[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: (TFT) Solo 1, The Book of Father Thias



              THE BOOK OF FATHER THIAS

          AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL CRUSADERS




    All my crusaders.
    Come home.
    The war is over.
    Christ has won.

In the name of our Lord Christ Jesus, the most holy king of kings, Son of our father in heaven, He who lives for ever and ever, a blessing on you and peace on your house. He is the way and the light. He has called us to serve with Him, he calls us to learn through Him, he will call us to join Him. There is a way of growth that has been lost to us. He would that you should learn it again. Open your ears to hear. Grow new ears to hear more deeply. Grow an ear in your heart to hear and keep what He says to us. The crusaders are needed back home now. When the warriors in Christ were called, they came from settled rural communities. They did not want to go across the world. They did not want to die in that dry land. Yet they harkened to the call. They opened their ears, and answered with their hearts. They left their homes, their families, and their own lands. They put an end to idolatry and that which the Lord hates. The crucified one, the one who died to take the sins of the world upon Himself calls us back to the home. To our lands. To settle them and keep them. To tend them. To live in peace as one body in Christ. Thus says the Lord ?He who accepts shall dine with me, and I shall sup with him.?
    Amen.  Even for ever.  Amen.

Wisdom
This shall be the fourth attribute. A beginning character shall have 40 points starting. With this attributes the following abilities may be purchased. These abilities are methods of gaining experience. First are listed the traditional eight methods used by crusaders going to war. The ones after that are those new methods learned when the land was starting to be settled and a raising up was needed, not subduing. A person may not have more methods than they have wisdom. One must study diligently to gain new wisdom.

  THE FIVE OFFICIAL METHODS
FOR COMBAT          1 exp per point of damage done
                   DX in exp for killing blow
FOR CASTING SPELLS  1 exp per fatigue spent
                   20 exp per week spent creating
FOR DIE ROLLS       10 exp per D above 3 made in a roll
FOR BEING IN PLAY   5 exp per hour of game play
GM?S DISCRETION     Gain or lose exp by behaviour


    THE THREE NON EXPERIENCE METHODS OF INCREASING STATS
FOR MAGIC ITEMS     This is a non permanent gain tied to the item
FOR WISHES          A wish can give 1 attribute point, but can?t
                      raise any attribute above 16
FOR CAMPAIGN        Critical success on risk roll while working
                      gives 1 attribute point

  _________________ _________________ _________________
  _________________ _________________ _________________


    WISDOM AS AN ATTRIBUTE
A starting Human gets ST 8, DX 8, IQ 8, WD 8, and 8 extra points to distribute. This totals forty points. For every ten experience points gained a character gets their Wisdom in experience. Examples are shown on the table below.

    WISDOM   experience awarded         Experience received
       8           10                          8
      10           10                         10
      12           10                         12

The starting Human, Elf, Orc, Goblin, Hobgoblin, Holbytela, Dwarf, Prootwaddles, Merman, and most half breeds have a starting Wisdom of 8. The very powerful humanoid races; Giants, Centaurs, Gargoyles, and Reptile Men, start with a Wisdom(WD) of 4. They may not start with any more than WD 4. After play starts they may increase their Wisdom like any other attribute. I am sure that Wisdom is not the exclusive domain of the followers of Christ. I will admit a bit of favoritism as I do feel that Wisdom was Christ?s very mother and this gives a unique relationship. This may be ethnocentric as it can not be denied that Wisdom is available to all that seek it. Available regardless of religion or creed, guild or organization. Monsters on the other hand are sullied in the eyes of Wisdom. They are idolatrous and wicked. They seem to be restricted to the lowest forms of Wisdom. As such Wisdom will not receive them and they may not increase their Wisdom attribute. As of yet no Intelligent monster has been found that has a Wisdom greater than 3. Even some beasts have been found with more Wisdom than that. For this reason I implore all who have the ability to convert monsters to convert them into followers and not slay them. So that they may return to righteous grace. With the addition of the fourth attribute a new experience table is needed. It is listed below. This table is adjusted to a new base total of a 40 point character. For each series of 5 attribute totals over 59, double the EP needed. The 60th-64th points cost 8,000 each, and so on.

