Hi everyone, I hope you're all getting by okay in these challenging times. We've been lucky here in Australia to be able to get out and about with low covid numbers, so we've been able to keep playing our local games. It's been a while since I've written a devblog as I've mostly been writing a novel (which is almost done!), but we've been pecking away at improvements and refinements in the system and the changes have piled up more than expected, so there's a big list of improvements to go over! This is also one of the reasons why there hasn't been a print version yet - the system is still evolving and streamlining, and updating a PDF is much easier than trying to get everyone to buy a new print edition.
Skill Ranks
Sabre's mechanics are geared around important skill level milestones, namely 50%, 70%, 90% and 99%. But it's a little dry to talk about numbers all the time, so these milestone levels now have names. I call them Skill Ranks, and abilities are now listed under these names instead of the numbers. It's mostly for flavour, and players still need to keep track of their actual raw numbers, but it feels better to say you've reached Expert rank in Melee rather than 90%! There's a Skill Rank section under the Skills heading that lists all of the relevant info, but basically:
1% to 49% skill is Apprentice Rank.
50% skill is Journeyman Rank.
70% skill is Artisan Rank.
90% skill is Expert Rank.
99% skill is Master Rank.
The skill section has been rearranged a little to put important information close to related info, too.
Cheaper Ability Costs
The amount of Accolades you get when defeating enemies feels about right under the new system, but the cost of buying new abilities seemed a little high, so new things cost 8 Accolades instead of 10, or 1000sp (or credits) to go to a teacher, instead of 2000. This is across the board for talents, manoeuvres, skills, spells etc. We've tested it for a few sessions and its much more in balance with Accolades acquired.
Thief/Vagabond update
These professions have felt a bit weak, especially when having to deal with incoming damage in light armour. So some of the profession talents for these two have been improved with some Streetwise-based abilities that should give them a better chance to stay alive.
Leadership Stuff
I've been playing an Inheritor in a campaign, a dedicated leadership character to give out bonuses to the team in a fight, and noticed there could be more tactical options in the form of manoeuvres. So I've added some (and not just so my own character has more to do!) You'll find the leader abilities to really give you some interesting new abilities to help your team take control of a fight. Oh, and Intimidate gained a couple of items too, with both skills now good at depleting Reactions from opponents much faster than before.
More Hit Points
This is something my players have been asking for, and while I've been reluctant to allow more HP into the system (out of fear the combats would take far longer to get through), I can see that at higher Threat Levels, the combats do become more brutal and shorter in duration. So, I've added a couple of talents to increase HP a bit, up to +15 with two skills at 99%. This can almost double HP for some characters, and gives more incentive to raise those skills to the top rank.
Easier Magic Defence
In spite of many options for spellcasters to use magic to defend themselves against attack, the Spirit cost to fire off a couple of defensive spells every round is quite onerous, particularly in higher TL fights where every point of Spirit counts. So, I've introduced a new talent that makes the first Reaction spell in a turn free to cast, making it much more efficient to defend against attack using just magic. Shield users get to Block all day long without costing anything, so now magic users get a little taste of that too!
AP damage nerf
Acid and plasma damage rip through armour very effectively, and until recently, I didn't realise just how punishing it was. As one of the players in our group stated, 'armour is a scam!', referring to the steep repair costs and ease for enemies to destroy AP. So we've gone over those elements that reduce AP and hit them with the trusty nerf bat, nearly halving the amount of AP loss from acid and plasma damage, and reducing the cost to repair armour.
Scifi Armour Revision
So, further research on the topic of ancient vs modern armour reveals that plate and chain are really good against melee weapons, but aren't used anymore due to the effectiveness of modern firearms against them. A rifle will punch a hole right through plate, which is why modern composite armour such as Kevlar came along.
This modern armour is very good against modern ranged weapons, but not so great against melee, especially piercing. This hasn't been well represented in Sabre, until now!
The change is: Ancient armour is only worth half its listed AP against modern ranged weapons, and modern armour is only worth half it's AP against melee weapons of any era. High-tech armour is unchanged, being effective against both, and any AP gained from the psychic skill or magic is also unchanged. This makes the choice of armour more strategic, since you can't change it out in the middle of a fight. Plus, it's a relatively simple way of adding a bit more realism to the system.
