New OOTS products from CafePress
New OOTS t-shirts, ornaments, mugs, bags, and more
Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Manaborn

  1. - Top - End - #1
    Banned
     
    Kumo's Avatar

    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    On vacation till the 9th
    Gender
    Male

    Default Manaborn

    Let me know what you think. I've been tossing around things like this in my head for a while now but this is the first time i've tried putting it into words.

    (Not counting one other place i've asked for opinions on this)

    A lot of things here take influence from OoTS and other games, webshows and comics. Please don't take offense.

    This isn't a Tabletop RP, I'm just trying to get critique and this seemed like the best place to try.

    Spoiler
    Show

    The power of magic flows through all beings, all lands, and even all thoughts themselves. These things all have a beat, a rhythm, if you will. Granted, this is an incredibly rough translation, but that's not the point.

    Occasionally this power in every molecule and thought form a connection through their power, becoming one. These connections are called the Ley. The Ley spark energy between each other, creating lines and connections of pure energy. These connections are called Ley Lines. (Not very imaginative, but still)

    Most Ley, on their own, are completely useless. What is most potent is the lines, through which all the energy flows between the clumping points of power. These lines often intersect one another, creating places and beings of power, such as Dragons or the Well of True Knowledge.

    Some say the lines are the will of the gods themselves. Some say they are a myth.

    But one thing is for sure: There are men, women and children with all sorts of powers within them, thanks to the lines of the Ley.

    They are the Manaborn.


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Manaborn Types

    Spoiler
    Show


    Mage: A balanced spellcaster, able to cast all types of spells. However, the spells are of a lesser potency than a specialized class, and they are almost useless in a melee or bow-to-bow fight. However, they can cast quickly and a wider range of spells than the others as well. They are capable of casting any spell from any school. They must research their spells (though they do not need to prepare them, usually knowing how to cast it is enough), making them unique among the other classes, who usually need no research. The reward, however, is power second only to a Realitician.
    DnD Terms: Sorcerer/Wizard

    Demiurgist: (Purely theoretical) Also called Breakers. Would be a being capable of using Ley lines to change recent events, and occasionally the very laws of physics, even beyond what other classes can achieve. For instance, he could erase that your parents ever met, if he was powerful enough. He would be the only one who retains any memory of your existence. Could not cast any other kind of spell, though he could alter reality to achieve the same effect, ie, making a wall where there used to be none. Demiurgists also could get glimpses of the future due to their ties with reality, though they would only be able to directly act upon it rarely. However, their visions also help them remember things they should do, such as searching that one last treasure chest or checking a tower to make sure the emergency beacon is still there. As a result, they are rarely surprised, and when they do, it usually means another Demiurgist is involved. This is all pure speculation, however, and is deemed highly unlikely that any being would be able to break reality on a whim.
    EX: Red Mage from 8-bit theatre, Wyoming from Red VS Blue.
    DnD Terms: Cheaters, Players, Griefers

    Shadowbenders: Also called Shadowdancers. A spellcaster whose power is comprised completely of destruction. Shadowbenders, while unable to do much else with their power, are able to spawn shadowy tendrils from their bodies that obey their beck and call. The tendrils are capable of doing virtually anything that does not stray into another school of magic. One of their other few powers is the ability to warp from shadow to shadow over short distances, usually about twenty feet from edge to edge of a shadow, though occasionally a Shadowbender is powerful enough to traverse miles.
    EX: Black Mage from 8-bit theatre right before the big battle with Sarda, only not neccesarily evil.
    DnD Terms: None

    The Lifeshades: Also called Necromancers or Druids. Spellcasters whose power comes from the ability to create life. Depending on their tendencies, they can be called either druids or necromancers, but as a collective are referred to as The Lifeshades. Necromancers gear their power towards those once dead, making them walk again. Druids gear their strength towards creating new life from scratch. While Necromancy is far easier to perform and under the user's complete control, Druid techniques create stronger beings that are harder to take apart.