      WISDOM 10 TABLE
    Up to 44 attribute total: 100 EP each.
    45-49 attribute total: 200 EP each.
    50-54 attribute total: 800 EP each.
    55-59 attribute total: 2,400 EP each.
    60-64 attribute total: 4,000 EP each.



    THE NEW METHODS
All of the new methods are from the ?GM?S DISCRETION? category. They can not be awarded without GM approval. As a character gains wisdom they will get more methods of gaining experience. These methods are granted to the characters as ways of keeping track of their own opportunities to gain experience. Ideally one should grow into becoming a GM in their own right.



  WISDOM = 0 METHODS
MAGIC ITEMS     Some magic items increase one or more attributes
                  of their users.  However, the increase is NOT
                  permanent, but only lasts as long as the magic
                  item is worn - or, in the case of a magic
                  potion, only for a day or less.  When a magic
                  item gives you?re a temporary IQ increas, you
                  can NOT use the increased IQ to learn new
                  spells or talents.

WISHES          A magic wish will give you an instant increase of
                  1 in any attribute, although it will not
                  increase any attribute above 16.


  WISDOM = 1: METHODS
COMBAT          One experience point for every hit of damage you
                  put on a foe, or for every one-hit ?nuisance?
                  creature, like a rat or wasp, you kill.  For
                  killing larger nuisance creatures, like
                  slimes, give five points to the person who
                  puts in the death blow, and no points to
                  anyone else.  Killing a slime isn?t much
                  harder than knocking down a door, and
                  shouldn?t be worth much.  NOTE: hits done by a
                  wizard?s spells - including fire and illusions
                  - count as experience for the wizard.  ALSO:
                  the person dealing the killing blow to any
                  enemy (except a ST 1 to 3 nuisance monster,
                  like a rat) gets experience points equal to
                  that foe?s basic DX.  This serves two
                  purposes: it encourages fighters to press the
                  attack, and it makes killing a high-DX, low-ST
                  foe (often a deadly opponent) worth something.

CASTING SPELLS A character gets one EP for each point of strength
                 he expends in casting (or trying to cast) a
                 spell in a pressure situation.  Definition of
                 ?pressure? is left to the GM - but should
                 normally mean only while the character is on an
                 adventure or under attack.  Uncer such
                 circumstances, even missed spells count for
                 experience.  But a character does not get
                 experience for ordinary spells cast in day-to-
                 day life.  The experience a character gains in
                 his ordinary life is compensated for by his
                 weekly ?risk roll? - see JOBS.

DIE ROLLS      Making a saving roll against danger (thus avoiding
                 it) or putting one of your talents to good use
                 (thus learning more) are worth experience.  Any
                 character who successfully makes any roll on
                 four or more dice will get experience points:
                 10 for a 4D roll, 20 for a 5D roll, 30 for a 6D
                 roll, and so on.  Only a roll which produces
                 results will count - for instance, if you look
                 for a secret door and none is there, you don?t
                 get experience, no matter how good the roll.
                 NOTE: Sometimes the GM will make a roll for a
                 character, so the result will be secret.  These
                 rolls do count for experience, if they are
                 successfully made.  The GM tells the player
                 later.


  WISDOM = 2: METHODS

GM?S DISCRETION     Gain or lose exp by behavior.  Roll 2D to
                 Determine stats in following areas:
                 Bravery, Honesty, Appearance, Friendliness,
                 Mood.  Remind the GM when you have adhered
                 To your personality extremes.  The GM will also
                 Penalize experience points for deviation from
The same. The experience points awarded are usually not more than 10 at a time.


  WISDOM = 3: METHODS

BEING IN PLAY   Each hour of real time spent in play is worth 5
                  experience points to each character actively
                  involved.  The GM should not award points to
                  characters who don?t participate or who waste
                  time deliberately.  However, characters who
                  actively take part in the risks and triumphs
                  of four (real) hours of play will amply
                  deserve the extra 20 points.


