Hi everyone, welcome to the final update for 2nd edition Sabre. "Final? What?" I hear you think! Well, I was really determined to make print-on-demand edtions happen, but using MSWord to make them has been my downfall, along with using low-resolution images. I'd really designed the manuals for pdf format only, but they're too unwieldy for phones and noto enough people have tablets with the sort of grunt to display these behemoth documents. At over 420 pages for the core rulebooks, those would be some really expensive (and heavy) manuals. I've idly toyed with the idea of remaking the manuals from scratch with Adobe Indesign, but the prospect of spending months on this task only to end up with the same system seemed like a waste of time. Until now.
3rd Edition Sabre
I've had a few realisations about the system's issues of late, primary at high level, and mostly for the scifi system. The armour creep gets out of control and it takes a huge amount of damage to break through. The issue is with the four-piece armour system. It's fine with basic armour, but once you get masterwork and exotic materials into the mix, it ramps up very rapidly to the point you need an anti-materiel rifle to take down the big guys.
A small fix for this has been to lower AP in 2nd editon, but a proper fix for it involves lowering AP even further, along with weapon damage across the board and increasing Hit Points to compensate. It does make the system a little more 'D&D-ish', but as a friend once said to me, it's more satisfying to take a few hit points from an enemy every attack, than to bounce off armour almost every time.
This required a major overhaul of the entire system, too big for a update like this one, so now is the right time to remake the manuals with Indesign, to the proper print specifications, and to fix a few core issues with the system. I'm also elevating the graphic design of the document too, as you can see on these pages!
I'd love to make each Profession a full page with some art to go along with it, but I can't afford 20+ pieces of new specific art to do that. The design of the document allows space for that in the future, should the opportunity arise. There's plenty of refinements and improvements on the way. Such as:
* Profession talents are blended into each profession so you get them automatically.
* Talents like 'Commander' and 'Strong Back' are merged into their relevant skills, so you effectively get them for free.
* Reactions are no longer used for defence, only for specific effects like Opportunity attacks etc.
* Result bonuses can be much higher in 3e, with a genuine feel of more power and progression to go with them.
* Cut back on the number of attacks characters can get at higher level, mostly 2 per turn, with a few bonus ones possible on critical successes.
* There are now Warrior, Rogue and Technical (or Magical) professions, with specific abilities split between them.
* Professions gain additional Hit Points as their primary profession skill increases, depending on the Profession type. They're a little more flexible than 2nd edition Professions too.
* A 2nd Profession can be taken at any time, and includes magical or technical professions so you can easily grab an extra skillset. The cost for advancing abilities and skills at that point is increased by 50% as usual.
* Psi and magic spells now have three ranks, essentially 3 levels of spells where there are some locked behind the 70% and 90% skill levels. There were some that just didn't 'downgrade' to spells you could buy as a starting character (such as Ressurection). Spells still auto-advance as skill increases, just that some start at 70/90 etc.
* Armour is now bought as a single-piece item, with a specific Armour Point value. So the best leather armour is still 4 AP, but masterwork makes that 5, Wyvern leather makes it 6 etc. The low-end of AP hasn't changed much, only the high-end.
* Languages are no longer skills, since nobody rolls against them often enough to make it worthwhile putting points into. They're handled by the talent system now.The system is also more compact, coming in at under 250 pages for the scifi manual (so far), so that's down from 430 pages for the 2e manual. The downside to this of course is it's going to be a while before they're ready for release. I'm actually not far from finishing the scifi manual, which will be the basic design template for all of the manuals. But there's a lot to do. Still, we've had a game with 3e already and the players note that it's easier to learn, easier to play, with only a tiny loss of detail (it's mostly contrivances that didn't really a lot of meaningful gameplay). So 3e is shaping up to be the ultimate edition, and I can't wait to get a hardcover book of it on my shelf!
Scifi Core Rulebook 2e v2.03
* 9mm Submachine Gun is now a late 20th century firearm.
* Added .45 Thompson SMG to early 20th century firearms.
* Both elephant guns are now listed as heavy weapons.
* 20mm elephant gun now has the Shell and slow load traits.
* The Punt Gun has been reduced to 25 ENC, and has its own ammo type in the ammo section.
* Graphene Armour is now called Composite Armour, graphene layered with carbon fibre.
* Electrical damage no longer ignores half AP.
* Improved the damage output from electrical weapons.
* Added information and art about advanced wood and metal materials.
* Soldier profession can take any combat skill.
* Reduced AP on silksteel vest by 1.
* Reduced AP on Graphene armour by a total of 5 points across all pieces.
* Increased the cost of graphene armour.
* Reduced standard types of powered armour on the default list to just Steel.
* Improved and overhauled powered armour upgrades.
* Upgrades are installed into the exoskeleton, not the armour pieces. Exoskeletons have 10 slots, and upgrades can use multiple slots.
* Updated the benefits of exotic metals and adjusted their prices to match their fantasy equivalents.
* Police Officer's profession talents are now correctly listed as requiring the Investigation skill.
* Quick Fix manouevre now cannot be used to reload a weapon.
* Savage's 'Battle Rage' now has a 10 minute fatigue period, and requires the expenditure of a spirit point.
* Seduction 'Groin Strike' manoeuvre now has a Resolve check to resist.
* An enemy less than half the Threat Level of the character(s) that defeats them yields half Accolades.
Fantasy Premium Core Rulebook 2e v2.03
* Electrical damage no longer ignores half AP.
* Improved the damage output from electrical spells and effects.
* Soldier profession can take any combat skill.
* City Watch's profession talents are now correctly listed as requiring the Investigation skill.
* Savage's 'Battle Rage' now has a 10 minute fatigue period, and requires the expenditure of a spirit point.
* Seduction 'Groin Strike' manoeuvre now has a Resolve check to resist.
* An enemy less than half the Threat Level of the character(s) that defeats them yields half Accolades.
Fantasy Basic Core Rulebook 2e v2.02
* Electrical damage no longer ignores half AP.
* Improved the damage output from electrical spells and effects.
* Police Officer's profession talents are now correctly listed as requiring the Investigation skill.
* Quick Fix manouevre now cannot be used to reload a weapon.
* Savage's 'Battle Rage' now has a 10 minute fatigue period, and requires the expenditure of a spirit point.
* An enemy less than half the Threat Level of the character(s) that defeats them yields half Accolades.