Samsara:Settings
Contents
APPENDIX B: SETTINGS[edit]
Al-Qadim[edit]
Here are some notes for converting TSR’s rather evocative al-Qadim setting into SAMSARA. It should be noted that this is far from a complete conversion; it is rather some ideas to get one started. Conversions can take two main forms: either a direct, point-for-point conversions (transliteration) or a less direct conversions which aims to capture the spirit of the original, without sticking to every detail (translation). I’ve gone down something of a middle path here.
Honour[edit]
Virtually all inhabitants all the Land of Fate have a Motive called “Honour”. In contrast to most stats, an Honour +1 represents the average enlightened man he knows the workings of honour, and the specifics such as the salt-bond, and would have to struggle with himself to deliberately go against the dictates of honour. A Zakharan without any honour is an exception and those without honour often disguise this fact to prevent being shunned by all-right thinking people. Those with greater than 1 Honour are often called “the Righteous” or “the Honourable” and tend to attract respect wherever they go. They are also easy targets for those with no honour.
Station[edit]
Zakhara is also a place of explicit and real social standing. All characters also possess an ability called “Station”. Station -5 represents the most desperate sort of beggar, Station 0 represents a commoner; Station +5 is reserved for the Grand Caliph. Station frequently acts as an additional modifier in Social contests: people listen to emirs and tend to ignore humble nomads. It is important to note that Station is a real attribute in Zakharan terms: Caliphs have a regal quality that frequently betrays them if they try to pas themselves off as commoners. By the same token, a lucky barber-surgeon might find himself in possession of much cash and buy nice clothes, servants, and lodgings; but his true Station will tend to out.
Station has two quirks. First, in certain circumstances, the modifier for Station is reversed. In counter-cultures, such beggarly, outlaw, or barbarian societies, negative Station acts as a positive modifier while positive acts as a negative. Negative station also aids beggars when begging, so that the most pathetic beggars are most liable to succeed (remember this is a fantasy world).
Secondly, Station impacts attempts to disguise itself. The absolute distance between an actor’s true Station and the Station of his disguise acts as a negative modifier. Thus, if a Station +2 merchant-rogue attempts to disguise himself as a Station -3 beggar, he has a -5 penalty to the attempt. This means that both filthy beggars and wondrous caliphs find it difficult to disguise themselves as anything other than what they are; their true character shines out. Of course, competent beggars may possess enough skill at disguise to overcome this somewhat.
Heatstroke[edit]
Zakhara is, to put it mildly, hot most of the time in most places. Anyone who spends any significant time in the sun faces the possibility of heatstroke. For every hour spent in the sun, an actor must resist the effects of heatstroke. This is a Simple Contest, in the physical sphere. The actor’s modifiers are STA + WIL; the Contest rating for the sun is +5 for “normal” hot conditions with an actor undergoing normal exertion. Additional exertion or unusual conditions will increase the CR.
Success results in no ill effects for the character at this time. Failure results in checks as per normal contest rules. But note that the contest does not end until the actor gets out of the sun and recuperates; if the actor is spending all day in the sun, the contest will go on for quite some time. Severe checks are heatstroke: these are physical checks that will only recuperate at a rate of 1 per each day spent hydrated and out of the sun.
Armour[edit]
Armour is useful in the midst of combat; D&D notwithstanding, nobody wears it unless expecting a fight because of its other drawbacks. Armour provides a bonus to an actor’s reactive modifier in combat along the lines of:
| +1 | Heavy padding |
| +2 | Leather |
| +3 | Lamallar |
| +4 | Chain mail |
Those same numbers, however, count as penalties when attempting any other physical actions while wearing the armour. Running, jumping, climbing, even riding are made more difficult by wearing armour. Armour also acts as a penalty to the actor’s modifier to resist heatstroke at double the armour’s protective value (so that full chain gives a -8). Zakhara is not a land of heavy cavalry and knights.
The Evil Eye[edit]
Zakharans are a humble people, given to great displays of modesty. This is because they know that displays of pride are likely to attract the Evil Eye. If the GM feels that a character has been too obviously prideful, he may roll to se if the fool has gotten the Evil Eye. This is a straight, unmodified roll in a Simple Contest (in other words, a 50/50 chance). Success means that no untoward attention has been attracted; any Failure means that it has.
- A Simple Failure results in 1 severe check applied to whatever sphere of action the actor was prideful about (thus, pride about seducing the Caliph’s favourite wife results in a Social check, while pride concerning your battle ferocity result sin a Physical check).
- Full Failure results in either 2 severe checks in that sphere, or 1 severe check in two different spheres.
- Spectacular Failure results in either 3 severe checks in that sphere or 1 severe check in all spheres (so you become either notably bad at what you were formerly good, or just become all-around jinxed).
Checks from the Evil Eye will not recovered naturally: the victim must somehow appease the forces he has aroused against him, usually by making some pubic display of humbleness.
Magic[edit]
In order to do the magic conversion, we need to think how we want magic to work in this game. Do we, for example, want to retain the D&D idea of discrete “spells”? Or would sorcerers have a more generalized control over their elements (such as I suggested in the Thematic-magic in Appendix A)? Also, could anyone potentially work a little magic, or must you have the “Sorcery” or “Sha’ir” ability (I like this, myself, as playing up the magical nature of the setting))?
