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Old 02-17-2021, 01:43 AM   #41
deanjday
 
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Default Re: The World of Solem

Helm the Defender, God of Protection and Defender of Solem

Helm, commonly called the Watcher was one of the last Gods willed into being by the Creator and the Mother, in fact his birth signaled the end of the Age of Legends according to many theologians as his whole being was entrusted with the task of defending Solem from the many invasions at the end of the Age of Legends from the Dark One and his Titans and Horrors.

With dark portals opening up across Solem from the Dark Road this was an almost impossible task for the young God, but he was resolute and unflinching in his task and manged not only to close many of the Dark Portals but also to study them and was highly responsible for stemming the tide of evil pouring into the world in which would soon become the Age of Shadows.

Helm became extremely popular during this time as worshiping him became almost a fashion with young men of all races, especially Elves and Men as his task was so dangerous and heroic.

A new group of Paladins soon sprung up called the White Watchers who also over time became the clergy of Helm and new recruits to his cult would travel to the location of a known Dark Portal and bravely await whatever Horror would step through the gate and do battle.

The survive-ability of these brave young recruits was of course legendarily low, but this only added to the romantic legend of the White Watchers and the order grew hugely despite horrific losses.

Helm soon taught his followers the art of defense in all its forms and the Watchers soon took as their religious symbol a bright plain white shield. Their god taught them the skills of Castle construction and siege craft as more and more Dark Portals were researched and found and cataloged and this is where even today many of those original great castles and forts still standing and active against the largest Dark Portals that still must be defended.

At some point during the Age of Shadows it was decided that along with the Elves and the followers of Mystra the Goddess of Magic to counter attack into some of the largest Dark Portals and take the fight to the Dark One.

Despite initial successes and the discovery that the Portals were all inter connected the price was dear as after years of research it was discovered that these Dark Ways which bridged off the Main Dark Road were cursed and infused with an evil that slowly infected both the Elves and many of Mystra's people.
Eventually Helm's Paladins took the decision that travel and use of the Dark Ways was banned and they redoubled their guard on the main known portals, both to stop whatever wanted to enter the world and also to halt Solemites not to use the Dark Ways as it had become known that use of the ways slowed down time, so when exiting through another Dark Portal, hardly any time had passed.

Today, the worship of Helm depends if a still active Dark Portal is needed to be guarded and unfortunately this is often still the case. Although no comparison can be made with the invasion forces of the Age of Shadows, it is still reported that the White Watchers often lose many of their number trying to stem a Horror entering Solem.

Iomadae, the chief Celestial of Helm's people has taught her Paladins of the White Watchers many miracles of protection and defense over the years, ensuring they can better survive their brave battles as the worlds first line of defense.
Iomadae still resides in Solem and guards the World Wound the location of the Dark One's earthly prison and attempts to ensure that no shadowspawn or evil plots of the worlds Darkfriends free him.

Behind the Curtain
I am taking gods and religious figures from various games and putting them through my own campaigns lense. Helm is from the Forgotten Realms and Iomadae is from Pathfinder. Here they become the god of protection, created to stop Azor's invasion and his chief Celestial.
The Dark Ways is a brilliant idea from the Wheel of Time books and here I have connected it to the Dark Road and made it a series of portals and travel paths into the world used by Azor's forces.
It can still be used as a kind of huge time short cut within the game, but a hugely dangerous one as it has a corrupting influence on those that enter for any time and you really don't now what else is in there?

So Helm's clergy and knights are one and the same and when I get round to creating their miracle list it will consist mainly of protection and earth and crafting magics.
I see in my minds eyes that White Watchers have the romantic reputation and insane bravery of world war 2 RAF fighter pilots, knowing their average life span is short, but giving the ultimate sacrifice anyway as they await to see if someone else horrific steps out of the portal they guard next.
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Old 02-17-2021, 06:38 AM   #42
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Default Re: The World of Solem

Rules - Template Racial

[B]Stone Dwarves 80 points/B]

Attributes
ST 13 (30), DEX 9 (-20), IQ 10 (0), HT 14 (40)

Secondary Characteristics
Damage 1d+1 /2d+1
Bl 34 ibs
HP 17 (8)
WILL 12 (10)
PER 10 (0)
FP 17 (9)
Base Speed 5 (-20)
Base Move 4 (-5)

Advantages
Damage Resistance DR 2 (10)
Extended Lifespan 2 (4)
Fearlessness 2 (4)
Hard To Kill 2 (4)
Immunity to Metabolic Hazards (30)
Longevity (2)
Magery 1 (15)
Night Vision (5)
Pickaxe Penchant 1 (5)
Pressure Support 2 (10)
Reduced Consumption 2 (4)
Striking Strength 2 (10)

Disadvantages
Fragile (Brittle) (-15)
Greed 12 (-15)
Intolerance to High Elves (-5)
Intolerance to Wood Elves (-5)
Stubbornness (-5)
Vulnerability X2 (Piercing Damage) (-30)

Behind the curtain
These are very much Tolkien Dwarves but with two big differences, they are ACTUALLY some form of stone beings come to life, hence the DR, resistances, high HP and health and lower speed and move.
They will also be highly magical beings with their own magical style, so very much away from the Dwarves cant do magic trope, hence the Magery 1.
Toying with the idea of having other Dwarven races based on other elements i.e. Glorantha.

