Open Beta version 0.6 Changes

[imported_Rasyr]

Version 0.6 of the Open Beta is going to be making a number of changes throughout the document.  I figured that I would give you a heads-up about the most prevalent changes coming.

[b]Class Descriptions[/b]

These are getting a major overhaul. I am removing Hits per Level entry, since it no longer applies (see below), and removing the list of Talents and replacing it with a list of capabilities from those Talents. If a Class ability is fully figured into the description, such as with the Talent, [i]Favored Skill[/i], it won't be listed in the Special Abilities section at all.





Here is a sample of what the new Class descriptions will look like:

[b]ARCHER[/b]


An Archer is a character who specializes in the use of bows. He is also good at hunting out in the wilderness.


[b]Favored Skills:[/b] Athletics, Combat Skills (Bows & 1 other of player's choice), Navigation, Perception, Stealth, Survival, Tracking, and 2 additional skills of the player's choice.


[b]Prime Stats:[/b] Dexterity and Wisdom


[b]Special Abilities:[/b]

[list]

[li]    The character is an expert with one type of bow. So long as he is not mounted or has not moved in the round in which he fires, his penalty for each Range Increment is only -2 instead of the normal -4. If he takes a round to prepare before his shot, there is no penalty at all for range. The character cannot wear any torso armor heavier than Reinforced Leather to use this ability. [i][Archery][/i][/li]

[li]    The character is trained in the wearing and use of padded cloth, furs, and soft leather armors. [i][Armor, Light][/i][/li]

[li]    Gain a +2 modifier to the Combat Skill for Bows. [i][Combat Training I][/i][/li]

[li]    Gain a +1 modifier to all other Favored Combat Skills (excluding Bows). [i][Combat Training I][/i][/li]

[li]    Gain a +1 bonus to DEF. [i][Combat Training I][/i][/li]

[li]    Gain an additional 5 Hit Points. [i][Combat Training I][/i][/li]

[li]    All Combat Moves use the I CP cost instead of the U CP cost. [i][Combat Training I][/i][/li]

[/list]

[b]Defense (DEF)[/b]

Defense will no longer receive a +1 every other level. Instead, characters will receive a +1 for every 5 ranks that they have in their best melee Combat Skill (this includes the various Unarmed melee skills as well).

[b]Spell Points[/b]

Characters will no longer receive Spell Points each level automatically. They will, instead, receive 1 Spell Point for every rank that they have in their best Spellcasting skill. Additionally, the number of starting Spell Points for Major and Minor Adepts have been increased to 15 and 10 respectively, while Non-Adepts start with zero Spell Points. The character's Magic Stat Bonus will no longer added to Spell Points either (its removal being one of the reasons for the starting increase).

[b]Fate Points[/b]

The limit on the total number of Fate Points that a character may possess has been removed. Additionally, the free Fate Point that is gained each level has been altered to only occur if the character has less than 5 Fate Points in total. There is alo a limit on how many Fate Points may be used for a single roll. And finally, you will now be able to spend Fate Points on others (whose rolls do NOT directly affect your character), but at a cost of 2 Fate Points per d10 roll. For rolls that directly affect your character, it is still 1 Fate Point per d10 roll.

[b]Hit Points[/b]

Hit Points per level have been removed. Starting Hit Points have increased (now equal to 20 + Str Stat + con Stat), and each race will have a Maximum Racial Hit Point value. The individual character will have a max number of Hit Points equal to his Racial Max Value plus his Strength and Constitution Stat Values. Instead of receiving Hit Points each level, characters will be required to purchase them (reflecting expending the time and effort to improve their physique and stamina) using some new Talents that have been added.

[b]Saving Throws[/b]

We have removed the level modifiers from Saving Throws. Instead, your base modifier for a Saving Throw will be 5 + the appropriate Stat Bonus. We will also be adding a Talent or two to allow for purchasing increases to Saving Throw modifiers.

[b]Talents[/b]

As mentioned, there are a couple of new Talents that have been added. Other Talents have been reworded or reworked to bring them in line with other changes in the manuscript.

[b]Zones of Combat, Opportunity Attacks, & Disengaging from Melee[/b]

These three items have been added to the Special Situations section of the Combat chapter. Zones of Combat defines what area a character threatens normally. Opportunity Attacks are essentially an attack made upon a foe when the opportunity presents itself. It is important to note that when a character makes an opportunity attack, that it DOES count against his actions for the round. And Disengaging from Melee is essentially a method of using Action Points to successfully break off combat with a foe and move away without provoking an Opportunity Attack. We leave the "flavor details" blank, to allow for it to be tailored to the situation.

[b]Schools of Magic[/b]

The descriptions for the Schools of Magic have been expanded to make each School just a little more unique when compared against the others.

[b]Spells[/b]

All of the spells that require Saving Throws will now have their Save TNs listed in the table of spell information right beside the stat that the Saving Throw is made against.

[b]Essential Salts[/b]

Essential Salts are being added to the Magic chapter. These are a magical substance that can be found by sifting through the earth using the [i]Magecraft: Alchemy[/i] skill. Each dram (it takes 8 drams to make an ounce) of Essential Salts can be used in the place of 1 Spell Point when casting spells. Essential Salts are also one of the key ingredients used in the creation of many magical items. A later product will expand the Magecraft: Alchemy skill to allow for the creation and usage of other Alchemical substances, and other Magecraft specializations to allow for the creation of certain types of items.

[b]Monsters[/b]

The monster stats have all been updated to follow the new rules regardin Hits and so forth.

