My initial thoughts on spell conversions:

First, I like what Vaelorn has done with remapping the plentiful Pathfinder schools into the handful of schools that exist in Dragon AGE. After all, each Dragon AGE school needs not only a focus but a dedicated talent tree, with novice, journeyman and master levels, which adds another level of complexity to creating schools for each of those that exist in Pathfinder. That said, I think we could probably afford to match up most spells to existing AGE schools while leaving the door open for adding one or two more schools to the list (and creating the focuses and talents for them).

For example: While illusion would fit in the spirit category broadly, there really doesn’t seem to be a lot of spells in AGE canon so far that would fall under the illusion category to use as templates for Pathfinder conversions. And maybe it’s just the old-school DnD player in me, but I would love to see an Illusionist Specialization the way the school was broken out in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition Player’s Handbook (even if we’re veering a little bit away from a core Pathfinder conversion.) I don’t have an example yet of exactly how I would break it down, but I’m thinking 6-7 spell schools in total, with four of those being the ones from the core Dragon AGE game. The new ones would all get dedicated focuses and talent trees, of course, which would be included in the Dragon Hack manual.

Second, as Vaelorn mentions in his post, there are waaay too many spells in the Pathfinder core book (not to mention resources such as Ultimate Magic, etc.) to transfer into AGE. And I don’t think transferring every single spell should be our goal. One thing that I think will make our job a lot easier (and I discovered as I was converting spells for the upcoming Midgard campaign setting book) is the way that Dragon AGE spells stack, or essentially have a line of requirements that force a player to pick up earlier/weaker spells in order to cast their more powerful cousins later in the game. For example: A player can start the game with the Flame Blast spell, but can only cast Flaming Weapons (from set 2) if they already possess Flame Blast. If the RPG follows the video game at all, Flaming Weapons will be a requirement in order to pick up the Fireball spell, which will be a requirement in order to eventually cast Firestorm. (If I’m remembering my spells names correctly/it’s been a while since I played the video game). This greatly reduces the number of spells that need to be converted to Pathfinder because in each case we should be looking for spells that fit a theme that can be grouped together by requirements. After all, spells in AGE do not have spell levels, so the requirement entry of the spell description serves that role by limiting what spells a mage can choose at a given experience level or prior dedication to a spell school. Similarly, a group of higher level spells can be grouped together by making the first spell in the “chain” require the journeyman or master level of a spell school talent, meaning the player would have to at least be 5th or 7th level before they could take the intro spell for that chain.

An example of a possible spell “chain” taken from Pathfinder could include the “acid” line of spells in the conjuration school. 0-level Acid Splash, 2nd level Acid Arrow, 6th level Acid Fog. Because of the differences in the spell levels, we would have to balance the spells out to be an appropriate power level for when a mage could choose them in the AGE game. The key characteristic of acid is that it continues to burn, or finds gaps in armor to burn the skin beneath, so it should probably have the Penetrating spell effect. To balance that against existing mechanics, we could say that Acid Splash functions pretty much as the Shock spell, but is a spray of acid coating the creatures in its area of effect. Acid Arrow works like Lightning (though we could reduce the damage a bit, or increase the spell’s TN in order to make its effects last for more than 1 round with a test to resist the ongoing damage), and Acid Cloud would do similar damage to the Chain Lightning spell that we can expect to see in the third boxed set, but have game mechanics (it hangs around in a given area) equal to the Pathfinder spell.

Essentially my thoughts for converting Pathfinder spells to AGE is that while the names and broad effects should be the same, the power level and when mages can acquire them needs to be more in line with what’s available for the base AGE game to keep things balanced. In short: they need to have Pathfinder flavor, but AGE mechanics.

I would love to get feedback on these ideas from my readers, as for now they form the basis of my plans for converting Pathfinder spells to AGE.

So, thoughts?

