Topic: Weires
Started by: Scotty
Started on: 9/17/2002
Board: The Riddle of Steel
On 9/17/2002 at 7:32pm, Scotty wrote:
Weires
This is my proposal for weires, and it has gained the Asaraludu seal of approval. Aside from a few minor tweekings that may occur, this is how weires will be implemented in Myria for campaigns run by Asaraludu or myself. Thanks to Asaraludu, Xavok, and thirsy viking for helping to flesh this out.
Weires
Weires are humans that are intensely connected to nature. Most ignorant folk assume weires to be people that have perversely close relations with beasts and are able to control animals at will. The superstitious also believe them able to assume a creature form. Weires are often accused of being werewolves in Wallachia.
The truth is that weires can neither turn into an animal nor control a random creature. Some weires do form a fraternal bond with an animal companion – called familiars. Others can indeed talk with any animal, but it is a far different thing to talk to a creature than to convince it to take action. Other weires have the ability to sense all living creatures. They know that all life forms a great web and they able to discern the simple threads that make it up.
Weires are rare, but still much more common than sorcerers are. It is believed that one child in a thousand is born with the weired spark. This trait often runs in families.
Race requirement: E
A character that takes this higher priority of race allows them to be a weire. A weire has access to the following gifts:
Gifts
Animal Communion (minor gift)
The gift of Animal Communion allows the weire to mentally commune with all animals. Unfortunately most animals have little to say except that they are hungry and would like to be scratched on the belly. Unless the animal is a long time companion it generally has absolutely no care at all for your concerns.
Life Net (minor gift)
The gift of Life Net allows the weire to know that all living creatures are interconnected with threads of life. The weire with Life Net can feel these threads detect all living creatures within 50 yards of him. If there is a badger sleeping within a cave that is too dark to peer into, the Netted weire will detect the badger’s thread and know something living is inside the cave. If the weire is familiar with badgers he will know that it is a badger within. If he isn’t familiar with badgers, he will only know that a creature unfamiliar to him is dwelling within the cave. This gift doesn’t allow the Netted to discern the intent of a person or creature. At the Seneschals discretion a Per check might allow the Netted to glean more information, such as the mood of the beast or if it’s hungry.
Each creatures thread is unique. If the weire is familiar with an individual, he will recognize their thread as he would recognize a face.
Weires and Familiars (minor gift)
As the Sorcerous gift described in The Riddle of Steel page 123.
The weire and his familiar form a special bond. The weire is not able to bond any animal, he must bond an animal that is a touch special as he himself is special. The bond is something that must be agreed upon by both parties, for the bond links their minds together in a very personal way. Both the weire and familiar must lower all their mental walls to form the bond, which some people are unable to do.
Animals that bond to weires are generally smarter than their more mundane counterparts. They also tend to become more intelligent the longer that they remained bonded to their weire. The familiar begins to think in abstract concepts and grasp more complex situations and thoughts. However the familiar’s thought processes will never become human, and they will always view a situation from a slightly different perspective than the weire. The familiar always remains an individual with his own thoughts. Conversely the weire will often develop characteristics of his familiar, and some weires that have bonded to savage predators have developed violent and feral tempers.
The weire is able to see what his familiar sees and feel what his familiar feels. This is called Riding. When the weire is Riding he experiences all of the same sensory perceptions that his familiar experiences. When Riding the weire is completely detached from his physical body. When in this state the weire’s body is vulnerable.
While Riding, the weire can give mental cues to the familiar that he would like him to change directions, travel faster, or stop to examine an object. This is called Guiding and is simple to do when there is a high level of trust between the familiar and the weire. A weire can also attempt to Dominate his familiar. This is forcing his way into the familiar’s body and pushing the familiars psyche into a small corner of his mind. This is a vile and ugly thing, forbidden within weire society. Occasionally a weire will Dominate his familiar when his own body is dying. This creates an animal with a human’s mind and spirit. It is often hard for the human mind to remain sane for long in such circumstances.
