Quickfoot Qualities/Quandry.

[geeman]

According to the Blood Enemies entry for the Quickfoot p119-120, that title
belongs to a character who is the eldest son (occasionally daughter) of the
Rhurfoot halfling clan whose blood abilities allow him/her to act as a sort
of special messenger. Each successor is invested with the Quickfoot
bloodline/blood abilities so that they continue on to the next
generation. The current Quickfoot is the 40th in a direct line. The
powers of the Quickfoot were lessened, however, when the 19th Quickfoot
invested half of his power into each of his twin sons, one of whom was
killed by the Hydra, leaving only the remaining "half" powered son to carry
on the "proud and noble lineage" of the Quickfoot.

A few questions:

1. Bloodline investiture is an all or nothing deal in the Rulebook, but
apparently QF19 had some method of changing the standard investiture system
to create a QF20a and QF20b. Anyone care to speculate on how the 19th
Quickfoot was able to invest half of the power of the bloodline to each of
his sons?

2. What do you guys think the bloodline strength, score, derivation and
blood abilities are for the present Quickfoot?

3. What was the QF bloodline strength, etc. before it was halved?

Gary

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[kgauck]

IMO, the rule book only covers standard, ordinary bloodline transfers.
There are other more exotic options out there.

Kenneth Gauck
kgauck@mchsi.com

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[geeman]

At 01:18 PM 8/2/2002 -0500, Kenneth Gauck wrote:

>IMO, the rule book only covers standard, ordinary bloodline transfers.
>There are other more exotic options out there.

I agree. I think there should be other methods of transferring
bloodlines. Rather, I think there already are different methods, depending
on how one views the origins of certain NPCs in the various published
materials. These methods just aren`t described anywhere....

In the case of the Quickfoot, however, the Blood Enemies book says QF19
divided his bloodline between his two twin sons. That`s rather an odd
thing to do if "half" in that text is meant to refer to the bloodline
strength score of the bloodline that makes the Quickfoot THE Quickfoot
because if QF19`s spouse was a commoner his two sons would have had half
his bloodline strength score already. (Barring acts of bloodtheft and
spending RP to increase his bloodline after they were born, that is.) If
QF19`s mate had a bloodline herself, then their sons would have had
bloodlines greater than half QF19`s own, so giving them half his bloodline
seems pretty pointless and may very well represent a sort of demotion. The
best solution for this is that this special "half/half" investiture action
knocked up the bloodline strength score of the twins a point or two per the
investiture/bloodtheft description in the Rulebook.

This special bloodline transfer need not have been transferring bloodline
strength points at all. The major consideration here would appear to be
the transfer of the blood abilities that make the Quickfoot quick of foot,
not just the bloodline strength score that goes along with it. In which
case, it`s hard to see exactly what "halfing" his bloodline did
exactly. Did he divide the blood abilities up between the two of them, or
did the transfer somehow demote (great to major, major to minor) the
strength of those blood abilities?

The blood ability issue is entwined with the bloodline strength score
issue, however, in that the twins may not have had a high enough score
after the investiture to still have all the blood abilities that their
father did.

Lastly, is the ceremony required to perform this sort of special
investiture the same as the typical one? Should a research action be
performed or some other requirement met in order to be able to perform a
particular type of investiture? In this case, the transfer was to a pair
of twins. Should that factor into the way the investiture
happened? Because the target of the investiture were twins the bloodline
was able to be shared between them?

Gary

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[kgauck]

There are other possibilities. Perhaps Quickfoot had bloodpowers that could
not be inherited. What if Quickfoot had two bloodpowers that could only be
transfered by investiture, and one was lost when the Hydra killed the twin.

Kenneth Gauck
kgauck@mchsi.com

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[Peter Lubke]

On Sat, 2002-08-03 at 05:56, Gary wrote:

At 01:18 PM 8/2/2002 -0500, Kenneth Gauck wrote:

>IMO, the rule book only covers standard, ordinary bloodline transfers.
>There are other more exotic options out there.

