I lament that there are no career and life events for Cepheus Engine. So I looked over the various career events from Mongoose Traveller 1e (MgT) and made a generic one. It's very basic right now. It's tough to get specific like MgT did when you're using the same table for space Marines, colonists and scientists. Since I've got another method for career events that I'm going to detail in an upcoming post, this event table is not likely going to be developed further. I didn't want to let it rot, though, so I humbly present it to you now, knowing full well what it is:
Roll 2d6
2: Disaster! Roll on the mishap table but you're not ejected from the career.
3: Gain a rival; Roll on the Basic Training table and gain an Enemy; or choose a result from the Basic Training table and gain 1d3 Enemies.
4: Gain one Rival or roll on the Specialist table and gain 1d3 Rivals.
5: Roll on the Specialist table and gain a Contact.
6: Gain a skill from the first three results on the Specialist table at level 1.
7: Roll on the Life Event Table.
8: Gain a skill from the first last results on the Specialist table at level 1.
9: Roll on the Personal Development table and gain an Ally.
10: Roll on the Advanced Education skill table for your career.
11: You do exceedingly well. Recieve a +4 DM to your next Advancement roll or a +2 DM to your next Survival roll.
12: You are automatically promoted (or, in a career without rank, choose a result from Personal Development, Specialist, or Advanced Education tables and increase said characteristic or skill).
I've decided that instead of just sharing the Google Doc for the Adventure Outline like I did, I would also just put it into a post. If you're familiar with the AD&D 1e Dungeon Master's Design Kit, then a lot of this will also look familiar. A lot of how I organize information for my encounters is written in this form or similarly. Sometimes, though, it's only one or two sentences describing a scene.
Definitions
These definitions are primarily for the encounter "sheets" detailed below. Combat Situation Just describe what kind of combat situation it is. Maybe it's already obvious, so just delete this prompt.
Description Describe shit. Furnishings & Effects More in-depth description of the furnishings and environmental features and their possible mechanical effects. RewardsPossible rewards that the PCs can claim, and under what circumstances they might claim them. Synopsis The purpose of and expectations for the encounter. Special Tactics/Tricks This is where one would note any of the unique abilities that a foe might have. So as to avoid looking back on a fallen foe and realizing they had an amazing power they would have used but you'd overlooked it during play, just check here for the information. The trick may range from a strange dragon's power to a very useful but oft-overlooked use of a weapon. So this is both "Special Trick" and "Special Item." Tactics Here's where you write the tactics that foes would use, if they would have a plan for how to deal with something. If there's something worse than a plan, you could write "haphazardly fights and at the first sight of blood makes a disorganized retreat." Warning Does the encounter foreshadow or provide a warning for something? If this encounter is a warning, mention that, as a note to yourself, here -- and then decide how the heroes may figure it out, too. Don't assume that the heroes will deduce that an attack is a warning just because you intended it that way -- figure out what all the clues are which would lead them to that conclusion, and then make sure the heroes notice the clues during or after the encounter.
Frontmatter
Theme:
Adventure Background:
Adventure Synopsis
Objective/Goal:
Macguffin:
Plot:
Special limits:
Start: (To be tailored for entry into campaign.)
Events/Encounters
Combat Encounter
Warning:
Synopsis:
Description:
Combat situation:
Cover/obstacles/hazards:
Creatures:
Special tactics/tricks:
Tactics:
Activity/locations:
Special endgame conditions:
Rewards:
Empty Room
Warning:
Description:
Synopsis:
Furnishings:
Creatures:
Tricks/Puzzles:
Discoveries:
An empty room is an encountered area which can convey clues and information.
Role-play Encounter
Warning: Synopsis:
Description:
Furnishings & Effects: Characters (Name, race, description, motives, voice, tactics, weakness): (might as well reference an NPC Sheet if it’s elsewhere). Name Description: Motives: Reacts: Voice:
Rewards:
"Reacts" means either the latest reaction given by the NPC to the party (or each of the PCs) or any particular modifiers to reactions that the NPC may have.
I figured that I would make a short post about how it's 2019.