Large Edit
After some great feedback by the Gurps masters, I have amended my Stone Dwarves as follows.
1 Added in the Fragile (Brittle) disadvantage
2. Reduced the base DR by 1 to 3.
3. Reduced DEX by 1 to 9.
4. Added in the Vulnerability (Piercing Damage) X2
5 Increased Strength to 13
6 Deleted both Resistance to Disease and Poison
7 Instead added in immunity to Metabolic Hazards
8 Added in Pressure Support 2
9 Added 1 extra Fatigue point to bring in line with hit points at 17.

All these changes bring the template back up to 95 points.

Last edited by deanjday; 06-01-2021 at 01:22 AM. Reason: Amended DR to 2 Levels instead of 3
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Old 02-17-2021, 07:44 AM   #43
Emerald Cat
 
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Default Re: The World of Solem

Quote:
Originally Posted by deanjday View Post
[B]Stone Dwarves 100 points/B]

[...]

Secondary Characteristics
Damage 1d-2/1d
Bl 20 ibs
HP 15 (10)
WILL 12 (10)
PER 10 (0)
FP 16 (6)
Base Speed 5 (-20)
Base Move 4 (-5)
HP starts at ST, and you bought 4 extra HP. At 2 points/level, this means that HP 15 would only cost [8] points for dwarves.

Will 12 works well to reinforces the idea that dwarves are stubborn, but not necessarily intellectuals.

I'm not sure why you bought extra FP.

I see that you reduced the Base Speed to 5 to bring the base speed of the dwarves in line with that of an average human. And reduced their move to reflect their frequent slow movement speed in tabletop games. I do like that this effect is a lot less pronounced than in Those Other Games.

Quote:
Originally Posted by deanjday View Post
Advantages
Damage Resistance DR 4 (20)
Extended Lifespan 2 (4)
Fearlessness 2 (4)
Hard To Kill 2 (4)
Longevity (2)
Magery 1 (15)
Night Vision (5)
Pickaxe Penchant 1 (5)
Reduced Consumption 2 (4)
Resistance to Disease +8 (8)
Resistance to Poison +8 (8)
Dwarves are living stone, so a high DR makes sense for them. Note that the DR advantage does not cover the eyes. Are dwarven eyes meant to be their weak point or is this an oversight?

I'm not sure about including Extended Lifespan, Longevity, and Unaging on your racial templates. Unless you foresee the campaign spanning a long enough time frame for aging to be relevant or the use of magically accelerated aging as an attack, these will be useless traits. I would use these advantages sparingly.

I see that you have both Resistance to Disease and Resistance to Poison. If that is mean to cover all metabolic hazards, I'd price it and list it as such to avoid confusion. Otherwise, I'd rewrite this as "Immunity(Metabolic Hazards, except for ...)" to make it clear to the players what the limitations are.

Quote:
Originally Posted by deanjday View Post
Disadvantages
Greed 12 (-15)
Intolerance to High Elves (-5)
Intolerance to Wood Elves (-5)
Stubbornness (-5)
Remember that racial Disadvantages are supposed to hold for all members of a race, with possible exceptions for PCs who have bought them off. Are all dwarves really Greedy and Stubborn?

I would condense Intolerance to High Elves and Intolerance to Wood Elves into Intolerance to Elves. That will make things easier for the players to keep track of.

Quote:
Originally Posted by deanjday View Post
Toying with the idea of having other Dwarven races based on other elements i.e. Glorantha.
Taking that route could lead to racial template bloat. If you want to take that route, I'd recommend writing non-elemental base templates for each race alongside optional elemental ancestry templates for each element. To minimize GM work, I would write one generic lens for each element that would apply regardless of race.

For example:
Earth Elemental Ancestry [37]
Add the following advantages to your character:
Damage Resistance 4 [20]
Reduced Consumption 2 [4]
Resistance to Disease +8 [5]
Resistance to Poison +8 [8]
A similar approach would work for representing things like divine, draconic, or dark friend ancestry.

