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Sample Stoburan:
Harden Dresry
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Stoburans (stow-BUR-rans) are practitioners of Stoburu, a very flexible, adaptable,
and powerful sort of Arcane Magic that relies on personally enchanted items of power
unique to each practitioner.
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Focus
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Stoburans invest Magical abilities into objects and then activate them at need.
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Stoburans are excellent complements to most adventuring groups, adding an impressive
array of functionality to a party's capabilities.
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Compared to other professions Stoburans emphasize wisdom, learning, and craft work
and simple but powerful Magics with a high degree of general usability.
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A player can expect their Stoburan to start off respectably capable and progress
smoothly. Stoburans tend to be feel more "superheroic", with diminished
focus on mystical claptrap and a generally easy means of Power use.
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Means to Power
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Rather than learning to cast static Spells, Stoburans instead learn to craft powerful
Wands, Rods, Staffs, or other objects, into which they invest all of their magical
abilities. They are able to work terrible and mighty Magic in this fashion, but
are woefully vulnerable to having their items taken or destroyed.
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This is a very "superheroic" style of Magic Use. Unlike some "Item
Based" Magic Systems where practitioners create independent Magic Items that
are usable by others and can be taken away permanently, Stoburu items are just personal
devices only usable by their creator; Personal Foci in HERO System terms. They are
merely a conduit through which a Stoburans works Magic.
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STOBURU ITEMS
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The primary capability of a Stoburan is a function of the number and potency of
effects they are able to weild through their personal foci.
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Each Stoburan buys one or more abilities to which they apply the Focus Limitation.
The Focus can be either Inaccessible or Accessible but the Focus must be Personal
(Universal is not allowed). A Stoburan item can take any practical form, but Wands
and Staves are most common, followed by Rings, Amulets, Brooches, and similar adornments;
even garments can serve in this fashion.
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ONE OR MANY ITEMS
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Some Stoburans have a single item, but many prefer to split their Powers across
multiple items. There are pros and cons involved with either approach; with all
the Stoburan's abilities locked into one item they are more vulnerable to being
deprived of the item, but with their abilities spread across multiple items they
can incur the inconvenience of switching between them in circumstances where each
second might count.
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Generally speaking, it is usually considered prudent to put defenses in one or two
items, and offenses in one or two other items, however there are other competitive
arrangements.
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STOBURAN LORE SKILL
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Stoburans must have an EGO based Power Skill called Stoburan Lore which they use
when they create a new or replacement item, or improve an existing item.
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To avoid untimely delays a Stoburan should have a respectable level with this skill.
However its use is by default of only peripheral concern when enchanting items,
and it is unnecessary to invest considerable points into it as the roll rarely takes
penalties when used (see the Stoburu System document for direction on how and when
this Skill is used).
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STOBURAN LORE: Power Skill (EGO); Real Cost: 3/2
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MASTER STATUS
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What constitutes Master status for a Stoburan will vary from campaign to campaign
and setting to setting, but as a rule of thumb a Stoburan with a 16- Stoburan Lore
Skill (or equivalent including Skill Levels), at least 200 Active Points in their item's effects (including the means of
calculating Framework Active Points
defined in the Stoburu System document), and at least 100 Real Cost worth of Stoburu items
should be considered a Master. Higher mastery is simply a function of more effects
and more powerful effects; this is not a subtle art.
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CRAFT SKILLS
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Stoburans don't have to make their own items from scratch; its allowed for them
to acquire finished base items or commission skilled craftsmen to create things
to specification. However some Stoburans prefer to make their own items; such characters
should simply take the appopriate Craft oriented Professional Skills. Applicable
Crafting Skills can be used as Complementary Skills to the Stoburu Lore Skill Roll
required to enchant Stoburu items if the Stoburan created the base item themselves.
The GM might also see fit to grant other bonuses.
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ARMOR AND PERSONAL DEFENSE
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By default Stoburans are able to wear Armor and suffer no penalties to their Magic
usage for doing so. However, they must still be Familiar with a particular type
of Armor or else suffer non-familiarity penalties. However, some GM's may prefer
to restrict this.
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However since it is relatively easy for a Stoburan to enchant an item that affords
them high levels of protection without the downsides of clumsy, heavy, expensive
armor, they are often better off doing so.
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ENDURANCE RESERVES
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Stoburans may use a Magic Endurance Reserve if they wish, though their Powers may
also be bought 0 END or on Charges if they prefer.
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By default an END Reserve of this sort Recovers in the normal fashion (REC per TURN),
but some GM's might want to place Limitations on the REC to model various flavors
of Magic, such as Once per Day, or requiring Extra Time, or an ambient recovery
mechanism.
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SCALING CAPACITY VARIANT
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Alternately a GM might prefer to put a ceiling on how many character points can
be spent on the Reserve and REC, based on the following formula:
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Scaling Capacity Point Cap = Total Character Points / 25
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This results in characters that are able to participate in all encounters, but have
to conserve END within individual encounters which is generally preferable to having
characters that expend all of their END in a single encounter and are then unable
to participate in later encounters.
