[PnP RPG] The Art of War (Character Creation and Discussion Thread)

[ShellShocker]

Hey guys - I'm presenting my first Pen and Paper RPG so I hope I'll have some players. You may NOT use this ruleset and all credit of the ruleset is given to Clonkinator/Shade of the Egoboo Forums. You may not edit this ruleset without prior permission.
Please read ALL of the rules before creating a character. Most of it is pretty simple but it is extremely important to read it all.

Active Players: (6 / 6 slots)
- Austin
- Kazumi
- Regal
- Maxxy
- Reserved for Axle the Beast
- Siniru


Rules (no specific order):
1. One player may only have one character. The players can form more than one party though. If two or more parties play, there will probably also be PvP battles at some point.
2. Please try to contribute to the story when playing; I'll accept posts like "I attack the enemy", but I'd prefer to see posts with actions, talk and your characters thoughts and feelings, as that contributes to the fun quite a lot. I don't care, however, if you refer to your character as "he"/"she" or "I".
3. Every character has HP, MP, XP and AP. While wizards and such may use MP for casting spells, other classes may use MP to do other fancy stuff like special attacks. Your starting HP and MP can be anything between 1 and 25 (MP can, unlike HP, also be 0), but if you add both of them together, the sum must be 25.
4. Players may choose the skills/abilities they learn themselves, but the game master decides how many AP they actually cost to learn. Also, instead of learning a new spell/skill, a player may also improve an already existing one by spending AP on it. Each level up grants another 10 AP.
5. If a player's HP drop to 0 or lower, he faints. He may still be attacked, but the player can't act anymore until he's healed in some way. If a player's HP drop to -10 or less, he dies. Dead characters cannot be revived (except in very rare situations or if you were killed by another player), so you'll have to create a new character if you want to keep playing. (The new character keeps 75% of the XP your dead character had, though)
6. Please write anything your character says in "".
7. Attacks/Weapons have an ATK value, which indicates how much damage they do. The damage done will result in "Attackers ATK - Defenders DEF = Damage". The damage dealt cannot be negative.
8. Many actions may succeed or fail. The Game Master will throw dices for you when you decide to do something, indicating the difficulty grade (the lowest number you need to have in order to be successful, e. g. if there is a DG of 14, you need to throw 14 or higher (with bonuses) in order to be successful).
9. When killing an enemy, each player in the party gains XP, depending on how tough it was. Advancing to the next level always takes 100 XP more than it took to reach the previous level:
Lvl 2 - 000100 XP
Lvl 3 - 000300 XP
Lvl 4 - 000600 XP
Lvl 5 - 001000 XP
Lvl 6 - 001500 XP
Lvl 7 - 002100 XP
Lvl 8 - 002800 XP
Lvl 9 - 003600 XP
Lvl10 - 004500 XP
etc.
Defeating an enemy player is worth [(his level) x50] XP.
10. Gold may be aquired the same way as other items are (except for buying it, of course...). Each character keeps his own gold and starts out with 300.
11. You may carry up to 5 items in your inventory; items cannot be stacked unless they say otherwise (a quiver of arrows, for example, of course holds more than just one arrow). It should be displayed under your status table, using the spoiler-tag, so people don't always need to see all your items. Your equipment you're currently wearing should not be hidden. Worn Bags (in its own slot) may increase the amount of items you can carry.
12. Since you might be having quite some code in each of your posts, I recommend "copying" that code by clicking "quote" at your last own post. Just remember to remove the "