The weire and familiar always have a constant awareness of their bond-mate. When the familiar or weire suffers a wound, the shock of that wound is also felt by the bond-mate, as is any residual pain unless the injured party masks it.
It is important to note that anything a weire can do with or to a familiar, the familiar can also do to the weire. This includes Riding, Guiding, and Dominating. The bond goes both directions.
To Dominate a bond-mate requires an opposed die check of the attackers WP vs. the defenders WP + Wit.
Shock experienced by the familiar is experienced as (Shock – the weires WP) for the weire. Pain is experienced by the as familiar is as (Pain – the weires WP) for the weire, unless the familiar consciously tries to mask the pain which can be done at will. The same rules apply for the familiar if the weire is injured.
Most weire familiar bonds last a lifetime, but either party can break off a weire/familiar bond at any time, unless one is currently Dominated. A mistreated or abused familiar is unlikely to stick around. If a weire’s familiar dies, the weire will generally go through a period of morning. But the weire will usually bond again.
On 9/17/2002 at 8:27pm, Brian Leybourne wrote:
RE: Weires
Sounds suspiciously influenced by a certain series of books by Robin Hobb :-)
Otherwise, good stuff.
Brian.
On 9/17/2002 at 9:01pm, Valamir wrote:
RE: Weires
All that just for Race "E".
That sounds more useful and interesting than a "halfling"...are you sure "E" is high enough?
On 9/17/2002 at 9:03pm, Thirsty Viking wrote:
RE: Weires
Nice job Scotty, this has grown even more since we talked.
I'd reccomend the following modifications for most game worlds if they accept your write up.
Generally having a Familiar is very powerful and rare... I'd suggest Race Slot of D instead of E for a non mage to be able to buy it or any other Sorcereous gift you want a non mage to have (ex - Sleepless). This leaves Slot E available for lesser things ... (Perhaps Superior sensitivity to magic ... allowing the charachter to react to a spell as it is being cast after 1 second of invocation by the caster This would be a perception test perhaps @ 15-CTN or possible at (10-spell LVL)). A weire and all mages would have this ability if implemented.
Animal Communion Looks to me essentially like Animal Kin as written in the book... which doesn't require being a Weire. If a person is both Animal kin and a Weire the Seneschal can rule enhanced communication beyond that already indicated on P. 44 of RoS. Except for the actual Familiar I'd limit this to no more than Line of Sight, Possibly less.
Life Net - this might be a Major gift on it's own. Even if left as a minor gift I'd Upgrade minimum race requirement by 1 from a standard weire. A human gifted would Thus need ot be race slot A to qualify for this gift as described. Otherwise make him cast a spell :-)
Masked Pain - The Familiar automatically Masks it's WP in Pain on EACH wound. This is the total masking by the familiar of it's own pain. the TOTAL excess pain that affects its CP is what Can be Ignored by the Wieres WP, not the excess from each wound individually. an options could be for the familiar to STOP masking its own pain to punish the weire if it's upset about what it's been made to do.
Severed Bond - When a Weire bond is severed I'd impose a penalty against the Weire ... Mental healing should take 12 - success(WP/6) weeks before the weire could form a new bond with a suitable animal. I'd also reduce a Mages Mental Discipline by the ammount of weeks till he can form a new bond. The decision to throw off one familiar for another is not easily or cheaply taken. If Bonded when the familiar is violently Killed ... This same test might be # of Seconds the Weire is Stunned.
This is just my Take. Thanks for your great work on this Scotty It may seem like I'm changing a lot, but i think these are just tweakings of mechanics... Your Conceptual work on this is great.
On 9/17/2002 at 9:36pm, Scotty wrote:
RE: Weires
Sounds suspiciously influenced by a certain series of books by Robin Hobb :-)
Yes, Brian, heavily influenced by the Fitz books. :) I corresponded briefly with Robin Hobb- she responds to email fast!- and she had no problem with what I was doing. She borrowed heavily from North American Shamanism herself, so she didn't have a problem with me borrowing from her. The wargs from GRR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire were also an influence.
All that just for Race "E
I was unsure on whether to make it race E or D. But my "editor" and compatriot Asaraludu thought that it should be race E. And you don't get all that for Race E, you just get the option of spending gifts on these instead of say ambidexterity or allies.
Animal Communion Looks to me essentially like Animal Kin as written in the book... which doesn't require being a Weire. If a person is both Animal kin and a Weire the Seneschal can rule enhanced communication beyond that already indicated on P. 44 of RoS. Except for the actual Familiar I'd limit this to no more than Line of Sight, Possibly less
I looked at Animal Kin as extra dice for training animals. But perhaps I was mistaken in that. Animal Communion is a sort of telepathy with animals. Like you might try asking a stray dog if he saw the city watch go by recently. Of course all humans look the same to him unless they have food to give him. So he just keeps asking you if you have any food. And yes it would only be for a line of sight at the greatest. I was thinking they would have to be within a few feet of the animal.
Life Net - this might be a Major gift on it's own. Even if left as a minor gift I'd Upgrade minimum race requirement by 1 from a standard weire. A human gifted would Thus need ot be race slot A to qualify for this gift as described. Otherwise make him cast a spell :-)
I origionally had this as a major gift. But Asaraludu thought that it should be a minor gift.
Masked Pain - The Familiar automatically Masks it's WP in Pain on EACH wound. This is the total masking by the familiar of it's own pain. the TOTAL excess pain that affects its CP is what Can be Ignored by the Wieres WP, not the excess from each wound individually. an options could be for the familiar to STOP masking its own pain to punish the weire if it's upset about what it's been made to do.
This thought occured to me also. But I wasn't sure if I wanted to introduce more mechanics into it. I might add this rule.
On 9/17/2002 at 10:31pm, Thirsty Viking wrote:
RE: Weires
Scotty wrote:If a person is both Animal kin and a Weire the Seneschal can rule enhanced communication beyond that already indicated on P. 44 of RoS.
I looked at Animal Kin as extra dice for training animals. But perhaps I was mistaken in that. Animal Communion is a sort of telepathy with animals. Like you might try asking a stray dog if he saw the city watch go by recently.
That was why my suggestion that the two used in conjuction you could "speak" more effectively. ... Essentially this would be animal telepathy.. restricted to a conversational basis. (as if the animal could suddenly speak)... if the animal was willing to talk. The writting on animal kin says adds dice to all rolls involving communication or interaction amount of bonus Varies. Just add ruling that allows a WIT of the Weire/KIN test vs some taget # ... this might need tweaking perhaps a target of 12 - ((Wit + MA + Per)/2 for the animal) % success being total communication, 0 being total failure... Fumble possibly enraging animal.
Or make this a MAJOR GIFT VERSION of Weire. Still a mouse only knows and percieves so much. and will probably be so scared of the communication it runs off without speaking or should I say sqeaking.
Masked Pain - ... an options could be for the familiar to STOP masking its own pain to punish the weire if it's upset about what it's been made to do.
This thought occured to me also. But I wasn't sure if I wanted to introduce more mechanics into it. I might add this rule.
This should happen rarely in a campaign and thus from a gameplay sence it is very low impact. From a role play sence though it Guides without forcing the players into what I feel is very desired behavior (loyalty to thier Familiar). the player could sever the bond to stop this if it was ongoing... that has it's own effects. Of course a familiar no longer masking it's pain... suffers all its unmodified pain levels... this would be brief without truely MAJOR provokation.
On 9/24/2002 at 10:41pm, Lyrax wrote:
RE: Weires
I would simply make non-magical weires a Major Gift, or an E or D Racial Priority. Then, I'd apply a few gifts and flaws to the character.
The gifts have been shown, and I might give those to a character for free... but I'd also apply a few flaws like:
Uncouth (minor)- Your constant communication and contact with animals (not to mention your part-animal nature) has given you some sort of habit that other civilized people find either amusing or offensive. -1 to Soc, where applicable.
Stigma (minor)- You are a weire. In some places... this isn't a good thing.
While we're on this topic, what do you all think of lycanthropy as a Gift/Flaw? In a flaw form, one would have little or no control over when he transformed (and remember, once every full moon would be often, with six moons!) and, in major circumstances, wouldn't have any control over himself while transformed. A gifted person could at least decide whether or not to transform (minor gift) or could do so at will (major gift). Perhaps a race requirement of C or D would be in order to even pick this gift/flaw.
On 9/24/2002 at 11:08pm, Thirsty Viking wrote:
RE: Weires
Lyrax wrote: I would simply make non-magical weires a Major Gift, or an E or D Racial Priority. Then, I'd apply a few gifts and flaws to the character.
to be a weire as written in the rules... requires you to be a sorcerer and pay for a minor gift. By moving it to Race D, you give a cheaper option for a charachter who is otherwise human, and a temptation for that D slot as race in a starting charachter. Another temptation is that race slot d is Lefthanded. Earning attack bonus of +1d on each attack with a 1 handed weapon. Since All race slots above D are left handed, people think you are a mage... Mages are Lefthanded. Unless you buy ambidextrous.... Temptations, temptations, temptations.. Might be very useful to a mage to be able to PASS as righthanded if "EVERYONE KNOWS THAT MAGES ARE LEFTIES".... A reason for a mage to be ambidextrous... Darn didn't mages have enough Gift temptations?
Lyrax wrote:
The gifts have been shown, and I might give those to a character for free... but I'd also apply a few flaws like:
Lyrax wrote:
Uncouth (minor)- Your constant communication and contact with animals (not to mention your part-animal nature) has given you some sort of habit that other civilized people find either amusing or offensive. -1 to Soc, where applicable.
I believe -1 soc was a proposed number if people knew you were a lefty
Lyrax wrote:
While we're on this topic, what do you all think of lycanthropy as a Gift/Flaw? In a flaw form, one would have little or no control over when he transformed (and remember, once every full moon would be often, with six moons!) and, in major circumstances, wouldn't have any control over himself while transformed. A gifted person could at least decide whether or not to transform (minor gift) or could do so at will (major gift). Perhaps a race requirement of C or D would be in order to even pick this gift/flaw.
This has been asked about.... I believe the answer was~ "Werewolves as such don't exist... but there are creatures in the night that might be your Uncle Ed." This is supposed to be covered in the Of Beasts and Men supplement due out this fall/winter..
On 9/25/2002 at 1:29am, Scotty wrote:
RE: Weires
Lyrax wrote: I would simply make non-magical weires a Major Gift, or an E or D Racial Priority. Then, I'd apply a few gifts and flaws to the character.
The gifts have been shown, and I might give those to a character for free... but I'd also apply a few flaws like:
Uncouth (minor)- Your constant communication and contact with animals (not to mention your part-animal nature) has given you some sort of habit that other civilized people find either amusing or offensive. -1 to Soc, where applicable.
Stigma (minor)- You are a weire. In some places... this isn't a good thing.
Uncouth is a good idea. I had something like that in mind for role playing purposes, but didn't actually implement it as a flaw. I think I will use that.
Stigma is something- I didn't use that name, but I think I will now- that I planned on incorperating heavily. Having people know you're a weire is more than just not a good thing. It's a get on the fastest horse you can find and ride out of town right now sort of thing. Peasants view weires in the same light that they would view a sorcerer, only they are slightly less scared of a weire than a sorcerer, so the forming mob is more likely to actually try and burn the weire at the stake than a sorcerer. This is one of those flaws that can be gained on the fly, sort of like amputee. Stigma could be a minor or major flaw depending on who knows about it. A small village that wants to burn you would be minor, but if a lord or influential noble knows your a weire it could become a major flaw rapidly.
