DI #3 (Mid-October 1994)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  1. Mythic Revelations: Tom's Mythus Prime, Part II
  2. Commentary: Curbing the Power Spike
  3. Organizations: The Realm Knights
  4. Enemies: The Kriig Spider (Yikes!)
  5. Magickal Items: Potent Jewellry
  6. Request: Heka-Forging
  7. Finis: Notes from Hawkeye

Tom's Mythus Prime, Part II

MYTHICAL REVELATIONS: Well, that's my new name for the Rules section. This issue, we're continuing our simplified (yet quite useful) Mythus Prime rules put together by Tom (BluSponge@AOL.com). The only thing left to ask of him is: what the heck is a Blue Sponge? :)

This section deals with Magick (heka generation, Full/Partial Practice, Known/Recallable castings, etc.) and Combat (Damage bonuses, initiative modifiers, quality of weapon/armor tables, etc.). There MAY be a few references to Erath or Aedonn, which is my campaign setting. These should be removed and/or modified to suit. As for the rest, enjoy! I've played about half a dozen games with these rules and they work great.

Magick

Generating Personal Heka
All living things are capable of generating the magickal force known as Heka. However, only a skilled group can properly tap that force for their use. This is where Heka -generating K/S areas come into play; they allow the HP, OP, EP, etc., to tap their own Heka as a source of power channeled into spell-like effects.
To calculate the personal Heka of a persona, the player simply takes the three Heka generating K/S of the highest STEEP from his bundle, multiply they're combined STEEP by 2, and to this figure the combined total of all other Heka generating K/S STEEP. For example, an alchemist persona would have the following personal Heka:
   Alchemy STEEP x 2, plus
   Dweomercraeft STEEP x 2, plus
   Magick STEEP x 2, plus
   any other Heka-generating K/S STEEP
At the same time, a Physician Persona would generate personal Heka this way:
   Herbalism STEEP x 2, plus
   any other Heka-generating K/S STEEP.
It is important to note that only Heka-generating K/S recieved as part of the initial bundle, not from bonus K/S, can receive the multiple. There are other modifiers possible, the most prominant one from Full Practice.

Full Practice

Note: There are some Vocations which are not permitted Full Practitioner status (such as the Theurgist) as it is part of their character. Check the Vocation listing on page 1 under the status column to see whether or not FP is allowed for the Vocation in question.

Dweomercraeft: Any HP possessing the dweomercraeft K/S and the Magick K/S can attempt to be a Full Practitioner (FP ). They must possess both K/S from the start, either from their initial bundle or through bonus K/S attributed upon the creation of their HP. In addition, the HPs Mental TRAIT must be at least 55.
If the HP meets these criteria, they may attempt for FP status. The HP must roll vs. his Dweomercraeft K/S x 0.5 (counting any bonuses afterward).
If the player succeeds, than he/she generates Heka at STEEP x 5 for the lower, Dweomercraeft or Magick, rather than at 2.

Priestcraeft: Priest HPs may roll for FP status in the same manner as HPs possessing the Dweomercraeft/Magick STEEP combination. In the priest's case, however, this is qualified by the possession of both the Religion and Priestcraeft K/S Areas. Also, an HP MUST be of the Priest Vocation! Also, the Spiritual TRAIT is the key for priest FP status.
It should be remembered that Partial Practitioner priests may latter try to make a Vow or, in special circumstances, may enter the game with a vow.