  WISDOM = 4: METHODS

CAMPAIGN        In a campaign game, each character rolls once a
                  week for the risks associated with his/her
                  employment.  (See JOBS.)  A very bad roll can
                  endanger the character?s life.  However, a
                  very good one can result in the character?s
                  going up one attribute point.  This reflects
                  the fact that a character has a life of his
                  own, even while he is not being actively
                  played.  The listing of jobs shows which types
                  of work have the highest risks and the best
                  chances for increasing your attributes.


  WISDOM = 5: METHODS

WINE            For the purchase and consumption of wine.  In
                  this explanation wine means any alcoholic
                  beverage.  Character gets experience for the
                  money spent on wine.  Wine is purchased and
                  consumed.  Only the wine consumed by the
                  character counts.  The experience is not
                  awarded until the wine is consumed.  The
                  experience is awarded at a rate of 1 point per
                  10 silver pieces spent on the wine.  In the
                  case of large purchases the more expensive
                  wine is better.  It takes less time to consume
                  and gets the player less inebriated than large
                  quantities of cheep wine.  The purchase of the
                  wine itself usually requires that it be
                  imported, particularly in the case of
                  expensive wines.  They have to be paid for in
                  advance and shipped or ported to the location.
                  The GM will determine the weeks of delay.  The
                  GM will also roll for random encounters when
                  the delivery enters the active campaign area.
                  Many shipments have been totally lost to
                  brigands, dragons, and other horrors.  In
                  situations with badly raided supply lines
                  characters have found them selves in the
                  position of hiring guards to go out to the
                  boarders, or sail out, and escort the cargo.
                  These guards must also be paid for the time
                  they spend waiting for the cargo to arrive.
                  Food for said guards is an additional cost.
                  No experience is gained on such expenditures.

MARRIAGE        Money spent on or given to a wedding.  This
                  includes gifts, magic items, live stock, and
                  such.  Experience is awarded at 1 point per 10
                  silver pieces spent.  To gain this experience
                  one must either stand in, or attend the
                  wedding.  The experience is awarded after the
                  wedding night when the character wakes in the
                  morning.  All experience is lost if the gift
                  is refused or returned.  No matter how much
                  time has passed.  It is possible for a
                  character to lose an entire character point
                  this way (see LOSING ABILITIES WHEN ATTRIBUTES
                  ARE REDUCED).  If the wedding ends in divorce
                  experience is also lost but only %50, or half.
                  The character loses the experience upon
                  finding out about the event, be it divorce,
                  returned, or refused gifts.  In the event that
                  a character wishes to give a wedding gift and
                  either didn?t know about the even ahead of
                  time or found out after the fact of the
                  wedding the character only gets %50
                  experience.  However they are immune to the
                  loss of experience due to divorce.  They still
                  get no experience if the gift is refused or
                  returned.

SONG            This Wisdom method typically done in a drinking
                  establishment, tavern, inn, or such.  A bard
                  or entertainer is paid to tell stories and/or
                  sing songs.  The character doesn?t have to be
                  in an establishment or pay for the bard
                  themselves.  In fact the person with this
                  Wisdom method may tell their own stories
                  sitting around a camp fire to a small group,
                  but it is harder to get many experience points
                  that way as will be seen.  Experience points
                  are gained at the rate of 1 point per 10
                  pieces of silver spent cleaning up and paying
                  for damages.  For instance if a bar room brawl
                  breaks out over the retelling of deeds during
                  the last war and all the furniture in the bar
                  is destroyed, many people are jailed and bails
                  have to be paid, and costs for medical
                  treatment of the injured need to be covered,
                  then the character who pays for this stands to
                  get a lot of experience.  It is not unheard of
                  for a wealthy character to get multiple
                  character points paying to rebuild a tavern
                  that was burned to the ground.  Note that
                  these bar fights are of a subduing nature and
                  non lethal.  If anyone is killed no one gets
                  any experience.

TREASURE        This is experience for the amassment and storage
                  of wealth itself.  The character accumulates
                  wealth and valuables.  They get 1 experience
                  point for every 10 silver pieces worth.  If
                  the wealth is stolen they lose the
                  experience.  This happens upon finding out
                  about the theft.  They may lose entire
                  attribute points this way (see LOSING
                  ABILITIES WHEN ATTRIBUTES ARE REDUCED.)

