why would you calculate armor vale? Arrows are AV=0

We calculate AV because we gave arrows AV=0 to compensate for their lack of realistic range. At these greater distances, Armor would matter some, though not as much as a Shield.

Furthermore, this ability could also be used by a GM to simulate attacking many archers. If the GM likes, he could allow enemy archers to stand to the side of a combat an call out Ranged Attacks at targets (much like Duel) but instead of starting a Duel the attack player may either state "No effect" i.e. their MD is too high to hit, "Taken" meaning you scored a hit, or they could Invoke with their Shield to negate the attack and say "Blocked" a lot like Dispel Magic. What this would do it allow Archers to attack from long range but not necessarily hit unless the target is pressed. I know this is sort of a side point, but it does make for interesting possibilities. I would like to playtest this in a battle on Tuesday and see how well it works. I imagine it working something like Chi Kill, where attacker calls out "Ranged Attack lvl 15- 3 magic." and the defender can then, if the players MD is under 15 they can either take it or raise their shield, which will force them to open themselves to other attacks. In order to keep this in perspective, the "Blocking" with the Shield should work exactly like Dispel Magic in that Anyone can raise their shield to negate the attack. This allows someone with a Shield to block for all the mages and theives, etc as long as they are within 10 feet. Furthremore, the size of the sheild does not matter when Blocking a Ranged Attack. It is like a Parry, you just do it. While these Ranged Attacks are not likely to massacre opponents, they are likely to pester them and take out the unlucky and reduce the sheer number of attackers and respawns.

As I said, this will be listed as an optional rule that GM's may use, but I want to discuss and try it out to see if we want to use it.

Christopher

Got Rulebook?

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I do! All of them, available now. $10 donation each (that is at cost!).

I have been wanting to keep the world map at a low resolution because I feel like players should not have detailed information about the map, since not all of them have Cartographer or even Reading and Writing. However, since I am using a larger scale map at events etc. I upgraded the one online, just for you all who wanted more detail. Enjoy.

Christopher

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Improving the Quality of Play:

I must congratulate everyone on a week of FanWar! What an intense series of days. Some great stuff came out of it and there were some great missions too. I will be posting as soon as I can about the aftermath of yesterdays adventures and what happens with the Skull Demon.
However, after watching the game-play for several days straight I came to a few conclusions. First of all, I think Adult League needs to be more restrictive in who comes to those events, as now that I have Junior and Advanced they are the perfect proving grounds. I want to discuss the possibility of changing the way we do Saturday events and/or Wednesdays events. I am interested in how players would feel if they lost the mornings on Saturdays, etc. if they knew that the afternoon was going to be exclusively experienced players. I can see pros and cons to both. The problem with splitting the experience levels is that they can no longer learn from each other. If I have a whole bunch of kids who don't get it in the morning and no experience players, it becomes a nightmare to teach them everything. Conversely, if I have a ton of experience players in the afternoon who all want to go on the same quest, I might have no "baddies" to throw in front of them, if we exclude new players. We have been trying to do the Mentoring Program but not everyone wants to mentor a bunch of new players every time.
I also can see that this has potential because now that Junior and Advanced League overlap with the Roekron world, their is a reason to come to a Junior or Advanced League event even if you are experience. Thus, this could be a great way to scaffold the events and keep play high quality for Adult League.
Speaking of high quality, read the following article from Dragon Magazine called "How To Get The Most Out Of FRP Tournaments." I have seen a lot of these problems cropping up lately and they cost all of you a great deal of game time you could have.

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Hello Spencer (and the rest of the FanWar Crew):

Your calculations don't agree with mine (I am going to send this to all the other FanWar Veterans so they can understand these computations when they make Elder Sorcery as well).

You first spell has three words: Learn (OP 2 Storm) your (OP 1), and Form (OP 4 Nature). The base cost of the spell is 5 days, as is any Elder Sorcery spell. Next, you need to add 1 day because you want Delivery (+1 day to add Delivery). Next you want Higher OP, so that is +1 day per OP (but only for the words over OP 1). You have an OP 2 word (+2 days) and an OP 4 word (+4 days). The total time to make this spell should be 12 days. Now, keep in mind that you only have 20 days a month to work on spells and that is if you do not work, and do not use any other skills that require days. [as a side note, note that you are using two types of Elemental Elder Sorcery. Since you are not a Storm Mage, I assume you have that word written in your book. Before you proceed, please note the extreme danger in using a word that is (a) not a word you actually know- just one you copied, and (b) using a form of Elder Sorcery you do not have the type of (i.e. you don't have Elder Sorcery of Storm, Storm Delivery OR Storm Higher OP!]. I am mentioning this because I don't want you to end up a grease spot in your Inn quarters, unless you know what you are getting into.
Your second spell has 4 words. Make (OP 3), you (OP 1), a (OP 1), cup (OP 1). You want it to be Touch, so add a day (+1 day for Delivery). You also are using Higher OP, so for adding the word Make you need to add 3 more days (+1 per OP of words if they are higher than OP 1). Thus, this spell is going to cost you 9 days to make. Thus, you need 21 days to do both, if you do nothing else.
I just want this to be clear to you and all players that the huge expenditure of days is important to keep Elder Sorcery in perspective with it's power rating. Wizards are always trying to make tons of money so they can afford to pay all their bills while they work on spells like this. This balances out game play because mages shouldn't be able to toss off spells like crazy, they have to spend lots of time on what they do which sets them apart from Warriors who are in the moment types.
Furthermore, I need to emphasize to everyone else who has characters that make Elder Sorcery or who plans to, that you need to be very clear when sending me an email about a spell you want to make. I need every tiny detail. Here is an example of what I expect:

