New Warrior Skills and Development

[Daemonslave]

Hi, I mentioned on another thread my (rather ambitious) desire to basically redo the entire Warrior Development for WHQ, starting each Warrior from scratch, with just their stats and allowing them to choose skills relevant to the character they wish to develop.


Here's my ideas so far;


Firstly it's worth mentioning that as a balance issue, I'm being a bit tougher on the Warriors in certain regards. Potions can now only be shared if in adjacent squares plus the Warriors cannot change between Weapons whilst there are Monsters around - they have one thing on each arm (or just one thing if using a two-handed weapon) which they declare at the start of each turn and cannot change if Monsters are present.

I'm also making a rule that when Monsters are placed, there has to be a minimum of D3 squares between them and the nearest Warrior (unless they have Ambush) - this way the guys with missile weapons will at least have a chance to use their weapons.

Actually, thinking about it, these wouldn't be compatable at all, because I'm changing lots of other bits as well, such as the Wizard not getting to add his BL to the power roll (he has to buy and wear robes to do so, etc) - meaning if you wanted a Warrior as a Heavily Armoured 'Tank' then he wouldn't get bonuses to his magic, which I thought was fair.

Anyway, I shall continue...


Skills Sets;

Enchanter, Smith, Killer, Intelligence, Stealth, One Handed, Two Handed, Elf Skills, Ballistic, Feral, Dwarf Skills, Blocking, Heavy Armour, Criminal, Explosives, Zealous, Tough, Magic (then choose type of Magic, ie Grey, Fire, Elf etc)

I also want to include Alchemy, but I haven't figured out how to do finding the ingredients. Mixing them in among the treasure would be a nightmare.



Basic Warrior Types to choose from (male and female are available - females have less strength but more initiative) :

Noble Human, General Human, Lowlife Human, High Elf, Wood Elf, Mercenary Elf, Dwarf, Dwarf Slayer, Dwarf Brewmaster, Halfling, Ogre,


So for example, if I wanted to have a Human Barbarian who was also a bit of a criminal, then I would select the Lowlife Human and chose skills mostly from the Feral, Criminal and One/Two Handed skill sets.

Whereas if I wanted the Witch Hunter character, I would select a Noble Human who has skills from Zealous, Magic and probably some from intelligence and maybe One Handed.


I haven't got time at the moment, but I'll put up the Actual Skill Trees later (the ones finished).

Wow these take ages to type up - Here's two.


One Handed



.................Feint -- Fencer -- Parry -- Disarm
................/
Deathblow -- Swordmaster -- Strength of Arm -- Ambidextrous -- Storm of Blades


Deathblow - we all know this one

Feint - May reroll a single missed to hit roll per turn.

Fencer: Monsters in Close Combat are at -1 to hit

Parry - When hit in Close Combat roll a D6. On a roll of a 6 the attack is avoided

Disarm: The Warrior may exchange all their attacks for a single one. If you succesfully hit, instead of causing any damage this turn you may select a weapon, shield or piece of jewellery to be discarded from the Monsters armoury.

Swordmaster: +1 to hit in Close Combat

Strength of Arm: +1 Strength with 1 handed weapons

Ambidextrous: The Warrior may wield a one handed weapon in each hand giving them + 1 attack per turn. However his to hit rolls are at -1.

Storm of Blades: If wielding two swords the Warrior may strike a Monster with both his swords at once, causing an extra 1D6 Wounds if he hits his foe. He also causes 1 extra Wound per battle-level if he rolls a natural 6 to hit. However, this strike is very difficult to perform, and the Warrior is at a further -1 to hit (in addition to his ambidextrous) when using this skill. Furthermore, he does not get a death-blow if he kills the Monster, because he concentrates both swords into a single, downward, killing strike. Each Storm of Blades attack uses up 1 of the Warrior's Attacks that turn. The Warrior must state that he is making this attack before rolling to hit.




Enchanting

All enchantments require you to use a Warp Jem (can be bought in the Wizards Guild). Each item may only have a single enchantment on them.


