By
Gary Gygax
© 2001 Trigee Enterprises Company.
All rights reserved.
There is little doubt that the concern of
the Ordered Avatar having an advantage over that of the Unordered
on in the Lejendary AdventureTM game
is motivated principally by players concerned with having
characters with the greatest advantage possible. Fair enough.
Although that smacks of power gaming, in truth most players
want that, and in that majority I include myself. The reason
isn’t for Avatar might and domination, thus. It is to insure
the viability of one’s game persons. To think solely of small
advantage, though, is to lose sight of the bigger picture.
The LA game system facilitates the creation of a special character
that suits the individual player, not merely somewhat varied
cookie-cutter ones. There is also the aspect of roleplay,
something far too often overlooked by those bent on making
combat the primary reason for playing. That is sad, as the
game form offers so much more. Without discarding swordplay,
rather enhancing the times for hack & slash, this system
enables and encourages the enjoyment of the whole of the elements
of the RPG!
All of that is actually just a roundabout
way of saying that it is quite possible to develop Unordered
Avatars that have a high potential for success and advancement.
Although so doing does take away from some of the roleplay
potential for such characters, with a bit of imagination and
creativity, one can indeed devise Avatars of Unordered stamp
that have considerable promise.
Below are two examples I literally “whipped
up” to demonstrate my point. In perusing them, remember to
refer to the new advancement table for Unordered Avatars attaining
the “ranks” in their first Ability—at 61 and each 10 points
thereafter through 131. Onwards!
Unordered Avatar: Carlos Delgato
Carlos Delgato is the third son of a petty
noble. Always up to some mischief, hot-headed and troublesome,
his father, Don Diego, determined to send Carlos to the priesthood.
Of course, the youth would have none of that. When a
carnival troupe passed through, Carlos left the castle, joined
up. He took his "rightful inheritance" with
him, thus totally alienating himself from his father.
As he learned the skills of these entertainers, he maintained
his rigorous personal routine of arms practice. Being
bright and charming, Carlos soon managed to wheedled the hedge
magician of the troupe, became her apprentice. Now,
several years later, he has the following stats and Abilities.
Initial H 38 + 15 + 2 = 55
Initial P 50 + 7 + 4 = 61
Initial S 12 +2 + 0.5 = 14.5 (58)
1st: Weapons 61
2nd: Minstrelsy 49 + 2 for 61 initial Ability
= 51 (+5 to hand-hurled Weapons, +5 Harm, +5' range)
3rd: Chivalry 33 (+6 to Weapons,
+6 to Harm)
4th: Enchantment 23 (see list of
Powers below)
5th Tricks 10 + 2 for 61 initial Ability
= 12 (+1 to Harm)
Enchantment--one Memory Tablet with:
Flame Finger
Lighter than Air
Personal Armor 1
Weapon Wizard
Attack: Adjusted Weapons Ability
of 66 with striking weapon, 71 with hand-hurled weapon, all
not including any weapon precision bonuses applicable; Harm
by weapon +7 striking weapon, +12 hand-hurled weapon. (Weapon
Wizard Power negates attack penalty when using Minstrelsy
Ability in defense.)
Defense: Leather half armor 6, +5
Minstrelsy Ability use, +2 Personal Armor 1 Power effect
= 13.
Carlos has considerable equipment and cash
left from what he took when leaving his father's castle.
This includes a fine courser and two excellent swords.
He is growing bored with the entertainment
troupe, restless, yearning for derring-do so as to prove his
worth as a swordsman and adventurer.
In the above example, advancement will
add to Minstrelsy and Tricks Abilities, at 81 and then 91Weapons
score, Enchantment will be also be given a large boost. At
131 Chivalry will see a gain. Of course, new Abilities added
will also benefit.
Unordered Avatar: Jivros Sylgar
Jivros Sylgar is the only son of an adventurous
geourge (Leo Sylgar) and a tribal chieftain’s daughter, Jalki.
When a war party from another tribe wiped out the village,
Jivros was away at a coastal town, learning skills of martial
arts sorts. Returning, he found his parents dead, his little
sister missing. Knowing he was powerless to do anything,
he allowed his desire for revenge to cool, returned to perfect
his martial arts. Now, several years later, equipped
with such fighting capacity, and with the knowledge taught
to him by his father and mother, Jivros is a wanderer, determined
to soon seek out those who slaughtered his family and tribe,
exact a gory revenge. He has the following stats and Abilities.
Initial H 44 + 16 + 1 = 61
Initial P 44 + 10 + 1 = 55
Initial S 12 + 3 + 0.25, + 0.5, + 0.5, +
0.5 = 16.75 (67)
1st: Unarmed Combat 61
2nd: Geourgy 54 + 2 for 61 initial Ability
= 56 (see list of Powers below)
3rd: Divination40 + 2 for 61 initial Ability
= 42
4th: Savagery 27 + 2 for 61 initial Ability
= 29 (+ 2 to Weapons and such Harm)
5th Weapons 10
Geourgy--two Memory Tablets from his father’s
property with:
Command circle materials formerly belonging
to father
Protection circle materials formerly
belonging to father
(seven activations TBD)
Divination means—four types (TBD)
Attack:
Unarmed Combat base 61, +12 Harm to target
subject.
Adjusted Weapons 18 (10 + 6 for Unarmed
Combat + 2 for Savagery Ability) = 18 with striking weapon,
he having a thrusting sword, add weapon precision bonus 20,
this totals 38; Harm bonus + 2.
Defense: Cloth half armor 4, + 6
Unarmed Combat Ability defense = 10.
Jivro has moderate equipment and some small
amount of cash left from what he recovered from the place
his father hid his wealth.
He is currently wandering in search of a
band of stalwarts who will join him in his quest to destroy
the murderous tribe of raiders mentioned.
This Avatar, having Unarmed Combat as
his prime Ability, can choose which Base Rating will be applied
when benchmark cores of 71, 81, etc. are attained. Of course,
with his next three Abilities being Speed-based, the choice
is immediately obvious. Later acquisition of new Abilities
could alter that, but that’s not too likely, considering…
So there you have it. Comments, as usual,
are always welcomed. |