Knacks
Wolf
and repost it here for everyone to peruse and be aware.
There is a list of knacks in the Earthdawn Companion 2nd Edition
sourcebook. I find most of them unimaginative or too munchkin-ish for
my taste. Some of you older players may or may not have checked out
Manual of Mystic Secrets from 1st Edition to see if the knacks are
duplicated in 2nd Edition. Regardless, I have decided to throw out the
entire list of knacks. I would rather see my Players come up with
Knacks of their own and show me their imagination and creativity rather
than rely on such an obvious crutch.
What I am going to do is post the rules for creating your own knack.
ALL knacks are still subject to G.O.D. veto, so don't try to design the
Destroy All Entities Knack and expect me to okay it. More to come!
Passions' Blessings,
Wolf
"Of course it's a stupid idea. Some of our best
plans started with stupid ideas."
-Seethian, windling Thief
Wolf
Q: What are Knacks?
A: Talent Knacks are specializations that enable Adepts to use their Talents to create specific effects.
Q: What does that mean?
A: By widening the scope of what Talents allow characters to do, Knacks flesh out the types of actions Adepts can perform when using their Talents, and create greater opportunity to make each character unique.
The definition of Knacks, Learning Talent Knacks, and Creating Talent Knacks can be found on page 46 of the Earthdawn Companion 2nd Edition.
Q: Okay, still not really sure what all that means, but how do I learn one?
A: You don't. Or at least you don't if you are in my game. I am using a house rule that requires each player to design unique Knacks for their character if they want to learn Knacks. Traditionally, you must be taught a Knack by someone that knows the Knack (make sense, eh?) and you may only learn a Knack once you have reached a specific Rank in the Talent determined by the description of the Knack and only when training to advance to a new Circle.
Q: ... I just don't get it.
A: ... M
Example of a Knack:
Explosive Flame Arrow
Talent: Flame Arrow Rank: 7
The Explosive Flame Arrow Knack allows an Archer to create an explosive ball of flame when using the Flame Arrow Talent. To use this knack, an Archer takes 4 additional points of Strain and makes his or her Attack Test. If the test succeeds, the flame arrow bursts on impact and produces a blast radius of a number of yards equal to half the Adept's Flame Arrow Rank, rounded down. The Archer then makes an Effect Test. All targets within the blast radius whose Spell Defense is less than the Attack Test, take damage equal to the result of the Effect Test.
Let's disect the Knack.
1.) Name of the Knack: Explosive Flame Arrow Obvious enough ...
2.) Talent: Flame Arrow This is obviously the talent that the Knack is based on.
3.) Rank: 7 The minimum rank you must have in the Talent: Flame Arrow before you can learn this Knack.
4.) The description and mechanics and etc., of the Knack. Make more sense now?
Hopefully, you now have a better idea of what a Knack is and how they work. Next, Creating Talent Knacks!
Passions' Blessings,
Wolf
"Everything grows. Even the mighty oaks that have stood since before the Scourge
can still reach higher. Can we Adepts aspire to less?"
- Millat, elf Troubadour
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Creating Talent Knacks
1.) Talent Knacks should provide an additional or specialized use of a talent; they should not duplicate other talents or eliminate the need to learn other talents. This is the concept phase, interact with your GM or else he might GM Veto your Knack just for keeping him out of the loop.
2.) The Talent Knack should relate to how the character employs the talent in day-to-day use. For example, an Illusionist who prefers to remain unseen during cokmbat and not directly confront his opponents would not be able to develop a Talent Knack like Gaping Wound, which allows them to intimidate their opponents, but might be able to develop a Talent Knack like Reduced Threat, better allowing them to remain unnoticed by their enemy.
3.) The Adept must practice at creating the effect for the Talent Knack and refine the ability.
Note that some of the information I present here is going to differ from the rules as they are originally presented on page 46 of the Earthdawn Companion 2nd Edition. I will try to point out when they do differ, but if I forget and miss one or two or all of them, then I apologize.
To create a Talent Knack, the Player needs to decide what effect he wants to create with the Knack, at what Talent Rank the Knack becomes available to the character, and if using the Knack will cost Strain or simply have a success level requirement (EDC2 46). It should be noted that there are other ways to pay for a Talent Knack if a character so wishes to employ them, obviously you could take a Wound to power a Knack, or spend a point of Karma that is not rolled with the effect to power the Knack, or you could even have other interesting consequences for using the Knack. The character can only create Knacks for talents within that character's Discipline(s), and may only create their own Knacks after they have reached sixth circle (EDC2 46). Ooooohhh .... that's gotta hurt. In my house rule, I will allow unique Knack creation at fifth circle, the beginning of the path of the Journeyman.
