Well I don't know what the title's going to be but the working title was always Confabulation anyhow.  This is a continuation of my discussion from the Spells In Shadow thread but with an updated .pdf of the rules.

http://www3.telus.net/public/uncouths/Confabulation.pdf

Okay, I'm fiddling with traits and racial packages and I need to make some disadvantages or elves will be getting it too good.  Now, I like well developed characters but personality based traits tend to just encourage bad actors to write "Blood Lust, Sadism, and Bad Temper" on their character sheet.  Also I want solid mechanical reasons for disadvantages.

Presently traits are 5 points.  Elves are currently 35 points up on humans.  Though Immortality should probably be 10 etc.  But I don't want the game to become build centric.  Indeed I softened up the levels for that very reason.

So, here's a couple I'm thinking might be worth including.

Fey - This race is mercurial and confusing by other races standards.  They seem erratic and deliberately obtuse due to very different values, thought processes, and perceptions.  As such there is a 20 point penalty to all social interactions across the racial divide.

The Long View - This race takes the long view of goals and history.  In particular this is reflected by the fact  that they recieve 200 skill points per level and require 2000 experience points to gain a level.  The maximum number of points they can spend per level remains 3 points for skills and 5 for characteristics.  Of course this requires a few tweaks to the Experienced trait, in allowing only 1000 experience points per incident.

I'm also toying with alternative names

The Magnificent Confabulation
Dragon Shadowed Lands
Legend Haunted Lands
Realms Under the Shadow
Dark Times and Mighty Deeds
The Long Defeat (from Tolkien but it's a beaut)

How about?
Deleterious Confabulations
or
Pernicious Confabulations

Anyway, how are you designing penalties? As muchmas I love In Nomine SJG, I understand that roleplay restrictions that manifest in penalties for straying tend to not sit well with some.

Have you thought of more direct manner? Like, stat or skill penalties? Perhaps restricted weapons or materials (i.e. no metal tools)?

Well, as it stands a big part of the issue is that elves are those guys who are simply better than everyone else and I don't want to handout eight levels to everyone else to balance them.

It would really help me if you could add a table of contents so that I could jump around your manual a little quicker.

Quote from: David Johansen;663887Well, as it stands a big part of the issue is that elves are those guys who are simply better than everyone else and I don't want to handout eight levels to everyone else to balance them.

If resserectiona nd reincarnation are common in your game , like D&D then say Elves can't be re-incarnated or resserected.

this is a D&D limit that no one ever applies but in a standard high level D&D game it should be devastating.

Well, that was the reason AD&D capped non-human level, because if you get that many special powers AND such longevity what's stopping their empires from letting any other species develop into a competitor?

How would your setting explain why elves don't have a crushing dominance upon the world? Why do other races even survive if there's such long lived, advantaged, talented organized intelligent species? Answer that and you know to how to manage the power of elves.

Quote from: jibbajibba;664127If resserectiona nd reincarnation are common in your game , like D&D then say Elves can't be re-incarnated or resserected.

this is a D&D limit that no one ever applies but in a standard high level D&D game it should be devastating.

That's a really good penalty. It would explain an extreme cautiousness and letting other races develop. It would also make them more drow-like, using foils, blinds, and schemes to rarely be directly involved. Might make them mostly Machiavellian villains.

I think I've settled on just requiring 10xp per point of shortfall to reach second level rather than coming up with extensive lists of disadvantages.  The whole point of having twelve characteristics is cutting back on special case rules as it is.

So an elf pc would need to make up a 500 xp shortfall before they can make second level.  It also means you can set a price on playing a dragon.  Like, the rest of the party is now tenth level so you could make a first level dragon now.

One small tweak I'm making is to remove the Intuition stat and replace it with Logic or something.  Intuition and Perception double up with each other too much.  So Intuition is becoming a sense specific modifier like Sight, Hearing, and Smell.

Here's a bit I wrote long ago that may or may not go in the core.  I'm never quite sure where I want divine power in game terms.

   Greater miracles have direct and obvious physical effects and should always reflect the nature of the god being invoked.  They should only occur when that god's interests are at stake and there is absolutely no hope of a favorable outcome.  Even then, such occurrences should not directly attack the worshipers of other gods as this will result in strife in the heavens themselves and must also overcome the protection provided by faith in the other guy.  In a Christian milieu where one supreme God is opposed by a fallen servant, greater miracles might be expected to be more commonplace, but in practice they aren't as Satan is seldom able to present a major threat to God's interests.

   These matters are left almost entirely to the Dragon Master's discretion as they are potentially controversial and very dependant upon the nature of the setting.  By allowing priests to learn some magic provides them some dependable and direct power which is not so fickle.  However, if a player is not rewarded for following the dictates of their faith they are unlikely to bother doing so in the future.  Minor miracles are an easy way to provide this reward without breaking the balance of the game.

   In terms of specific game effects of religious rites: A personal blessing should give a ten point bonus to a specific skill.  A general prayer can provide a temporary five point bonus to the Fortune of the congregation or any other characteristic that is particularly appropriate to the situation.  .  In any case these bonuses only last until the character manages to violate the spirit of their faith's myriad commandments.  A number of minutes equal to their Willpower score is generally appropriate.  A full sermon, rituals, and such would double the bonuses and duration

Invoke Minor Miracle
   Fortune 20+
   Own Religion's Doctrine -40
   +10 to one skill or +5 to one characteristic
   Willpower Minutes
   Full Rituals double effects

Invoke Major Miracle
   Fortune 30+
   Must be in god's interests.
   Own Religion's Doctrine -60