    Clerics: Also called Paladins or priests. Clerics gain their power from pure faith in their gods. They can heal, smite evil or good (depends on the god), turn back the magic of others, and depending on the deity they serve, perform miracles such as healing or even creating storms. Each deity has their own specific miracle, and the cleric can never turn from their path or risk losing their power. They are the only type of magic user who are as adept in battle as they are with spells, hence, they are also call Paladins. However, they can cast few spells aside from healing and they must have a focus blessed at least twenty fours hours ahead of time to use their power, including physical, and they must follow the path of their religion to the letter or risk losing power.
    DnD Terms: Paladins, Clerics

    Illusionist: Also called enchanters. A being who alters the minds of others to perceive what they wish them to perceive. Can alter everything a person sees, from a door to their dead parents. Illusionists can also suggest things to you that would then perceive as real. For instance, an Illusionist could not make you walk into a pit of acid on a freezing day, but he could convince you the acid is actually a jacuzzi.
    DnD Term: Wizard (Specializes in Enchantment/Illusions)

    Conjurer: Also called shamans or evokers. Specializes in summoning, creating objects, teleporting, and controlling creatures from other planes of existence. A conjurer is the riskiest type of spellcaster, since most spirits called are irritable and don't want to be wrested to the mortal coil. Occasionally a conjurer gets possessed by one of his own spirits and he becomes a Lich.
    DnD Terms: Wizard (Specializes in Conjuring)

    Oracles: Also called seers. These beings are the only kind of Manaborn whose power cannot be geared towards combat. Oracles are capable of knowing everything that is to come, as long as they seek it out. They need merely delve into their power, ask a question aloud, and their own body will provide an answer, albeit usually a very cryptic one. Oracles can focus their power towards a more precise answer by sitting on a large amount of valuable items, such as jewels and gold. (People insist this is an urban myth they use to make money, but it's true) In a battlefield, their only real function is to detect invisible enemies. Their power is a lot like a realitician's to detect the future, but the main difference is that Oracles can act on it. Whether that changes the outcome, however, depends.

    EX: The Oracle of the Sunken Valley, The seer from the Azure City siege

    Mindbreakers: Also called telepaths. Mindbreakers specialize in mind magic, similar to illusionists, but unlike illusionists, they use direct assaults on the person's mind. They can rip apart sanity, manipulate memories, disconnect the senses, and induce brain-splitting headaches at the drop of a hat. They are usually useless in a hand to hand fight, but that doesn't really matter because they can fight purely with their minds. They can move objects with pure thought, or simply batter against the opponent's mind. Some, at the peak of their power, can even form objects out of pure will. The power of the individual mindbreaker is generally focused in some way on a specific emotion or function of the brain, such as fear or pain, but they are the only kind of manaborn who can use the focus of fellow Mindbreakers, assuming the Mindbreakers in question trust each other enough to let them into each other's minds.
    EX: Scarecrow from Batman
    DnD Term: Mindflayer


    Manaborn have no collectives of their own. They usually discover and learn to control their powers on their own, except for mages, but even they have no real need to mingle with others of their kind, since mages are a tricky, vindictive lot.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Warrior Types (In progress)


    Spoiler
    Show

    Assassins:
    Masters of the darkness, the instant-kill, and deception, assassins strike from the shadows, ending their enemy in a single blow. The downside is that unless they are recruited from another clan they generally are weak if the enemy actually gets them into hand-to-hand. Assassin clans are always secretive, and generally kill off deserters. Assassins are completely unaware of any damage to their body, only concerned with ending the target's life. An assassin clan bases it's creed - it's code of laws - on what they wish to accomplish. Some wish to end corruption, some wish to simply make a quick buck, others wish to instill as much anarchy as possible. It just depends on the individual clan. Assassins prefer to work alone, though apprentices are often used for information gathering. All assassin clans are wary of each other, but each one shares a common practice: before granting an assassin a place within the clan, the assassin must make an offering of his or her own flesh. Usually it's just a finger, but some clans want you to remove your tounge, or something worse.

