Socratov
2012-11-01, 04:41 AM
1. Introduction
Welcome ladies and gentlemen (and their awakened animal couterparts or even extraterrestial beings who happen upon this thread). A long time ago I read the book about magicusers and truenamers and was incredibly disappointed when I saw that truenaming actually sucked. hard. so disappointed i threw truenaming aside in pursuit of better classes (like my two favorites the Bard and the Warlock) but the truenaming thing always stuck to the back of my head. Oh the longing for a system where the mastery of language trylu mattered.
But then came Skyrim. Where the hero of the hour fought dragons and used their very weapons against them. Where language really is about knowledge (and having enough dragonsouls to employ them) and skill. It filled my head with hope again, but alas it's not a system for DnD 3.5 (my first tabletop system ever played). Until recently I saw a thread on someone who wanted to build Dovahkiin for a game, and there it went. Fusion in my frain took the Truenamer and Thuúm and fused them together into an idea that would actually work quite right.
So here it is, a homebrew on discarding truespeak and gaining Thu'um. I wish you happy shouting at your table and earplugs for your gamingbuddies :smallamused:
2. Meta-information
This is not about how Truenamers suck. If you want to know how truenamers suck, seek out Zaq and try to understand while still keeping your ability to taste ice-cream. This homebrew will be all about the Thu'um of Dovahkiin and how to employ the system in your game. Before everyone starts to comment I'd first like to reserve a few posts so I don't tun out of space and can deliver a nicely structured homebrew. this homebrew will discuss the following points:
the resource system
effects
adapting through classes
fluff
balance (I will need your help with this)
3. About Thu'um
Thu'um is the language of dragons. By speaking Thu'um you conjure magical effects dpeneding on what you say. In game mechanics this means that saying the word 'Fus' conjures a force. IN Skyrim you can unlock 3 levels of power for every concept, counted by syllables. For force that means Fus can go up to Fus-Ro-Dah, each syllable increasing the power of the conjured force. In terms of DnD mechanics it seems as if the added syllables are a form of empowering and maximizing the effects of the word.
Other words (like the word Iiz for ice form) don't so much get empowered or maximised, but get harder to resist and persist longer in effects, much like the heighten en persistent spell metamagic. There are many more words and effects each usning it's own form of metalanguage to strengthen the effect of the word.
However, with stronger shouts come longer cooldowns.
4. Resource system
Different options exist for cooldowns or resourcesystems to be used. Below I will first adress the cooldown aspect (or the I-can't-really-do-this-at-will-all-the-time-aspect). Later on I will adress the windup of using shouts (a.k.a. the action economy).
4.1. Cooldowns
Cooldowns are an importaint aspect of Skyrim. The problem is that cooldowns don't really work that well in DnD given that most combats don't really go beyond 5 rounds (and that is pushing it). So come the question: Should a shout only be used once per day like a wizards prepared spells? Or should he be able to use them once per encounter? Or like a breathweapon? By spending points like psionics?
Prepare your vocal chords!
This is how Jack Vance would have devised it. In the mornign you wake up, get dressed and practice your voice like a singer would to prepare certain shouts to be used. You ahve with you your phrasebook like a highschooler learning French, Spanish or any other language and prepare as if you have a test today, filling brainsells (or 'slots') with phrases. Once used you can't use it again, unless you have prepared the same shout in another slot.
Advantages: easy to balance, challenges the player to be creative with the shouts he/she has prepared.
Disadvantages: some shouts are more useful (on a meta level) then others. so in effects it's hard to balance. And how to handle the added syllables? levels? How many slots are ok to use? Phrasebook? Really? A dictionary as greatest possession?
Practice makes perfect
have you read Tome of Battle? the you know this one. this is the maneuver system. You know a lot of cool moves, but you need to meditate to be able to execute them. Once you have used a cool move you can't use it for the remainder of the encounter unless you spend some time concentrating on refreshing your moves.
Advantages: flexible. reusable when needed, limiting of instawin moves usable per encounter. not limiting what you can do on a day.
disadvantages: Which recollection to use: Warblades? Swordsages? Crusaders? or a custom one? What woudl govern how many you know?
Multiple encounters per day don't actually tire out the player unless you target a situation he hasn't prepared for.
"hey, where has my manabar gone?"
Like the sorcerer or the psion. You have a certain collection of resourcepoints/free slots and you can spend them on Thu'um uses. Higher level Thu'um or more syllables use more or more powerful resources. Quite balanced? or is it?
Advantages: no unlimited uasages a day. You can go out of resources while an encounter is underway. You can choose to put more effort into some encounters then others, basically allowing your prowess throughout the day like a businessman
Disadvantages: Some words can wreck someone instantly. Supercharge them and even a god would cower. (see mailman or psion shenanigans). How many resources are enough? What would the costs be? How reasonable is to just allow someone to use his win button over and over again?
"legend-wait for it... ...Dary!"