Known and Recallable Castings

Once HPs have been given their Available Castings, they must then contend with Known and Recallable Castings. The difference: Known Castings may be called upon immediately for casting, as they are considered to be tried and true to the Practitioner and known backwards and forwards, though there might be a modifier for casting under stressful circumstances. Recallable castings must be rolled for twice; once to see if the Practitioner remembers all of the intricacies of the Casting, and the second to determine that actual success of the casting procedure. This can be dfficult if it is a high stakes moment in the game.
Known and Recallable Castings are both determined by taking the Persona's highest Heka-Generating (and Casting) area x 0.25. Full Practitioners receive 3 more for every Heka producing K/S possessed that must be spread evenly between the two categories. Therefore, a Partial Practitioner with a Dweomercraeft of 60 STEEP would have both 15 Known and Recallable Castings to draw from, the rest becoming Studiable Castings. A Full Practitioner would recieve the same. However, if that FP also possessed Magick, Conjuration, Astrology, Alchemy, Sorcery, and Religion, than he/she would have a total of 24 Known and Recallables - a total of 48 Castings that could be called upon during an adventure.
Studyable Castings are normally considered to be those that the Persona rarely makes use of. Yet occasionally, the Persona will want to use those castings to perform a task. There are two cases to be considered. (1) If the task is in a controlled environment (such as a laboratory) than the persona may use the Studyable as though it were a Recallable Casting, performing the Casting directly from the spellbook. The catch to this is that the Casting will always take double the normal time to perform (i.e. a charm will take 2 CTs, a Spell will take 2 BTs, etc. (2) The Persona may take a period of time to study the Casting and committ it to memory. This Casting can replace a Recallable Casting with no penalty and no need for a K/S roll. However, in order to committ it as a Known Casting, the Persona must make check the required K/S to make the switch. If the roll succeeds, than one Known Casting is replaced with the new Casting (the old one being of the Persona's choice of course). If the roll fails however, the new Casting is NOT learned and the casting to be replaced is removed from memory anyway. Either casting may then be studied again with no more penalties, but the K/S check is still required.

Combat

Initiative Modifiers in Combat

The Physical TRAIT is intended to represent the many physical sides of the persona; sheer strength,, stamina, dexterity and eye-hand coordination. And as such the Initiative modifier comes into play. Whereas encumbeing armor and the like will remove the persona's ability to move around freely, there is that persona natual agility to take into consideration.
The persona's Initiative modifier is roughly his/her (P TRAIT x 0.15) - 1, rounded down. This produces a range of 9 to 2. A Persona with a P TRAIT of 70, the human maximum, will have -10 while one with a lowly 20 P would have a modifier of -2. This modifier is subtracted from the initial die roll before Speed Factor penalties from armor or other notedly encumbrant equipment is taken into consideration.

Damage Bonus and Dodging Factor in Mythus Prime

The amount of damage done varies with the weapon being used as well as contributing factors from the Persona's Physical TRAIT and STEEP in the weapon being used. Quite simply, the stronger the Persona is, the more damage is done with a weapon, be it a sword or fist. Likewise, a highly skilled swordsman can deliver large amounts of additional damage regardless of his strength.
The Persona's Dodging Factor also relates to the Physical TRAIT. Assumed from his/her agility, the DF is added to the opponent's attack roll in combat. The figure is seldom much and does not take the place of armor, but it can make the difference between a hit and a miss just the same. Note that armor categories above Chain (D) halve this figure.

Damage Bonus for High Physical TRAIT
P TRAIT x 0.3            Damage Bonus
13-14                       + 1             Add +1 for every 2
15-16                       + 2             points beyond 22.
17-18                       + 3
19-20                       + 4
21-22                       + 5

High STEEP Damage Bonus           Dodge Factor

STEEP  Damage Bonus               P TRAIT x 0.3      Dodge Factor
41-50   + 1                          16                1 %
51-60   + 2                          17                3 %
61-70   + 3                          18                5 %
71-80   + 4                          19                7 %
81-00   + 5                          20                9 %
                                     21                11 %
                                     22+            +2 % per point

Cost of Weapons and Armor

The Weapons/Armor cost multipliers table should be used to calculate the price of weapons and armor, based on their general quality of craftsmanship, or how they have been maintained if they are not new. Higher quality weapons tend to deal further bonuses to PD cause, as will poor quality weapons negate such.

