Monday, March 24, 2008

Good Ideas and Second Thoughts

Last week, in response to an RPG.net thread about running Scion using SotC, Rob Donoghue posted this brilliant idea:

"I would be tempted to introduce two currencies - mortal and divine fate points. Maybe split refresh between them, but I'll touch on that more in a little bit.

"See, while I would divide the currency, I would not divide the aspects. Since the game is really about that line between mortality and divinity, I would view every aspect with an eye on trying to figure out it's mundane and its mythic resonance. Something like "Bad Temper" is straightforward enough on a mundane level, but on a mythic level it might shake the earth or call storms from the sky or otherwise be something dramatic and destructive. Basically, how would this aspect play out if Odin had it? By the same token, a divine compel is can be more dramatic and metaphorical - it may well be that the character is literally attacked by demons of anger as a compel on his Bad Temper.

"With that understanding, the division in currency hopefully becomes more apparent. How and invocation or a compel plays ties to which currency is used. If the player uses his bad temper to punch a guy, he spends a mortal FP. If he uses it to strike down the bar with furious thunder, he spends a divine FP. Similarly, if his bad temper gets him in trouble with the cops, that might earn a mundane FP, while drawing the attention of one of the Furies might earn a divine FP.

"Given that, you get a nice dial on how divine things get and how fast. You could start the game with nothing but mortal FP and introduce divine FP solely through compels, and as the game progresses, you could start splitting the refresh pool of FP between divine & Mortal points, so after a few sessions, players may begin play with 2 divine point and 8 mortal ones. This also has the interesting twist that as the game grows more divine, mortal FP become rarer and it becomes harder to go to the bar for a beer without things being EPIC.

"For artifacts and such, I would be inclined to go for a more abstract system of putting aspects on these items that correlate with their legend. These are pretty much purely divine aspects, but depending on the artifact might allow one or more free tags. That could get fiddly, and it depends a lot on how central you want artifacts to be."


It's a great idea for Scion, obviously, but the concept of having differing flavors of Fate Points can apply to any number of genres. I've heard it (or something similar) proposed for Star Wars games, aka "Spirit of the Force," using Dark Side Points. Acquire more Dark Side Points than Fate Points and bad things happen -- use those Dark Side points and even worse things happen. I've thought about introducing an honor mechanic of some kind into "Spirit of the West" to represent the moralistic determinism of Westerns. There's the sense that some people just have it coming. Infamy Points might just do the trick there: If your Infamy Point total surpasses your Fate Point total, you gain a new Aspect: "Wanted."

(Of course, an Honor Stress track might do the same, so... the quandry persists.)

As for "SotS," it occurred to me in the car this morning that there might not be any need for a Magic skill at all. What if spellcasting were a stunt category of Art? And if artifice fell under Crafting? And hedge magic under Survival? It's a very different take on things, one that posits magic as an extension of daily life and mundane skills. I'm intrigued by the idea -- maybe not enough to implement it now, although I'm not ruling out the possibility. I'm interested in seeing your take on this, too, so fire away.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Fantasy: Stunts, Status-Weapons [Melee]

Sorry for the big delay. Rest assured, I'm still neck-deep in this stuff. Recently I've gotten a little side-tracked with a related project -- mass combat rules -- but here are the last few stunts.

Status: New skill!

  • Of The People: Whether you used to be one of the little people or simply bother to show an interest in their lives, they love you. When dealing with someone whose Status is below yours, you may use Status in place of Rapport.
  • Imperious Mien [Prerequisite: Highborn Arrogance]: You never let anyone forget you're better than them. Status can only complement Intimidation for you, and never restrict. Additionally, you may defend against Intimidation with Status.
  • Highborn Arrogance [Prerequisite: Highborn]: The affairs of others mean little to you, or so it seems. You may defend against any Rapport attempts with Status.
  • Friends in High Places [Prerequisite: Highborn]: Your position in society makes you better connected than most. When trying to find people or information through your own network of informants, you may use Status instead of Contacting.
  • Blood of Forebears [Prerequisite: Associated Aspect]: You are descended from an inspirational (or feared) figure whose blood flows strongly in your veins. When rallying (or bullying, as the case may be) people to your banner -- that is, lead them on the field of battle -- you may use Status instead of Leadership.
  • Highborn [Prerequisite: Associated Aspect]: The character is of recognized nobility of some kind – landed gentry, the daughter of a duke, a prince, or the like. Even if his actual Status skill is not high, he is still considered to be of high birth, just not necessarily the highest. The character receives a +1 reputation bonus when using Status in his own country. He may also pick a specialty (such a specific city or a sparsely populated county) for which he receives an additional +1 specialty bonus.
  • Some other skills require a reciprocal Status-related stunt, such as a Leadership stunt that lets you use your Leadership in place of Status to defend against Intimidation. Those will go in later.

