Magic Traditions, Tradition Traits, Class Guide and Skills, Oh My!
over 10 years ago
– Fri, Aug 28, 2015 at 08:08:38 PM
A lot has happened since our last update. I kept meaning to write a post, but as those who backed Spheres of Power can attest to, when I'm in the middle of a large writing project I sometimes get too caught up to be able to justify taking time away from development, which leads to long periods of radio silence on our end.
But now, we have a big announcement; principally, we have a lot of text that's in layout now, and once it's been assembled and edited, we will be ready to release an official Skybourne playtest document to you. Nothing in it is final and there're sections that are still being written, but this doc will not only include updated races and religions from what we've previously shown you, but also information on magic traditions, a system we've developed called 'tradition traits', a guide for classes, information on new skills, and a lot more!
Magic Traditions
One of the major points for Spheres of Power was the freedom it gave magic; for example, there's no need to include an arcane/divine in your world if you don't want one. However, as a campaign setting, I wanted Skybourne to not only be compatible with our own products and systems, but also with all core Pathfinder material as well; it's one thing for a GM to ban material they don't want in their game, it's another for us to do the banning for them.
As such, we've included an extensive tradition guide for Skybourne, explaining all of the various ways a class can access magic, which classes use which methods, and how those traditions interact. In the process, we developed a system for multiclass casters which I quite like called 'tradition traits'.
In Skybourne, there are three major types of magic, just as in Pathfinder core: arcane (magic of the body), divine (magic of the spirit), and psychic (magic of the mind). Each of these sources are unique, and someone who uses different types of magic tracks them all separately. If using SoP, this uses the alternate rules for having multiple traditions.
If, however, a caster wants to multiclass between classes of the same basic magic type (arcane, divine, or psychic), these various classes stack when determining caster level. While the caster must always have a 'dominant' tradition (aka, are they a wizard dabbling in bardic magic, or a bard dabbling in wizardry), a caster who multiclasses into another form of casting gains that class's Tradition Trait, giving them the ability to augment their magic with techniques learned from their other class. Tradition traits are character traits, and can also be taken at character creation as normal.
Example: There is a tradition included in Skybourne called Artificery; the art of using magic via personal magical items called Sul Magickas, that focus the caster's power into the desired effect. If a wizard multiclasses into a class that uses artificery, he would gain the Artificery Training trait; from then on, he would be able to construct and use a single Sul Magicka, gaining the benefits and drawbacks of artificery with a single sphere. He could also similarly dabble in Fey magic (learning to incorporate fey revelry into his casting to increase its power), or learn to invoke the power of sorcerous blood (ignoring particular drawbacks by increasing an effect's cost to use).
Class Guide
Another part of the playtest document is a class guide, outlining where each Paizo and DDS class fits into the world of Skybourne. For some classes this is fairly simple, but we also wanted to make sure we answered some important setting questions that always come up for certain classes, such as the paladin and druid.
Paladins
I'm a bit of an old-school player at heart, and Paladins have always been one of my favorite classes. However, nothing seems to drive a wedge between GMs and players quite as fast as a disagreement on interpreting the paladin's code and discussing how a paladin 'should' be played.
I hate it when the paladin becomes a fall waiting to happen. Therefore, one of the things we're including in the class guide is detailed information on what a paladin stands for, how they are expected to interpret the principles of their code to any given situation (including a little bit on handling exceptions when they arise), how their hierarchy works, as well as how a player can advance to the rank of elder and grand master within the organization itself.
The tenets of the paladin are:
- To be, at all times, a beacon to the world, embodying the virtues of faith, hope, temperance, charity, justice, humility, prudence, and valor.
- To always act with honor, for it is better to die an honorable man than to live as a coward.
- To protect the innocent, as if every harm visited upon them was visited upon you.
- To uphold the honor of women and children, the defenseless and the homeless, and to always observe the rites of hospitality.
- To give no peace to the wicked.
- To never exercise authority by virtue of might, but to exercise might by authority of virtue. Authority extends from wisdom and persuasion, not from strength of arms.
- To never lie, cheat, or steal, and to never break an oath, for these things are for lesser men.
- To never allow thoughts of gain to cloud your judgement, nor to be ruled by the appetites of the flesh.
Druids
To anyone who remembers druids from early editions, they were heavily based on Celtic priests, and always felt more like a secret society than simply a form of nature-themed caster. In many ways, Skybourne seeks to resurrect these roots, giving info on the importance of the druidic language, the druidic rites, the history of the druid people, and creating two competing druid orders: The Druids of the 7th Sphere and the Druid Council, representing two distinct philosophies and agendas in regard to their sacred role.
Arch-Druid: "Brethren and Sistren, as we stand before the fires tonight there is a new sister who wishes to join our ranks as a peer. What say ye?"
*The ground is struck hard twice by a flurry of staffs.*
Arch-Druid: "Are there any who say otherwise?"
*Silence.*
Arch-Druid: "Then let her enter. Daughter of Khrone, you have been initiated into our lower ranks. Have you kept the trust placed in you?"
Initiate: "I have."
Arch-Druid: "Show us now a sign of your observance."
*The initiate says something unintelligible. The plants around her react to her words and spring up to the height of a man*
Arch-Druid: "You have kept faith, daughter. Can you speak the first key word?"
Initiate: "I do not yet know this word. I come before you now in pursuit of this knowledge."
Arch-Druid: "Then step closer, daughter, and learn the word. But first, let's remove the interloper trying to hide in the trees.
"
That was as close as I, or indeed anyone on record has ever gotten to learning the secret of the druids without joining their ranks. I have twisted my brain in knots trying to remember what word the initiate spoke that caused the plants around her to grow, yet nothing I do can recall it to my mind.
After years of searching, in the back of a tavern tent I found a grizzly man who claimed to be a former druid who wasn’t afraid to speak to me. However, his talk was so full of ambiguities I could barely glean anything useful.
According to this ex-druid, druidic can’t be understood by any who can’t speak it. He said that it was the language of true names; that if life itself were a book that could be opened and read, druidic would be the language it was written in. Having an academic knowledge of the language wasn’t enough; a initiate learned in the druidic tongue needed to spend years meditating on the meaning of the words to unlock their real power. He claimed that some people (he cited the ancient rangers) could perform druidic rites and invoke the power of the language without truly understanding it, but such required training and a lifetime spent living and meditating on life to unlock its power.
The man was boisterous and into his drink at the time, but when I asked him to teach me some of the language, he grew quiet. He said that ever since abandoning his oaths, he'd lost his powers, and found he could no longer remember the language. The only way I could learn, he said, was to join the druids myself, but he cautioned me, saying once one had been initiated into the druids, there was no turning back without consequences.
--Sir Endwein, gentlemen adventurer, recorded in his autobiography.
Skills
When we started this campaign, we mentioned some of the Profession skills that would be important to running a ship: Profession (sailor), Profession (soldier), Profession (chef) and the like. We've developed these skills, and have detailed Profession skills for sailor, soldier, chef, carpentry, servant, siege engineer, and navigator, as well as providing combat uses (yes, combat uses) for most of the above, plus Heal and Profession (courtesan).