Weapon/Armor Cost Multipliers
 Quality        Price Multiple    Effective PD/BAC Bonus
Poor                0.25                - 2
Below Average       0.5                 - 1
Average             1                   --
Above Average       2                   + 1
Exceptional         5                   + 2
Unsurpassed        10                   + 3

Damage to and Repair of Armor

Armor will be considered whole, fully intact up to and including the tenth time it absorbs its maximum amount of damage and transmits remaining Physical damage to the wearer. That is, the persona must take at least partial damage 10 times. If attacks score insufficient damage to inflict any points on the wearer, the armor having negated all of the attack, ignore such attacks.
Keep a record of attacks which scored full damage on the armor and passed one or more points on to the wearer, and which were not subsequently repaired. After the 10th such attack, on the 11th and succeeding attacks, the wearer in unprotected, i.e. the armor is ruined and offers no more protection. The persona will have to find an armorer and pay for costly repairs or else buy new gear. It should be mentioned that personas possessing the arms & armor K/S are capable of these repairs themselves, regardless of the armor type in question.
Of course, the quality of the armor worn will have some barring on how much of a beating it can take. 10 protection surpassing hits is a base number. Adjust the number of times armor's protection value can be exceeded as follows for non-average-quality armor:
 Quality             modifier          Through Hits
 Poor                  - 7                   3
 Below Average         - 5                   5
 Average                 0                  10
 Above Average         + 2                  12
 Exceptional           + 5                  15
 Unsurpassed          + 10                  20
I think that's it for now. Tom said he may send more this way, but who can say? What I'd really like to do in the future is include rules that will cover areas untouched (or touched poorly :)) in Mythus. I know I have some interesting house rules, and I know you readers do--so send 'em in!


Commentary: Power Limitation Suggestions

COMMENTARY: This is a passage which Matt (Anaxamenes@AOL.com) sent to me a few weeks ago. It has some really intelligent solutions to a common problem. We all have our own ways in dealing with these things, but Matt's suggestions are clear, concise, and do not require learning any more rules!
Matt (Anaxamenes@AOL.com)

