Dragons Take Flight

Well, here we go again. There's a preview for my all-dragon Forgotten Realms game. No title for it yet, it's probably months away right now. But it's something, which is a lot more than I've done for this page lately. Dragon Types

Naruto Tabletop Information

This is information for my upcoming tabletop game; I'm posting it here because it's easiest to format and organize on the old blog.

The game's title is Konoha: Tales of the Leaf

A good place to get a start is at Wikipedia. The reference sections, in fact, are good enough to be considered my unofficial worldbook. Sections that would be of immediate interest include the following:

Advanced Bloodlines
Land of Fire
Jutsu

And now, some miscellaneous notes.

There will be two special things in regards to character creation (other than special attributes and the like). The first is that, similar to El-Hazard, characters will be able to put points into "Hidden Potential". This represents some strength that either your character is unaware of or has yet to fully develop, and the precise attributes it provides will be up to me. The points put into "Hidden Potential" are doubled, however, and provide a lot more than will be immediately obvious. You can even put experience points into Hidden Potential, which can unlock things like stronger moves in the middle of fights.

The three main characters of Naruto, to a certain extent, show how abilities might influence a ninja. Naruto's speciality would be Soul, as he has a lot of spirit that makes up for his lack of technical competence. Sasuke's speciality would be Body, as he is the most physically powerful of the bunch, with both speed and strength. Finally, Sakura would represent Mind, having a level of control and focus beyond most ninjas her age.

I'm planning to run one "season", much like I did with Tenchi. The season will probably cover a couple of adventures as Academy Students, the Genin Exams, and then a couple more as Genin. Continuity-wise, it will parallel the normal Naruto continuity, but will differ and branch from the Naruto storyline, sometimes due to the characters, sometimes just to mix things up. The canon characters will all exist, and most of the Leaf Genin from the stories will be your peers (Naruto included). If the single season is successful enough, I'll consider a second and third.

If you want to play a canon character, it would be possible but the choices are restricted. If you want to play any of the Leaf Genin shown in the Chuunin Exams (the third arc and onward, starting with issue #34) or one of the three main characters, you may, and I'll mix up the NPC teams accordingly.

Character creation information should be coming soon.

Heavily edited as of December 24th, 2006, since Naruto sources are so much better now, to reflect the rich wikipedia goodness. Other Naruto posts have been similiarly adjusted.

The Serpent Nations, Part 2

This is part two of the Serpent Nations.

This time it's the details on Sirican, a yuan-ti nation. I tried to incorporate as much material as I could while keeping it relatively fresh, and I think I did a pretty solid job. As with the other post, this is very much a rough, a framework for me to add to later.

sirican.htm

As a bonus, since I don't have a full deity writeup of the Serpent yet... here's a preview of some of the deities that'll appear in the deity section.

Name	Rank	Alignment	Domains	Weapon	Portfolio
Astre	Greater	Lawful Good	Good, Law, Moon, Sun, Weather	Longspear	Astrology, clouds, light, heavenly bodies, weather
Hethab	Intermediate	Lawful Neutral	Animal, Knowledge, Law, Repose, Wrath	Lance	Burials, domestication, laws, rituals, righteous anger
Ilsysae	Intermediate	Lawful Evil	Evil, Law, Pleasure, Spiderkind, Trickery	Bite	Cannibalism, deception, seduction, spiders, traps
Pelasia	Intermediate	Chaotic Neutral	Chaos, Charm, Pleasure, Fey, Joy	Shortbow	Beauty, faeries, desire, happiness, jealousy
Silvaine	Greater	Neutral	Healing, Plant, River, Slime, Wood	Club	Fertility, growth, nature, plants, running water
The Serpent	Greater	Neutral Evil	Competition, Evil, Scalykind, Transmutation*, Tyranny	Scimitar	Adaptation, conquest, competition, power, snakes
Vyrolakos	Lesser	Chaotic Evil	Chaos, Evil, Greed, Watery Death	Claw	Banditry, gluttony, greed, drowning, piracy

I'll probably write up my idea for the land of ghouls next... aka "smart zombies". Fear. Fear a lot.

The Serpent Nations, Part 1

As mentioned earlier, here is the rough draft for the first of the Serpent Nations, Pheracis. A nation dominated by medusae, it's the first piece in the new D&D world I'm working on. Included is a full writeup of the nation in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting format, as well as some sample monsters created using existing templates and classes. Certainly, more could be added (feats, PrCs, organizations, deity writeups), but I'm just trying to lay groundwork for now.

The Serpent Nations consist of two realms - Pheracis and Sirican, though outsiders often fail to make the distinction. Pheracis is a tropical, fertile land where rivers and their tributaries slip across the earth. Sirican is where the rivers begin to the northwest - tall, young mountains and a somewhat more temperate climate seperate it physically as well as politically. Pheracis is known for its rich mines, though the underground races compete fiercely for their resources from below.

Find out more here: pheracis.htm

Oh, and anonymous posts should be okay to go, according to the settings. I know there's been at least one such post already, so let me know if any problems with the posting system continue.

Repairs, Part 1

The old posts have been fixed up to March 19th. I will continue this process slowly, but not at the expense of getting new posts up.

Ye Olde Planescope

Right now, I'm working on a more solid idea for a D&D setting. It's a extrapolation of the classic question, "what if the monsters took over?" I should have a piece of it - the Serpent Lands - up soon, detailing nations ruled by medusae and yuan-ti, respectively. I don't have a firm name for the setting yet; the working title is "Monster World", but that'll change for sure.

Since that's not done yet, I figure I might as well mirror my old Planescape page in the meantime. This was dedicated to the Planescape campaign I ran for about eighteen months, and though it's out of date by any standard, the content and design was fun to do. Nothing groundbreaking, and some of the material from it has already appeared here... but I figure it's worth putting up again.

You can see it here, either again or for the first time... the buttons aren't showing up properly, but hopefully I can clear that up soon.

CCG Tales

Here's something a mite odd, so with it comes the explainin'.

CCGs have been trying to tell stories for awhile now, through flavor text in the cards themselves, in the rulebooks, etc. The first big game in that regard that I can think of was Legend of the Five Rings, but even Magic had inklings of a story from the beginning (even if it's never really been developed per se). But some of the better games, I think, tell a story in the playing. The various rules, cards, and in-game events lay out a story. Granted, you aren't likely to get Shakespeare this way, but you can get some fun, colorful synopses of a game.

I think Doomtown is one of the better ones in this regard, and so after getting to play it again via gEngine recently, I felt inspired to sit down and write up a more story-like summary of the game. It's mainly an exercise as to seeing how a CCG can represent a story, or at very least a series of events.

Doomtown Tales - Witch Hunt.txt

Revenge of the Living Monolith

I still function.

My prior blog was deleted; the details of how that happened I will not go into here, save to say it was largely not my fault.

Which means things have been pretty dead hereabouts. It's taken time for me to restore my backups onto another site, make sure it's all somehow working, and get back on the ball. The only blessing out of what has been mostly a giant SNAFU is that I can take the time to make some changes and improvements. Well, they're improvements for me, at least.

Blogger has improved and my blog can improve with it. One, I get to change the name. The old one was kind of hastily hammered out, and the new one should be a bit more stylish (and perhaps even sensual). Two, it's a good opportunity to change the template, get all jazzed-up appearance-wise. Three, a bout of sanity allows me to deliver the bad news that I won't be trying to publish every day anymore. It just wasn't working due to my unfortunate need to get other things done, and so I'll just be focusing on making sure I have about two, three, or more updates a week. The upside is that the updates will be a little less rushed and a little more thought-out. I'll be putting stuff up when it's at least a rough draft... rather than piecemeal like I was doing.

