oh, irony ~

In contemplating various ways to reskin the Therion basic ruleset, I think -- when I finish smoothing out and collecting the first draft into one document -- that the entire flavour of the game will change.

I like the idea of the human-therion interaction, I really do. But what I have written looks to work even better as a little game of people in power armour ~

So that, I think, might be my first semi-polished version. Time will tell.

What can I say? I love mecha ~

a few thoughts on combat and magic

Naturally, these are some of the very cloudy parts at the moment.

However, I'm leaning towards two actions being allowed in a round/turn/whatever-term-I-wind-up-using; one from the human and one from the beast. This may be an attack, a defense, or a miscellaneous action.

A defensive action would raise Armour by a certain amount that segment.

Miscellaneous actions for beasts would be fairly limited, unless the beast in question has special abilities. Miscellaneous actions for humans could include talking, manipulating objects, readying a weapon ...


Magic is something I want to have available but relatively low-key; flexibility, not reams of specific spells (shocking, I know!). Perhaps a pool of "mana points" to draw on per day, based off of a stat; perhaps something to be rolled for (I like the points idea better at the moment).

- How to gain magic? By a penalty to another mechanic. Whether it's lowering of the permanent health stat, one or more stat scores being lower than normal, or some other mechanic, magic always has a price.

the basics

The core idea of Therion is to be playing a human(ish) character who travels with one (or more?) creatures, battling other creatures -- and perhaps capturing them! -- exploring, treasure-hunting perhaps ... in many ways it's likely a hyperspecialized version of D&D, but who cares?

The main "game stats" will be those of the human character. The beast's stats are modifiers which are applied to those of the human during combat or similar situations: for example, an especially agile/dexterous critter may give a bonus to an appropriate stat in a situation where said critter could be roleplayed as actively aiding. A primate climbing or snatching small objects, a large beast helping to smash down a door ...

Equipment would work in a similar manner, where appropriate. So yes, a beast companion would work much like a big hungry version of a sword +2 ~

There will also be a "baseline" for critter stats for encountering and battling "wild" examples, as well as other potential encounters.


I haven't decided if skills will be included. Possibly just drawn from a pool of very generic umbrella groups, if at all. Likewise magic/psionics is not a given yet (but knowing me, pretty damn likely ...) but will at the least be included as an option.


There will be a limit to the number of therion you can have "active" with you at once! As soon as I decide what it is X3

Similarly, it will be possible to play as a lone human. Whether play as a lone therion will be possible I haven't decided yet.

>startup

There's something amusing about the fact that, while I'm taking a break from D&D more or less to graze the pastures of Shadowrun, Anima and Pathfinder (among others), I find myself tinkering with an idea for a little game of my own.

On a certain website I've been tasked with offering suggestions for a "battle system"; whether I'll actually manage to make useful suggestions -- let alone have any of them come to fruition -- I have no idea; but pondering the one scrap I think I have (a human and an animal working together in combat, much like the animal companion of a druid or ranger in (A)D&D), I've felt the inklings of a roleplayable little game.

(hell, it could be even be reskinned as something Pokemon-like ;3)

By the time I'm finished, the Therion Project will probably be a substantial little brute. I'd like something as compact and slick as, say, Microlite d20 but I know myself too well for that *grins* What I'll actually do with the Project when finished, who can say ...