2012: Transylvanian Adventures & The Transylvanian Grimoire

[smathis]

Awesome list and recommendations from RevTurkey and Karaptis. I'll have to hunt some of those down.

[Deadstop]

If it hadn't already acquired a meaning in D&D circles, I'd say that "Rogue" would fit perfectly as a name for the current Redeemable class, but I can see why you might not want to use it.

The Charger is the one that's pretty much a straight combat monster, right? Would "Slayer" work better? That has a bit of pedigree in monster-hunting circles. Of course, there's the danger that it could be taken for a supernaturally powered archetype in the vein of Buffy.

I like all the other class names, even (especially) Valiant. If you wanted a more descriptive name for that one, though, you could go with something like "Everyman," though that might better describe all 0-level characters.

Deadstop

[smathis]

If it hadn't already acquired a meaning in D&D circles, I'd say that "Rogue" would fit perfectly as a name for the current Redeemable class, but I can see why you might not want to use it.

The Charger is the one that's pretty much a straight combat monster, right? Would "Slayer" work better? That has a bit of pedigree in monster-hunting circles. Of course, there's the danger that it could be taken for a supernaturally powered archetype in the vein of Buffy.

I like all the other class names, even (especially) Valiant. If you wanted a more descriptive name for that one, though, you could go with something like "Everyman," though that might better describe all 0-level characters.

Deadstop

Thanks for the suggestions. I agree that Charger and Redeemable are the two class names that make me cringe a bit. Rogue would be perfect for the Redeemable. But it does carry some baggage from later editions.

Charger is just... odd. I considered Slayer but was concerned with confusion between the archetypes of a Hunter and a Slayer. Also, the Charger is more in the mode of someone who just likes to fight. The archetype fits for a Bezerker, a Barbarian, a Pugilist, a Pit Fighter. I didn't know if Slayer communicated that. Mainly due to its later edition baggage and, of course, Buffy.

I'm searching around for those two as well. Those are great suggestions and I'm not dismissing them at all. They're definitely on the short list. But I don't know if they evoke the archetype the class represents, so much as a role or profession that archetype might pursue.

Which is why these names are hard.

[Raven_Crowking]

Charger might be Brawler, or even just "The Muscle".

I actually like Redeemable, because it has a good Gothic vibe.

[Karaptis]

Muscle would be a good name.

[HiroTsukasa]

Not to be "that guy" but personally I kind of like the Class names as is. How many fantasy games does the world need with the Paladin, Rogue, etc? To me, the current ones feel pretty evocative of the genre the game's trying to emulate. Of course, at the end of the day names are just names. Whether it is one way or another, any Judge could fluff the class names to be whatever they wished so it's not a big issue in my eyes.

[Liu Jen Hao]

Having a try at Class Names.

Valiant = Daredevil or Fearless. Hits the player on a more emotional level than an intellectual level.

Exotic = Wushu-Ja. Chinese for "Martial Artist." Distinct Enough without all the unfortunate implications of "other, frightening and bizzare" that "Exotic" conjures up.

Hunter = To The Point, evocative and cinematic. Stays as it is.

Half-Breed = Night-Born. Closer to the point without, once again, the unfortnate implications of "Half-blood" which to this day is associated with "Mullato."

Theorist = Evocative, distinct, nicely done. Stays as it is.

Polymath = Evocative, distinct, nicely done. Stays as it is.

Charger = Juggernaught (More imposing, and what the character will eventually become)

Redeemable = Atoner. It is after all the character's journey from villainy to heroism, after all.

Survivor = Although perfect and to the point as it is, the nerd in me suggests "Last-Man-Standing" (Roy Schielder from "Jaws") or Last-Woman-Standing (Ripley from "Aliens" or Mina Murray from "Dracula")

By the way, just to make sure, is there a cinematic ability for the Survior that actually makes her more powerful/smart/resourceful/brave as the party is whittled down to just her? Maybe a 10th-Level ability called "Last-Man-Standing/Last-Woman-Standing"

Thank you!!

[smathis]

Not to be "that guy" but personally I kind of like the Class names as is. How many fantasy games does the world need with the Paladin, Rogue, etc? To me, the current ones feel pretty evocative of the genre the game's trying to emulate. Of course, at the end of the day names are just names. Whether it is one way or another, any Judge could fluff the class names to be whatever they wished so it's not a big issue in my eyes.

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it.

[smathis]

Having a try at Class Names.

Nice suggestions, Liu Jen. Thanks for sharing them.

