LMP
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu 03 Sep 2020, 07:29
Location: La Mirada, CA

Re: Designers' Journal

Wed 24 Mar 2021, 03:45

I heard about Symbaroum and want to get involved! My question is, should I wait for 5e? My worry is I buy the books now, only to replace them with 5e books. Thanks!
 
User avatar
Jacob Rodgers
Topic Author
Posts: 158
Joined: Tue 16 Jun 2020, 16:41
Location: Sunny Florida (USA)
Contact:

Re: Designers' Journal

Wed 24 Mar 2021, 20:03

I heard about Symbaroum and want to get involved! My question is, should I wait for 5e? My worry is I buy the books now, only to replace them with 5e books. Thanks!
.
The original system is not going away and will always lead the way in terms of adventure releases. If you're familiar with 5e and you think it would be easier to introduce your group to Symbaroum that way, waiting might be a good idea. But if you want to explore Symbaroum right now, using the original rules for the setting, then go right ahead!
 
User avatar
pagnabros
Posts: 46
Joined: Thu 18 Jun 2020, 00:47

Re: Designers' Journal

Fri 26 Mar 2021, 13:33

My group has done some really strong work in home brewing the rest of the races and classes which, while admittedly biased, I think they've done a great job (though I made the mistake of sharing the Advanced Player's Guide and they're latched on to a lot from in there) and we've dived right into "converting" some of the adventures as well.
If it's not too much to ask, I would be EXTREMELY interested in seen your group work!
 
User avatar
jonathanpay
Posts: 79
Joined: Mon 01 Apr 2019, 10:18
Contact:

Re: Designers' Journal

Tue 30 Mar 2021, 18:37

My group has done some really strong work in home brewing the rest of the races and classes which, while admittedly biased, I think they've done a great job (though I made the mistake of sharing the Advanced Player's Guide and they're latched on to a lot from in there) and we've dived right into "converting" some of the adventures as well.
If it's not too much to ask, I would be EXTREMELY interested in seen your group work!
We've got it wrapped up in a closed Legend Keeper wiki, but have been planning to put something out publicly at some point.
Christian. Husband. Father. Antipodean. Egalitarian. Cinephile. Boardgame and ttrpg enthusiast. Jack-of-all-trades. World's first second-generation email geek.
 
User avatar
pagnabros
Posts: 46
Joined: Thu 18 Jun 2020, 00:47

Re: Designers' Journal

Tue 30 Mar 2021, 23:02

We've got it wrapped up in a closed Legend Keeper wiki, but have been planning to put something out publicly at some point.
That would be awesome, if you also post that there it would be really nice :)
 
User avatar
Jacob Rodgers
Topic Author
Posts: 158
Joined: Tue 16 Jun 2020, 16:41
Location: Sunny Florida (USA)
Contact:

Re: Designers' Journal

Fri 16 Apr 2021, 18:08

So the Kickstarter campaign (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/11 ... oum-for-5e) is well underway and I figured it might be worth revisiting some topics here, and maybe trying to expand upon them. Please note that all of this is draft material and may or may not appear in the alpha rules or final rules in this (or any) form.

The captain class is one of our new offerings for 5e, though the ideas behind it go back to the previous edition and beyond. In fact, representing a battlefield commander that's currently trying to lead/aid a small specialized group really touches base with the earliest history of roleplaying games as they branched off from traditional wargaming. For us, the captain represents a capable fighter that's focused on making the entire group better by their presence. To that end, captains have lots of features, but let's just look at one of their most basic: Bid to Action.

The current draft version of the rule is:
  • Bid to Action
    Beginning at 3rd level, you can spur others to act quickly. When a creature’s turn ends, use your reaction to nominate a friendly creature other than yourself to have its turn next instead of its normal initiative count. The creature must not have already taken its turn yet this round and retains its original initiative count for future rounds.
This feature allows the captain to enable other characters to react to changing combat situations. For example, if the Theurg is normally last in initiative order but another character just took significant damage? Allow the Theurg to act now instead of later. Is the warrior warning that they're going to retreat from the monster? Bid the scoundrel to act earlier in the round in order to take advantage of having an ally in combat for backstab damage.

