Hit Points & Hit Dice, The Gaining of

"The Knights of Nod. The Old Guard you will find in the custody of these arrogant Baron Houses. They are the charges of the remnants of the Warlords who once stormed across Nod in their conquest for power and land. There are Brotherhoods who call no Baron House their Master -- these are the Errant Brotherhoods. We have also heard tell of Mage-Knights -- an ancient discipline -- who keep the old ways in distant places from here."
-Lady Knight Elise of Suffolk, of the Black Dog Brotherhood

Just a brief post regarding the progression of Hit Points. I have retained the mechanic of Hit Dice, but in a slightly modified form. There is still rolling for Hit Points, but with some modifications. All beginning, Level 0, PCs begin with Hit Dice of 1d6+8. Hit Dice are rerolled when raising a Level and also when coming back from the Dead status (which I detail more in this post).

Seemed apropos. . .

The calculation is simple. You roll the number of six-sided die indicated and add the number to the right of the plus-sign to the total. When going up in Level, you roll your Hit Dice again -- but replace your Base Hit Points if the total is higher than the original. To these Base Hit Points you then add your Hit Dice gain by Class and also modify your Hit Dice by the new gain.

Coming back from Death is traumatizing to the body and soul (NOT from Dying -- only if you have been fully dropped to Dead and then returned to life with Major Healing -- read more about Healing works here). When this occurs you roll your Hit Dice again, but instead of retaining the higher value than your Base Hit Points, you replace your Base Hit Points with this roll if it is lower. This mechanic represents the shock coming back from the Dead has on the body -- replacing "system shock" and similar mechanics from other D&D and derived systems.

The following table includes Hit Dice gains by Class: the Classes that will be included in the playtest. A PC's Class is Commoner prior to selecting their adventuring Class at Level 1.

Level	Commoner*	Fighter	Thief	Magic-user
HD at Level 0	1d6+8	N/A	N/A	N/A
HD Gain at Level 1	N/A*	1d6+10	1d6+5	1d6
HD Gain at Level Up	0*	1d6+6	1d6+4	1d6+2

*: Commoners (Level 0 PCs) reroll their Hit Dice, keeping the higher of the roll or their current Base Hit Points, when gaining Level 1/2, but receive no further Hit Dice until gaining Level 1 and choosing a Class.

Example: Stephan is a Level 0 Commoner. He rolls a 3 on 1d6 and adds 8 to this roll for a beginning Base Hit Points of 11. Stephan then, through adventuring, gains a 1/2 Level. He rerolls his Hit Dice (1d6+8) and scores a 5 on his roll. Added to 8, this is 13 -- higher than his original Base Hit Points -- which he then replaces his Base Hit Points with.

Stephan gains a further Level and selects to train as a Thief. He first rerolls his Hit Dice and rolls a 2. Added to 8 this is 10 -- less than his current Base -- so he retains the 13. To this 13 he adds 1d6+5, rolling a 2, for a total of 7 additional Hit Points to Base. Stephan's new Base Hit Points are 20 and his new Hit Dice are 2d6+13.

Stephan, in the course of his adventuring gets killed. His companions take his body to the Hospital Main and a Surgeon applies a technique that brings him back life (Stephan makes his Death Save after Major Healing is applied). As a result Stephan must reroll his Hit Dice and keep the lesser of the result or his present Base Hit Points. Stephan rolls his 2d6 and gets a 6, which he then adds 13 to for a total of 19. Since this is less than his present Base of 20, his new Base Hit Points are 19.

In other news, I think I am pleased with the revisions I have made to the Armor system. I think this blogging process has helped in putting together my thoughts on Sophia's Children and is moving the process of a releasable playtest document more of a possibility.

The Thief

"Our ancestors lived upon the Ark for many generations, circling the oceans. Our Great Bows are a natural development of the throwing spears we employed in hunting Great Sea Beasts while upon the Ark. During the Settling Time the Tribal-Kings in their Ritual-Battles soon realized that throwing your weapon away simply allowed the enemy to throw it back. The Great Bow and Arrow soon followed as the main Arms of Warfare when at a distance to the Enemy."
-Njabulo, Historian and Resident of the Bantu Conclave in Nein

In this blog post I want to talk about the Thief and its Abilities within the game. For review, all PCs begin at "Level 0" and choose their Class at Level 1. Classes have Primary Ability Scores and Secondary Ability Scores. They receive a single point towards their Primary Ability Score at Level 1 and points towards subsequent Levels as detailed here. In addition, all Classes have Requirements for entry: for the Thief this is a minimum of Agility 1 and Intellect 1 -- a Thief requires at least average speed, reflexes, guile and wit to excel in his craft.