Stealth:

  • Change prerequisite for "Shadowed Strike" from "Master of Shadows and Vanish" to "Master of Shadows or Vanish." I would like someone to actually be able to take "Shadowed Strike" for once.

Survival:

  • Some of these Beasts stunts need a flavor change from Tarzan to druid. They can work as-is, for the most part, but they need a different vibe.
  • Change "Animal Friend" to "Wild Speech."
  • Change "King of the Beasts" to "Wild Born."
  • Move "Hell Bent for Leather," "Ride Anything," and "Breaking It In" to Ride.
  • Rename Orientation to Woodcraft.
  • Trackless Step: You are difficult to track outdoors. Anyone trying to track you suffers a -2 penalty, and all such attempts take twice as long. For a Fate Point, this benefit applies to anyone you're traveling with, as well.
  • Hunter's Grace [Prerequisite: Trackless Step]: So accustomed are you to the outdoors that your tread is as soundless as an animal's. When in a natural setting, you may use Survival in place of Stealth.
  • Champion of the Wild [Prerequisite: One other Survival stunt]: You see the wilderness not just as a home, but as tactical terrain, and know how to use it to your advantage. When in a natural setting, your Survival skill complements either your Melee or Missile skill (pick one when you take this stunt).

Weapons [Melee]:

  • Keep all Proficiency stunts as-is. Nearly all Fists and Weapons stunts now apply equally to unarmed and armed attacks alike.
  • Cut all Thrown stunts (they're under Missile now).
  • Rename "Weapon of Destiny" to "Signature Weapon"; it functions just as the stunt of the same name under Missile, but for the Melee skill instead. In fact, it'd probably be better to just make that a General stunt.
  • Martial Training [Prerequisite: Associated Aspect]: When you gain this stunt, you must pick a category of weapons: unarmed, one-handed, or two-handed. Your training in martial pursuits have honed your abilities into a finely disciplined form that is part combat skill, part art form. This gives you an acute insight into the means and methods of warfare.
    You may use your Melee skill to study an opponent by engaging him and testing his defenses with your own martial techniques in your chosen category. You must do this as a full action during an exchange. Your target must defend against this action, which is essentially a maneuver, with his Melee skill.
    If you succeed, you have gained insight to your target’s fighting techniques, and may place an Aspect on the target, as with a successful maneuver. In addition, whenever you tag this or any other of your opponent's Aspects during combat, you gain an additional +1 to your roll, for a total of +3 instead of the normal tagging bonus of +2. These bonuses and effects only apply when using a weapon from your chosen category (unarmed, one-handed, or two-handed).
  • Remove all prerequisites requiring "Brawler."
  • Rename "Dirty Fighter" to "Opportunist."
  • Rename "Crippling Blow" to "Critical Strike."
  • Rename "Mix It Up" to "Steel Whirlwind."
  • Rename "One Against Many" to "Tavern Regular."
  • Rename "Fists of Fury" to "Frenzy."
  • Cut "Fist of Death." The alternate consequence system in use here just makes it a bit too powerful, IMO.
  • Cut "Lethal Weapon" for the same reaosn.
  • Cut "Signature Strike." Personally, I like this as a quality for heavy weapons, and I don't want to dilute the coolness of that by making it freely available as a stunt.
  • Hold The Line [Prerequisite: One other Melee stunt]: When blocking an opponent's movement, you may use Melee instead of Athletics. If your effort results in spin, the blocked opponent takes a point of Health Stress, as per Riposte.
  • Armored Fighter [Prerequisite: Martial Training]: When wearing medium or heavy armor, reduce the armor's penalty to Athletics by 1.
  • Duelist [Prerequisite: Martial Training, associated Aspect]: When using a one-handed weapon without a shield in your off hand, efforts to defend or block using Melee receive a +1 bonus.
  • Reaver [Prerequisite: Martial Training, associated Aspect]: Once per scene, when an attack you make using a two-handed weapon results in your opponent taking a consequence, spend a Fate Point to immediately make a second attack against a different opponent in the same zone. If that attack results in a consequence as well, you may spend a second Fate Point to immediately attack a third opponent, and so on. No opponent can be attacked twice in the same round using this stunt, but as long as you have enough fresh opponents taking consequences, this can go on for as long as your supply of Fate Points will allow.
  • Two-Weapon Style [Prerequisite: Duelist, one other Melee stunt, associated Aspect]: When you gain spin on a defense, spend a Fate Point to immediately make an attack against that opponent. This can only be done once per opponent per scene, and does not count as your normal action in the exchange. You cannot gain the benefit of both this stunt and Turnabout in the same round.
  • Hold At Bay [Prerequisite: Martial Training]: This stunt only applies to weapons with the "Long"Aspect. When invoking your weapon's "Long" Aspect in combat, whether to attack, defend, or block, get an additional +1 from doing so, for a total of +3 instead of the usual +2.
  • Shield Defender: When using a shield, get an additional +1 to a full defense (total +3) or block action.
  • Trust The Shield: When wielding a shield, you may sacrifice it to reduce an incoming attack's damage by 2. This reduction stacks with that provided by taking consequence.
  • Combat Monster [Prerequisite: Martial Training, one other Melee stunt]: In combat, after successfully attacking an opponent, you may spend a Fate Point to immediately make an Intimidation check against that or a different opponent in the same zone. Your Intimidation check is complemented by your Melee skill.
  • Master of Battle [Prerequisite: Martial Training, two other Melee stunts]: Once per scene, whenever one of your attacks results in an opponent taking a physical consequence, you may spend a Fate Point to adjust the severity of that consequence up or down by one degree. For example, if your opponent chooses to take a Medium consequence, you could spend a Fate Point to make that a Minor or Severe consequence (essentially, a choice between making him take more Health Stress, or letting him reduce Health Stress taken in exchange for inflicting a more long-lasting injury). No consequence may be increased in severity beyond Severe or below Minor.
  • Cut all other Kung Fu stunts. It's all possible, but it's not especially genre-appropriate.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Fantasy: Stunts, Leadership-Sleight of Hand (except Magic)