...............Magic Resistance -- Greater Magic Resistance -- Absorb Soul -- Fortify Health
.............../
Enchanter -- Empower Weapon -- Disenchant -- Dual Enchantments



Enchanter - The Warrior is trained in the use of enchanters.

Magic Resistance - Any single piece of clothing/armour/jewellry will, if worn, give you a magic Resistance save of 6+. Note that having multiple items with this enchantment will still only permit you a single roll.

Greater Magic Resistance: Any single piece of clothing/armour/jewellry will, if worn, give you a magic Resistance save of 5+. Note that having multiple items with this enchantment will still only permit you a single roll.

Absorb Soul: Any single piece of clothing/armour/jewellry will, if worn, restore D3 wounds to your Warrior if a Monster is killed in an adjacent square.

Fortify Health: Any single piece of clothing/armour/jewellry will, if worn, add D3 wounds to your Warriors Starting Wounds.

Empower Weapon: Any single weapon can be enchanted so it is now classed as Magical.

Disenchant: A single ability from one piece of treasure can be enchanted onto another of the same type, destroying the original in the process. *

Dual Enchantments: Two abilities from treasure can be enchanted onto another of the same type, destroying the originals in the process. *


* This is another thing I plan on changing. Having sets of weapon quality (ie what they are forged from) and tables of enchantments so that rather than one sword of might, for example, you can have Iron swords of Might, Steel Swords of might, etc.

[EldritchGamer]

I like the idea of being able to choose your skills, and being able to push your character in a particular direction. I think this would really help to give Warriors personality and help with RPG aspects of the game.

[BigRob]

An example from my Quest 2 project.

Imperial Soldier
Wounds 1D6+7
WS 4
BS 5+
S 3
T 3
I 3
A 1
Pinning 5+
Luck 0
Weapons: Halberd (1D6 + S +2, Fight in two ranks, Two Handed)
Armour: Leather Armour(+1), Open Helmet(+1)
Equipment: D6+3 Bandages
Skills: Parry (6+)

Battle Level Table
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Wounds 1D6+7 +D6 +D6 +D6 +D6 +D6 +D6 +D6 +D6 +D6
WS 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9
BS 5+ 5+ 4+ 4+ 4+ 3+ 3+ 3+ 2+ 2+
S 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 5
T 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
I 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 6
A 1 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4
Pinning 5+ 5+ 4+ 4+ 4+ 4+ 3+ 3+ 3+ 2+
Luck 0 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4
Skill Tables:
The Soldier may choose to roll on the Combat, Shooting, Defense and Strength Skill tables.


Notice he gets a choice of skill tables to pick his advances from, They look something like this.

Defense
1. Shield Master
While using a shield the warrior may ignore the first blow that hits him each turn.
2. Endurance
When the warrior is reduced to 0 wounds by an attack, he may ignore the effects of the attack completely. One use per dungeon.
3. Armour Training
The warrior ignore all I and M penalties associated with armour.
4. Parry
The warrior gains Parry 6+ or if he has the skill, improves his Parry by 1 to a maximum of Parry 3+.
5. Iron Will
The warrior gains Magic Resistance 6+ or if he has the skill, improves his Magic Resistance by 1 to a maximum of 3+.
6. Ignore Damage
The warrior gains Ignore Blow 6+ or if he has the skill, improves his Ignore Blow by 1 to a maximum of 4+.


Currently I have over 20 warriors and there are 8 main skill tables (4 physical, 4 mental) and each race has its own special skill table as well. Each warrior has four skill tables to pick from.

[EldritchGamer]

Hmmm, just a thought - one thing I like about the different Warriors having their own lists of skills is that it does give a 'flavour' to the different types of Warriors. For example, a Sword Master is capable of a different kind of swordsplay to a human and would probably approach combat differently, and almost certainly be able to do things human swordsmen/duellists couldn't. This is very 'fluffy', which I like a lot.

