and is especially good at yielding information about big picture elements of history.

Taromancy: This is a good method for gaining insight into the present or past, and usually involves the laying down of cards. It takes up to hours to perform adequately and begins by focusing on a point of inquiry. It is particularly good for readings about the present.

Haruspicy: This is the reading of animal entrails, usually after a sacrifice. It is most commonly used to interpret the will of the gods and is one of the more reliable methods. Using Haruspicy tends to produce much clearer details about what the gods intend. It also allows the user to frame the inquiry. For example, with Haruspicy, the user can seek the gods will on any particular issue.  This method takes about two hours.

Cleromancy: Another form of divination aimed primarily at understand the will of the gods, Cleromancy involves the casting of lots or bones. It is the quickest method, taking only seconds but produces the foggiest of results. The answer is never clear and always quite vague. The Diviner doesn’t get direct messages but a feeling or collection of feelings based on the casting and has to interpret these. It can also be used to sense something about the future.

Augury: This involves studying the patterns of birds in flight to sense the gods’ will. It is about as reliable as Haruspicy but not always convenient. It takes moments to perform, but requires the gods send a deliberate message. So the Diviner cannot frame the question, he simply sees the birds (or goes looking for birds) and receives the meaning of their pattern.

All of the methods available to diviners can be used to predict the future, see into the past, understand the present or determine the will of the gods but all are not equally good at each one. Regardless of methodology there are three basic goals of Divination:

Divination about the future
The future is not written in stone, but it is predictable to and powerful beings such as the gods are better than humans or elves at estimating future events. However, they are still flawed. The most reliable method for telling the future is Astrology, because the stars are governed by something greater than the earthly gods: Aetia. Therefore Astrology is the most precise and accurate way to read the future, as it is based on the more perfect understanding of Aetia, whereas methods like Haruspicy reflect the best guesses of the gods about the future.  Even predictions based on the stars are a glimpse of the most likely outcome. People still have free will and shape the future course of events.

While an astrologer does gain insight about the future, his understanding of the process is imperfect. The Diviner may believe he is discerning the intent of Lorgo by composing a Horoscope based on the constellations, when in fact he is reading the will of Aetia.

For attempts to see into future the Diviner must select a target, normally a person, and make a Divine Skill roll TN 7. Each attempt allows you to glimpse the future of a person or thing. On a success, you learn a small detail about their future. On a Total Success you gain a much more complete picture, acquiring several important pieces of information. These attempts are always limited by the medium used.

Divination about the past/present
This involves efforts to see into the past or the circumstances of the present. It can be used to focus on an individual but can also be used on a group or culture. There are a few methods suited to this sort of divination but the best are Taromancy, Palmistry and Lithomancy.

For attempts to see into present or past the Diviner must select a target, normally a person, and make a Divine Skill roll TN 7. Each attempt allows you to glimpse past or present of the target. On a success, you learn a small detail about them. On a Total Success you gain a much more complete picture, acquiring several important pieces of information. These attempts are always limited by the medium used.


Divination about the will of the gods
The gods are active forces in Gamandria, who interfere with history and make their will known. A number of methods are available to discern this, but the most reliable is Haruspicy.

It is important to understand that in some instances, characters can take the initiative to Divine the future or understand the gods. They can choose to read animal entrails or cast the bones anytime they want. But the gods will not always have an important message. And the Diviner doesn’t always get the type of answer he seeks. An attempt to see into the future, could instead yield a command to go to war. Because the information is coming from the gods, they can do whatever they wish.

In some cases the gods take initiative and the characters are merely recipients of an omen or prodigy. In these cases, the message is already determined and the roll is made simply to know what that message is. While seemingly simple, an omen often is littered with complex details the unskilled observer might miss. The Diviner must consider all the circumstances and details of an omen when determining its intent.

Rolls made to gauge the will of the gods, are normally made at TN 7. On a Success you get a general sense of what the gods intend. On a Total Success you gain specific insight into the will of the gods.

For example, Hypatia and her companions are contemplating a venture south into Chambar to share the teachings of the Church of Light. She wants to know if Ramos approves of the mission and how he wishes them to proceed. Because she is trained in the art of Haruspicy she sacrifices a Bull at the base of the Brogustu Mountains (which are Sacred to Ramos) and lays out the organs to decipher her god’s will. She has 2 ranks in Divine, so rolls 2d10, getting a 6 and 10 (a Total Success). A number of unusual lumps on the liver speak clearly to her and she informs her horrified companions that Ramos commands them to venture south, converting the willing and killing the unwilling.

