Pondering the Darkness

[Vedast]

1 minute ago, Malkavian Grin said:

You got it!

Roll d30 (daily) and that's your power, in order from Unclean to Sacred to Ochre Tablet.

Oh, so it changes day to day?  I took  However, you can intuitively use one randomly rolled Power (1d30) which resets at dawn or dusk (choose once).

to mean that you could use the power rolled once per day, but that the power itself was fixed. I took "reset" to mean recharge (like daily preparations in a vancian mechanic), not to change.  So ... ?

Rolled a '1' on the d30

[Malkavian Grin]

Yes, it changes every day. I should probably rewrite that line, as you're the second person to ask about it.

You choose whether your "reset" happens at "dusk" or "dawn" -- this is a permanent choice. Then during your reset period, this Power is rerolled as well as determining how many Powers you get for the day. (NOTE: this overrides the typical reroll daily number of Powers at "dawn" ruling, because Pale Ones are just special like that. Plus it would be awkward to keep track of 12-hour segments.)

Okay, so when we start the game, your first Power will be Palms Open the Southern Gate. Not a bad roll at all!

[Vedast]

Oh, if someone else was wanting a Pale One first, I can do something else.  I didn't read through all the character applications.  

[Malkavian Grin]

4 minutes ago, Vedast said:

Oh, if someone else was wanting a Pale One first, I can do something else.  I didn't read through all the character applications.  

There's no strict guide on who has to play what, considering anyone can do anything in this system. Please don't feel like you need to "be unique" for "party balance" because honestly, you'd be lucky to get some semblance of balance from all these random rolls LMAO.

Not only that, Pale Ones are probably vastly different from one another that it wouldn't even matter. Two alien beings will likely be alien to even each other--probably more because there's no baseline.

The one area I'd look at coordinating between players is probably Skills, since bonuses from some of them won't be able to stack with one another.

[Vedast]

I wasn't so much concerned about balance as RP niche ... I did find the other Pale One and cannot quite understand where several items and die rolls come from (nor the ability bonus/boosts).  

I cannot find Omens anywhere.  Maybe those are related to why I can't quite follow the previous person's build (not being critical, just trying to use that as a checklist of sorts).  

 

[Malkavian Grin]

Gotcha. But like I say, I think Pale Ones are different enough that they won't be recognizable from each other, so I think you're fine.

Are you following this checklist? It lists everything step-by-step for creation.

Abilities are explained here.

Omens are found in the mechanics section. And like your daily Powers, you will roll for a number of Omens to use each day. Your Omen die is determined by your Class (or d2 if you go Classless).

[Vedast]

@Malkavian Grin

Do you think it would be prudent for us to build a back-up character and have a thread to store them?  That's not an uncommon thing in other low HP "deadly" OSR games -- I think B/X and OSE actually presume (or recommend) that one has a henchman or hireling to use for the purpose.  

Of course, I might just be looking for an excuse to build another character.  I'm prone to Endless-Never-to-be-Used-Character-Generation-Syndrome (ENUCGS).  

 

I'm thinking now that an Occult Herbmaster might be rather fun to build.  

::glares at dice roller::  That's twice in a row rolling a '1' on d6 for additional HP.  

Edited May 20, 2023 by Vedast (see edit history)

[Malkavian Grin]

2 hours ago, Vedast said:

 back-up character

I'm hoping you won't need another character for at least a little bit.

Not only do I have rules for cheating death in multiple ways (albeit with a cost), but when you hit 0 HP there's only a 25% chance you actually die from it.

But hey, if you wanna create more stuff, be my guest 😉 (and yes, the Herbmaster is pretty cool IMO; very handy to a party!)

[Vedast]

41 minutes ago, Malkavian Grin said:

But hey, if you wanna create more stuff, be my guest 😉 (and yes, the Herbmaster is pretty cool IMO; very handy to a party!)

tl;dr   Not sure what the (d2) and "random effect" mean in the Leftover Ingredients class ability for the Herbmaster.

 

Re: the following from the Herbmaster class description:

Leftover Ingredients 
When without weapon, you still have your glass potions. Instead of an unarmed attack, test Attack as normal to throw an old decoction (d2). Roll d6, on a 1 apply a random decoction effect on the target.

I get that the HM makes two (or three, once they "Get Better" the second time) different brews each day, but I'm not sure what that (d2) is selecting.  I get the roll d6 for a 1-in-6 chance of the old sample (maybe started, but botched or just 'old') being effective, but the 'random effect' would be a (d8) presumably?  If on the other hand, the (d2) selects between the current or previous day's batches, the effect isn't random, it was determined by the (d2) roll. 

Perhaps another way of explaining my confusion is to write what I think the RAI is:

Instead of an unarmed attack, test Attack as normal to throw an old, possibly partially botched decoction. Roll (d6): on a 1 apply a random decoction effect (d8) on the target.

 

 

 

[Malkavian Grin]

The d2 is damage. I tried to be consistent in stating damage in parentheses after mentioning an attack. Yet another slightly odd design choice, partially on my end. I'm trying to maintain consistency between entries; it doesn't always work without getting too wordy. (also another design choice)

So you throw it, it deals d2 damage, and then it applies a random effect.

[Vedast]

15 minutes ago, Malkavian Grin said:

The d2 is damage. I tried to be consistent in stating damage in parentheses after mentioning an attack. Yet another slightly odd design choice, partially on my end. I'm trying to maintain consistency between entries; it doesn't always work without getting too wordy. (also another design choice)

So you throw it, it deals d2 damage, and then it applies a random effect.

Ah.  Merci! 

[Vedast]

You're going to like this Herbmaster:

I rolled up a femur as a weapon and decided to take the "skull as best friend" option ... so he uses the two of them as a mortar and pestle to grind up his ingredients --- he might talk oddly to them as he does so.  

As a chemist, I'm liking this guy.  

[Malkavian Grin]

22 minutes ago, Vedast said:

You're going to like this Herbmaster:

I rolled up a femur as a weapon and decided to take the "skull as best friend" option ... so he uses the two of them as a mortar and pestle to grind up his ingredients --- he might talk oddly to them as he does so.  

As a chemist, I'm liking this guy.  

Now that's hilarious. "Oi, 'zat my leg you're usin' in me own skull? Dat's downright disrespectful! I love it!"

[Vedast]

2 hours ago, Malkavian Grin said:

Now that's hilarious. "Oi, 'zat my leg you're usin' in me own skull? Dat's downright disrespectful! I love it!"

Alas, poor Yorick, I grind him @Malkavian Grin; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy.  

 

About have this fellow done, save for a name and background.  

Edited May 20, 2023 by Vedast (see edit history)

[Vedast]

For a character with an innate Power(s), does that (do those) Power(s) work automatically or does the player work though the scroll/tablet procedure (cited below). 

Obviously, having only 1 hp makes a Power failure (Power outage? hehehe) a better than 50% chance of de ... er ... getting Broken.

 

Using a scroll
When reading a scroll, test Presence DR12. If you succeed, the Power works and you lose a daily use. If you fail, the Power doesn’t work, you lose d2 HP and you become dizzy for the next hour, but you don't lose a daily use. During this hour, using a Power incites an Arcane Catastrophe.