The Primary Ability Score of the Thief is Agility, Secondary Ability Scores are Strength and Intellect. Below is an example of how this all is summarized for a Class, using the Thief as the example:

A Thief exploiting Line of Sight
to utilize a Murder Skill with his Short Bow

Class: Thief, Requirements: Agility 1, Intellect 1
Primary Ability Score: Agility, Secondary Ability Scores: Strength, Intellect

Each PC, at Level 1, rolls for an additional Background element that is added to their existing Background up to the point of selecting his Class. This Background element, naturally, is dictated by Class. I talk about Backgrounds prior to Class selection here and here. Here are some examples of Backgrounds for Thieves:

1: You have spent your training period as a Thug, muscle used to send a message or extract compliance out of Guild membership or City citizenry.
2: You are part of a small group of Cutpurses and pay the local Guild a Tax so as to secure your territory.
3: You have been apprenticed to a Fence as part of your initial training in Thievery: looking out for the Guard and screening potential clients for your Master.

Thieves, in Sophia's Children, are beholden -- to one degree or another -- to the Thief Guilds. The Guild is a coalition of various interests and entities who, themselves, may be more or less organized. But they all answer to The Boss -- who has the final say in the criminal goings on within a City. Some Cities, such as Nein, have more than one Boss -- this always results in an ongoing feud between the competing Guilds as they vie for power, territory and influence over the various criminal cabals they oversee.

Thieves have Skills for their Abilities which come in two general types: Active and Passive. Active Skills are Advanced Abilities and move an Action Point into the Short Reserve when used. Passive Skills are always-on Abilities that confer a bonus whenever certain conditions are met, but require a permanent reduction of Action Points to learn. Thieves are able to, in the interaction between their Active and Passive Skills, employ combination moves that exploit status conditions and leverage buffs. I talk more about Action Points and their use with Abilities in this post.

Active Skills

The Active Skills of the Thief come in two kinds: Murder and Cunning. Murder Skills require Strength to train in (as indicated by the Skill description) and a Thief may only have a number of Murder Skills trained equal to his Strength Score. Similarly, Cunning Skills require Agility to train and the number of Cunning Skills trained in may not exceed the Agility Score proper.

Passive Skills

Passive Skills are called Guiles and function differently than Actives. Guiles have no Requirements, but only one may be learned for every two points of Intellect. E.G.: Intellect 1, 2: One Guile; Intellect 3, 4: Two Guiles. In addition, learning a Guile results in a permanent deduction of 2 Action Points from the Character's Base Action Points.

Indeed, Thieves keep up appearances with and are even
members of the various Overlord Courts

Skill Trees

Active and Passive Skills also exist within Skill Trees where the acquisition of one Skill depends upon having learned a previous Skill. Learning the new Skill "overwrites" the previous Skill instead of using up one of the Thief's available Skill "slots." As with all training in Sophia's Children, this does not depend upon "skill points, feats slots etc.," but only having the available funds, access to a trainer and meeting the Ability Score requirements.

Example Skills

Backstab, Murder Skill (Requirements: Strength 1)
You have learned the excellent methods of killing from behind using cutting or piercing weapons.
Make a Melee Attack using a cutting or piercing Weapon against an opponent you are Flanking. If this attack connects you do Double Damage.

Sap, Murder Skill (Requirements: Strength 1)

You have learned the means by which to stun an enemy using clubbing instruments by way of surprise.
Make a Melee Attack using a bludgeoning Weapon against an opponent you are Flanking. If this attack connects you Stun them in addition to the usual Damage.

Hide in Shadows, Cunning Skill (Requirements: Agility 1)
You can slip into the shadows of battle.
As long as you are Unarmored or wearing Light Armor that you meet the Strength Requirement for, you can Run and slip into the shadows of the battle, acquiring the Hidden status. This movement invokes the usual effects of Running (Provoking Opportunity Attacks) and if this movement is stopped by an Opportunity Attack you do not become Hidden.

Tumbling Attack, Cunning Skill (Requirements: Agility 1)
You use an acrobatic flourish to bound towards your target.
As long as you are Unarmored or wearing Light Armor that you meet the Strength Requirement for, you can Run and make a Basic Attack that CAN NOT be Intercepted by your opponents.