"Hello Christopher, one of my characters would like to make some Elder Sorcery this month. Here are the details:

My character is Chronos Litefoot:
he is a lvl 25 Centaur Mage with the following stats: ROR 40, HP 6, Mana 7
Total Mana available to him is 15 (6 base, 6 from two spell staves, and 3 from his robes).
My levels and abilities are as follows: lvl 10 Storm Mage, lvl 10 Life Mage, (I also have 1-5th lvl Amazon skills In AND Out due to the Ring of Amazons).
I would like to hire a Flame Mage to Make an alter of power for me for the second spell. I need an extra 15 mana, so the Flame Mage needs to be lvl 15. Thus, I will pay him the usual 2 times his lvl for a weeks service (30 gold) which gives me the Alter of Power. Of course, it isn't charge up, that would be a lot more gold (at least 150 more) so I will spend and extra three days in the creation of that spell to charge the alter (spending my 6 mana each day to charge it up to 15 mana). Then I will cast it.
Here are my spells: Shield (OP 4 Life), your (OP 1), Life (OP 4 Life). This is to be a Touch Spell. The cost to make it will be 15 Mana, and the target cost to cast will be 6 mana. My intention is for it to prevent a character from dieing from damage beyond -2 (only) and only if that damage is just a few points over (say 4 or 5 over). All the words used are words I know personally. The days cost should be 5 + 1 + 8 = 14 days.
The second spell is a very tricky one. Cause (OP 2), this (OP 1), orb (OP 5), to (OP 1), see (OP 3 Storm), through (OP 7- from a book, not my word), barriers (OP 3 Life). It will be a Ritual. The tricky thing with this spell is that while I am high enough OP to use the OP 7 Celestial Word, I actually don't know the word and so I have to use it from the book. I think I will be okay since it isn't a different Elemental Type and I am high enough lvl to be able to use it. The intention of the spell is to cast it on an Orb in the Ritual space, and then once the ritual is done the orb will function as a scrying glass of sorts, but only for seeing past barriers (walls, circles of protection, defensive barriers against people seeing in etc.). I want it to be very specific in it's use to increase the success chance, and I only want it to last for the duration of the Ritual (i.e. every time I want to see past a barrier, I have to do a Ritual to an Orb and then can see stuff until the I end the Ritual, no In Combat, or Before Combat use or mobile use). I am going to spend 30 mana on this spell (15 from me and my Mage Lore and 15 from the Alter of power). The target cost of this spell is also 6 mana. The cost in days will be 5 + 20 + 3 (the days I spend charging the Alter at the end) = 28 days.
Get back to me in three weeks if you can with the results of the first spell. I will look for the results on the second one in two months of so and I will send you a reminder around the time I think it will be done.

Thanks."

Christopher

i see one thing i misunderstood, in addition to being told wrong about the number of elder sorcery words, i thought that you added a day for each op over one of the highest op word in the spell, thus the op of the spell, not for each op of each word in the spell. i guess its to the good that much of my elder sorcery has to be redone, as there were some errors in time assumed.

Hey chris or anyone that still looks at this forum When is the next couple of Fanwars? Or if there is a place where the new calender is that isn't the fanwar website that would be helpful too!

Hello Marcus!

Great to hear from you! We miss you. I posted the new calendar last night. It is not all for sure, but it should give you a sense of my plans.

Christopher

I was looking at the rulebook under the rangers section and i read the definition for Spell Turning Weapons Elite. According to the book, having spell turning weapons elite causes "items you use [to] resist UB attacks." Is this right? If so, that means that my sword, shield, ring, cloak and anything else i happen to have on me all resist UB attacks. Just thought i would bring this up to see if i am interpreting that right.

Hello James:

Items- the the rule book skills terms refers specifically to "Lootable items you hold." This includes anything from a rod, to a halberd, but not a ring, cloak or such.

