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KerfuffleMach2
2010-07-23, 01:09 AM
Alrighty. Kinda new to doing a homebrew, but this is something that I really, really want to do.

A Kingdom Hearts game.

Now, I had posted this a while ago, and I was wanting to make it 4e based. Now, after having finally gotten back to working on it more, I don't think I wanna do that anymore.

That's not to say I don't want to take anything from 4e. I just don't want to base the whole thing off of 4e.

Here are what I feel are going to be the more important things to work on.

- Classes
- Battle system
- Weapons
- Worlds
- Magic
- Races

Now, I didn't stick enemies on that list because, once we have a battle system set up, all we have to do is modify the stats of the various Heartless and Nobodies to fit our needs.

So, I welcome all suggestions and comments. I'll keep a fairly regular update on my progress going.

KerfuffleMach2
2010-07-25, 09:03 PM
Okay, so here's the basic setup for a combo system I thought of.

The number of hits you can get in a combo will be determined by your weapon, with three being the minimum.

Going for a full combo will be similar to a full attack; i.e., you can only move and attack that turn.

For each hit, you roll as if it was a normal hit. The last hit will receive bonus damage of the number of successful hits in the combo. So, two hits means +2 damage, and so on. The last hit has to actually hit to receive the bonus damage.

The player will be able to choose how many hits they want to try for in the combo, but they have to announce the number before they roll for the first one.

Some weapons will increase the amount of damage done on the final hit, and some will add a knockback feature to the last hit. Also, some will increase the number of hits in a full combo.

So, does that sound like a good way of doing combos? I think it's a simple, easy way that still works.

CarpeGuitarrem
2010-07-25, 09:37 PM
I'm not very familiar with KH, having only watched it being played. I can say, though, that having a combo system like you describe will not necessarily work out well. IIRC, in 4th Edition you generally have roughly a 50-60% chance to hit. Maybe more. I don't think the odds, however, are that great for you to regularly make comboes of 3-4 hits, or more.

What I would recommend is that you utilize a "margin of success" algorithm. You take the attack roll, and see how much higher than the defense it was. Then, you rack up extra benefits according to how much you exceeded the defense by. Higher margin means more hits in the combo.

ForzaFiori
2010-07-25, 09:43 PM
This is interesting. I'm not great at designing, but I'll chime in from time to time with ideas if I think of them.

On getting non-keyblade user: Maybe let them design their own weapon? Each of the other characters in the game had their own signature weapon that they used, and you could give them an amount of "weapon points" and have a thing where you buy what your weapon can do, and let them describe it. Then they aren't using key-blades (and so do anything that it is needed for, like locking worlds, or opening chests) but they're still viable.

KerfuffleMach2
2010-07-25, 09:57 PM
@Carpe: That could work. I was thinking of tweaking the AC-Attack Roll numbers anyways, because, at least in the game, it's really hard to miss.

@Forza: Hmmm...not too sure on letting people make their own weapon. If not, I'll at least provide a bunch of different base weapons that they can get upgrades. Maybe work the synthesis system into that a little.

KerfuffleMach2
2010-07-30, 11:58 PM
Hey, been a while since I updated this. So, thought I'd get some stuff up.

Fished out my KH2 guidebook. I'll be use that for a lot of reference.

Magic
With the magic, I want it to work kind of like the powers of 4e. Same with summons and limits.

Magic would be at-will. In 358/2 days, there was a limit to how many times you could use a spell, instead of MP. I think that'll work out well for this. An ether, elixir, or full rest would recharge spent spells.

I think limits would be encounter powers. Still gotta work out the finer details on those.

And I think summons would be okay as daily powers.

Stats
Now, for the stats.

I think determining starting stats would be the same as 4e. Don't really see a need to change it at all.

As for what stats to use...well, here's my thoughts.

Strength (STR)
Magic (MGC)
Defense (DEF)
Constitution (CON)
Charisma (CHA)
Intelligence (INT)

Basically, switch Wisdom and Dexterity for Magic and Defense.

Class ideas
And, time for some basic class ideas.