Valiant = Daredevil or Fearless. Hits the player on a more emotional level than an intellectual level.

The Valiant is not so much a daredevil as an Everyman. In fact, that was the classes' original name. But I changed it because The Valiant is more often a woman in Gothic fiction than a man. I like Valiant as is. It also coincides nicely with one of my favorite tag-teams from the 70s. So there's a bit of an easter egg in there for me.

Half-Breed = Night-Born. Closer to the point without, once again, the unfortnate implications of "Half-blood" which to this day is associated with "Mullato."

Night-born is a very compelling suggestion. So is Half-Blood. I'd wonder if 'Night-Born' would make people think more of the Dhampyr with this class, instead of the other possibilities. I'd also wonder if that concern is unfounded because that's what most people would think anyway, regardless of what the class is called...

Redeemable = Atoner. It is after all the character's journey from villainy to heroism, after all.

Not all Redeemables are atoning for something. The title suggests more that there is something about them that makes them worthy or capable of redemption. It's the lovable rogue sort of character. Not necessarily a character with a checkered past who feels bad about it. That's something a player would decide.

Survivor = Although perfect and to the point as it is, the nerd in me suggests "Last-Man-Standing" (Roy Schielder from "Jaws") or Last-Woman-Standing (Ripley from "Aliens" or Mina Murray from "Dracula")

By the way, just to make sure, is there a cinematic ability for the Survior that actually makes her more powerful/smart/resourceful/brave as the party is whittled down to just her? Maybe a 10th-Level ability called "Last-Man-Standing/Last-Woman-Standing"

The Survivor survives because that's what she does. The classes don't have abilities that kick in at a certain level. That's not how they're built. No one has to wait to 3rd level to do something because the classes are all front-loaded. TA/TG characters are cool right now, not cool in a couple of levels.

The Survivor doesn't get tougher as her friends are whittled down. She's just really hard to kill. That makes her the Last Person Standing often by default. She's already a combat monster. I think an escalating ability of that nature would be a chore to bookkeep, easily forgotten and wouldn't add much to the class as is. The Survivor is a tough mamma-jamma. I think you'll find she meets expectations.

[Raven_Crowking]

The more I think about the alternative names, including from my own post, the more I prefer the originals.

[Karaptis]

I usually care more about my Players' character names. I read some terrible ones over the years. Someone tried to walk a Dark Sun character on with the name Voodoo Chicken. That makes for some serious role playing there!

[smathis]

I usually care more about my Players' character names. I read some terrible ones over the years. Someone tried to walk a Dark Sun character on with the name Voodoo Chicken. That makes for some serious role playing there!

VOODOO CHICKEN?!

That's awesome. Best thing I've read all day.

Have a Luck point!

[Liu Jen Hao]

Just quickly, a little something that might come in handy for TG (TA is really stuffed to the brim as it is).

When one fights monsters long enough, someone is bound to be scarred for life down the line.
And sometimes these scars will take the form of mangled limbs, brain damage, and depressingly common, blindness.

Some hunters simply hang up the cloak and throw in the towel at this point.

But others, especially in this cinematic universe, not only The Band Of Light overcome such minor considerations, they master their weakness and turn it into a strength. These are of course advanced play options that only experienced and/or mature player should take.

The proposed "Crippled Master" abilities are:

1) Options that can be taken by characters who have been maimed, brain-damaged or blinded that allows them to still be heroic, albeit at a terrible cost.
2) Taken at the begining of character creation as a tragic background; perhaps it being crippled by (and perhaps simultaneously losing loved ones to) a monster that inspired you to overcome your weakness to become an angel of vengeance.

Over the next three posts, I will discuss the following iconic disabilites that hunters can acquire during (and before) their careers, and how they can be made STRONGER for it.
Blindness
Emotionally Lobotimized (Insanity or actual brain damage)
Mangled Limbs

For the sake of brevity, I will focus on ONE disability per post.

Today,

The Blind Weapon Master and Martial Blindess

The Blind Weapon Master, as her name implies, is lost forever to the world of light. One can ill-afford to underestimate this unseeing warrior, however, for she "sees" the entire world around her clearer than any eye can through her hearing, smell, touch and taste, honed to the peak of human perfection. Typical weapons of choie include The Sword, The Bow (or crossbow) and of course, the Cane and Walking Staff (with a hidden sharpened end to welcome the occasional bloodsucking visitor.....)