"-tags afterwards.
13. If you want to say anything out of character, use olive as a color please.
14. You may try to do whatever you imagine you want to do. If you want to try to climb a wall in order to look at the whole thing from above, do it. If you encounter a pool full of sharks and want to jump over it, try it! Nobody ensures that it will be successful though...
15. Whenever I post I'll add a status table that indicates the current HP, MP and Lvl of each character and enemy (if there are any) as well as the result of your last actions. You may only do one action, e.g. attack someone, at a time. However, you can change your row or your equipment before your actual action (but not both). After having done an action, you'll have to wait for my next post. Saying something or talking to someone doesn't count as an action though. Also, if you do something in order to do something else, e.g. you light your torch to see what is around, or you throw something at your enemies to surprise them and run away, it also only counts as one action, not as two.
16. When leveling up, you gain 1D6+Power HP, 1D6+Intelligence MP and 10 Ability Points (AP). There are a bunch of skills and abilites available you can learn using those AP. The amount of AP you need to learn a skill/ability depends on the usefulness of the skill/ability. Also, abilites generally cost more AP than skills. At the beginning of the game, you will have 25 AP to spend.
17. If things get risky, you may try to escape. In that case, every consious party member gets a check (dexterity applies as a modifier here). Those are all added together, with unconsious heroes being +0. Then the remaining enemies all get a check (bosses may get high bonuses here), also being added together. Then party vs. enemies is checked. If party is higher, the escape is successful.
18. There are three possible positions for battles. You can choose between either *front* or *cover*. The front can be attacked by anything, but can also attack with anything itself. Covered characters can only be hit by ranged attacks, magic and certain skills that hit the whole party - however, this only applies if there is at least one character standing at the front. If all characters at the front are either gone or unconsious, melee attacks will hit covered characters as well. There's also a position *flying* or *hidden* for flying or hidden monsters, which always disallows melee attacks, even if there is no front. There may also be special positions in special cases.
19. Each character has eight personal modifiers: Power, Dexterity, Wisdom, Intelligence, Accuracy, Evasion, Casting and Resistance. The first four mainly affect the actions you do outside combats (except for DEX if you escape), the latter four mainly affect what you do inside combats. Power also affects the amount of HP you get upon a level up, while Intelligence affects your MP. Each modifier can range between -5 and +5 in the beginning, and the total sum of all modifiers added together must be 0.
20. There are four elements: Fire, Earth, Wind and Water. Thunder counts as wind, Ice counts as water. Each character can have weaknesses or resistances against each of those elements (in steps of 10%). Weaknesses are represented by negative resistances, and while resistances cannot exceed 100% (you cannot be healed by an element), weaknesses can very well exceed -100%. You can raise your resistance to an element up to 50% in the beginning for 1 AP per 10%. Likewise, you can also lower your resistances, but that only gives you 1 AP per 20%.

Each post should have the characters status table on top, looking similar to the example below. You may also add bars, a hidden avatar and other fancy stuff if you want, but that's are no requirement. You can ignore this rule if all you do is say something OOC.

Mr. Example, lvl 1 (Example Class) (Front)
HP: 20/20
MP: 05/05
XP: 14/100
AP: 7
ATK: 8
DEF: 6
Weapon: Example Weapon (8 ATK)
Armor: Example Armor (6 DEF)

Spoiler

Items (5/5):
Gold: 123
- Example Weapon (4 ATK, +1 Acc)
- Example Potion (Heals 2d6 HP)
- Example Food
- Example Food
- Example Letter

Skills:
- Example Skill (5 MP): This skill does something. (13 AP)

Abilities:
- Example Ability: This ability does something. (6 AP)

Power: +1
Dexterity: -1
Wisdom: +2
Intelligence: -2
Accuracy: +3
Evasion: -3
Casting: +4
Resistance: -4
(These must add up to 0 and one stat point may be purchased for 7 AP)

Alignment: Chaotic, Neutral

Elements:
Fi: 20% / Ea: 20% / Wi: 20% / Wa: 20%

Spoiler

Character Story:

--------------------------------------
Story:
In the beginning, the countries Pantana and Sokken were loyal allies in the Great War. They helped eachother succeed in the most of dim of times. But when competition grew important the alliance broke and each country grew more and more desperate for power. Over time, their friendship dimished and due to a series of complications a war began between the two countries. Other countries in the continent of Hazan remain neutral but Northern tribes are beginning to join forces with the Sokken for personal benefits. The countries in the feud are Pantana and Sokken, each at different stages of technological advancement. However, in recent times Sokken are advancing in the war because of the Northern assistance and soon they will have the power to inevitably crush Pantana. Despite this growing power, Pantana continue to defend quite valiantly against the brutal attacks.

