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  1. #1
    Site Moderator geeman's Avatar
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    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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  2. #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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  3. #3
    Site Moderator Ariadne's Avatar
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    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!

  4. #4
    Site Moderator geeman's Avatar
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    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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  5. #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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  6. #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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  7. #7
    Site Moderator kgauck's Avatar
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    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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  8. #8
    Senior Member Sellenus's Avatar
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    We've chosen to randomly roll. You can chose where you are headed (Feats, Skills) but not where you've started from (Bloodline).

    By the way if I could choose, I'd still take Bloodmark.

  9. #9
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    IMC I make my players roll. But I'm not too rigid - if comes a bloodline they REALLY don't like I let then roll again.
    For some strange reason, there is one player who aways rolls again until he gets heightned ability... :P

  10. #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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