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The Fall Out universe seems ideal for D&D classes. The Ranger is the ultimate wanderer, the fighter is the ultimate mercenary, and the rogue is the ultimate pusher/courier, the barbarian is the tenacious explorer, while the monk and paladin are the wise protectors.
Replace magic with perks. Replace feats with fighting moves. Change the weapons, items and armor. Let's see what we get?
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TBH, I don't really know where I'm going with this. It seemed like a bright idea at the time. I'll come back to it when I find the inspiration.
So.... your basically making every Class "Psionic" and doing away with 50 to 75% of D&D anyways?
Eh.... yeah, pretty much. Also, there's less emphasis on equipment that simply offers straight bonuses or does really convenient things (usually what adventurers rely on in D&D). Also no wizards, and no bat men.
sounds good.... Are you going to start a game using that? I could give you some ideas via pm..... If you do start a game, tell me and if you want i can part time gm for you.... Or something.....
Crap, unless I can pull copy/paste from my clipboard (and I don't know how to do that), the data I typed here is lost. Thank this site's hobby of expiring my 'tolkens' whenever it's most convenient.
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I had lot more fluffy and fun paragraphs to put in here that I just lost. Being human, I've forgotten what I wrote.
Okay, addiction in brief:
- It's a rating, applicable to every drug and other illicit substance (includes strange herbs in the wasteland, and the entrails of a brahmin or feral ghoul).
- Roll above the rating and you're addicted. Just like the game.
- Con subtracts from your roll. If you roll 10, it's the natural 1 to your resistance check (auto-addiction); doesn't matter if you're a super mutant capable of surviving rads that set normal people on fire with -12 AR (addiction resist), etc. That way, addiction is always a risk. The most addictive things are natural 1s. Things born of raw SCIENCE! are sometimes 0 and are quite deadly (so at least get a ranger to sniff out good from bad).
Rads
- I remember writing something to the effect of 'don't be stupid' and GM discretion. Certain things might obviously give sickness (ie. spending too long out in the wastes or getting a dose of rads from that feral ghoul's green fireball).
Skills
- Skills are in percentage. Maximum percent is 200. Skill increases naturally with its use below 100 - roll d100; if you roll above your current skill, increase your skill by 1. Above 100, you need to spend skill points you've earned from leveling up. Taken from basic roleplaying system.
- Yes, some classes have less skill increment than others, but they make up for it with better talents. Usually, the fighter is already quite competent with small guns and all kinds of melee, for example - meaning he can spend skill points on powerful techniques for each level, in addition to his many talents (which are probably going to, hopefully, end up more varied than any other class).
- Yes, SCIENCE! is a skill, but it's the hardest out there (rightfully so, considering wizards). Science is also a skill, which is much simpler.
- Repair merges disable device and craft at the fluff level. Essential for making, setting and disabling simpler traps (ie. delicate and deadly devices like bear traps).
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Classes
- They don't mean as much anymore (sorry), except for how you advance. However, they do open up certain techniques sooner via automatic skill competences, if your background matches up to an appropriate tier. Classes also get their own special perks. When you level up, you can of course multi-class, but accessing talents (the distinguishing characteristic of every class) from your earliest class will become diluted (class perks re-place class features and will allow more customization). In this way, you could have a SCIENCE! barbarian. World is your oyster.
- Classes are strongly shaped by backgrounds. Backgrounds have tiers (higher tier = more experience/bad assery). They're essentially you're character's past experience. If your character levels up, they creation points that they can spend on better backgrounds. Choose only one background though - to change it, you must retire from adventuring for at least a year (this is risky, since during this time you'll be working to earn your new background). Backgrounds are often times careers, but they can also involve an intersting past. All backgrounds are vague - if you want to create your own, consult the GM, make sure it fits into the system. Otherwise, the GM should be able to find a background that (at least roughly) fits your character biography you've mercillessly toiled away at. Backgrounds benefit your class in that they influence the perks you can buy every step of the way, as well as the traits and issues you have. Different classes are limited to different backgrounds - a barbarian would never be a bookworm, ie. Backgrounds also influence certain starting effects like karma and social interaction (first impression), similar to traits.