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EXAMPLE: Mardok has 189 Character Points. If the GM were using the Scaling
Capacity Variant to limit END Reserves, then Mardok could spend (189/25) = 8 character
points on his END Reserve. This could be 70 END / 1 REC or 10 END / 7 REC or any
combination in between with a total Real Cost of 8 or less points.
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MAGESIGHT
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Many Stoburans take the Mage Sight Talent described in Fantasy HERO, or some equivalent
ability (at normal cost). However this isn't required; it is simply a convenience.
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LONGEVITY
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Some Stoburans take the Life Support (Longevity) ability to represent extended life
spans. This may not be appropriate in all settings; check with your GM prior to
taking this ability.
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Intrinsic Abilities
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By default, all of a Stoburan's effects must reside in a Focus. However, a GM might
opt to allow a Stoburan to buy off the Focus Limitation on some of their powers,
thus making some of their abilities intrinsic. There are some pros and cons to allowing
this, but if it is allowed at all it is recommended that the following formula be
employed to limit it by imposing a cap on the total Real Cost of all such intrinsic
abilities permitted to a Stoburan.
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Intrinsic Ability Real Cost Cap = Total Character Points / 10
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EXAMPLE: Mardok has 189 Character Points. If the Intrinsic Ability Real Cost
Cap were in effect, then Mardok could spend (189/10) = 19 character points on Stoburu
powers lacking the Focus limitation that he could use even if deprived of all of
his items. All other restrictions on Stoburu apply to these intrinsic abilities.
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VARIANT: VARIABLE LIMITATION
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Alternately, the GM could allow a Stoburan to buy some or all of their abilities
with a tightly defined Variable Limitation instead of Focus, and require Focus to
be one of the applicable Variable Limitations. Increased Endurance, Concentration,
and possibly Side Effects are good candidates for being used in conjunction with
this. However, note that if allowed this will alter the overall feel of the Magic
System.
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Variable Limitation Stoburu: Variable Limitations (requires -1/2 worth of
Limitations from; Personal Focus, x2 END, Concentration, Side Effects; -1/4)
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VARIANT: HALF STRENGTH DOUBLE EFFORT
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Alternately, the GM could implement a custom restriction that allowed a Stoburan
to use their abilities even if they don't have their Foci, but at half strength
and with great strain. This softens the vulnerability of having all of a character's
abilities in foci, but still makes the foci very important. If it is allowed, then
instead of Focus, the following Limitation is used:
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Attenuated Stoburu: Requires -1/2 worth of
Limitations from Personal Focus, Or Power May Only Be Used At 1/2 Active Points
and at x4 END (-1/2)
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Artificing
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Stoburu items are not like normal Magic Items as described in the
Magic Items document; they are personal conduits for Magic use that are
only usable by their creator.
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However, if the GM allows it, Stoburans can also take various Item Creation Skills
(listed below) and create the usual sort of Magic Items following the guidelines
given in the Magic Items document under
Artificing. This is in addition to their Stoburu abilities, and the two
should not be confused. Allowing a Stoburan to also be an Artificer allows a such
a character to create standard Magic Items for use by others, and broadens their
capability and allows the expression of some character concepts, but really has
nothing at all to do with their Stoburu abilities.
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The following Artificing Skills would be appropriate for such usage; the
Artificing documents contain much more detail and directions and should
be referenceed.
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Item Creation Skills
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Artificing
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KS: Artificing
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Used to create Magic Rings, Staves, Weapons, Armor, and other miscellaneous types
of Permanent Magic items.
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Wandcrafting
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KS: Wandcraft
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Used to create Ephemeral Magic Items in the form of Wands or similar items that
typically store a single Magical Power effect and have a finite amount of Magical
energy stored in them (Non-Recoverable Charges) allowing them to use one specific
Power effect a certain number of times.
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Alchemy
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KS: Alchemy
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Used to create Ephemeral Magic Items in the form of potions, powders, special inks,
and the like that have one or more Non-Recoverable Charges.
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Ritual Abilities
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By default, all of a Stoburan's effects must reside in a Focus. However, a GM might
opt to allow Stoburans to also have the ability to do more freeform magic. One approach
towards doing this while still maintaining the general feel of the Magic System
is to allow a heavily limited VPP for casting magic in a Ritual fashion, requiring
extra time, meditation, and so forth. If this is allowed, the following VPP construction
is recommended; the Stoburu Lore Skill is used to change power in the VPP.
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Stoburan Ritual Magic: Variable Power Pool (Magic); Limited Class Of Powers Available Arcane
Magic (-1/2), VPP Powers Can Be Changed Only With Study And Meditation In A Controlled
Environment (-1/2), Variable Limitations (requires -1 worth of Limitations; Extra
Time, Concentration, Ritual, Window Of Opportunity, Incantations, Increased END
Cost, Focus, Gestures; -1/2)
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