The current problem for me is that, well, while all my old posts are all archived nicely, the content and images are not. I'll be some time before all the earlier material is restored, and I'll let you know when that is.

Hopefully soon this post should mark the beginning of a wonderful comment system, so other people can add their jabber to my jabber and we can get some sort of meaningful jabber going.

Downtime Bonus

Looks like things are finally back up again. Yes, it's been a week, and I've finally been able to access my server again and post. Really, really irritating. I'll be doing extra work, though, to try and catch up. Thus, here's an extra post for today.

And now for another old tidbit of design.

Evolution was to be a rather survival horror inspired game. Games like Resident Evil, Parasite Eve, Dino Crisis, etc. were a big influence. The game would largely circle around various groups trying to push the evolution of humanity in various ways - or just exploit it for their own ends. It was intended to have everything from zombies to dinosaurs to psychics. One of the weirder ideas was super-soldiers using DNA derived from dinosaurs (among other things),

It's quite possible I'll return to this - Upgrade is thought up among similar lines, with all the human enhancement bouncing around in it. In any case, here are my notes, in no particular order or organization. A bit of a mess, but I don't have too much time to worry about cleanup. I think it originally had sidebars in Wordperfect, resulting in a bit of a mess in Word. It remains as-is for the time being.

evolution.wpd

Your Office, President Varney...

Up again, down again, up again, down again; it's been hard to update with the server issues. I'll probably be tossing up some bonus articles up over the weekend to make up for it.

I had a neat world idea tonight. Remember Ravenloft, the D&D setting where the monsters are in charge? Well, the simplest way to sum up the idea would be a modern-day Ravenloft. It would be set up as an alternate history, diverging with the events of ye olde novelle Dracula. The main divergence occurs in the early part of the novel - Jonathan ends up becoming a Renfield before returning to England, and is a sleeper agent for Dracula. Because of him, Dracula ends up "winning" over the protagonists of the novel, and he and his minions end up more or less overrunning London entirely. With animals, vampires, and madmen at his beck and call, his influence spreads far and wide.

In this world, this essentially breaks tradition for the "creatures of the night". Because of past events - perhaps the Inquisition, or even older purges by humanity, monsters operate by a code of silence similar to Vampire: the Masquerade's code. Dracula ends up breaking that rule, and finding the world now ill-suited to a supernatural intrusion. Other creatures, some from gothic literature, some not - end up grasping for their own little states, seeking to keep Dracula from wiping them out (as he doesn't care much for competition). Chaos ensues. America becomes a "promised land", not for humanity, but for weaker monsters seeking thinly-populated and weakly-defended realms to dominate.

By modern day, you end up with a world where the world is divided between human and monster-dominated areas, with monsters clearly having the upper hand. However, infighting and ancient feuds keep any single one from dominating. Technology has stagnated in some areas, and more advanced in others; things like transportation might still be roughly around the 1940s, nuclear science is unheard of, while biochemistry might be very advanced (blame the early discoveries of Frankenstein or the like).

Not all "creatures of the night" are necessarily bad, but most are. Still, life in a vampire-dominated town or village is much the same as normal life; it's just that a handful of villagers are taken every year to 'supplement the stock'. In worse areas, humans might be cattle, playthings, or husks for possession, but in most places monsters have not plundered the resource humanity presents.

And, of course, you have monster hunters and revolutionaries. Unlike Ravenloft, it's not a given that the monsters will stay in charge, but the monsters have a definite edge due to their natural powers. The humans do have some edges - for example, things like crosses and silver are almost always useful against monsters.

As for system, it could be done with d20 Modern, or Unisystem, or Savage Worlds... I'd probably do it with an existing system. I'm more visualizing it as a action type setting, with cinematic action and wild powers. That's the rough overview, anyway.

New Expanded Buffy Talent Show System!

Well, okay, maybe not. I'm a bit late in doing this, but here goes:

In the Buffy game, take the Talentless Drawback and make it worth 4 points. Alternately, reduce its Influence penalty to -1.

It only makes sense. My design perfection says rise! It says kill!

Don't blame me. I didn't write the game.

If I Were Steve Jackson...

... I sue every last one of you bastards.

And then, I'd revise Car Wars.

Yeah, I know there was a revision of Car Wars. It was, in my mind, too dumbed down, however. Packs of only two cars? Blah. I remember when you could get 200+ vehicles for $7, thankyouverymuch. So here's my useless thoughts on the matter.

• Take the old game.
• Keep rules for the majority of vehicles on wheels - cars, trucks, motorcycles, trikes, and trailers.
• Dump the aircraft (helicopters included) and watercraft (hovercraft included).
• Simplify hit resolution. Make to-hit modifiers lower but standardize things like accuracy modifiers for speed and size. For example, subcompacts might be -1 to hit regardless of their side, and pickups and vans might be +1. Similarly, you might have a straight -1 modifier for every 10 or 20 MPH the vehicle is travelling.
• Add range increments for weapons to diversify them. For example, a laser might have a very high range increment, while a vehicular shotgun would have a very low range increment.
• Clean up the engine rules and make gas and electrical engines largely the same in function, if not necessarily in design. Try and simplify the formulae for top speed, and make it so racing vehicles and normal vehicles aren't so bizarrely different.
• Reduce some of the overkill in the weapons. Some weapons, like Anti-Tank Guns, X-Ray Lasers, and Blast Cannons should be reduced in order to keep the effectiveness of things like metal armor good.
• Improve metal armor somewhat, so it isn't the flimsy shell it is in high divisions.
• Simplify the handling rules somewhat - only have handling control rolls when a vehicle hits HC 0, and again when it hits its negative HC.
• Simplify the collision rules. I know the new rules do this, and it's one of the few good ideas. Of course, there's such a thing as too much - a sideswipe should be a sideswipe.
• Increase the survivalbility of pedestrians. Perhaps double their base HP or the like, and have ped armor act like 1 or 2 points of metal.
• Remove chassis and suspension. Chassis was pointless in the old rules (there was rarely any reason not to get Extra Heavy) and suspension enhancements (and other handling-improving gear like spoilers) could be accessories, perhaps even improving different capabilties with different enhancements (the classic "grip" vs. "drift").
• Make three main starter books. The first would have the basic rules, arenas, and a book of premade (full sheet) vehicles ready for play). Maybe a light boxed set. Then there would be a vehicle design set, and another book of premade vehicles.
• The first book would keep gadgets light - things like ATAD, cargo safes, and other non-duelling items would be kept to a minimum. A later Uncle Al's catalog could bring some of those widgets back, or they could be included on a book for campaign or RP play.
• Collect the old Road Atlases into a worldbook(s) of sorts. You could cut the adventures and GURPS rules, and adapt old material to the new rules and update the world.

I've love to see Car Wars become a game worth supporting again. Unfortunately, it's unlikely that'll happen... I can dream, though.

Sho' 'Nuff

So, today I start yet another system. This one's called Shonen.

See, I like BESM, I really do. But it's universal, and as such doesn't quite support anime cliches and genre pieces as well as it could. What's more, it's a rather mechanical system - simplified old-school, as it were - the bastard child of GURPS and Storyteller.