Threat Level Calc
We've detected a few elements of the system that are powerful enough to warrant an entry on the Threat Level calculator. This allows the GM to categorise just how nasty some NPC's are, and indeed, increases the TL of some players, too. Auric weapons, immunity to opportunity attacks, AoE damage or bypassing half AP all count now. It's made a noticable difference in combat balancing, with some challenging but doable high-end fights recently going very well indeed!
What's Next?
As I wrap up the writing of my current novel, I'm moving back over to developing the new edition of the Feydwiir Atlas. It's about 75% done at this point and while there's a lot of writing to be done, I'd lke to finally have it updated and online. It'll be a couple of months I think, but it's looking very nice and will give GM's the ability to run campaigns in Feydwiir with Sabre or most other systems too.
That's about all for now, I like doing bigger updates every few months, rather than cranking out smaller ones on a monthly basis, and I hope you enjoy the improvements too. So, until next time, stay safe, and have fun :)
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v1.09 Premium Fantasy Rulebook
New stuff!
* Added 'Avoidance' thief/vagabond talent.
* Added 'Tactical Strike' Leadership manoeuvre.
* Added 'Overpower' Intimidate manoeuvre.
* Added 'Reposition' Leadership manoeuvre.
* Added 'Disarm' melee manoeuvre.
* Added 'War Leader' Leadership manoeuvre.
* Added 'Pain Tolerance' talent general combat talent.
* Added 'Angel Walk' divinity spell.
* Added 'Combat Fitness' general combat talent.
* Introduced the concept of Skill Rank, titles for the important skill levels (50%, 70% etc). Notations that used to refer to % now have the skill rank listed. There is a skill rank entry on the contents page in the skills section.
* Added 'Defender' talent to allow the 1st reaction spell cast in a round to cost no spirit.
* Added a masterwork ammunition option to the crafting section.
* Simplified and improved the Cleave Armour axe talent.
* Prowler profession gains Track in place of Streetwise.
* Clarified how the Blind condition works, altered it and how it interacts with the Deafened condition.
* The Summoner's creature summoning spells no longer cause the monster to attack the caster on a fumbled roll.
* Acid damage's default AP melting ability has been reduced to 1 point. Spells that deal acid damage have been modified to augment this base damage, instead of adding to it.
* Limited wall spells to 2 corners maximum.
* All spirit costs for Source Arcana talent are doubled, not just casting costs.
* Revised the 'Familar' wizard spell.
* 'Contingency' spell now requires 1 minute to cast, and can only affect spells with casting time of 1 action or less.
* Slightly reduced electrical damage from Lightning Bolt, Arc Lightning, Lightning strike, Sceptre of Lightning spells.
* Added an entry on the Threat Level calculator for the ability to become immune to opportunity attacks.
* Noted that the 'Magnitude' talent now increases the *base* range of the spell.
* 'Order of Battle' leadership talent is now 'Duty of Care' talent, revised ability.
* Revised 'Finesse' melee manoeuvre.
* 'Shelter' talent is now in the general talent section.
* 'Cover' Shield manoeuvre has been renamed to 'Bastion'. Noted that it doesn't succeed automatically against critical hits. Specifies the bonus doesn't apply to anyone else through talents such as Bodyguard. It also correctly specifies that it lasts for 1 minute, not 1 round.
* 'Source Arcana' talent now allows the learning of any spell with the 'Auld Magick' talent.
* Adjusted the prices of livestock and mounts.
* Snap Shot talent is now improved at Master rank.
* All swords by default can now deal either slashing or piercing damage.
* 'Cavalry Bane' polearms talent is now effective against any larger target, not just cavalry.
* Slightly improved the 'Practiced Aim' longarms talent.
* Replaced 'The Pointy End' Sword talent with 'Precision Cuts' talent.
* 'Giant Slayer' sword talent has been replaced by 'Sword Prowess'.
* Added a Skill Rank key to the 2nd page of the character sheet.
* Removed Mechanisms bonus from the Thief profession, as that ability is included in the Vigilance talent (which has also been buffed).