Stabby, Guile
You are adept at causing terrible injuries with cutting instruments.
Whenever you make an attack that HITS with a Melee Weapon that cuts or pierces, you do an additional 1d6 Damage if the attack roll is a Natural-Even number.

A Group of Hassan Thieves

Bruiser, Guile
You know just what to do to with a bashing weapon to upset your opponent's combat effectiveness.
Whenever you make an attack that HITS with a Melee Weapon that bludgeons or bashes, you induce a Slow effect (Standard Save) as long as you roll a Natural-Even number.

The tactics that a Thief will employ in combat are very different from the tactics of either the Fighter or the Magic-user. The Thief must take care to utilize the correct weaponry or armor depending on the focus of his Skills and derives maximum lethal potential from the combination of his Guiles and Active Skills.

Fighters & Weapon Proficiencies

"If you get caught by two Guardsmen on patrol you'll have a chance to get away. If the alarm bells are rang they will likely arrive with reinforcement and lethal arms. If you really dagger things up they'll set themselves upon the mechanical siren-horns, which will put the local military garrison in high alert -- you'll be better off just jumping straight into the sewers if that happens!"
-Polly the Burglar, advising a novice group on their heist. . .

Fighters, through their training at the Academies across the Mother Empire gain access to Weapon Proficiencies, specialized methods of employing their arms in combat. Some Weapon Profiencies are a basic skillset for a particular weapon type -- others are a specialized focus on a particular weapon. Still further Weapon Proficiencies deal with certain Styles of combat that opens up still further options.

Some examples of Weapon Profiencies: Weapon Proficiency: Swords, Weapon Proficiency: Daggers, Weapon Style: Twin Weapons, Mixed Weapon Style: Daggers, Weapon Specialization: Light Blades, Twinned Weapon Style, Shield Proficiency.

Each Weapon Proficiency gives a Fighter access to an Advanced Attack and a Power Attack when equipped in a manner specific to that Proficiency. A Fighter may learn many Proficiencies across his lifetime, limited only by his funds and time devoted to further study at the Academy or a private Arms-Master. The one caveat is that a Fighter may only retain one of any sort of overlapping Proficiency. For instance: A Fighter may only know Weapon Proficiency: Swords OR Weapon Specialization: Light Blades. Also: Some Proficiencies are a prerequisite for another. For example, access to training in Light Blade specialization is only possible AFTER having trained in the basic Proficiency in Swords.

A Fighter learning the Mixed Weapon Style from her Arms-Master

The beginning set of Proficiencies available to the Fighter in the playtest will include options for basic Proficiency in the included weaponry, as well as Style Proficiencies in Two-handed Weapons, Twinned Weapon Style and Shield use. I have included some examples below of two such proficiencies directly from my draft notes.

Weapon Proficiency: Maces (Requires: Strength 1, Agility 1)
You have learned how to capitalize on the tremendous crushing power of Maces.
Advanced Attack: You must NOT move as part of this attack. Make one attack against two different targets in Melee Range.
Power Attack: You must have Poise to employ this move. Make an attack against one target. If it hits, you Stun the target in addition to double normal damage. If it misses, you do normal damage as if you hit.

Weapon Proficiency: Swords (Requires: Strength 1, Agility 1)
You have honed your skill in blades so as to cause maximum effect with their edges.
Advanced Attack: You must have Poise to employ this move. Make an attack. If it hits, you cause Bleeding equal to (Agility * Damage Grade of Weapon used) that requires a Standard Save to remove.
Power Attack: You must be Flanking your target to make this attack. Attack one target, if it hits you cause Bleeding equal to (Agility * Damage Grade of Weapon used * 2). You also deal an additional 2d6 Damage with this attack if it connects successfully.

Note: Weapon Proficiency -- like most all abilties within Sophia's Children -- is NOT an effect of "Character Building" and is NOT limited by "skill points" (no such pretense exists in the System) et cetera (except in case of "overlapping" Proficiencies as noted above). The character pays for this training and looks for access to trainers during the play of the game itself. Indeed, a Fighter may find in her adventures special Arms-Masters that can teach alternate variations of certain Proficiencies and still more exotic Specializations.

Saints, Prayers, Orisons (Persona!)

"The Priest began murmuring to herself, a secret Prayer! With my mind's eye I saw a Glamer of Saint Jude the Hope-Giver wrapped around her. The Priest opened her eyes and then drove forth against the Godling brute. The power of her Faith drove her blade directly into the brain of the Monster, slaying him as he stood!"
-Tomas the Rogue, Adventurer

I've been musing on the Priest Class some more this week. As an aside here, I find that long walks and runs (that I take either very late at night or early in the morning) fuel my creativity a great deal! Sometimes, when I am stumped or stuck, I go do something very physically indulgent or athletic to get my Right-Brain muscles in gear! I suppose I would be considered a "Fit-Beard" in modern OSR parlance. LOL. . . Anyways. . .