There are also some significant limitations to the feature. It's always at the end of another's turn, so you can never use it to go first, you can't personally benefit from it (which makes using it in smaller groups more challenging), and it uses up your reaction (which can be dangerous for you, especially if you're in the thick of combat yourself).

Let us know what you're interested in, the forum provides an opportunity to answer questions in greater depth than other formats.
 
jdddd
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri 16 Apr 2021, 10:30

Re: Designers' Journal

Fri 16 Apr 2021, 18:40

I really like that feature! It encourages tactical thinking and can be a huge game-changer in combat. But I'm wondering whether it should have limited use (e.g. you can do this a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier per long rest)?

It also reminds me of one of the Battle Master's manoeuvres, Commander's Strike (which, incidentally, is what I was borrowed from when I homebrewed my version of the Captain for our Ruins of Symbaroum campaign).

When you take the Attack action on your turn, you can forgo one of your attacks and use a bonus action to direct one of your companions to strike. When you do so, choose a friendly creature who can see or hear you and expend one superiority die. That creature can immediately use its reaction to make one weapon attack, adding the superiority die to the attack’s damage roll.

But in the case of Commander's Strike, the cost of using it is higher: one attack, bonus action, and superiority die of the Battle Master, reaction of the ally. Not saying that Bid to Action should necessarily be like that, just an idle observation. I'm very intrigued in the Captain and what it can do.

EDIT: I have just realised that this bit: "The creature must not have already taken its turn yet this round and retains its original initiative count for future rounds." implies that each party member can only have this feature used on them once per combat encounter. Or did I have this wrong?
 
User avatar
Jacob Rodgers
Topic Author
Posts: 158
Joined: Tue 16 Jun 2020, 16:41
Location: Sunny Florida (USA)
Contact:

Re: Designers' Journal

Sat 17 Apr 2021, 17:30

EDIT: I have just realised that this bit: "The creature must not have already taken its turn yet this round and retains its original initiative count for future rounds." implies that each party member can only have this feature used on them once per combat encounter. Or did I have this wrong?
.
Ah, you are off on that. What that means is that if, on round 1, the captain moves the scoundrel up to take their turn after the theurg they don't stay in that spot. Instead, on round 2 (and later rounds) they go back to their original turn position. Unless, of course, the captain bids them to action again. Also, if the scoundrel already had their turn, they don't get a second one in the same turn (that would definitely be too powerful).

Of course, the captain is limited by only having a single reaction at any point in time and also, if they use their reaction after their turn in a particular round, then they can't use their reaction again until it's been their turn in the next round. So Bid to Action often becomes something that happens every other turn.
 
jdddd
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri 16 Apr 2021, 10:30

Re: Designers' Journal

Sat 17 Apr 2021, 18:06

Ah, yes, that makes sense. Thanks for answering!
 
User avatar
pagnabros
Posts: 46
Joined: Thu 18 Jun 2020, 00:47

Re: Designers' Journal

Sun 18 Apr 2021, 03:06


The current draft version of the rule is:
  • Bid to Action
    Beginning at 3rd level, you can spur others to act quickly. When a creature’s turn ends, use your reaction to nominate a friendly creature other than yourself to have its turn next instead of its normal initiative count. The creature must not have already taken its turn yet this round and retains its original initiative count for future rounds.
While I like the feature and the tactical implications of it, I'm a little worried it could create some confusion during combat, or at least require some more tracking from the GM part, since not only you act differently this turn from your actual initiative slot, but you also need to remember that it is valid only for the current round, while in the next you will reset back to your original initiative.

Not against the feature itself, which is cool and thematic, just pointing out that some gaming table could find it a little too clunky and bookkeeping as current written.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests