V1.14.0: The ‘We Had a Baby’ Update

Public Update V1.14.0: The ‘We Had a Baby’ Update

As the name says, my spouse and I had a new baby while this update was being worked on! That’s why the time between updates was longer than normal.

GENERAL

• Added example background skills.
• Contested checks updated to have ties to the attacker.

BUILDING BEACONS

• WEAPONS
  • Weapon Classification: Added section saying that weapons are classified as either melee or ranged.
  • Linked Weapons. Updated wording to prevent being able to get 3 attacks out of one linked weapon slot when full attacking. [Basically, you could take a LIGHT/LIGHT slot and full attack with each weapon individually, triggering a linked attack off of the first one. This was not intended.]

NARRATIVE PLAY

• SHOP
  • Updated wording to specify GMs can either manually or randomly generate the supplies.

• DOWNTIME ACTIVITY
  • Disenchant: The rarity upgrade option has its cost reduced to 2 residuum from 3.

• SKILL CHALLENGES
  • Hurt Adversity: Updated wording.

COMBAT PLAY

• ACTIONS
  • RECOVER renamed REFRESH. [Players often thought you must spend recoveries whenever you take the RECOVER action. This should help.]
  • FULL ATTACK: Updated wording.
  • GRAPPLE: Moving a grappled target also inherits any forms of special movement the person in control has, like flight or teleportation.

• REACTIONS
  • INTERPOSE: Updated wording to make it clear you can become the target even if you otherwise wouldn’t be a valid target.

• DAMAGE
  • Discord: Clarified that resistance AND vulnerable only apply to upfront damage and stacks, not the end of turn damage.

• STATUS
  • Hidden: No longer causes you to not cause Engagement.
  • Stunned: Reworked effect, no longer causes a character to completely lose a turn, but is still bad.
  • BLOODIED: Removed reference to rounding up when determining bloodied, it is just if you are at half your HP max or less. [if you only have 1 max HP, you can never be bloodied as half of your max is 0.5, and you have more than that.]

• WOUNDS and OVERSTRESS
  • Columns changed from counting the number of wounds/overstress you have, to counting the number of wounds/overstress you have remaining. This change means that NPCs with multiple wounds/overstress get the worse results more often.
  • Stunned result changed to Staggered, imposes STUNNED+SLOWED.

• COVER
  • Added a rule for bypassing cover if you can shoot over/through/around it and are the same size or greater while adjacent to it.

• MOVEMENT
  • Flight: Can only be activated or deactivated 1/turn as a free action, not both. Effects of flight changed to make it a more simplified effect. Still has the defense against melee, but line of sight rules are mostly the same as non-flying characters, with the exception that they treat cover as one step lower when attacking, assuming the cover is from terrain/objects. No special interaction with Immobilized anymore, and PRONE ends the flying status. [Flying was very strong, as is still a strong effect. This grounds it a little more, while also removing some unintended oddities, like flying characters being able to remove HIDDEN from across the map.]

• TAGS
  • Integrated renamed INNATE.

ANCESTRY

• DWARF
  • Unyielding: Updated wording.
• ELF
  • Fey Step: Updated wording.
• GIGAN
  • Endure: Updated wording.
  • Oversized Weapons: Updated wording.
• HUMAN
  • Hang in There: Updated wording.
• MACHINA
  • Flush Systems replaced with System Repair.

CLASS

Giving a lot of support abilities arcing/homing. Some of these abilities already ignored line of sight, but this takes the wording from the body of the email and moves it to the tags. Plus this helps some support abilities work more often, or in the case of auras, makes it easier to track and handle.

Basically, I never thought about giving non-attacks arcing/homing, and this will fix that.

• AEGIS
  • Dome Barrier: Gains Arcing.
• ALCHEMIST
  • Potion Injector: Updated wording.

• ARSENAL
  • Flex Weapons: Updated wording.
  • Phantom Armory: Damage reduction doesn’t apply to non-aetheric weapon attacks as well. Damage reduction happens after armor/resistance.
• ASSASSIN
  • Death Strike: Now works on weapon and spell attacks. Stress goes off of Breaking and uses a mind save.

• CHRONOMANCER
  • Pluck the Threads of Time: Gains Arcing.
  • Rewind: Triggering stress can’t be caused by self
  • Borrowed Time: Updated wording.
• DEMON HUNTER
  • Corruption: Provides flat bonus damage at 2/4 corruption.
  • Demon Form: Gains polymorph tag. Gives extra bonus damage, and converts all bonus damage to discord. Loses damage resistance, but ga ins a flat +1 armor.
  • Infernal Aether: New trait, allows the demon hunter to willingly take stress  to regain mana.
  • Demon Leap: Gains Arcing.
• DRAGON RIDER
  • Dragon Saddle: Updated wording to clarify flying lasts until you end it.
  • Dragon Echo: Damage changed to 3 Astral + 1 Discord. [Making the damage static means your not going to roll bad damage with your limit break dragon, plus it speeds up combat by removing a roll. Adding discord gives it some piercing goodness.]

• DRUID
  • Briar Path: Damage becomes Piercing. Briar patch damage is 1/turn per character.
  • New Trait, Nature’s Path.
• GUNSLINGER
  • Customized Ammo: Shock Round imposes STUNNED+SLOWED.
  • Splinter removed.
  • New weapon, Shardgun Revolver, which has old sigilcaster stats.
  • Ammo Crate: Now limited 2 instead of consumable. HP increased to 5, and provides a flat 5 uses instead of based on HP. Explosion area increased to Burst 2.
• HEXBLADE
  • Hexing Aura: Gains Arcing.
• KNIGHTMARE
  • Night Terrors: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.

• LIFEWEAVER
  • Sewing Needle: Size increased to Main, type changed to artifact, damage increased to 1d3+2. [With the rapier change, wanted to differentiate the sewing needle. Increasing size means the Lifeweaver no longer has to underslot to use it. Trying out also switching the type to artifact, but I’m fine switching it back to blade if it feels better.]
  • Second Life: Gains Arcing.
  • Serenity: Gains Arcing.
• PALADIN
  • Aura of Inspiration: Gains Arcing.
  • Auras of Resistance: Gains Arcing.
  • Auras of Protection: Gains Arcing.
• PHOENIX
  • Supervolcano: Gains Homing, updated wording. [No real change in effect.]
  • Vent Heat: Gains Arcing, updated wording. [Slight change in effect, old version basically had Homing, but I think arcing makes more sense.]
• SEEKER
  • Heavenly Starfall: Gains Arcing, updated wording. [Slight change in effect, old version basically had homing, but I think arcing makes more sense.]

• SHADEBINDER
  • Aetheric Evolution: Gains Arcing.
  • Capture Orb: Imposes STUNNED+IMMOBILIZED, no longer limited to 1/character.
• SHADOWDANCER
  • Gasp for Air: Updated wording.
• SKALD
  • Ballad: Gains Arcing.
  • Song of Defense: Gains Arcing.
  • Song of Rest: Gains Arcing.
• THUNDERCLAW
  • Flurry: Imposes STUNNED+DAZED. Updated wording.
  • Living Lightning: Removed 1/character limit. Updated wording.
  • Wolf Claws: Removed on crit effect.
• TIDECALLER
  • Tidal Wave: Updated wording. Clarified that damage and sunder happens on collision with characters as well.
  • Rainfall: Gains Arcing.
• WARDEN
  • Save target reduced to 10.
  • Speed increased to 5.
  • Lifeblood: Also gains +1 ACC on MGK saves.

TALENT

• ARTIFICER
  • All 3 ranks received buffs. Can now create any type of weapon, does more damage, malfunctions less, AOE option uses mana instead of malfunctions, and can eventually lose reloading altogether or keep normal reloading for a damage buff.