Twenty years before the current time, the assassination of Panatanian prince took place which sparked revolutions in the country of Pantana. In a butterfly effect, the Sokken government decided they would execute their first plan of attack against the Pantanians which resulted in them declaring war. And then in response to the falling government, the Sokken country reacted immediately with powerful forces rushing the north-eastern areas of Pantana and took control of a major stronghold in the mountains and to this day the area has not been reclaimed; however, due to terrain difficulties the Sokken army could not continue to this route but the Pantanians were forced to reroute their attacks.

Ten years later the revolutions were calmed as the system of government was changed to be less tyrannical. This calming of revolutions was key in allowing the Pantanians to rebuild their defences and focus more on the war at hand.

A recent outbreak in the North-Western areas of Pantana has caused the death of thousands of Soldiers and in a desperate attempt to finish off the stalemate, the Pantana military leaders have recruited a group of specialists to assist in destroying the stalemate and break through the barriers of Sokken in a series of espionage and military-based work. These specialists are skilled in their work and will be required to capture important enemy locations and leak information back to Pantana. This group of specialists is broken down into numerous groups, each different in their skills.
You are one of these specialists.

------------------------------


I will be playing as the Game Master and I will control NPCs, control areas and tell you what happens - this is not a regular roleplaying game where you decide other people's actions. I will decide how much AP each of your abilities cost and it is not up to you. I will be accepting up to SIX players for the first game and expect regular posting and not 10 word responses. This thread is for CHARACTER CREATION AND DISCUSSION - not the actual playing of the game.

Have fun making your characters!

Notes:
You may start with 300 gold and you can choose a few starting items that might help or assist your character (e.g. a potion, length of rope, etc.) Remember that you can be split into separate parties so if you'd like to play with some friends specify if you'd like to be in a party with them. Also don't forget that you can create skills to have good synergy with your friends' for maximum perfection.

Please do not be offended if your character is not well built enough or you don't have enough RPG/roleplaying experience to participate. That won't happen to many people but it's something I'd like to write down. You can put your character sheets down here for editing and I will give you some help if necessary - JUST ASK!

 

[Austin]

I'm just a little confused as to how I start my character sheet. Do I just make up a class and stats, or is there a list of what I may choose for my character and a range of points I may place into my stats?

 

[ShellShocker]

You may choose from -any- class you want. You can essentially make one up if you so desire.

Start your character by "quoting" my first post and delete everything that isn't the example character sheet. Start off by thinking of a class you like and what kind of stat composition they would have.
-----
Power: ? - Will affect how much your HP goes up on level up
Dexterity: ? - Will affect certain dice rolls and ability to run from battle
Wisdom: ? - Will affect your identification of unknown items and can help with spells
Intelligence: ? - Will affect how much your MP goes up on a level up
Accuracy: ? - Will affect your accuracy roll on Ranged Weapons and Melee Weapons (e.g. bows and swords/lances/axes)
Evasion: ? - Will affect your ability to dodge against Ranged and Melee Weapons
Casting: ? - Will affect accuracy on spells
Resistance: ? - Will affect how well you can "dodge" spells - whether they hit you or not in a battle.

To reiterate - all must add up to 0 and may not exceed -5 or +5 at the beginning of the game.
After doing so, choose your HP and MP stats which can be from 1-25 for HP and 0-24 for MP (because you can't have 0 max HP).

You'll also want to add skills/spells. If you like you can give me a general description of a spell/skill you like and I can give you suggestions with the AP they would cost.

Anything else you need help with?

 

[Austin]

I understand most of the stats now. Just to clarify, for negative stats, those are meant as just obstacles to get any benefit out of the, correct? What I mean to say is, if I have something like -5 Power, I won't get any benefit out of it until it reaches one, but my health won't go down upon leveling up while it's a negative value, will it? Also do my attack and defense values have to be within a certain range upon creation?

Finally question has to do with the weapon, armor and items I start with. I would like to know what restrictions they have to have.


Sorry if any of this is answered above, I tried my hardest to look through it lol.

 

[RegalBryant]

Regal, lvl 1 (Dragoon Red Mage Bard) (Front)
HP: 13
MP: 12

Power: 2
Dexterity: -4
Wisdom: 2
Intelligence: 3
Accuracy: 1
Evasion: -3
Casting: 2
Resistance: -3

Spell: Icicle Spear: sends a sharpened pillar of ice through the enemy.