Holy shit, it's 2019! I shouldn't be surprised that it's 2019. But I guess since I'm writing a blog and it's the start of a new year I should mention what my plans are for the new year. I don't have any plans for the new year. I really haven't had a plan for this blog aside from posting things that concern my preferred games.
I guess I could mention the games that I would really like to play this year. This will be almost like a promise to myself or something. I'd like to run a game of GLOG (the Goblin Laws of Gaming) or the Black Hack in a nice OSR campaign. Which one probably depends on how long I'd like to run the campaign and which kind of GLOG I'd like to run. There are a lot of GLOG varieties which each have their own delicious attractions. If I choose GLOG, I'll probably end up taking rules from different GLOG varieties. Naturally, I'll post those here and add yet another GLOG incarnation to the world.
I'd also like to try Traveller/Cepheus Engine. I'd like to delve into maybe a far future campaign a bit like the Third Imperium or something like that. I'm not sure I would actually go with the Third Imperium setting, though. If I go with Cepheus, I would houserule it so that players also rolled Events and Mishaps. It might just be on Event table for all the careers, Life Events, and generic Mishaps. If I feel lazy (let's be honest, what I mean to say is 'probably') I'll just go with either Mongoose Traveller 1e or 2e (depending on whether I want to use Tappy's houserules or have PCs be ex-cons). Now that I think about it, Tappy's Traveller houserules can be applied to Cepheus Engine. More on this later...
Somewhat related to the Black Hack and GLOG, in that it is a part of the OSR, I would like to play DCC RPG (Dungeon Crawl Classics). I would mostly like to run a group through a funnel, and then maybe progress the story a little bit. It's a very whacky game, from what I can tell, and I would love to explore it. I couldn't say how long i would want to live in it, though.
There's always Moment of Truth. I have been wanting to play Moment of Truth since it first came out. It's difficult, however, since it requires quite some work to get it started. There are no prices, no mention of any gear, no system for supernatural powers. It makes sense that there aren't any, and we get more than enough for a PWYW core rulebook. However, whenever I try working on something, my inspiration dries up a bit, I lose focus, and I wind up working on something else that's a bit easier and more concrete to finish. One thing that I have been working on, however, is a planetary romance/space opera alternate history. Mars has Martians, who are sort of a dying civilization of castes which have split off into more or less distinct species. Parts of Europe are anarchist, Trotsky runs the USSR, fascism is on the rise, computers can almost fit inside a room and rockets can take us to other planets. It's partially inspired by a GURPS setting and SM Stirling's The Courts of the Crimson Kings. I've started making some of the rules for the game, but I can also see this game being run in OpenD6 or Mini Six (or some other WEG/D6 system derivation).
I recently discovered Hârn, so I would like to either run a game set in Hârn either in GURPS (it wouldn't be hard, there are already guides available, and I'll share my notes for how I converted for the magic system if I choose GURPS) or in HârnMaster Gold (from Kelestia Productions, because I heard it develops characters' backgrounds better which is always nice).
GURPS Banestorm competes with Hârn in its low-fantasy medieval setting. Maybe Banestorm is a bit crazier than Hârn. But. I've got a great idea for some Northern Barbarians, some nice sword and sandal vs sorcery ideas.
I would like to run GURPS Brakebills, where we use the Improvement through study to learn spells and develop a faux curriculum where the PCs, who are students at Brakebills or faux-Brakebills, can choose their courses and become the wizards that they want to be. Meanwhile, shenanigans and collegiate drama. Competitions about who can throw the better party. I’ve already got some nice ideas for things I can throw at the PCs. None of those things involve things that happened in the show (I haven't read the books, to my shame).
I have too many games I want to play on an endless number of unreachable somedays, it seems.
I recently bought The Black Hack 2e and I admit I am very excited about it. It’s a pretty great price considering what you’re getting. It’s got some nice spins on things which I really like. Although it’s tamer than the GLOG, it’s possible that I may like it more (don’t tell anyone) (probably depends on the mood I'm in anyway). I might just run The Black Hack before I run GLOG.
The attributes are nicely handled. 3d6 in order. If you roll a 14+ in one stat, the next one is automatically a 7 (so roll high on your charisma).
All tests (including attacking and defending) are made by rolling under your attributes.