Magician- This character focuses mainly on their use of magic for attack. They lose some strength, but their magic goes up, as does their intelligence. They also gain a bonus number of times their spells can be used. ((Yes, modeled after Donald))

Warrior - This character lets his weapons do his talking most of the time. They have a higher strength and constitution, and their magic goes down a little. They have the potential to duel-wield. ((Sora))

Defender - This character stands steadfast in the face of danger. Their defense goes up. Most of their abilities are defensive. ((Goofy))

Mageblade - This character channels their magic into their blade, allowing for all sorts of effects on their strikes. They get higher magic and strength, but their defense goes down a little. They can add magical effects to their weapons, which are restricted to blades only. ((Basing this off of Wisdom form in KH2))

Brawler - This character puts all of his focus on his weapons. They don't have time for that silly magic stuff. They have better strength, defense, and constitution, but terrible magic. They do not learn magic or summons, but they have many limits available. And they can easily dual wield. ((Valor form))


Skills
Okay, so here's a basic list of what skills would be available.

Acrobatics
Athletics
Bluff
Diplomacy
Endurance
Exploration (Like Dungeoneering)
Heal
Intimidation
Nature
Perception
Stealth
Streetwise
Tech (For computers and such)
Thievery

Abilities
So, I'm seeing abilities being like feats. Meet the requirements, take it, and you can do more stuff.

Like, for instance, Aerial Dodge. In KH, it's basically the double jump. So, to take it as an ability, you would have to be trained in acrobatics.

Also, I was thinking of allowing certain abilities to "grow", as is done in KH2. Like Aerial Dodge. Some way of giving it an auto upgrade, just by meeting the right requirements. Not taking it again or anything. Just like the ability itself leveled up.

Zaknir
2010-07-31, 07:56 AM
I'm not very expert with 4E rules, but as I know them you could simply do something like this for classes/legendary paths/epic destinies

CLASSES:
-Mage: ++Magic, +Defense, -Attack (Donald)
-Defender: ++Defense, +Attack, -Magic (Goofy)
-Warrior: ++Attack, +Magic, -Defense (Cloud)

Technically, Sora could have been any of these, it depends on the choice during the dream in KH1.

(You could even create a system so that the characters must chose between Scepter, Sword and Shield like Sora in KH1, granting different starting abilities based on those choices).

LEGENDARY PATHS:
-Valor Form: A character specialized in combat with weapons.
-Wisdom Form: A character specialized in combat with magic.
-Reliable Form (invented): A character specialized in abilities that support and defend other characters.
-Balance Form: A character who tries to balance out offensive, magical and defensive abilities.
-Keyblade Master: Someone who really unlock a Keyblade's power. (Mickey and later Sora).
-World Master: Someone who draws power specific from his own world.
-Dark Warrior: Someone who tap into the power of darkness to sustain his abilities (Riku).
-Greater Nobody: A nobody who becomes unique among his race. (Organization XIII).

EPIC DESTINIES:
-Nobody Lord: A nobody who breeds a new species of nobody created at his image (Organization XIII).
-Dawn Walker: Someone who tries to balance the power of light and darkness. (Riku)
-Light Walker: A character who uses the power of light at its maximum level. (Mickey, Minnie).
-Darkness Walker: A character who uses the power of darkness at its maximum level. (Ansem)
-Master Form: A character who refined his abilities at his peak.

KerfuffleMach2
2011-02-20, 08:04 PM
Alright, I've spent a lot of time recently copying down the stats of all the Heartless from KH2. And something came up that I hadn't really thought of before.

Reaction commands. If you've played the game, it's the times when an enemy makes a certain attack and you press triangle to make an appropriate counter.

I figured an easy way to include them would be to make that when they can be used, the player using them states that they are, then rolls a d20. Either we can set a standard number to beat, or have one that changes depending on the specific Heartless. If it works, then the reaction command is done, no further action needed. If it doesn't work, the enemy continues like nothing happened.

Taverick
2011-02-25, 05:38 AM
I myself have been working on a KH d20 system. At first I was going to make a whole new system, then decided that suicide was a bad idea and just set out to make a couple new homebrew classes. It's still in the works but the basics is this:
(This is all for v3.5 btw)
The base class for those who wield keyblades is titled Chosen. The Chosen base class is a variable class with multiple paths. Like in the game you must decide a path of focus, this focus will determine your abilities.
Fighter will give you the Highest BAB and hit point dice, as well as occasional fighter feats (No matter what path you choose you will count as a fighter for the purpose of weapon focus feats connected to the keyblade. No other weapon will receive any benefit from such feat).
Mage will give the highest output of magic, including the highest lvl of spells able to be cast. As well as gain class abilities slightly faster.
Guardian will give armor proficiencies, a class AC bonus, and DR based on class lvl.
Next you will have to choose which aspect you will forgo. Which will decrease obvious attributes.
Other than some special class abilities, I've basically modeled the Chosen after the Bard base class, which I feel is closest too it. They are Charisma based casters who (if you choose the mage path) cast 6th lvl spells as they're highest lvl spell. They're magic is slightly different than bars in the sense there is more evocation/ conjuration (to represent the elemental magics used in the Final fantasy games) and less enchantment. They also start out with a masterwork weapon that can do a weaker variant of Knock (instead of undoing three bindings, can only undo one lock which must have a keyhole) which becomes magical and more powerful as the chosen progresses in lvl.
The idea behind this class is that the campaign should be, if not completely, partially interplaner.

