AS&SH - Session 13

Session 13 (November 8, 2014)

(Back to Session 1)

This session saw a record amount of players present in the campaign:

• Kyndvald (Viking Pyromancer 2), a chaotic and pyromaniac sorcerer, traveller from the Old Earth
• Laoise (Ixian Druid 3), a travelling druid, and her retainer, Gegnir (Viking Cleric 1), a nightmare-haunted man, recently converted to Apollonian beliefs
• Phlianos (Ixian Legerdemainist 2), a clever and sneaky thief, and his henchman, a former crewman, Hrótgeirr (Viking Thief 1)
• Esja (Viking Ranger 3), the second oldest surviving character, a master of the bow (especially with her magical weapon, a gift from Ullr from another world)
• Harald Greentooth (Viking Fighter 4), the bold javelin-thrower, the single surviving character from the start, and his loyal companion, Gustavsson (Viking Fighter 1)
• Vandar Skölsson (Viking Berserker 2), a brutal fighter, dangerous mostly to his enemies
• Styrr (Viking Fighter 3), a taciturn warrior, former crew member promoted to PC status

GMC Game Aids

I have posted several game aids on the Onyx Path forum I made for an upcoming God-Machine Chronicles game. I thought sharing them here as well would be appropriate. Here are the links:

• Character Creation (step-by-step guide and minimal explanation of terms)
• Rules Summary (including the updated bits)
• GMC Update Summary (a slightly edited blog post I made earlier this year)

Social Combat Redux

I recently posted a conversion of Courtney Campbell's social attack rules to the AS&SH system. However, after crunching some numbers it became apparent that such a system (no matter how baroque and appealing to me) would produce rather unbalanced results, so I decided to redo the maths.

My goal was to keep the rules simple while providing choice and strengthening class archetypes at the same time. I certainly like them better this way.

To-hit modifier = +1 per odd level + (INT or CHA modifier)
Social AC for monsters = 12 - morale - 1 per even HD
Social AC for players = 6 - 1 per odd level - (WIS or CHA modifier)
Social Damage = 1d8 + CHA modifier

Every player character may choose one of the four social attack types (Anger, Fear, Confusion, and Charm) as favoured, granting a +2 to-hit bonus (monsters usually do not get this bonus, but ultimately it is up to the Referee to judge). Furthermore, the following special rules apply:

• Using an appropriate spell grants +SpellLevel to-hit bonus and deals double damage.
• Assassins deal double Fear damage.
• Bards consider each social attack type favoured, and deal +1 damage per odd level.
• Berserkers are immune to social attacks while raging. (cf. Unbreakable Willpower).
• Druids and Scouts deal double damage against animals.
• Monks have a point of social damage reduction per level.
• Rangers deal double damage against otherworldly creatures.
• Thieves consider each social attack type favoured.
• Witches deal double Charm damage.