In order to level up, you have to share your experiences and tell a little story about your character’s background. You don’t count XP from every little thing you kill. One of the things you can earn XP for is failing spectacularly (with the blessing of the table).
Although it has HD and hit points, they handle Armor Class very well. There isn’t an armor class. players roll vs their Strength or Dexterity to defend against melee or ranged attacks. If they miss, the damage is rolled. They either decide to sacrifice armor or take the damage. Armor is potentially broken permanently by evading damage in this way, especially if it is stronger armor. When I run GLOG, I think I might just steal this (No mods to Attack & Defense; AC is used to block blows).
I imagine that a lot of what’s in here might have been done in earlier D&D games (except for having the players roll nearly all the dice (you get to roll damage, Tim) and the armor system). The layout and the art is also really awesome. I’d suggest that if you were looking for another OSR heartbreaker, you should try this one. Once you take a look at it, you see it’s slick and intuitive. Not sure whether it’d be great for a stupendous epic campaign of 20 sessions. Maybe it would be, but I imagine it’s ideal for shorter campaigns. Please contest me and share your own stories of your games in The Black Hack in the comments below.
I have made a post before about the Goblin Laws of Gaming. That post was mostly about my discovery of the system (or systems) (or a framework for systems). This one will be edited over time, hopefully, to list and direct to GLOG rulesets that have been completed and shared and prolific and celebrated GLOG blogs. If you know of a GLOG ruleset that isn't on this list, please contact me or comment and I will update the list.
If you don't know what the Goblin Laws of Gaming (GLOG) are, it's an incredibly light-weight, semi-incomplete OSR-style D&D B/X-inspired system. Although the system is in pieces, it is designed to be hacked. The GLOG was initially released by Arnold Kemp in 2016 on his blog Goblin Punch and Skerples has made his own version. The Type1 Ninja has released their own Trenchcoat Edition of GLOG, as well. In terms of how a GM has to perform surgery on the system and jam their hands directly into the organs of the game, it is much like a D&D-themed Moment of Truth (MoT). I'd say it compares to GURPS in how it must be constructed, but GURPS is different from MoT and GLOG in this regard because GURPS provides instructions on how to perform surgery to accomplish whatever game you wanted. As has been noted on /r/osr, it's best to be played by a group that understands that it's to be hacked with another system. All said, GLOG is the definition of DIY D&D. You can expect to see my takes on GLOG in the future.
I'll quickly run through what I really appreciate about the GLOG. One of the most exciting aspects of the system is how it handles classes. Each class (or race, in some cases, depending on how the GM or the group wants to handle that) has only four "class levels" or class templates, labeled A to D. Each time a character takes a level in a class, he piles on one of the templates. So a character could take all of the Fighter templates and gain the advantages of Fighter A, B, C, and D. Or, a character could be a wizard-with-a-sword and have Fighter A and B and Wizard A and B. Multi-classing is very easy and allows a character to make something specific. Another boon of the class system is that classes grant abilities which are almost always qualitative and do not grant quantifiable advantages. Any quantifiable advantage will result to maximum, by the time you've accumulated all four of your class templates, a +4 bonus. To quote Kemp's thought behind this: "Abilities should give you a new ability, not just improve an existing one. Things like trapmaking and clairvoyance cannot be compared, because each is preferable in a certain situation ... Comparible [sic] abilities are boring, and they lead to min-maxing, system mastery, and other shit I want to avoid." Amen.
GLOG uses the typical stats from D&D, but it's generation is a bit different. In Kemp's version, one still rolls in order for their statistics (i.e. their first roll determines Strength, next their Dexterity, etc.), however instead of rolling 3d6 one rolls 4d4. The average roll is 10, rather than 10.5; No one will have a stat as terrible as 3, only 4 and very rarely; and no one will start out with a stat modifier of +3 or -3. Many of the later incarnations use 3d6 to generate stats, but I prefer 4d4.
The Base Adventurer table shows how the character advances. Each character has the same basic progression. Their strange abilities granted by their classes or adventures are what makes them different. How they progress is nice as well. Rather than killing monsters, adventurers must loot and return to safety with said loot. I'm sure that some games have XP for monsters, and in Kemp's GLOG folder there's a PDF which seems to suggest that at one point (probably before he started calling him homebrew GLOG) he did award the party some amount of XP for monsters. If I ever decide on an amount to award PCs, I'll post an update on how I'm handling it.
The magic system is something incredible. It doesn't exactly allow for much priestly magic, although that's been done. It does provide magic with the danger to the caster that we all deserve. Mages are very strange, cramming, essentially, spirits into their skulls and Spellbooks. Magic is probably the best part of the system. Mages and witches take greater risks with the more magic they employ. The more magic-dice a mage or a wizard invests into a spell, the greater the chance there is of a mishap or a doom. A mishap is a minor issue once doubles are rolled. A doom is something that seriously inconveniences the caster and could potentially kill them once triples are rolled. Though the mishaps and the dooms are fairly unlikely, they still offer some kind of hazard to playing with more powerful magic, which is a boon.
There are a few changes that I might consider bringing into the game. One thing is to replace 1d20 with 2d10, since it provides the game with a bell curve. I like bell curves. You should, too. That's the only change I'll mention, though. The GLOG is composed entirely of the Essence of Game-Hacking. When Kemp claims that the GLOG is "a pile of crayon-scribbled napkins that I've stapled together," he's not exactly wrong. The GLOG is actually an inspired collection of house rules and an approach to character class design. I suggest that you check out the GLOG for yourself and marvel at all of the wonderful ideas within DIY D&D.
I have linked several blogs on my blog roll which post GLOG material. The most prolific and well-known GLOG blogs, which I am aware of, are Kemp's Goblin Punch, Skerples' Coin & Scroll, Two Goblins in a Trenchcoat from Type1 Ninja, Unlawful Games from the Lawful Neutral.
Hello my reader, I'd like to scribble to you a bit of my method on creating background music for the games that I run. As a coastal elite, I only appreciate the finest things in life. That's why I understand that the original soundtrack for the film Pandorum(don't read the plot, see the movie!) is to be adored. In my view, the film has a compelling story and is generally underrated. I won't contest that it has a number of problems. Whatever someone may think of the film, the excellence of its OST is incontrovertible. Therefore, behold both the tracks of the soundtrack, how I handle background music for RPGs as well as how I categorize the tracks of this OST.
Well, my last post, Pavlov's Players, detailed how I use and categorized background music. This post is maybe the method applied. I go through each of the tracks and show how they are sorted into the various playlists which I mentioned in my earlier post. However, for ease I'll list the categories below. Categories: Combat, Grinding [creepy], Somber [creepy], Theme, Travel.
The most interesting thing, of course, is what I use the themes for. That's what I named the initial blog post about background music after, after all -- Pavlov's Players. The track that I listened to here which I found to be creepy and self-contained enough for something I had in mind was "Shape." Now "Shape" is the theme for the zombie-mutants of my post-apocalyptic "Irradiated, Infected, or Afraid" campaign. Any time the PCs encounter a zombie, I'll begin playing Shape and describe the zombie's tough pale-gray skin, it's sharp fang-teeth, it's elongated fingers with blunt dogs' claws, it's lack of an iris in its watery eyes, and its expression of confused rage and hunger. The idea is, the music will help cement this description in the players' minds so that when I next play it, they'll be able to imagine what they'd imagined before when I first gave the description.
For fun, have this stupid and terrible quasi-poem based off the track titles:
So We're all that's left because some XOs got Pandorum. Guess we should spray some anti-riot on this ship (is that mace?) so that good things can take shape. Nevermind, all we got was a hunting party raiding our notorious Kulzer Complex. At least, that's what the Tanis Probe Broadcast said, when it was describing the scars they left in fucking solidarity. Suppose it's the Gallow's Rebirth after the Biolab Attack in Kanyrna. I hate it when all the stars look alike but I'm fine while things go boom. After a swim in the reactor we can lay skin on skin (cuz it fell off heheh) having fought fought fought Bower's bad trip. Look what we discovered.