Whew! Little unintentional break there. Apparently they're only putting seven days in a week now. I blame the delay on Magic (see below).

Anyway, as with the last batch of these, many stunts can be ported as-is directly into "Spirit of the Sword," and many others need nothing more than a name change.

Leadership: As part of divorcing this skill from the assumption that the PCs are part of a globe-spanning organization, it loses a number of stunts.

  • Rename "Personal Conspiracy" to "Guild Member," and adjust accordingly, as below:
  • "Taking this stunt is an explicit indication that you are a member of some manner of professional guild; it’s probably worth making sure you have an aspect indicating as much. This stunt functions identically to the Network of Contacts stunt for Contacting, but in a fashion that is both more and less powerful than that stunt.
    "Whenever you call upon a fellow member of your guild, creating a companion on the fly, the companion is created with only one advance. If, instead, you’re looking to call upon one of the movers and shakers of your organization – not a peer, per se, but at least someone who’s significantly more capable than a run-of-the-mill member – you may instead create the companion with one additional advance. This companion receives the Independent advance for free.
    "Doing so, however, means that your guild now has one or two needs you must fulfill. You immediately gain a temporary aspect related to these needs, determined by the GM, and may not refuse compels of this temporary aspect whenever it comes up. Occasionally this temporary aspect may instead reflect a hidden agenda on the part of your momentary companion, rather than an explicit 'need.'"
  • Y'know, this might just be better under Contacting, along with Guild Coffers, below.
  • Rename "Lieutenant" to "Henchman" and remove the requirement to buy it more than once. If you want Baldrick, have at it. Otherwise, pretty much the same.
  • Cut "Legal Eagle" and "World Court" (for now -- I can see applications for them, but they're not especially exciting and can probably be handled adequately through Aspects).
  • Rename "Funding" to "Guild Coffers" and add "Prerequisite: Guild Member."
  • Charismatic Leader [Prerequisite: Associated Aspect]: When your reputation as a leader would benefit you, you may use Leadership instead of Rapport.
  • Quake Before Me [Prerequisite: Associated Aspect]: When your reputation as a leader would benefit you, you may use Leadership instead of Intimidation.
  • Force of Personality [Prerequisite: Either Charismatic Leader or Quake Before Me]: When it comes to social situations of any kind, your natural qualities as a leader simply can't be ignored. In appropriate situations, you may use Leadership instead of Status.
  • Renowned [Prerequisite: One other Leadership stunt]: The character is a recognized leader of some kind – a ranking member of a guild, a military officer, a politician, or the like. Even if his actual skill level is not high, he is still considered a fine leader, just not necessarily the best. The character receives a +1 reputation bonus when using Leadership in a particular milieu, such as combat, politics, or business. He may also pick a specialty (such a specific military unit, a specific city, or a specific guild) for which he receives an additional +1 specialty bonus.