Here is the latest playtest report:

PARTY: a halfing with potent agape spells, a Kash human (who replaced their orc) who is strong in Deimos, and an elf with a knack for penthos. A new player also joined and made an Ogre, which will be useful in playtest.

Events
In this game the characters just finished defeating Tohireo the dragon and went to the Marite Kingdoms to negotiate with Queen Sabeen of Besra, who had recently refused tribute to the Ronian Empire. On the way they encountered slave traders but avoided them. A few days later they encountered halfling tea merchants who told them that Queen Besra is preparing for war with Khata and has announced herself a goddess.
 
Player C used Thekla's secret pathway to report this information to the Fellowship of Promestus. On his return, he attracted the attention of a Guardian Beast of Lorgo while in the ethereal realm. It followed and attacked, nearly killing player B. The Guardian Beast, an 18 foot tall white mammoth, demanded a sacrifice to Lorgo in the form of the character's horses (because it deemed this a fair exchange for abusing the ethereal realm).

After the battle the party arrived in Talyr and tried to get free horses from the stable master by reading his fortune. The stablemaster was infatuated with a woman named Druna and wanted the Sertori to help him win her over. Player C cast Tearing the Veil and had a vision of the stablemaster beheaded by Druna's brothers (presumably fed up with his efforts to win her love). In the end the stablemaster agreed to go with the players and bring his horses along (since it was clear his only real option was to flee Talyr before the beheading).

In Besra they met with Queen Sabeen who said she wanted Ronia to pledge soldiers for her war, wanted a temple in Rostanba and wished for the Church of Light to stop spreading inside her kingdom. Before the party left to take the terms to their superiors, Player D expressed doubts about Queen Sabeen's divinity, calling for proof. She had the Stablemaster run through with spears. When it was clear he had died she raised her hands and the skies darkened, within moments he stirred back to life. She had performed the Restore Life Thauma.

Ronia agreed to the terms (again Thekla's Secret Pathway was used to get there quickly) and the party was sent back to help manage the auxiliary troops and investigate Queen Besra further.

Observations
This session was shorter than usual, but we did overse a few key things.

In terms of the setting, the commandments of general expectations of gods needs to be clarified. We also need to know of any specific rules for different factions or churches. For example, the players survived the white mammoth by sacrificing horses to Lorgo. They are members of the Fellowship of Promestus and have taken a vow. However one of their number worships Lurolai, so clearly there is some leniency here. The question is two-fold: does Ramos care if his followers sacrifice an animal to another god? (does any god care?) Based on how we answer this question, what does the Church of Light say about this issue and what rules of theirs also govern members of the Fellowship of Promestus?

In my opinion, Thekla's Secret Pathway worked very well. Player C used it a lot during the session, and it was effective, but he was limited by the nudity factor and the whole problem of attractive guardians, spirits or demons. Right now there is a 3 in 10 chance of attracting the attention of such creatures so we probably need to evaluate that.

The use of Thekla's Secret Pathway, while it doesn't affect things like trade because only flesh can be transported, does raise some things that need to be included in the setting. Presumably the Church of Light is accustomed to the spell's use (as would any other organization with Sertori in its ranks), so they would probably have chambers set aside for people to teleport into. These would probably contain basic items like clothing. Certainly these would be in the capital. They would probably be posted throughout and beyond the empire as well. There may even be small caches of funds so members of the order can traverse distance and still have means to acquire goods.

One question that arose is whether the spell can be used on unwilling targets. That is pretty important. Not only can you use it cathartically to eliminate a threat by sending it far, far, far away but on a regular casting, you can move someone just a few meters in order to disarm them (since clothes, armor and weapons do not teleport). So I suggest not allowing it to be cast on unwilling targets.

Here is the map. You cannot see it here, but there are grid lines on the paper that dissapear until you look at it at an angle. Very useful. Makes it easy to read the names but allows you to handle travel overland if you angle your vision.

