Stan Rydzewski...
There was some talk recently about demon generation systems. Here's
a first shot at a system that lets you build or roll a demon. The
demons envisioned are similar in tone to Stormbringer/AD&D demons,
the proposed system has some math to it, and there are tables
galore that will not line up unless you're using a monospaced
font--in short there should be something here for anyone to get
annoyed with. I hope the positive outweighs the negative.
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Demons are creatures from a different plane of existence. There
are many different races of demons that are known, as well as numerous
demonic individuals of greater power. The main things that are known
about them is that they are dangerous, arrogant, and can acquire power
in their own realm by their actions on Cidri.
All demons strive for mastery and to advance themselves with regard
to other demons. A particular demon's success in this regard
determines what category he falls into. There are three categories
of demon: minor, major, and unique. The minor demons are the typical
members of the various races of demonkind. Major demons are those
that have acquired powers and abilities that distinguish them somewhat
from the typical members of their races. Unique demons are those that
have acquired so much additional power that it is impossible to
determine what demonic race they came from originally. To achieve
such status, and rule over other demons, is the prime goal of
virtually all demons.
Demonic Names
Minor demons have only the name of their race ("The Dreen", for
instance). Major demons have unique names, although part of the
name is always that of their race ("Dreen-hypal", for instance).
Unique demons have no racial name, only their own ("Hypal", to
continue the prior example). A demon summoning ritual can only
target a particular demon if its name is known to the caster.
Demon Categories
Each category of demon is assigned a certain number of points which
are used to determine the abilities of a particular race/individual.
(For instance, the attributes of a minor demon race are "built" using
80 points. All demons of a particular category also have the same
effective IQ used to resist attempts to control or summon them, and
particular Powers. These factors are shown below:
Category Points IQ Discretionary points Common Abilities
Minor 80 20 none telepathy - minor
Major 120 30 summoner's IQ% teleport - major
Unique 160 40 2(summoner's IQ)% long distance teleport
(All demons possess the "Common" ability of their category and those
of all lesser categories. Teleport and L.D. Teleport are as Advanced
Wizard. Telepathy is a special communicative ability--when a Demon
speaks, all who can hear it do so as if it were speaking the person's
own native language.)
While some variation in the strength points assigned each category
could easily be introduced here, I'll leave all the values as fixed
for now.
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STATS
The points mentioned above are spent to purchase the stats and
abilities of the demon. First the standard TFT stats must be
determined (ST, DX, Armor, Movement Allowance, and size in hexes).
These are determined as follows, with ^2 meaning "squared":
ST: cost = ST
DX: cost = (DX-10)^2
IQ: cost = 0
MA: cost = (1/4 MA)^2 (so 0 costs 0, 4 costs 1, 6 = 2, etc.)
AP: cost = AP^2
Size: cost = 4 x (half of size, rounded down)
(thus, 1 hex costs 0, 3 costs 4, 4 costs 8, 7 costs 12, and 14
costs 28. Size value can not exceed fourteen.)
For double cost, an MA purchased can be a flying or swimming MA.
Ground MA will be half the flying/swimming MA in such a case.
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ATTACKS
It is important to note that the demon's ST is not used for
determining any "offensive" abilities of the creature. A
demon's ST is more just a measure of its size and toughness.
Because of demons' highly variable nature, all attacks that
a demon possesses are determined independently. The attacks,
like the stats, are purchased from the demon's pool of points.
The cost of an attack is the sum of two factors, one determined
by the lethality of the attack the other by it's form:
Lethality Form
1d6 5 HtH only: 10
2d6 20 Melee only: 15
3d6 45 HtH or Melee: 20
4d6 80 Thrown: 30
5d6 120 Polearm: 30
6d6 170 Missile: 40
While these are all physical attacks, their exact nature is left
indeterminate. A demon may have actual weapons, or fire quills
from its body, or breathe a blast of fire. So long as the attack
does 3d6 points of damage, and hits according to the rules for
thrown weapons, it costs 45+30=75 points. In no case can an attack
have "special abilities" to ignore armor, do ongoing damage, etc.,
unless the GM wants to assign a cost for such special benefits. For
example:
An attack may be limited to a certain number of uses per "day" in
order to reduce its cost:
1/day = 1/5th cost 2/day = 1/4th cost
3/day = 1/3th cost 4/day = 1/2th cost
An attack of appropriate form, such as a firey breath, can be
purchased at increased cost to affect two or more targets
simultaneously. The cost is multiplied by 3/4(number of targets).
BTW, the cost for the various lethalities does have a formula behind
it, which I'll pass along if anyone really wants to see it. (It's
kind of involved, but it does allow for calculation a dice+points
attack, or an attack larger than 6d6. Ouch.)
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UNUSUAL CHARACTERISTICS
Demons can also have unusual characteristics. These include
Resistances, Immunities, Special Abilities inherent to their
form, and Powers (spell-like abilities) which can be employed
a certain number of times per day. These factors are shown
below:
Resistances/Immunities Cost Notes
Fire 4 / 8 -
Lightning 4 / 8 -
Fire and Lightning 6 / 12 -
Edged Weapons 16 / -- -
Blunt Weapons 12 / -- -
Illusions -- / 12 -
Summoned Beings -- / 16 (1)
(1) this is immunity to summoned myrmidons, bears, etc. - not to
other demons
Resistance to a particular effect means the demon takes half
damage. Immunity means no damage.
--
Special Characteristics cost notes
1. Blur 20 demon is constantly Blurred
2. Light 8 demon is the light source
3. Dark Vision 10 -
4. Darkness 24 effect moves with demon
5. Far Vision 12 -
6. Eyes-Behind 12 -
7. Radial Symmetry 20 (1)
8. Mage Sight 30 -
9. Slime Trail 4+2(MA) (2)
10. Mucous Trail 8+3(MA) (3)
11. Zone of Clumsiness 10+ (4)
12. Cloud of Confusion 10+ (4)
13. Reverse Missiles 30 -
14. Silent 20 -
15. Invisible 40 -
(1) demon has no side/rear facing at all. Only for 1, 3, or 7
hex demons.
(2) trail of Slippery Floor left behind when demon moves, lasts
12 rounds.
(3) trail of Sticky Floor left behind, plus adhesion allows the
demon to climb vertical surfaces at half its ground MA.
(4) something (whether it is a cloud of flies, a noxious vapor,
or numerous feebly waving tentacles) interferes with the
actions or thought processes of those near the demon. Cost
is 10 to affect others in the demon's own hex, plus 10 per
additional hex-radius of the effect. All within this zone,
other than the demon and others of its type, have 1d6
subtracted from DX or IQ, as appropriate.
--
Projected Effects - - - - - cost - - - - - -
* Minor Demons * 1/day 2/day 4/day At Will Notes
1. Detect Magic 2 4 6 10 -
2. Drop Weapon 4 8 12 20 -
3. Image 3 6 9 - (1, 2)
4. Avert 5 10 15 25 -
5. Detect Life 2 4 6 10 -
6. Fire 2 4 6 10 (2)
7. Dazzle 6 12 18 - -
8. Detect Enemies 2 4 6 10 -
9. Shadow 2 4 6 10 (2)
10. Shock Shield 2 4 6 10 lasts d6 turns
11. Trailtwister 2 4 6 10 -
12. Trip 5 10 15 25 -
* Major Demons * 1/day 2/day 4/day At Will Notes
1. Destroy Creation 5 10 15 25 -
2. Illusion* 6 12 18 - (1, 2)
3. Reveal/Conceal 6 12 18 - -
4. Reverse Missiles 6 12 18 - lasts d6 turns
6. Sleep 7 14 21 35 lasts 2d6 turns
7. Freeze 7 14 21 35 lasts d6 turns
8. Invisibility 7 14 21 - lasts d6 turns
9. Curse 5 10 15 25 (3)
* Unique Demons * 1/day 2/day 4/day At Will Notes
1. Dispel Illusion 5 10 15 25 -
2. Glamor 6 12 18 30 (4)
3. Remove Thrown Spell 5 10 15 25 -
4. Spell Shield 7 14 21 35 lasts 1d6 turns
5. Unnoticeability 6 12 18 30 lasts 3d6 turns
6. Insubstantiality 8 16 24 40 lasts 2d6 turns
7. Spellsniffer 8 16 24 40 -
8. Megahex Sleep 8 16 24 40 lasts 2d6 turns
9. Megahex Freeze 8 16 24 40 lasts 1d6 turns
10. Revival 20 - - - -
(1) lasts 12 rounds, half cost if can only be used to create
duplicates of the demon
(2) power can be bought in 3, 4, or 7 hex forms, multiply cost by
1.5, 2, and 3, respectively.
(3) lasts 1-6 rounds, 1-3 point penalty
(4) one-third cost if only usable on itself
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I'll hold off on the random generation process and the actual
summoning rules for now. If people are interested, I'll post
the rest of the stuff. Sorry about the excessive length; I
have no website on which to put things like this.
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