 

[ShellShocker]

Good questions.

Firstly I'd like to talk about the stats a little bit. You are correct on most of that but the in the 4 four, non-combat stats not being 'dummy waste stats' (what you use to get your points back to 0) is that each of them all have effects outside of combat. For example, whether you can grab a rope while holding a kid on your back and then swing off the rope of a pool of lava ... (odd scenario) would be determined on whether you have a good Power or Dexterity stat. In some situations, a 1d20 dice is rolled giving you a number, then your stat is added/subtracted from that number and put up against another number from 1-20 that is based on the difficulty of the event. In other situations, there is no dice roll but merely your stat vs. a number from 1-5. In both scenarios if the number you get is equal to the challenge number - you succeed. In combat rolls, if there are equal numbers, there is a re-roll for both parts.

If you have -5 Power and you level up, a 1d6 is rolled and then 5 is subtracted from the number, capped at 1. So if you have -5 Power you'll always gain 1 HP on level up. If you have 5 power you'll always gain (1d6)+(5), so you can get 6-11 HP on a level up.

As for your starting equipment, it really depends on your class.
I'd prefer you choose a weapon with its ATK value from 3-6, depending on your class. I'd also prefer you choose an armor with its DEF value between 2-4, also depending on your class.

If you choose to have less powerful equipment or go as a Mage/Healer or something, you could even choose to start off with an Amulet or something similar that may raise one of your stats by one value while wearing it.

Here is a list of suggested/usable items:

Bronze Sword                     Weapon. 4 ATK, +2 Acc.
Iron Sword                       Weapon. 5 ATK, +1 Acc.
Steel Sword                     Weapon. 7 ATK, +1 Acc.
Bronze Spear                     Weapon. 4 ATK, +1 Acc, +1 Eva. (2h)
Iron Axe                         Weapon. 8 ATK, -1 Acc.
Short Bow                       Ranged Weapon, uses arrows as ammo. -1 ATK, +2 Acc.
Bronze Bow                       Ranged Weapon, uses arrows as ammo. 0 ATK.
Quiver of Bronze Arrows (50/50)  Ammo. 3 ATK.
Quiver of Iron Arrows (50/50)    Ammo. 4 ATK.
Cloth Robe                       Clothing. 1 DEF.
Mage Robe                        Clothing. 2 DEF.
Leather Armor                    Light Armor. 2 DEF.
Iron Armor                      Medium Armor. 3 DEF, -1 Eva.
Chainmail                       Medium Armor. 4 DEF.
Wooden Buckler                   Shield. 1 DEF.
Iron Shield                     Shield. 2 DEF.

Acc, Eva and stuff are all shortened for a stat name. e.g. eva = evasion (dodging and acc = accuracy)


Does that help?

@RegalBryant:
Hey there!


Regal, lvl 1 (Dragoon Red Mage Bard) (Cover)
HP: 12/12
MP: 13/13
XP: 000/100
AP: 25
ATK: 3
DEF: 2
Weapon: Quarterstaff (3 ATK)
Armor: Leather robes (2 DEF)

Spoiler

Items (?/5):
Gold: 300
- Red Potion (Heals 2d6 HP)

Skills:
- Icicle Spear (3 MP): Sends a sharpened pillar of ice through the enemy, dealing 2d6 damage. (10 AP)

Abilities:
- Example Ability: This ability does something. (? AP)

Power: 2
Dexterity: -4
Wisdom: 2
Intelligence: 3
Accuracy: 1
Evasion: -3
Casting: 2
Resistance: -3

Alignment: ????

Elements:
Fi: ??% / Ea: ??% / Wi: ??% / Wa: ??%

Spoiler

Character Story: ??

Welcome! I've redone your character sheet and given you some items. What other items would you like to start off with? Any amulets? Would you like me to recommend an ability or two for you?

 

[RegalBryant]

An Amulet for Accuracy would be good. And an ability recommendation would also be nice.

 

[ShellShocker]

Just to let you know I'm boosting your Quarterstaff to have +1 Eva.

Also concerning your stats...