Shonen is largely meant to support "boy's manga", specifically fighting manga like Rounini Kenshin, Flame of Recca, Naruto, One Piece, etc. In these manga, plots are often structured on single duels. However, these duels are rarely mundane, instead often featuring exotic powers or skills that present a challenge to the main character's abilities. Fights can be straight-up, but sometimes there's a bit of puzzle in them as well, as each fighter implements complex strategies to counter the abilties of the other.

Also important is the backstory of the characters, however, and the particular goals of each character is typically relevant. Rather than struggle against an invader or react, shonen heroes are often proactive, seeking out new challenges as a matter of course. Often this based around a rather lofty goal, and though the character may seem completely incapable of reaching that goal at the beginning, they often grow dramatically through the course of the series.

Anyway blah blah blah and blah. You can watch them if you need a better feel for the genre.

So, there are three attack attributes.

Power: This is the attribute of strength, either external or internal. This allows one to overwhelm opponents with a torrent of force.

Speed: This is the attribute of agility and swiftness. This allows one to overwhelm opponents before they react or predict your attacks.

Tactics: This is the attribute of wits and strategy. This allows one to overwhelm opponents by turning the situation to your advantage.

These three attributes interact in a paper-rock-scissors fashion, where:

Power > Speed

Speed > Tactics

Tactics > Power

And there are three support attributes.

Confidence: This helps you gain an extra edge when you need it the most. Confidence is used to resist morale-based attacks.

Determination: This allows you to deal with injury and hardship. Determination is used to show how much punishment you can withstand before giving up.

Perception: This allows you you to discern your opponent's strength. Perception is used to resist deception-based attacks.

Attributes are rated roughly 1 to 5. Each attribute has a die type (DT) associated with it, like so:

• 1 = 1d4
• 2 = 1d6
• 3 = 1d8
• 4 = 1d10
• 5 = 1d12

Sometimes a reverse die type (RDT) is called for, as shown below.

• 1 = 1d12
• 2 = 1d10
• 3 = 1d8
• 4 = 1d6
• 5 = 1d4

Each offensive attribute has its own minor Edge, as noted below. Edges give each attribute a unique ability.

Overwhelm (Power): If you roll less than or equal to your Power rating, you can reroll if your Power rating is higher than theirs.

Preempt (Speed): If you beat your opponent on your attack and your Speed rating is higher than theirs, you take no secondary damage.

Outwit (Tactics): If your Tactics rating is higher than your opponent's, you can subtract your Tactics rating from their roll.

Support attributes basically provide more significant Edges, as listed below.

Inner Strength (Confidence): If your Confidence is higher than your opponent's, you can add half your Confidence (rounded down) once per fight to any one attribute other than Confidence.

Dauntless (Determination): If your Determination is higher than that of your opponent, you can ignore the result of damage taken once per fight.

Insight (Perception): Once per fight, if your Insight is higher than your opponent, you can tell what attribute an opponent is going to use before an exchange.

More to come, including Archetype edges and actual rules.

Planescope: What Number Did I Leave Off On, Again?

Just a minor update today, in the form of some slight fixes to the Belief rules for Planescape "3.5". Errors in the Fraternity of Order and Free League were fixed, and the Dustmen were given adjustments based on feedback.

Belief

I'm absorbing a lot of One Piece and Naruto today, and hopefully I'll be able to cohere my ideas on both by tomorrow. We'll see.

d20 Designers Suck. Film at 11.

I'm getting a little ranty again, so bear with.

... What the hell is it with bad d20 design?

It's not just limited to my substandard work. No, I have to see godawful crap pop up on sites and message boards every day. Spell level limits for spellcasters (remember those from 2e?). Feats that take a page to describe for an effect that isn't even worth the slot. Classes that give you the benefit of two spellcasting progressions and class features. Etc., etc.

And it shows up in professional work all the time, too. Scarred Lands has feats with a limited number of uses per day that don't tell you how many uses they get. Prestige classes with abilities listed on their progression chart that never appear in the actual class feature list. The new Dragonlance has adapted Heroic Surge (from Mutants & Masterminds), for those of you who think the 3e version of haste for every class is a really good idea.

To some extent, I blame WotC. I won't blame them for much, but they've rarely given out good tips on how to design things like prestige classes. People are pretty much up in the air. There was a good article on feats early in 3e's lifespan, but it's since become somewhat dated (feats are clearly beefed up a bit in 3.5) and so designers don't really have any help from the folks at the company. You have to figure out the dos and don'ts by looking at a lot of the Wizards-established material and judging by eye. And in some cases, even that's a real bad idea - for example, Book of Exalted Deeds has some feats that are real whoppers as far as feat balance is concerned. Granted, not all feats will be equal (that's part of the point) it is still pretty easy to overpower them.

So I've been thinking I should share some of my thoughts on d20 design in the upcoming weeks. But for now, skills in Upgrade. It's a little extra bonus for missing my post yesterday. Job issues.

Unlike attributes, skills in Upgrade are not rated by number. You can be a Novice, Expert, or Master in a skill, and have a corresponding level of expertise. There's two extra types which aren't ratings per se, but are used in place of them in certain situations. These are Talent and Program. Talent refers to something you have a talent for, but no training. Program refers to a skill you have programmed - you have great expertise, but little creativity.

Skill rolls have two frames of challenge rather than one. There is difficulty, which determines how hard it is for you to do the task. Then, there's challenge, which is how hard the task is. For example, if you're jumping across a wide gap, difficulty is how much room you have to run before you can make the jump, and challenge is how wide the gap is.

Difficulties are rated the same - Novice, Expert, and Master. When rolling an attribute to determine success for a skill, you are at +2 if your skill is better than the difficulty, -2 if it's lower, and there's no modifier if it's the same. Talent means you have only a -1 when using the skill when the task is if Novice Difficulty, but the normal -2 otherwise. Program means you never have a penalty or bonus when rolling that skill - you just use the attribute straight.

Skill rolls are 1d10. If you roll above the challenge (typically a 10), you succeed, yay for you.

That's all for now.

Homo Sapiens XP

I suppose I should get back to one of my 'orphaned' systems. Let's see... still need to do a Dread 'collection', but that'll take too much time... I'm not planning to do anything with Murder. Ah. Upgrade, my sci-fi system, is due for a bit more detail. I have two new ideas but both of them need more time to percolate.

So now that I've named it Upgrade, let's have some, well, upgrades.

Upgrades are listed in the following format:

Upgrade Name Here (Type, Class, Attribute, Duration, Slots)

Where Type is the type of upgrade (software, cybernetics, internal system, genetic upgrade), the Class is the type of character it can be installed on, Attribute is the group of attributes it's tied to, Duration is the duration segment if temporary or permanent, and Slots is the number of 'upgrade slots' it takes up.

Sensory Clarity (Genetic, Organic, Shell, Permanent, One): Your natural senses have been upgraded using gene therapy. Add +2 to to any check involving noticing something.

Efficient Musculature (Genetic or Transplant, Organic, Shell, Permanent, Variable): Your physical muscle has been replaced with more efficient tissue. Add +1 to Strength for every upgrade slot this takes up. This increase does not effect how many upgrades you can have or use.

Body Stabilizer (Cybernetic or Mechanical, Organic or Mechanical, Mind, Permanent, One): You have a enhanced gyroscope that keeps you on your feet, and makes things like orienting in a 3-D space a snap. Add +2 to any attempt to keep your balance, perform acrobatics, or operate in a zero-gravity environment.

