Emotions define a character’s role. They also interact with the Mood Marker rules, so you gain a benefit on future rolls. But what if you don’t like that particular flavor of the system? Maybe a different theme would fit you better?

After my work with Michtim was done, I also thought about writing a shinobi hack. I’m a big fan of Naruto and Legend of the Five Rings, so it sounded reasonable to go with an Elemental theme:

Elemental Theme

• Air: Movement and Perception.
• Water: Restoration and Building.
• Earth: Defense.
• Shadow: Stealth.
• Fire: Attack.

The oppositions would remain the same though. If you are attuned to Earth, you are less able to attack and move swiftly. If you’re attuned to Shadow, it also means you’re slowing down and can’t channel healing powers.

Coldville

I like pentagram based systems, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of my previous projects, also used five Attributes. These are much more in line with classical RPG systems.

• Body: Power, Resist (Physical)
• Agility: Move, Attack, Evade, Hide
• Ego: Influence
• Logic: Reason
• Psyche: Resist (Mental), Detect

The system was built around the concept of doing nasty, forbidden things. Breaking with moral codes and experiencing a lot of traumatic situations. It was inspired by Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni. The game was supposed to be played as one-shot with a lot of randomly generated plot hooks and secret mission objectives. It had high lethality and was very PVP-oriented. It reflected my default gaming group back then. We played a lot of Vampire and other games about manipulation; and our fun consisted mostly of backstabbing each other. That game was co-created by A. Wladkowski, but we never finished development. Sometimes I think I should work on it again.

In this hack I would still use the bonuses conferred by randomly generated markers. But I would remove the penalties, because these traits don’t really reflect actions that well. Also the system doesn’t really benefit from Callings as is. It might help to change the traits to a more active theme instead.

What are your thoughts?

Hey there!

I want to hear your thoughts about this new Calling group I’m working on. Actually this isn’t a single Paragon Calling, but rather you choose to become a Paragon of Fear or Paragon of Love.

The Paragon Calling allows the player to convert Mood Markers of a given kind into the Paragon Emotion. It also offers a slight benefit to that given Emotion, since converting Fear into Fear does not do anything.

My design intention with Callings was that there should not be a required Attribute-combination to make them work. In D&D it makes no sense to play an Int 8 Wizard, for example. I want Callings to be useful to every kind of Personality.

Now I want to offer a new option for players of specialists. If your character is about Fighting, then becoming a Paragon of Anger might be really worthwhile. If you don’t have high Anger, the Calling might still be useful to be “angry when you need to”.

The rules look something like this:

Paragon of (Emotion)

All Emotions except EMOTION: You can reflexively convert Emotion Markers into EMOTION Markers.
EMOTION: EMOTION Markers offer a +2 bonus for each marker.

Each Paragon would have a special Utility Power that describes the character’s relationship with the chosen Emotion. A Paragon of Fear might be able to Lie in Wait indefinitely, or a Paragon of Anger might be good at Breaking Stuff.

Elemental Paragons

Paragon of Anger: Inflict Fire Wound, Fire Mastery
Paragon of Joy: Gain Power of Flight, Air Mastery
Paragon of Love: Remove Wound Effects, Plant Mastery
Paragon of Grief: Immunity to Wound Effects (Stone Fur), Earth Mastery
Paragon of Fear: Hide in Plain Sight (Mist), Water Mastery

When playing a Michtim character, your Personality defines your group role. Characters with high Love make good healers, those with Anger are expert fighters and heroes with high Fear are hard to find.

Callings modify your character’s capabilities, but don’t (usually) affect your role. The role remains the same, but the way you do your job changes significantly. Sorcerers can do their thing at a distance. Tacticians affect multiple targets. Cybertooth heroes act at blazing speeds. Some Callings offer new Actions, but still rely on the character’s Personality to decide the particular flavor of the effect.

But besides offering mechanical benefits, Callings also come with Utility Powers that offer useful thematic hooks to work with. A Sorcerer has magical knowledge and can cast minor spells that aren’t handled by the rule system at all. A Cook knows everything about Shopkeeping, while a Cybertooth remains unaffected by social interaction, due to their machine-like condition.

When trying to create a fun character, you can pick any Calling and try to tinker with the particulars. Maybe you find new explanations for the mechanics. Maybe you’d like to pick a unique Utility Power that covers your character concept. This time, I’m going to offer new Utility Powers for the Core Callings.

• Adventurer – Wayfinding: You never get lost, regardless of your current whereabouts.
• Artist – Empathy: You are very adept at reading Moods and finding out about other’s Personality.
• Bard – Earing: You are able to hear frequencies that are usually beyond hearing.
• Cook – Refined Taste: You can pick out hidden substances and identify poisons.
• Courtier – Etiquette: You know your way around court and enjoy social standing.
• Cybertooth – Multitasking: You can process multiple mental actions at once.
• Daredevil – Rogue Tricks: You know tricks of misdirection and larceny.
• Frostpaw – Cool Down: You can slow your metabolism so you survive conditions like hunger or a lack of air.
• Machinist – Gearhead: You can build and repair Gear and add Enhancements.
• Sorcerer – Sense Magic: You are attuned to magical energies and can analyze them.
• Tactician – Use Environment: You have a keen understanding of environmental factors and can utilize them.
• Witch – Dryad Friend: You can speak with plants.

Let me know if you like them! Or share your own new Utility Powers!

Also I advise storytellers to allow characters to have multiple Utility Powers per Calling. Everything that fits the Calling’s concept is fair game. Take the new Utility Powers in addition to the existing ones. You should be fine.