Might:

  • Rename "Herculean Strength" to "Ogre Power."
  • Savage Fighter [Prerequisite: Wrestler]: Use Might instead of Melee when fighting with a two-handed weapon.

Mysteries [Magic]: After several attempts to list Magic stunts without first explaining magic, I've given up. These stunts will have to wait for the future blog entry on Magic, which should be coming up right after I finish posting all the stunts. As far as stunts are concerned, though, Magic has six stunt categories, five of which match the five brands of magic in "SotS":

  • Alchemy (concocting potions, elixirs, and other forms of spells in bottles)
  • Artifice (enchanting items or creating enchanted items, either temporarily or permanently)
  • Magecraft (conventional spellcasting)
  • Spirits (more or less the same as in SotC)
  • Summoning (everything from allies to walls to gold)
  • The sixth category, "Hedge Magic," is equivalent to SotC's "Secrets" category, sans "Herbal Remedies."

Pilot [Seamanship]:

  • Rename "Flight" to "Seamanship" and apply it to water travel instead.
  • Cut "Barnstormer." I don't even see a good equivalent for it.
  • Rename "Fly By Night" to "Tempest-Tossed" and limit it to weather conditions.
  • Cut "Flying Ace" and "Death From Above."
  • Sea Legs: When on watercraft, you may use Seamanship in place of Athletics.
  • Sea Dog [Prerequisite: Sea Legs]: To you, a boat or ship is a repository of improvised weaponry. Gaffs, clubs, oars, rope -- thanks to your years at sea, they're all second-nature to you. When on watercraft, you may use Seamanship in place of Melee.
  • Rename "Walk Away From It" to "Storm Survivor."
  • Rename the "Planes" category to "Watercraft."
  • Rename "Personal Vessel" to "Personal Watercraft" (dull, I know, but what's the alternative?).
  • Rename "Prototype Aircraft" to "Masterwork Vessel."
  • Rename "Plane Mechanic" to "Boatwright." There are few other vehicles besides boats, though, that can benefit from Boatwright; the usual rule about applying one's knowledge of planes to other vehicles might not apply, ever.
  • A Friend in Every Port: You've seen plenty of harbors in your time. Use Seamanship instead of Contacting when in port, or when your experience or reputation as a sailor would apply to the situation at hand.

Rapport:

  • Rename "Five Minute Friends" to "Fast Friends."
  • Rename "International" to "Well-Traveled."
  • Rename "Ladies' Man/Popular Gal" with "Comely Lad/Lass."

Resolve:

  • Rename "Cool" to "Discipline."
  • Rename "Smooth Recovery" to "Disciplined Mind."
  • Rename "Cool Customer" to "Pull It Together."

Resources:

  • I'm a little apprehensive about "Headquarters." For one thing, the name isn't especially evocative of the genre (but as of press time I'm stuck for a better one). Second, Otherwise, probably as-is. Additional modifications are bound to come to mind later, and some other stunts could stand to be renamed, but the existing stunts are all applicable in one way or another. There's also the issue of whether to even use Resources at all, or just cut it and install an actual economy in its place.

Science [Medicine]:

  • Cut "Forensic Medicine." In the unlikely event that something like that comes up, just make it a normal Medicine roll. Not much information is likely to be gained from it, anyway.
  • Cut "Doctor." If Medicine is the only use of Science, then having a stunt that does nothing more than give a flat +2 isn't viable.
  • Rename "Medic" to "Healer."
  • Rename "Surgeon" to "Churgeon," make "Healer" a prerequisite, and cut the specialization requirement.
  • Should Magic's "Herbal Remedies" be here instead? I'm kinda thinking it should, although if that happened I'm not sure what purpose it would serve beyond using Medicine instead of Survival to find raw materials in the wild.
  • Cut all Theory stunts.