[b]Monsters - Nature Spirits[/b]

Have updated these to make them available as possible Familairs

[b]Treasures[/b]

The Treasure section has been expanded to allow for the creations of such items as Herbal Elixers and Potions (i.e. the basic Alchemy rules for these are given). As mentioned above, a later product will expand these Alchemy rules more fully.

I hope that I didn't miss anything important. I should start pagemaking version 0.6 later today or early tomorrow, so it should be ready for release within a week or so.

Addendum (9/2/2001) - Added in the bit about Nature Spirits

[imported_Rasyr]

I am in the process of pagemaking version 0.6 of the Open Beta now. I have to work the next 4 days, so that will slow me down a bit (hence my  previous comment about it being done sometime next week - I already knew my schedule).

I will be working on it over the next four days, but I won't be getting too much accomplished, I think.

Anyways, basic layout/pagemaking is done up to and through the Combat Chapter. I am just starting on the Magic Chapter.

Once the basics layout/pagemaking is done, the next step is to go through and replace all of the "xx" with actual references to the proper page numbers (an hour or two). Then I still have to do the TOC (takes maybe 10-20 minutes) and then do the index (this will take most of a day, possibly 2 days).

Once that is done, I will make the free version (which will take maybe an hour, since all I plan on doing is making a copy of the InDesign file and then removing the artwork - this way the page numbers will match in both versions).

Just thought you guys might like an update...

[samwise7]

Sounds good. 

[Fidoric]

Great !

[imported_Rasyr]

Got through most of the magic chapter this evening, am working on the spells -- I have to go in and format EVERY spell table so that they look right. This will take a day or so...

[imported_Rasyr]

Okay, went through this morning and got all of the spell tables formatted properly (remembered a small shortcut that saved me several hours), and then went and fixed the Familiar table (for that spell), so that there are now 2 columns of possible results - Benign and Evil (the evil familiars are more powerful, and some casters MAY think that they can control them properly (though I need a better word than "evil", perhaps "dark")).

I still have to go adjust the monster descriptions accordingly, but I can do that this evening. Right now, I have to go get dressed and run some errands and then go to work...

[imported_Rasyr]

I have finished the Magic Chapter and the Running Novus chapter as well. I am now up to laying out the Creatures & Treasures chapter.

I still have to adjust the Nature Spirit Descriptions, and I am also considering adding in some "Celestial creatures and/or stuff about making normal creatures Celestial or something along those lines. I will give it a bit of thought while at work today.

[gamewizard]

I keep looking for the dang "like" button all over the place....

Great work, Tim! Keep it up!

[imported_Rasyr]

Decided not to add any Celestial critters afterall, but I am adding in more potential types of Familiars (should be finished with that today, along with the basic initial pagemaking -- then I still have to do the index, TOC (easy), and page references.

I have also changed the Summon Familiar spell a bit. Nature Spirits and Minor Demons and Minor Devils can no longer be gotten on the basic roll. To get one of them as a Familiar, you will need to earn Boon Points on casting the spell and spend those Boon Points accordingly (each Boon Point allowing the player to adjust the roll for a Familiar by up to +/-2 Points

Each type of Familiar will have an entry under the Familiar Spirits creature description that looks something like the following:

Cat - This is the form of a normal house cat, about 12 to 16 inches in length and weighing up to 12 to 15 lbs on average. Cats come with many different colors and patterns on their fur. Cats all possess Greater Nightvision, as per the Talent (see p. xx) and they receive a +10 to their Stealth skill. A Cat familiar will grant its bonded spell caster a +2 to both his Stealth and Perception skill rolls.

So, in addition to having its own abilities, the Familiar will grant its bonded spell caster with some sort of minor bonus. Here is a list of all of the creatures that can be acquired as Famailiars. This is by no means a complete list, but it will provide for a greater variety, I think.

Ant, Giant
Bat
Bee, Giant
Butterfly, Giant
Cat
Chameleon
Fox
Goat
Hound
Lizard
Owl
Racoon
Rat
Raven
Spider
Squirrel
Weasel
Wolf

[imported_Rasyr]

Familiars are finished, so I am back to working on the pagemaking now....

I have a few errands to run this afternoon, but still things should go relatively quickly again (until I have to do the index...).

[imported_Rasyr]

Well, basic layout is complete.... I even got the TOC done this evening.

Tomorrow, I will start on doing the page references, and then the index. Now, I have to work Friday & Saturday and may have to go out of town on Sunday, but I should have the final draft of the Open Beta version 0.6 ready by early next week sometime (I am figuring a Tuesday or Wednesday release at the latest).

[imported_Rasyr]

page references are completed.

Next up is to start on the index. Doing an index is always rough because I have to go through the document one page at a time and highlight the word to be indexed and then create the index entry for it (and if it is indexed in multiple ways, then that means creating each entry separately).

[imported_Rasyr]

Damn, but that index went a lot faster than I thought it would. Of course, I had based my original time estimates for it on the last time I created an index, which was actually one of the first times I had ever created an index from scratch.

Basically what this means is that version 0.6 of the Open Beta is essentially complete. All that I have left to do before releasing it is to give it another proofing run and fix any typos or errors that I find and then package it up for release.

Now, I have to work the next two days, so Sunday would be the earliest day that it might be released, although it is probable that Monday is more likely.

[samwise7]

It is convention time for me as there are two local conventions in the area that I run a lot of games for, so I won't be able to proofread this as I have in the past.  Good luck finding all of the typos. 

[imported_Rasyr]

It is convention time for me as there are two local conventions in the area that I run a lot of games for, so I won't be able to proofread this as I have in the past.  Good luck finding all of the typos.   

excuses.... excuses....