An actual cooldown. it does exist in DnD. Much like the breathweapons, you'll need to roll the cooldown to know when you can use your breathweapon again. Stronger Thu'um will have bigger cooldown dice, more syllables would add flat rounds to cooldowns.
Advantages: it is actually quite logical to use, even Skyrim uses it. though for another reason then DND uses it. In videogames (most notably games with RPG elements) cooldowns are an easy way to simulate a fatigue effect. You'll need to wait until you can do that trick again. Using resources like mana (spellslots) is a similar technique, It's the only way to stop PC's from going "LOL set everything on fire!" or spamming other stuff.
Disadvantages: You might just be able to shout only once while it could just be your main schtick during combat. It's also very limiting the concept.
Out of these options my preference goes out to the "Practice makes perfect" (or, ToB method) with recovery to take a full round, concentration against damage when interrupted (like when a wizard needs to keep up his casting while attacked). It gives the feel of abundancy, while nudging to use different shouts and giving the illusion of depletable resources. With this kind of mechanic dovahkiin would seem like a mix of warblade and warlock, the bladelock so you will :smallamused:
4.2. action economy
So, during a turn you have various actions:
Free (like talking)
Immedeate (like a response, uses swift action for the next turn)
Swift (once per turn)
Move (1 per turn)
Standard action (1 per turn)
Full round action (+5 ft. step, 1move+1std./2move, including free actions and 1 swift action)
the funny thing is, you can use any action in the same manner if you spend your action lower on the list. for instance: using a standardaction to move, swift as a standard action, etc.
Now, in Skyrim using Thu'um takes some time. but since som concentration is involved (you need to speak the words and focus your will through them) it would take more time then just talking. In skyrim this is solved by adding some sort of casttime. typically it's 1-2 seconds. This would lead me to believe that using Thu'um is typically a swift action. this would clash however with the action economy where you could breath fire down your enemies' throat and whacking him with a full attack. Besides, if you try to improve the Thu'um by adding syllables (lvls 2 and 3 of the word) you take longer.
So for balancing purposes (as well as a tiny bit of realism) I'm going with 1 syllable (lvl1 shout) -> swift action, 2 syllables (lvl 2 shout)-> as move or standard action, lvl 3 shout -> full round action. Before people tend to go shouting incoherently at the start of combat, 1 shout per person, per round.
obviously shouting doesn't seem attractive (especially the higher lvl ones) now, but with feats and/or classfeatures you can shout quicker and more frequently. Besides, the lvl 1 shouts will be hardly noticable at a certain level, while the higher level shouts will be much stronger.
*this part is done for now. PEACH pls, more will follow in the posts below*
Welcome ladies and gentlemen (and their awakened animal couterparts or even extraterrestial beings who happen upon this thread). A long time ago I read the book about magicusers and truenamers and was incredibly disappointed when I saw that truenaming actually sucked. hard. so disappointed i threw truenaming aside in pursuit of better classes (like my two favorites the Bard and the Warlock) but the truenaming thing always stuck to the back of my head. Oh the longing for a system where the mastery of language trylu mattered.
But then came Skyrim. Where the hero of the hour fought dragons and used their very weapons against them. Where language really is about knowledge (and having enough dragonsouls to employ them) and skill. It filled my head with hope again, but alas it's not a system for DnD 3.5 (my first tabletop system ever played). Until recently I saw a thread on someone who wanted to build Dovahkiin for a game, and there it went. Fusion in my frain took the Truenamer and Thuúm and fused them together into an idea that would actually work quite right.
So here it is, a homebrew on discarding truespeak and gaining Thu'um. I wish you happy shouting at your table and earplugs for your gamingbuddies :smallamused:
2. Meta-information
This is not about how Truenamers suck. If you want to know how truenamers suck, seek out Zaq and try to understand while still keeping your ability to taste ice-cream. This homebrew will be all about the Thu'um of Dovahkiin and how to employ the system in your game. Before everyone starts to comment I'd first like to reserve a few posts so I don't tun out of space and can deliver a nicely structured homebrew. this homebrew will discuss the following points:
the resource system
effects
adapting through classes
fluff
balance (I will need your help with this)
3. About Thu'um
Thu'um is the language of dragons. By speaking Thu'um you conjure magical effects dpeneding on what you say. In game mechanics this means that saying the word 'Fus' conjures a force. IN Skyrim you can unlock 3 levels of power for every concept, counted by syllables. For force that means Fus can go up to Fus-Ro-Dah, each syllable increasing the power of the conjured force. In terms of DnD mechanics it seems as if the added syllables are a form of empowering and maximizing the effects of the word.
Other words (like the word Iiz for ice form) don't so much get empowered or maximised, but get harder to resist and persist longer in effects, much like the heighten en persistent spell metamagic. There are many more words and effects each usning it's own form of metalanguage to strengthen the effect of the word.
However, with stronger shouts come longer cooldowns.
4. Resource system
Different options exist for cooldowns or resourcesystems to be used. Below I will first adress the cooldown aspect (or the I-can't-really-do-this-at-will-all-the-time-aspect). Later on I will adress the windup of using shouts (a.k.a. the action economy).