• BREAKER
  • Rank 3, removed 1/character limit.
  • Rank 2: Updated wording.
• ENCHANTER
  • Rank 1: Variable enchantment loses the ability to change between Stress/Discord. [This took variable out of the realm of a quality of life, niche effect into a strong, offensive buff for crowd control effects. It was fun and strong, and could be a cool legendary piece of loot, but is too much for a rank 1 talent free enchantment.]
• HOSPITALER
  • Rank 1: must be two different options.
• LICHDOM:
  • Soul Vessel is innate, unique, and equipped for free.
• METAMAGIC
  • Quite Spell, updated wording.
• SLASHER
  • Updated flavor text.

• SUMMONER
  • Rank 2: Must be within range 5 of one of your summons to gain the focus. [Was a little too easy to gain the focus with some summons.]
• SUN BLOTTER
  • Rank 2: Ballista: Updated wording.

WEAPONS

• Bloodpike: Damage updated to Lunar in the PDF. [I think it was always supposed to be Lunar, since that’s what’s on the character sheet and fits in my head with what ‘bloodpike’ should be damagewise, but I’m not sure. I think it got switched when changing the layout of this section.]
• Rapier: Damage changed to a flat 2 damage. [Piercing on a light weapon is powerful because it bypasses the main limitation of a light weapon, the low damage. Setting the damage to a flat 2 doesn’t seem like an immediate nerf, but it does reduce its strength with certain builds that rely on damage being rolled.]
• Sigilcaster: Removed from basic equipment, moved to Gunslinger.
• New weapon, Shardshredder, a main magitech.

SUPPORT ITEMS

• Companion: Now grants a reaction chase effect.

TECHNIQUES

• Power Attack: Deals a flat +3 bonus damage. 

COMBAT SCENES

• Environmental Factors
  • Cold: Only affected by stress from others, also applies a lunar damage buff.
  • Heat: Only affected by stress from others, also applies an astral damage buff.

• Changed smallest map to 20 spaces instead of 25.

• TERRAIN FEATURES
  • Frictionless: Updated wording.
  • Treasure Chests: Contents of chests are known to players.
• COMBAT TYPES
  • Acquire: Length reduced to 6 rounds.
  • Defend: Length reduced to 5 rounds.
  • Survive: Length reduced to 5 rounds. All reinforcements are deployed at start of round 3.
  • Control: Length reduced to 5 rounds. Removed reinforcement zones, extended size of NPC deployment zone, and NPC deployment zone is also reinforcement zone. Scoring was changed, points instead go to whatever team has more characters in the zone, instead of having only 1 team in zone. Summons don’t count as controlling a zone.
  • Destruction: Reworked to allow for different numbers of destruction objectives, with scaling HP depending on how many PCs and how many objectives there are. Basically, there’s a set amount of HP you need to destroy, and its split between the number of objectives you create. Fewer objectives means they have more HP, but more HP means they’re easier to focus fire, discord is more useful, etc.

LOOT

• Added a sidebar explaining why loot trading is disabled by default, but that it’s a common house rule.

• Absorb Elements: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Aether Shield: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Aid: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Armor of Growing Endurance: Updated overstress effect to be charges equal to your breaking value, instead of 1d6. This makes it work just like the wound effect.
• Bane: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Battle Chant: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Bestow Curse: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Bloodthirst: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Cartwheel: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.

• Astral Imbue: MEM reduced to 1. Updated wording.

• Barkskin: Loses Mana 1 tag.
• Black Hole: Reworked into a Heavy.

• Boots of Levitation: Clarified you can only end as a minor action.
• Broom of Flying: Updated wording to clarify flying lasts until you end it.
• Chain Blade: Attacking range increased to range 5 from range 3. Damage increased by +1.
  