I first started using background music at some point in my first campaign. The first idea I had of it was literally a joke. I was inspired to play during a fight "Amok Time," the famous Star Trek The Original Series fighting music. It's silly 1960s music was a perfect gag to bring some laughs to the table (which was the point of playing to begin with). I guess everyone might know it as the music of when Kirk fought the Gorn, but I recall it as when Kirk fights horny Spock. Oddly enough, I don't remember people being as amused by it as I was when I played it. After that I began looking at music that I might play while running the game and began exploring the video game soundtracks of Fable, Diablo, EverQuest, etc. The next game that I started running was over Roll20, and I began making extensive use out of the Jukebox that's available there. Gaming without music now just seems a little too quiet. So, here's my way of handling background music for the games that I run.
Background Music by Themed Playlists
Naturally, a GM might establish a nice playlist of music found in a video game or a movie or wherever one might find nice ambient music for a theme. There are plenty of pieces of music which match one or more themes that are present in an RPG. In that past I have categorized the themes/playlists as: Wilderness, Combat, Creepy, Dungeon, and Town. Generally they corresponded to place and situation. That style originated from when I was GMing D&D (Pathfinder). Those playlists were all on shuffle, and whenever the PCs moved into a different area or a different situation, I'd switch between playlists. The playlists weren't terribly nuanced and I had them a bit too general -- occasionally the desert would creep into the forest.
Recently I've departed from place, and stick entirely to situation (although maybe that hasn't really changed much). The playlists I have now are: Combat, Somber-Creepy, Grinding-Creepy, Hard-Boiled [Apocalypse], Themes, and Travel. Combat hardly needs much explanation. It's fast-paced, sometimes abrasive, usually pretty rhythmic, and attempts to be intense, as dramatic as possible, and fear-evoking. The point is to energize with productive stress. An example of a track which has been on my Combat playlist for sometime now is "On the Champs-Désolés" or "Commanding the Fury," both from The Witcher 3.
I am a fan of creepy music (who isn't?). There are shades of creepy, or at least attitudes of creepy. There's the somber, yet still helter-skelter creepy. That one lets your skin crawl, but from a slow-creeping sense of anticipation and the hope that perhaps the consequences and risks will be slimmer. Good examples of this are Atlantean Twilight (especially good if played alongside Dark Future by Tabletop Audio), Classic Horror, or Colorless Aura by Kevin MacLeod. Another creepy, which I call Grinding, dashes away that hope, setting on full-display that naught is right with the world. It's much more abrasive that a somber creepy. A Grinding creepiness abandons the mournful tones that a somber creepiness generally carries, and dives headlong into latent threat. Nearly all of the soundtrack for Pandorum belongs to this category.
Hard-Boiled Apocalypse (I'm running GURPS After the End) came out mostly as a result of my listening to Incompetech and discovering much of his jazz and blues. It reminded me a little of the countless hours I spent listening to the music of Fallout 3, and I decided that I should compile it. I suppose I'd play it in schmoozing moments and generally when the PCs are ostensibly out of danger. So the Hard-Boiled Apocalypse playlist effectively performs the function of Town, calming the players and luring them into a sense of normalcy or security.
Pavlov, presumably listening to chimes
The Themes playlist is less of a playlist and more of a list of pieces of music. I won't play it on shuffle. Instead, in specific circumstances, such as facing certain NPCs or enemies or evading a specific kind of danger (radiation, landslides, flesh-eating locusts, whatever), I'll play a specific track available in this playlist. Some of them might not be just for a single NPC: "Amazing Grace (instrumental)" might be reserved for the entrance to a settlement that the PCs have managed to save from a terrible corruption and "Corncob" might be reserved for when the PCs enter Deliverance. The themes just allow me to attempt to establish some kind of evocative response for these NPCs and places, helping to make them memorable by building associations. Just think back to the song that was ruined by some moment that's forever associated with it. Sorry I reminded you, but it's basically like that except hopefully better. When the PCs think about the zombies, they'll remember the horrifying and nauseating music that comes along with them. In a way, I'm talking about making Pavlov's Players...
Travel is essentially like Wilderness. Quiet music that isn't particularly creepy, yet creepy enough to warrant being present in the post-apocalypse. It probably has some natural elements, involved, such as several minutes of spoopy rain, which is appropriate since the game is set in New England. That said, I've also placed a few songs in which are not nearly as terrible (in terms of terror) as the rest.