There seems to be a common problem for most JMs out there, and that is the "Power Player." Power players are those players who push the rules to their maximum extent, unrestrained by some . They say stuff like "Hey, why can't I put a breast plate on over my plate armor? The rules don't say I can't." They do stuff like pile all their AP's into one K/S, or want to have their HP spend 3 months straight doing nothing but lifting weights and sleeping, in order to boost their PM characteristic. They play the game like a bad lawyer, their only concern being the structure of the rules, and to hell with what an actual person their persona's position might really do.
The usual response to such a player is to make new rules to keep them under control. I have had this problem with some players in my campaign, and I do appreciate the necessity of finely crafted rules to keep them in line. I would like to suggest, however, that this is not the only resource that the JM has for keeping power players under control.
The rules are a structure to run the campaign by, but are not the whole campaign or world. The rules are a guide to certain areas, but fail to cover all of the pseudo-reality that is a campaign world. These areas outside of the rules, the color and circumstances of the world, are a powerful tool for keeping power players in line. It can be utilized through at least the two basic principles or strategies I want to talk about here. The two principles are 1) that all actions are committed in a setting, and will have consequences in that setting that are not specified by the rules, and 2) That players are not simply statistics and ratings, they are people, and even heroic people have feet of clay. Let me be more specific
Mages who have a bunch of time on their hands can be a problem. They immediately want to go into their study and research 10 new ways to kill all their enemies and credit all their wealth to the HP's bank account without even leaving the lab. Either that or they want to learn 20 spells a day for 20 days in a row. One solution is to make up elaborate rules about spell research and learning. But there are other, complimentary options, that can be used also, so that the rules are reasonable and flexible enough not to hobble your average player, but enough to keep the power player under control. For players who you feel are spending an unrealistic amount of time on arcane study: give them headaches. Hey, theoretically I could read Kant all day, but I'd never make it without a massive headache at the end of the day, and doing it day after day would be impossible. I'd lose my marbles. Give the mage who spends all his time studying new spells headaches and backaches, and blurred vision. If they don't take the hint, mess up their vision permanently, make them nearsighted. Why do you think so many academics have glasses? Ever hear of scholar's hump? Just because the rules say a player can do something, doesn't mean you will be able to in these circumstances, or will want to, and certainly doesn't mean there won't be consequences. Extremely driven people in any field pay a heavy price in the rest of their life. This should be so in a Mythus world also.
Maybe the amount of APs you give out sneaks up on you, the Necromancer in your campaign gets his STEEP up to 80, and can raise legions of undead under the rules. What to do? The way to prevent him from doing so is not by the rules, but circumstances in the world. He's got to go find all these bodies lying around to raise. Maybe he gets chased around by the cemetery-yard dog which wakes the local priests; maybe he finds that the people in this area have their priests perform a ritual that prevents their loved ones corpses from ever being animated. When he finally does get some animated, all his living servants run away; his horse won't go within 1,000 yards of the undead; the keep where he lives begins to STINK; he starts to have nightmares from hanging out with the dead all the time. There are hundred of "real world" problems that can be used to curb players who are pushing the rule limits.
One particular instance of such a non-rule consequence I am about to institute in my campaign involves casting major amounts of spells. When a character, especially a full practitioner with large amounts of heka, uses most of their heka in a day, they are really tired. This doesn't affect actual adventuring much, because they are all usually exhausted at the end of the day anyway. What is does effect is the mage who gets up in the morning, wants to drop 1500 heka into her brand new super heka reservoir, then spend the rest of the day researching new spells, and finally go out and party 'til midnight keeping up on current events and searching for rumors about a certain mercenary she has a score to settle with. All these are allowed within the rules, and on a single day where it was really important, might be possible (with a little help from a lot of coffee or some Endurance heka). But there is no way this will go on for a week. Pushing out 1500 heka is going to make you tired, like getting up and running 20 miles. Yeah, the full practitioner is better acclimated to doing so, but that is why she is equivalently exhausted to the dabbler with only a 300 heka who uses up 250 in a day. This also opens up the possibility that the character will end up using stimulants to reach that desired performance level. Let them do it. This is how drug addictions can begin.
Another related problem is power player's putting all their APs into only a couple K/S areas, and so within a few sessions you have people with a Combat, Hand Weapons of 98%. There was a new rule by Adam Mortara in DI #2 about the cost of STEEP advancement that made alot of sense. But alone it may not completely solve the problem. Some power players will continue to pour their APs into a couple K/S areas, they just won't get as far ahead. If you want players to use their APs in a more realistic manner, make your world require it of them. Make them roll against Mental and Physical Perception to see the bad guy in the alley. They can't hit what they don't know is there. Have unarmed people get into bar fights with them. If they pull a weapon, it's murder (or attempted murder). That will make them put some points in Combat, HTH, Non-lethal (and maybe Law, also). Make them roll against their riding STEEP whenever they try and chase someone on horseback. You can all think of these examples. The main point is that player's will put their APs into the areas that they end up needing to roll against, and what they need to roll against is determined by how you have the world interact with them. So make something besides weapons skills important. Make characters want and NEED to be something other than a 1-dimensional sword-slinging thug.
In the campaign I play in right now, Influence, Etiquette & Social Graces, History, and the various language skills are some of the most important K/S areas for the characters. A lot of us have put APs that could have gone into combat skills into them. The situation you want your player's in is having too many K/S areas they want to put APs into at the end of the adventure, and that comes from what you make them use.
Curbing the power player can be done very effectively by using rule modifications and by thinking outside of the rules. Relying solely on rules can sometimes result in gaming sessions that sound much more like the pretrial arguments in the Simpson case than people having fun. Use the rules when effective and necessary, but also put yourself in that player's position and think about the problems you might have. The characters are supposed to be heroic, but they are not gods. Not even Lancelot slept in his plate armor. As a JM, making sure that the characters are aware that their feet are made of clay, and that their action will have consequences may go a long way to curbing power player's excesses, or attempted excesses. I realize many other JMs are aware of this strategy, but I thought I would write this because there still are a lot of people who are fixated on the rules, and don't realize the power available from this more narrative aspect of the game. After all the rules are just a device to help you and your players write/play out a story that is a surprise to everyone. Don't let the rules take over from the story. Thanks for listening; any comments would be appreciated.