Last edited by Emerald Cat; 02-17-2021 at 03:42 PM. Reason: Updated Resistance to Disease in the Earth Elemental Ancestry lens.
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Old 02-17-2021, 09:15 AM   #44
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Default Re: The World of Solem

Quote:
Originally Posted by deanjday View Post
These are very much Tolkien Dwarves but with two big differences, they are ACTUALLY some form of stone beings come to life, hence the DR, resistances, high HP and health and lower speed and move.
They will also be highly magical beings with their own magical style, so very much away from the Dwarves cant do magic trope, hence the Magery 1.
"Dwarves can't do magic" isn't a Tolkien trope either. Like Scottish accents and heavy drinking, I'm not entirely certain where that comes from.

You should add SM-1 [0] to the racial template, assuming your dwarves tend to be noticeably smaller than humans. It doesn't change the template's cost, but it IS relevant to the rules.
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Old 02-17-2021, 10:02 AM   #45
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Default Re: The World of Solem

Quote:
Originally Posted by deanjday View Post
Advantages
You've got a total of [25] points in things that add to effective HT or HT-derived secondaries here, between Fatigue +2 [6], HTK x2 [4], Longevity [2], Resistance +8 to Disease [5] (total corrected) and +8 to Poison [8]... you could just give them HT +6 or more (while keeping Basic Speed at 5.0) instead of +4 for a much simpler take on the same effect...

Last edited by Gold & Appel Inc; 02-17-2021 at 10:14 AM.
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Old 02-17-2021, 01:26 PM   #46
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Default Re: The World of Solem

Quote:
Originally Posted by Emerald Cat View Post
HP starts at ST, and you bought 4 extra HP. At 2 points/level, this means that HP 15 would only cost [8] points for dwarves.

Will 12 works well to reinforces the idea that dwarves are stubborn, but not necessarily intellectuals.

I'm not sure why you bought extra FP.

I see that you reduced the Base Speed to 5 to bring the base speed of the dwarves in line with that of an average human. And reduced their move to reflect their frequent slow movement speed in tabletop games. I do like that this effect is a lot less pronounced than in Those Other Games.



Dwarves are living stone, so a high DR makes sense for them. Note that the DR advantage does not cover the eyes. Are dwarven eyes meant to be their weak point or is this an oversight?

I'm not sure about including Extended Lifespan, Longevity, and Unaging on your racial templates. Unless you foresee the campaign spanning a long enough time frame for aging to be relevant or the use of magically accelerated aging as an attack, these will be useless traits. I would use these advantages sparingly.

I see that you have both Resistance to Disease and Resistance to Poison. If that is mean to cover all metabolic hazards, I'd price it and list it as such to avoid confusion. Otherwise, I'd rewrite this as "Immunity(Metabolic Hazards, except for ...)" to make it clear to the players what the limitations are.



Remember that racial Disadvantages are supposed to hold for all members of a race, with possible exceptions for PCs who have bought them off. Are all dwarves really Greedy and Stubborn?

I would condense Intolerance to High Elves and Intolerance to Wood Elves into Intolerance to Elves. That will make things easier for the players to keep track of.



Taking that route could lead to racial template bloat. If you want to take that route, I'd recommend writing non-elemental base templates for each race alongside optional elemental ancestry templates for each element. To minimize GM work, I would write one generic lens for each element that would apply regardless of race.

For example:
Earth Elemental Ancestry [40]
Add the following advantages to your character:
Damage Resistance 4 [20]
Reduced Consumption 2 [4]
Resistance to Disease +8 [8]
Resistance to Poison +8 [8]
A similar approach would work for representing things like divine, draconic, or dark friend ancestry.
Thank you for catching the mistake on HP, amended.

I bought extra FP as I want them to be known as one of the most tireless races, even more so than my Elves.

Reducing their move was also done as they are heavier, due to partly being stone like beings.

I am fine with them having a weak point with the eyes.

I will be eventually creating a god or titan of time and also maybe introducing bad magical effects that age individuals, also I ma planning to use the Pendragon model of probably having only one or two significant adventures each year in game time followed by a winter season, so it should be significant against the younger lived races such as Man.

Yes, I do want all Dwarves to have those disadvantage traits personality wise, rare individuals can buy them off, but it should be rare.

I am making Wood Elves very different to High Elves as they are in fact plant like beings but have their own very good reason for their intense dislike of Dwarves, it will be made more clear when I write them up.

Thanks again for your feedback always useful.
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Old 02-17-2021, 01:31 PM   #47
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormcrow View Post
"Dwarves can't do magic" isn't a Tolkien trope either. Like Scottish accents and heavy drinking, I'm not entirely certain where that comes from.

You should add SM-1 [0] to the racial template, assuming your dwarves tend to be noticeably smaller than humans. It doesn't change the template's cost, but it IS relevant to the rules.
I was not trying to say its a specific Tolkien trope, but the RPG normal Dwarf (which is largely based on Tolkien's version) has come to be seen as not using magic. Dungeons and Dragons is a big culprit here, although it has to be said the last twenty years or so at least has started to reverse this trend.

