More things to spend XP on.

[Wayne]

A MA boost is something that most players would spend XP on.

[Rick_Smith]

Originally Posted by Wayne

A MA boost is something that most players would spend XP on.

Hi Wayne,
Very clever idea. You are right, that would tempt me. How does this sound:

Mystic Speed 1: Each four levels of this will give you +1 MA. (No rounding up, you need the full 4 levels to gain the bonus.)

-- OR --

Mystic Speed 2: Three points added to this ability on this give you +1 MA. After that 4 points give an additional +1 MA. 5 more points spent give an additional +1 MA. And a final 6 points gives a final +1 MA. (So you gain +4 MA for 18 levels of this advantage.)

The second level is more complex, but MA is so important I like having the feeling of diminishing returns. On the other hand, the Staff ability is linear, so likely the simpler version would be better.

Warm regards, Rick.

[Wayne]

I like the idea of diminishing returns as well. If anything I'd make it worse than what you suggest.
I'm not quite sure about the XP costs you're suggesting but how I'd envisage it would be:

+1 MA : ' n' XP
+2 MA : '2n' XP
+3 MA : '4n' XP
+4 MA : '8n' XP

So, you want to go up 5 MA? Feel free, it's going to be expensive…

[Nils_Lindeberg]

A very good idea overall Rick.

Extend it to many advantages. And there shouldn't really be a need to limit it to just one.

I would like options for other kinds of rewards like status, influence, wealth, home base, followers, reputation, ancestor heirloom weapons, family, contacts, trading house, guild, relationships with a god or religion, membership or titles, etc.

It will be a way for players to signal the GM what they want for character advances. Sure some of them might require you to get a trainer, sponsor or another benefactor to help you. And that part might be an adventure in itself. But you need to find that too if you are to learn more advanced talents or spells.

[Anomylous]

I've played with the idea of adding Feats as things you can buy with XP. Example ideas, not fully worked out:

Quick Draw: attack on the same turn you readied your weapon

Snap Rise: stand up from kneeling/prone and attack on the same turn

Deadeye: for missile weapon users, increases chance of a critical hit like Fencing does for swordsmen. (Should be expensive!)

Shield Wall: combine the "hits stopped" of your shield with those of up to two adjacent figures who also have this feat

Shield Defense: use your shield to defend, forcing your opponent to roll 4 dice to hit you. You may still attack with your weapon, but at -4 adjDX.

Power Attack: spend Fatigue to do extra damage on one attack (which rolls to hit per normal).

Whack-em-All: spend Fatigue to make an extra attack (at -4 DX penalty, or -6 if you already used Two Weapons to make a second attack at -4)

The Spartan Way: spend Fatigue to move full MA and still attack


I had some ideas for wizards as well, but the new staff rules render a lot of them obsolete. A few that stay relevant-ish:

Blood Magic: Allows wizard to cast from hit points, taking damage instead of fatigue - each point of damage gives 2 fST towards the spell (maybe more - taking actual damage is a pretty severe penalty)

Point & Shoot: Staff gives -2 effective range on all Thrown spells

Stored Spell: ability to pre-cast one spell and "store" it in some manner, presumably in the staff or another device, to be used later. Can be taken multiple times; each time gives you the ability to store one more spell. There should be some limit on this, maybe that the total ST cost of stored spells can't equal more than the wizard's IQ.

Not Quite Napalm: Fireballs have a 50% chance of setting anything they hit on fire.

[David L Pulver]

Instead of just XP things you buy during play, how about adding a category of minor talents that simply cost 1/2 talent point, i.e., are priced two for one?

[zot]

Originally Posted by David L Pulver

Instead of just XP things you buy during play, how about adding a category of minor talents that simply cost 1/2 talent point, i.e., are priced two for one?

That's a good name. If I remember correctly, the latest XP draft Steve posted had talent points at 500 XP and staff mana at 200 XP, making a staff mana point a "minor talent". So, 2/5 of a talent :).

[Nils_Lindeberg]

Should there be a talent that gives you a couple or three "minor talents" instead, so you can start your career with a few signature moves. Or should you be able to buy them directly from the start instead of other things. Or should they only be available with XP gained later?

[Chris Goodwin]

How about improving your ability to use a spell that you already know?

Spell Improvement: You can spend XP on spells that you know, to improve your effective knowledge of them. The first level of this on a particular spell costs 100 XP; the next level costs +200 XP; and so on, up to a maximum +500 XP for the fifth level (Rule of Five). Each level either reduces the effective minimum IQ of that spell, for the caster only, or grants you +1 to DX for purposes of casting it. Reducing the minimum IQ alleviates the need for gestures, incantations, materials, and whatnot, that the caster has to perform for that spell. This amount is tripled for non-wizards, but otherwise works the same way. You have to already know the spell in order to make use of this; you can't use XP to reduce the IQ requirement for learning it in the first place. If your IQ drops for whatever reason, you can still use the spell, though you'll find it more difficult, potentially requiring the additional accoutrements.

[Skarg]

Originally Posted by Chris Goodwin

How about improving your ability to use a spell that you already know?

Spell Improvement: You can spend XP on spells that you know, to improve your effective knowledge of them. The first level of this on a particular spell costs 100 XP; the next level costs +200 XP; and so on, up to a maximum +500 XP for +5 levels (Rule of Five). Each level either reduces the effective minimum IQ of that spell, for the caster only, or grants you +1 to DX for purposes of casting it. Reducing the minimum IQ alleviates the need for gestures, incantations, materials, and whatnot, that the caster has to perform for that spell. This amount is tripled for non-wizards, but otherwise works the same way. You have to already know the spell in order to make use of this; you can't use XP to reduce the IQ requirement for learning it in the first place. If your IQ drops for whatever reason, you can still use the spell, though you'll find it more difficult, potentially requiring the additional accoutrements.

I like this.