Christopehr

okay, thank you for the clarification. Where does a shield fit in with the definition of an "item you hold?" You hold it in one hand but its strapped on so you don't actually have to be "holding" it the whole time

Spell turning weapons says: Items (not shields) resist etc.

As for spell turning weapons elite it should be the same thing. But that is an assumption. Spell turning weapons elite does not say; not shields. But I have a feeling that shields don't work with spell turning weapons elite because that would make spell turning shield pretty lame

Is there a such thing as a Morganti Golem. Or has anyone ever tried to make one as a bodyguard or something. because that would be a rarity 11 creature or something.

Lincoln

Hey Chris for after season events are they all in palo alto? I just want to set things up and figure out where things are.

Winter 2009-10 Roekron Developments:

Twenty-one years have passed since Dagdeoths last major invasion and the appearance of the Sisters. Roekron has both grown and suffered during this period. Politically, the government has grown. The Wizards Trade Order has seen change for the first time in hundreds of years as Eleana Starlight has stepped down to attempt to repair the failing Elven Empire of Andionian which is in political collapse. The murder of King Nelorian and his wife Queen Selena five years ago by what has been called Wood Elf extremists, threw Andionian into a potential resurgent civil war. Eleana has stepped in as mediator and current ruler of Celendil in the interim of choosing a new leader. Her absence in the Wizards Trade Order and subsequent replacement on the council by Laura Whitelocks of Hostor has caused a great uproar throughout Roekron. King Obami Baraku’s choice to elect a representative to the Order from a country that is not currently a member has outraged many. However, his choice appears to have been well designed for Hostor is closer to membership now then they ever have been before, and many of the decisions that are being made now by the Order seem to be more focused on the good of the people and less about the gain of the Order. The overall policy of the Wizards Trade Order seems to be more accessible and leads to what most consider true justice. Most of the provinces have remained unchanged in their borders, though Dagdeoth has shrunk considerably, and Grimsoeoth (the true name of the Eastern Army peoples) is a permanent presence with villages and towns throughout. Events of note in this period are the renaissance of Temnor which span seven years and then was promptly cut off by the discovery that Temnor was stealing from Sorikonia and not inventing much of its own at all which resulted in a short war which left Temnor worse off then before. The capital city of Estorock has been torn by invasions of Grimsoeoth as well as numerous small civil wars throughout this period but remains the capital. The Golden Mountain Invasion in which Glimindel was invaded by Grimsoeoth and then promptly switched sides and is currently supplying Grimsoeoth with magic items still rankles many Dsesnorians. Svodlun of all provinces has risen to glory in its delving into old abandon mines and tunnels and as it is the only location of reliable ore resources has flourished in these lean times.
Economically Roekron has suffered greatly. Already in a dark age, Roekron has found no help in resources and has spiraled deeper into an economic collapse that has left many struggling for supplies and basic needs. Gone are the boom times of generations past when magic items were commonplace and mages to be found around every corner. Weapons themselves are scarce as the cost of such items rises with limited amounts of ore to be found. Thus, when looking at the current economic standing of the majority of Roekron people, one would find them very poor, with many families passing down their weapons and armor for generations, not because it is magic, or master crafted, but simple because it is the only way they can afford them. Farmers are on the brink of starvation with crops doing well but much of their goods being taken by lords to fund armies and to be traded for weapons, armor, and ships. In such times, simple problems such as Orkish invasions, roving Ogres or a band of hungry Goblins is no longer a nuance, but a matter of life and death for the local lords.
Socially, Roekron has improved. The relations between species and the ways in which royalty and commoners associate is more civil. Crime has increased, but so has the attempts to curtail it by locals, which has developed into less actual losses from criminal activity. A large amount of sanctioned vigilantism has surface in these lean times when finding law enforcement might be difficult. Fortunately, the government seems to be more appreciative of citizens who take matters into their own hands and less apt to punish those who are protecting others. Death has become more serious in Roekron as the cost of resurrection has gone up and most people cannot afford resurrection nor can they find a mage to perform the ritual. Thus, acts of murder and killing are viewed in a much harsher way as the people realize that though they may be resurrected should they die, it is likely they will not and thus they take life very seriously. Killing someone, even if they are resurrected, almost always results in the execution of the murderer as well as prison time of at least two months if and when they are resurrected.
Culturally there have been some shifts in Roekron. One of the biggest changes has been the development of a new religious group calling themselves the Nomads of the Sisters. They were at first a very loosely organized band of people drawn to the appearance in Roekron of the beings now known as the Sisters. These beings have been seen enough times in visions and waking life, to be verifiable in their appearance as huge white centaur like beings with dragon winds and a singe horn in the center of their forehead. They are described as silver or grey and always seen together as a group. They legend of these beings is that they are the children of a deity known as the Elder Goddess, and they were once split into six beings but were recently joined back into their original selves. The Priestess of the Elder Goddess are closely associated with the Nomads of the Sisters due to the fact that when the Sister appeared the Elder Goddess became silent and apparently has vanished from the world, leaving her followers empowered by the Sisters in some mysterious way. Other religious groups have grown and developed over the past 21 years in the wake of some that have diminished. The Celtic mythos, first finding its new insurgence in the Wood Elven province of Ein Ion has now spread throughout Roekron and gain many followers in these lean times of change and balance. Some of the teachings of the Sorikonian Martial Masters and philosophical teachings of harmony in nature have also struck a cord with the struggling people of Roekron and thus these teaching can be found across Roekron currently. The culture has also shifted greatly towards crafters and tradesmen and away from mages, and class based professions which have been found to be too hard to upkeep. Those few who do make it into a class are view almost as nobles, as often they are the few with the funding to keep such jobs. Warriors are by far the most prominent class in these lean times as they are assured of work in any region. Semi-martials take a close second as their skills are almost akin to the trades and crafts of the common village. Mages have all but vanished from the landscape of Roekron as there are few people with the basic knowledge to become a mage, and the places to train are so far away the ideas is absurd to most people. While every village will have its token mage, the mage guilds are few and far between. As mages are the crafters of magic items, they too have become few and far between.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR JUNIOR LEAGUE PLAYERS: Beyond the flavor of play that these changes imply, there are a few practical changes that affect game play.
(1) Buying things, anything, will be severely limited in any region. Even the basic equipment sets may not be available in many locations. Scrolls, magic items, amulets of classes, or ANY specialty type item cannot be purchased out of game. Anything beyond an equipment set (including armor of any kind) will be rare and thus need to be bought in game with the GM’s approval. You cannot assume you can just trade items for what you want, the economy has gotten worse and thus you are very limited in what will be available. Custom items will be unheard of in most regions. Furthermore, the amount of money carried by monsters and travelers will most likely be small amounts of silver, not gold.
(2) Characters are in high demand to solve any and all problems involving battle, monsters, and the like. No one is equipped to deal with these threats anymore other than heroes and officials, so characters are needed more then ever to solve even simple things like Goblin attacks, as the populace will be helpless against them.
(3) The has been a cultural shift towards law enforcement by the masses. Heroes are called upon to do the job of law enforcement regularly and are expected to take the law into their own hands. Death is also more severe so characters will be very reticent to kill unless pressed to. While life is harder, people are kinder and more helpful on the whole and so tend to be more understanding all around.
(4) Wildness is commonplace. With less and less resources to patrol roads, rebuild towns and cities, the wilderness has been slowly but surely creeping in all across Roekron. It is not uncommon for monsters to turn up in town, having found their way in through a broken gate or a damage sewer drain.


