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Old 02-12-2021, 10:26 PM   #11
Infornific
 
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Default Re: TFT Life History Character Generation

Hmm. A base (human) 32 point character starts with 8 in every stat and eight points to distribute. So a four step lifepath could go something like:

Character starts with ST 8, DX 8, IQ 8 and no Talents.

Each step on the life path grants +2 to attributes and 2 Talent slots, plus an additional Talent slot for every +1 IQ taken.

Characters wanting to be wizards must start with the Wizard's Apprentice step.

So Wizard's apprentice might go:

+1 DX, +1 IQ
Talent: Literacy
Spell: Aid and any other IQ 8 or 9 spell
Special: Character is now treated as a wizard and pays double for most Talents.


The assumption is every apprentice is expected to be literate and be able to cast an Aid spell, the latter requiring an IQ of 9.

Possibly allow swapping out spells as the wizard improves in IQ (e.g., drop Magic Fist for Fireball.)

For Heroes, each step might look something like this:

Barbarian

The barbarian develops abilities reflecting an active outdoor lifestyle, a carefree approach to interpersonal relationships and a placid acceptance of violence as part of the adventuring life.

+1 to DX if under 10, +1 to ST if under 10, otherwise add to Attributes as desired.

Talents:

IQ 7: Ax/Mace (2), Bow (2), Brawling (1), Carousing (1), Shield (1), Sword (2)
IQ 8: Horsemanship (1), Sex Appeal (1)
IQ 9: Acute Hearing (2), Alertness (2), Animal Handler (2), Silent Movement (2), Toughness (2)
IQ 11: Expert Horsemanship (2)
IQ 12: Stealth (2)

Obviously, more Talents could be added.
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Old 02-13-2021, 05:12 AM   #12
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Default Re: TFT Life History Character Generation

A Human infant is born at around ST 2, DX 4, IQ 5

If put to work in the fields they'll grow to an average ST of 10 (8 for wizards of course).
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Old 02-13-2021, 08:08 PM   #13
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Default Re: TFT Life History Character Generation

Quote:
Originally Posted by Infornific View Post
Characters wanting to be wizards must start with the Wizard's Apprentice step.

So Wizard's apprentice might go:
+1 DX, +1 IQ
Talent: Literacy
Spell: Aid and any other IQ 8 or 9 spell
Special: Character is now treated as a wizard and pays double for most Talents.
The assumption is every apprentice is expected to be literate and be able to cast an Aid spell, the latter requiring an IQ of 9.
I agree that a majority of Wizards come through the Wizard Schools or apprentice under a Guild Wizard.
They would require the Literacy and the Aid spell.

However, there also is the path less taken by Magic Users.
  • This would involve the character who has no-one nearby who can train him and thus reads books and trains himself.
  • There could also be the 'broken soul' who is born a Wizard, but has no idea that there is magic or that he has a broken soul.
These characters either stumble onto proto-magic or are discovered by wizards. They would be late bloomers to magic, but might end up in a Wizard School or as an apprentice.

These Broken Souls might not know how to read (except the book learned ones) and would definitely not know Aid (yet).
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Old 02-13-2021, 11:27 PM   #14
Infornific
 
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Default Re: TFT Life History Character Generation

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Originally Posted by JohnPaulB View Post
I agree that a majority of Wizards come through the Wizard Schools or apprentice under a Guild Wizard.
They would require the Literacy and the Aid spell.

However, there also is the path less taken by Magic Users.
  • This would involve the character who has no-one nearby who can train him and thus reads books and trains himself.
  • There could also be the 'broken soul' who is born a Wizard, but has no idea that there is magic or that he has a broken soul.
These characters either stumble onto proto-magic or are discovered by wizards. They would be late bloomers to magic, but might end up in a Wizard School or as an apprentice.

These Broken Souls might not know how to read (except the book learned ones) and would definitely not know Aid (yet).
Interesting thoughts. I was trying to stick to the rules as written, so a character has to choose between Wizard & Hero which affects Talents which affects the paths that can be taken. I read the distinction between Hero & Wizard to mean that being a Wizard is a matter of intense study, not necessarily an innate gift. It's worth noting that technically a Wizard doesn't have to take Aid or Literacy (maybe add Staff) - I just assumed that it would make sense for anyone trained as a Wizard to know these things.

The idea of a later path is interesting but you'd need to deal with the increased Talent cost. Possibly some kind of payback rule - eg, the character has to retroactively pay the extra price for non-wizard Talents and thus learn spells at a slower pace.