FAME            Experience points for the IQ of defeated foes.
                  Defeated is defined as killed, subdued,
                  converted to a follower, or captured and
                  turned into authorities.  In order to get this
                  experience one must have witness to testify to
                  the deed, if the foe was killed in the
                  wilderness or labyrinth, or bring in the body.
                  If the person is brought in live or converted
                  to a follower then witnesses should not be a
                  problem.  Because of the need for witnesses
                  many people with the Wisdom method of Fame
                  retain their own bard.

RELIGION        Experience points awarded for tithes to the
                  church.  The character with this Wisdom method
                  gets 1 point of experience for every 10 pieces
                  of silver donated.  The ranking priest may
                  refuse the experience.  They may take the
                  money and then not give the experience.  This
                  may happen for a variety of reasons.  The
                  experience points may be withheld until the
                  completion of some quest, or penance is
                  performed, or the withholding may be penance
                  in it self.  In the event that the ranking
                  priest is a player character they may withhold
                  the experience points from any other player
                  for any reason.  If the temple or church is
                  sacked, burned down, or desecrated then all
                  humanoids in the area who attend will lose two
                  character points, priests will lose three, and
                  theologians will lose five.  In medieval
                  settings it is unlikely that more than one
                  church will exist in the area.  In large
                  cosmopolitan cities that have more than one
                  church of the same religion these losses are
                  reduced to 0 points for lay members, 1 point
                  for priests, and 3 points for theologians.
                  Either way these losses stand until the
                  temple/church is rebuilt.

HOBBY           This is a Wisdom method that the character may
                  define for themselves.  They get 1 experience
                  point for every 10 pieces of silver spent in
                  their area of interest.  They may lose
                  experience if their work or research is lost,
                  destroyed, or fails (doesn?t work).  Areas of
                  interest include the following, but are not
                  restricted to this list.  Check with the GM if
                  you wish to invent your own hobby.
               Hobbies:
                  Spell research
                  Potion research
                  Magic item research
                  Monster research
                  Animal breeding
                  Developing new gadgets/devices
                  Rare book collecting




  WISDOM = 6: METHODS

MAPPING     Get one experience point for every mile of new
              wilderness explored and mapped.  One experience
              point for every megahex of labyrinth explored and
              mapped.  The experience is gained when the map is
              sold back in town.

JOURNAL KEEPING   When a player writes out the events of an
              adventure in the perspective of their character
              the GM will award one experience per page.  The
              experience is gained at the end of the session on
              the merits of a page count alone and does not have
              to be read by the GM.  The player may edit and
              flesh out the journal later on their own time.
              The more biased to the characters own perspective
              the better.  At the next session it may be read to
              one or more other players before the game starts.
              This is something to do while the GM is working
              other characters, doing downtime, or other book
              keeping.  If the players who hear the reading find
              it biased enough, each one may award from 1 to 4
              experience points.  Of course the full 4 EP should
              be reserved for readings that are particularly
              entertaining, done in character, with an accent,
              and memorized (that is recited from memory while
              another player reads along.)

ACCURATE ENCUMBRANCE   The player should submit their character
              sheet to the GM at the beginning of the session.
              If the GM finds no errors in the encumbrance total
              the character gets their Strength total in
              experience points.  The player then checks every
              other characters record sheet.  For every other
              sheet totaled accurately the character gets and
              additional 10 experience points.  The GM should
              also see the character making encumbrance
              adjustments during the course of the game as
              needed.  If this is not done, or the GM discovers
              an error on another players character sheet during
              a random spot check during the session then
              experience points may be taken back.

SEATING ORDER BY DX   Each character with this Wisdom method gets
              their DX in experience points at the start of each
              session in which the entire group is seated around
              the table or room in order of DX.  This starts at
              the right hand of the GM with the highest DX and
              goes around until the lowest DX is seated at the
              GM?s left.  Ties go to the Highest IQ.  Those ties
              are rolled off.