As for the heartless and Nobodies, I'm just making a template that can be added to any creature.

You can get in touch with me if anyone would like to discuss this further, and/ or look at what I have written up already.

Xallace
2011-02-25, 08:31 AM
I'd like to toss out a couple of ideas. Please note that I have only played Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2 and will therefore be basing everything on those.

Character Creation
Why not do it like the game did? Let us say that you have the options of Sword, Shield, and Scepter, one you must choose, one you must give up. These could define the equivalent of "racial abilities" and give an extra dimension to character stats.

While I don't see much point in giving characters a questionnaire, I remember it resulting in things like, "Your journey begins at noon." "Your journey begins at dawn." If I recall, these provided the player insight into how fast they leveled up; Awesome for a video game, not so great for table-top. We could have players choose the "Sun" under which their journey begins, and that could provide some further dimension.

Light and Darkness
Kinda a big theme in the Kingdom Hearts universe. Perhaps you could choose to walk the path of Light or Darkness, at your option. What would this actually affect? I'm not entirely sure.

Experience Costs
You could allow expending experience on character aspects, giving a kind of partially point-based system. You could directly spend the XP you've accrued to improve or buy abilities and spells, battle forms, keyblade improvements, etc.

You'd still level up, and with leveling up comes automatic benefits, but then you spend what you've earned on "class features," more-or-less.

Magic
In Player's Handbook 3, Psionic Power points were introduced to augment at-will powers and thrust them into the range of encounter abilities. You only had a few (numbering in the low double-digits by epic), but they recharged per encounter.

I would like to suggest that we keep spells on the level of Encounter powers, but that each one takes 1 point to cast. In exchange, we lower the number of Magic Points a character has per encounter. Special consumables could restore low numbers of MP, and a short rest would restore all of them.

Summons would work as Daily powers, like you suggested.

Further, I suggest the following: Basic spells (Aero, Fire, etc.) are on the power level of Heroic-tier encounter powers. 2nd-level (Aerora, Fira, etc.) are the level of Paragon-tier encounter powers, while 3rd-level (Aeroga, Firaga, etc.) are as Epic encounter powers.

Keyblades and Classes
I think you shouldn't necessarily be a keyblade wielder. Perhaps this could be a special thing, a feat, or an ability. Characters ought to be able to choose; if everyone wants to be one, awesome! If nobody wants to be one, that's fun too! A mix? Wonderful!

Maybe this is where you choose to be a mage, a keyblade wielder, a knight, or whatever else. We could take more of these from the various other party members you acquire over the course of the games, too. Tarzan, Aladdin, Peter Pan, Jack Skellington, Ariel, uh... there were more, I'm sure.

So, I think we'd have:

Mage (Donald, and perhaps capable of learning Wisdom Form abilities too!)
Master (Sora and anyone else with a Keyblade.)
Thief (Aladdin, Peter Pan.)
Berserk (Beast, Tarzan.)
Knight (Goofy, Auron?)

Names are a little silly... but you get the idea.

Alternatively, anyone can have a keyblade, and it isn't a class. You just need to spend some starting XP on the ability.

KerfuffleMach2
2011-10-26, 09:42 PM
This hasn't died! Still working on it when I can.

Anyways, I've come to a few decisions on how things should work, so I'll stick them here.

Elements
Many things in both Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts have elemental ties. So, I think it's only fitting that I include elements in this. And, in all honesty, Kingdom Hearts already has a bunch. I only added one.

The first thirteen can be traced to the members of Organization XIII. Each one of them was connected to a specific element.

Xemnas - Nothingness
Roxas - Light
Axel - Fire
Larxene - Lightning
Demyx - Water
Xaldin - Wind
Xigbar - Space
Luxord - Time
Saix - Moon
Marluxia - Flowers (I will rename it Nature)
Vexen - Ice
Lexaeus - Earth
Zexion - Illusion

The fourteenth element will be Darkness. This stemming from the Heartless.