This was a short session with three players. All were Sertori. They were engaged in a diplomatic mission with Queen Sabeen of Besra trying to negotiate favorable terms with Ronia for her upcoming invasion of Khata.

In an attempt to learn more about Khata, player C attempted to use Thekla's Secret Pathway to travel there. He failed and the failure resulted in two ghouls attacking him and player B. By the book these should have been spirits, but we do not have a spirit entry in the monster section. The combat was challenging. If they were not in the palace, where the guards were able to save them, at least one of them would have died.

Before the invasion they traveled to Chun, a key trade city that was to be the first step in the invasion. Everything went smoothly until they were attacked by Hasri. One of the Hasri was a Sertorius. This combat proved easy for the players. Again it was player B and C, as player A was back at the inn.

The party returned to Queen Sabeen's army. They had learned that Khata was ruled by a council of 13 Sertori, so they secured 20 Sertori from the Fellowship of Promestus to aid the Queen on the condition that she give them exclusive access to the Khatan tea fields.

Chun fell without blood. The Khatan army advanced but Queen Sabeen destroyed it with the Rain of Fire Thauma (a miracle), leaving the 13 Khatan Sertori. We left off as the two groups of Sertori were about to fight (13 for Khata, 25---including Sabeen and the PCs---for the Marites).

Observations

Open Skills and Spells: We need to specify for spells that use open skills, what happens when there isn't an exact match. For instance, if a Spell calls for Talent, what talents can be used and what happens if the player has the wrong talent. In the case of Thekla's Secret pathway this was an issue. I am inclined to require the correct skill, otherwise 2d10 take the lowest.

Heal: Emotions don't really impact the non-cathartic casting. We should remedy that. Also there should be some ability to overflow the healing onto other characters.

Emotion ranks and spells: We have been a touch sloppy with some of our spells. They do not all factor in emotion ranks thoroughly. So we need to make sure we do this.

Spell Clarity: We should go over our spells and examine them for clarity.

Powerful Sertori NPCs: Thauma are powerful. Very, very powerful. This is good. It works as intended. But when you have a strong Sertori NPC (Queen Sabeen became Divninity rank 4 this session) it can result in the PCs being observers and the character becoming something of a Mary Sue. Nothing mechanically need be done about this, but it will be important to address in the GM section. In this case the players chose to ally themselves with Queen Sabeen, so it wasn't forced on them. But running it I was a aware that her being so powerful meant they could just sit back at times and let her take care of things. On the other hand, this did serve as good incentive for the players to attract followers and grow in power.

Spirits: We need spirit entries in the monster section.

New Ideas: Players proposed some new ideas. The first was to include a way for Sertori to change existing spells. While I understand the desire for this, and see nothing wrong with an optional rule for it, I feel it would be highly disruptive to the setting concept to allow in the core rules. So if we do include this sort of thing, we should carefully look at how we explain Sertori.

(NEW PLAYTEST REPORT)

This playtest was with three players, each playing a different character type: Sertorius, Mundane and Ogre. It was a good test of the ability of the game to handle such a diverse party. To balance, I gave the mundane two henchmen and two magic items.

In the scenario the party started in Perlova Valley, which had just been invaded by the Caelum Republic. In the camp of General Brogustu, the group was looking for opportunities to acquire wealth. Because they had a Sertori in the group, the tribune of the camp offered them some iron and copper mines on the northern border if they went north to the Steaming Caverns to retrieve the Treasure of Anumar (a vault of valuables belonging to the ancient Slovar civilization). To access the vault, they were told they would need a key: the Tear of Lorgo, which was held in the nearby village of Agorta as a holy relic. The tribune had just dispatched a messenger to smooth over acquisition of the tear.

So the party traveled north to Agorta and the Steaming Caverns. On their way they came upon a cart, with a dead soldier and horse. The horse had been shot with arrows, while the soldier run through with a sword. Investigating the scene, they estimated it had been a group of 8 orcs attacked by a group of about 20 Korvars and an Ogre. There was a trail leading into nearby woods, but the party decided not to follow it (they felt 20 Korvars was too big a danger). This wagon was in fact the caravan of the messenger sent to discuss the Tear of Lorgo in Agorta. The messenger and a couple of surviving soldiers were being held captive in a nearby camp.
 
In Agorta, player A negotiated with the head elder and secured both the Tear of Lorgo and a guide. He also made a business arraignment with Aetan merchants. The next morning they set out for the Steaming Caverns.