* 'Danger Sense' thief talent now also grants additional Evade result bonus.
* The 'Deadly Surprise' talent has been improved.
* Lowered the cost of paying someone to repair weapons and armour.
* Added Aoe Damage, the Burst trait and bypass half AP to the TL calc.
* Improved the bonus from skill manuals and the Teach skill.
* Improved 'Thick Skin' talent.
* Hit Points granted by 'Divine Might', 'Vitality Potion, & 'Giant's Strength' spells are now lost first.
* Shadowlife sorcery spell has its benefits increased.
* Corrected references of Species to Race.
* Revised the 'Switch Body' Wizardry spell.
* Clarified the language on 'Ressurection' type spells for all fields of magic.
* Revised the Raptor profession talents.
* Improved the CON of Hunter, Charger and Draft horse so they can carry more.
* Moved the section on Opposed and Unopposed Rolls to just underneath the Using Skills paragraph (in the skills section) and clarfied that opposed checks also need to beat the incoming roll in order to succeed.
* Updated the TL limits on 'Exorcise' and 'Banish' spells.
* 'Contingency' wizardry spell now has a limit on the number active at once.
* Added Auric Weapon to the Threat Level calculator.
* Ancestral Legion spell now has a duration of Concentration or 1 hour.
* The shaman's Eidolon cannot move more than 20sq from the shaman.
* The cost of buying new abilities has been reduced to 8 Accolades (from 10), or 1000cr (from 2000cr).
* Improved the 'Sun Invocation' shaman spell.
* Replaced 'Duality' shaman totem talent with 'Totem Casting' talent.
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v1.09 Basic Fantasy Rulebook
* Clarified how the Blind condition works, altered it and how it interacts with the Deafened condition.
* Acid damage's default AP melting ability has been reduced to 1 point. Spells that deal acid damage have been modified to augment this base damage instead of adding on top of it.
* 'Contingency' spell now requires 1 minute to cast, and can only affect spells with casting time of 1 action or less.
* Slightly reduced electrical damage from Lightning Bolt spell.
* Added an entry on the Threat Level calculator for the ability to become immune to opportunity attacks.
* Revised 'Finesse' melee manoeuvre.
* Added 'Disarm' melee manoeuvre.
* 'Shelter' talent is now in the general talent section.
* Added 'Avoidance' thief/vagabond talent.
* 'Cover' Shield manoeuvre has been renamed to 'Bastion'. Noted that it doesn't succeed automatically against critical hits. Manoeuvre specifies the bonus doesn't apply to anyone else through talents such as Bodyguard. It also correctly specifies that it lasts for 1 minute, not 1 round.
* Adjusted the prices of livestock and mounts.
* Snap Shot talent is now improved at Master rank.
* 'Cavalry Bane' polearms talent is now effective against any larger target, not just cavalry.
* Slightly improved the 'Practiced Aim' longarms talent.
* Replaced 'The Pointy End' Sword talent with 'Precision Cuts' talent.
* 'Giant Slayer' sword talent has been replaced by 'Sword Prowess'.
* Added a Skill Rank key to the 2nd page of the character sheet.
* All swords by default can now deal either slashing or piercing damage.
* Removed Mechanisms bonus from the Thief profession, as that ability is included in the Vigilance talent (which has also been buffed).
* 'Danger Sense' thief talent now also grants additional Evade result bonus.
* The 'Deadly Surprise' talent has been improved.
* Lowered the cost of paying someone to repair weapons and armour.
* Added Aoe Damage, the Burst trait and bypass half AP to the TL calc.
* Improved the bonus from skill manuals and the Teach skill.
* Improved 'Thick Skin' talent.
* Introduced the concept of Skill Rank, titles for the important skill levels (50%, 70% etc). Notations that used to refer to % now have the skill rank listed. There is a skill rank entry on the contents page in the skills section.
* Hit Points granted by 'Divine Might', spells are now lost first.
* Corrected references of Species to Race.
* Revised the 'Switch Body' Wizardry spell.
* Clarified the language on 'Ressurection' spells for all fields of magic.