Organizations: The Realm Knights

PROTECTORS OF THE COMMON GOOD: This organization, the Realm Knights, I created to give players in one campaign of mine a common background. They provide what I believe to be a coherent, easily transferred organization that anyone can use. What I mean is, you could probably get this set up to use in your own campaigns in a matter of minutes. All you'd have to do is change some names, really...of course, maybe I don't know what I'm talking about!

Hawkeye (v105nk9r@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu)

The following is an overview of the Realm Knights, Tora's most elite human fighting force. Loved by most, respected or feared by all, the Realm Knights set the standard for virtue and ability on Tora.

General Description

The Realm Knights are the closest thing Tora gets to a universal protector. They are one of the only organised groups of warriors other than specific countries' armies. They are warriors of legend, champions in the struggle between good and evil.
In Cordmarren culture, and indeed over most of Tora, the Realm Knight is a mighty hero, who is respected and admired by the common folk (excepting, of course, the evil and criminal elements). The Realm Knight has the good will of the Western Toran nations (Sylvanos, Rohar, Anthur, Bandar, and of course Cordmarre, plus the other small lands). Indeed, the Realm Knight is often looked to to solve crimes, settle disputes, and otherwise serve justice in the community he or she is visiting.

History

The history of the Realm Knights is well-documented in the historical archives in Shiva (the capitol of Cordmarre). Their history is full of great heroes and even greater deeds, performed with the greatest of skill. Rather than focus on individual stories (of which there are literally hundreds), this will simply deal with the Realm Knights' history as an organization.
Formed by Gerran Talorsblade, the first King of the Third Kingdom of Cordmarre (see The History of Cordmarre for more details on that nation), at the end of the Black Age, the Realm Knights are currently just over 500 years old, yet still remain a small, select force. The Realm Knights were organized for the purpose they serve today--to protect the weak and innocent from the forces which threatened (and still do) to tear apart the fledgling nation. The Knights organization was designed for the best of warriors, although today select members of other vocations have been given honorary Realm Knight status.
The Realm Knights are commanded by the Lord High Preceptor, who commands from the Kingshome of the Knights in Shiva. Gerran Talorsblade was the first of the Lord High Preceptors, and currently the leader of the Realm Knights is an old Marrean cavalier named Genned.
In many of the larger Toran cities, the Realm Knights maintain Knighthomes, or Knightholds. Each Knighthome has a leader, titled Preceptor, who is in command of any Knights currently in that particular city (excluding certain knights, but the ranks and order will be detailed later...). The Knighthomes are a place for travelling Realm Knights to stay, and are very useful for organization.
Over the past few centuries, the Realm Knights have been involved in almost every major battle with evil. Heroes, who happen to be Realm Knights are common in many tales. Occasionally, however, a Realm Knight will "go bad," but these renegades are usually hunted down by other Knights.
The Realm Knights have always been an elite group, and their numbers reflect this philosophy. There have never been more than 5000 members, and the number is usually half that.

Social Customs

The Realm Knights, as stated above, are respected throughout Tora. Often they are seen attending the courts of various national governments (particularly in Cordmarre, not surprisingly). They are taught etiquette for most situations (although some Knights choose to ignore that particular skill). Most Realm Knights take advantage of their position to "hobnob" with the aristocracy. Some Knights actually dislike the higher social classes, and instead live amongst the peasants. These are the Knights who are most respected (by the general populace, anyway).
The Knights realize that they are the protectors of Tora, and they enjoy their job. Most strive for glory, and try to do the most heroic thing possible (which may also account for their numbers never growing very large...). Some people find this philosophy unintelligent, but many a plot to overthrow local governments has been foiled by the Knights.
There is no common language spoken by the Knights, but most know a decent amount of Low Toran. What is common, however, is a simplistic form of sign language. The signs are inconspicuous so that two Realm Knights can communicate without someone else even realizing that there is another conversation going on. What their signs cannot do, however, is convey anthing too complicated--it is meant to communicate during battle, when hearing is not always possible.

