Topic: Switching base lists ?

[runequester]

So one of my prospective players wants a character that is a fey-touched knight type.. mostly similar to a paladin but with some very minor animal magic to show his fey touch.

I thought about just switching one or two of the paladin lists to a more fitting animist or ranger one.. anyone have experience with this sort of thing ?

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

Shouldn't be too much of a problem. Basically you are creating a new profession by tweaking an existing one, which is pretty much the way that RM2 did it...

[runequester]

yeah. The skill costs and whatnot for the paladin seems fine with what the guy has in mind, so its just the spells that needs a bit of moving abouts.

[markc]

 As long as the GM says ok and thinks about balane I think it is fine. I allow the Ranger profession to switch lists as I put some penalties on how the list works. ie not people around then they can summon animals but the more people around the animal gets incleased saves because of all the people.
 Any way it has worked very well for my game and provides a bit of a mix up for long time players or to the delight of new players.

MDC

[Ecthelion]

We usually require a Background Option/10 Talent Points to be spent for creating a character with Base Lists off the norm (1 BO per switched list). And of course the lists require GM approval. But other than that we have no limitations.

[Joshua24601]

Just be sure that the new lists you give him aren't excessively powerful... The paladins lists are relatively weak (unless battling an 'enemy') which offsets that they are really good fighters for semi-spell users.  But you can also tweak things to balance as you go.

Another option is to use talent points to give him a list.  If your using talent points this method actually makes the most sense to me.  One of his background character elements is that he's Fey touched.  If your not planning on doing traditional talents, you could give him his extra list, but also give him flaws (to reach a total of 0).  Perhaps being fey touched makes him hunted, or gives him a distinctive feature (silver streak though is hair, or unusual eyes).

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On a side note, the essence companion has a list for summoning Fey's, and even bonding with them... this could be an interesting list for your Pallie.  For that matter, if he is a Fey Touched Paladin.. is he serving a god?... might he be an Essence user?

[runequester]

Very cool idea!

[markc]

 Also I do not remember what book it is in but I think it is the Chan Comp, but take a look at the combat healer TP and some of the other TP that give spell lists to people who buy the TP. They can be a big help to any Pal, Rang or arms type.

MDC

[Kalu]

We usually require a Background Option/10 Talent Points to be spent for creating a character with Base Lists off the norm (1 BO per switched list).

Another option is to use talent points to give him a list. If your using talent points this method actually makes the most sense to me. One of his background character elements is that he's Fey touched. If your not planning on doing traditional talents, you could give him his extra list, but also give him flaws (to reach a total of 0).

If the character concept is a natural part of the setting, I don't think that background options/talent points should be required for conforming to that norm. If the concept is outside the norm, though, some price to pay seems necessary to "retain" balance.

In other words, don't punish players for lacks in the system when fitting it to your game setting!

//K

[Ecthelion]

That makes sense, Kalu. Nevertheless IMHO it is better to have a rule in place that requires BOs to be spent and to make an exception (in the sense of not requiring the BOs) if the player has a good character concept than to have it the other way around. I have more often seen players just switching a list they simply disliked and thought useless than players which tossed out a powerful list to include one that fits a good concept.

[Dark Schneider]

You have 6 base spell lists for semi-spell users, basically you are free to create new profession using other templates (in this case paladin) and changing what you need.

[Arioch]

The paladins lists are relatively weak (unless battling an 'enemy') which offsets that they are really good fighters for semi-spell users.

  IMHO Paladin's lists are quite powerful...

You have 6 base spell lists for semi-spell users, basically you are free to create new profession using other templates (in this case paladin) and changing what you need.

True, you can look in Channeling Companion and use the semi-user priest template with the lists you want to customize the character as you want!

[runequester]

That makes sense, Kalu. Nevertheless IMHO it is better to have a rule in place that requires BOs to be spent and to make an exception (in the sense of not requiring the BOs) if the player has a good character concept than to have it the other way around. I have more often seen players just switching a list they simply disliked and thought useless than players which tossed out a powerful list to include one that fits a good concept.

Well, this is not the player asking. Its me trying to think of a way to let him have the character he is picturing. My players arent familiar with the system much or, in this guys case, at all.

So Im not too worried about power gaming. We'll get to that later on

[markc]

 The other thing is how long a game is it going to be? 1month, 6 months a year? If it is a one shot adventure then go for it or even a 6mon campaign. Just tell the players you are testing out some rule changes and go from there.

MDC

[runequester]

2-3 months at least. THis is going to be our first real Rolemaster game, so everyone is aware things might not be as set in stone yet.