LW multiplayer character classes

[askhati]

I was just wondering, after perusing the Mongoose forums: how many people here are actually interested in the LWMPGB-style adventures? Similar to the adventures that Zipp has been running, with Silent Falcon and Storm Rat, but on a wider scale and for a wider variety of characters.

The reason I ask is because I am somewhat interested in the character classes available for those games, and have been doing some tinkering in that area for a while now - the Rekenarim character I am using for my Drakkar adventures, a Cener plague agent (based on Kezoor the Necromancer in LW 08 ), an Acolyte of Vashna... I would like to see if anyone else has been coming up with ideas like that for new classes, and whether anyone would be interested in seeing my characters.

But I know the interest here is not that big, hence the point of asking first.

[Zipp]

Well, in the new Signs and Portents, there is an official Cener class presented.

For me, the essence of a Lone Wolf game is in playing a Kai Lord and not very many. Personally, I think Lone Wolf (for obvious reasons) makes a great solo game (that is, one on one with a player and a GM). The 2 player game is going really well and I could see maybe a 3 person game, but get any more than that and it starts to lose the Magnamund feel.

That's all my opinion, of course.

[askhati]

Mmm. I just feel that, given how well-developed the world of Magnamund is for most parts, it seems a pity to only see it through one set of glasses the whole time - Kai this, Kai that, Kai to the rescue here, Kai for salvation there, Kai-for-rent...

Also, I am not necessarily advocating larger groups of players, but it would be fun to take some good characters on an adventure or two, take some evil characters through a parallel adventure, and then have them meet up and square off in a combined adventure further down the line. Drakkar vs. Kai! Giak vs. Dwarf! Vordak vs. Vakeros! Some players are bound to die yes - but the fighting should be pretty climatic towards the end... *mental image of ruined temple in dark forest where PC's meet and slaughter seven different shades of shite out of each other*

[beowuuf]

Xex is runnign a game right now on the RPoL forums, so he might have sucked away a few willing players.

I actually liked Slavemaster's evil character d20 game, but sadly he dropped out. I thought the feel stayed correct to Magnamund. Zipp also ran a PvP evil/good mix game (used magnamund, but the feel was different). Sadly, that game stopped too

[askhati]

Just dropped him a line, hopefully I can join his game and get some insight into the gameplay.

I posted a Cener character class on the Mongoose forum a few days back, will repost here tomorrow sometime. Am also now working on an Acolyte of Vashna class, will post that as well.

[beowuuf]

Sweet, there's a certain Vakeros called Halda that you might get to fight beside. Assuming he doesn't get stabbed by a Szall in the intervening time.

[askhati]

And assuming he does not try to intimidate the crap out of some creatures who started off by saying they come in peace...

[beowuuf]

Well if they will talk smack about our herbwarden and act tough they get what they get. Besides, I'm the CS 19 of the group, they don't need me to be all sensible, they need me to do stupid things like engage multiple enemies and be the bad cop. Andas has got the reasonableness covered!

[askhati]

Heheh... All brain and no brawn, no wonder LW only took their magic and not much else!

Alright, here is the Cener character I posted on Mongoose. The Blightbearer is basically a plague emissary/agent, who helps to set up covens and new sects for the Druids. They have a bit of the rogue and the assassin in them, and also a touch of necromacy and herbcraft to do things 'Cener-style'. Most of the class disciplines were inspired by Kezoor the Necromancer in Lw 08, along with a some input from the first Druid you encounter on the Skardos trail in LW 13.

Here are the 10 disciplines I worked up for them:

01 - Claws of Skardos
- cat-like claws sprout from fingertips of one hand
- use as weapon to make regular melee attack; can still wield shield or off-hand weapon with other hand
- make unarmed strike (taking -4 CS penalty) with +1 CS per character level divided by two (rounded up)
- strike only successful if character's attack deals at least 1 point of ENDURANCE damage to the target
- successful strike injects venom into victim
- venom causes victim to double all ENDURANCE points lost in combat for two rounds thereafter

02 - Rodent Familiarity
- can communicate with rats and other rodent-like creatures
- gain bonus equal to half of character level (rounded up) to any Tests involving Vazhag
- cannot catch any disease or contagion usually transmitted by rats or other rodents

03 - Curse-shield
- creates a small magical shield attached to the character's off-hand arm
- gives character +2 CS, +2 EN for duration of combat
- cannot be used at the same time as Mindreap
- can only be used unarmed or with a one-handed weapon

04 - Mindreap
- character can make Mindforce attacks
- can be used against a maximum of 4 opponents per round of combat
- CS bonus given = half character level, rounded up
- CS bonus increases as more opponents attack the character during the same round - i.e. +1 CS vs. first opponent, +2 CS vs. second opponent, +3 CS vs. third opponent and +4 CS vs. fourth opponent
- use of Mindreap damages the character for half of CS bonus, rounded down - i.e. 0 EN vs. first, -1 EN vs. second and third, -2 EN vs. fourth
- cannot be used at the same time as Curse-shield

05 - Carrion Sifting
- can investigate any corpse and make deductions based on its state, regardless of how old/decomposed the corpse is
- can harvest organs and/or valuable organic material from any corpse
- can make crude bone weapons from corpse material, without requiring any equipment or supplies (so the character will never be unarmed as long as they can find a corpse)