Returning to the topic of Priests. Their Prayers are granted through their Devotion to the Saints, which are channeled through the Priest's Patron Saint -- the Demi-Spirit installed within the Priest after being initiated. As they increase their Devotion to particular Saints their access to that Saint's Prayers and the power of its associated Orison increases. I posted a very, very simple example, Saint Michael the Confessor. Let me expand on this example by showing the other elements of Saints:

Saint Michael the Confessor: The ancient Warrior-Priest, known for his Mercy upon the battlefield. He grants the energies of flesh-stitching beneficence to the Petitioner.
The Confessor appears as a large male Knight, clad head-to-toe in silvery plate-armor with a baroque great helm. He is further wrapped in white cloths standing tall with arms stretched out without weaponry or shield in his hands.
The Confessor's voice, when heard, is a soothing but booming bass-tone. He is impatient and prefers to get right to the business of healing -- the Petitioning Priest should be ready to direct the attentions of the Confessor immediately upon finishing the Prayer. 

Saint Michael is Resonant with Saint Bessus the Protector and Dissonant with Saint Jude the Hope-Giver.

Devotion Level	Devotion (in SP)	Prayer Access	Orison Granted
1	1,000	Prayer for Relief x1	"Glory to the Warriors"
2	3,000	Prayer for Relief x2	"Glory to the Warriors"
3	7,000	Prayer for Relief x3	"Glory to the Warriors"
4	15,000	Prayer for Relief x4, Prayer for Respite x1	"Glory to the Warriors"

Prayer for Relief: Touch 2 Allies, bestows Minor Healing to them according to Invocation Level* modified by Intellect. This is a Supreme Ability (Burns 1 Action Point). 

Prayer for Respite: Touch 2 Allies, bestows Minor Healing to them according to Invocation Level modified by Intellect. Also bestows Temporary Hit Points according to Invocation Level modified by Intellect. this is a Supreme Ability (Burns 1 Action Point).

Glory to the Warriors: Touch 1 Ally who is Wounded (Wounds are greater than 0). That Ally is granted Temporary Hit Points according to Invocation Level modified by Intellect. Cannot target oneself. This is an Advanced Ability (Places 1 Action Point into the Short Reserve).

*Level 1 Invocation is 1d6 + (Ability Score * 1.0).

A couple of further notes regarding Priests which will assist the reader in understanding what I have just described. Priests are either Invokers or Evokers in the channeling of their energies -- this is chosen at Level 1. Some Saints have Prayers available to only one kind (such as Saint Michael), other Saints have two versions of their granted Prayers and Orisons for Invokers and Evokers.

The Invoking Priest focuses on instilling awe in the flock and fear in the enemies of the Faith. The Evoking Priest focuses on making firm the bodies and mind of the flock, as well as inhibiting the forces of the Enemy. These two paths each have minor abilities that can be channeled apart from Prayers and Orisons. That is for a later post, but two examples: Invokers can effortlessly soothe the minds of mortals and instill anxiety in the minds of horrors (such as the Possessed), whereas Evokers can effortlessly numb the physical pain of mortal beings, but cause stinging pain all over the bodies of horrific beings.

One additional point regarding the Devotional Contribution of Priests to their Saints. As Priests choose to invest their time and money into Saints, they must consider that some Saints are Resonant or Dissonant with each other. Points put towards a Saint apply 10% of these points towards any Resonant Saints, but this same 10% is deducted from the Dissonant Saint -- though this penalty can never reduce Devotion below 0.

Example: Sister Lucretia St. Rex has put 1,000 Silver Pieces towards the rituals and materials to further devote herself to Saint Michael the Confessor. Saint Michael is Resonant with Saint Bessus, to 100 Points are added to Lucretia's Devotion to Bessus. Since Saint Michael is Dissonant with Saint Jude, 100 Points are deducted from Lucretia's Devotion to him.

One final note before signing off for the day -- I'm hoping to make it out to the Goth Club later tonight LOL -- Orisons function differently than Prayers. They are NOT forgotten when Cast and can be used many times per day -- as they simply move the Action Point so used into the Short Reserve. If you have been reading my previous posts on Magic and Abilities, any Action Points in the Short Reserve are returned, one at a time, to the available Action Point pool in any round where no Action Points are spent.