While we're on this topic, what do you all think of lycanthropy as a Gift/Flaw? In a flaw form, one would have little or no control over when he transformed (and remember, once every full moon would be often, with six moons!) and, in major circumstances, wouldn't have any control over himself while transformed. A gifted person could at least decide whether or not to transform (minor gift) or could do so at will (major gift). Perhaps a race requirement of C or D would be in order to even pick this gift/flaw.
The country of Wallachia in
On 9/25/2002 at 6:04am, Jake Norwood wrote:
RE: Weires
Scotty wrote:
The country of Wallachia in
On 9/25/2002 at 6:18pm, Lyrax wrote:
RE: Weires
Totally agree. It's gotta be in a traditional form, so I should really do my research before suggesting anything more specific... but I am curious as to whether lycanthropes are confined to were-wolves... would a werebear or a wererat be out of the question?
On 9/25/2002 at 8:38pm, Brian Leybourne wrote:
RE: Weires
Lyrax wrote: Totally agree. It's gotta be in a traditional form, so I should really do my research before suggesting anything more specific... but I am curious as to whether lycanthropes are confined to were-wolves... would a werebear or a wererat be out of the question?
The Loup Garou (which are most likely the legends that eventually mutated into Werewolf legends) can involve almost ANY animal. There were even legends of Loup Garou cows and birds. This is covered in oBaM. I'm working on "movie" werewolves now, as Jake said. We'll see what I come up with.
Brian.
On 9/26/2002 at 5:15pm, Lyrax wrote:
RE: Weires
Great! Howzabout this... If you put an E into Race, you may start out with the Major Lycanthropy Flaw. A D, minor flaw, C minor gift and B, major gift (Or should that be one higher? Hmm...). When you create a Loup Garou character, you must pick an animal. That is your transformed state.
The flaw/gift levels could indicate varying degrees of acceptance, and therefore, of control over one's curse.
On 9/26/2002 at 8:10pm, Thirsty Viking wrote:
RE: Weires
I don't know difference between an E and an F gift is pretty small. I'd have to see it. As Sen. I'd discourage this as much as possible. It would be like assigning the charachter a 1/2 life value.
I'd have to see the write up before a final decision of course. But i think PC Loup Garrou is a BAAAD Idea. I'd make hime spend ALLAY points just to have a PC that knew what he was leave him alone I think.
Like I said i need to see the final form.
On 9/26/2002 at 9:19pm, Brian Leybourne wrote:
RE: Weires
Lyrax wrote: Great! Howzabout this... If you put an E into Race, you may start out with the Major Lycanthropy Flaw. A D, minor flaw, C minor gift and B, major gift (Or should that be one higher? Hmm...). When you create a Loup Garou character, you must pick an animal. That is your transformed state.
Why don't you wait until you see the book before you make too many plans :-) Loup Garou <> Lycanthrope (<> means "does not equal", btw) and it doesn't work in the way you're suggesting. It's also *really* not something you would consider a character advantage, by any stretch.
The "movie werewolf" thing I'm working on (this second, in fact) might more fit your style, but IMO lycanthropy should be such an exceedingly rare thing that I would NEVER allow a player to pick it for a character, particularly not as simply as bumping up the race priority by one. If it was ever to happen to a character, it would be because I decided to do it, to see how they would react, and I would have to think very carefully about it first because you're just ASKING for the rest of the group to be mauled to death one night, or at best turned into lycanthropes themselves.
Brian.
On 9/27/2002 at 4:28pm, Lyrax wrote:
RE: Weires
BrianL wrote: Why don't you wait until you see the book before you make too many plans.
Because I like making plans. Hmph!
Oh, also, I didn't say that it would be an advantage. Hehehee... That's why I'd only charge a D or C (I've changed my mind) racial priority for the Major Flaw of lycanthropy. It's a Flaw that you have to buy, so few players in their right minds (and none in their left minds) would actually do this.
On 9/27/2002 at 7:53pm, Thirsty Viking wrote:
RE: Weires
In my world lance... they would be left handed at race D.