• Frost Lance: Range changed to Line 10.
• Hydrus: Updated wording.
• Challenge Seeker: Damage increased by +1.
• Charging Spear: Damage increased to 1d6+1.
• Chill Touch: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Cleansing Touch: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Dancing Blade: Damage increased by +1.
• Delayed Healing: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Distracting Strike: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Electrical Pack: Damage increased to 1d6.
• Ember: Astral damage increased by 1.
• Energy Shield: MEM reduced to 1 from 2. Amount of temp HP increased to 2 temp HP per mana spent.
• Exploding Heart: MEM reduced to 2 from 3. Removed 1/character limit.
• Fatigue: Gains Reliable 2.
• Flare: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Frightening Howl: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Frost Fang: Damage increased by +1.
• Gambling Dice: Unlucky roll stress to you reduced to 2 from 4.
• Ghostwalker Armor: Mana cost reduced to 1.
• Give Order: Gains Arcing.
• Grounded Caster: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Guard Break: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Hamstring: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Harpoon: Damage increased by +1.
• Healing Mace: Gains Inaccurate, but loses inaccurate when attacking ally. Damage increased to 4d3+1.
• Heaven Piercing Fang: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Heavy Draw: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Hemorrhage: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Hexbolt: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Homing Enchantment: Updated wording.
• Ice Crown: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Improved Energy Shield: Removed.
• Jack of all Trades: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Lightning Javelin: Damage increased by +1.
• Lucky: Damage and miss damage increased by +1.
• Fusion Cannon: Updated wording.
• Lunar Imbue: MEM reduced to 1. Updated wording.
  
• Second Wind renamed Third Wind
• Vampiric Touch: MEM reduced to 1, damage increased to 1d6+1, gains Reliable 2, and effect moves to on attack instead of on crit.
• Wind Imbue: MEM reduced to 1, updated wording.
• Mace of Terror: Damage increased by +1.
• Momentum: Damage increased by +2.
• Mortal Strike: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Mote Shield: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Mountainous Armor: Penalty changed to -1 speed -1 dodge like normal heavy armor instead of -2 speed.
• New Loot, False Swipe.
• Oathbow: Also does +3 damage on attack versus the marked target.
• Piercer: Damage increased by +1.
• Portalis: Also deals +2 damage when attacking at range 5.
• Potion of Giants: Consumable increased to 2.
• Pummel: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Purge: MEM reduced to 1 from 2. Mana reduced to 1 from 2.
• Reckless Swing: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Retribution Shield: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Returning Weapon: Thrown range reduced to 5.
• Scope: Renamed Telescope. Updated wording.
• Shock Glove: Damage increased by +1.
• Slime Staff: Damage gains 1d3 Lunar.
• Soaring Light: Damage increased by +2.
• Sonar Bow: Damage increased by +1.
• Spiked Fist: Damage increased by +2.
• Starbow: Damage increased by +1.
• Stunning Summon: MEM reduced to 1 from 2. Mana reduced to 2. Removed 1/character limit.
• Sundyr: Damage increased by +1.
• Telekinesis: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Throat Chop: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Thunder: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Thunderstomp: MEM reduced to 1 from 2.
• Thunderstruck: Damage increased by +4. Removed 1/character limit.
• Timber: Damage increased by +1.
• Torch Mace: Damage changed to 1d3 astral +1 discord.
• Unarmored Defense: Updated wording.
• Venom: Damage increased by +1.
• Wand of Magic Missiles: Damage increased by +1.
• Warstaff: Damage increased by +1.
• Wind Boomerange: Damage increased by +2.
• Mental Discord: MEM cost reduced to 1.
• New loot, Minibow.
• Overwhelming: Stress on failure decreased to 1 from 2.
• Penance: Also deals 2 stress on hit.
• Physical Discord: MEM cost reduced to 1.
• Potion of Climbing: Added the effect from Climbing Gear of being able to bring adjacent allies with you.
• Rage Caster. MEM reduced to 2. Clarified you take stress for mana, not clear stress.
• Swordbreaker: Accuracy against those with a melee weapon in general, not blade specific.
• New Loot, Splinter, slightly improved from when it was a gunslinger item.
• New Loot, Pentaquiver.
• New loot, Wand of Time: mechanics of old black hole. Damage increased by +1.

NPC

• NPC ACTIONS
  • NPCs can’t clear stress when they use REFRESH.