Alternately, you could come up with an alternative where in return for being restricted to certain paths for learning spells, starting would be wizards could get Talents (prior to Wizard training) at no extra cost. Or the character who enters without the Apprentice step can enter with previous Talents at Hero price but limited in spell choice.
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Old 02-14-2021, 10:12 AM   #15
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Default Re: TFT Life History Character Generation

Quote:
Originally Posted by Infornific View Post
Interesting thoughts. I was trying to stick to the rules as written, so a character has to choose between Wizard & Hero which affects Talents which affects the paths that can be taken. I read the distinction between Hero & Wizard to mean that being a Wizard is a matter of intense study, not necessarily an innate gift.
I got the idea of 'broken soul' from HCOBB. I believe his concept was that the Wizard Guild had to break down a character in youth, so that they live both in the physical world and the psychic domain too. From that idea, I decided that there were characters born into that co-existance. A majority of those who became wizards, were regular kids 'broken' by the guild, but a few had an innate gift in a sense.

Quote:
It's worth noting that technically a Wizard doesn't have to take Aid or Literacy (maybe add Staff) - I just assumed that it would make sense for anyone trained as a Wizard to know these things.
I had suggested this very same idea of Aid and Literacy as a 'default' build for standard wizardry in previous Magic threads, so I agree with you. Just opening up the concept that there are rare circumstances for wizards to go other routes.

Quote:
The idea of a later path is interesting but you'd need to deal with the increased Talent cost. Possibly some kind of payback rule - eg, the character has to retroactively pay the extra price for non-wizard Talents and thus learn spells at a slower pace.

Alternately, you could come up with an alternative where in return for being restricted to certain paths for learning spells, starting would be wizards could get Talents (prior to Wizard training) at no extra cost. Or the character who enters without the Apprentice step can enter with previous Talents at Hero price but limited in spell choice.
This goes back to the concept that Wizard could also be an innate gift upon character creation. For those rare instances when an innate wizard doesn't know he is a broken soul, he still buys Talents as per wizard class. Maybe he and his parents don't know why he is so backwards in learning things, but it still costs double.
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Last edited by JohnPaulB; 02-15-2021 at 03:15 PM.
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Old 02-15-2021, 09:12 AM   #16
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Default Re: TFT Life History Character Generation

What is your impression about the difference between the one in fifty and the one in 300 at ITL 134?
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Old 02-15-2021, 03:11 PM   #17
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Default Re: TFT Life History Character Generation

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Originally Posted by hcobb View Post
What is your impression about the difference between the one in fifty and the one in 300 at ITL 134?
Perhaps one person in 50 will have some small ability with magic. Fewer than 1 in 300 will be true "wizards" within the meaning of this game. (ITL 134)

My view:

The one in 300 would be those classed as WIZARDS.

The one in 50 are those who can cast spells but are HEROs. They have some small ability with magic.
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Old 02-15-2021, 06:06 PM   #18
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Default Re: TFT Life History Character Generation

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What is your impression about the difference between the one in fifty and the one in 300 at ITL 134?
It makes me wonder what those one in fifty are learning, and who they are. I'm guessing people who live in villages that don't have wizards, learning handy industrial and lifestyle spells like Light, Minor Medicament and Ferment.
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Old 02-15-2021, 06:25 PM   #19
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Default Re: TFT Life History Character Generation

Does every one of the two percenters actually know a spell or do they have the aptitude to someday learn a spell?
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Old 02-15-2021, 09:19 PM   #20
Infornific
 
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Default Re: TFT Life History Character Generation

Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnPaulB View Post



This goes back to the concept that Wizard could also be an innate gift upon character creation. For those rare instances when an innate wizard doesn't know he is a broken soul, he still buys Talents as per wizard class. Maybe he and his parents don't know why he is so backwards in learning things, but it still costs double.
I always saw wizards as the equivalent of Olympic athletes or such, in that they had to intensively train and practice psychic exercises to work magic and learn spells easily. This training & exercise sharply limited them from studying unrelated subjects. The Hero who learns just one spell needs more time to learn the spell precisely because he doesn't devote the time to studying magic in general and has to spent more time to practice just one spell.

Of course that's just one interpretation. Magic could alternately be a naturally occurring gift that has the side effect of distracting the would be mage from mundane studies. In a world with wizards, a child being otherworldly might be a sign of magical abilities.
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