Religion

Obviously (or not...), Talor is the most commonly worshipped god amongst the Knights. Many other religions are seen, as there is no official religion which all Realm Knights must adhere to. The only other commonly worshipped goddess is Fortuna. Of course, almost any other deity could be found to be worshipped by the Knights, but the Dark Lords and Chaos Gods are mostly fought against, not prayed to.


OPPOSITION: Kriig Spider

Tom is a sick guy I think. Anyone who can throw together some _thing_ like this ought to get help. :) But, it would make a particularly interesting opponent for your HP's, especially in a campaign where there are some truly vile wizards on the other side...

Tom (BluSponge@AOL.com)

Kriig Spider

Identifier: Monster, arachnoid
Habitat: AErth, exterior
Size: Human-sized
Number Appearing: 1d3
Modes & Rates of Movement:
Crawl: 125 yds/BT
Scurry: 250 yds/BT
Initiative Modifiers: Human Standard
Joss Factors: 0
Dodging/Avoidance: 4%/10, 35
Attractiveness: 0
Average Armor Protection: 4
Quirks: None
Attacks         BAC     Type     Base     Bonus
Claw (x2)        48      P/C     2d3        9
Tongue barb*     65       P      1d3**      9
* If used on a held victim, this attack ignores armor.
** plus blood loss for 3d3 damage each round until removed.
Powers:
Extreme Attractiveness (dazing, "easy"/fleeing, "easy")
Web Net
Area of Effect: 2 yards
Delivered by: Gesture
Range: N/A
Time: 1 AT
Duration: until destroyed
Frequency: at will
Description: This power is similar to the CG V Dweomercaeeft Casting, Invisible Chains Charm. It appears as aa thick, silken net with a slight blueish glow, though this glow will not give away the position of a hidden Kriig.
Hypaeaesthesia (dark vision: sees equally well in light and darkness)
Shadow cloaking, self
Area of Effect: self
Delivered by: thought
Range: N/A
Time: 1 CT
Duration: until removed
Frequency: at will
Description: The Kriig Spider is nearly totally undetectable in shadows. Detection DRs are at +2, while its suprise attempts are at -1 DR. Furthermore, it has an effective Ambushing K/S of 45, allowing it to attempt Total Suprise.

Statistical Detail:

Base Scheme (+/- 2d3)
M (cunning): 34          P: 125   WL: 93  CL:  113
MM:    17 MR:    17        PM:     65 PN:     60
MMCap:  7 MRCap:  7        PMCap:  35 PNCap:  25
MMPow:  5 MRPow:  5        PMPow:  15 PNPow:  15
MMSpd:  5 MRSpd:  5        PMSpd:  15 PNSpd:  20
Armor Scheme:
Area         Pierce  Cut  Blunt  Fire  Chem  Stun  Elec.
Ultra Vital    12     12    12     -    -     12     -
Super Vital    10     10    10     -    -     10     -
Vital           6      6     6     -    -      6     -
Non Vital       2      2     2     -    -      2     -
Average         7      7     7     -    -      7     -
Commentary & Description: No one is truly sure of the origins of the Kriig spider. Some sages would speculate that they are the result of some bizarre magickal experiment, or perhaps they are the result of indigenous breeding with some extra-planar fiend. Regardless of their origin, there can be no doubt of their malign behavior. Though they are not truly intelligent, or no more so than another insect, they are cunning in the extreme and act with a certain sense of inherent evil. They often reside in shallow caverns or abandon ruins. They do not appear to be territorial though they have proved to be cannibalistic.
They do not spin webs as many other surface dwelling spider, but rather conceal themselves in tight crevices. Other than these facts, the ecology of the Kriig is virtually unknown.
Kriigs are horrid in appearance; they have a vaguely arachnid body, covered with coarse black, wiry hairs, much like that of the tarantula. They have a pasty-white, bloated humanoid face covered with 6 spider-like eyes that can see quite well in any light condition. From the mouth of this head protrudes a long fleshy tongue, tipped in a nasty barb. The Kriig attaches this tongue to and from it sucks the blood of its prey. The front two legs are reverse to point upright, and are scythe-like in appearance. The Kriig uses these forelegs to fight in close quarters.
The Kriig traps it prey by spinning a magickally strong web "net", which it holds over its hiding spot with its forelegs. When prey passes beneath it drops the net, which can easily tangle and hold a thing twice the size of any man. From here, the Kriig falls upon its prey and attaches its vile tongue and begins to feed. It the victim is still capable of resisting, the Kriig attacks it with its forelegs. In such a case, the Kriig strikes at twice its BAC (96). These creatures are fearless, and will often attack individuals within a large group, fending off the others with its forelegs while it feeds from the trapped victim.


Magickal Treasures: Jewelry

These simple devices are all quite useful, especially for HP's. They are all simple pieces of jewellry, and have simple magickal effects. Try to extrapolate on these ideas and send in some of your own design! :) (Begging for submissions again...) What I've done is eliminate the visual details of these items, since you can make them look like whatever you desire. I'm just sticking to game terms with these...

Hawkeye (v105nk9r@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu)

Dodger's Ring: Probably "discovered" by a thief named Dodger, this ring is most useful during combat situations. Its simple magick adds five percent or STEEP to any roll which involves dodging. Normally, this means the Dodge Factor of the HP (or Dodge Ability, for those with the MMM article about Dodge rolls...) and his or her Physical Avoidance.

Ring of Realization: This ring will increase the wearer's Perception. In particular, it will increase the following Sub-Areas by 10 STEEP points: Anticipation, Detecting, Noticing, Searching and Understanding. A limitation, for those who want one is to say that it will only function when the HP is concentrating on the ability. Otherwise, it will remain dormant.

Hearrings: These wonderfully jewelled earrings actually increase the wearer's ability to hear things, thus increasing his or her STEEP in Perception, Physical (Hearing) by 10 points. It may also allow the wearer to concentrate on one sound source, to the point where it will deaden all other noise for that person so he can hear the particular sound. This works well when there is a lot of noise and the persona wants to listen in on a conversation on the other side of the tavern. This second ability would require a DR roll against Hearing, depending on the amount of extraneous noise.

I hope this at least gives you all ideas for future items. If so, take about 2 minutes and type one in and send it to me! :)


Heka-Forging

Before the Great Crash of September, there was a lot of talk on Mythus-L about the Heka-Forging K/S. People wanted more and better info about the K/S Area, and wanted to know how other people were role-playing it. Now, what I'm doing here is a group project. I have included a few of the many questions posed on Mythus-L regarding this subject. What I would like is for everyone reading this to answer some or all of these questions, and send in all the answers to me.
The end result of this will be an issue of Dangerous Ideas devoted to Heka Forging. In the best case scenario, we will be able to re-write the K/S Area, making it more complete, coherent and clear. This really needs to be done, in my view, as Heka-Forging can be one of the best K/S Areas in the game, as well as one of the most unique. So, here's what I have at the moment...