Are you planning on mixing class-specific skills in there? Perhaps out of the four skill sets available to each Warrior, one of them could be possibly be unique to that class to allow players to go for that fluffy/cool stuff, possibly the very reason they wanted that kind of Warrior in the first place.

Erm.... did that make any sense to anyone else?

[Eboli]

I really like these ideas. Although generic players for a casual game can still make a fun night I think that the ability to really create a character of your design and choices brings out a lot of favour to the game/campaign. Some people may not like this option but to me it brings much more customisation for a player to enjoy about their character. Buts let's not forget that WHQ can be quite dangerous so don't get too attached to your characters

Eboli.

[Daemonslave]

Here's how mine would work:

Human

Wounds 1D6 + 7
WS 3
BS 5+
S 3
T 3
I 3
A 1
WP 4
Luck 0

If Male: +1 WS, +1 A
If Female: +1 I, +1 WP


Then choose from upbringing;- Noble, Fighter or Peasant


If Noble: +1 I, +1 BS, Equipped with Fine Clothes, Fine Boots, D3 + 3 Bandages, Steel Sword, Pistol,

May choose 3 Initial Skills from: Intelligence, Magic, One Handed, Ballistic

Further Skills may be chosen from: Intelligence, Magic, One Handed, Ballistic, Enchanter, Killer, Blocking, Heavy Armour, Explosives, Two Handed, Zealous


If Fighter: +1 WS, +1 S, Equipped with Leather Armour, Leather Helm, Leather Boots, D3 + 1 Bandages, Iron Sword, Iron Shield, Iron Greatsword

May choose 3 Initial Skills from: One Handed, Two Handed, Feral, Blocking, Magic

Further Skills may be chosen from: One Handed, Two Handed, Feral, Blocking, Magic, Killer, Stealth, Ballistic, Heavy Armour, Criminal, Zealous


If Peasant: +1 T, +1 S, Equipped with Sandals, Rough Spun Tunic, Hat, Club, Iron Sword, D3 Bandages

May choose 3 Initial Skills from: Tough, Criminal, Zealous, Magic, Stealth

Further Skills may be chosen from: Tough, Criminal, Zealous, Magic, Stealth, One Handed, Two Handed, Feral, Blocking, Heavy Armour, Smith, Ballistic

[BigRob]

There was many years ago (and lost from my collection of internet things) a rather snazzy PDF someone had done for thier "WHQ2" with a points based character build, starting with a pool of points used to buy starting race, stat boosts, skills, equipment etc. It was rather good as I recall, you could have an Ogre who could cast spells.....

Thats alot of skill tables Deamonslave, I have trouble working out decent skills to go on mine.

My idea with the tables available Eldritch Gamer, most choices have one unique table just for them, something I noticed while writing this is that although they have different names, many of the official and unofficial warriors skills do the same thing, so I just consildated them here.

[Daemonslave]

There was many years ago (and lost from my collection of internet things) a rather snazzy PDF someone had done for thier "WHQ2" with a points based character build, starting with a pool of points used to buy starting race, stat boosts, skills, equipment etc. It was rather good as I recall, you could have an Ogre who could cast spells.....

If you ever come across it again, please let me know.

Thats alot of skill tables Deamonslave, I have trouble working out decent skills to go on mine.

Well, a lot of the skills available I am inventing new things for, such as smithing, alchemy and enchanting.

Things like stealth will simply be to do with being good at avoidance, such as harder to hit with missile weapons, ignored when placing monsters, better at escaping crime scenes in settlements and better at evading pinning, etc.

Killer would be about finding vulnerable points of monsters, so skills will include doing extra damage from the side or the back, causing extra damage, combining all attacks into a single one that ignores armour, etc.

So if you wanted to make an assassin character, stealth (to sneak up from behind), killer (extra damage from behind) and alchemy (make nasty poisons) would make a lethal combination.

I've got loads of ideas. Plus because I've stripped the Warriors down to the bare bones, things like dodge and auto-escape pinning will instead make up the Elf skills, the Barbarians frenzy takes up a feral spot, etc.