Suppose that a Player wants to create a Knack for his Warrior character's Wood Skin Talent. He decides that once per day during any 24 hours in which the Wood Skin Talent is active, his character shold be able to add his Rank in Wood Skin to his Wound Threshold. Since the character is not a Beastmaster (who would eventually gain this ability from the Bestial Toughness Talent), the gamemaster agrees, but limits the Knack by adding that it lasts only a number of minutes equal to the character's Rank in Wood Skin (EDC2 47). So far so good? The gamemaster and Player must now agree on the Rank at which the character can gain this Knack. As a general rule, Talent Knacks should never be available below Rank 3, and only a few should be available below Rank 5. These parameters ecourage an Adept to master the basics of a talent before learning Knacks based on the talent. If a character wishes to learn a Knack for a Talent that is not a Discipline Talent, but is still part of their Discipline, then the Talent Rank must be 5 greater than what it would have to be if the talent was a Discipline Talent (EDC2 47). I'll give an example of this for you further below. The gamemaster and Player decide that this Knack for Wood Skin should be available at Rank 5.
For example, a Warrior gets Swift Kick at Fifth Circle. A Player decides that he wants to work on a Knack that allows his character to basically kick the opponents away from him. Definitely nothing in the Warrior's Discipline does this so the gamemaster agrees to this but says that the number of yards that an opponent is kicked away is equal to the Rank in Swift Kick. Player grumbles and counter offers for 2 x Rank. Gamemaster sighs and says that since this is not a Discipline Talent and thus not as important in the Discipline's scheme of things, he does not wish to overdo the Knack; Player agrees to Rank yards. Now comes the problem, at what Rank can the Knack be learned? Under the rules outlined in Earthdawn Companion 2nd Edition page 47, since Swift Kick is not a Discipline Talent, the Rank has to be 5 higher than what it would be if it were a Discipline Talent. Hmmm ... okay, if Swift Kick were a Discipline Talent for a Warrior, I would say Rank 3 to Rank 5 would be the range I would be considering for this Knack, which we'll call for purposes of this example, Swift Punt. Hmmm ... so 3 to 5 ... that would mean the range for the Knack if it's not a Discipline Talent would be 8 to 10. Wow. What a difference that makes. Alright, insert house rule here. When creating a Knack for a Talent that is not a Discipline Talent, but is still part of their Discipline, then the Talent Rank at which the Knack can be learned must be 3 greater than what it would have to be if the Talent was a Discipline Talent. So in our above example, the Swift Punt Knack would be Rank 6 to 8, definitely more reasonable in my opinion. Gamemaster suggests Rank 6 and Player agrees since this is lower than 8!
More in the next posting on creating Knacks!
Passions' Blessings,
Wolf
"Of course, the challenge of wielding great power is that it brings with it great
responsibility."
-Jaron the Everliving, on the price of attaining power
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Creating Talent Knacks Part 2
Only the Strain cost or success level requirement of the Knack remains to be determined. If a Talent Knack is based on a talent that does not require a Test, the character may take Strain in order to use it. For Talent Knacks based on Talents that require Tests, the gamemaster may assign either a Strain cost or a specific success level (usually Good or better), or both. Base the Strain costs and success level requirements on the relative usefulness and power of the Talent Knack (EDC2 47).
Note that the gamemaster will have to make the final call on this part of the Talent Knack to make sure that it's balanced and fair to your game as well as to the Player.Once the specifics are determined, the Adept must spend considerable time practicing the talent upon which the Knack is based. This practice represents the Adept's effort to create the Knack's additional or unusual effect with his Talent. Creating a new Knack in this way also costs the Adept more Legend Points than under the standard rules. The Legend Point cost for a newly developed Talent Knack under this optional rule is double the normal cost. Learning a Talent Knack based on a Talent that is a Discipline Talent requires a number of days of practice (at least 8 hours per day) equal to the rank of the Talent necessary for the Knack x 2 (EDC2 47).
I think there should be a Test made per Day of 'practice' to represent the slow development of a new Knack for a Talent. According to the current rules there are no rolls to make, only an expenditure of time and Legend Points. That's cheap. Too easy. Knacks should be pouring out all over the place if it were this easy. More on my modifications later in this post. Learning a Talent Knack based on a non-Discipline Talent requires a number of days of practice (at least 8 hours per day) equal to the rank of the talent necessary for the Knack x 4. Studying under a teacher who already knows the Knack reduces the amount of time per day necessary to 2 hours (EDC2 47).Once the Adept has completed the necessary practice time and spent the Legend Points, he or she gains the Knack as normal. Learning a new Talent Knack that the Adept developed himself does not require that the Adept train to advance in Circle. Once he has learned it, he can teach the Knack to other Adepts whom he trains for Circle advancement (EDC2 47).
Hmmm .... a Knack represents a specialization that enables Adepts to use their Talents to create specific effects. The time and Legend Points devoted to such specific effects should reflect the impact such a Knack can have on your game without unbalancing it. Here's another house rule for Knack creation.
