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Salamanca
Salamanca's picture
Soldano
swordschools
Anybody have thoughts on an ability for this? I have a few players asking that don't want to wait. As a stop-gap filler I was thinking it might be a once per round maneuver that deals an extra wound and awards 1 Hero Point. Then adds 1 Extra Wound to the following action IF it would deal damage. (So essentially, you could not parry on the following raise spent).
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BluSponge blusp...
BluSponge blusponge@verizon.net's picture

What book is Soldano from again?  I thought it was core but my search has turned up nothing.  Castille? Swordsman's Guild?

Salamanca
Salamanca's picture
Castille. Also a brief version in swordsman's.
Bradley
Bradley's picture
A once per round way to get hero points seems very powerful. Possibly too powerful. I know this system is not designed for perfect balance, but that seems like a step too far.
Salamanca
Salamanca's picture
Good point but it should do something besides increase wounds. What about gaining the Hero Point IF either the attack or follow up deals a dramatic wound?
Star West
Star West's picture

If I remember correctly, the original Soldano was all about fighting multiple enemies at once. What about something like:

Soldanos are a vicious whirl of steel and death, striking and eliminating multiple targates quickly and efficiently. When a Soldano performs a Slash, they can divide the wounds they would deliver from that action amongst as many Brute Squads or Villains as they like.

Although, that might take away a bit from Valroux's thunder...I think it had something about attacking an additional target.

Salamanca
Salamanca's picture
Yep, Valroux deals damage, then tacks one more onto another target (or the same one if they are the only target). I like the idea of extra targets but don't want to repeat the reckless takedown advantage.
Salamanca
Salamanca's picture
What if it effects things in a different way? Something like "Spend a Hero Point on any attack to deal the same damage to another target. If an opponent takes a Dramatic wound, gain a hero point.". That removes Brutes from ramping up your HP, spending to use it keeps the gain in check and whoever you are fighting is probably going to have you spending them as well.
BluSponge blusp...
BluSponge blusponge@verizon.net's picture

Ok, looking over the original in the Castille book.  It's tough, and I'll admit I'm really not comfortable enough with the new mechanics to just riff off the top of my head.  I'm with you, though.  I'm hesitant to make it just another +damage ability.  That just seems like the easy way out.

What I find interesting is the Master level, which is all about Intimidation.

"Masters of the Soldano school have learned to thoroughly enrage and outwit their most dangerous opponents.  One per round, at the start of a Round in which you are engaged in combat with a Villain, you may use an Intimidation action against the villain without spending an action.  Add 1 to the roll for each Brute you've personally killed in this fight and 5 for each Henchmen.  If you win, instead of the normal Intimidatin effects, you steal one Drama Die from the GM, plus an additional die for every five you won the roll by."

Now, I'm not really sure about the whole "steal a drama die" business, but are there any of the abilities that let you deplete the danger pool?  So that might be something unique.

You could let the Hero add his Intimidate skill to his attack roll (Finesse+Weaponry+Intimidate).

How about this: "You get to roll Finesse+Weaponry+Intimidate for your Approach.  When facing a villain (not brutes), if at the end of a round your opponent has exhausted his raises while you retain at least one, you may spend a Raise and a Hero Point to immediately cause a dramatic wound to the villain."

I dunno.  That seems to keep to the spirit of the ability.  

Alternatively, you could do this: "You get to roll Finesse+Weaponry+Intimidate for your Approach.  When facing a villain (not brutes), if at the end of a round your opponent has exhausted his raises while you retain at least one, you may spend a Hero Point to reduce the Danger Pool by the number of raises you have remaining."

Thoughts?  Does it show that I haven't read through the dueling chapter that closely?

Star West
Star West's picture

Oh I like the idea of playing into intimidation. You could take advantage of the new Pressure mechanics in some way, maybe something like you gain a free raise when using Attack+Weaponry to use to apply pressure on a Villain or Brute Squad to surrender or flee. Basically getting a free action to essentially intimidate them into spending an extra raise to do anything other than surrender or flee for their next action; if they don't have 2 raises remaining, their options become either lose their turn or surrender/run away.

I do also like the idea of stealing from the Danger Pool...perhaps something where You get to steal from the Danger Pool and make the Brute Squad or Villain role 15s for their Risk for the next Round. Something like if you eliminate a Brute Squad or deal a DW to a Villain, on the next Round, your target has to roll 15s instead of 10s for their declared Risk.

Salamanca
Salamanca's picture
It can't have to do with having raises left. They get spent in a countdown and villains what n ties but may opt to go last. Unless they opt the hero will always be the last with a raise to spend. It would work if maneuvers cost different rates ( 2 for slash, 1 for parry, etc). I like the intimidate too but am torn on a free use being weak while including it for rolling steps on ambrogia's trick. The pressure idea is cool.
BluSponge blusp...
BluSponge blusponge@verizon.net's picture

After reading through the duelist styles last night, and taking Sal's comments into account, here's what I got:

"When fighting with a rapier in either hand, you may employ a maneuver called the Soldano Whirl. Once per round, you may add your Intimidation to your damage (weaponry+Intimidation). Also, at the end of a round you have pressured a villain and have taken no damage, you may "steal" a point from the Danger Pool. You may use this as a Hero Point."

