Journey Mechanics
Journey is the name I have given to the mechanics system that Trinity will possibly be converting to, in lieu of 4e.
Journey arises due to a good deal of frustration with certain elements of 3.5, as well as disappointment with the direction 4e is headed. Combine these issues with some conceptual difficulties with the sort of game 3.5 and 4e encourage...
These systems were not intended for Trinity. Trinity may have begun as a D&D setting, but D&D - in any incarnation - can clearly no longer hold the setting. It doesn't feel right anymore.
Journey will feel familiar. It has roots in 3.5, and borrows some 4e concepts. It will not be a completely different game, but there will be differences. Some will be more pronounced than others.
This system will take a long time to write, especially since 4e mechanics are still forthcoming, and I am interested in seeing what can be cannibalized for Journey.
That's all for now.
Contents
Armor
Whenever you are hit, your armor usually prevents some of the damage; however, this damage doesn't simply vanish, but is instead applied to the armor itself. However much damage the armor absorbs due to its DR, the armor takes as damage. When armor is reduced to 0 hp, it no longer provides any benefits.
Armor may be subject to a wound system similar to how hps will theoretically work at the moment - that is, armor doesn't suddenly stop working, but will gradually lose effectiveness as it loses hp. Chances are good that this will be a relatively simple system, as to avoid massive complexity.
TABLE: ARMOR AC DR WT HP Light Clothes +1 1/- 0 10 Outfit +2 1/- 0 10 Gear +2 2/- 1 20 Medium Jack +3 2/- 2 40 Cuirass +3 3/- 3 60 Coat +4 3/- 4 60 Heavy Mail +4 4/- 6 120 Harness +5 4/- 8 120 Plate +5 5/- 10 150
Armor Materials
TABLE: ARMOR MATERIALS LIGHT MEDIUM HEAVY AC DR WT HP AC DR WT HP AC DR WT HP Cloth Wool --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Linen -1 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Silk +5 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Denim +1 +1 +5 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Hide Leather +10 -1 -1 Scale +1 +5 -1 -1 -2 -20 Shell +1 +1 +1 +2 +3 Chitin +1 +1 +2 +1 +1 +2 +1 +1 +2 Metal Bronze --- --- --- --- -1 -10 -1 -20 Iron --- --- --- --- +1 Steel --- --- --- --- +1 +1 +10 +1 +1 +10 Platinum --- --- --- --- +1 +1 +2 +1 Gem Crystal --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- +2 +2 +4 +10 Diamond --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- +3 +3 +6 +20 Other Wood --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -2 -2 +1 -20
Shields
Whenever you successfully block with a shield, the shield takes all the damage that would have been dealt to you.
TABLE: SHIELDS BD WT HP Light Buckler +1 1 30 Escutcheon +2 2 50 Medium Round +3 4 100 Tall +4 5 150 Heavy Kite +5 6 200 Tower +6 8 300
Shield Materials
TABLE: SHIELD MATERIALS LIGHT MEDIUM HEAVY BD WT HP BD WT HP BD WT HP Hide Leather -1 -1 -10 -2 -2 -50 --- --- --- Shell +1 +25 -1 -1 -25 --- --- --- Chitin +1 +1 +2 --- --- --- Wood Cypress -1 Elm +1 +20 +1 +50 +2 +75 Oak +2 +2 +1 +1 +10 +1 +2 +25 Metal Bronze --- --- --- -1 -25 -2 -50 Iron --- --- --- -1 -25 Steel --- --- --- +1 +1 +25 Platinum --- --- --- +2 +3 +50 +1 +1 +25 Gem Crystal --- --- --- --- --- --- +2 +4 +50 Diamond --- --- --- --- --- --- +4 +6 +100
Crafting
Crafting equipment is going to be a major part of Journey. Does the local blacksmith not have the knowledge to craft you armor out of crystal? Then you're going to have to do it yourself, and perhaps you'll be good enough at crafting armor that you'll be able to make it better than run-of-the-mill armor.
Basic Crafting
In order to craft items, you have to have materials. The materials required to craft an item are abstracted: rather than needing 12 lbs of wood to make a shield, for instance, you need 1 unit of wood. While things like plate armor are not realistically made with just metal (you also need cloth for padding, leather for straps, etc), these smaller pieces are ignored - you only need units of the material that the item primarily consists of. Exceptions exist, and you can choose to use exotic materials for these smaller bits, possibly granting more benefits, but for the most part, crafting is relatively simple.
Crafting Armor
Crafting armor requires the Craft skill.
Units of material required are based upon the armor being made.
TABLE: MATERIALS FOR ARMOR Armor Units Options Clothes 1 1 Outfit 1 1 Gear 2 1 Jack 4 1 Cuirass 5 1 Coat 6 1 Mail 8 2 Harness 10 2 Plate 12 2
- Units: You must have this many units of the material the item is to be crafted from in order to craft the armor.
- Optional: If you choose to use an optional material (such as using darkhide straps for plate armor), you must have this many units of the material in question to gain the optional benefit.
TABLE: ARMORCRAFTING DCs Armor DC Clothes 14 Outfit 15 Gear 17 Jack 19 Cuirass 20 Coat 21 Mail 23 Harness 25 Plate 27 Modifier Material Light Medium Heavy Cloth Wool -2 --- --- Linen -3 --- --- Silk -1 --- --- Denim +0 --- --- Hide Leather +2 -4 -12 Scale +3 -2 -10 Shell +2 -3 -8 Chitin +3 -1 -5 Metal Bronze --- -3 -7 Iron --- -2 -5 Steel --- +0 -3 Platinum --- +2 +0 Gem Crystal --- --- +5 Diamond --- --- +10 Other Wood --- --- -5
Armorcrafting Options
Above and beyond simply crafting the armor, you can choose to make the armor mastercraft. Mastercraft armor provides additional benefits above and beyond armor type and material. When you craft an armor, you can choose to increase the DC by the amount listed for a quality; if you do, the finished armor has the chosen quality. A suit of armor can have any number of qualities, but each quality after the first increases the craft DC by +2.
