This game is about roving over the lands of Talislanta.  While there are various plots and events going on in the background, it is entirely up to the player characters which they engage in and which they choose not to.

The game is primarily 4th edition Talislanta.

My take on character creation has always been pretty free form.  I start from the archetypes, but from there, it's just a case of making up an interesting, believable character.


Player Requirements

1. Players must be 18 years of age and provide a verification of that prior to being allowed into the game.

2. Players must have access to Talislanta material. The exact edition is not incredibly important, although I'll be working from 4th edition.

3. Keeping the game moving requires regular posting. Please commit to 3 posts per week. This was our agreement in pbem format, which is less organized and actually harder to post than pbp.

4. This game is rated 'mature', but I'd prefer everyone still verify age in #1.  Anything that would move to an 'adult' rating will be left to a 'fade to black' and happens entirely off-camera.

5. A writing sample is preferred prior to be admitted to the game.

6. The player character group has been pretty tightly knit.  Something to keep in mind when creating a character.


That's it, for starters -- this is my first pbp game I've run, so I'm learning this as I go along as well.

PC's coming over from the PBEM have already gotten automatic entrance.

Character creation is based on 4th edition of the Talislanta rules.  That said, I'm pretty flexible.  If you have a well thought out character that doesn't match an existing archetype, bring it up and we'll work something out.

The current game time is the month of Talisandre in the year 620 of the New Age.

The PC group has been rather cooperative and close-knit.  It's a good dynamic I'd like to keep going.

Characters should have some history and background.  Players should feel free to create 3 + CHA friendly contacts for their character.  An additional 'friendly' contact can be created for every 'enemy' detailed, or every two rivals.  These are just rough figures, and need to be GM approved.  The idea isn't to play the numbers here, but to encourage some rounding out of your character's background.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:02, Thu 25 Feb 2010.

House rules, such as they are:

While this is based around 4th edition Talislanta, I like the feel of discovering the old magics.  Magicians will have number of spells as specified in the Codex Magicus.  In brief, 1 spell in each mode for each +1 in that mode, and an additional number of spells in any known mode equal to MR.

So a character with +4 MR and +2 in 3 modes would start knowing 2 spells in each of those 3 modes, and 4 additional spells in any of those modes.

Additional possible rule:

I like the possibility of magicians who can cast many little spells.  I don't like the idea of magicians who can cast many big spells.  I haven't found a happy medium yet; removing spell penalty for a success on casting leaves magicians with tremendous casting power; yet, no penalty accrued on in the case of a critical success means that often (perhaps even usually) casting so much as a minor cantrip can result in spell penalty.  After thinking about this for a while, I thought that by taking an additional -6 casting penalty, a caster can forego spell penalty accrual for that spell.


Some more house rules with regard to magic!  I've had a few changes here and there, and they are sprinkled though various threads, unfortunately.  I thought it would be good to clarify things here.

Spell Penalty:

I use the standard spell penalty from the book; many GMs do not assess spell penalty for standard success.  I'm not exactly happy with spell penalty, but I really haven't come up with a good alternative up to this point.  In brief, when casting a spell, if it creates and effect, that drains the caster, resulting in spell penalty.  So, on your casting roll:

Result            Spell Penalty?
Mishap                Yes
Failure               No
Partial Success       Yes
Full Success          Yes
Critical Success      No


Mode changes:

Move mode makes moving anything very difficult as written.  I've changed to using, more or less, the rules from 5th edition.  In brief

At base, SPD is -5.  The difficulty modifier of -1 per +1 SPD.  Base STR is -9, with +1 STR/level.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:40, Wed 28 Mar 2012.