And the last element is the only one I added. Sun. Simply to balance against Moon, and to make if fifteen total.

Now, why fifteen? Well, because I plan to have a sort of rock-paper-scissors system going on where the elements are grouped into threes, with each one having an advantage over the next in each circle. Some of them are more obvious than others.

Fire -> Ice -> Lightning
Light -> Dark -> Nothing
Sun -> Earth -> Moon (Still debating the order of this one a little)
Time -> Illusion -> Space
Wind -> Nature -> Water

Most weapons will have some kind of elemental affinity. All Keyblades will be tied to Light, and most will be tied to something else as well. Also, most magic will be tied to one of these. And most enemies. Nobodies will be Nothing aligned, and Heartless will be Dark aligned.

Weapons
Now, I can't have just Keyblades as weapons. That would be dumb.

Here's what I'm considering as the weapon types:

Keyblades
Shields
Axes
Lances
Staves
Lexicons
Knives
Scythes (or Polearms in general)
Blades
Chakrams (or some broader category that includes them)
Bows
Guns (ones more fitting to this reality, like Xigbar's weapons)
Cards (maybe on this one)

Now, the thing about the weapons is that each one will have a spot to hang a keychain from. This keychain will give the weapon its special properties. Every Keyblade has a keychain on it, and each keychain is unique. I will make it so the stats and special abilities of each kind of Keyblade will actually be tied into the keychain, thus allowing those to be applied to other weapons as well.

I will also have it so that the weapon will only take on the properties of one keychain at a time. If you clip three onto it, the weapon will only react to the first one. However, one could take a minor action to pull off that first keychain, thus changing the weapon to whatever the second keychain is. This could open up some strategic possibilities with having multiple keychains.

Worlds
Different worlds will be set up already, but I'll also allow the GM to make their own world by providing certain guidelines.

Preexisting worlds will include:

Traverse Town
Twilight Town
Destiny Island
Disney Castle
Radiant Garden
The World That Never Was
Agrabah
Halloweentown
Olympus Colosseum


Magic
With the magic system, I think I will try something kind of similar to how it's done in 358/2 Days. In that game, Before you went on a mission, you had a grid that you could equip things to. Every single Keyblade, spell, item, and ability was represented by blocks of different size and shape, which you would have to place on the grid in order to have them on the mission. Putting down a Fire block gave you one use of Fire. Putting down four Fire blocks would let you use Fire up to four times.

Going off that, I will have it where you can arrange which spells you can use, and how many times. And in each encounter, you get however many uses you came prepared with. After the encounter, it would reset.

Obviously, I'm going to work out various limits so a person doesn't walk into an encounter with 500 Firagas ready to go.

I'm also going to pull a lot more spells from the Final Fantasy games, because I think they could fit here, and would make magic more important than it is in Kingdom Hearts. Because, let's face it, most people who have played the games didn't use magic much.

Possible spells (their higher level versions are assumed to be included):

Fire
Thunder
Blizzard
Water
Aero
Stop
Slow
Haste
Bio
Ultima
Posion
Sleep
Esuna
Cure
Reflect
Magnet
Gravity
Life
Meteor
Darkness
Silence
Regen

Status Effects
Now, most of those spells have status effects tied to them. I've worked out how a few could be used in this.

One thing to clarify before hand would be the difference between turn and round. A turn would be a single person's turn of play. A round would be going through everybody's turn once.

Burn - For x turns, the target(s) receives y fire damage. Damage stops at end of encounter, though burn remains.

Freeze - For x turns, the target(s) receives y ice damage and has slow. Stops at end of encounter.

Poison - For x turns, target(s) receives y nature damage. Lasts outside of encounter.

Regen - For x turns, target(s) heal y points. Stops at end of encounter.

Sleep - For x turns, target(s) are asleep, and cannot take action. Chance to wake on turn, or when attacked.

Haste - For x rounds, target(s) get an extra turn at the end of the round.

Slow - For x rounds, target(s) can only take a turn every other round.

Stop - For x rounds, target(s) cannot take a turn. Theirs will be skipped.

Paralyze - For x turns, target(s) cannot take any actions. Ends if target(s) is attacked.

Silence - For x turns, target(s) cannot cast any magic or summons.

Blind - For x turns, target(s) has lowered chance to attack.

Chainsaw Hobbit
2011-10-26, 10:20 PM
This looks cool. I'm going to keep an eye on it.