Thursday, November 4, 2010

World of Conan - The Sorcerer

Here's a playbook for the AW Conan hack I'm fiddling with. He's pretty nasty.

Sorcerer


Stygian, Khitan, Vendyhan, Zamoran, Pict, Thurian, Lemurian, Other.

Man, woman, other.

Frail body, lanky body, starved body, powerful body, desiccated body.

Stony eyes, crazed eyes, hollow eyes, piercing eyes, blazing eyes.

• Steel+1 Thews+1 Allure-2 Cunning+1 Weird+2
• Steel=0 Thews=0 Allure+1 Cunning=0 Weird+2
• Steel+1 Thews-2 Allure-1 Cunning+2 Weird+2
• Steel+2 Thews-1 Allure-1 Cunning=0 Weird+2

Choose 2:

Whispers: you can roll+weird to get the effects of going aggro, without going aggro. Your victim has to be able to see you, but you don’t have to interact. If your victim forces your hand, your mind counts as a weapon (1-harm ap close loud-optional).

All-seeing eyes: when you read someone, roll+weird instead of roll+cunning. Your victim has to be able to see you, but you don’t have to interact.

Mesmerism: when you try to seduce someone, roll+weird instead of roll+allure.
Genius: When you declare retroactively that you’ve already set something up, roll+cunning. On a 10+, it’s just as you say. On a 7–9, you set it up, yes, but here at the crucial moment the MC can introduce some hitch or delay. On a miss, you set it up, yes, but since then things you don’t know about have seriously changed.

Immortal: when you meet someone important (your call), roll+steel. On a hit, they’ve heard of you, and you say what they’ve heard; the MC will have them respond accordingly. On a 10+, you take +1forward for dealing with them as well. On a miss, they’ve heard of you, but the MC will decide what they’ve heard.

Visions of death: when you go into battle, roll+weird. On a 10+, name one person who’ll die and one who’ll live. On a 7–9, name one person who’ll die OR one person who’ll live. Don’t name a player’s character; name NPCs only. Thee MC will make your vision come true, if it’s even remotely possible. On a miss, you foresee your own death, and accordingly take -1 throughout the battle.

Death Spell: your pointed finger and a spoken word counts as a weapon, (6 harm ap close reload). If you are using a Death Spell, on a miss, you take 6 harm ap.

Youthful guise: in darkness or near-darkness, you have allure+2.

Master of Darkness: you get +1 weird (weird+3)

Then choose two pieces of Sorcerer gear:

Books of Lore: When you spend hours poring over your books of lore, hold 1 (max 1). Spend 1 hold to use any Sorcerer move, even if you don't have the move.

Altar Stone: When you sacrifice a human life or goods worth 1 riches on your altar, ask 1:
• who wishes me harm?
• which enemy is most vulnerable to me?
• which enemy is the biggest threat?
• what should I be on the lookout for?
• what’s my enemy’s true position?

Demon Familiar: The demon familiar counts as a weapon (3 harm remote alive, 2 armour). If you use the demon familiar with a move, on a miss it suffers any consequences, as an NPC, not you.

Mummy Dust: Mummy dust is a weapon (hand s-harm infinite).

Hx


Everyone introduces their characters by name, look and outlook. Take your turn. List the other characters’ names.

Go around again for Hx. On your turn:

• You are mysterious and inscrutable. Tell everyone Hx=0.

On the others’ turns,
Choose the character who you’ve sworn assistance to. Whatever number that player tells you, ignore it; write Hx+3 next to the character’s name instead.

Everyone else, whatever number they tell you, give it +1 and write it next to their character’s name. You see the truth about people.

At the end, find the character with the highest Hx on your sheet. Ask that player which of your stats is most interesting, and highlight it. The MC will have you highlight a second stat too.

Sorcerer Special


If you and another character have sex, Roll+weird. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7–9, hold 2. they can spend your hold, 1 for 1, by:
• giving you something you want
• acting as your eyes and ears
• fighting to protect you
• doing something you tell them to
For NPCs, while you have hold over them they can’t act against you. For PCs, instead, any time you like you can spend your hold, 1 for 1:
• they distract themselves with the thought of you. they’re acting under fire.
• they inspire themselves with the thought of you. they take +1 right now.
On a miss, they hold 2 over you, on the exact same terms.

Sorcerer Improvement


Whenever you roll a highlighted stat, and whenever you reset your Hx with someone, mark an experience circle. When you mark the 5th, improve and erase.
Each time you improve, choose one of the following. Check it off; you can’t choose it again.
__ get +1steel (max steel+2)
__ get +1thews (max thews+2)
__ get +1allure (max allure+2)
__ get +1cunning (max cunning+2)
__ get a new sorcerer move
__ get a new sorcerer move
__ get a new piece of sorcerer gear
__ get a move from another playbook
__ get a move from another playbook

3 comments:

  1. I like it. Two minor quibbles.

    1. That sounds like a lot of moves. 8 moves plus 4 pieces of gear. I don't think I've never seen so much stuff in a single playbook before. Have you considered splitting it in two "classes". You can always get moves from other playbooks, to spice it up to your liking.

    2. The savvyhead workspace move (Tell the MC what you want and he'll tell you what you need.) is perfect, in my eyes, for a "sorcerous ritual" move. Have you considered using it for your sorcerer?

    Great job at this reskin otherwise.

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  2. It's a good point about there being so much stuff. Is it a problem? I don't know. There's a couple I could take out, and trust that people would come up with them as custom moves on their own.

    You're right about the workspace as well. My one concern would be that there's fewer real-world analogues to use as a guide when deciding what you need to do to achieve something, and less clear understanding of what's possible.

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  3. Excellent! I think AW + swords & srocery would be just great. I really hope this hack sees the light of day. Cheers

    ReplyDelete