Advantages
The Blind Weapon Master "sees" much in the way a bat does, being able to discern distance and position of opponent, friend, weapon and foe through the relative sound of the object. Hence not only can they fight as well as the unimpared in light, they are not in least hindered by complete darkness either. Their tactile sense, coupled by the feel of air flowing around them, ensures that they will always be aware of where their position in battle.

Although this naturally makes challenging blind melee combatants in darkness a dangerous prospect, it is the blind sniping-archer that truly becomes deadly in the dead of night. Foolish is the monster that thinks the shadows of the forrest will offer refuge from her silvered arrows if he makes a single sound, be it a barely audible footstep or merely breathing too heavily.....

Aside from combat, the perpetual acuity of the Blind Weaponmaster's awareness makes them impossible to surprise, and even harder to lie to if he or she can feel your pulse. Not to mention that she is able to pick up clues otherwise literally over-looked by people with sight, such as the texture of a victim's dress, the smell of rare chemicals, or be just in time to taste that walnutty-texture of cyanide.

Not to mention that with their exact sense of distance and position, not even the Dark Fairy Queen's eternal Hedge-Maze or even The Minotaur's Maze can defeat their exact memory of their footsteps.....

Disadvantages
Clear as day, being blind in 19th century Europe comes with many unpleasant complications. Before the invention of brail, your character is effectively illiterate in a world where information is transferred through writing.

There is also the social stigma of blindness being associated with the poor and destitute, which can be awkward in the occasional business deal with important potential allies who simply cannot overcome the prejudices of their 19th Century Victorian Upbringing.

And though you may be an archer without peer, do note that clamorous din of firearms can do much to throw off your preternatural senses, which is why they are useless to you.
Indeed, your character can be "blinded" so to speak by loud enviroments, be it a fire-fight or the pipe organs and church bells of a cathedral.
And of course, you'll never catch on to the rude gestures those urchins make at you, even if you CAN easily catch them picking your pocket.

Realistic Examples of Martial Blindness
1) Taiwan has a thriving community of blind masseuses, whose acuity of touch allows them to play the nerves and tendons of your body like the way a bard plays an instrment. The most soothing and theraputic of experiences.

2) Blind musicians, who through touch and sound, become one with their instruments in a way musicians with sight never can. Bernadine, the sightless accordianist of Melbourne, Australia puts on a lovely, lovely show every weekened on the Bridge of Souhbank; do pay her a visit if ever you stop by Melbourne.

3) Olympic Judo Champions for the visually impared.( http://www.spiegel.de/international/zei ... 04854.html ) Just try to grapple someone who can "see" your weight distribution, footwork and muscular movement better than you can see yorself. Been nice knowing you.

4) And of course, everybody's favourite blind-father of Piano-Soul-Music: Ray Charles!!

Inspirations in Media include:

Zatoichi The Blind Swordsman (Zatoichi series of Japanese Films) ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNlSoDoE ... re=related )

Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade (Scent of a Woman) Just watch this AWESOME "Blind Tango" scene ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXCiLub8DZg )for what I meant about "spatial awareness" and "footstep memory."

Utsutsu Mujuro (Ninja Scroll) "Your Sight is a Weakness!!" ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPG1UMpbe1w )

Toph (Avatar The Last Airbender)

General Sha-Shing (Painted Skin 2: The Ressurection)

and of course

Daredevil (The Marvel Comics and Movie)

And the following TV Tropes Sites Can Offer Some Amusing Insight also.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... aponmaster
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... Superpower

Coming Soon:
Tears of the Nighted Eye: A Vengance-Society of blinded monster-hunters.
Dead Inside: The Emotionally Lobotomized.

[finarvyn]

As a person who's had a "sneak peek" at Transylvanian Adventures, let me make a couple of comments without breaking my implied NDA.

1) This thing is huge. Over a hundred pages.

2) I love the atmosphere created by the document. The writing style is superb and I really like the ideas and advice and just about everything I'm reading.

This is going to be an awesome product, in my opinion.

If I can just get my feedback notes typed up and returned. I am such a slacker.

[smathis]

1) This thing is huge. Over a hundred pages.

Worth noting that the sneak peekers only have a little over 1/2 the book. I'm about 1/3 to 1/2 through the Monsters section now. It's currently at 18,000 words.

So yeah... huge.

Thanks for the feedback. I wouldn't sweat the "implied NDA" too much. If you like something, you like it. That's cool.

I didn't want rules and classes and such posted to the forums because they might change between now and print date.