Performing any kind of magic (sorcery or the sha’ir arts) requires a Simple Contest, as suggested in Appendix A. I’m thinking of the variation where the player’s describe failures and the GM describes successes, but could work the other way too:
- A Simple Failure EITHER means the effect did not go off and 1 check has been received in the Spell Contest, if the mage desires to keep trying OR that the effect did occur but in some unexpected and not entirely helpful way.
- A Full Failure means the spell failed to go occurs and 2 checks in the Spell Contest.
- A Spectacular Failure results in 3 checks even if the casters desires not to pursue the Spell Contest, which means 1 severe check. For sorcerers this is Mental; for sha’ir this is Social. Optionally, something magical does happen, but it is rather unpleasant for the caster (something equivalent to 3 checks, but in any sphere. For example, if your were trying to create hunting-hound from a flame, maybe be a ball of flame mushrooms in front of you and you take 3 checks of Physical). Thus it’s a choice to just take your lumps and forget it, or take your lumps AND hope something useful come out of the resulting mishap.
In order to distinguish sha’ir and sorcerers better, I’m thinking it might be a good idea to retain the spell idea for sorcerer but dump the “spell fetching” for sha’ir, replacing it with services from the djinn. The effect would be that sha’ir have access to a greater range of effects, but through more complex (and potentially dangerous) means, while sorcerers will be somewhat limited to those spells which they know, but will have a generally easier (and quicker) time producing them. Sorcerers are craftsmen and (at the higher levels of learning) scientists; sha’ir are artists.
Sorcerers[edit]
If we kept the spells for sorcerers, we might say something like this: all sorcerers begin knowing all the appropriate 1st level spells for their provinces. Further spells will have to be bought, found, traded, or stolen. Casting calls for a Simple contest in which the sorcerers rolls INT + PER + Sorcery versus the spell’s CR. The CR is +5 for 1st level spells and increases by +1 for each further level (so 9th level spells are CR +13)
Sorcerers who use all 4 provinces are limited to spells of level 1-2. Further power requires specialization. Rejecting 1 province allows knowledge of spells up to level 4, while rejecting 2 provinces allows knowledge up to level 6. The ability to cast spells of levels 7+ requires committing to one and only one elemental province. One-province sorcerers are not distrusted because everybody thinks they are part of the True Flame (that’s such a dumb rationale), but rather because the heavy-hitter sorcerers are all specialists. Even when they are aligned with you, having a nuclear bomb nearby is disconcerting. Of course, you could be specialized and have no particular power to speak of, but that’s not commonly realized. On the other hand, even the humblest village has a healer or cunning man with some first-level spells and no specialty; they are respected like any other craftsman, but not feared.
Sha’ir (a start)[edit]
Sha’ir would use something like Ten Million Gods from the Appendix A. Their abilities are entirely based off of securing the services and support of supernatural beings. How exactly that might work…eh…I’m still working on it. The easiest way is to say that the GM decides how difficult the request is, assigns a CR, and the guy rolls. More involved might use the effects-based construction and derive the CR from that. I’m thinking that you could say that all effects take approximately 4 turns to arrive. Higher success on the casting roll could be traded in for reducing the time required (so a Spectacular success could be traded in for a Simple Success only requiring 2 turns)
Digitalogists[edit]
Digitalogists study much the same magic as sorcerers, but there approach is far more theoretical than the average sorcerer’s practical knowledge. As relatively recent phenomenon, digitalogy emerged from the break-throughs of a handful of theoretical sorcerers and mathematicians in the schools of Qadib, City of Sages. It involved the realization that all spells can be predicted and explained by certain algorithms (bonus points to those who realize that the al-gorithm is Arabic). To the theorists, this was confirmation that the world can be understood entirely mathematically, although they would not take the heretical step of suggesting that the world is mathematical (not publicly, anyway).
Digitalogists are able to learn spells in a way unknown to regular sorcerers. By understanding the fundamental rationale behind spells, they are able to successfully cast spells beyond the capacity of sorcerers. However, because of the greater time and effort spent in learning the formulae of spells, these mathemagicians are able to learn comparatively few spells. All digitalogists begin the game knowing a number of spells equal to INT + Mathematics scores; these spells may be of any level and appear as separate abilities. There are very few venues in which to learn new digitalogy spells and very few fellow digitalogists from which to learn them. The mathemagician should expect to learn new spells at a very slow rate.
To cast a spell, the digitologist rolls INT + PER + Sorcery + the individual spell bonus. This gives them a larger bonus than most sorcerers and means that they may attempt higher level spells earlier. Because digitalogists understand a basic unity to magic, they need not specialize in any elemental provinces to cast higher level spells (they regard the Theory of Conceptual Incompatibilities as the product of lazy minds and the Theory of Provincial Obeisance as scarcely worthy of serous discussion). Casting takes time, however, as the mathemagician must draw out the formulae of the spells for it to take effect; all digitalogy spells take 2 turns to activate.
2.Contests
6.Motives
7.Checks