- Sample Backgrounds: Soldier (for the fighter or barbarian), Merc (the same), thief (for the rogue or ranger, obviously), drill instructor (barbarian). Soldier would be a better background than vault dweller. A background like vault dweller, on the other hand, applies to everyone and is tier 1. Tier 1 backgrounds essentially indicate you as a 'commoner', having done nothing noteworthy. In some ways, a thief would be better than a merc - so it'd be fine for a background to be somewhat specific. Higher tier backgrounds are eligible at the beginning of higher level campaigns, for this reason. Backgrounds are also specific to race.
- How do DnD classes fit into Fall Out?
- Every intelligent creature travelling the wastes most likely belongs to a class (unless they're an imprisoned commoner). Rule of thumb: Anyone willing to fight to the death is a hero in the making, and thus already belongs to a class.
- Bards are dramatists. Merchants and wielders of SCIENCE! If they're evil, then they're the kind of dudes who monologue endlessly before unleashing their hell. They aren't really fighters, but their SCIENCE! is quite varied.
- Wizards are called Lab Rats now. They make SCIENCE! permanent by inventing mind boggling items with what eventually amounts to a lot of spare time. Like any good Lab Rat, they need a lab (time away from adventuring) - the more equipped the better. At low levels, they no longer suck - their items are re-usable and practical. They can even make more sciencey items, except that they have a chance of mishap. Lab Rats are a robot's best friend. It's perfectly fine to be a robot lab rat too.
- Rangers are the ultimate warriors. They scrounge the wastes and hunt for prize trophies. They lay out super deadly traps, distract the enemy with some baited wild animals, and sniff out good and bad drugs, all the while locating treasures and acting as the party navigator. Rangers kinda replace clerics in this game (only kind of, since healing is now much harder to come by). Expect to make lots of cash, since Rangers are basically essential to the survival of the human race at this point.
- Fighters are the toughs. Most of the skills they need were learned from a 'rough childhood', so they will naturally do what they're good at (they're also the most numerous type of human in the wastes; raiders, of course, value fighters as cannon fodder) - player gets to choose from a great many skills to have good competence in, despite the minimal advancement prospects. A great choice for liberal players that don't like dying.
- Rogues are the taskmasters. They're called rogues simply because their knowledge of a many different things usually gets them into more trouble than they're worth (many organisations in the wastes value knowledge; and unfortunately, many of them are evil). Rogues are an excellent choice for very liberal players that like to play any way they choose, but aren't the greatest fans of intense, heated combat. At higher levels though, rogues can fight more like assassins, able to pull off melee finishing maneuvers, or ranged snipes at the drop of a hat. One of the ultimate tools of the rogue is actually the pip boy (helps them aim their vital strikes, which they often rely on) - so it could be said a bare bones vault dweller could benefit most from being a rogue.
- Barbarians are the hard arses. They might not always be as tough as fighters (fighters have more grounding), but they have the unique ability to pick up certain techniques and then drop them. Barbarians are the best at resisting insanity of all classes. Issues that they buy up from lost sanity, will more likely benefit them than the other way around (except when it comes to really bad issues). This is what makes them mighty (irrational rages are really handy in the fall out universe; because they say 'No.' to SCIENCE!). Barbarians can also be deeply religious, meaning they are equipped to combat SCIENCE! Others are simple raiders.
- Some classes are 'higher tier' (DnD's PRCs). Their difference is that they have different perk paths. Otherwise, they're just an extension of the character's capability as a hero. A bit like backgrounds too, because they also penalize you in some way. Examples: Druid and Shaman are quite the same as they both extend from a ranger, however they have differing perk paths. Brotherhood of Steel paladin is different from an ordinary paladin in that their perks mostly have to do with power armor fighting. Regular paladins start with only knowing how to wear power armor.
- Paladin (PrC): The paladin is a devout follower of <insert cause>. Because there's no alignment in this system, a paladin merely needs to follow whatever cause they wish to the letter. It could be as simple as a philosophy, however, the less ordered the cause is, the less powerful the paladin's psionic abilities end up (unless you take traits or issues to counter act this; a more ordered cause, ie., has a clear code of conduct, whereas the most chaotic one could be anarchic and without any laws or established theocrats/believers whatsoever). Paladins are most distinguished by their ability to wear powered armor, and the fact that their armor will wear down much more slowly than other characters. A good paladin is always armored, after all. The paladin's most powerful abilities are its psionics, which bolster it in battle. Despite being a PrC, the perks granted by being a paladin are quite liberal.