1.) The number of days of practice necessary for a Knack based on a Discipline Talent is the Rank of the Knack x 3. So a Rank 3 Knack still takes a total of 9 days of practice (doesn't have to be consecutive days of practice).
2.) The number of days of practice necessary for a Knack based on a non-Discipline Talent is the Rank of the Knack x 5. So a Rank 6 Knack takes a total of 30 days of practice (8 hours per day) and like the first rule, the days don't have to be consecutive to count.
3.) A Practice Test must be made each day that the Adept works on his or her Knack. The Practice Test requires the Adept to make a Test equal to the Step of the Talent being used or using the Rank of the Talent as the Step vs. a Difficulty Number equal to the Rank of the Knack being developed. This is what is called a Sustained Test so only the base Step of the Talent can be used to make this Practice Test. Record the Success Level for each day of practice.
4.) The cost to learn a Knack is listed in the Earthdawn Companion 2nd Edition page 46, but are dirt cheap compared to what I had envisioned. It's not worth it if you don't have a good perspective on the time and effort that your character actually had to put into it to create. It's far easier to destroy than it is to create. The cost for a Knack is calculated like this normally:
Talent Circle Legend Points
1-4 300
5-8 500
9-12 800
13-15 1,100
Alright, here's the way to calculate it in my House Rules. First you will need the Talent Rank Cost Table on page 245 of the Earthdawn 2nd Edition main book or if you have it on the back of your character sheet, that will save you even more time. Then locate the circle that the Talent occurs at for your character's discipline (that's the top row) and then locate the Rank that Knack occurs at in the Talent Rank column and you have the base cost. For example, if I have developed a Knack for a circle four Talent and the Rank you have to have is 5 then my base cost would be 800 Legend Points. Reduce the cost by one row for every set of Extraordinary Successes that the Adept achieved during practice equal to the Rank of the Knack divided by two rounded down. So using the aforementioned example, if the Adept practiced the requisite 15 days and only got two Extraordinary Successes then you would reduce the cost of the Knack by 1 level to 500 Legend Points.
Q: But what happens if you roll other kinds of successes? Like a Failure or even worse an Ultimate Failure?
A: Good question.
Q: Well?!
A: Oh sorry. I had not really worked that part out in advance like the rest of this, but if I had to make a judgement, I would say that an Ultimate Failure would cause a character to start the whole Knack Process over with an increase in the Difficulty Number by 1.
Q: Start over?!
A: Yes, an Ultimate Failure is just that, you did not just Fail in your Task, you Failed in a manner so disastrous that it has forever left it's imprint in your memory.
Q: Ah ha! So you don't necessarily have to start over!
A: No, you don't. You also don't have to go by my house rule entirely either. I am simply showing another way that in my mind makes more sense than the established rule. Alright, tell you what, I'll summarize both methods in the next 2 posts and you can see the difference.
Passions' Blessings,
Wolf
"Listen up you scum! You are going to learn how to fight because I am going to teach
you. You will learn when to attack and when to defend. You will never retreat, because if
you do, you are running out on me and I will kill you for it!"
-Tarr'a'Va Skullsplitter, troll Warrior speaking to new recruits of Throal
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Knack Creation
In My Barsaive
The above (IMB) is basically saying that in my version of the Earthdawn world, this is how it works. Please consult your Game Operations Director before attempting any of these rules as they may not be recommended for your particular situation.
First, on the Rule of One as mentioned in previous posts. According to the rules found in both 1st and 2nd Edition Earthdawn, all ones does not result in a disastrous failure, it does result in an automatic failure. On that note, IMB, a roll that results in all ones is what we call an Ultimate Failure, a botch, a disastrous result has occurred, you are fragged. ‘Nuff said.
CREATING TALENT KNACKS (Optional Rule In My Barsaive)
Instead of having a ton of text that will just bore you to tears or have you screaming for the local wormskull to put you out of your misery, I will try to set this up in a more organized fashion … try being the operative word here.
Talent Knack Creation (Summary)
- Concept: This is where it all begins. Your character thinks of a new and interesting way to use a talent and decides to make it happen. What does it do? Does this copy an effect from a talent that you will already get somewhere in your Discipline? You will need to consult with your Game Operations Director on the latter question as he or she should have access to circles 1 through 15 for your discipline. If not, then hop on this forum and ask.
- What Talent are you basing this off of? Discipline or non-Discipline?
- What does the Knack do?
- What is the cost to use the Knack?
- At what Rank can you learn the Knack?
- Practice: This is where your character does the hard work. Your character now has to invest time and energy into bringing the concept to life.
- Determine how many days it takes to learn the Knack.
- Make a Practice Test for each day spent practicing and record the result.