And I’m so glad I did. Not only was Brian awesome to work with, but he took my idea and really made something great out of it. He also said he had no problem with me using it as the header image here on the site. While that’s already enough cement him as a pretty cool guy, Brian went one step further and announced after he sold the last commission that all the money raised would be donated to a local Toys for Tots drive (as this was just before Christmas.) That’s some good Karma right there, and I was excited to have been able to take part in his donation of kindness AND score some sweet new art for the site. If you haven’t already, you really should check out Brian’s work at d20monkey, which now has a more than a year of three-a-week comics archived for you to browse. I promise it’ll keep you laughing for hours.

If I can ever afford it, I would love to be able to someday commission Brian to illustrate the final version of the Dragon Hack conversion guide. How awesome would that be?

Speaking of Dragon Hack, I thought this soft reboot of the site would be a good time to address what I’ve been up to for the last few months and talk about what’s in store for 2012 and Dragon Hack. A combination of work and personal issues really stymied my ability to devote myself to finishing up the final revision of the Dragon Hack rules last year, and now with the 3rd boxed set of the Dragon Age RPG just around the corner, I’ll be taking time over the next month or so to decide whether I should incorporate levels 11-20 into the final version. I had originally hoped to keep the system contained to the first two boxed sets and let the other DARPG hackers out there take their shot at taking it further if they wished. But now, with the Midgard project in the final stages, and only a few things on the burner for Kobold Quarterly, I think this winter will be the perfect time to dive back into Dragon Hack full steam and see what we can’t come up with.

The next stage is to convert several levels of Pathfinder spells to the AGE system, which will include deciding whether to add to the AGE set of spell schools, or work to fit the Pathfinder spells into existing schools. There’s a whole slew of new specializations to be written to bring some of the modularity of the Pathfinder game to AGE. Then of course I’ll want to get busy playtesting the box 3 rules, which Green Ronin has promised to release in draft form sometime this month. There’s a lot to look forward to!

AGE fans also will want to keep an eye on Kobold Quarterly this year, as Wolfgang and Co. are continuing their commitment to be the No.1 source of third-party AGE material. I already have one project lined up for KQ now, the Midgard appendix will go to the editor this year, and there’s even talk of a second Midgard AGE bestiary to follow on the heels of the one we put out last summer. So lots of great stuff coming down the pipeline, and I hope to make posting here a more regular occurrence as we move through 2012. I hope you’ll stick around for the ride.

P.S. As anyone not living under a rock knows, Wizards of the Coast announced earlier this week that they were working on the newest version of the venerable Dungeons and Dragons game. By an ironic twist of fate, I was visiting home this last week, and managed to get in a game of AD&D Second Edition with members of my old gaming group. The experience gave me a lot of fodder for thoughts about yet another edition of DnD, but I think I’ll save those for a future post, after some of the furor over this week’s announcement has died down. Plus, with the Set 3 DARPG playtest coming, we’ll have bigger fish to fry here at joja.net. So take care, and I’ll be back soon with more AGE-y goodness.

For those not in the loop, the Midgard campaign world is the personal campaign of one Mr. Wolfgang Baur, the mad wizard behind Open Design and Kobold Quarterly. Well, about a year ago Wolfgang decided to launch the largest Open Design project to date: a complete campaign guide to the world of Midgard, which only had been showcased in pieces before through such sourcebooks as the Zobeck Gazetteer and The Dwarves of the Ironcrags, and adventures such as Courts of the Shadow Fey and Tales of the Old Margreve.

Creating an entire campaign world has been an enormous task, and the Open Design patrons involved have really churned out some amazing stuff for the world Wolfgang dreamed up and we all helped make real. The world is ridiculously full of great campaign hooks and adventure ideas, and presents a fully detailed continent of sentient forests, ancient magic, warring kingdoms and meddling gods for your heroes to face.

So what does that have to do with your average AGE player? Well, back when Midgard was pitched, one of the first things the patrons had to decide is what rules set the campaign book would use. Conventional wisdom said it would either be Pathfinder, or the Fourth Edition of Dungeons and Dragons. Then something wonderful happened: The patrons voted, and with Wolfgang’s support, the second system chosen to be supported by the world was the Dragon Age RPG by Green Ronin. When it’s released next year, players and game masters alike will for the first be able to play the Dragon Age game outside the world of Thedas in an officially licensed, third-party campaign setting.