I agree. I think there should be other methods of transferring
bloodlines. Rather, I think there already are different methods, depending
on how one views the origins of certain NPCs in the various published
materials. These methods just aren`t described anywhere....

I agree as well. The rulebook describes investiture in quite basic
terms. I think there could be many variations on the theme allowing for
a great diversity in culture and custom, heritage and divine will.


In the case of the Quickfoot, however, the Blood Enemies book says QF19
divided his bloodline between his two twin sons. That`s rather an odd
thing to do if "half" in that text is meant to refer to the bloodline
strength score of the bloodline that makes the Quickfoot THE Quickfoot
because if QF19`s spouse was a commoner his two sons would have had half
his bloodline strength score already.

I really don`t like the rule that creates blooded children from blooded
parents. I no longer use it at all. Investiture by gaining of
inheritance (bloodright/birthright) is sufficient.. Not all cultures
pass property/titles etc to just one heir. In some cases it was common
for sons to share the inheritance after their father - and joint
rulership was also quite common - (meant to be two tribunes of
Republican Rome e.g. - or was that three?)

Although only indirectly germane to the Quickfoot question, there`s the
issue of how tightly bloodline and domain are coupled.

(Barring acts of bloodtheft and
spending RP to increase his bloodline after they were born, that is.) If
QF19`s mate had a bloodline herself, then their sons would have had
bloodlines greater than half QF19`s own, so giving them half his bloodline
seems pretty pointless and may very well represent a sort of demotion. The
best solution for this is that this special "half/half" investiture action
knocked up the bloodline strength score of the twins a point or two per the
investiture/bloodtheft description in the Rulebook.

This special bloodline transfer need not have been transferring bloodline
strength points at all. The major consideration here would appear to be
the transfer of the blood abilities that make the Quickfoot quick of foot,
not just the bloodline strength score that goes along with it. In which
case, it`s hard to see exactly what "halfing" his bloodline did
exactly. Did he divide the blood abilities up between the two of them, or
did the transfer somehow demote (great to major, major to minor) the
strength of those blood abilities?

One scenario is that the bloodline score is halved. My theory is that a
bloodline is a unique gift, with blood abilities that are common to all
those that carry the bloodline - the bloodline itself is unique but may
be distributed among many recipients. The blood powers of the bloodline
are fixed - but the number of these powers that manifest in an
individual depend on their bloodline score.

So, in this case both sons would have the same bloodline strength as
their father but half the score each. Traditional Anuirean custom would
not fragment the bloodline - but these are Anuirean Halflings, and it
does seem a break with tradition as well.


The blood ability issue is entwined with the bloodline strength score
issue, however, in that the twins may not have had a high enough score
after the investiture to still have all the blood abilities that their
father did.

exactly.

Lastly, is the ceremony required to perform this sort of special
investiture the same as the typical one? Should a research action be
performed or some other requirement met in order to be able to perform a
particular type of investiture? In this case, the transfer was to a pair
of twins. Should that factor into the way the investiture
happened? Because the target of the investiture were twins the bloodline
was able to be shared between them?

Investiture as a ceremony may be quite varied in both its formality and
its restrictions by the customs of the culture to which the individuals
concerned belong. Investing/acknowledging an heir to a kingdom is
usually quite a big public display, while acknowledging an heir to a
family name or as the next head of the family unit may be a far more
private affair. I think it`s important not to get caught up in the
mechanics of `investiture` but rather to play it by concept.

So, my answer is "all investiture ceremonies are special". Investing the
next Duke of Boeruine would be quite different to investing the next
head of a Khinasi `Name`. Even the involvement of priests is not
mandatory in all cases - but that doesn`t mean optional.

I think this case is simply that of a fathers wishes, and the family
respecting and accepting those wishes. I would assume that property and
household `leadership` was also split evenly. The bloodline itself may
also be pseudo-sentient and have had a say - if one of the twins was
especially evil for example, it (the bloodline) may have `refused` to
split (similar to land`s choice).

