Pointless Question #66

Hey, you over there, yes, you, the person from the fantasy/dungeonpunk/laser blade space opera over there! What precisely is it about your sword that makes it so cool?

D&Dify: Hizzy Rules

Well, I've been thinking of some extra ways of customizing characters, and I think I've come up with a few good ideas. Looking for some input.

Background bonuses: Since 4th Edition's pretty streamlined, it's sometimes hard for me to think of ways to put in little pieces of individuality for my characters. So, house rules to the rescue.

First, take the "standard" background bonuses available to characters: Two associated skills with the region/personal history/whatever background. You either get a +2 bonus to one or add it to your class skills.

The next bit is my idea: You get one background "quirk" for each tier of play. Paragon- and Epic-tier quirks are unique characteristics you've acquired over the course of adventuring. These quirks generally don't provide statistical bonuses, but the idea's broad enough to require DM approval. Some examples:

Elemental Prestidigitation: A good quirk for non-Wizard arcanists. Only usable in non-stressful situations. Example with my desert sorcerer: He gets "sand" as his element. He can do Prestidigitation-like abilities, so long as they involve sand, like conjuring a bed of sand to lie back on, forming sand sculptures that crumble once he stops concentrating, turning sand into rough glass objects, etcetera.

Daily Ritual: You can perform a chosen level 1 ritual once a day for free, possibly with restrictions. Example: I have a concept for a NPC wind-oriented Shaman who can perform the Animal Messenger ritual with birds.

Warforged Prosthetic: My desert sorcerer's paragon-tier quirk: He's a southpaw who lost his right arm to a werecroc and replaced it with a effigy look-alike. It doesn't give him any bonus to his ability scores like the old Arm of Nyr, but it does allow him to embed or attach Warforged components. He usually keeps an off-hand weapon embedded.

Bonus Language: It seems a bit off that there don't seem to be many ways to learn new languages.

Any thoughts?

D&Dify Some Stuff #5

WANTED: Individuals of varied talents to join a new secretive group devoted to sabotaging aggressive military groups and retrieving stolen relics and confiscated arcane literature.

Uniform: Black and gray camo with hexagonal shoulder guard and individualized animal/magical beast mask. Each member is assigned a number.

Current members: Captains 16, 25, and 36.

Must have some talent for secrecy or stealth, or barring that, exceptional ability to avoid capture. Nonlethal methods of disabling opponents strongly preferred. We have a reputation to build.

Positions in higher demand:

Intelligence officer: 16 needs an ally to gather information on war machines in development, as well as tracking of goods stolen from recently invaded cities.

Meat Shield: Combat role of questionable glory: Must be able to protect softer, magically-oriented allies from enemy advances and be hardy enough to withstand the bulk of an assault.

Okay, now out of character: Been writing up a group like this made of some of my characters, and ideas for some additional members would be nice. The three mentioned captains are 12th level in 4th Edition stats, and have the Leader, Striker, and Controller roles filled, and need a Defender to round out. Feel free to drop in any character concepts, even if it's just for some of the lower ranks.

D&Dify Some Stuff #4

Tonight, on the Money Programme, we're going to talk about money... I always loved money...

Okay, seriously, I'm thinking about all the forms currency can come in, and for some worldbuilding stuff, I'd like ideas on what can be made into currency.

In one of my settings, I've got a chain of islands where the natives have learned the art of farming pearls. One form of currency comes in the form of rectangular pearl tiles with a hole in one end so that the tiles can be threaded together with a string. They've been known to snicker slightly when a foreigner wears it as jewelry.

Of course, pearls would probably be one of the upper tier, like gold or platinum, so I'd like ideas for what a culture with relatively little metal to work with could use for pennies.

Any other interesting forms of currency are welcome in the thread. I'll be skimming Wikipedia.