Blue Octane (Drug, Organic, Minutes, Shell, Two): This drug is a popular drug among soldiers and thugs, as it increases all Shell attributes by two for its duration. However, all Mind attributes are reduced by one, and only one Mind upgrade may be used at a time when under the effects of this drug.

Just some samples. I'll try and get a skill system down soon, and actions, so I can do more of these.

Live Action = Live Ammo

Another day, another late posting.

And not much inspiration to work with. I've been wishing and washing on how I want to convert Naruto, so instead you get an oddity of the past.

Back in the days of ye olde Vampire LARP in Kent, Ohio, a friend of mine used to publish a little news pamphlet for the local game. I helped contribute to it, and so here are the issues in the only format I have them in - as old text files. As such, some of the captions don't make any sense without the accompanying pictures. Of course, it doesn't make much sense unless you know the references, but hey.

Some of it is pretty bad, some is kind of amusing. I'm sure it's a lot more amusing for those that actually remember them... some of which may actually read this blog. Hey, it could happen.

The Kent Underground Winter '95

The Kent Underground March '95

The Tepes Tattler Spring '95

The Tepes Tattler April '95

The Tepes Tattler May '95

The Tepes Tattler May '95 #2

Too Many Secrets June '95

Too Many Secrets June '95 #2

Too Many Secrets ? (Issue #3)

Trouble Bubbles!

And now for something really, really old: GURPS Bubblegum Crunch (my deeply unofficial sequel to the original Bubblegum Crisis, an anime of my distant youth).

The very fact that I used GURPS Vehicles at all is a shining star of my geekdom as a RPGer.

Here's my old handout to the players, along with some rough notes...

gurpsbgc.rtf

What else do I have here?

An AD police car.

An AD police interceptor.

An AD police mini-helicopter gunship.

The AD police K-11 power armor.

The AD police K-12S power armor.

The 55-C boomer.

A futuristic sports bike.

A new hard suit for a PC - the "cavalier".

A new hard suit for a PC - the "archir".

A new hard suit for a PC - the "mace".

A new, mysterious boomer used as a PC.

Given my current obsession over Naruto, I guess I haven't changed much, but the rules I'm using are a lot better these days... even though the hand of David Pulver is ironically in both GURPS Vehicles and Big Eyes, Small Mouth. Ah well.

A Rant About Stuff

Blame burnout, blame Disgaea, blame Lando. Just don't blame me.

Anyway, I'm getting a a bit ranty tonight, so bear with. Of course, one person's rant is another person's editorial...

Recently I was thinking about "RPGs" in the videogame sense. Most that are labelled such just aren't - you aren't playing a role, you're just engaging in RPG-style combat in order to kick the game story along and occasionally making a decision that rarely affects anything at all other than crunchy bits. You can't make Cloud decide to turn his back on the world - nor can your character in Diablo turn to a life of violent crime.

Really, what seems to be the common thread in most so-called RPG video games is that you gather stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. Weapons, armor, food, magic, medicine, keys, etc. They could be more correctly termed "gathering games", because that's the main goal other than advancing a story (if any). In some games it may be a bit more abstract, worrying more about level increases and special abilities, but the general thread is the same. It could be said that one of the big advancements in may recent successful video game RPGs have taken to making items completely random, thusly making the gathering system much more robust that simply gathering geeps to buy a bigger sword / gun / kumquat than the last one you had.

Thusly, it could be said that an easy way to tell how "hack n' slash" a tabletop RPG by looking at the equipment list. D&D, Rifts, Cyberpunk 2020, Werewolf, etc., all have extensive equipment lists that deeply enhance a character's capabilities. It doesn't really matter whether or not the equipment is combat-based in and of itself... but most such lists are, or at least give you ways to gain power over your enemies and the environment.

A lot of talk is bantered about simulationist vs. abstract and the like in game theory, but I think a long list of equipment is a defining aspect of a game. While things like powers and other things that make characters more powerful obviously has a correlation with combat in a game, extra books and lists of equipment are really a clear indicator.

While there's nothing wrong with having a lot of equipment in a game, it's something to think about in game design. Is there a better way to reward characters than just boosting their capablities? And if so, what is it?

Spring Cleaning

Yeah, I skipped yesterday. Getting the factions wrapped up was a mite hellish. But I enjoyed it anyway.

Today is just dedicated to going back and fixing old posts.

There's a lot of it to do.

Planescope VIII: The Exciting Conclusion!

It's so big, it got a page of its own:

Belief.htm

Behind the curtain a bit: I devised which factions were 'major' by the ones that stuck together the best after faction war and are the "canon" surviving factions. The rest are minor. It was a lot easier to simulate many of the factions by not giving them too many abilities, and it helped me cut out some of the fluff.

Not too much to say otherwise. I'll probably toy with the sects later as minor or minor/intermediate groups, or do some revisions on this as they come to mind, but I'm certainly going to take a break from factions for some time.

Planescope VII: Return of the Prime

And now, a taste of post-Faction War factions. I've been doing the revisions of the faction bloodlines, and the most pervasive one is that most now lack a Major level - they're just Minor and Intermediate. This helps me "concentrate" the more interesting abilities, and keeps them closer to the old feel of them. Hence, that's why most of the factions here lack a Major thread.

Mind's Eye

Character Level	Minor	Intermediate
2nd	-	+2 on Survival checks
4th	+2 on Survival checks	+2 on saves against Illusion effects
6th	-	Wisdom +1
8th	+2 on saves against Illusion effects	Remove Fear 3/day
10th	-	Seeker Affinity +2
12th	Wisdom +1	Direction Sense
14th	-	+2 on Search checks
16th	Remove Fear 3/day	Alertness
18th	-	Wisdom +1
20th	Seeker Affinity +2	Immunity to Illusions

Seeker Affinity: The Seeker gains the listed bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidation, and Perform checks made to interact with fellow members of the Mind's Eye.

Direction Sense: This grants the Seeker a +5 competence bonus whenever using the Survival skill to keep from getting lost.

Sodkillers

Character Level	Minor	Intermediate
2nd	-	+2 on Intimidation checks
4th	+2 on Intimidation checks	Power Attack
6th	-	Strength +1
8th	Power Attack	Align Weapon 1/day
10th	-	Sellsword Affinity +2
12th	Strength +1	Greater Magic Weapon 1/day
14th	-	+2 on Bluff checks
16th	Align Weapon 1/day	Cleave
18th	-	Constitution +1
20th	Sellsword Affinity +2	Killing Blow

Sellsword Affinity: The Sellsword gains the listed bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidation, and Perform checks made to interact with fellow members of the Sodkillers.

Killing Blow: When gaining an extra attack due to the Cleave or Great Cleave feat, the Sellsword may apply it to any creature in striking distance, rather than just another creature. The Sellsword cannot gain another attack from Great Cleave if he applies it to the same creature he applied his initial attack to (the attack that dropped the creature).

Sons of Mercy

Character Level	Minor	Intermediate
2nd	-	+2 on Diplomacy checks
4th	+2 on Diplomacy checks	Smite Evil 1/day
6th	-	Constitution +1
8th	Subduing Strike*	Discern Lies 1/day
10th	-	Martyr Affinity +2
12th	Constitution +1	Subduing Strike*
14th	-	+2 on Heal checks
16th	Discern Lies 1/day	Smite Evil 2/day
18th	-	Wisdom +1
20th	Martyr Affinity +2	Immune to Evil and Corrupt Spells

* If you don't have access to Book of Exalted Deeds, replace with Combat Expertise

Martyr Affinity: The Martyr gains the listed bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidation, and Perform checks made to interact with fellow members of the Sons of Mercy.