That's my categories for background music at the moment. They serve as any background music, setting tone for the action presented at the table. In the future, I may go more in depth in background music, but I sort of doubt it. The concept is pretty obvious, and having something to listen to at the table can range from something pleasant to hear as we play or a powerful tool in the hands of the GM. I can remember several games which had a soundtrack of their own, which were in fact soundtracks from a couple different sources.
I have a coming post which is basically my categorization of the tracks from the Pandorum OST. It's good, very spooky and alarming. Perfect material to help produce unnerving scenes. I imagine that it won't be my last post of that nature.
You might notice that in my racial template for Orcs, one of the racial disadvantages for orcs was Short Lifespan 1 (B154). Each level of Short Lifespan halves the time until a sapient reaches an aging threshold (instead of 50, GURPS considers you middle-aged at 25) and the aging increments (better make those HT rolls every six months instead of every year, you decrepit 26 year-old!), and it's a pretty hefty disadvantage, coming in at -10/level. Maturation also comes in faster (I'd said that orcs are adults at 9, but really, it should be 7.5 or 8).
One of my players decided to play an older orc who's 'seen some shit' and I informed him about the aging rolls. He thought that being an older orc was important to his character concept. Seems fine, right? Well, when six months should've rolled by, I never made him make those HT rolls to see if any of his stats drop. It seemed a little arbitrary to me that this character in particular had to make aging rolls while no one else did. Nothing on his character sheet dictated it, not even a quirk. The only thing is that the age might be seen as a 0-Feature, but that didn't seem like it was enough for me. I decided that I wanted characters to sell me their aging rolls, that that seemed to be fairer to me. So I made the disadvantage below for my future games.
The cost of the disadvantage depends on how frequent aging is. The first scheme is that each level costs -1/level. The second scheme is that the points increase with the greater age as such: -1/-3/-6. If unsure whether game time will speed by quickly, refer to Tech Level and how it modifies aging rolls. If the TL is TL 4+ or TL 5+, use the first scheme. If the TL is TL 3 or less, use the second scheme.
To help me justify asking you to make aging rolls, older age is now a disadvantage. It can be taken in three levels. With Aging 1, you are between the ages of 50 and 69 (age once each year). With Aging 2, you are between the ages 70 and 89 (age twice each year). With Aging 3, you are at least 90 years old (age every three months). While aging is particularly terrifying, I’ve kept it at a pseudo-quirk level since aging rolls will rarely come into play. See B444 for more information.
Aging is compatible with Short Lifespan and Extended Lifespan. Adjust the aging thresholds and increments -- there is no change in cost.
In my games I generally don't shirk away from human sacrifice (or, since I'm running a campaign based around orcs, sapient sacrifice). Maybe I'm just weird and unethical, but when I imagine back to the willing sacrifices of the long-dead pagans I can't help but think of them as noble. They surrendered their lives so that, according to their worldview, the gods would not sunder the world or grant their families and their people safety and abundance. That's the sweet thing about sacrifice, especially in the pseudo-literary improv world of RPGs. So nobody thinks I'm a monster and despite it being obvious -- human sacrifice is bad and there were plenty of people that were sacrificed to gods against their will. In fact, after winning a battle, the Celts would sacrifice half of the enemy survivors to the gods in thanks for victory (how badass is that?).
In an RPG, however, sapient sacrifice can be awesome, or, as some put it, 'fucking metal'. I first started wondering how I would replicate or translate sapient sacrifice into the mechanics of the game when I was trying to prepare a fusion world of Celts and Vikings (using the Celtic Myth and Vikings supplements to help me figure it out). I then discovered the wonderful resource that is GURPS Thaumatology. I cannot recommend Thaumatology enough for the GURPS GMs who want to tinker with the magic systems of their worlds or attempt to find better ways to replicate magical worlds into GURPS. The Celtic-Viking fusion campaign never wound up taking off. Instead of making my won setting for that fusion, I realized I could just use Banestorm and elaborate the Nomad Lands. That didn't wind up taking off. So I decided, since I have Celtic and Viking parallels in the D&D setting, Lumaras, that I had made, why not just run the Celt-Viking campaigns from there. The only difference was that there were no Christians, which was both a shame and a relief. The mention of Christians in the rules below reflect that I had written them in preparation for a campaign involving Christians in the setting (Banestorm). So, using the Thaumatology toolbox, I came up with the following rule-set for the interaction of mana, the gods, and sapient, material, and animal sacrifice for my Lumaras GURPS Fantasy campaign "An Orc's Lot." References to GURPS Magic are abbreviated as M# (where # is the page number). I believe I didn't explicitly say that the energy from a sacrifice could be directed into a Powerstone for fears of unbalancing the game. But honestly, now I don't know whether it really would. Maybe comment below and weigh in on the non-controversy.