Some mastercraft options require different materials in addition to those in the armor itself.
Note: All of these crafting options are mundane - that is, they are not magical, or effects based upon any of the forces.
Qualities
- Articulated [DC +5]: The armor is articulated, allowing a trained user to make use of the Articulated Armor Training [feat/talent?] while in the armor. Only medium and heavy armor can be articulated. Articulation increases the armor's WT by +2. [Materials: Hide (Any)]
- Durable [DC +3]: The armor is durable and well-made, improving its HP by +15 if it's a Light armor, +30 if it's a Medium armor, or +60 if it's a Heavy armor. An armor can have this quality multiple times. [Materials: None]
- Fortified [DC +5]: The armor is fortified, with sections protecting vital areas reinforced with more material. Fortified armor gives the wearer a 10% chance (if fortified with hide), 25% chance (if fortified with metal), or 50% chance (if fortified with gems) to avoid a sneak attack, critical hit, or similar precision-based damage. [Materials: Hide (Any) or Metal (Any) or Gem (Any)]
- Lightweight [DC +5]: The armor is unusually light, decreasing its WT by 1 (to a minimum of 0 for Light armor, 1 for Medium armor, and 4 for Heavy armor). An armor can have this quality multiple times. [Materials: None]
- Sturdy [DC +5]: The armor is exceptional in terms of defense provided, improving its AC bonus by +1. An armor can have this quality multiple times. [Materials: None]
- Studded: The armor is studded with a different, strong material. The difficulty of studding armor, and its benefits, is based upon what sort of studs are in the armor. Armor can only be studded once.
- Wood [DC +5]: The armor is studded with wooden pegs, improving its durability but making it somewhat heavier. Only cloth and hide armors can have the studded (wood) quality. This quality increases the armor's DR by +1/- and its HP by +5, but increases its WT by +1. [Materials: Wood (Any)]
- Metal [DC +7]: The armor is studded with metal pegs, improving its durability but making it somewhat heavier. Only cloth and hide armors can have the studded (metal) quality. This quality increases the armor's AC by +1, its DR by +1/-, and its HP by +10, but increases its WT by +1. [Materials: Metal (Any)]
- Gem [DC +10]: The armor is studded with gem pegs, vastly improving its durability but making it somewhat bulkier. Only cloth, hide, and metal armors can have the studded (gem) quality. This quality increases the armor's AC by +2, its DR by +1/-, and its HP by +20, but increases its WT by +2. [Materials: Gem (Any)]
- Tough [DC +6]: The armor is exceptionally tough, allowing it to absorb more damage; the DR it provides increases by 1/-. This also increases the armor's hit points: Light armor gains +5 HP, Medium armor gains +10 HP, and Heavy armor gains +20 HP. An armor can have this quality multiple times. [Materials: None]
Magic (?) Armor Qualities
Adding magical or other force-based qualities to armor requires a Spellcraft check against a specific DC. Some effects can be improved by increasing the DC; this choice is made before the roll is made.
If a magic armor quality has required materials, the armor must have that many units of the material as indicated by its "options" column.
- Secret [DC 25]: Once per encounter, the wearer of this armor can turn invisible, as per the spell. [Materials: Ghostweave]
Crafting Shields
Crafting armor requires the Craft skill.
Units of material required are based upon the armor being made.
TABLE: MATERIALS FOR SHIELDS Shield Units Options Buckler 2 1 Escutcheon 3 1 Round 4 1 Tall 6 2 Kite 8 2 Tower 10 2
- Units: You must have this many units of the material the item is to be crafted from in order to craft the shield.
- Optional: If you choose to use an optional material (such as using darkhide straps for a kite shield), you must have this many units of the material in question to gain the optional benefit.
TABLE: SHIELDCRAFTING DCs Shield DC Buckler 13 Escutcheon 15 Round 18 Tall 20 Kite 23 Tower 25 Modifier Material Light Medium Heavy Hide Leather -2 -5 --- Shell +1 -3 --- Chitin +1 -2 --- Wood Cypress +0 -1 -4 Elm +1 +1 +1 Oak +1 +2 +1 Metal Bronze --- -3 -5 Iron --- -1 -2 Steel --- +1 +0 Platinum --- +3 +3 Gem Crystal --- --- +5 Diamond --- --- +10
Shieldcrafting Options
Blah blah, +2 for each option beyond the first, mkay.
Qualities
- Articulated [DC +5]: The shield is articulated, allowing a trained user to make use of the Articulated Armor Training [feat/talent?] while using the shield. Only medium and heavy shields can be articulated. Articulation increases the shield's WT by +1. [Materials: Hide (Any)]
- Durable [DC +5]: The shield is exceptionally tough, increasing its HP by +50 if Light, +100 if Medium, and +200 if Heavy. A shield can have this quality multiple times. [Materials: None]
- Lightweight [DC +5]: The shield is unusually lightweight, decreasing its WT by 1 (minimum 1 for Light shields, 2 for Medium shields, and 4 for Heavy shields). A shield can have this quality multiple times. [Materials: None]
- Spiked [DC +3]: The shield is spiked, allowing a trained user to make use of the Shield Attack [feat/talent?] while using the shield. The shield spike is itself a separate item and must be constructed before it can be attached to the shield. A shield spike increases the shield's WT by the WT of the shield spike attached. [Materials: Shield Spike]
- Sturdy [DC +5]: The shield is exceptionally sturdy, increasing its BD by +1. A shield can have this quality multiple times. [Materials: None]