Smite Evil: This functions as the Martyr is a paladin of her character level.

Planescope VI: Philosophy By the Blade

More faction Bloodlines. This time, it's the "fallen factions" - those factions that totally fall apart during Faction War.

Believers of the Source "Bloodline"

Character Level	Minor	Intermediate
1st	-	-
2nd	-	+2 on Diplomacy checks
3rd	-	-
4th	+2 on Diplomacy checks	Endurance
5th	-	-
6th	-	Charisma +1
7th	-	-
8th	Endurance	Planar Affinity +1
9th	-	-
10th	-	Godsman Affinity +2
11th	-	-
12th	Charisma +1	Skill Focus
13th	-	-
14th	-	+2 on Bluff checks
15th	-	-
16th	Planar Affinity +1	Planar Affinity +2
17th	-	-
18th	-	Constitution +1
19th	-	-
20th	Godsman Affinity +2	Planar Friend

Planar Affinity: The Godsman gains the listed bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidation, and Perform checks made to interact with all planar creatures (anything not from the Prime Material Plane).

Godsman Affinity: The Godsman gains the listed bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidation, and Perform checks made to interact with fellow Believers of the Source.

Planar Friend: The Godsman no longer suffers Charisma penalties due to a plane's alignment.

Mercykiller "Bloodline"

Character Level	Minor	Intermediate	Major
1st	-	-	+2 on Knowledge (local) checks
2nd	-	+2 on Knowledge (local) checks	Track
3rd	-	-	Strength +1
4th	+2 on Knowledge (local) checks	Track	Justice Blow 1/day
5th	-	-	Red Death Affinity +2
6th	-	Strength +1	Shocking Grasp 1/day
7th	-	-	+2 on Intimidation checks
8th	Track	Justice Blow 1/day	Discern Lies 1/day
9th	-	-	Wisdom +1
10th	-	Red Death Affinity +2	Justice Blow 2/day
11th	-	-	Red Death Affinity +4
12th	Strength +1	Shocking Grasp 1/day	Endurance
13th	-	-	+2 on Gather Information checks
14th	-	+2 on Intimidation checks	Master Tracker
15th	-	-	Constitution +1
16th	Justice Blow 1/day	Discern Lies 1/day	Justice Blow 3/day
17th	-	-	Red Death Affinity +6
18th	-	Wisdom +1	Alertness
19th	-	-	+2 on Sense Motive checks
20th	Red Death Affinity +2	Justice Blow 2/day	Improved Justice Blow

Red Death Affinity: The Mercykiller gains the listed bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidation, and Perform checks made to interact with fellow Red Death members.

Justice Blow: The Mercykiller can, a number of times per day, declare an attack of his a Justice Blow. He may add his Charisma modifier to the attack roll, and if he hits, the attack is considered a potential critical hit - roll again to confirm it. If the critical is not confirmed, the Justice Blow is wasted for the day. However, the Mercykiller then takes nonlethal damage equal to the damage of the critical hit.

Master Tracker: The Mercykiller gains a +5 competence bonus on Survival checks made to use the Track feat.

Improved Justice Blow: As Justice Blow, but the Mercykiller no longer only takes half the damage as nonlethal damage.

Sign of One "Bloodline"

Character Level	Minor	Intermediate
1st	-	-
2nd	-	+2 on Concentration checks
3rd	-	-
4th	+2 on Concentration checks	+2 on saving throws against illusion
5th	-	-
6th	-	Charisma +1
7th	-	-
8th	+2 on saving throws against illusion	Imagination 1/day
9th	-	-
10th	-	Signer Affinity +2
11th	-	-
12th	Charisma +1	Notice Illusion
13th	-	-
14th	-	+2 on Knowledge (any one) checks
15th	-	-
16th	Imagination 1/day	Imagination 2/day
17th	-	-
18th	-	Wisdom +1
19th	-	-
20th	Lost Affinity +2	Imagination 3/day

Signer Affinity: The Signer gains the listed bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidation, and Perform checks made to interact with fellow Sign of the One members.

Imagination (Sp): The Signer can attempt to mimic a single Sorcerer/Wizard spell of a spell level equal to quarter her character level or less as a full-round action the indicated number of times per day. To do this, she must roll 1d20 + your Charisma modifier against a DC equal to 11 + the spell's level. Success means she cast the spell as a spell-like ability, with the caster level equal to a Sorcerer of your level. Failure means the spell fails. If you roll a '1' on the failure, you also take temporary Constitution damage equal to twice the spell's level. This cannot be used to reproduce spells with a notable material component or XP component, and all spells duplicated by this feat must be castable as a standard action. Similarly, metamagic feats may not be used with this ability.

Notice Illusion: The Signer always receives a saving throw against an illusion she witnesses.

This Time It Isn't d20, I Swear

Ah, the modern game designer's lament. Alas, there will be more d20 Planescape material tomorrow. But for now, a break, and the beginnings of another mini-system along the lines of Dread (the horror game) and Upgrade (my sci-fi game, when I get back to it).

This time it's Murder. Thanks go to the movie Battle Royale and the mini-games Power Kill and Violence.

Most games feature you killing another person. Whether you're putting the blade through the evil warlord in D&D, draining a mortal for food in Vampire, or shooting the evil hybrid cultists in Call of Cthulhu, many games feature, at the very least, the inflicting of violence on another person. While most of these games deal with the mechanical matters of killing another person - that is, a bullet to point A of caliber B will inflict hurting Y, very few deal with the initially harder part of killing another person, which is psychological. A few, like Unknown Armies and Call of Cthulhu, deal with with aftereffects of killing a person (from a psychological standpoint), but only rarely does a game deal with whether or not a character can bear to pull the hypothetical trigger in a mechanical fashion.

Thus, Murder.

Characters have the following traits: Callousness, Determination, and Instinct.

Callousness is how willing you are to overlook your connections to other people when committing the act of killing. Determination is how willing you are to overlook things like shock and injury. Instinct is the ability to kill when your life is put on the line, and override all other issues.

All traits are rated from zero to six. The average person has a one.

When you're trying to commit an act of violence on somebody, you have roll 1d6 + your trait against your Connection. Sample Connection numbers would be:

• A Nonperson (somebody your character doesn't really consider human) = 3
• A Person From a Hated Group (somebody you consider inferior to your race/class/whatever) = 4
• A Mild Aquaintance (somebody you see in the hallway every day, a customer you've seen a couple of times at your favorite haunt) = 5
• A Strong Aquaintance (somebody you know from class, a regular customer at work) = 6
• A Distant Relative (somebody you see every couple of years) = 7
• A Relative (somebody you see twice a year) = 8
• A Close Relative (somebody you group up with) = 9
• A Parental Figure (guardian or parent) = 10
• A True Love = 11
• An Reflection of Yourself (an identical twin) = 12

If you succeed, you can do it. If you fail, check the amount you failed by and consult the following list.

• Failed by 1 = You can threaten them deeply (fire a gun nearby, or place a knife to their throat), but you can't actually do it.
• Failed by 2-3 = You can threaten them lightly (keep the gun pointed in their direction, wave a knife in their direction) but you can't do it.
• Failed by 4-5 = You can threaten them verbally, but you can't really bring yourself to threaten them physically.
• Failed by 6-9 = You can't really threaten them.
• Failed by 10+ = You break down when it comes down to it - you get the shakes, start crying, or whatever.