What I should have been more clear about is i want my Dwarves to be highly magical and have their own type of magic (even if this is just a reduced spell list in what they are allowed to buy, i'm not sure yet!).

I dont want them to qualify for a SM, as although they are not tall, they are wider then Men.

Thanks for your feedback, please keep prodding me, as it helps me define and clarify my thoughts with questions I had not thought about.
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Old 02-17-2021, 01:33 PM   #48
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Default Re: The World of Solem

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc View Post
You've got a total of [25] points in things that add to effective HT or HT-derived secondaries here, between Fatigue +2 [6], HTK x2 [4], Longevity [2], Resistance +8 to Disease [5] (total corrected) and +8 to Poison [8]... you could just give them HT +6 or more (while keeping Basic Speed at 5.0) instead of +4 for a much simpler take on the same effect...
Mmm, maybe, I was going for specific effects, but maybe I have over complicated it.

Thank you very much for the cost mistake on diseases, updated.
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Old 02-17-2021, 05:14 PM   #49
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Quote:
Originally Posted by deanjday View Post
Rules - Template Racial

[B]Stone Dwarves 95 points/B]

Damage Resistance DR 4 (20)
I dont know what point value your putting your baseline PCs at but DR4 is really hard to damage unless they are fighting well out of their weight class or something is specifically designed to target them. Its the equivalent of scale mail and a steel pot, and as its written I would assume it heals as well since its not ablative.

Consider that the ST of a 150pt PC will likely land in the 10-13 area unless they are melee focused. Swing (the higher of the two) is 1d at 10 and 2d-1 at 13.
Your typical broadsword is sw+1 cut, giving you a 2-7 possibility at ST10 meaning you cant do anything to them half the time, even if all they do is just stand there laughing at you. Ok at ST13 you have 2d so 2-12 which is a little better odds of overcoming that DR. But add in dodge, parry and armor and this gets pretty OP pretty fast. Yes bigger weapons do more damage but there are quite a few weapons that do less.

I speak from experience earlier in my GM life, I let a player take DR2 in a 150pt Med Fan game. I had to take it back after a few sessions because it was impossible to balance encounters when he had a naked DR that was nearly equal to the rest of the group armored (they couldn't afford metal or the weight). And he wasnt even a "fighter".

If your playing a higher point value group like 250+ then its probably less of an issue. But I now don't let PCs take DR unless it also comes with a "armor restriction", and the DR would have to scale as the group grows. So they could start with DR1 and buy up to a predefined cap, but no more than that, and the armor restriction cant be bought off. Less flexible might also be a control option, tagging a point of DX (which will also lower the price of the template to 75)
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Old 02-18-2021, 01:38 AM   #50
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I dont know what point value your putting your baseline PCs at but DR4 is really hard to damage unless they are fighting well out of their weight class or something is specifically designed to target them. Its the equivalent of scale mail and a steel pot, and as its written I would assume it heals as well since its not ablative.

Consider that the ST of a 150pt PC will likely land in the 10-13 area unless they are melee focused. Swing (the higher of the two) is 1d at 10 and 2d-1 at 13.
Your typical broadsword is sw+1 cut, giving you a 2-7 possibility at ST10 meaning you cant do anything to them half the time, even if all they do is just stand there laughing at you. Ok at ST13 you have 2d so 2-12 which is a little better odds of overcoming that DR. But add in dodge, parry and armor and this gets pretty OP pretty fast. Yes bigger weapons do more damage but there are quite a few weapons that do less.

I speak from experience earlier in my GM life, I let a player take DR2 in a 150pt Med Fan game. I had to take it back after a few sessions because it was impossible to balance encounters when he had a naked DR that was nearly equal to the rest of the group armored (they couldn't afford metal or the weight). And he wasnt even a "fighter".

If your playing a higher point value group like 250+ then its probably less of an issue. But I now don't let PCs take DR unless it also comes with a "armor restriction", and the DR would have to scale as the group grows. So they could start with DR1 and buy up to a predefined cap, but no more than that, and the armor restriction cant be bought off. Less flexible might also be a control option, tagging a point of DX (which will also lower the price of the template to 75)
Well this is partly the reason I am doing this thread, to get great feedback from experienced Gurps GM's.

I set the level at DR4 as in the descriptions in the base rules, this seemed to fit a being made from stone.

I want to do a couple of other racial templates where they have a DR, but Stone Dwarves were going to be the highest, should I maybe stat those other tough races at DR1 and scale back Stone Dwarves DR to just DR2?

I cannot find the Less Flexible limitation where is that in the rules please?
Is there anything else in the system I am missing to show my concept of the Dwarves great durability apart from DR and the obvious of giving them more HP?

Last edited by deanjday; 02-18-2021 at 01:57 AM.
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