From: BluSponge@AOL.COM

  1. What equipment is nessecary to accomplish the tasks? Do I need a simple forge or what?
  2. Do the "sub-areas" reflect the Castings acquired at that STEEP/Grade, or are they completely seperate activities that may be accomplishd without the help of Castings?
  3. How do you roleplay it???? This is the main reason I have removed this K/S from the lists for my Prime game despite complaints from a few of my players. The description of Heka-forging doesn't contain enough meat to ham up or even describe in detail. If I had more insight into the activities of the Heka-forger, I might have less of a problem with this K/S.
From: Edward Bromley

  1. The discussion on heka reservoirs (MM15-17) appears to indicate that they can be created by an HP with dweomercraft alone and without the use of specific spells (see particularly the discussion on gylphs). The third HF sub-area also lists the creation of heka reservoirs. Does this mean that you can use either (or both) dweomercraft and HF to create reservoirs? How do you determine how a reservoir is disjoined/dispelled when it is created by skill and not a specific spell?
  2. The description of the Permanence Ritual casting states that it creates a Resistance to any dispelling under 250 heka points, but that "heka added by the attacking practitioner to overcome Resistance will count towards this level." Does this mean that the Grade I casting Disjunction Charm can be used to dispel a magic item that has been made permanent (if cast by a practitioner with a sufficiently high STEEP)? This leads to many questions regarding heka forging, such as how does a HP with a STEEP of 51 (MY167) create magical armor without the use of Permanence if it may be dispelled just like any other casting? Yes, I've asked this question before, but nobody had any ideas at the time so I'm asking again!
  3. What is the effect of different materia(ls) on HF castings? For example, if you cast an Attack Bonus II Formula on a steel sword is this any different from casting it on a mithral or adamantite sword? Perhaps steel would accept only an Attack Bonus I Formula and mithral would accept up to Attack Bonus III (or higher!) Formula.
  4. What is the effect of multiple items with various Defense Bonus castings on them? For instance, if an HP finds a helm (US AP Cat.) with Defense Bonus I Formula on it, and greaves (N AP Cat.) with a Defense Bonus II Formula on it does the character have 15 total points of bonus armor? or simply 10? Or does the character get a 5 point bonus to the US AP Categories and a 10 point bonus to the N AP Categories?
  5. An example of HF in each of the sub-areas (MY167) would be a great help for players and JMs alike!
From: John Teske (via gullerud@leland.Stanford.EDU )
  1. Do Heka-Forging subareas require 10 APs and 10 weeks of study to acquire, as per DJ p. 135, bottom of column 1?
  2. What particular subareas and spells would be required to make items falling under each subarea, particularily detection/information items, armor, and weapons? A wand with aural sight (Grade 3 Fortune Telling Cantrip), and amulet of aura of awareness (Grade 9 Divination Ritual) were mentioned as possible examples for information items.
  3. What is the difference in spells and cost necessary to create an item with a continuous effect, and one which requires an expenditure of heka to activate?
    (Examples:
    • Sword with continuous +5 BAC, and sword with +5 BAC after HP spends 50 heka.
    • Ring of 15 points armor vs. physical damage, and one which requires 150 heka to activate temporarily.)
  4. On what sort of items is the Permanence casting necessary for successful creation? Is it necessary for armor or weapons? Wands?
  5. What spells, costs, and skills are necessary to create an item which has a limited number of uses before becoming useless?
So, anyway, I have a feeling that what we ought to do is re-create the whole Heka-Forging K/S. Maybe we can leave the Sub-Areas the way they are, maybe not. I'd also really like to come up with some really logical, coherent (blame this on Anaxamenes and EPB3 @AOL.com!!), and sensible rules for the creation of magickal items. As an aside, a way to determine how much they're worth would be nice, too...
I'll be taking everything that people send me, and put it all together, then put it all out as a special D.I. issue, hopefully number 5 or 6!


A Quick Note from the Editor

Well, that's all I can do for now! Hopefully, things will continue as currently progressing. This issue made it over 700 lines! But, now that Tom's Mythus Prime articles are complete (for now), I need something else to fill in that gap. I'd like to do more with magickal items and enemies, so I'll need people to send in specific things...
As for next issue, look for it soon! It'll hopefully be out before the end of the month, as I do have some stuff to place there already. But, you'll have to tune in then to see what it is, since I don't remember right now!!


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