    Rouges:
    Also called thieves. Rouges are masters of stealth, trickery, and of course, stealing. They are the most adaptable of the non-manaborn, able to use a variety of weaponry, though they tend to favor ranged to melee. Rouges have only one collective, which they call the Thieve's guild. This guild is similar to the assassins, but there are several differences: One: rouges work for themselves, and themselves alone. The only reason they have a group identity is that they often request favors from rouges in exchange for other favors, or even cold hard cash. Rouges pay twenty percent of their earnings to fund the guild, and aid each other in making sure this gets into the guild's coffers. The biggest weakness of the rouge's guild is that there is no orderly chain of command: the stronger you are, or the higher you can pay, the more influence you have with the guild. Leavers are killed only if they steal from a city under guild control.

    Mercenaries:
    Also called warriors or bandits. Mercenaries comprise people who have devoted their lives to the mastery of weapons and combat, and will sell their services to those who need it or can afford it. They are the most varied of the warrior groups, comprising knights, foot soldiers, petty criminals, and often previous members of other guilds. Mercenaries, like monks, specialize in combat, but unlike monks, they use weapons rather than forge their bodies into one. Mercenaries never camp within a pre-existing city, although some become so large that calling them a town wouldn't be too inaccurate. Mercenaries each recieve a mark, usually a tattoo, that identifies them as a member of the camp. At least one person in a group must have the camp's tattoo to enter. The only other way into a camp without fighting or sneaking is to hold out a large sum of gold and lay down your weaponry.

    Monks:
    Monks are warriors that forsake weaponry and instead hone their physical form and senses to their peak. Monks obviously cannot fight ranged, but the strength of their limbs, including their jumping abilities, more than makes up for it. Monks generally are raised from a very young age, often even right after birth, and are taught to fight for only for peace, and even then only when it was needed. Monks generally live in monasteries or temples, which is how they are known. For example, a monk from the Eagleeye temple would be known as James Eagleeye, or The Eagle Eye Monk, depending on who you ask.

    Dragon Knights:
    Also called Dragoons or Dragon Slayers. Dragon knights train for the express purpose of killing large monsters, especially dragons. They are required to kill at least one of these monstrous creatures before joining the Order of Dragoon. Dragon Knights possess an intimate knowledge of monsters so thorough they can slay any of these monsters in a single blow. The single greatest weakness of a dragoon is that they cannot actually do any blows after making the first one for about thirty seconds, so usually they just attack normally. Dragon knights also have a strict code of honor and chivalry that extends to all sentient races, including dragons. Members of the Order cannot leave until the day they die, even if they wish to. The order can call on their services anytime they wish.

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




    Thank you. Critique is appreciated.
    Last edited by Kumo; 2009-09-28 at 06:22 PM. Reason: Lifak renamed to Lifeshades

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Bugbear in the Playground
    Join Date
    Jul 2008

    Default Re: Manaborn

    I'll try to give this a look over later.
    The Impossible Thing Before Breakfast- "The GM is the author of the story and the players direct the actions of the protagonists." Widely repeated across many role-playing texts. Neither sub-clause in the sentence is possible in the presence of the other.

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Bugbear in the Playground
    Join Date
    Jul 2008

    Default Re: Manaborn

    Nothing here really seems objectionable, though I'd be tempted to clean up and possibly rename things a bit. (e.g, Demiurgist seems a bit more evocative than Realitician.) But it's hard to judge how interesting this would be outside the context of tabletop RP and associated mechanics.

    What are you actually looking to create here? Background for a series of stories, or for a CRPG, or something similar?