Sleight of Hand:

  • Rename "Bump and Grab" to "Pickpocket."
  • Cut "Stage Magic" and "Master of Illusion." They just don't strike me as especially interesting or in-genre. May want to add stunts relating to Magic or even Medicine.

Gygax

I realize that this isn't a general RPG blog or anything, but Gary Gygax died today and that makes me sad.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Fantasy: Stunts, Academics-Investigation

This is one of the biggies (the other big biggie, magic, is probably coming up next -- well, after Stunts, Part II). When I did "Spirit of the West," my Wild West-styled hack of SotC, I went through the stunt list with a fine-toothed comb, weeding out the inappropriate ones and adding more as needed. For "Spirit of the Sword," though, which is far more removed from SotC's default setting, the stunt list needs significantly more work. Some of the reasons for this are readily apparent from the altered skill list: Fists is gone, Leadership is redefined, Status is added, etc. Other changes are completely divorced from that and have more to do with what I think are simply worthy options than anything else.

I talked about Racial Stunts earlier, and that's certainly one major addition -- although, as I said then, this category is highly dependent on setting, so I'll say more about them when more of the setting is worked out. (There is, in fact, a setting in the works -- a collaboration between my friend Andy and me -- and it's turning up some concepts that are hopefully as interesting and fresh to others as they are to us.)

General:
A new category of stunts, and sparsely populated. These stunts aren't especially connected to any one skill in particular.
  • Signature Aspect: Pick one Aspect. Invoke that Aspect once per scene without paying a Fate Point.
  • Fate's Favor: Permanently increase your Refresh by 1.
As for the rest, many of these changes fall into two basic categories. The first is renaming an existing stunt to make it "feel" right in a fantasy milieu. The second is moving a stunt from one skill (possibly an eliminated one) to another (possibly a new one). Completely new stunts are relatively rare; there isn't much need to add a ton, given the excellent options that already exist in SotC. Some changes to flavor text, and non-SRD additions, are mandatory. However, those details have been deferred in favor of forging ahead with new, more important material, so if some of these entries seem a little glib, that's why. Significant changes are bulleted; new stunts are bolded.

Academics [Lore]: This can stay pretty much as is, barring changes in flavor text.

Alertness: Ditto. I don't really see a need for change here.

Art: As-is, but there are an awful lot of stunts here for a category that isn't likely to be the focus of a fantasy game. Still, no reason to cut them, especially since it makes an "artist" character a viable option.

Athletics:

  • In the description for Equestrian, replace "Survival" with "Ride."

Burglary:

  • Rename "Mental Blueprint" to "Mental Map."
  • Rename "The Big Heist" with "Master Thief."

Contacting:

  • Rename "Big Man" to "Famed."
  • Rename "Big Name" to "Renowned."
  • Rename "Big Reputation" to "Epic Repute."

Deceit:

  • Rename "Con Man" to "Charlatan."
  • Rename "The Fix Is In" to "Lucky Dice."
  • Pretender [Prerequisite: Charlatan]: The character is adept at assuming the traits and mannerisms of other strata of society, and may use Deceit instead of Status in such situations.

Drive [Ride]:

  • Replace "Custom Ride" with "Loyal Steed," a la Spirit of the West.
    • Stunt: Horse Companion: You have developed a special relationship with a particular horse. The horse is built as a Companion with the "physical" scope, and receives three advances. Horses start with Endurance, Might, and Resolve at Average (+1). Default Quality is Good (+3), giving them 3 Stress boxes to start; these are, in turn, modified by high Endurance or Resolve. Horses have a Speed rating, like a vehicle; more on this later. A character may opt instead to have a donkey or mule as a companion. Functionally, these are nearly identical, but donkeys get a +1 to Resolve, one additional Composure Stress box, and only two advances.
  • Cut "Prototype Car."
  • Replace "Car Mechanic" with "Horse Sense."
    • Horse Sense: Use Ride instead of Medicine when healing a horse.
  • Rename "Defensive Driving" to "Trick Rider."
  • Rename "One Hand on the Wheel" to "Mounted Combat."
  • Rename "Turn on a Dime" to "Master Rider."
  • "Unsafe at Any Speed" now only applies to vehicles, such as wagons and carts.

Empathy: No change.