Orcs had practiced sacrificial magic for so long as any orc can remember. The orc gods often demand sacrifices, anyway. The practice of directing the sacrificial energy into Manastones is a practice imported from goblinkin mages.
Sacrifice works according to Thaumatology. Not only living sacrifices grant energy or ‘sway with the gods’. You can specifically ask the GM for an energy total when you perform a sacrifice after the sacrifice has been performed, and only for sacrifices which grant mana. You can perform sacrifices to empower spellwork or to ask for aid from the gods for a vague boon (such as “grant us victory against the Christians” or “let the winter be mild” or “fatten my pigs and let my harvest be bountiful”). These vague supplications will amount to various bonuses on relevant rolls or alterations in story or outcome.
The energy value of living sacrifices is based on intelligence and mass or health: for creatures of IQ 5 or less, it is equal to IQ multiplied by the lower of HT or HP; for creatures IQ 6+, it is equal to IQ multiplied by the higher of HT or HP. Certain aspects, such as beauty or purity (as interpreted by the entity to whom the sacrifice is sworn), provide a modifier to the total energy value. A willing sapient is worth twice it's typical energy value.
Sacrificial energy may be stored in Manastones (M70). Any quirks will generally relate to death, troubling emotions, and may cause inconveniences towards those who practice sacrificial magic (if any sacrificial victims were unwilling). These manastones are chalky in texture, have an otherworldly color, and, if examined, a foreboding and unnerving presence.
Finally, those sacrifices sworn to a deity as part of worship or broad supplication rather than magic do not grant energy; the energy is absorbed by the deity. Two examples: Sanktulo The Devout sacrifices Timmy (ST 9 IQ 10 HT 11, Willing +100%, young +50% for, unbeknownst to the player, 265 EP directly to the god) in honor of Grokolok, asking for survival through the winter or a victory against a rival tribe, or on a selected day to stay a hungry god’s wrath. Sorĉadanto the Arcanely Profane sacrifices Timothy (ST 10 DX 10 IQ 10 HT 11, HP 10 FP 11) to Kalgazgro or one of his agents for 110 Energy Points; he either transfers this energy in a manastone for later use (if he knows the spell) or uses it immediately to cast a powerful spell.
Hey. It's been a while. Here's for those gamers who enjoy Pathfinder, but are suffering from indecision about what they should play. I created this d% table for one particular player who prefers non-spellcasting classes, so I lowered the weight towards those classes. Shut up, roll on this table, make a damn character, and play the fucking game. 01 Alchemist 02-03 Antipaladin 04-06 Arcanist 07 Barbarian 08-12 Barbarian (Unchained) 13 Bard 14 Bloodrager 15-19 Brawler 20-24 Cavalier 25-26 Cleric 27 Druid 28-32 Fighter 33-35 Gunslinger 36-39 Hunter 40 Inquisitor 41-42 Investigator 43-44 Kineticist 45-46 Magus 47 Medium 48 Mesmerist 49 Monk 50-54 Monk (Unchained) 55-59 Ninja 60 Occultist 61 Oracle 62-64 Paladin 65 Psychic 66-67 Ranger 68 Rogue 69-73 Rogue (Unchained) 74-78 Samurai 79 Shaman 80-81 Shifter 82-83 Skald 84-88 Slayer 89 Sorcerer 90 Spiritualist 91 Summoner (Unchained) 92-94 Swashbuckler 95-96 Vigilante 97-98 Warpriest 99 Witch 00 Wizard
