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Re: ED4 Rule Question: Named Spells

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2018 9:51 am
by ragbasti
One might also look at legends on a different scale.

Their legend in the great scheme of things might seem small, but as members of a very small microcosm, such as Kaers, their legend will be much, much greater - maybe also resulting in more LP.

This is how I have handled things so far: just because not many people know you, in terms of sheer numbers, doesn't eliminate the fact that EVERYONE in your Kaer might think of you as a great hero. Therefore creating your legend but on a much smaller scale.

Re: ED4 Rule Question: Named Spells

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2018 2:59 pm
by Lursi
I like the concept of relative scaling. Does it apply here?

Raises the question what happens to the Legendary status when the Kaer is opened and suddenly your small society is diluted in the world.

Will it just become harder to acquire new legend points, will you loose your status as you compete with new Heroes from outside.

A minor Hero in Travar is probably known to more people that the most famous of a village Hero.

So is it the percentage of people that know your deeds?Or absolute number?
Your willingness to brave the danger for the community?

Hard to measure what entitles you to be circle 10.
How many Legend points could Adam have scored not to be lured to grab the apple?

Re: ED4 Rule Question: Named Spells

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2018 4:55 pm
by ragbasti
But your legend doesn't change, it is just less known. You are still the savior of your Kaer, you are still the smartest and bestest of your community who has unlocked countless secrets.

Just because there are suddenly people entering your world who have achieved more does not take away from past achievements. You are not gonna become a circle 10 wizard in a kaer just because you were a decent librarian. Same goes for any other discipline.
Just because the scale of the world might have been smaller does not make great achievements less great.

Re: ED4 Rule Question: Named Spells

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2018 5:34 pm
by Mataxes
The idea that "Legend" is some kind of resource (limited or not) that drives adept growth and development is a persistent one, but it is wrong.

Within the reality of the setting, an adept advances the same way anybody else does -- training and practice. There are magical "shortcuts", but it's still doing a thing repeatedly and getting better over time, learning from experiences (and mistakes) and demonstrating that aptitude to prospective mentors and tutors.

Even though there are many cases where a mechanical widget has a "real" in-setting counterpart, not all of them do.

Legend Points are a way to quantify character learning and experience into a game mechanic. The rewards you might get for "spreading your legend" are to encourage role-playing within the game theme of spreading hope and community in the wake of the Scourge -- "these are the deeds we have done to drive back the darkness."

Legendary Status is a way of looking at a character's accumulated experience and how likely it is news of their deeds has spread. It measures a kind of reputation, whether the "dwarf on the street" might have heard of them. It's as real as any reputation is, but it's not actually quantifiable within the reality of the setting.

Re: ED4 Rule Question: Named Spells

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2018 7:50 pm
by Lursi
Ok, fair comment,

but what about the Trolls in the Kaer 100 years after sealing the doors.

How do they keep up their adept population?

Re: ED4 Rule Question: Named Spells

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2018 8:02 pm
by Telarus
Ghost master ritual. :) And finding ways to ritualistically practice for "real" situations. If you need to assign GM characters action's Legends Points ("behind the scenes"), then keep in mind that there is no requirement to kill somethinging to gain LP, just that you met and "defeated" an appropriate challenge. And Trolls fight A LOT over honor, which rarely leads to death (avoids blood feud with the other troll's family)...

Re: ED4 Rule Question: Named Spells

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2018 8:16 pm
by Mataxes
How does any group keep up their adept population? They initiate and train replacements.

It's not like fifty years is a handicap, or insufficient time. Look at the training involved for any kind of professional position -- it takes years, not decades. You can get a doctorate in your twenties, and that's without magic.

I'm not saying every kaer would have every Discipline, but the adepts there would understand the need to find apprentices and pass on their teachings. It's no different than any other trade or craft.

Barring some kind of disaster, there's no reason you can't find a couple of kids in each generation (even assuming a small population) capable of carrying on the lines. For culturally significant Disciplines (Sky Raider for a trollmoot, for example)? That percentage is apt to be a lot higher.

Re: ED4 Rule Question: Named Spells

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2018 8:44 pm
by Lursi
OK! That answers my question. You can go to school for 10th circle. I agree with this.

Re: ED4 Rule Question: Named Spells

Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2018 8:39 am
by ChrisDDickey
This is actually a very excellent roll-playing encounter.
I once ran an encounter after the party opened a long-sealed keir where the inhabitants had lost many of the traditional and common disciplines due to a small population and occasionally having a few generations go by without any suitable candidates for some disciplines, and not having suitable Ghost Master names for those disciplines recorded within the kaer.
With less than half the disciplines still represented, it was increasingly common for the local Adepts to announce that an Asperant could probably be an Adept, but not of any still known discipline.

So the question was put to the hero's. Will you test everybody in the small kear to see if they have the makings to initiate into your Discipline?
Rollplay how you do so.
I mean every PC was so tested in his youth. But how does the player think it is done?