It may be a long time off before the Midgard setting is in our hands, but I wanted to wet your appetites with some of the stuff I’ve been working on for the last couple months, which is the AGE appendix that will appear in the back of every campaign guide. Because so much of the design is setting neutral, the decision was made to place what AGE players needed to play in the world as an appendix in the back of the world book, while the bulk of the book is written for the Pathfinder game. Again, it’s really mostly great descriptions of exotic locales and adventure seeds, so AGE players will still get a lot of mileage out of the book itself.

As for the appendix, I can finally tell you what’s included: The AGE system material in the Midgard setting book will include more than 24 backgrounds, covering a gamut of the peoples and cultures of the Midgard setting. Also included will be seven new specializations for your characters, including such iconic classes as the scriviner mage, the deadly harem assassin, and the mighty shapeshifting berserker. Finally, the book will include three new magic schools, with their associated talents and focuses, and 40 new spells for both players and NPCs alike.

To put that in perspective, that’s more backgrounds than are available in Dragon Age RPG sets 1 and 2 combined. Twice the number of spells that were available in the first set, and almost as many specializations as are currently available, just about doubling player options. It’s a lot of great material. And just like the Dragon Age products, all the new material is intrinsically tied to the game world, which makes for built-in roleplaying hooks in every decision players make during character creation.

I can’t wait for the AGE playing community to get their hands on this book, and I’ll ask Wolfgang about showing off a few teasers and previews either here or over at the Kobold Quarterly site (which I’ll then link to here, no worries) as we get closer to publication. In the meantime, dream of new awesome AGE material, and I’ll be back soonish with some new specializations for the Dragon Hack class talents, and we’ll get back on that train. Take care.

Feedback is welcome right here on the site, or shoot me an email at joshjarman AT gmail DOT com. For those of who who managed to grab a pre-public release of the playtest from me on twitter, please be sure to grab the latest version as it clears up and clarifies some elements and is the most “current” version of the revised Dragon Hack rules. If you missed your chance to get the pre-release because you’re not following me on twitter, why not? I’m @JoJa_rpg and I waste most my day on twitter talking about Dragon Hack, Dragon Age, Pathfinder and rpgs in general.

Thanks to everyone who has helped shape this document through your comments here and elsewhere. I hope you’ll see some of your input in the playtest document. Together we can really make this a fun and functional race and class system for Dragon Age.

Thanks again!

The good news is that the Dragon Hack Version 1.75 Playtest pdf is about 80 percent complete, and should be released this week!

My current hope is to get a text-only playtest document out the door by sometime tomorrow (Sept. 1), and then put out a call for specialization ideas and specialization stunts on the web site.

Basically, all the extra details people want from Dragon Hack are more than I have time for right now. So, my plan is to release a playtest document that is only the 10 “basic” class talents and 12 traditional fantasy backgrounds this week. Nine of the 12 backgrounds are built, and all the class talents have been added to the draft document. I just need to add optional race talents and a few odds and ends and I’ll get that out ASAP.

When Dragon Hack 2.0 is officially released it will include:
12-15 fantasy backgrounds.
10-12 class talents.
2-3 Specializations for each of the class talents.
40-50 “new” spells*

So let that be a teaser that I’ll soon be asking you, the reader, to contribute to Dragon Hack’s development by playtesting it with DARPG and pitching new specializations here on the website. If I like your pitch (and the community approves), it could be included (with credit) in the official 2.0 compiled pdf. Ok, back to work. I’ll post again soon!

* Pathfinder spells reskinned for the AGE system.

Rogues know talents matter

Some class talents would fit very well with a couple or all three of the Dragon Age core classes, and in each case would represent a unique take on that class. For example, why not let all classes choose the paladin talent? A warrior fits the classic image of a paladin, but wouldn’t a rogue be a great paladin for a goddess of luck, fate or wanderlust. And what about a god or goddess of the arcane, wouldn’t it make sense for their “holy warriors” to in fact be mages? It seems like you could get a lot more done this way, and allow two characters to play the same class talent in completely different ways. Imagine the differences between a warrior ranger and a rogue ranger. One could very well fit the trope of the dual-wielding badass, while the other might make a better sniper, or hit-and-run skirmisher. Both fit the ranger mold, they just arrive there from very different starting points.