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[Cobos]

Peter Lubke wrote:
>
> On Sat, 2002-08-03 at 05:56, Gary wrote:
>
> At 01:18 PM 8/2/2002 -0500, Kenneth Gauck wrote:
>
> In the case of the Quickfoot, however, the Blood Enemies book says QF19
> divided his bloodline between his two twin sons. That`s rather an odd
> thing to do if "half" in that text is meant to refer to the bloodline
> strength score of the bloodline that makes the Quickfoot THE Quickfoot
> because if QF19`s spouse was a commoner his two sons would have had half
> his bloodline strength score already.
>
> I really don`t like the rule that creates blooded children from blooded
> parents. I no longer use it at all. Investiture by gaining of
> inheritance (bloodright/birthright) is sufficient.. Not all cultures
> pass property/titles etc to just one heir. In some cases it was common
> for sons to share the inheritance after their father - and joint
> rulership was also quite common - (meant to be two tribunes of
> Republican Rome e.g. - or was that three?)
>
I think it makes great sense that the children all inherit the bloodline
and strength of their parents (at least with a mild randomizer for exact
strength). Especially when you are talking about petty nobles or
provincial
nobles (the ones actually running the province for the regent), they
usually
don`t have enough land to want to split it on all the children. Again if
you consider a society with relatively easy access to healing (they are
nobles and not destitude after all) the noble families should actually
be
quite large, and thus even a decent size county will in 1-2 generations
have been degraded to a big farm :)

Having said that, the investiture ceremony should be free in it`s exact
effect and form.

Sindre

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[geeman]

The other part of the Quickfoot issue is what blood abilities does this
bloodline have? I`m asking because it seems to me like this particular NPC
is one of the more obvious ones to describe since he can appear in just
about anywhere on Cerilia, and is the kind of character who is a likely
candidate as a recurring NPC, so I`d like to do a write up.

Anyway, all we know about the Quickfoot is that he apparently has some sort
of heightened speed. In Blood Enemies, "The Quickfoot can also run as
swiftly as a riding horse for three full days without tiring." OK, that`s
all well and good... but what then? He has to rest a day, or maybe he can
only move his standard movement rate for a day? Is he even fatigued?

This is the bloodline that increased the Hydra`s movement rate from "6, sw
12" (assuming the standard movement rate for 2e crocodiles) to just plain
16 (no swim rate or--more likely--that`s supposed to be the swim rate) when
it absorbed the "half" strength version of the bloodline after devouring
Quickfoot 20 (A or B) several centuries ago. It would seem probable also
that the bloodline granted at least the equivalent of the Run feat. Some
sort of improved initiative might be apt as well....

Lastly, what is the Quickfoot bloodline? Since the Lesser Awnsheghlien
section of Blood Enemies strangely ignored including the standard character
info (race, classes/levels, bloodline derivation & strength) for those
creatures that is included for most other NPCs, we don`t even know what
bloodline derivation the Quickfoot comes from. Any particular bloodline
seem apt to describe running fast?

Gary

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[Temujin]

Brenna would sound appropriate for such a blood ability to me.

[geeman]

At 07:08 PM 8/5/2002 +0200, Temujin wrote:

>Brenna would sound appropriate for such a blood ability to me.

That`s what I`m leaning towards.

As for bloodline strength and bloodline strength score, I`m thinking major
and somewhere in the mid-30`s, but I`ll have to take into consideration
what blood abilities I think the QF should have before locking that part in.

Gary

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[kgauck]

There is already a Travel bloodpower. In the BoR and BE, we see certain
bloodpowers are improved on or just tweaked. If the Brenna derivation of
Travel doesn`t suit your needs, you could make a special Travel that has
other characteristics. The Travel listed is only available as a great
power. If you wanted a major power, you could use the "run as swiftly as a
riding horse for three full days without tiring" description as a basis for
this rare major power. As to how often, you might go with the Travel write
up itself, that the Quickfoot can make his run once per week per four
character levels. It has the benefit of consistancy with most of the rest
of the Travel description.

Kenneth Gauck
kgauck@mchsi.com

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