* Added a new table to the skills section which gives important skill levels (50%, 70% etc) a rank title.
* Improved the CON of Hunter, Charger and Draft horse so they can carry more.
* Moved the section on Opposed and Unopposed Rolls to just underneath the Using Skills paragraph (in the skills section) and clarfied that opposed checks also need to beat the incoming roll in order to succeed.
* Updated the TL limits on 'Exorcise' spell.
* Contingency wizardry spell now has a limit on the number active at once.
* Added Auric Weapon to the Threat Level calculator.
* The cost of buying new abilities has been reduced to 8 Accolades (from 10), or 1000cr (from 2000cr).
* Limited wall spells to 2 corners maximum.
* Revised the 'Familar' wizard spell.
v1.09 Scifi Core Rulebook
* Added an entry on the Threat Level calculator for the ability to become immune to opportunity attacks.
* 'Order of Battle' leadership talent is now 'Duty of Care' talent, revised ability.
* Revised 'Finesse' melee manoeuvre.
* Added 'Disarm' melee manoeuvre.
* Added 'War Leader' Leadership manoeuvre.
* Noted that the 'Magnitude' talent now increases the *base* range of the discipline.
* Added a masterwork ammunition option to the crafting section.
* Plasma damage's default AP melting ability has been reduced to 1 point.
* Clarified how the Blind condition works, altered it and how it interacts with the Deafened condition.
* Simplified and improved the Cleave Armour axe talent.
* 'Shelter' talent is now in the general talent section.
* Added 'Avoidance' thief/vagabond talent.
* Added 'Tactical Strike' Leadership manoeuvre.
* Added 'Overpower' Intimidate manoeuvre.
* Added 'Reposition' Leadership manoeuvre.
* Adjusted the prices of livestock and mounts.
* Snap Shot talent is now improved at Master rank.
* Introduced the concept of Skill Rank, titles for the important skill levels (50%, 70% etc). Notations that used to refer to % now have the skill rank listed. There is a skill rank entry on the contents page in the skills section.
* Improved the bonus from skill manuals and the Teach skill.
* Added 'Combat Fitness' general combat talent.
* Improved 'Thick Skin' talent.
* Slightly improved the Practiced Aim longarms talent.
* Replaced 'The Pointy End' Sword talent with 'Precision Cuts' talent.
* 'Giant Slayer' sword talent has been replaced by 'Sword Prowess'.
* 'Cavalry Bane' polearms talent is now effective against any larger target, not just cavalry.
* All swords by default can now deal either slashing or piercing damage.
* 'Cover' Shield manoeuvre has been renamed to 'Bastion'. Noted that it doesn't succeed automatically against critical hits.
* 'Bastion' shield manoeuvre specifies the bonus doesn't apply to anyone else through talents such as Bodyguard. It also correctly specifies that it lasts for 1 minute, not 1 round.
* Improved the CON of Hunter, Charger and Draft horse so they can carry more.
* Moved the section on Opposed and Unopposed Rolls to just underneath the Using Skills paragraph (in the skills section) and clarfied that opposed checks also need to beat the incoming roll in order to succeed.
* Removed Mechanisms bonus from the Thief profession, as that ability is included in the Vigilance talent (which has also been buffed).
* 'Danger Sense' thief talent now also grants additional Evade result bonus.
* The 'Deadly Surprise' talent has been improved.
* Added Lassiter concealable laser pistol.
* Lowered the cost of paying someone to repair weapons and armour.
* Changed the way Ancient Armour works vs modern ranged weapons, now getting half its AP value instead of the extra damage.
* Modern armour is only worth half its listed AP vs melee damage.
* High-tech armour has its normal bonus vs ranged and melee weapons.
* Improved the bonus from skill manuals and the Teach skill.
* Added a Universal Translator cybernetics implant.
* Added rental prices for vehicles.
* High-tech armour can now be repaired.
* Noted that ancient armour made from modern steel doesn't change its performance against modern or high tech ranged weaponry.
* The cost of buying new abilities has been reduced to 8 Accolades (from 10), or 1000cr (from 2000cr).
* Rubbish bin lids and Riot shields are listed as non-repairable due to their plastic/composite nature.