- Druid (PrC): The druid is much different from the paladin. In terms of role and build offered by their unique perks, they're quite conservative. They're basically just psionic wizards, but since they extend from rangers, they also know how to throw down. They're also expert navigators and scroungers.
- Shaman (PrC): Different psionics than the druid, more sense motive talents, and that's about it. If you like grabbing neat powers, classes like druid and shaman are for you.
- SCIENCE! has an alignment. It's favored alignment is neutral, but of course there's many an evil mad scientist out there. The good ones are rare. Humanity is simply a bitch, that way (in other words, good guys need to steal more than bad guys, if they want true power). Religion is the ultimate bane of SCIENCE!, because it shies away from the vast cold domain that is Neutral karma, and into good/evil. Classes that can become deeply religious include barbarians and paladins.
Races
- Races aren't just for min/maxing. They completely change your character. The least of which is first impressions in socializing.
- For the above, pure humans are the best at social interaction. If you have a high speech skill, you can usually still pull through, unless your dealing with other, especially evil, humans (humans are usually the most paranoid; it's because we're of a herd mentality, born of natural evolution as opposed to whacky mutations that conjure something entirely new).
- Super Mutants have the best rad resist and much of their power derives from using radiation to boost themselves - radiation attacks can still affect them. A supermutant with good SCIENCE! skill can find ways to buff himself into a behemoth temporarily, ie.
- Ghouls have all the benefits of being a mutant, as well as all the negatives. Their social interaction is severely bad - at least the super mutants are intimidating. A ghoul is no better at intimidation than a human. Depending on your background, you can tweak yourself. Ghouls are more resistant to insanity damage too - although the draw back is that instead of issues, they might go feral (even, if only temporarily), so be careful. On the other hand, humans only go feral in the deepest, darkest of plights (first, they become raiders; the ultimate icon of desperation in the wastes). SCIENCE! not withstanding. Some ghouls with high tier backgrounds can wield radiation like an evoker in DnD would use a fireball. The ability is psionic in nature.
- Robots are just plain dumb when it comes to social interaction - ironically, many humans like them more than other humans. Depending on how you outfit your robot, they may be better in some ways than others. Higher tier backgrounds let them swap their 'brains' into bigger and better machines (or at least, something more expensive). Robots are powerful weapons - their most powerful ability is their inability to die (provided nobody removes their basic routine circuits... SCIENCE!). With a mad scientist in a tow, a high level robot is practically unstoppable. But like any fighter type character, they have gaping weak points. Note that a robot in this universe can never be a true rogue - a human will always outsmart a robot. A robot's 'dynamic parallel processors' (moar SCIENCE!) are simply not up to snuff, and technology simply didn't go far enough since the bombs fell.
- Note that characters like super mutants and robots are higher tier races. So there'd be a minimal level requirement, and you'll have to spend creation points
Warning: I will never be using the word 'SCIENCE!' again (except for that last time). Typing in all caps hurts my brain, I'm srs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Magius
sounds good.... Are you going to start a game using that? I could give you some ideas via pm..... If you do start a game, tell me and if you want i can part time gm for you.... Or something.....
Heh, be my guest! Just be prepared for a lot of learning (from my mistakes) and testing.
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Here's an idea for telekinesis.
Each power is basically a model of an electrical circuit. But only in the sense that there is work and voltage - in the case of telekinesis, work is like your 'focus' or how much stamina you put into the power - more work lets you do more complex things. Voltage on the other hand is pure push - every psion has a base level of voltage, and they can go beyond this with stamina expenditure. So a very high voltage, low work power, might cause somebody to explode and nothing else. To multi-task and make more than one person explode, you'd need more work.
The above might sound numbery, but it is for high level play after all.
Crap, unless I can pull copy/paste from my clipboard (and I don't know how to do that), the data I typed here is lost. Thank this site's hobby of expiring my 'tolkens' whenever it's most convenient.
Thou shalt not work within the quick reply pad.
Thou shalt always use notepad for long posts, and copyeth thy material from it!