If they threaten you in turn, you can then roll again against instinct to overcome your "gun-shyness". After you kill somebody, you have to roll your determination in order to kill another person.

Whenever you commit an act of violence, roll three six-sided dice against the trait you succeeded with to kill. If they all come up higher than your trait, it goes up by one. If you kill them, instead roll two six-sided dice, with the same result.

Murder is more intended as a theoretical system than an actual one for play - an exercise in game theory. Still, it's interesting to consider in the context of RPGs, and if it would be as easy for characters to kill as it would be for their players to direct them to kill.

Planescope V: I Did It All For the Electrum

More faction bloodlines. I can quit any time I want! Bear in mind when this is done, I'll go back to the factions I did before, compare, and adjust and edit as necessary. So these are very much "rough drafts".

There's an issue where the old line breaks in older articles no longer exist and the text kind of runs together. I'll fix it as soon as I can.

Athar "Bloodline"

Character Level	Minor	Intermediate	Major
1st	-	-	+2 on Knowledge (religion) checks
2nd	-	+2 on Knowledge (religion) checks	+1 on saves against divine spells
3rd	-	-	Charisma +1
4th	+2 on Knowledge (religion) checks	+1 on saves against divine spells	Immunity to bestow curse, blasphemy, doom, holy word, and geas / quest.
5th	-	-	Lost Affinity +2
6th	-	Charisma +1	Persuasive
7th	-	-	+2 on Use Magic Device checks
8th	+1 on saves against divine spells	Immunity to bestow curse, blasphemy, doom, holy word, and geas / quest.	Dismissal 1/day
9th	-	-	Wisdom +1
10th	-	Lost Affinity +2	Nondetection 1/day
11th	-	-	Lost Affinity +4
12th	Charisma +1	Persuasive	+2 on saves against divine spells
13th	-	-	+2 on Hide checks
14th	-	+2 on Use Magic Device checks	Banishment 1/day*
15th	-	-	Constitution +1
16th	Immunity to bestow curse, blasphemy, doom, holy word, and geas / quest.	Dismissal 1/day	Iron Will
17th	-	-	Lost Affinity +6
18th	-	Wisdom +1	+2 on saves against divine spells
19th	-	-	+2 on Move Silently checks
20th	Lost Affinity +2	Nondetection 1/day	Nondetection at will

* This replaces dismissal 1/day.

Lost Affinity: The Lost gains the listed bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidation, and Perform checks made to interact with fellow Athar members.

Revolutionary League "Bloodline"

Character Level	Minor	Intermediate	Major
1st	-	-	+2 on Disguise checks
2nd	-	+2 on Disguise checks	Stealthy
3rd	-	-	Dexterity +1
4th	+2 on Disguise checks	Stealthy	Faction Disguise
5th	-	-	Anarchist Affinity +2
6th	-	Dexterity +1	Sneak Attack +1d6
7th	-	-	+2 on Forgery checks
8th	Stealthy	Faction Disguise	Secret Message
9th	-	-	Intelligence +1
10th	-	Anarchist Affinity +2	Disguise Self 1/day
11th	-	-	Anarchist Affinity +4
12th	Dexterity +1	Sneak Attack +1d6	Sneak Attack +2d6
13th	-	-	+2 on Knowledge (factions & guilds) checks
14th	-	+2 on Forgery checks	Nimble Fingers
15th	-	-	Constitution +1
16th	Faction Disguise	Secret Message	Deft Hands
17th	-	-	Anarchist Affinity +6
18th	-	Wisdom +1	Sneak Attack +3d6
19th	-	-	+2 on Climb checks
20th	Anarchist Affinity +2	Disguise Self 1/day	Disguise Self at will

Anarchist Affinity: The Anarchist gains the listed bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidation, and Perform checks made to interact with fellow Revolutionary League members.

Faction Disguise: The Anarchist gains a +10 circumstance bonus on Disguise checks when trying to disguise oneself as a member of another faction (not a specific member, just a general member).

Secret Message: The Anarchist gains a +10 circumstance bonus on Bluff checks when trying to deliver a secret message to a fellow member of the Revolutionary League.

Planescope IV: Cranium Rats Amuck!

More faction "bloodlines" today: the Doomguard, Fated, and Society of Sensation this time. More to come, as always. Hopefully I'll have the full list of factions done by the end of the week at this rate.

Doomguard "Bloodline"

Character Level	Minor	Intermediate	Major
1st	-	-	+2 on Disable Device checks
2nd	-	+2 on Disable Device checks	Weapon Focus (any one sword type)
3rd	-	-	Strength +1
4th	+2 on Disable Device checks	Weapon Focus (any one sword type)	Sift
5th	-	-	Sinker Affinity +2
6th	-	Strength +1	Entropy Blow 1/day
7th	-	-	+2 on Search checks
8th	Weapon Focus (any one sword type)	Sift	Power Attack
9th	-	-	Dexterity +1
10th	-	Sinker Affinity +2	Improved Sift
11th	-	-	Sinker Affinity +4
12th	Strength +1	Entropy Blow 1/day	Entropy Blow 2/day
13th	-	-	+2 on Craft (weaponsmithing) checks
14th	-	+2 on Spot checks	Weapon Specialization (any one sword type)
15th	-	-	Intelligence +1
16th	Sift	Power Attack	Disentegrate 1/day
17th	-	-	Sinker Affinity +6
18th	-	Dexterity +1	Entropy Blow 3/day
19th	-	-	+2 on Craft (armorsmithing) checks
20th	Sinker Affinity +2	Improved Sift	Improved Entropy Blow

Sinker Affinity: The Sinker gains the listed bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidation, and Perform checks made to interact with fellow Doomguard members.

Sift (Su): The Sinker can take a full-round action (that provokes attacks of opportunity) to make physical contact with a destroyed object or dead creature, and automatically tell what caused the object to break apart or die, down to the type of damage and what sort of implement or spell was used to inflict the final blow (though not the specific object or creature that inflicted it). For example, it may be possible to discover that "greatsword" or "bite attack" or "magic missle" inflicted the damage, but not the specific blade, species of creature, or spellcasting method. If the destruction was magical in nature, a Spellcraft check is required to identify the spell as if the Sinker was witnessing the spell or ability in question. This is a supernatural divination ability.

Entropy Blow (Su): The sinker can declare any attack an entropy blow a the indicated number of times per day. When performing an entropy blow, the sinker subtracts a number from 1 to 5 from his attack. If the attack hits, he then inflicts the same number in points of temporary Constitution damage. This number may not be more than his base attack bonus.

Improved Sift (Su): When using the sift ability, the Sinker can discover more about a destroyed object or dead creature. The amount of information he can glean is shown below:

• 1st round: As listed for sift, above.
• 2nd round: General type of creature (humanoid, dragon, outsider) or item (weapon, furniture, barrier) prior to death / destruction.
• 3rd round: Exact type of creature (goblin, blue dragon, red slaad) or item (longspear, chair, fence), prior to death / destruction.
• 4th round: Glimpse of creature's or object's form just before death / destruction.
• 5th round: General length of time since the creature or object was killed / destroyed (seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years, decades, etc.)

Improved Entropy Blow (Su): As for entropy blow (above), but the number may be between 1 and 10 rather than 1 and 5.