Endurance:

  • Rename "Man of Iron" to "Troll-Skinned."
  • Rename "One Hit to the Body" to "Heroic Toughness."
  • Rename "Now You've Made Me Mad" to "Furious Vengeance."
  • Unstoppable [Prerequisite: Troll-Skinned]: Once per exchange, as a full action, you may roll your Endurance against a target equal to the highest Health Stress box you currently have filled. If you succeed, you may clear any one Health Stress box.

Engineering [Craft]:

  • The entire "Devices" category is out, as written. I'm not picturing an especially "gadgety" brand of fantasy right now.
  • Cut "Demolitions."
  • Cut "Architect of Death."
  • Apprentice: Pick a category of Craft, such as smithing, woodworking, or stonecutting. When using Craft for tasks that fall under that category, reduce the time required by one step.
  • Journeyman [Prerequisite: Apprentice]: When using Craft for tasks of the chosen category, reduce the difficulty of the task by one. Also pick a specialty within your field, such as swordsmithing, shipbuilding, or sculpture. Reduce the difficulty of tasks within your specialty by two.
  • Master [Prerequisite: Journeyman]: When using Craft for tasks that even tangentially relate to your chosen field, such as a carpenter crafting a bow, reduce the difficulty of the task by one. In addition, you may use Craft in place of Lore when the topic falls within your field.
  • Cut "Grease Monkey." It could work for wagons and the like, but honestly, it's a little dull given the usual unimportance of wagons in fantasy compared to cars in pulp.
  • Also cut "Mister Fix It" and "Thump of Restoration."
  • More stunts may be needed here.

Gambling:

  • Rename "Player's Club" to "Gambling Den." Otherwise, as-is.

Guns [Missile]:

  • Rename "Shot on the Run" to "Skirmisher."
  • Rename "Stay On Target" to "Elvish Aim."
  • Rename "Fast Reload" to "Ever-Full Quiver."
  • Rename "One Shot Left" to "One Arrow Left."
  • Rename "Rain Of Lead" to "Hail Of Arrows."
  • Rename "Snap Shot" to "Reflexive Archery."
  • Rename "Gun Crazy" to "Bowyer."
  • Cut "Custom Firearm."
  • Cut "Two-Gun Joe."
  • Signature Weapon [Prerequisite: Associated Aspect]: You have one Missile weapon that's especially important to you. If you’d normally have to spend a fate point to have this weapon nearby, you can have it nearby without having to spend a fate point. If you wouldn’t normally be able to get it near to you for a fate point, then this stunt lets you spend a fate point even in the face of that impossibility. Once the fate point is spent, the GM is not required to furnish your weapon immediately, but must work to bend circumstances to make it available in reasonably short order. Thus, you cannot be deprived of the weapon for long unless you voluntarily give it up or pass it on to another. In addition, the weapon has two improvements of your choosing.
  • Sniper [Prerequisite: Elvish Aim]: Whenever you attack with Missile and your target takes a consequence, spend a Fate Point to increase the severity of that consequence by one degree.
  • Eagle Eye [Prerequisite: Sniper]: If your attack inflicts stress, spend a Fate Point to force your target to immediately incur a consequence which does not reduce the severity of the attack. This means that if he chooses to take a consequence to the reduce Health Stress dealt by the attack, he instead takes two consequences.
  • Crow's Archery [Prerequisite: Any two Missile stunts]: Attack two targets in the same zone with a single attack roll. Fate Points can be spent to increase that number further, on a 1 Fate Point/+2 targets basis.
  • Thrown weapons now go under this category; import all Throwing stunts here from Melee. Many of these are simply renamed existing stunts:
    • "One Shot Left" ("Make It Count"), "Reflexive Archery" ("Quick Throw"), "Elvish Aim," "Sniper," and "Crow's Archery" ("Master Thrower").
    • Throw Anything [Prerequisite: One Throwing stunt]: Use Missile instead of Melee to throw a melee weapon that doesn't normally have a range. One-handed weapons incur a -2 penalty; two-handed, -4. Range is one zone.

Intimidation: As-is.

Investigation: As-is.

Up next: Leadership through... I dunno. I actually wanted to go farther with this post, but I've had to delay it long enough and I'd rather get something out than nothing. At any rate, Leadership has some neat stuff. I haven't counted, but I'd like to think that I've eliminated at least as many stunts as (or more than) I've added. The idea is that, overall, a "SotS" GM won't have more (or many more) stunts to deal with than a SotC GM.