I was also kinda concerned that people would think it sucked. Thus far, the feedback has been very generous and I'm grateful for that. It's been encouraging and I'm thinking I might sell something in the range of TWO dozen copies...

[Raven_Crowking]

Let's add that, in addition to being long and dripping flavour, it has some neat mechanics that not only mesh well with the suggested style of play (which I would describe as "Hammer Horror meets Kick Ass Adventuring"), but that several of these should port very easily (either directly or with some slight modification) to any DCC game. I don't think you'd have many problems running your TA characters in a DCC adventure, and they would need only a little work to move back and forth from the fictional Transylvanian setting of TA to whatever setting your DCC campaign uses.

I am really looking forward to the full release.

[Liu Jen Hao]

Is the preorder site up yet, Good Gentleman?

If so, consider my deposit already given, for with the presence of a link I will make that consideration a reality right now!

[grald_the_hunter]

The only class names I really don't like are the charger, valiant, and the redeemable, because none really seem to evoke what these classes are about.

It's difficult because we know so little about the book so far (relatively). But let's try to think of some other names. Some of these have been mentioned before.

Redeemable: Swashbuckler, Bravo, Gaucho, Caballero, Tainted (Taintable?), Puissant, Acrobat, Aerialist, Tumbler, Folk Hero. This one could go many different ways depending on what the actual class features are.

Charger: Brute, Brick, Reaver (personal favorite), Unstopppable, Bloodstained, Juggernaut, Piledriver, Bloody-handed

Valiant: Everyman, Protagonist, Luckmeister, Fortunate, Chosen, Gifted, Fated, Relatable ( )

Must do work, maybe more later

[smathis]

The only class names I really don't like are the charger, valiant, and the redeemable, because none really seem to evoke what these classes are about.

It's difficult because we know so little about the book so far (relatively). But let's try to think of some other names. Some of these have been mentioned before.

Redeemable: Swashbuckler, Bravo, Gaucho, Caballero, Tainted (Taintable?), Puissant, Acrobat, Aerialist, Tumbler, Folk Hero. This one could go many different ways depending on what the actual class features are.

Charger: Brute, Brick, Reaver (personal favorite), Unstopppable, Bloodstained, Juggernaut, Piledriver, Bloody-handed

Valiant: Everyman, Protagonist, Luckmeister, Fortunate, Chosen, Gifted, Fated, Relatable ( )

Must do work, maybe more later

Of those lists and ranked on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being "I don't like it as much as the original classname" and 5 being "strong consideration to change it right now...

I like "Bravo" at about a 3 or 4 for Redeemable. I like Swashbuckler at a 2 or 3. Too bad I can't just call him a "Wascally Wogue".

I like "Reaver" at about a 5 for Charger.

I like "Protagonist" at a 2 for Valiant.

I'm partial to "Valiant". It's not my favorite character class name. But it sounds neat to me. I think Protagonist is more on point. But it's also a little confusing because the book goes out of its way to establish all characters as "protagonists".

I'd be concerned that Bravo doesn't communicate any better than Redeemable. But I like it better, nonetheless.

Reaver is awesome. I'd have to hear some good reasons NOT to change Charger to Reaver to stop me from adopting that class name...

[Liu Jen Hao]

Just returned from the Cinemas, having watched a definitive Anime film for anyone who wants to role-play a Wolf-Blooded Half-Breed (Or hopefully "Night-Born")

It is a new film called Ookami No Kodomo Ame To Yuki (The Wolf's Children Rain and Snow) or simply Wolf Children when it is given an American release.

Hana, a university student, falls in love with a werewolf, and after his untimely death instinctively hunting to help her recovering from the birth of their second child, becomes a single mother to two hyperactive cubs, Yuki (Snow) and her baby brother Ame (Rain), who can neither control their shapeshifting abilities nor grasp the concept of the difference between "human" or "wolf."

Naturally, this lack of control is quite problematic in an urban enviroment, particularly when she cannot even visit the doctors when they get sick lest their lupine heritage is revealed. When child-welfare services starts knocking on her door for not even having registered her children at the hospital, much less having vaccinated them, she packs for the mountains where her lover was born and raised.

5 years as a warm and close family later, Ame drifts away from his family, and indeed humanity, as the closeness to nature and his longing to connect with his lost father awakens his lupine instincts.....

This film is a goldmine for roleplaying Half-Bloods (and indeed, Werewolves in general) because:

1) Pay close attention to the contrasts between the elder sister Yuki, who has wholeheartedly decided to embrace her humanity and fit in, and her brother Ame, who instead forsakes it. Ame in particular is a fine, and often chilling study in a "creepy child" who looks human, but no longer thinks or even feels like one inside.