06 - Pest Infection
- can act as carrier for most diseases without suffering from the symptoms or side-effects thereof
- character can consciously transmit any disease they carry by touching another being

07 - Mindcloak
- character can defend themself against hostile Mindforce attacks

08 - Rank Herbcraft
- can plant and cultivate unnatural plant growths that have accelerated growth and can respond to rudimentary mental commands from the character
- can extract poisons and/or valuable organic materials from any plant
- can corrupt seeds and fruit to become poisonous without showing any outward sign; corrupted fruit will deal half character level, rounded up, in EN damage when consumed

09 - Deception
- can add half character level, rounded up, to any Tests involving character interactions and subterfuge-related activities
- gets 50% increase to any ambush bonuses
- when attacking an opponent already engaged in melee combat with another opponent, the character gains a 50% increase to any bonuses they would normally be entitled to

10 - Hypnotism
- can plant mental suggestions in the minds of weaker-minded individuals
- if fighting a living melee opponent that has no Mindforce defense, they deal 1 point less EN damage per round to the character because of the character's hypnotic influence

[askhati]

Mm, no-one have any comments?

The next class I'm working on is the Acolyte of Vashna, based on LW's encounters with them in LW 13 and 16. As far as evil cultists go, these guys are pretty standard.

Ranks:
01. Fledgeling
02. Neophyte
03. Novitiate
04. Initiate
05. Adherent
06. Deacon
07. Confessor
08. Predicant
09. Prelate
10. Elder

Stats:
- CS: 7 + RNT (7-16)
- EN: 20 + RNT (20-29)
- WP: 15 + RNT (15-24)

Disciplines:

01 - Narcotica Obscura
- resist negative effects of drugs
- slight resistance to poison
- make Test using current EN and character level; success results in ignoring all side-effects of drug

02 - Consecrated Blade
- need to spend some time praying over weapon to infuse it with the blessing of Vashna
- can alternatively be consecrated by dipping in the blood of a slain foe
- unconsecrated: weapon gives -2 CS to wielder (still better than unarmed -4 CS)
- consecrated: weapons gives CS bonus equal to half character level, rounded up

03 - Immortal Fealty
- if character drops to zero EN, they can reset their EN level to 4 points once per day
- if they possess a Fealty Token, they can instead restore themselves to full EN by triggering the energies stored in the token; if this happens, the token is destroyed; can also only happen once per day

04 - Dirge of Lament
- can sing hymn during meditation to channel Mindforce
- gives character a +4 bonus on any Tests to resist magical effects or enemy Mindforce influences
- each successful resist drops the bonus by one point; once reduced to zero, character must meditate again to renew the +4 bonus

05 - Material Devotion
- shave head and only wear black-cowled red robe of Vashna's followers; may not wear anything else
- gain +2 bonus to any Test involving speed or agility while wearing these robes
- gain +2 bonus to any Test involving diplomacy or communication with other sentient evil humanoids

06 - Sinister Contacts
- have contacts with evil & unlawful societies throughout Magnamund
- can add character level to any Tests involving underworld characters
- can add half character level, rounded up, to any Test to improve prices from/to a black market fence

07 - Lore of Twenty
- know much dark lore about the Darklands and the evil creatures and history of Magnamund
- can add half character level, rounded up, to any Tests that involve these topics
- can add an additional +1 bonus if the Test involves any of the Darklords of Helgedad

08 - Vortexi Shard
- smooth crystal wand, translucent and glowing with green inner fire
- use to make ranged attack: can add +1 CS to attack for every 2 WP expended
- can instead add +2 CS to attack for every 3 WP expended, if character has [Lore of Twenty] discipline
- cannot expend more than 12 WP per attack

09 - Voice of Maaken
- character unleashes a gale of supernatural wind straight from the bottom of the Maakengorge
- cone effect: affected targets take -2 CS for 1 round for every 2 WP expended
- affected targets take -2 CS for 2 rounds for every 3 WP expended, if character has [Vortexi Shard] discipline
- cannot expend more than 12 WP per use

10 - Black Anointment
- character spends 4 hours preparing an ointment that embodies the blessing of Vashna
- applied to self: -1 EN when applied, but character reduces all melee damage by 1 point for the next 24 hours
- applied to other: -2 EN when applied, but anointee reduces all melee damage by 1 point for the next 12 hours
- anoinment can be washed off with water and vigorous scrubbing

[beowuuf]

I've not real idea of the design space of the LW rules beyond the gamebook. I'm hoping to get a feel for how they work in a multiplayer game over the course of a few games.

[askhati]

Same here, but I try to build my classes according to
a) what one would expect from that class
b) what would be useful
c) what would be fun

I'm dying to get into an Evil campaign and try out the Acolyte or the Blightbearer, or even Zager Krahl's Rekenarim class...

[beowuuf]

Best way is to host one and give people your classes to test.

[askhati]

Pfff... I have no GM experience... We should try to recruit some folks from these boards and maybe use them to test our ideas out. I'm still waiting for other people to contribute class ideas, can't believe I'm the only one that has been tinkering in that direction!

[beowuuf]

How do you think people get GM experience? If only the LWMPGB was aimed specifically to bring new players in (GM and PC), or if only you had a detailed familiarity with the world and a bent as a writer. If only all these thigns were true...

So yeah, keep doing your classes, host it, and they will come.