The only problem with this is talents that interact directly with mana points and the Magical Training talent. While in older games like Pathfinder or DnD, a fighter or rogue could easily take one level of magic-user and all of a sudden they could cast spells, easy peasy, it doesn’t work quite the same in Dragon Age. I played around with the idea of having none of the pathfinder class talents provide any direct benefits to spell casting, so they were truly interchangeable, but I wasn’t happy with the results.

So for now, until I can come up with a better system, I want to open up the talent system a little wider, but not completely throw out class requirements. Even this small change means there will be some class talents already posted that I have to tweak. (The ranger talent already is a little too roguey, so I need to find something that’s equally attractive to warriors and rogues).

This system also opens up the possibility of something approaching the old dnd multi-classing system, and how it works is incredibly simple. If a character so chooses, they can forego one of the many specialization options at sixth level, and instead take a second class talent. They would then advance in that class talent (novice, journeyman, master) at level six, eight, and 10 just as the character with a specialization does.

My thoughts so far:

Barbarian: Rogue and Warrior.

Bard: All classes

Cleric: Mage (still reviewing this)

Druid: All classes (still reviewing this)

Fighter: Warrior

Paladin: All classes

Ranger: All classes? (Maybe just Rogue and Warrior, though)

Sorcerer: Mage

Thief: Rogue

Wizard: Mage

Also, I guess that should serve as fair notice that for this round of the Dragon Hack revision I’m cutting back to the core classes minus the monk. I posted some ideas for monks a couple of weeks back, and I’m not ready to tackle them yet because I’m still not sure where I want them to fit.

So, how about it? Is this a crazy idea, or something Dragon Hack fans would want to see?

Cleric
Classes: Mage
Requirements: You must have a Willpower of 2 or higher.

Novice: Unlike your arcane kin, you use divine magic and are at home in armor and on the battlefield. When casting spells from the Creation school, you suffer no Spell Strain penalties for wearing armor. Your penalty to cast spells from the Spirit school in armor is reduced by 2. You can choose one additional weapon group at first level, you must choose a weapon favored by your deity.

Journeyman: You have become a master of the healing arts. You gain the Chirurgy talent or advance a level in the talent if you already possess it. When you cast the heal spell, you may add your Willpower to the amount healed.

Master: You can channel the divine energy of your deity as many times per day as your Willpower. Energy channeled in this fashion causes a burst of power that heals allies or causes penetrating damage to undead in a radius equal to double your Willpower in yards. The amount of damage dealt or healed is equal to 2d6 + Magic.

Druid
Classes: Mage
Requirements: You must have a Constitution of 2 or higher.

Novice: You can select one wild animal as a faithful companion, which follows commands and gains benefits as if you possessed the Master level of the Animal Training talent. Druids who already possess this talent do not gain any additional benefits beyond the ability to train animals other than its chosen wild companion. If a druid’s companion dies, she can choose another.

Journeyman: You gain the ability to move through heavy underbrush and brambles with ease. You gain a +2 to ability tests to overcome hazards associated with travel through difficult terrain with a success meaning you take no damage. Enemies trying to track you suffer a penalty to their Perception (Tracking) tests equal to half your level rounded down.

Master: You gain the ability to take animal form. You may change your form into that of a wild animal you’re familiar with as many times per day as your Constitution. The transformation lasts up to a minute per level, and it is a major action to enter or leave the form. While in animal form, you gain the Speed, Defense, Armor Rating, Strength, Constitution, Dexterity and any natural attacks of the creature you transform into, but you retain your Health and other ability scores. You lose the ability to communicate normally while in animal form, but you can communicate with other animals of the same kind naturally. If you show a marked preference for a certain type of animal form, over time wild creatures will associate you with that form and treat you as an animal of that type even when in your original shape.

Sorcerer
Classes: Mage
Requirements: You must have a Communication of 2 or higher.

