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Thread: Picking Blood Abilities.
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09-04-2002, 04:40 PM #1
How do you guys determine blood abilities? That is, do you roll them
randomly or pick them?
I`m curious because the point was recently made in my group that in 3e one
can do character generation without any random factors at all using the
point buy system, but unless one can pick and choose blood abilities the BR
bloodline system is still random. I usually avoid random aspects of
character generation, so I`m considering allowing players to just choose
they abilities.
Anyone have opinions on this?
Gary
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09-04-2002, 05:07 PM #2
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Gary wrote:
>
> How do you guys determine blood abilities? That is, do you roll them
> randomly or pick them?
>
> I`m curious because the point was recently made in my group that in 3e one
> can do character generation without any random factors at all using the
> point buy system, but unless one can pick and choose blood abilities the BR
> bloodline system is still random. I usually avoid random aspects of
> character generation, so I`m considering allowing players to just choose
> they abilities.
>
> Anyone have opinions on this?
>
> Gary
>
I beleive I will in my own soon-to-start campaign (any signs of the BRCS
? :)
let the players choose with the limitation that as with everything else
the
final decision is mine. The only problem I have with this is that the
Bloodmark
ability is probably not going to very popular even though if I manage to
play
it properly it can be very powerful... But my players might suprise me
:)
Cobos
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09-04-2002, 05:22 PM #3
In our campaign all things are rolled. The best of all alternatives, I think. If you role a great bloodline with elemental control or bloodtrait, you have it (without disadvantages, of cause).
To pick all abilities AND bloodline takes a lot of fun...May Khirdai always bless your sword and his lightning struck your enemies!
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09-04-2002, 05:46 PM #4
At 06:52 PM 9/4/2002 +0200, Sindre/Cobos wrote:
>The only problem I have with this is that the Bloodmark ability is
>probably not going to very popular even though if I manage to play it
>properly it can be very powerful... But my players might suprise me
>:)
Yeah, that`s my concern. I want to expand the list of blood abilities
quite a bit, but I`m worried that certain blood abilities will just be
"more popular" than others if PCs can choose them rather than roll them
randomly.
Also, I kind of like the random factor just because it strikes me as the
kind of thing that shouldn`t really be in the player`s control. Aside from
being yet another min/maxing possibility for players inclined towards such
things, it just seems to me like the kind of thing a player shouldn`t have
control over. Players can pick their PC`s eye color, but picking blood
abilities seems like picking your own eye color....
I usually go with a point buy system for ability scores, so I guess
choosing blood abilities shouldn`t be that great a leap. I`m just not
convinced it`s the way to go.
Gary
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09-04-2002, 07:05 PM #5
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On Wed, 4 Sep 2002, Gary wrote:
> At 06:52 PM 9/4/2002 +0200, Sindre/Cobos wrote:
>
> >The only problem I have with this is that the Bloodmark ability is
> >probably not going to very popular even though if I manage to play it
>
> Yeah, that`s my concern. I want to expand the list of blood abilities
> quite a bit, but I`m worried that certain blood abilities will just be
> "more popular" than others if PCs can choose them rather than roll them
Then what you need is a better set of point values for them. If you think
no one will want Bloodmark, then make it nearly free. If you think
everyone will want Long Life, then make it prohibitively expensive. This
is simply a restatement of the observation that not all blood abilities
are created equal, not even all blood abilities at the same level
(minor/major/great) or of the same name but different bloodlines (Travel,
for example, is much more useful from some derivations than from others).
Constructing an optimally balanced list will be challenging, and probably
will need to vary based upon campaign and player style preferences, but
mostly it just requires making the more powerful ones harder to get.
> I usually go with a point buy system for ability scores, so I guess
> choosing blood abilities shouldn`t be that great a leap.
That`s my feeling. It`s what I`d like to do next time I start a campaign,
but I have many other things to do before I come up with the point value
chart. =) There was a PBEM some time ago that I joined just before it
never got off the ground that had a character creation system that did
everything at once: you bought regent stats, level, and bloodline with the
same pool of points you used to buy the realm. I am partial to the idea,
though I`m not sure I`d do absolutely everything at once that way --
still, I like the idea of starting a campaign in which characters could
trade off between stats, bloodline+powers, and at-start XP.
Ryan Caveney
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09-04-2002, 07:05 PM #6
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Hello,
I let the players choose their bloodline and blood abilities. We discus
the subject together, and depending on the character history and things like
that... I have always the final decission, but normally we get an agreement
quite easily (and if you are going to ask it: all my players are not major
and great bloodlines, they know all the head-aches such a big bloodline can
give ;).
Vicente
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09-04-2002, 11:34 PM #7
I want players to develope a character concept. So there is some discussion
of the character. We start with things like class, name, appearance, style.
Then the player developes a backround, and begins to outline what he might
like to be doing at mid-level. With this stuff in mind, we start building
the mechanics of the character.
Players pick their bloodline derivation to suit their character concept.
They identify a bloodpower they would like to have. I wait to see if they
roll it. If they do, no problem, do nothing. If they don`t get it I take
one of two paths.
A) I have substituted the final role for the hoped for blood power. I
generally do this when it makes more sense not to let a player begin to
select spells, feats, or abilities to substitute for it. The less powerful
the blood power, the more likely I am to go this way. If someone wants
their family`s bloodmark, they`re going to get it.
B) I have also held off on a final role and told the player to wait. I
generally do this when their score is close to another roll on table 12, and
I`d just as soon give them their desired major power as a reward after
defeating a blooded enemy.
So, there is a combination of dice and selection.
Kenneth Gauck
kgauck@mchsi.com
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09-05-2002, 12:55 AM #8
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09-05-2002, 02:28 AM #9
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09-05-2002, 08:49 AM #10
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After they've rolled how many minor, major.. etc. powers they can have, I usually let them choose their bloodline derivation and one power they would be able to have from their roll. All other powers are determined randomly. Any power which they REALLY don't like, I consider whether it would go with the character concept they have chosen. If I think it does stick with the concept, they keep it. Otherwise, they can roll again.
But I'm usually quite flexible un;ess they try to abuse the system. Any bloodpower chosen for roleplaying reasons is fine by me.Alice laughed. `There's no use trying,' she said: `one CAN'T believe impossible things.'
`I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. `When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast'
-- "Through the Looking Glass", Lewis Caroll
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