Something like that.

LibrariaNPC
LibrariaNPC's picture

On the flip side, you can focus on just the Intimidation portion.

"When armed with a rapier in each hand, you may perform a manuever called the Soldano Whirl. The manuever deals 1 damage and target is considered to be Pressured for their next action. If the target is a villain and they are unable to take an action due to not having enough raises, spent a Hero Point to remove a Danger Point."

Not entirely sure on the Danger Point removal portion; would it be best to simply do the "Spend a Hero Point to remove a Danger Point," or stick with the first part of "if they are unable to take an action, remove a Danger Point."

Alternatively, you can add the "Spend a Hero Point to roll Finesse+Weaponry+Intimidate" to the tail end there instead. I think it'd be a bit too broken to have both, but I haven't really had the chance to test it yet.

"Smilies exist because no one's bothered to create a sarcasm font." --Lost_Heretic

BluSponge blusp...
BluSponge blusponge@verizon.net's picture

Looking over the different styles, none of them all you to boost your actual Approach. A lot of them allow you to add a second trait or skill to your damage, which is why I settled on Intimidation. It occurs to me, from the description, it would be fun to let you add your Intimidation to your Parry maneuver, too. That might make the take no damage in a round business a bit more easy to come by, too. But I feel the no dramatic wounds fits better.

LibrariaNPC
LibrariaNPC's picture

What do you mean by "boost your actual approach"? Do you mean getting a secondary effect? Donovan's Bulwark, for example, automatically nixes your opponent's raises (at the cost of your own), so having an attack that forces Pressure doesn't seem too unbalanced (especially if you add a Hero Point to it, which is an easy fix).

Again, just soundboarding ideas.

"Smilies exist because no one's bothered to create a sarcasm font." --Lost_Heretic

BluSponge blusp...
BluSponge blusponge@verizon.net's picture

By boosting your approach, I mean adding another skill's ranks to your initial roll. So letting you roll Finesse+Weaponry+Intimidation would be out of place. Letting you add your Intimidation ranks to your damage or Parry fits just fine however.

Salamanca
Salamanca's picture
That no damage thing will be rare. Maybe on rounds where you dealt MORE damage you steal the Danger Point.
BluSponge blusp...
BluSponge blusponge@verizon.net's picture

How about on a round where you don't suffer a dramatic wound?

Harliquinn Whit...
Harliquinn Whiteshadow's picture

My entry into the field:

Style Bonus: Soldano Boast

When you wield a fencing weapon (such as a rapier) in each hand, you can perform a special Maneuver called the Soldano Boast. You can only activate Soldano Boast on your Action, immediately following a Parry or Riposte maneuver, and you may only use Soldano Boast once per Round. When you perform Soldano Boast, deal a number of Wounds equal to your Ranks in Weaponry plus your Ranks in Intimidate. You may deal 2 less Wounds to steal a Danger Point from a Villain and convert it into a Hero Point you may use before the end of the next Round. If you do not use the Hero Point by the end of the next Round, it disappears.

BluSponge blusp...
BluSponge blusponge@verizon.net's picture

Eh. I never liked the time sensitive drama dice. They are a pain to track. Otherwise, nice refinement! laugh

Harliquinn Whit...
Harliquinn Whiteshadow's picture

I was trying to avoid the "accumulate a lot of HP" problem without limiting it to once per Action Sequence, and generally the Drame Dice obtained by Soldano were lost at the end of the fight. So maybe just a HP gained in this way are lost at the end of the Action Sequence.

BluSponge blusp...
BluSponge blusponge@verizon.net's picture

True, and it is true to the conversion.  I just always found those hard to track, especially when you have a bunch of players running all over the place.  Letting them grab 1 HP a round for their trouble may not lead to much bloat depending on what else the player is doing.

Harliquinn Whit...
Harliquinn Whiteshadow's picture

Well at least the player is the only one to really track it for himself or herself.

John

Salamanca
Salamanca's picture
The trick is to color code your drama dice/hero points. I use a special style of d10's for drama dice, replica doubloons for starting drama and another color d10 for stuff that is temporary. Another GM I know does the same thing with poker chips. Makes it easy to see visually.
Harliquinn Whit...
Harliquinn Whiteshadow's picture

We do that in 1e Sal. I use transparent gold dice as the drama dice you 'get' and I've colored in the 8,9,10 since when you spent one of those Drama Dice it would turn into XP if you rolled an 8-10 on it. The ones given out at the beginning were opague purple and didn't turn into XP.

Donovan Morningfire
Donovan Morningfire's picture

Here's the approach I'm currently taking for my own conversion of Soldano

Style Bonus – Soldano Flourish
When you wield a fencing sword in each hand, you may perform a special Maneuver called Soldano Flourish.  Soldano Flourish deals a number of Wounds equal to your Ranks in Intimidate, and also removes one Danger Point from the Danger Pool.  You can only perform this Maneuver once per Round.

I opted to forego the free Hero Point/Drama Die and focus much more on the intimidation factor, both in terms of damage and reducing the Danger Pool as opposed to straight damage output since a major factor of the old Whirl Knack (making you effective vs. brute squads) is by and large covered by the Slash Maneuver already.

Dono's Gaming & Etc Blog
http://jedimorningfire.blogspot.com/

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