Novice: You may pick the bloodline that is the source of your power. You gain the Magic focus in the school associated with that bloodline. Because the magic you cast flows in your veins, you can use the Fast Casting stunt for 3 SP.

Journeyman: Your command of the your natural magic abilities continues to improve. You gain additional mana per level equal to your Communication.

Master: You can empower your spells with the magical energy that flows in your blood. You can add 1d6 to the damage of any spell by doubling the mana cost. You can increase the damage of their Arcane Lance by paying 3 Mana.

Wizard
Classes: Mage
Requirements: You must have a Cunning of 2 or higher.

Novice: You learn a number of spells equal to 3 + Cunning at first level, and an additional spell at each level thereafter, which you keep in your spellbook. You can only memorize a number of spells per day equal to the amount gained through your class’s Magic Training ability and level increases, however. You must choose which spells to memorize each morning. Wizards pick a spell school to specialize in as well, gaining the Magic focus talent for the school of their choice.

Journeyman: You gain the talent for the Magic focus you chose at novice, or advance a level in that talent if you already posses it. You also gain a familiar, a magical pet who serves as a loyal companion and enhances your skills and senses and can aid you in magic.

Master: You gain the ability to scribe spells from your spellbook onto scrolls of special magical parchment. Once inscribed in this fashion, the scrolls can be read aloud, unlocking the magic of the spell without the reader having to expend any mana. Inscribing a scroll is an advanced Magic test with a focus appropriate to the spell being inscribed and a success threshold of 15. The target number equal to 9 + the total number of mana points required to cast the spell. For spells with varying mana costs, the number reflects the amount of mana you want the spell to utilize when it’s cast form the scroll. The success threshold rises to 17 for spells that cost five or more mana to cast, and 20 for spells that cost more than 8 mana. Each test represents an hour of research and crafting time. Completing the scroll requires you to cast the spell in question to be captured in the parchment, so after the advanced test is complete you must successfully pass the spell’s casting roll and expend the amount of mana necessary to empower the scroll in order to complete the scroll’s creation. Resisting the effects of a spell cast from a scroll tests against the Spellpower of the wizard who created it.

You can always read the scrolls you inscribe, but reading a scroll inscribed by another Wizard requires a Cunning (Arcane Lore) test with a TN equal to 10 + the level of the Wizard who inscribed the scroll. Inscribing a scroll requires specially prepared parchment and inks and undisturbed solitude. The game master will decide the cost for such things as befits his or her campaign, but they should be suitably expensive.

Example: The wizard Tessarin is hoping to create a scroll of the Levitate spell from his spellbook. Because the spell requires five mana to cast, the success threshold of Tessarin’s attempt is 17, and because Tessarin wants to imbue the spell with an extra 2 mana points so it will last for three rounds, the TN is 16. Tessarin is a sixth level mage with a 5 Magic and the Magic (Spirit) focus, so he adds +7 to his attempts. It takes Tessarin five tests altogether in order to successfully inscribe the scroll to perfection. The second test was unsuccessful, so the Dragon Die result for it doesn’t count. The four successful tests have Dragon Die results of 5, 5, 6, 5. Their total of 21 is greater than the success threshold so after five hours of work Tessarin completes his scrollwork. Now he must cast the spell successfully, expending the mana and passing the casting roll to finish creating the empowered spell scroll. The spell when cast from the scroll has a spellpower of 17, and he can cast it with a major action and no additional tests. If the willy rogue Lyia stole the scroll and wanted to cast it for mischievous ends, she would have to pass a TN 16 Cunning (Arcane Lore) test to be able to puzzle out the phrasings of the magical language.

So without further ado, I’ll jump right into the class talents for the classes we voted on first: the barbarian, paladin and ranger. For now I’m saving further increases to the barbarian’s natural AR and additional powers fueled by rage until the specializations. I’m also stumped on making the favored enemy ability work for rangers because of the very slim classifications for adversaries in the Dragon Age core game. Maybe some of my intrepid readers can help me with ideas. . .