FAIRNESS   This is defined as making sure no one player gets
              skipped in any turn including monsters and NPC?s.
              Pointing out a monster or player who just ?missed?
              a turn to the GM earns the IQ of the skipped
              character in experience for the character with
              this wisdom method.  This is not a competitive
              method.  Multiple players may get the experience
              for pointing out a skipped character, or verifying
              it.


  WISDOM = 7: METHODS

LEARN BY DOING      Roll ST exactly and get own ST in EP. Roll DX
                      exactly and get own DX in EP.  Roll IQ
                      exactly and get own IQ in EP.



  WISDOM = 8: METHODS
REPUTATION    Get one EP every time another player recommends any
                of the following things about you to the GM, or
                testifies to an NPC of one of these.
                Love justice
                Integrity of the heart
                Not disbelieving the GM
                Reproving the foolish
                Holy Spirit of Discipline
                Kindly spirit
                Grace
                Mercy
                Noble struggle
                Understanding
                Unsullied deeds of valor
                Prudence
                Moderation
                Fortitude
                Imperishable spirit
                Safeguard life
                Safeguard pure wedlock



     THE ADVANTAGES OF HIGHER WISDOM 9+
9    Group experience.  If this character leads a group
       All experience is added up and divided among the
       Survivors at the end of the session.  The group must have
       a name to be considered a group.  For instance, one group
       of players named their band of Adventurers ?The Wrecking
       Crew.?  By using group experience, their scholar who
       usually just hung around in the back and never got
       experience for any of the fighting, actually started to
       progress.


10  Optional discretionary experience.  From a wisdom of 10 or
       higher the character may use any of the
       abilities listed, or not, at
       their option.  For instance.  A character with Wisdom 10
       may award group experience to all, some, or none of the
       group members as they see fit.


11   May keep any Labyrinth cleared.  GM will turn over
       maps and materials to player.  They may operate
       out of facilities.  Clearing a Labyrinth and setting up
       operations there is worth one full character point.


12   Heir gets half experience.  If the player?s character dies,
       they have to make a new character, and they have an heir
       written on their character sheet the new character starts
       will half the experience total of the previous character.
       Take the character?s attribute total, determine how much
       experience would be needed to get there with the old
       characters Wisdom, and divide in two.  For instance a 42
       point human of WD 8 would have started with 40 points.
       For the human to get those two extra points they would
       have earned 250 EP.  The new character gets 125 EP to add
       to their character.  This Wisdom method has been very
       useful in campaigns with a lot of high powered
       characters.  Starting over with a beginner is almost
       impossible.  The new characters don?t stand a chance.
       Also, half of a high attribute point characters
       experience can bring the new character very close to the
       old attribute total.  As another example take Mr White, a
       wizard who dies with an heir.  In life Mr White had an
       attribute total of 52, and a WD of 8.  This comes out to
       3,750 experience.  The new character, or heir, will get
       1,875 EP.  The EP spent to buy one point at a time will
       take the new character to an attribute total of 50.  Not
       too far from the original character?s stats.  This method
       has gone a long way to soften the pain of losing a
       character.  Some players even like it, as it gives them a
      chance to start over and make a better design.


13 Each Heir gets half experience. The character may list more than one heir on their character sheet. If any of the
       heirs die, the next one is activated.  That heir gets
       half experience from the character they replaced.


14 Apotheosis, become assistant GM playing some monsters. Player gets with the GM and designs some monsters with him. The GM takes half to use during the regular sessions and the player takes the remaining ones. The player may then use the monsters to fight other player?s characters. This is done on their own time. It does not require the presence of the GM and any experience, treasure, or magic gained is kept by the victor.


15   Become assistant GM playing some NPCs.  Similar to the
       Wisdom method listed above, but particulars need to be
       worked out with the GM so things fit into the overall
       campaign and story.


16   Become assistant GM running own labyrinth.


17   Become assistant GM running own City or group of Labyrinths.


18   Become assistant GM running own lands or group of cities.


19   Become GM running own campaign.  Previous GM will allow for
       conections between the campaigns, physical and/or gates,
       and characters to play in either campaign.

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

=====
Post to the entire list by writing to tft@brainiac.com.
Unsubscribe by mailing to majordomo@brainiac.com with the message body
"unsubscribe tft"