Fated "Bloodline"

Character Level	Minor	Intermediate	Major
1st	-	-	+2 on Sleight of Hand checks
2nd	-	+2 on Sleight of Hand checks	Iron Will
3rd	-	-	Intelligence +1
4th	+2 on Sleight of Hand checks	Iron Will	Self-Reliance I
5th	-	-	Heartless Affinity +2
6th	-	Intelligence +1	Planar Terrain Mastery
7th	-	-	+2 on Survival checks
8th	Iron Will	Self Reliance I	Great Fortitude
9th	-	-	Dexterity +1
10th	-	Heartless Affinity +2	Self-Reliance II
11th	-	-	Heartless Affinity +4
12th	Intelligence +1	Planar Terrain Mastery	Planar Terrain Mastery
13th	-	-	+2 on Bluff checks
14th	-	+2 on Survival checks	Lightning Reflexes
15th	-	-	Charisma +1
16th	Self Reliance I	Great Fortitude	Self-Reliance III
17th	-	-	Heartless Affinity +6
18th	-	Dexterity +1	Planar Terrain Mastery
19th	-	-	+2 on Knowledge (the planes) checks
20th	Heartless Affinity +2	Self-Reliance II	Self-Reliance IV

Heartless Affinity: The Heartless gains the listed bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidation, and Perform checks made to interact with fellow Fated members.

Self-Reliance: The Heartless chooses a single skill for each iteration of Self-Reliance. This skill is thereafter considered a class skill for the Heartless, regardless of the character's current class. Furthermore, the character gains an additional 4 skill points for this level.

Planar Terrain Mastery: This functions as the Horizon Walker class feature of the same name.

Society of Sensation "Bloodline"

Character Level	Minor	Intermediate	Major
1st	-	-	+2 on Sense Motive checks
2nd	-	+2 on Sense Motive checks	Alertness
3rd	-	-	Wisdom +1
4th	+2 on Sense Motive checks	Alertness	Darkvision 60'
5th	-	-	Sensate Affinity +2
6th	-	Wisdom +1	Sensory Touch
7th	-	-	+2 on Appraise checks
8th	Alertness	Darkvision 60'	Bardic Knowledge 1st
9th	-	-	Intelligence +1
10th	-	Sensate Affinity +2	Scent
11th	-	-	Sensate Affinity +4
12th	Wisdom +1	Sensory Touch	Investigator
13th	-	-	+2 on Knowledge (any one) checks
14th	-	+2 on Spot checks	Bardic Knowledge 2nd
15th	-	-	Charisma +1
16th	Darkvision 60'	Bardic Knowledge 1st	Uncanny Dodge
17th	-	-	Sensate Affinity +6
18th	-	Intelligence +1	Bardic Knowledge 3rd
19th	-	-	+2 on Use Magic Device checks
20th	Sensate Affinity +2	Scent	Blindsight 30'

Sensate Affinity: The Sensate gains the listed bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidation, and Perform checks made to interact with fellow Society of Sensation members.

Darkvision 60': If the Sensate already has the darkvision ability from another source (race or class), increase the range of the darkvision by 60'.

Sensory Touch (Su): The Sensate may heal another's wounds by performing a sensory touch once per day. This heals the victim of 1d8+the Sensate's Charisma modifier in hit points, but inflicts the same amount on the Sensate.

Bardic Knowledge: The Sensate gains the Bardic Knowledge ability (as the Bard class feature) usable as if she were a Bard of the indicated level. This stacks with other classes that have the Bardic Knowledge and equivalent abilities.

Scent: If the Sensate already has the scent ability from another source (race or class), add +4 to all Survival checks made concerning scent.

Uncanny Dodge: This functions like the Barbarian class feature of the same name. If a character already has Improved Uncanny Dodge, add 3 to the minimum level a rogue requires to flank the character.

Blindsight 30': If the Sensate already has the blindsight ability from another source (race or class), increase the range of the blindsight by 30'.

Planescope III: Yugoloth's Delight

More "Faction lines" - the Fraternity of Order and Harmonium, this time. I have definite changes in mind for the ones I posted yesterday, and I'll let you know when I've gone the additional editing. In any case, here they are.

Fraternity of Order "Bloodline"

Character Level	Minor	Intermediate	Major
1st	-	-	+2 on Knowledge (any one) checks
2nd	-	+2 on Knowledge (any one) checks	Skill Focus
3rd	-	-	Intelligence +1
4th	+2 on Knowledge (any one) checks	Skill Focus	Comprehend Languages 1/day
5th	-	-	Guvner Affinity +2
6th	-	Constitution +1	Probability Manipulation
7th	-	-	+2 on Bluff checks
8th	Skill Focus	Comprehend Languages 1/day	One Loophole
9th	-	-	Wisdom +1
10th	-	Guvner Affinity +2	Minor Creation 1/day
11th	-	-	Guvner Affinity +4
12th	Intelligence +1	Probability Manipulation	Two Loopholes
13th	-	-	+2 on Decipher Script checks
14th	-	+2 on Bluff checks	Skill Focus
15th	-	-	Charisma +1
16th	Command 1/day	One Loophole	Three Loopholes
17th	-	-	Guvner Affinity +6
18th	-	Wisdom +1	Major Creation 1/day*
19th	-	-	+2 on Use Magic Device checks
20th	Hardhead Affinity +2	Minor Creation 1/day	Four Loopholes

* This replaces minor creation 1/day.

Guvner Affinity: The Guvner gains the listed bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidation, and Perform checks made to interact with fellow Fraternity of Order members.

Probability Manipulation: Once per day, the Guvner may alter any roll by +2 or -2.

Loophole: The Guvner can study and research loopholes. A loophole is a temporary spell-like ability. To gain a loophole, he must research it for a number of weeks equal to the level of the arcane spell, expend 1,000 gold per week of research, and make a successful Knowledge (arcana) check against DC 15 + spell level. Success allows the Guvner to duplicate the spell as a spell-like ability. The DM rolls 1d4-2 + (the Guvner's Intelligence modifier). The result is the number of times the spell-like ability can be used before being exhausted. When a loophole spell-like ability is exhausted, the Guvner may research a new one in its place, but may never duplicate the same spell more than once. In addition, he may never research a loophole of a spell level greater than his total level /2, or have more than the indicated number of loophole spell-like abilities at one time.

Harmonium "Bloodline"

Character Level	Minor	Intermediate	Major
1st	-	-	+2 on Intimidation checks
2nd	-	+2 on Intimidation checks	Weapon Focus
3rd	-	-	Constitution +1
4th	+2 on Intimidation checks	Weapon Focus	Command 1/day
5th	-	-	Hardhead Affinity +2
6th	-	Constitution +1	+2 on saves against compulsion and fear effects
7th	-	-	+2 on Spot checks
8th	Weapon Focus	Command 1/day	Harmony
9th	-	-	Strength +1
10th	-	Hardhead Affinity +2	Greater Command 1/day
11th	-	-	Hardhead Affinity +4
12th	Constitution +1	+2 on saves against complusion effects	Immunity to fear effects
13th	-	-	+2 on Diplomacy checks
14th	-	+2 on Spot checks	Leadership
15th	-	-	Charisma +1
16th	Command 1/day	Harmony	Inspiring Leadership
17th	-	-	Hardhead Affinity +6
18th	-	Strength +1	Immunity to compulsion effects
19th	-	-	+2 on Perform (oratory) checks
20th	Hardhead Affinity +2	Greater Command 1/day	Conductor

Hardhead Affinity: The Hardhead gains the listed bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidation, and Perform checks made to interact with fellow Harmonium members.