• ARCHITECT
  • Redesign: Gains Arcing.
• ARDENT
  • Fervor: Gains Arcing.
• CHARGER
  • Tipped Explosive: Updated wording.
• ELEMENTALIST
  • Walls: Gains Arcing.
• EXPENDABLE
  • Removed Armor.
  • HP Increased by +1 to 5/7/9
• FIREBUG
  • Ring of Fire: Updated wording to use Aura 2 tag.
• FURY
  • New Trait, Bloodthirsty.
  • Frenzied: Loses reliable, on bloodied instead deals bonus damage. No longer deals stress to self when not making attacks.
  • Removed weapons.
  • New weapon, Serrated Axe. [Making the Fury a single heavy weapon attacker instead of dual wielder, since the Cleaver already does that.]
  • Deadened Nerves: Doesn’t apply resistance to discord, and doesn’t function while vulnerable.
  • I am my Scars: Changed to now gives 2 building rage stacks while bloodied.

• HEALER
  • Bless: Now a spell.
• MARSHALL
  • Armor reduced to 1/1/1.
• MINDREAVER
  • Balance: Updated wording.
• MIRAGE
  • Phantasm Terrain: Gains Arcing.
• OVERLORD
  • Hailstorm: Gains Arcing.
• PROTECTOR
  • Armored Zone: Updated wording to use Aura 2 tag.
• SPECTER
  • Drain Life Force: reduced to 3/4/5, type changed to Lunar.
• SUMMONER
  • Scope decreased to 10/12/15.
  • Conjure Conscript: Loses Arcing.
  • Drag Down: Loses Arcing.
  • Focus Fire: Updated wording.

• SWARM
  • Armor decreased to 0/0/0.
  • Stress cap increased to 6/7/8
  • Scope reduced to 8/8/8
  • Swarm Form: Also provides vulnerable to discord.
• TITAN
  • Armor reduced to 2/2/2
  • Armor Plating. [Support] Heavy | The Titan has Resistance to Physical, Astral, Lunar, and Force damage from characters within [Range 3] of it.
  • Unstoppable. [Trait] The Titan can end its turn sharing spaces with objects and terrain that are smaller than it. If it ends its turn sharing spaces with other characters, they are Pushed to the nearest unoccupied spaces outside of the Titan’s spaces.
  • Earthcracker Enchantment. [Support] Main | Enchantment | The Titan’s Giga Hammer creates a [Burst 1] area around the target. Enemies in the area must pass an AGILITY save or take [5/7/8 Physical].
  • Removed Ram

• VULTURE
  • Lure: Gains Arcing.
  • Spelled barrel roll correctly.
• SOLO
  • Renamed to Mini Boss. [Finally time to drop the 4e term, especially since solos are explicitly not meant to be fought alone.]
  • Second Wind renamed Resurgence.
• VETERAN
  • Gains Legendary Resistance as an optional feature.
  • Second Wind renamed Resurgence.
• CELESTIAL
  • Divine Shield: Updated wording.
  • Healing Aura: Updated wording to use aura tag. Gains arcing.
• CONSTRUCT
  • Removed Absorb Energy.
• ELEMENTAL
  • Elemental Nimbus: Updated to use aura tag.

BOSSES

• LICH
  • Paralyzing Touch: Does STUNNED+DAZED
  • Power Word Stun: Failure effect also has SLOWED

SHOPS

• TAVERN
• Bubble Tea: Effect is now 1/round you can make an AGI check to not trigger a trap.
• Elf Cookies: Cost increased to 2.
• SUPPLIES
  
  • Weapon Ring: Must be a different weapon.
  • Titanbone Bow: Removed.
  • Cleansing Potion: Removed, was the same as antitoxin.
  • Arcane Retrofit: just changes type to artifact.
  • Counterweight: Updated wording.
  • Handle: updated wording.
  • Sharpening Stone: Updated wording.
  • Composite Construction: Updated wording.
  • Tech Retrofit: Updated wording.
  • Ruptured Flask: New.
  • Acid: Gains Innate.
  • Alchemist’s Fire: Gains Innate.
  • Dynamite: Gains Innate. Prismatic Potion: Cost increased to 2 Gold.