- Calculate the final Legend Point Cost and pay for the Knack.
- Implementation: Use the Knack and enjoy the fruits of your bounty … if you succeeded.
Talent Knack Creation (Detailed)
- Concept: In My Barsaive, you have to be at least 5th Circle before you can start creating Knacks. This is kind of like an Apprentice’s Oath. It’s not because it’s not possible to create them before attaining 5th Circle, but most mentors or teachers do not let their apprentices know about these advanced techniques until they have passed their Journeyman Tests.
- What Talent are you basing this Knack on and is it a Discipline Talent or a non-Discipline Talent? This is crucial, because this will affect your practice time heavily. I may have to create a sheet for this …
- What does the Knack do? Does this copy an effect or talent that you get later on in your Discipline? If so, then you can’t do it. If not, then work with your Game Operations Director to make an interesting but balanced ability. Look for an example later in this post.
- What is the cost to use the Knack? Alright, there are no hard and fast rules for this, this is really mostly up to the Game Operations Director to decide, as he or she will need to consider the impact this Knack will have on his or her game. The greater the impact, the greater the cost. How do you determine impact? I usually do it by frequency of use. How often does the character use the talent that this knack is based on? How do you believe the Knack will affect the use of the Talent if left unchecked? Again, nothing hard and fast but you have to make the Knack like a tool, there is a time and a place for it, but you should not always be using that specialized tool in every instance, only in situations that warrants it. For example, just because an Archer has the Explosive Flame Arrow Knack (EDC2 49) does not mean that they should be using it every round that they are in combat. Why? Because it’s appropriate in every situation to use this Knack. The character should want to use the Talent that the Knack is based off as well as the Knack itself. Explosive Flame Arrow costs 4 additional Strain, for a total of 6 Strain to use just once. Personally I would have made it a tad bit higher, but then I’m evil like that.
- At what Rank can you learn the Knack? Again, no hard and fast rules for this but again with Rank and Cost, the Game Operations Director can balance the power of the Knack so it does not overly impact your campaign but still add something unique to it. I would recommend that the minimum Rank you ever let get assigned is 5 unless it happens to be a really simple and basic effect (nothing comes to my mind at the moment …).
- Practice: Definitely going to take you longer in my version than in the original. Considerable time and effort in my opinion does not equal 6 days (Rank 3 Knack for Discipline Talent).
- How long? Take the Rank of the Knack and multiply it by 3 if it’s based off a Discipline Talent or by 5 if it’s a non-Discipline Talent. Record it on the sheet.
- Make Practice Tests. One for each day of practice. Record the results on the sheet. If the Talent that the Knack is based off of requires a Test to be used, then make a base Test against a Difficulty Number equal to the Rank of the Knack plus 3. Record the result and the Success Level on the sheet. If the Talent normally does not require a Test then the Character must make a Step Test based on the current Rank of the Talent vs. a Difficulty Number equal to the Rank of the Knack plus 3. The plus 3 represents the difficulty of trying something new, above and beyond what they can normally do. These are sustained tests, so you cannot use Karma on the Tests. An Ultimate Failure means that you must start the practice process all over again.
- Calculate the Legend Point cost. You will need to consult the Talent Rank Cost Table (ED2 245 or ED 221). Find the Circle of the Talent in the top row. For example, if the Knack is based off of a 6th Circle Talent, then you would look at the third column. Find the Rank of the Knack and look in the first column. Following the aforementioned example, the Rank of the Knack for the 6th Circle Talent is 7 so the base cost is 3,400 Legend Points. Now take the Rank of the Knack and divide by two and round down. Take your Extraordinary Successes and divide it by this number and round down. This is how many Cost Ranks you can drop the cost of your Knack. Using the aforementioned example, if the character had achieved 7 Extraordinary Successes, then the Player could reduce the cost of the Knack from 3,400 Legend Points to 1,300 Legend Points (Rank 7 divided by 2 = 3.5, rounded down = 3, 7 successes divided by 3 = 2.3, rounded down = 2). Cost can never be reduced to lower than 300 Legend Points.
- Implementation: What are you waiting for? You’ve earned it, use it!
Passions’ Blessings,
Wolf
“Indexes can be quite handy …”
-Merrox, Master of the Hall of Records, Throal
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- You can't create a Knack until you're 5th Circle.
- The Knack needs to fit your character, i.e., does it make sense that you would have come up with this Knack? Does it fit the way that your character operates or is role-played, i.e. an aggressive character would not design a stealth or hiding style Knack.
- And finally, here's the first amendment to my Knack Creation Rules, Knacks have to be based off of talents that require a test of some kind. If the Talent produces an effect that does not require a Test, then no Knack.
Passions' Blessings,
Wolf
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Gawain: I can't wait to leave this island. If it's not raining, it's snowing, and if it's not snowing, it's foggy.
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