4.1. Cooldowns
Cooldowns are an importaint aspect of Skyrim. The problem is that cooldowns don't really work that well in DnD given that most combats don't really go beyond 5 rounds (and that is pushing it). So come the question: Should a shout only be used once per day like a wizards prepared spells? Or should he be able to use them once per encounter? Or like a breathweapon? By spending points like psionics?
Prepare your vocal chords!
This is how Jack Vance would have devised it. In the mornign you wake up, get dressed and practice your voice like a singer would to prepare certain shouts to be used. You ahve with you your phrasebook like a highschooler learning French, Spanish or any other language and prepare as if you have a test today, filling brainsells (or 'slots') with phrases. Once used you can't use it again, unless you have prepared the same shout in another slot.
Advantages: easy to balance, challenges the player to be creative with the shouts he/she has prepared.
Disadvantages: some shouts are more useful (on a meta level) then others. so in effects it's hard to balance. And how to handle the added syllables? levels? How many slots are ok to use? Phrasebook? Really? A dictionary as greatest possession?
Practice makes perfect
have you read Tome of Battle? the you know this one. this is the maneuver system. You know a lot of cool moves, but you need to meditate to be able to execute them. Once you have used a cool move you can't use it for the remainder of the encounter unless you spend some time concentrating on refreshing your moves.
Advantages: flexible. reusable when needed, limiting of instawin moves usable per encounter. not limiting what you can do on a day.
disadvantages: Which recollection to use: Warblades? Swordsages? Crusaders? or a custom one? What woudl govern how many you know?
Multiple encounters per day don't actually tire out the player unless you target a situation he hasn't prepared for.
"hey, where has my manabar gone?"
Like the sorcerer or the psion. You have a certain collection of resourcepoints/free slots and you can spend them on Thu'um uses. Higher level Thu'um or more syllables use more or more powerful resources. Quite balanced? or is it?
Advantages: no unlimited uasages a day. You can go out of resources while an encounter is underway. You can choose to put more effort into some encounters then others, basically allowing your prowess throughout the day like a businessman
Disadvantages: Some words can wreck someone instantly. Supercharge them and even a god would cower. (see mailman or psion shenanigans). How many resources are enough? What would the costs be? How reasonable is to just allow someone to use his win button over and over again?
"legend-wait for it... ...Dary!"
An actual cooldown. it does exist in DnD. Much like the breathweapons, you'll need to roll the cooldown to know when you can use your breathweapon again. Stronger Thu'um will have bigger cooldown dice, more syllables would add flat rounds to cooldowns.
Advantages: it is actually quite logical to use, even Skyrim uses it. though for another reason then DND uses it. In videogames (most notably games with RPG elements) cooldowns are an easy way to simulate a fatigue effect. You'll need to wait until you can do that trick again. Using resources like mana (spellslots) is a similar technique, It's the only way to stop PC's from going "LOL set everything on fire!" or spamming other stuff.
Disadvantages: You might just be able to shout only once while it could just be your main schtick during combat. It's also very limiting the concept.
Out of these options my preference goes out to the "Practice makes perfect" (or, ToB method) with recovery to take a full round, concentration against damage when interrupted (like when a wizard needs to keep up his casting while attacked). It gives the feel of abundancy, while nudging to use different shouts and giving the illusion of depletable resources. With this kind of mechanic dovahkiin would seem like a mix of warblade and warlock, the bladelock so you will :smallamused:
4.2. action economy
So, during a turn you have various actions:
Free (like talking)
Immedeate (like a response, uses swift action for the next turn)
Swift (once per turn)
Move (1 per turn)
Standard action (1 per turn)
Full round action (+5 ft. step, 1move+1std./2move, including free actions and 1 swift action)
the funny thing is, you can use any action in the same manner if you spend your action lower on the list. for instance: using a standardaction to move, swift as a standard action, etc.
Now, in Skyrim using Thu'um takes some time. but since som concentration is involved (you need to speak the words and focus your will through them) it would take more time then just talking. In skyrim this is solved by adding some sort of casttime. typically it's 1-2 seconds. This would lead me to believe that using Thu'um is typically a swift action. this would clash however with the action economy where you could breath fire down your enemies' throat and whacking him with a full attack. Besides, if you try to improve the Thu'um by adding syllables (lvls 2 and 3 of the word) you take longer.
So for balancing purposes (as well as a tiny bit of realism) I'm going with 1 syllable (lvl1 shout) -> swift action, 2 syllables (lvl 2 shout)-> as move or standard action, lvl 3 shout -> full round action. Before people tend to go shouting incoherently at the start of combat, 1 shout per person, per round.
obviously shouting doesn't seem attractive (especially the higher lvl ones) now, but with feats and/or classfeatures you can shout quicker and more frequently. Besides, the lvl 1 shouts will be hardly noticable at a certain level, while the higher level shouts will be much stronger.
*this part is done for now. PEACH pls, more will follow in the posts below*