Geographical Location of FanWar Leagues for 2009-2010 season.
(1) First Weekend of the Month in Palo Alto (Basic and Advanced): Pinicle, capital of Hostor.
(2) Second Weekend of the Month: Petaluma League (Basic and Advanced): Odilathen
(3) Third Weekend of the Month (Saturday with Tony) Palo Alto: Teriock (Skilhaven Area)
(4) Third Weekend of the Month (Sunday) (Basic and Advanced) in Cloverdale: Odilathen
(5) First and Third Sunday in Ukiah (Basic/Advanced half day with Tony): Teriock (Skilhaven Area)
(6) Adult League (Second Sunday and every Tuesday): Krodogros, capital of Svodlun.


Changes and Fixes to the Core Junior League Rules:

In the course of running the Junior League System concurrently with the Adult League, we have encountered certain inconsistencies that either detract from game play or confuse players. In order to solve these issues we are implementing the following changes to the Junior League Core Rule Set.

1) Knight has been modified to include Armor Piercing with Charge. As an add-on to charge it now reads, “And you have Armor Piercing: With a weapon in both hands you deal AV=0.”
2) Assassins get “Knockout/Dispatch” at Tier 2 as well as Weapon Mastery Elite. This is simply an ability to kill with Knockout if desired by adding Dispatch to the call and knocking out a player who is then dead, not unconscious.
3) Samurai get “Defy Death: Adrenaline in Duels only.” At Tier 2 as well as Bow Out. Thus, in any Duel a Samurai will have the Adrenaline ability from the monster section and can fight until dead (reaching -4 HP). This is similar to an ability Samurai have in Adult League and simulates the power of Samurai better then the current two skills.
4) Improved Strength in the Monster Section now reads, “Can use two-handed weapons in one hand, which are AV=0 for you.” Only two handed weapons are AV=0 for creatures with Improved Strength now.

These abilities will be play tested in the Winter Season for fairness and game balance and will either remain standard rules or be revised in the spring.