Barbarian
Classes: Warrior
Requirement: You must have a Constitution of 2 or higher

Novice: You can become enraged as many rounds per day as 4 + Constitution. While enraged, you gain a +2 to her Strength. You also gains a +2 to Willpower (Courage, Morale) tests. Enraged characters suffer a -1 to attack rolls and Defense and a -2 to Perception tests, though. You can enter or leave a rage as a free action, but suffers from fatigue for twice as many rounds as you were enraged. You cannot enter a new rage while so fatigued.

Journeyman: You can add half your Constitution rounded down as a bonus to Armor Rating as long as you don’t wear metal armor. You also gains a +2 bonus to her Speed.

Master: Your rage ability continues to function as per the novice level, except the barbarian gains a +3 to Strength and suffers a -2 to attack rolls. You can also rage for a number of rounds per day equaling 8 + Constitution.

Paladin
Classes: Warrior
Requirement: You must have a Willpower of 2 or greater

Novice: You gain the ability to sense the presence of evil beings or intentions. You add a +2 to your Perception (Empathy) tests to discern evil motives or intentions. As a major action, you can sense the presence of evil creatures within a number of yards equal to three times your  Willpower by passing a TN 13 Willpower (Faith) test.

Journeyman: You can heal yourself or you allies with the touch of your Lay on Hands ability a number of times per day equal your Willpower. The amount healed is equal to 1d6 plus the your Willpower. This amount grows to 2d6 plus Willpower at fifth level and 3d6 plus Willpower at tenth.

Master: Once per day you can add your Willpower to all damage you deal against one evil opponent you nominate as the target of your smite evil power. You also gain a +2 bonus to your Defense against that creatures attacks. Both effects last until the creature is dead or the end of the encounter. While in effect the Smite Evil power allows you to damage evil creatures who can only be hurt by magic weapons, even if the your weapon is mundane. You gain another use of your smite evil ability at levels 10, 15 and 20.

Ranger
Classes: Warrior
Requirements: Must have a Dexterity or Cunning of 2 or greater.

Novice: Few can hope to match the woodcraft of a ranger in the wild. You gain the choice of the Cunning (Natural Lore) or Perception (Tracking) focuses. You also gain the Scouting (Novice) talent, ignoring that talent’s class restriction.

Journeyman: You can select one wild animal as a faithful companion, which follows commands and gains benefits as if the ranger possessed the Master level of the Animal Training talent. Rangers who already possess this talent do not gain any additional benefits beyond the ability to train animals other than its chosen wild companion. If a ranger’s companion dies, he can choose another.

Master: You hunt and fight with the skill of a natural predator. You gain a +2 bonus to your Dexterity (Stealth) in a wild setting and gain a +2 bonus to Defense when wearing Light Mail or lighter armor.

For Barbarians, the highest votes went to Rage (a no brainer), Damage Reduction and Speed Boost. I was surprised that there weren’t more votes for AC boost, but it was a close contender – and likely ultimately unnecessary given the AGE combat math.

For Paladins, the clear winner was Lay on Hands, the class’s iconic healing ability, as well as Smite and Detect Evil, also staples, but I was surprised Call Warhorse did not win. I’ll likely craft a Cavalier specialization for the paladin that confers this benefit just to keep things old school.

The Ranger is clearly supposed to enjoy three main powers: bonuses when fighting a Favored Enemy, the ability to influence or Commune with Animals and/or have an Animal Companion, and be able to enjoy greater Concealment and Evasion when in a wild setting. All pretty standard Ranger fare, though I was mildly surprised to see voters largely didn’t feel the Dungeons and Dragons trope that rangers must dual wield weapon or be experts with bows was necessary. (Spear Ranger FTW!) Also, commenters wanted to see rangers get bonuses to tracking, which I agree is a good fit. I’ll make that happen.

Sharp readers will notice that I asked voters to pick their top three iconic abilities, and it just so happens that talents provide three levels of advancement, novice, journeyman, and master. While Dragon Hack is not a democracy (if you haven’t seen the movie U-571 or it’s been awhile, watch it or watch it again), I do plan to take these polls into consideration when crafting the talent bonuses conferred by the Pathfinder-esque class talents for Dragon Hack.