2A) Although largely humorous, the "toddler-years" chapter shows just what kind of hell the mother, especially single ones, of werewolves must go through. These are toddlers who will shift to wolf-form when throwing tantrums AND chew your furniture!! Not to mention constantly almost blowing their cover in front of "civilized" folk when they shapeshif in JOY running around like human toddlers. Not to mention Yuki finds out the hard way that OTHER little girls do NOT play with snakes or collect animal bones to show their friends. For werewolf-blooded Half-Breeds, this is a great reference for their characters to tell "when I was a kid, my mom use to (insert annecdote) stories....."

2B) Hana is the example of the sweet-tempered angel with the patience of a saint you need to be in order to hold a family of shapeshifters together.

3) Few films convey the pure and innocent joy of connecting with nature through an animal's eyes, live action or animated, as this film does.

4) Finally, and MOST importantly, this film shows that love, joy and the togetherness of family are NOT strictly human concepts, and transcends species. Aside from a chillingly brutal sibling-brawl when Ame finally loses the "human" in him, this film shows that yes, you CAN make a feel-good and heartwarming story about werewolves as a coming-of-age story without hate, blood, violence or cynicism AND still keep it emotionally/psychologically realistic.

Even Half-Blood heroes were innocent children once, and it is the experiences in those years that made the hero who he or she is today. For that reason, Ookami No Kodomo Ame To Yuki is a must-see character piece for characters who want to play one.

Fair Warning: Bring Tissues or hankerchiefs for this, even if you are a man: You WILL need them if you have a soul.

End of Rant.
Good Night, and your may your dice ALWAYS roll 20!!

PS

And all else aside, ONLY in Anime can you have a young-mother of two like Hana who is SO darned cute you'd wanna hug her and take her home with you!!

[GnomeBoy]

Re: Redeemable: What about Scoundrel, Knave, Scalawag, Hooligan, Hood, or Bounder?

[grald_the_hunter]

Glad you like the reaver. You have Robert E. Howard to thank for that; been reading a lot of Conan lately

[smathis]

Re: Redeemable: What about Scoundrel, Knave, Scalawag, Hooligan, Hood, or Bounder?

I'm liking Scoundrel. How does that suit?

I really want to call the class "The Jumpy Bastard That Always Ruins My Games" but that's a little long. An apt description though.

Scoundrel works.

For those keeping score, Charger is slated to be changed to "Reaver". Redeemable will become the "Scoundrel".

[smathis]

Also, I'd like to mea culpa on getting Lost in Space and Time the past... oh... month. It's been crazy busy and the monster chapter has been a lot more WORK than I thought it would be. There's far more to it than the DCC sections on monsters. Thus far we've got...

• Abominations (now with 100% more Frankenmonkeys!!!)
• Angry Trees
• Animated Objects
• Apparitions
• Astral Parasites
• Bandits (expanded a bit from the DCC entry)
• Bog Monsters
• Cave Roaches
• Cultists
• Demons (very, very different from Demons in DCC)
• Demonopaths
• Devil's Bramble
• Ghost Orbs
• Ghuls (not a misspelling, completely different from DCC Ghouls)
• Golem
• Guardsmen
• Gypsies
• Haunt
• Hill People
• Leeches (not giant, just gross)
• Mad Scientists
• Old Things
  [*} Rusalka
• ...and about 20 more entries all over the alphabet!

The word count of this chapter alone is around 20,000 words. This is charts (ala the Dragons and Demons in DCC) as well as advice on how to use these creatures and what they can do. Some entries, like the Gypsies and Bandits, feature multiple variations. For example, there are 3 types of Gypsies and 4 types of Bandits and Guardsmen.

Some of the monsters in this book, like the Rusalka, Cave Roaches and Astral Parasites have really creeped me out. I'm not pulling any punches in this chapter. Many of these are creatures that I think your players will want to find and terminate with extreme prejudice. And I'm not going for the cheap heat here. It's not all gross-out and eww.

When I find the Hill People more disturbing than real life Leeches and when the Demonopath has me legitimately reflect on the nature of psychiatry in the modern world... well, I feel the extra time I'm taking is really paying off.

I'm still hoping for a 2012 release. Only 20 or so monster entries to churn out. Then all the chapters (except for Adversaries) have at least been drafted. Nothing but more playtesting and rewrites ahead of me then.

Wish me luck.

[smathis]