Harmony: The harmonium member gains +4 on attack rolls when flanking another target, and also grants +4 when using the aid another action. This replaces the normal +2 granted by either flanking or aid another.

Inspiring Leadership: All followers of the hardhead gain a +2 morale bonus against compulsion and fear effects, and +1 morale bonus to attack and damage rolls while within 100 ft. of the hardhead.

Conductor: The hardhead grants an cumulative +2 bonus to anybody else flanking another target along with him, and gains +4 when others use the aid another action to assist him.

Planescope II: Revenge of the Hollyphant

When working up things at Planescape 3e, we had a lot of hot and heavy (perhaps even sexy) arguments on whether to represent the old faction abilities (which were essentially the old AD&D 2e "kits") by feats, prestige classes, or templates. Between templates and a prestige class, are the "bloodlines" from Unearthed Arcana. While not strictly an inherited group, the bloodline rules would be perfect for simulating characters with "minor", "intermediate", and "major" believe in a faction without forcing people to use up pesky feat slots. A minor bloodline just requires one to relinquish a level at 12th level, a intermediate at 6th and 12th level, and a major at 3rd, 6th, and 12th level. Obviously, some tweaking of the rules would need to be done for those joining a faction at a later date. And so, without further ado: three faction "bloodlines".

Dustmen "Bloodline"

Character Level	Minor	Intermediate	Major
1st	-	-	+2 on Knowledge (religion) checks
2nd	-	+2 on Knowledge (religion) checks	Dead Truce
3rd	-	-	Intelligence +1
4th	+2 on Knowledge (religion) checks	Dead Truce*	Deathwatch 1/day
5th	-	-	Dead Affinity +2
6th	-	Intelligence +1	+2 on saves against Necromancy effects
7th	-	-	+2 on Heal checks
8th	Dead Truce*	Deathwatch 1/day	Rebuke Undead
9th	-	-	Wisdom +1
10th	-	Dead Affinity +2	Negative Energy Ward
11th	-	-	Dead Affinity +4
12th	Intelligence +1	+2 on saves against Necromancy effects	Corpsefriend
13th	-	-	+2 on Diplomacy Checks
14th	-	+2 on Heal checks	Iron Will
15th	-	-	Charisma +1
16th	Deathwatch 1/day	Rebuke Undead	Create Undead 1/day
17th	-	-	Dead Affinity +6
18th	-	Wisdom +1	Toughness
19th	-	-	+2 on Intimidation checks
20th	Dead Affinity +2	Negative Energy Ward	Negative Energy Immunity

Dead Truce (Su): Dustmen will not be attacked by undead, due to an age-old pact known as the Dead Truce. Any undead creature attacked by a Dustman, however, is freed from the truce concerning that particular Dustman. The same is true if a Dustman actively aids somebody attacking an undead creature. The undead may attack the dustman's companions normally - just not the Dustman.

Dead Affinity: The Dustman gains the listed bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidation, and Perform checks made to interact with fellow Dustmen.

Rebuke Undead (Su): The Dustman may Rebuke Undead as a cleric of 1/2 his character level. If he already has the Rebuke Undead ability (due to the Cleric class or otherwise), he may add +2 to his turning checks, and may use 1/2 his character level or his Cleric level for purposes of turning, whichever is higher.

Negative Energy Ward (Su): The Dustman gains a Negative Energy Resistance of 10, and gains +2 on saves against spells or effects involving negative energy. He may relinquish or resume this protection as a free action.

Corpsefriend: If an undead is about to attack the Dustman, the Dustman may make a Charisma check (DC 20). If this check succeeds, the undead may not attack that Dustman for 24 hours.

Negative Energy Immunity (Su): The Dustman is now immune to all attacks involving negative energy, including level drain, and may survive without harm in the negative energy plane. He may relinquish or resume this protection as a free action.

Free League "Bloodline"

Character Level	Minor	Intermediate	Major
1st	-	-	+2 on Gather Information checks
2nd	-	+2 on Gather Information checks	Iron Will
3rd	-	-	Wisdom +1
4th	+2 on Gather Information checks	Iron Will	Free Will 1/day*
5th	-	-	Indep Affinity +2
6th	-	Wisdom +1	Bardic Knowledge
7th	-	-	+2 on Sense Motive checks
8th	Iron Will	Free Will 1/day	Free Will 2/day
9th	-	-	Charisma +1
10th	-	Indep Affinity +2	+2 on saves against Enchantments
11th	-	-	Indep Affinity +4
12th	Wisdom +1	Bardic Knowledge	Free Will 3/day
13th	-	-	+2 on Escape Artist checks
14th	-	+2 on Sense Motive checks	Lightning Reflexes
15th	-	-	Dexterity +1
16th	Free Will 1/day	Free Will 2/day	Free Will 4/day
17th	-	-	Indep Affinity +6
18th	-	Charisma +1	+10 feet to base land speed.
19th	-	-	+2 to Diplomacy checks
20th	Indep Affinity +2	+2 on saves against Enchantments	Immunity to Enchantment effects

Indep Affinity: The Indep gains the listed bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidation, and Perform checks made to interact with fellow members of the Free League.

Free Will: The Indep may reroll any Will save an indicated number of times per day after seeing the roll of the Will save (but before he sees the result). The Indep may not reroll more than once a roll, but may take the better of the two rolls.

Bardic Knowledge: The Indep gains the Bardic Knowledge ability (as the Bard class feature) usable at half his character level. An Indep that already has this ability (such as due to the Bard class) gains a +2 bonus on Bardic Knowledge checks or may use half his character level rather than his Bard level.

Transcendent Order "Bloodline"

Character Level	Minor	Intermediate	Major
1st	-	-	+2 on Concentration checks
2nd	-	+2 on Concentration checks	Improved Initiative
3rd	-	-	Dexterity +1
4th	+2 on Concentration checks	Improved Initiative	Trance 1/day
5th	-	-	Cipher Affinity +2
6th	-	Dexterity +1	+2 on saves against mind-affecting effects
7th	-	-	+2 on Jump checks
8th	Improved Initiative	Trance 1/day	Trance 2/day
9th	-	-	Wisdom +1
10th	-	Cipher Affinity +2	Improved Trance
11th	-	-	Cipher Affinity +4
12th	Dexterity +1	+2 on saves against mind-affecting effects	Trance 3/day
13th	-	-	+2 on Diplomacy checks
14th	-	+2 on Jump checks	Athletic
15th	-	-	Charisma +1
16th	Trance 1/day	Trance 2/day	Trance 4/day
17th	-	-	Cipher Affinity +6
18th	-	Wisdom +1	Instant Trance
19th	-	-	+2 on Listen checks
20th	Cipher Affinity +2	Improved Trance	Greater Trance

Cipher Affinity: The Indep gains the listed bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidation, and Perform checks made to interact with fellow members of the Free League.

Trance: The Cipher may enter a trance the indicated number of times per day as a free action. The Cipher gains +4 to Dexterity for the duration of the trance, but may not delay or use the ready action. The trance lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the Cipher's Wisdom modifier. The Cipher may not activate a trance state while in a rage, ki frenzy, berserk, or similiar state and vice versa. When a trance ends, the Cipher is dazed for the following round.

Improved Trance: As for trance, but you also gain +4 Wisdom and +4 Charisma while in the trance state. Note this increases the duration of the trance state.

Instant Trance: The Cipher may now activate a trance state upon rolling Initiative.

Greater Trance: As for improved trance, but the bonus is now +6 rather than +4. Note this increases the duration of the trance state.