For now though, lets take a look at four more polls that will help me craft talent bonuses for the magic wielding classes, the Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, and Wizard. As is probably evident, I struggled with coming up with an equal number of choices for the Sorcerer and Wizard. Please reveal my ignorance by informing me of choices I missed in the comments, thanks!

Polls:

I wanted to put up a quick post to explore an idea I’ve been toying with that would streamline the Dragon Hack system and bring it more in line with existing Dragon Age material. As has been discussed on this site, as well as at the GR forums and Dragon Age Oracle, one of the most beloved things about the AGE system is its simplicity. When I sat down to create the Dragon Hack system I did so with the knowledge that what I would be doing would add both complexity and depth to the game in an effort to bridge the gap between Dragon Age’s rules-light formula (which I love), and a more rules-heavy system, such as Pathfinder.

Well, while I think the Dragon Hack basic set was certainly a success in that it sparked a lot of conversation about DnD to Dragon Age conversions, as more official Dragon Age material has been released I see that I might have been too hasty in my judgement to abandon the AGE system’s design structure by adding a wholly new element on top of what already existed (with my class and race traits). The final nail in the coffin was the amazing article of Divine Gifts for the AGE system that appeared in the most recent article of Kobold Quarterly. Written by a Green Ronin staffer, it’s obvious that this system is meant to serve as the template for how familiar fantasy tropes such as divine powers and boons are meant to be worked into the base AGE game.

So that got me thinking about how I could achieve my chief goal for Dragon Hack (create a system that provides a familiar race and class paradigm for players coming from older, more rules-heavy fantasy RPGs to the AGE system), while still working within the system’s design space of Backgrounds, Talents and Specializations. As others around the web have already pointed out, including Vaelorn, who is a frequent visitor here, as well as DMKnight on the GR forums, we can use the structure of talents to inject some of the trappings of such familiar fantasy classes as the Paladin and Ranger into Dragon Age with a lot less hassle than the traits system I previously developed. Essentially, a character would choose a background (more on this below), a class, and then a class talent that would further define the character’s abilities. For example, a warrior character at first level could choose to be a fighter, paladin or ranger, with each choice grating him or her the novice level in the respective class talent. A paladin talent might allow the warrior to heal allies or shield them from evil, while a ranger talent could grant the ability to commune with animals or gain an animal companion.

For backgrounds, I’ll likely draft two or three generic racial backgrounds per race (more for the most popular races) that give the basics of what a Dragon Age background gives. They’ll be simple, such as Mountain Dwarf, City Dwarf, Wild Elf, High Elf, etc., but offer enough variation that players looking for a specific RP background or a different ability bonus can pick the background that best suits their character. I’m also toying with the idea of allowing each player to take the novice level of a racial talent, that would grant some of the bonuses the choice of race provides for character in games like Pathfinder, so a dwarf might begin play with the Novice level of the dwarf talent, granting him a bonus to tests against poison, and as he levels could spend talent advancements on his dwarf talent in order to gain skills such as a dwarf’s ability to resist forced movement.

While those would have to be purchased the same as any other talent, at the appropriate levels, the class talents would automatically advance (to journeyman, master) when the character reached 3rd, and 5th level, respectively. The next step is to create a handful of Specializations for each class talent that would further define a character’s chosen path within their profession. For example, a rogue with the bard talent could choose a Spellsinger specialization that granted them the ability to use a limited amount of magic spells, while a Warchanter specialization would increase the bard’s melee combat abilities.

It’s going to take some work before I think the system is ready, but once it’s done it should be a much more elegant way to bring the high-fantasy style of the Pathfinder game and others into the AGE system. I’ve already begun work on boiling the Pathfinder classes abilities into talent formats, and here’s where I could use your help. Included is a few polls to help me further define what class powers/abilities are considered iconic to a typical fantasy character class. In other words, what does a Paladin, Ranger or Bard class talent have to include in order for you to consider that character a member of that class.

I’ll start with the martial character classes, and more polls will go up later this week. Help out by voting in the polls and adding your comments to the post. Help me rebuild a better Dragon Hack system!

(Try to pick only your top three so it helps narrow down the possible choices. Thanks!)