The caverns were high up in the mountains and deep inside a cave. At the end of the cave they found a circular stone seal on the ground which they broke (the Ogre broke it). This led into a fifty foot shaft that dropped straight down into a stone chamber. Securing rope Player A (a mundane merchant) went down. Player B (the Ogre) lowered Player C into the shaft with another rope. The Ogre, who was not a good climber, was assisted by the two henchmen during his descent and made it down safely.

They found themselves in a large monastery complex, flooded by an underground river. Some areas were dry, but most were under 3 feet or more of water. They didn't know Pasaali, so they were unable to decipher important warnings on the walls and on various doors (as well as key instructions). What they would have learned had they known Pasaali, was the monastery contained no treasure but was a prison for a powerful demon, which was trapped behind a golden vault.

They had one major battle before reaching the vault. In a catacomb, the party was attacked by 7 zombies. Zombies in Gamandria are tough. They have a 10 hardiness. On normal attacks they take up to 5 wounds, but on a targeted shot to the head, they take just one wound. Still the 10 hardiness makes them difficult foes even if everyone is always aiming for the head. The Ogre was paralyzed by a zombie bite the first round of combat. Player C (a Sertorius) cast Glimmering Rupture of Karima on himself and this protected him most of the combat. Player A (a mundane), wisely used his magic cloak to hide and tried to set some of the zombies on fire when the opportunity presented itself. By the end of the battle the Ogre took 2 or 3 wounds and Player C took 2 wounds from casting Glimmering Rupture twice. They could easily have lost the battle were it not for Player C's use of Gilded Cage. We need to double check the spell to decide if this was legal (at the table our reading of the text led us to conclude it was), but he basically kept casting it cathartically to imprison one zombie in a gilded cage each round. The Ogre took out two zombies attacking their heads with his spiked gauntlets, and Player A took out one with fire.

After they killed the zombies, the party found some scrolls, then made their way deep into the complex, eventually finding the vault. They opened the vault and it led into a massive cavern system. There they found the demon: a creature with the head of an elephant and body of something that resembled an ogre. They did not stay to learn its capabilities, but rightly assessed they could not defeat it (a party of Sertori could have taken it on, at great risk, but a party with just one Sertorius was hopelessly overmatched).

Observations About Mechanics
The Mundane Character sheet had a typo: too many points of Muscle. So I fixed this.

The Spells Gilded Cage and Obliterate magic need to be keyed more to their emotion ranks.

There were some issues raised about the Deception Skill expertise and what they really represented. We will need to clarify this a bit in the text.

Spell Suggestions
The idea of a language spell was raised. This is a possibility that should be discussed further.

We are also at a point where we need more spells. I think one more session of pure spell casting and combat, to check for problems and lack of clarity, then make a new batch of spells.

Party Observation
Really a mixed party worked quite well provided the players understood what their weaknesses were. This is far from the ideal choice, and not the default of the game. However it worked well enough. In my opinion they easily could have gone after the Korvars who attacked the wagon (but it was prudent to leave it where it was). They absolutely made the right decision in the cavern not taking on the demon. It was intended to be a very powerful foe, and that was conveyed to them quite clearly. Initially it was going to just be a Sertori scenario, but the players wanted to be different kinds of characters and they went in knowing the power disparities. Though they were not a potent combat team, they made a very solid group of mercenaries and balanced each other out well. If we just kept running the situation, they would eventually have set up shop on the border and it could have been interesting.

Had a read-through of all the spells on Saturday (well most of them, we have to finish the last few pages of the read-through next session as it took a bit of time to gover over each one). This helped us find a lot of little flaws in the spells. It also Directed our attention to other parts of the game in need of revision. Happy with the changes we ade but will have to see how they go in the next playtest.

We also worked on diseases and poisons a bit (fixing up some of the numbers so the probabilities are where we want them and refining how they interact with the Medicine Skill).

We have been continuing playtests, with Bill GMing now instead of myself (which gives me a chance to see things from the player point of view).

I also recently ordered three pieces of promotional art to help preview the setting. Here is the first Sertorius Preview from the Bedrock Blog (discussing our elves): http://thebedrockblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/sertorius-preview-elves-of-mandaru.html