I saw that you have some accuracy boosts. Did you intend to be a mixed attack or pure mage?
If the first, your stats are fairly fine. If the latter, I'd pop your power and accuracy down a bit (because they're primarily for melee users) so you can put your dodging and resistance up.

Amulets you can choose:

Amulet of Accuracy: (+1 Acc)
Amulet of Casting: (+1 Cas)

Abilities:
- Safety Net: If Regal takes damage that can potentially KO him, Regal is left with 1 HP instead. (-13 AP)
- Enhanced Casting: Raises Regal's casting stat by one permanently. (-7 AP)


Skills/Spells:
- Aura of Light (5 MP): Selects a friendly target to heal 1d12 HP. Regal cannot be targetted. (-8 AP)
- Aura of Light (5 MP): Selects one target to heal 1d12 HP. (10 AP) --- Only difference is you can heal yourself.


Feel free to make up your own things too, if you don't like them. I'll edit this post with your new character sheet as well.
Updated sheet:

Regal, lvl 1 (Dragoon Red Mage Bard) (Cover)
HP: 12/12
MP: 13/13
XP: 000/100
AP: 25
ATK: 3
DEF: 2
Weapon: Quarterstaff (3 ATK, +1 Eva)
Armor: Leather robes (2 DEF)

Spoiler

Items (?/5):
Gold: 300
- Red Potion (Heals 2d6 HP)

Skills:
- Icicle Spear (3 MP): Sends a sharpened pillar of ice through the enemy, dealing 2d6 damage. (10 AP)

Abilities:
- Example Ability: This ability does something. (? AP)

Power: 2
Dexterity: -4
Wisdom: 2
Intelligence: 3
Accuracy: 1
Evasion: -2/-3
Casting: 2
Resistance: -3

Alignment: ????

Elements:
Fi: ??% / Ea: ??% / Wi: ??% / Wa: ??%

Spoiler

Character Story: ??

 

[Austin]

Khotno Moshchnik, lvl 1 (Priest) (Cover)
HP: 04/04
MP: 21/21
XP: 0/100
AP: 0
ATK: ?
DEF: ?
Weapon: Wooden Staff (2 ATK, +2 Int.)
Armor: Enchanted Bronze Amulet (+1 Res.)

Spoiler

Items (?/5):
Gold: 200
- Magic Potion (Restores ? MP)
- Health Potion (Restores ? HP)

Skills:
- Heal (5 MP): Restores 10 HP. (? AP)

Abilities:
- Example Ability: This ability does something. (? AP)

Power: -5
Dexterity: +0
Wisdom: +3
Intelligence: +4
Accuracy: -5
Evasion: +0
Casting: +3
Resistance: +0

Alignment: ???

Elements:
Fi: 20% / Ea: 20% / Wi: 20% / Wa: 20%

Spoiler

Character Story:still working on this

Still some work to be done but this is what I have so far. Still a bit confused about atk and def and the distinction between skills and abilities.

 

[ShellShocker]

Great character, Austin!

Next you guys will just need a warrior for the Front row as I do not see 2 fragile magic users winning the game by themselves.

I'd prefer if you brought your Wooden Staff down to +1 Int, as +2 bonuses at the beginning of the game are a lot better than they seem. You can also add some leather robes for 2 DEF and you may keep the amulet.

ATK = Weapon's attack
DEF = Armour defence

So your ATK would be 2 when using your wooden staff to hit baddies and when you add the armor you'll take 2 less damage from physical/ranged attacks and your DEF will be 2. Sorry if it's confusing you.

The difference between Skills and Abilities is:
Skills or spells are special moves you can do in your turn that take up your major action. They pretty much always cost MP and are used as actions rather than not always being active.

Abilities are passive things that your character has. It might be related to combat or just something your character can do. You can also increase your stats through abilities. They can also be abilities that are sustained/active which you turn on/off as a minor action and do something during that time. For example:

"Example Ability: This character takes 2 less damage from arrows."
or "Example Ability: When this character is hit by an attack that would KO them, the attack is instead directed at their MP if applicable. Only works once every enemy turn."

Does that help?

 

[RegalBryant]

Regal, lvl 1 (Dragoon Red Mage Bard) (Cover)
HP: 12/12
MP: 13/13
XP: 000/100
AP: 2 left, 25 overall
ATK: 3
DEF: 2
Weapon: Quarterstaff (3 ATK, +1 Eva)
Armor: Leather robes (2 DEF)

Spoiler

Items (?/5):
Gold: 300
- Red Potion (Heals 2d6 HP)

Skills:
- Icicle Spear (3 MP): Sends a sharpened pillar of ice through the enemy, dealing 2d6 damage. (10 AP)

Abilities:
- Safety Net: If Regal takes damage that can potentially KO him, Regal is left with 1 HP instead. (-13 AP)

Power: 2
Dexterity: -4
Wisdom: 2
Intelligence: 3
Accuracy: 1
Evasion: -2/-3
Casting: 2
Resistance: -3

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Elements:
Fi: ??% / Ea: ??% / Wi: ??% / Wa: ??%

Spoiler

Character Story: Amnesiac. Yay, tropes.

Added Safety Net, alignment, and Character Story.

Going for mixed attack, btw.

 

[Austin]

I'd prefer if you brought your Wooden Staff down to +1 Int, as +2 bonuses at the beginning of the game are a lot better than they seem. You can also add some leather robes for 2 DEF and you may keep the amulet.

Will do that. As for an ability, I was thinking of one that could help out my character in a jam. Basically turned his healing spells into damage dealing spells (a spell healing for 10HP would instead damage for that same amount), but at the cost of something like 2HP per turn. Given that my character has low HP this would prevent him for doing it for long. Does that sound good or is it too complicated/overpowered?

 

[ShellShocker]

Sweet. Looks like you've got the AP count correct too and I'm assuming you're not changing your elemental weakness/resistances so they'll all remain at 0%.

We'll just wait for Austin to catch up and I'll wait for roughly 2 more players before you can begin your quest. Have you read the story yet?

EDIT:

@Austin:
Sorry - never saw that post. That sounds like an interesting sustain/active ability (from what I gather it is).

How is this:
- Change of Heart (Sustained): As a minor action, Khotno can choose to convert his healing spells into damaging spells for the same amount of damage. (9 AP)

Spell:
- Basic Healing (xMP): Austin can heal a target for up to Xx3 hitpoints, depending on how much mana he invests in the spell. (13 AP)

I'd recommend that spell as it allows you to heal people as much as you'd like without wasting MP for 1 MP for every 3 HP you heal. While the AP price might sound hefty it is an ability you can keep as you level up without having to upgrade it every level. If you'd like a different or CHEAPER way of healing, feel free to say so. After all, this is just a suggestion.

Also, I'd recommend putting your HP up by at least 2 HP unless you want your character to faint easily. Even though you are in the cover row, you can still be hit by spells and arrows. However that is also entirely up to you.

 

[RegalBryant]

Regal, lvl 1 (Dragoon Red Mage Bard) (Cover)
HP: 12/12
MP: 13/13
XP: 000/100
AP: 2 left, 25 overall
ATK: 3
DEF: 2
Weapon: Quarterstaff (3 ATK, +1 Eva)
Armor: Leather robes (2 DEF)

Spoiler

Items (?/5):
Gold: 300
- Red Potion (Heals 2d6 HP)
-Amulet of +1 Accuracy
Skills:
- Icicle Spear (3 MP): Sends a sharpened pillar of ice through the enemy, dealing 2d6 damage. (10 AP)

Abilities:
- Safety Net: If Regal takes damage that can potentially KO him, Regal is left with 1 HP instead. (-13 AP)

Power: 2
Dexterity: -4
Wisdom: 2
Intelligence: 3
Accuracy: 2/1
Evasion: -2/-3
Casting: 2
Resistance: -3

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Elements:
Fi: 0% / Ea: 0% / Wi: 0% / Wa: 0%

Spoiler

Character Story: Amnesiac. Yay, tropes.

 

[ShellShocker]

Awesome! Looks like you're all set.

Just to let everyone know, this is how gaining exp works:
1. You gain [(his level) x50] XP if you win in a PvP battle.
2. You gain experience for completing quests, depending on your input.
3. You gain experience for defeating a NPC foe, depending on their strength.
4. You gain experience for detailed roleplaying and good tactical decision making in battle.

Does that require any clarification?