A Priest can access many different Orisons depending on his Devotion to various Saints. This Orison becomes more powerful at higher levels of Devotion (I have only included up to Level 4 here, the Orison for Saint Michael "upgrades" at Level 5). Even though Orisons are not forgotten when Cast, a Priest can only have a number of Orisons Memorized equal to his Intellect. A Priest with access to many different Orisons will need to consider which Orisons to commit to memory before heading out on adventures!

The Priest Class

"All within the Mother Empire are of either of the Laity or the Clergy. Some of the Laity work within the Church -- they are a special class known as the Curacy. This separation of citizenry is mirrored in the Government. Only the Laity may be appointed to positions of executor in Civil or Military affairs -- the Governor and Grand Marshall at the highest levels, respectively. Only Clergy may be appointed to positions of Judge within the Parishes."
-Sister Belinda St. Rex, High Priest of Nein

JB over at B/X BLACKRAZOR posted some thoughts on the Cleric, which made me think about where the Priest Class is in terms of design in Sophia's Children. I thought this would make an interesting post on its own.

Priests, within the world of Sophia's Children, attune themselves to the Saints to acquire Prayers -- strange Abilities gifted to them by their Faith. Priests also have minor Abilities called Orisons that they can Cast at-will. Instead of Spells in a Spellbook, Priests must manage their Devotion to particular Saints -- furthering their Devotion to a particular Saint allow for increased access to that Saint's Prayer, and eventually more powerful expressions of this Prayer.

Priests undergo a strict screening process within the Mother Empire and are brought into the Church as Acolytes for their education. At the completion of their training they must pass a Test at a place called the Hall of Souls where they are Judged to be Competent enough for the Priesthood or Incompetent. Those who are Judged to be Incompetent may continue in the role of a Deacon (a minor Clergy-person less privilege than a full-clothed Priest), those who pass become Priests.

An Artistic Interpretation of the Hall of Souls 

Acolytes who return from the Hall of Souls as Priests have a Patron Saint. Indeed, the Faithful Laity will consider these Priests the very embodiment of that Saint -- much in the same way the Messiah is considered the embodiment of Sophia. This is reflected in surname of the Priest (E.G.: St. Rex, St. Alden, St. Michael).

Priests will experience their Patron in a variety of ways. For some it is a voice in their heads. Others, the Saint speaks through their mouths out loud instead of into their Mind. Some Priests actually experience their Patron as a hallucination in the environment, though this vision is only in the Mind of the Priest and the Patron cannot physically exert himself upon the world.

Each Patron has a unique Personality and Alignment -- Priests are not necessarily in complete harmony with their Patron. Also, the Patron is simply an avatar of the original Saint -- a Patron may embody the principles of the Saint, but also may not! Though tension may exist twixt a Priest and his Patron, the two personalities are bonded to one another for the Life of the Priest, so the Patron will never act this tension out maliciously.

Returning to the notion of Saints and the Prayers they gift upon the Faithful Priests. . .

Priests, by putting time and energy into a particular Saint, may increase their access to that Saint's Prayer. The initial Level of Devotion allows for a Priest to Memorize the Saint's simplest Prayer once. And, as with Magic-users, once this Memorized Prayer is Cast it is forgotten. A Priest may increase his access to Memorize multiple Castings of a Prayer by increasing his Devotion.

How does a Priest increase his Devotion? A Priest tithes his Silver to the Church and pays for ritual materials. He must also spend time in Holy Places meditating upon the Saint. In the Game System, after certain Levels of payment have been reached, the Priest raises his Level of Devotion for that particular Saint.

Here is an example straight from my draft notes:

Saint Michael the Confessor

Devotion Level	Prayer Access
1	Prayer for Relief x1
2	Prayer for Relief x2
3	Prayer for Relief x3
4	Prayer for Relief x4, Prayer for Respite x1

A Priest must Cast their Prayers through a Holy Cross -- a token of their Faith used when channeling the strange powers granted by the Hall of Souls. Once a Prayer is Cast -- as with Magic-users -- it is forgotten. A Priest may regain and rearrange his Memorized Prayers during his Upkeep -- the time between major excursions. A Priest may also utilize any fortunes gained towards the increase of his Devotions for particular Saints of his choosing.

There are several more elements that make Priests similar to and different from Magic-users that I have not elaborated on in this post. I'll be elaborating more on this Class in the future, but I am now focused on producing a cohesive set of rules for a simple playtest document.