Re: [Adonthell-general] Clerical/Priestly classes and abilities

[Andrew Phillips]

I think it we do, as you say, link abilities and class, and also limit
outside abilities, it would not overbalance the character. As far as
Elves - the race I think most likely to become unbalanced in play - if
we limit them to the use of Runes, they should not become overpowered.
The two sub-categories of magic - spellcasting and runemarking -
balance each other out. Spellcasting can be done ad hoc and with less
regard for longterm consequences. Runemarking, on the other hand,
requires planning and deliberation because it requires a permanent or
semi-permanent exertion of Power.

The first use I can think of for such a combined discipline
(runecasting?) would be very much a clerical skill - a circle of
healing (or blood). The cleric - whether good or evil - first makes a
runemark at the center of the area of effect, then casts his spell of
healing (or damage) on the runemark. The rune, because of its greater
permanence, disperses the power of the spell into the area of effect
over a longer period of time. This could be very useful for providing
characters (either in a party or for a single player with followers
and minions) with a safe place to rest in an otherwise dangerous
environment. But it would require planning and the clearing of a
moderately safe area, since the runemarking would fail if it were
interrupted by combat. Of course, it would be useable to clerics of
multiple alignments. A dark cleric with undead minions could use the
circle of blood to bring them back to full 'health.'

Other out-skill pairings might be
Half-Elves - Using Earth magic with Songs of the Trees (Spellsong?)
Humans -  Using Songs to boost the power (and improve the likelihood)
of successful alchemy (Alicantry?)

I can't figure out what the Dwarvish out-skill should be. I came up
with what I've proposed by thinking of the Four Races as a circle
rather than a spectrum - with the Omae and the Khuzdunat in adjacent
"corners" of the circle - and by taking the proposed out-skill from
the abilities of an adjacent "corner". Something like this is almost
required by the current rules.

Elves can't (or won't) practice Alchemy, so this leaves Wizardry (the
human practice of combining Elvish fire magick and high-level Alchemy)
out. The Elves might be able to use Spellsong, but I prefer to leave
that for the Half-Elves. Thus, Elves would use Runecasting. Their
total skill level, however, might get rather high - 7 if we just count
Earth Magick and Runecraft.

Spellsong, as I said, seems the best fit for the Half-Elves. It would
balance the two targetting styles - self and others - but the maximum
skill level of 8 ranks would actually be higher that of Elvish
clerics.

Of course, Wizardry is open to humans, but it has little or not
potential for use in healing, so it's also out. Humans can also craft
Runes, but only to a very limited degree. Bringing Alchemy and Songs
together seems like a better fit - particularly given the high
likelihood that some of the reagents are plants or plant derivatives.
And the maximum skill level (1 in songs, 4 in alchemy) is 5.

So we come to the Dwarves and my quandry. The Dwarves have comparable
potentials for learning both Earth Magick (2) and Alchemy (2). Both of
these potentials are in turn not all that different from how much they
can learn of Runecrafting (3). Using either Runecasting or Runic
Alchemy, the maximum skill level possible would still be 5. But
pairing Runes and Alchemy seems a little odd to me. I'm trying to
visualize how it would work or how a tabletop gamer would describe it
in a session, just to get a idea of the right mechanics. Would the
cleric brew the concoction and then draw it as a rune on the person
who needs healing? Does he runemark the flask the concoction will be
made or stored in to apply the health effects of the rune directly to
the potion or salve? Both of these make some degree of sense to me. In
the first case, the challenge would be to apply a runic tattoo with
alchemically infused inks. In the second case, it would draw on the
Dwarves innate ability to improve the design and function of tools. I
think a Dwarf could (with some care) runemark even glass, since glass
is technically a form of stone.
The other option I can come up with - making the runemark and then
pouring the alchemy compound into the channels left by the mark -
doesn't make a lot of sense. In fact, it seems rather silly. For
example, "I make the mark ofthe Cauldron on Eldrin's shield. Then I
pour a flask of greater vitality onto the Rune. The rune glows, the
potion fizzles, and as I hand the shield back to Eldrin, he feels much
better."

As an aside, the Half-Elvish and Elvish clerics, because if their
access to Magick, would seem to be somewhat more powerful than Human
or Dwarvish clerics, but their power would be limited by short-term
effects or by the need to do a little Dwarvish planning. Given the
fact that Elves and Half-Elves are limited in terms of their armour
proficiencies, their need for healing might actually be higher.

Andrew

On 4/28/06, Kai Sterker <address@hidden> wrote:
> On 4/28/06, Andrew Phillips <address@hidden> wrote:
>
> > I've been thinking about our special abilities (magic) system and I'm
> > trying to puzzle out where a tradition cleric/priest/white mage would
> > fit, if anywhere at all.
>
> I do think that there could easily be a clerical type for each race,
> just not a stereotypical D&D cleric. In our system, clerics would
> mostly draw from the special abilities of their races in a certain way
> that would be typical for a cleric, much like you said.
>
> The whole thing got me thinking about something else though: the
> cross-training of attributes seems to be a little flawed in presence
> of a party system. Without a party, it does make sense for characters
> to learn abilities of other races even if they cannot gain high ranks.
> With a party however, a character that trains in abilities outside his
> own class will almost always be weaker than characters that train
> their native abilities only.
>
> Maybe it would make sense to unlock certain abilities based on a
> characters class (so that e.g. clerics can become masters of healing
> regardless of their race.) If we do something like that, it should be
> strictly limited to a single outside ability (and possibly also to a
> select range of spells/songs/runes/recipes tied to that ability) to
> prevent characters from becoming god-like.
>
> What do you think? Would this weaken the distinction between the
> different races too much? Would this make some classes too powerful?
>
> Kai
>
>
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