    EDIT: Ooh- one thing I do find interesting in particular- the realiticians'/oracles' ability to forsee the future. This is something that cropped up a lot in the Dune series- Does the the seer, in truth, forsee the future, or actively create it? You could probably base an entire game around that mechanic.
    Last edited by Samurai Jill; 2009-09-28 at 11:23 AM.
    The Impossible Thing Before Breakfast- "The GM is the author of the story and the players direct the actions of the protagonists." Widely repeated across many role-playing texts. Neither sub-clause in the sentence is possible in the presence of the other.

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Banned
     
    Kumo's Avatar

    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    On vacation till the 9th
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Manaborn

    Quote Originally Posted by Samurai Jill View Post
    Nothing here really seems objectionable, though I'd be tempted to clean up and possibly rename things a bit. (e.g, Demiurgist seems a bit more evocative than Realitician.) But it's hard to judge how interesting this would be outside the context of tabletop RP and associated mechanics.

    What are you actually looking to create here? Background for a series of stories, or for a CRPG, or something similar?

    EDIT: Ooh- one thing I do find interesting in particular- the realiticians'/oracles' ability to forsee the future. This is something that cropped up a lot in the Dune series- Does the the seer, in truth, forsee the future, or actively create it? You could probably base an entire game around that mechanic.
    Fact is, the whole concept I'm trying to make is unfeasible as a table-top game, this is more of a background setting to a story. Main reason it's here is because homebrew is about as close as i could get...

    The best way to explain a realitician is to think of it in terms of player and game pieces, or editor and characters - the player/editor is capable of influencing the story but not changing it utterly. Also, they are mostly aware of what's going to happen, though their awareness of what could or should happen sometimes alters what will happen.

    I don't know what a Demiurgist is, but i might change it to that... Thanks for the critique.

  5. - Top - End - #5
    Bugbear in the Playground
    Join Date
    Jul 2008

    Default Re: Manaborn

    Quote Originally Posted by Kumosabe View Post
    The best way to explain a realitician is to think of it in terms of player and game pieces, or editor and characters - the player/editor is capable of influencing the story but not changing it utterly.
    Actually, depending on the game system you use, the player is capable of changing the story utterly. It may even be the whole point.
    I don't know what a Demiurgist is, but i might change it to that... Thanks for the critique.
    'Demiurge' was the Gnostics' name for the creator of our imperfect material world (as opposed to the spiritually perfect and uncreated creator who wouldn't touch this world with a six foot pole.) (Also, 'Lifak' seems a little flat... I dunno, maybe Biomancer would be a little cooler?)

    But if you want to use all this for a story, what you really need to focus on are bases for dramatic tension. How do these various 'classes' tie into the setting and the ley lines that you mention? 'Real' settings don't have big arbitrary class labels slapped on people (nobody's born an assassin, for example,) so what do these people have in common that binds them in a single group, and what do they draw power from? Are they an economic guild or caste system? A ruling elite? A guerilla resistance faction? What are their political relationships, key needs, or emotional drives? What brings those into conflict, either potential or actual? How would this help drive the plot?
    The Impossible Thing Before Breakfast- "The GM is the author of the story and the players direct the actions of the protagonists." Widely repeated across many role-playing texts. Neither sub-clause in the sentence is possible in the presence of the other.

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Banned
     
    Kumo's Avatar

    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    On vacation till the 9th
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Manaborn

    Changed Lifak to Lifeshades.

    These aren't arbitrary classes, these are general classifications, like a political system or a sea.

    As for society, i plan to work on that later.

  7. - Top - End - #7
    Bugbear in the Playground
    Join Date
    Jul 2008

    Default Re: Manaborn

    Quote Originally Posted by Kumosabe View Post
    Changed Lifak to Lifeshades.

    These aren't arbitrary classes, these are general classifications, like a political system or a sea.

    As for society, i plan to work on that later.
    Well, keep it up. Let us know how it turns out.
    The Impossible Thing Before Breakfast- "The GM is the author of the story and the players direct the actions of the protagonists." Widely repeated across many role-playing texts. Neither sub-clause in the sentence is possible in the presence of the other.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •