Here's an update on progress with 3rd edition, and why it'll probably take me the better part of a year to get this done.

New logo!

 

Both of teh main manuals are just about done, but there's error checking and such to do yet. The art style for the fantasy system is coming along nicely too:

 

There's refinements in the mechanical aspects of the system, too. Beyond character creation, Attributes just weren't very important in 2nd edition, so in 3e they play a larger role, specifically through the Attribute Bonus. The Skill Focus talent now multiplies the Attribute bonus for skill results, so the higher your Attributes, the bigger the result bonus you get (it can go well over +20 now).

Other important improvements:

* Talents such as Commander, Resolute and Athlete have had their abilities rolled into the skill itself. 

* Hit Point boosting and Armour talents have been rolled into Profession abilities. 

* Martial Arts and Unarmed skills have never quite worked in their current form. They overlap and it was a little confusing, so Martial Arts has been Merged into Unarmed, which is now a Professional skill. 

* Brawn as a common skill has been removed, since there was a weird disconnect with the Strength Attribute. You could have 3 Strength and eventually get 99% Brawn. So the Brawn abilities such as Body Slam have been move to Unarmed, which now represents any kind of unarmed combat ability (martial arts, boxing, wrestling etc). Your Maximum Lift score now determines how much you can lift on the spot, and that's directly linked to Strength. 

* Conceal is now a talent for the Stealth skill. This means that 4 common skills have been removed, leaving 8.

* Languages are no longer skills, since they were rarely rolled against or advanced. Now each species or race have the common tongue and their own language, with further languages acquired through a talent.

* Combat talents and manoeuvres have been adjusted, so that starting characters begin with less power, with the 70% skill mark ratcheting up capabilities. 

* The Threat Level calculator has undergone another streamlining, as I learn what really matters when determining the threat that a creature represents. The result is most characters start at TL 1-3, and slowly ramp up from there.

 

 

The Big Issues

Now I'll go over the main problem that actually prompted the move onto 3e. Armour. 

Fixing this wasn't going to be easy, as there is damage and armour bonuses threaded throughout the system, so I had to choose between a major overhaul to 2nd edition on its own, or move ahead with a new version. Combined with the need to redo the manuals anyway, I took my opportunity to hit all the birds with one magic stone.

There's three aspects to this big change: Armour, Weapon damage, and Hit Points. Fixing the armour was relatively easy: Instead of separate pieces, 3e now has full suits, as shown in this armour page:

 

 

Professions

Originally, professions were divided between Warrior and Magic (or Technical), but all of the profession balancing that evolved over the course of 2nd edition (and it was a lot, sorry about that) showed that it could be tidied up and balanced much better. I wanted to improve player agency, so there are no race-specific professions anymore, with the exception of automatons, and even those can be shared with androids.

So now, in 3e we have Warrior, Rogue and Magic/Technical professions. Warrior professions have the best armour, the most hit points, and specific combat talents that allow them to do their job better. They're ideal for front line combat, whether it's ranged or melee, but have less utility outside of combat.

Magic professions have only light armour available, the fewest HP, but their magical powers can make up for both of these things. 

Technical professions can have decent armour (especially the Mechanic), but their Hit Points are still quite low. Their inventions and abilities are unique and provide them the capabilities needed in Scifi campaigns. With SCIENCE.

Finally, the new Rogue profession type have moderate Hit Points, their damage is usually just as good as Warriors but they mostly rely on light armour and stealth, not to mention a high Evade skill to stay alive. Their specific Rogue talents allow them to use cunning and stealth to best effect.

The Professions themselves have been refined and combined to a decent spread for each type, as shown here.

3e Release Date

I have no idea! Defintely 2022, no sooner than April, but I'm more inclined to take my time with this and get it down in the 2nd half of the year. Not only does this give me more time to go over the manuals carefully, it gives everyone some space from the very recent 2nd edition release too. I won't be doing any further updates to 2e, since everything I wanted to do is in 3e, so consider that system done in its current form (warts and all).

The good news about 3e is instead of releasing the system and then pumping out monthly changes, the intial release will be it - I'll be moving to an annual update schedule, so when it comes out, it's a refined, professional product that doesn't have me stumbling around trying to fix problems for the next 24 months!

There will be no free 'Basic Edition' this time - the full fantasy manual will be free, with everything else up for the usual prices. It will have 8 fields of magic by default, with Psionic being merged fully into the scifi system, and Summoning coming along in a separate manual together with the upcoming Geomancy magic (and probably detailed vampire player character rules!) I imagine the print manuals will be a bit expensive, but that's just the cost of physical editions. 

I think that covers all the major bits and pieces, including why I'm taking this step. I understand "edition churn" is a real thing, but this isn't a money grab. It's Sabre evolving from a glorified hobby into a professional product, and I'm putting in a lot of effort to make some really nice manuals and refined mechanics, worthy of sticking on your shelf.

With that, I'll sign off and wish everyone a relaxing and safe festive season, and a happy new year. Let's hope it's better than the last couple :)  Peace

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. 

 

Hi everyone, I hope you're all fairing well during difficult times. I've had my head buried in the pages of the Sabre manuals, working out the kinks from the 2.0 update. I always knew there would be some fine tuning to be done, and here it is! Nothing major in terms of new content, but the scifi system in particular has had a good overhaul, especially the Starships manual. This last week I spent updating the Encounters manual too, s that was long overdue. Oh, and I've started using roll20 as well. The learning curve is a bit steep but I'm getting it sorted. I've even commissioned a roll20 HTML character sheet, so we'll see if that meets the requirements to get it into their system. 

The changelog notes speak for themselves so I won't spend too much time writing this blog, only that this will be the last update for a while - the system should be settling nicely now, and I'm starting to burnout a little, and that atlas has been neglected yet again! It's more of a side project at this point, hopefully I'll get it done this year but you never know. I do have another novel lined up too, so I want to start that in the near future as well. Anyway, take care and stay strong.

 

Fantasy Premium Core Rulebook v2.01

* Improved the damage for arquebuses, culverin & musket. Increased price for culverin.

* Added 'Muzzleloader' firearms manoeuvre.

* Courtesan 'Special Friend' gains a bonus to concealed weapons, and its seduction bonus against any sex has been moved over to 'Can't play a player'. 

* Ninjato is no longer considered a concealed weapon.

* Inheritor 'Bodyguard' option no longer grants the Soldier profession to your servant, but they do gain a free talent.

* Clarifed how the 'Control Movement' talent works.

* The Second Profession talent now states: If one of the professions has a light armour restriction, this applies to both professions.

* Tweaked the numbers for character advancement packages, as the secondary skills bonus was a little too high. Extensive testing has confirmed this was the right move.

* 'Brutal Existence' talent now also provides some natural AP.

* 'Last Stand' talent's DM bonus doesn't increase with skill.

* All ages of the Inheritor's servant can take combat skills.

* Altered the Inheritor's Veteran option to include Young servants, and is now called 'Bodyguard'.

* The Inheritor's 'Charmer' option now also improves Critical Range for Influence.

* Bard 'Magnetic' option now boosts Charisma instead of granting critical range.

* Doctor's 'Advanced Surgery' talent now also grants an extra action to use herbs or potions on self or others.

* Multishot, Rapid Shot & Double Tap  manoeuvres no longer apply a result bonus to the skill check at 99%.

* 'Headshot' manoeuvre now requires the shooter to be prone.

 

 

Fantasy Basic Core Rulebook v2.01

* Improved the damage for arquebuses, culverin & musket. Increased price for culverin.

* Ninjato is no longer considered a concealed weapon.

* Doctor's 'Advanced Surgery' talent now also grants an extra action to use herbs or potions on self or others.

* Clarifed how the 'Control Movement' talent works.

* The Second Profession talent now states: If one of the professions has a light armour restriction, this applies to both professions.

* Tweaked the numbers for character advancement packages, as the secondary skills bonus was a little too high. Extensive testing has confirmed this was the right move.

* 'Brutal Existence' talent now also provides some natural AP.

* 'Last Stand' talent's DM bonus doesn't increase with skill.

* Multishot, Rapid Shot & Double Tap  manoeuvres no longer apply a result bonus to the skill check at 99%.

 

 

Scifi Core Rulebook 2e v2.02 

Professions & Species

* Inheritor 'Bodyguard' option no longer grants the Soldier profession to your servant, but they do gain a free talent.

* Scavenger's 'Steady Aim' talent grants an extra action to attack or reload.

* Doctor's 'Advanced Surgery' talent now also grants an extra action to use medicine, narcotics or herbs on self or others.

* The Doctor's 'Field Medic' talent allows you to inject a sedative into a hostile target in combat.

* Automaton 'Rugged' trait now adds Strength Attribute Bonus to Hit Points. This applies to robots in general.

* All ages of the Inheritor's servant can take combat skills.

* Altered the Inheritor's Veteran option to include Young servants, and is now called 'Bodyguard.

* The Inheritor's 'Charmer' option now also improves Critical Range for Influence.

* Courtesan 'Special Friend' gains a bonus to concealed weapons, and its seduction bonus against any sex has been moved over to 'Can't play a player'. 

* 'Bullseye' Pilot profession talent now also grants its bonus to the Pilot skill.

* Veiran now count as having Grit for the Threat Level calculator.

* Roden's 'All of the Bits' and Mentari's 'Legend of Science' talents have been improved.

* Revised the Ageless One profession.

* Improved the Phase manoevure.

* 'Improviser' Roden talent now correctly lists Salvaging as its skill.

* Feline Venator 'Cat Naps' ability now also switches Heal Rate to AGI instead of CON, and Hit Points are regenerated every 2 hours of sleep along with Spirit. 

* The Second Profession talent now states: If one of the professions has a light armour restriction, this applies to both professions.

* Revised Service Droid profession to be much more flexible and give the species a wider range of profession options.

* Tweaked the numbers for character advancement packages, as the secondary skills bonus was a little too high. Extensive testing has confirmed this was the right move.

* Warbot uses Endurance as its Primary Skill. Changed it's 'Armed' speciality to 'Fire Support'.

 

Talents, Psi & Manoeuvres

* Ranged Impact has had its text updated.

* Corrected the text on how the Impact trait works.

* Clarifed how the 'Control Movement' talent works.

* Multishot, Rapid Shot, Double Tap and Chain Fire manoeuvres no longer apply a result bonus to the skill check at 99%.

* The 'Psychic Shield' ability has been normalised with the fantasy version.

* 'Organic Systems' talent is now correctly mentioned as requiring the Endurance skill to advance.

* Removed 'Drive-By Shooting' and 'Drive and Shoot' talents. 

* There are no penalties for shooting out a window of a vehicle.

* 'Pursuit Specialist' talent now requires 50% skill, and additionally allows vehicle movement and shooting in the same action. Works for Pilot or Drive skill.

* 'Ace Pilot' has been replaced by 'Vehicle Expert', grants critical range and result bonus to both Pilot and Drive skills when controlling vehicles.

 

Other Stuff

* Revised the baseline robot template.

* Added Claymore mine modern explosive.

* Improved the damage for arquebuses, culverin & musket. Increased price for culverin.

* Improved the damage for 20mm elephant gun and increased its Size. 

* Added .45 elephant gun.

* Added 'Muzzleloader' firearms manoeuvre specifically for black powder weapons.

* Ninjato is no longer considered a concealed weapon.

* Removed the '20mm rifle' rounds. The 20mm Rifle now files 20mm cannon shells, as is proper, and it is classified as a longarm, with a 3 round clip.

* Nauseated condition now causes stun on a fumbled check.

* Reduced the cost of robot body blueprints.

* Added flare gun (under explosives) and flares to the ammo section (next to .45 cal bullets).

* Corrected the armour take off/put on times.

* Sonic Lance's damage has been corrected to a non-insane amount.

* Pseudo Immortality genetic mod now lowers HP by -5, and it can't bring anyone back from negative max HP x2 (because you've exploded).

* Corrected the language on Encumbrance limits.

* Improved 'Nuclear Powered' robot upgrade.

* 'Headshot' manoeuvre now requires the shooter to be prone.

 

Scifi Starships v2.01

* 'Stealth Upgrade' is more effective and divided into Small Craft and Subcap variants.

* 'Afterburner' Upgrade now lists a 2x speed bonus in atmosphere.

* The cost of many starship upgrades has increased.

* The Workshop can now also benefit the Surgery skill.

* Weapon Upgrade now increases range by 1sq.

* Revised the Breach Pod upgrade.

* Added notes on the Docking and Undocking procedure in the Navigation section.

* The critical hit table now includes a Workshop upgrade, and is a weighted result.

* Added Research and Build teams in the Enlisted Crew options.

* Added 'Improved Shields' science upgrade.

* 'Overload' engineering manoeuvres always damage the Hit Points of the system. Some can improve their power for each hit point you sacrifice.

* Increased the range on capital weaponry, and the combat lock range on heavy and light cruisers.

* Added 'Sensor Dampening' DefenseOps manoeuvre.

* 'Disrupt Shields' manoeuvre is now at 99%, halves enemy shield AP.

* Zacharial 'Ego Maniac' bonus now adds CHA Attribute bonus to HP.

* Revised Species hull bonuses:

 - Carapan has -10% agility penalty.

 - Corvid has +10% agility bonus, reduced AP penalty.

 - Mentari weapon results are halved, not removed entirely.

 - Added Shikava hull type, which grants +5 Crit range on weapons, and a HP loss as penalty.

 - Venator capacitor penalty is reduced.

 - Zacharial has -10% agility penalty, but is also Invulnerable to fire.

 - Veiran loses slots instead of HP

* Thruster upgrade for capital ships is now 25 slots instead of 50.

* Corrected the build requirements for Dreadnought hulls.

* Corrected the classification of small craft for each entry (other than Skiff).

* Added the Zero-g Training talent, which now has no prerequisites.

* Added 'Dropship' class small craft.

* Colour shifted the cover image to help it stand out from the other covers.

 

 

Scifi Encounters v2.0

* Updated all npc templates with current profession abilities.

* Added new TL 20 npc templates for extra murderousness.

* Colour shifted the cover image to help it stand out from the other covers.

 

Well, here we are again, and so soon since the last update! I've been working hard on overhauling the system, which isn't something I'd really planned. It all began when I was looking at the City Watch/Police Officer profession a while back. The overhaul really gave it some unique abilities, and flavour appropriate for a detective profession. 

Then I noticed the Hunter has a bunch of talents left over from 1st edition, just kind of crammed in there. Overall it was an uneven build, so I went over it and streamlined it, bringing it inline with the four-talent progression sequence of some other professions.

From there, I knew that there were others that needed looking at too, but it was when our local group started adding new players at high level, and the advancement packages gave some strange results that I realised there was a way to better link all of this together. I've had trouble balancing those packages, finding it hard to nail down exactly how to mimic the natural advancement one would normally experience over the course of Sabre games, so some of the team took a crack another it.

I added my own idea to the final result too: the concept of a Primary Profession skill. This is something each profession uses for its talent prerequisites, and so I've pegged the advancement packages to this skill. And it works! We figure it's about as close as we'll get to imitating game progression, but it's had a profound impact. A GM can now better add more experienced characters to a campaign with a much more accurate representation of advancement in line with the other players.

So, a lot of professions have been overhauled, primarily those that didn't have any profession talents, shared their talents with others, or simply had talents that were uninspiring. I wanted each profession to feel unique, desirable, and powerful in its own way, so what we have here is Sabre 2e v2.0! Yes, it's that much of a change. You can check the changelog notes for more info on the individual changes, and breeze through the manuals to see it up close.

This was especially important for the scifi edition, where the lines between warrior, android and automaton professions were a bit blurry. All professions are now clearly delineated, and android and automatons can also take some warrior profession talents where appropriate. There's also the addition of Virtual Combat, where anyone with a Network Socket implant can attempt an advanced form of hacking, moving through a virtual maze and fighting antivirus systems to reach the computer core. We've used this before in our local scifi games (shout-out to Shaun for coming up with this!) and I've made it an official part of the system now.

Finally, the Legends manual is just about complete. I should have it released in the next few days, after I go over it carefully to make sure it's all good. I'm really happy to have finally finished another Sabre manual, and now I'm eyeing off that cursed Atlas that's been sitting there at 75% completion for a couple of years :D    

With Australia going into tighter lockdowns, we've been unable to reliably play in person of late, but we're trying to organise an online game to keep playing, but the time we've had playing in person has given us plenty of data for improving the system, and this update is proof of that. Stay safe everyone, and keep an eye out for Legends very soon!

 

SabreRPG 2e Premium Fantasy Core Rulebook v2.0

* Ranger is now a warrior profession, with limited access to Druidry spells.

* Vagabond and Thief now have their own separate progression.

* The Hunter's Marksman talent has been revised a little. 

* The Commodities talent's bonus has been boosted.

* Weapon fumbles cause the weapon to lose 1 Hit Point (This has been in the system for a while under Repairing Weapons, but is now present under the Critical rules).

* Highlighted primary profession skills for each profession.

* Revised the Advanced Character package options (Thanks to Libbi & Aidan!)

* Split Prowler profession talents away from Ranger and Survivalist.

* Pirate Profession's primary skill is now Evade.

* Pirate Profession is restricted to light armour. 'Swashbucker' option replaced by 'Wanted'.

* 'Single-handed' pirate talent gains a result and critical range bonus.

* Criminal contact option now gives +5% to stealth skill results.

* Revised talents for Soldier and Knight, which now have their own separate progression.

* Revised the Savage profession to be much more unique and interesting.

* Revised the Gladiator profession to have its own talent progression and unique style.

* Added 'Crusader' warrior profession.

* Added 'Relic Hunter' warrior profession.

* Paladin's 'Crusader' option replaced with 'Blessed'.

* Dark Scion's 'Black Knight' option replaced with 'Touched'.

* Added 'Impair Armour' melee manoeuvre.

* Dwarves gain +1 Natural Armour as part of their Hardy trait.

* The Hunter profession now uses the Survival skill as it's primary. Rugged Hunter talent now lets you choose you or your pet to gain the bonus, and Hunter Training talent lets you choose you, your pet or you traps to gain the bonuses.

* Revised the Courtesan profession talents (they were mostly a holdover from 1st edition).

 - Removed Wingman, Alluring Presence and Broad Appeal. 

 - Special Friend talent now also allows Seduction to be used against any gender.

 - Added 'Can't Play a Player', 'Deadly Charms' & 'Distraction' talents.

 - Courtesan Profession now limited to light or no armour.

 - Courtesan gains Evade as a resistance skill and an extra background event (total of 4).

* Seduction talents now limited to light or no armour.

* Added 'Kiss of Death' Seduction manouevre.

* Distracting Pose manoeuvre now prevents target defending vs next attack (instead of granting you a free attack). At 99% target loses their next action.

* Revised 'Groin Strike' manoeuvre.

* Revised Doctor Profession.

 - Replaced 'Field Medic' option with 'Anatomy'.

 - The Medic talent is now in the General Talents category.

 - Removed the Improvised Medicine talent.

 - Renowned Surgeon talent now also grants extra critical range for surgery and first aid.

 - Miracle Worker talent is now Field medic, grants rapid first aid and ability to resusitate dead creatures.

* Soldier profession loses Field Medic option and gains Marksman option in its place.

* Arcane shield and similar spells now only grant +5 AP at 99% when failing a check.

* Fixed the 'Infect' spells functions.

* Condensed Weaponsmithing and Armoursmithing sub-skills into the Craft: Blacksmithing skill.

* Added 'Craft Weapons' and 'Craft Armour' blacksmithing talents.

* Craft: Woodworking skill now lets you make wooden shields and melee weapons.

* Added 'Bowyer' woodworking talent and removed Bowyer sub-skill.

* Removed Survivalist talent.

* Artificer 'Fast Builder' option is now 'Designer', changed bonus.

* Swapped Artificer Designer and Arcanist 'Efficiency' traits.

* Added a definition of 'Ability' to the glossary.

* Halved the benefits of the 'Fast Learner' talent, and normalised it with all instances of the Studied profession trait.

* Added cost multiplier figure to exotic materials to better graps the cost increase.

* Added pre-calculated exotic armour table to the Services section.

* Ressurection, Ressurection salve and Reincarnation now provide their benefits to a target after their death.

* 'Bloodlust' talent gains a result bonus in addition to the other bonuses, all of which are doubled if the target is bleeding.

* Slayer profession's 'Magic Resistance' talent has been moved over to Relic Hunter, and revised slightly.

* Added 'Elimination' Slayer talent.

* Corrected the Inscription talent's cost table.

* Artifice has a new 'Focus' ability, allowing them to choose to improve their construct, or their regular inventions. Added new talents to the artifice section.

* Removed redundant Expert Trainer and Improved Damage talents.

* Improved 'Defensive Formation' leadership manoeuvre.

* Instances of Invulnerability to mundane weapons have been changed to +5 DR vs Auric, +10 DR to mundane weapons.

* Auldsteel armour is now immune to acid AP damage.

* Removed Hinder action.

* Revised the shamanic 'Curse' spell.

* Added 'Order of Battle' leadership manouevre.

* Added 'Challenge' pet manouevre.

* Removed strength requirements for medium and heavy armour talents.

* Revised the text for the Survival skill.

 

SabreRPG 2e Scifi Core Rulebook 2e v2.0

* Added a new Virtual Combat section for neural-linked hacking action.

* Revised the Technomancer and Infiltrator professions, and added talents.

* Revised the Tinker and Junk Droid professions, and added talents.

* Revised the Scavenger profession, and added talents.

* Revised the layout of the Damage Types section.

* The 'Interface' automaton upgrade also functions like a network socket for virtual combat. 

* Warbot loses Expertise option, gains Cyber Warrior option.

* Drive/Pilot talent 'Multitasking' is now called 'Drive & Shoot'.

* The Hunter's Marksman talent has been revised a little. 

* The Commodities talent's bonus has been boosted.

* Weapon fumbles cause the weapon to lose 1 Hit Point (This has been in the system for a while under Repairing Weapons, but is now present under the Critical rules).

* Highlighted primary profession skills for each profession.

* Revised the Advanced Character package options (Thanks to Libbi & Aidan!)

* Revised Thief, Vagabond, Knight & Soldier profession talents.

* Clearly delineated which professions are Warrior and which are Technical, including automatons and androids.

* Pirate Profession's primary skill is now Evade.

* Pirate Profession is restricted to light armour. 'Swashbucker' option replaced by 'Wanted'.

* 'Single-handed' pirate talent gains a result and critical range bonus.

* Criminal contact option now gives +5% to stealth skill results.

* Revised Gen Warrior and Gladiator professions and related talents.

* Added Savage low-tech profession.

* Replaced the Athlete profession with Martial Artist, and updated all the martial arts talents accordingly.

* Revised the Pilot profession and added four profession talents.

* The Hunter profession now uses the Survival skill as it's primary. Rugged Hunter talent now lets you choose you or your pet to gain the bonus, and Hunter Training talent lets you choose you, your pet or you traps to gain the bonuses.

* Revised the Courtesan profession talents (they were mostly a holdover from 1st edition).

 - Removed Wingman, Alluring Presence and Broad Appeal. 

 - Special Friend talent now also allows Seduction to be used against any gender.

 - Added 'Can't Play a Player', 'Deadly Charms' & 'Distraction' talents.

 - Courtesan Profession now limited to light or no armour.

 - Courtesan gains Evade as a resistance skill and an extra background event (total of 4).

* Seduction talents now limited to light or no armour.

* Added 'Kiss of Death' Seduction manouevre.* Distracting Pose manoeuvre now prevents target defending vs next attack (instead of granting you a free attack). At 99% target loses their next action.

* Revised 'Groin Strike' manoeuvre.

* Revised Doctor Profession.

 - Replaced 'Field Medic' option with 'Anatomy'.

 - Apothecary option is now +2 instead of +1 for its bonuses.

 - The Medic talent is now in the General Talents category.

 - Removed the Improvised Medicine talent.

 - Renowned Surgeon talent now also grants extra critical range for surgery and first aid.

 - Miracle Worker talent is now Field medic, grants rapid first aid and ability to resusitate dead creatures.

* Soldier profession loses Field Medic option and gains Marksman option in its place.

* Condensed Weaponsmithing and Armoursmithing sub-skills into the Craft: Blacksmithing skill.

* Added 'Craft Weapons' and 'Craft Armour' blacksmithing talents.

* Craft: Woodworking skill now lets you make wooden shields and melee weapons.

* Added 'Bowyer' woodworking talent and removed Bowyer sub-skill.

* Removed Survivalist talent.

* Added a definition of 'Ability' to the glossary.

* Halved the benefits of the 'Fast Learner' talent, and normalised it with all instances of the Studied profession trait.

* Removed Hinder action.

* Removed redundant Expert Trainer and Improved Damage talents.

* Improved 'Defensive Formation' leadership manoeuvre.

* Revised the text for the Survival skill.

* Added 'Order of Battle' leadership manouevre.

* Added 'Challenge' pet manouevre.

 

SabreRPG 2e Basic Fantasy Core Rulebook v2.0

* The Hunter's Marksman talent has been revised a little. 

* Weapon fumbles cause the weapon to lose 1 Hit Point (This has been in the system for a while under Repairing Weapons, but is now present under the Critical rules).

* Highlighted primary profession skills for each profession.

* Revised the Advanced Character package options.

* Pirate Profession's primary skill is now Evade.

* Pirate Profession is restricted to light armour. 'Swashbucker' option replaced by 'Wanted'.

* 'Single-handed' pirate talent gains a result and critical range bonus.

* Criminal contact option now gives +5% to stealth skill results.

* Revised talents for Soldier and Knight, which now have their own separate progression.

* Re-revised the Savage profession to be much more unique and interesting.

* Re-revised the Gladiator profession to have its own talent progression and unique style.

* The Hunter profession now uses the Survival skill as it's primary. Rugged Hunter talent now lets you choose you or your pet to gain the bonus, and Hunter Training talent lets you choose you, your pet or you traps to gain the bonuses.

* Revised Doctor Profession.

 - Replaced 'Field Medic' option with 'Anatomy'.

 - Apothecary option is now +2 instead of +1 for its bonuses.

 - The Medic talent is now in the General Talents category.

 - Removed the Improvised Medicine talent.

 - Renowned Surgeon talent now also grants extra critical range for surgery and first aid.

 - Miracle Worker talent is now Field medic, grants rapid first aid and ability to resusitate dead creatures.

* Soldier profession loses Field Medic option and gains Marksman option in its place.

* Removed Survivalist talent.

* Added a definition of 'Ability' to the glossary.

* Halved the benefits of the 'Fast Learner' talent, and normalised it with all instances of the Studied profession trait.

* Dwarves gain +1 Natural Armour as part of their Hardy trait.

* Ressurection spell now provide its benefits to a target after their death.

* Removed redundant Improved Damage talent.

* Removed Hinder action.

* Removed strength requirements for medium and heavy armour talents.

* Revised the text for the Survival skill.

 

SabreRPG 2e Fantasy Bestiary v2.0

* Revised the Resist Magic talent.

* Added Tail Sweep manouevre and Combat Senses talent to dragons, linnorm, basilisk.

* Added art for Lycian Chimera and revised stats.

* Revised the loot table system with weighted results, material and quality results, and better instructions for random loot rolls.

* Added Stag and Dire Stag templates.

* Moved Dreadnought Golem, Ancient Dragon and Titan into the upcoming Legends manual (coming soon!).

* Sa'quaarin have been moved to the Legends manual to accompany detailed information about their special arcane devices.

* Titanic Worm is now called Giant Worm (Titanic worm appears in Legends manual).

* Rebalanced Beasts and Dire Beasts to work better with the revised Hunter profession.

* Added missing Elite Templar NPC template.

* Added art for Landshark.

 

Hi Sabre fans, we're got some news on an upcoming release, and of course some fixes and balances to the system for you!

High Level Campaign

In spite of some covid-lockdown challenges now and then, I'm currently running one of the longest campaigns I've ever attempted, in order to see how the system works at the top end. The last update addressed some of the issues with spellcasters being a bit too squishy, and this time we've uncovered some other mechanics that need addressing. Overall it's working pretty well though, with the players in my group assuming they were going to be destroyed instantly at the start of a fight, only to find their abilities kept them alive and allowed them to prevail in a pretty well-balanced combat.

I think part of this comes from damage increasing a lot as skill levels rise, but Hit Points don't follow suit, but that'swhere armour, skill and magic come into it to keep them alive. 

Legends

Another reason for doing a high level campaign is because I'm putting together a new manual called Legends, which covers new talents, unique magic items and new crazy powerful monsters to take on!

I know what you're thinking: "Hey what about that Atlas which still isn't done yet!" Well, with the power of my group's characters increasing every session, I needed to start developing this before they started to outgrow the challenges I was throwing at them, so it became a priority. The atlas will follow afterwards, as I want to get these two manuals done before working on another novel. I'm not far from completing this thing actually, with just the monsters and a few tweaks here and there to finish off, so maybe in a few weeks it'll be ready. A few monsters have been moved from the Bestiary to appear in the Legends manual, such as the Titan and Sa'quaarin, where they can be better used. I never had a party try to take on a Titan before, but I suspect they would have had little chance of defeating it without the new legendary abilities! Now, onto this update!

Hunters

The biggest fix for this update is the Hunter profession. It was supposed to be the premier ranged weapon profession, the one you'd take to focus on archery, guns etc. But the talents for it predate the current profession system, and were just kind of crammed in there. Well I've finally gotten around to fixing this one, with a revised profession and new talents to fit the current progression theme. They're the best ranged fighters, the best with traps, and their talents allow them to train bigger, meaner beasts to use in battle. This accompanies an improvement to bows, which can get up to 2d8 (or 1d16 if you prefer) for their base damage, allowing them to punch through armour better. Beasts and Dire Beasts in the Bestary have been revised to work better with Hunters, so you've got a good selection of creatures to work with. Oh and the Animal Training professional skill is simplified and revised, allowing anyone to have their own armoured cat to hurl into battle :D

Armour Fix

After witnessing a high TL paladin with masterwork vythir plate and kite shield tank like a beast, we determined that it's not armour that's the problem as such, but the Partial Block talent. The math is like this: 23 AP for that shiny armour, +14 on a successful block, but still gains +7 on a failed block, so that's AP 30 guarenteed, and 37 on a real block. We have no issue with a shield absorbing all that damage on a success, but if you fail to block, at least a little damage should be possible. So the Partial Block talent is being adjusted (nerfed!) to provide a flat +2 AP bonus when you first get it, rising to +4 AP at 99% skill. So that kite shield above would provide +4 instead of +7 on a fail, and that 3 points does make a difference, especially against two handed weapons. Two knights clanging away at each other with sword and board could still be at it all day though! 

You see, the high AP in the system was fine while destroying AP with acid or Impact weapons was far more common. By substantially reducing those effects, it's just so hard to get around that AP, forcing fights to rely on collision, electrical or shadow damage to take down armoured characters. This change opens up regular damage to be more useful, and prevents ubertanking all day long. The damage from Body Slam and Piledriver manoeuvres has been reduced too, as they were a bit overpowered on creatures with high Damage Modifiers. 

Finally, Cavalry plate has been removed. It was too heavy to really use properly, requiring a warhorse to carry the warrior around (intentionally so), but mounts are of limited use in games that go underground or indoors, so cavalry plate just isn't useful enough to invest in. Also, the extra AP really breaks the system! 

Blades and Cooking

The other notable changes in this update are for blades, which simply couldn't defeat armour at high level, and cooking. Blades can now ignore half AP on a crit when the Duellist talent is taken at 99%, and their critical range buff has been improved slightly too. The Fencer talent was only useful for single-handed weapons, pointless for duel wielding or any other style, so it was quite niche. It's now been improved to provide a modest bonus for all blades, which is doubled if you do a single-blade fencing style. 

Finally, cooking is more interesting and useful now, with two talents, and the ability to boost not just Hit Points, but Spirit Points as well. Raw Ingredients are properly listed, along with cooking herbs, so it's easier keep track of an aspiring chef's larder. 

So that's about all for this month, keep an eye out for the Legends manual in the near future. Oh! Almost forgot, I'm going to take a crack at a print version of it (finally) as a test run to see if I can get the other manuals done too. Obviously, the continuing updates and fixes precludes it for the near future, but if I feel the system is finally settling down, I'll make those print editions and then do no updates for like, a year :D Take care, and stay safe everyone.

 

SabreRPG 2e Fantasy Premium v1.12

* Hunter profession revision.

 - Hunter talents are no longer shared with Druid (Beastmaster).

 - Hunter gains Endurance Resistance skill, but can only wear light armour.

 - Special options are now Marksman, Trapper and Trainer.

 - Removed old talents, replaced with 4 new condensed abilities based on a chosen ranged weapon skill, suitable for solo or hunter+pet combo.

* Revised the Animal Training skill, removing any TL limits from it and simplifying its use. Anyone can now teach talents and pet manoeuvres to their pet with Accolades, and there is no INT limit on what can be learned.

Armour Fix

* 'Partial Block' talent now helps absorb a fixed amount of +2 AP, increasing with skill.

* 'Bastion' shield manoeuvre now requires 90% skill. 

* Removed Cavalry plate from the system.

* 'Body Slam' manoeuvre now deals half DM as collision damage.

* 'Piledriver' manoeuvre now deals just DM as collision damage.

* Added Brigandine Gauntlets.

* Added Leather Banadana as an armour head item. All other head armour receives +1 AP.

* Added 'Armour of Resistance' and 'Armour of Regeneration' artificer spells.

Cooking skill Revision

* Added 'Home Cooking' talent.

* 'Chef' talent is now 90% requirement.

* Revised the Craft: Cooking skill.

* Added Raw Ingredients and Cooking Herbs to the food and drink table, along with ENC scores for each item. Raw Ingredients are also used by Animal Training to tame and feed pets.

* Failing a herbalism check to gather herbs now yields 1d20 cooking herbs.

Other Fixes

* Second Profession talent now specifies that Background Events are taken from the primary profession.

* Removed the 'Unlucky' and 'Weak' negative background events, replaced with 'Results' and 'Shielded'.

* 'Strong Draw' bow talent now increases dice size a third time at 99%.

* 'Archery Master' talent now gives +5 damage vs a target that has already been damaged this round.

* Exotic Mounts talent now requires 99% skill.

* Added 'Flared Muzzle' and 'Rifled Barrel' firearm mods.

* Forward Stance manoeuvre now only provides +2 damage.

* Balanced Stance manoeuvre now only proides +4% result bonus.

* Added Back Stance manoeuvre that grants +3 Critical Range.

* Zen Master manoeuvre only makes the 1st manouevre in a round free.

* The 'Exotic Mount' talent now lets you teach the Mount talent to your mount (if it doesn't have it).

* Added 'Caltrops' trap.

* Corrected the cost of buying new artificer blueprints.

* The Lance is no longer listed as a polearm-type weapon under the skills section.

* Revised 'Imbue Divinity' spell.

* 'Enduring Weaponry' spell now also applies to armour spells.

* 'Armoured Beast' druid talent now only provides your worn AP if it's higher than the form they are taking (no longer stacks).

* 'Shifted Caster' druid talent lets you cast your own spells, but at x2 the normal Spirit Point cost.

* Improved the damage of the Force Bolt and Wand of Force Bolt spells, and it can now combine the bolts into a single high-damage shot.

* 'Critical Mastery' blade talent has been improved.

* The Prone condition now allows for 2 squares of movement.

* Sorcery 'Enlarge' spell now specifies a creature as its target.

* Sorcery 'Time Stop' spell now specifies that it doesn't allow things to be taken from creature's hands.

* 'Duellist' blade talent has been revised. It now ignores half armour points on a target when you get a critical hit.

* 'Fencer' blade talent now provides a bonus for all blades, which is doubled for using a single bladed weapon.

* At 99% skill, the 'Spellbreaker' talent's damage is no longer halved.

* Ammunition made of Cold Iron ignores 1/2 Energy AP.

* Ironwood and Auldheart now correctly list their HP is not halved instead of AP. 

* Bloodwood, Ironwood and Auldheart now grant AP bonuses for shields.

* Ammunition for black powder weapons is now listed as 'Black powder & Bullet (1 shot)'.

 

Scifi Core Rulebook 2e v1.12

* Hunter profession revision.

 - Hunter talents are no longer shared with Druid (Beastmaster).

 - Hunter gains Endurance Resistance skill, but can only wear light armour.

 - Special options are now Marksman, Trapper and Trainer.

 - Removed old talents, replaced with 4 new condensed abilities based on a chosen ranged weapon skill, suitable for solo or hunter+pet combo.

* Revised the Animal Training skill, removing any TL limits from it and simplifying its use. Anyone can now teach talents and pet manoeuvres to their pet with Accolades, and there is no INT limit on what can be learned.

Armour Fix

* 'Partial Block' talent now helps absorb a fixed amount of +2 AP, increasing with skill.

* 'Bastion' shield manoeuvre now requires 90% skill. 

* Removed Cavalry plate from the system.

* 'Body Slam' manoeuvre now deals half DM as collision damage.

* 'Piledriver' manoeuvre now deals just DM as collision damage.

* Added Brigandine Gauntlets.

* Added Leather Banadana as an armour head item. All other head armour receives +1 AP.

Cooking skill Revision

* Added 'Home Cooking' talent.

* 'Chef' talent is now 90% requirement.

* Revised the Craft: Cooking skill.

* Added Raw Ingredients and Cooking Herbs to the food and drink table, along with ENC scores for each item. Raw Ingredients are also used by Animal Training to tame and feed pets.

* Failing a herbalism check to gather herbs now yields 1d20 cooking herbs.

Other Fixes

* Second Profession talent now specifies that Background Events are taken from the primary profession.

* Removed the 'Unlucky' and 'Weak' negative background events, replaced with 'Results' and 'Shielded'.

* 'Strong Draw' bow talent now increases dice size a third time at 99%.

* 'Archery Master' talent now gives +5 damage vs a target that has already been damaged this round.

* Exotic Mounts talent now requires 99% skill.

* Added 'Flared Muzzle' and 'Rifled Barrel' firearm mods.

* Forward Stance manoeuvre now only provides +2 damage.

* Balanced Stance manoeuvre now only proides +4% result bonus.

* Added Back Stance manoeuvre that grants +3 Critical Range.

* Zen Master manoeuvre only makes the 1st manouevre in a round free.

* The 'Exotic Mount' talent now lets you teach the Mount talent to your mount (if it doesn't have it).

* Added 'Caltrops' trap.

* The Lance is no longer listed as a polearm-type weapon under the skills section.

* 'Critical Mastery' blade talent has been improved.

* The Prone condition now allows for 2 squares of movement.

* 'Duellist' blade talent has been revised. It now ignores half armour points on a target when you get a critical hit.

* 'Fencer' blade talent now provides a bonus for all blades, which is doubled for using a single bladed weapon.

* At 99% skill, the 'Spellbreaker' talent's damage is no longer halved.

* Ammunition for black powder weapons is now listed as 'Black powder & Bullet (1 shot)'.

 

SabreRPG 2e Fantasy Basic Edition 1.12

* Hunter profession revision.

 - Hunter talents are no longer shared with Druid (Beastmaster).

 - Hunter gains Endurance Resistance skill, but can only wear light armour.

 - Special options are now Marksman, Trapper and Trainer.

 - Removed old talents, replaced with 4 new condensed abilities based on a chosen ranged weapon skill, suitable for solo or hunter+pet combo.

Armour Fix

* 'Partial Block' talent now helps absorb a fixed amount of +2 AP, increasing with skill.

* 'Bastion' shield manoeuvre now requires 90% skill. 

* Removed Cavalry plate from the system.

* 'Body Slam' manoeuvre now deals half DM as collision damage.

* 'Piledriver' manoeuvre now deals just DM as collision damage.

* Added Brigandine Gauntlets.

* Added Leather Banadana as an armour head item. All other head armour receives +1 AP.

Cooking skill Revision

* Revised the Craft: Cooking skill usage.

* Added Raw Ingredients and Cooking Herbs to the food and drink table, along with ENC scores for each item. Raw Ingredients are also used by Animal Training to tame and feed pets.

* Failing a herbalism check to gather herbs now yields 1d20 cooking herbs.

Other Fixes

* Second Profession talent now specifies that Background Events are taken from the primary profession.

* Removed the 'Unlucky' and 'Weak' negative background events, replaced with 'Results' and 'Shielded'.

* 'Strong Draw' bow talent now increases dice size a third time at 99%.

* 'Archery Master' talent now gives +5 damage vs a target that has already been damaged this round.

* Forward Stance manoeuvre now only provides +2 damage.

* Balanced Stance manoeuvre now only proides +4% result bonus.

* Zen Master manoeuvre only makes the 1st manouevre in a round free.

* The Lance is no longer listed as a polearm-type weapon under the skills section.

* Revised 'Imbue Divinity' spell.

* Improved the damage of the Force Bolt and Wand of Force Bolt spells, and it can now combine the bolts into a single high-damage shot.

* 'Critical Mastery' blade talent has been improved.

* The Prone condition now allows for 2 squares of movement.

* 'Duellist' blade talent has been revised. It now ignores half armour points on a target when you get a critical hit.

* 'Fencer' blade talent now provides a bonus for all blades, which is doubled for using a single bladed weapon.

* At 99% skill, the 'Spellbreaker' talent's damage is no longer halved.

It's been a busy month of development for Sabre, and I'm really hoping to leave it sit for six months after this! I had hoped to be working on the Atlas during this time, but Sabre is a demanding beast :) Let's get straight in to this update!

Reverted the Skill Rank system

This was an attempt to make the advancement system more palatable to newer players, who get to see difinitive ranks instead of a wall of skill numbers, but it turns out that it had the opposite effect! So I was able to revert it back to the previous system (pretty sure I got all instances, but there might be a missed item here and there). So, a worthwhile experiment that definitely didn't work :)

Second Profession

I've had people asking for the ability to take more than one profession within the system, and we tried a few variations that were sort of broken, but a couple of weeks ago I finally figured out how to do it, and I'm happy to implement this powerful mechanic into Sabre. You basically choose a 2nd profession during character creation, gain most of that profession's abilities, but your advancement costs are 50% higher. This hasn't been tested yet, but the theory in sound - what could go wrong? :D

Profession overhaul

A number of professions were identified as being either weak or unbalanced, so they've had another pass to improve them:

 - Paladin is now a warrior profession with some priest ability, instead of the other way around. 

 - Dreadnought is much more powerful, able to duel wield two-handed weapons with the full damage bonus you'd get from holding a big weapon with two hands. 

 - City Watch/Police Officer. I had originally based this one on the Shields skill, because they were about defence in general, but it doesn't work the way I wanted it to. Basically, this is an Investigation oriented profession now, with Streetwise as it's primary skill. I'm really happy with its new abilities!

Dwarf and Escardi improvement

Both of these races were a bit weak, but with the new Hit Point system allowing higher numbers, I've increased this for both races, so they'll have a nice extra chunk of durability in any fight.

Revised 'Impact' trait

There was just too much AP damage in the system, where shields and armour would be shredded within a few rounds of battle. Impact has now been reduced to only happen on a critical hit, greatly reducing the problem and allowing protective devices to last a lot longer in a campaign.

Martial Arts revised

Unarmed combat hasn't been in a good place for a while, with Martial Arts and 'Unarmed' type attacks being a bit murky. Additionally, the damage output hasn't been worth the loss of decent armour, so while it might have been useful for stealth characters, you couldn't play a proper martial arts warrior - until now! The system has been overhauled completely, with more options, less confusion and more power to make up for the lack of armour.

Paid Training Time

It now takes 10 days (80 hours) to learn a new skill, talent, spell or manoeuvre, because it was just too easy to take a couple of weeks downtime in a game and train up like mad, greatly accelerating character levelling beyond what any reasonable GM would agree to. So the time is more than triple before, still allowing the use of money for advancement, but in a more gradual way. The GM can still control this by how much free time is allocated, but it's far easier to grant a couple of weeks between events without the party levelling up so much.

Magic Defence Increase

One of the things we're doing in my campaign is high-level adventure, and it's become obvious that pure spellcasters are weak on defence compared to armour wearing warriors. I've made some adjustments to the defensive spells to improve survivability, especially at higher Threat Levels. They also get access to the 'Iron Will' talent, which works like 'Grit' to allow spellcasters to keep hurling magic when they're below 1 Hit Point and should be unconscious on the ground. Speaking of high level...

Legends

I lament that the Atlas is going to take a lot longer to get done than I'd hoped, not just because I've been overhauling the system, but because our high level campaign is close to capping out the party. Enter the Legends manual! This is going to be a collection of high tier talents, spells, monsters and magic items suitable for truly legendary campaigns. I'm just trying to stay one step ahead of the party, adding new abilities and options before they're ready for them! It won't be a huge manual when it's done, probably just a couple dozen pages (and won't cost much either), but it'll really help cap off the end of any long campaign for Sabre. I've no idea when it'll be ready for release, but it'll be before the Atlas apparently ;)  

I still need to update the Encounters manual with templates put onto the new split AP character sheet, but that'll be an ongoing process. It makes it easier to keep track of AP when you've got either Kevlar or plate armour, vs guns or melee.

That's about all for now, I'm going to take a nap for about a week!

 

v1.10 Premium Fantasy Rulebook

* Reverted the Skill Rank system.

* Adjusted the rarity and quantities on the prospecting table.

* Lowered the damage on Shadow Warrior spell to 1d4, and corrected the language on how it is ordered around (once per turn).

* Items subject to destruction while holding charges from Imbue Divinity no longer explode.

* The Inheritor profession's combat servant adds its damage, AP and HP to the Inheritor's own TL.

* Added spell scrolls to the Magic Services table.

* Fixed the options for the paladin's special ability.

* Revised the 'Duel' talent.

* The paladin loses access to their profession talent abilities if they fall from grace (change philosophy).

* Paladins 'Divine Heritage' talent grants them access to one Divinity Devotion's talents, plus Eclectic.

* Paladin's 'Holy Zeal' talent is now 'Holy Light'.

* Improved the 'Hardy' dwarf trait.

* Improved the 'Massive' and 'Mighty' escardi traits.

* 'Iron Heart' dreadnought talent is now at Artisan rank, also grants immunity to being terrified.

* Replaced 'Indomitable' dreadnought talent with 'Colossus' talent.

* Added the 'Second Profession' talent and removed the Magical Prodigy profession.

* Added 'Iron Will' talent (grit for spellcasters).

* 'Smite' spell can now be cast as a Reaction on your turn.

* 'Planar Guardian' spell now has a duration of Concentration or 1 Hour.

* 'Divine Might' spell correctly lists its duration as 1 minute.

* Escardi 'Massive' trait now grants 2x STR Attribute bonus as extra hit points.

* Undead is now the same value as Grit on the Threat Level table, clarified wording.

* Prospecting for gold now yields a smaller rock worth 100sp instead of 1000sp.

* Revised 'Impact' trait to only work on a critical success.

* Axe 'Cleave Armour' talent is now 'Cleave Shields', deals extra 1d4 AP damage to shields on a critical hit.

* Added a calculation for buying permanently enchanted magical items from stores.

* Changed the Warhorse Command talent to remove the reference to Charge actions (which are no longer a thing).

* The 'Charge' manoevure now says that it can be used while riding a mount.

* The Animal Training skill can now be used to teach a war mount manoeuvres. Revised TL maximums for the skill. 

* Animals taught abilities that require Accolades return those Accolades to the trainer when the pet dies.

* Mounts now have a listed Threat Level.

* Removed the 'Trample' warhorse talent.

* Paladin profession revised:

  - It is now a warrior profession, with full access to warrior talents. 

  - It gains Resolve as a resistance skill and loses the ability to choose a free common skill.

  - It loses the Divinity skill, but gains the Leadership skill.

  - It gains profession talents which grant limited spell ability among other things.

* City Watch profession revised:

  - Removed Shields skill from skill list, added Investigation and Navigation (Urban).

  - Special abilities have been changed to Enforcer, Beat Cop and Hard-Boiled, with revised bonuses.

  - All City Watch talents have been revised, now based on Streetwise skill. 

  - 'Reciprocating Strike' is now a general shield talent.

* 'Iron Wall' shield talent now requires Expert rank instead of Master.

* Martial Arts revised:

  - 'Brawler' talent is now 'Lethal Weapons', increases damage dice for all martial arts weapon types.

  - Added two 'stance' manoeuvres: Forward Stance and Balanced Stance.

  - Added 'Blookstrike' martial arts manoeuvre.

  - Removed 'Martial Warrior' talent.

  - Martial Style talent now has 3 options: Dragon Style (weapons), Tiger Style (unarmed), Crane Style (crit range), each granting a specific type of bonus.

  - Added 'Flurry' talent.

* Unarmed manoeuvres removed, with 'Flying Tackle' moved to Brawn.

* Duel Wielding talent is no longer restricted by armour type.

* It now takes 10 days (80 hours) to learn a new skill, talent, spell or manoeuvre.

* The 'Renowned Musician' talent is now 'Renowned Performer', allows you to choose the style of performance you gain money from.

* Removed 'Duel' divinity spell (just use taunt!)

* 'Taunt' manouevre can now apply its effect to multiple targets at higher skill rank.

* Magic Defence Increase

  - Increased the benefit from magic armour spells such as Spectral Armour.

  - Shamanic Spectral Armour spell now correctly lists its duration as 1 hour.

  - Shield spells such as Force Barrier now begin at +5 AP, and increase to +20 AP at Master Rank.

* 'Danger Sense' talent now only grants a free Move action.

* 'Backstab' manoueuvre can also be used with the Martial Arts skill.

* The 'Armour Breaker' talent's AP damage is reduced to 2 points.

* The 'Sunder' manoeuvre can now be applied to shields, revised damage output.

* Exotic swords are now correctly listed as having either S or P damage types.

* The Tanto is now a concealed weapon.

* Doubled the bonus from the 'Transcendent' talent.

* Cover from smoke and fog now gives anyone into (or attacking/looking into) the cloud the Blind condition.

* 'Arc Lightning' spell now stipulates at Master rank that tagets cannot be hit more than once.

* Summoning spells now mention that if used more than once in a day, they summon the same creature as previously which has not had a chance to rest.

* Improved the 'Force Bolt' and 'Wand of Force Bolt' spells.

* 'Bone Cruncher' clubs talent has been replaced by 'Forceful Impact'.

* 'Joint Lock' Martial Arts manoevure has been modified.

* Added 'Solid Stance' Brawn manoeuvre.

 

v1.10 Basic Fantasy Rulebook

* Reverted the Skill Rank system.

* Improved the 'Hardy' dwarf trait.

* Added the 'Second Profession' talent.

* Items subject to destruction while holding charges from Imbue Divinity no longer explode.

* 'Smite' spell can now be cast as a Reaction on your turn.

* 'Planar Guardian' spell now has a duration of Concentration or 1 Hour.

* 'Divine Might' spell correctly lists its duration as 1 minute.

* Undead is now the same value as Grit on the Threat Level table, clarified wording.

* Revised 'Impact' trait to only work on a critical success.

* Axe 'Cleave Armour' talent is now 'Cleave Shields', deals extra 1d4 AP damage to shields on a critical hit.

* Removed mounted warfare talents, as they have been updated to use the Animal Training skill (not present in the basic system).

* The 'Charge' manoevure now says that it can be used while riding a mount.

* Mounts now have a listed Threat Level.

* City Watch profession revised:

  - Removed Shields skill from skill list, added Investigation and Navigation (Urban).

  - Special abilities have been changed to Enforcer, Beat Cop and Hard-Boiled, with revised bonuses.

  - All City Watch talents have been revised, now based on Streetwise skill. 

  - 'Reciprocating Strike' is now a general shield talent.

* 'Iron Wall' shield talent now requires Expert rank instead of Master.

* Martial Arts revised:

  - 'Brawler' talent is now 'Lethal Weapons', increases damage dice for all martial arts weapon types.

  - Added two 'stance' manoeuvres: Forward Stance and Balanced Stance.

  - Removed 'Martial Warrior' talent, replaced with 'Martial Style'.

  - Martial Style talent has 3 options: Dragon Style (weapons), Tiger Style (unarmed), Crane Style (crit range), each granting a specific type of bonus.

  - Added 'Flurry' talent.

* Unarmed manoeuvres removed, with 'Flying Tackle' moved to Brawn.

* Duel Wielding talent is no longer restricted by armour type.

* It now takes 10 days (80 hours) to learn a new skill, talent, spell or manoeuvre.

* The 'Renowned Musician' talent is now 'Renowned Performer', allows you to choose the style of performance you gain money from.

* 'Taunt' manouevre can now apply its effect to multiple targets at higher skill rank.

* Magic Defence Increase

  - Increased the benefit from magic armour spells such as Arcane Armour.

  - Shield spells such as Holy Aegis now begin at +5 AP, and increase to +20 AP at Master Rank.

* 'Danger Sense' talent now only grants a free Move action.

* 'Backstab' manoueuvre can also be used with the Martial Arts skill.

* The 'Armour Breaker' talent's AP damage is reduced to 2 points.

* The 'Sunder' manoeuvre can now be applied to shields, revised damage output.

* The Tanto is now a concealed weapon.

* Doubled the bonus from the 'Transcendent' talent.

* Cover from smoke and fog now gives anyone into (or attacking/looking into) the cloud the Blind condition.

* Improved the 'Force Bolt' spell.

* 'Bone Cruncher' clubs talent has been replaced by 'Forceful Impact'.

* 'Joint Lock' Martial Arts manoevure has been modified.

* Added 'Solid Stance' Brawn manoeuvre.

 

v1.10 Scifi Core Rulebook 

* Increased the ENC of Large and Huge chemical explosives.

* Adjusted the rarity and quantities on the prospecting table.

* The Inheritor profession's combat servant adds its damage, AP and HP to the Inheritor's own TL.

* Added the 'Second Profession' talent and removed the Prodigy profession.

* Prospecting for gold now yields a smaller rock worth 100sp instead of 1000sp.

* Revised 'Impact' trait to only work on a critical success.

* Axe 'Cleave Armour' talent is now 'Cleave Shields', deals extra 1d4 AP damage to shields on a critical hit.

* Changed the Warhorse Command talent to remove the reference to Charge actions (which are no longer a thing).

* The 'Charge' manoevure now says that it can be used while riding a mount.

* The Animal Training skill can now be used to teach a war mount manoeuvres. Revised TL maximums for the skill. 

* Animals taught abilities that require Accolades return those Accolades to the trainer when the pet dies.

* Mounts now have a listed Threat Level.

* Removed the 'Trample' warhorse talent.

* Police Officer profession revised:

  - Removed Shields skill from skill list, added Investigation and Navigation (Urban).

  - Special abilities have been changed to Enforcer, Beat Cop and Hard-Boiled, with revised bonuses.

  - All City Watch talents have been revised, now based on Streetwise skill. 

  - 'Reciprocating Strike' is now a general shield talent.

* 'Iron Wall' shield talent now requires Expert rank instead of Master.

* Martial Arts revised:

  - 'Brawler' talent is now 'Lethal Weapons', increases damage dice for all martial arts weapon types.

  - Added two 'stance' manoeuvres: Forward Stance and Balanced Stance.

  - Added 'Blookstrike' martial arts manoeuvre.

  - Removed 'Martial Warrior' talent.

  - Martial Style talent now has 3 options: Dragon Style (weapons), Tiger Style (unarmed), Crane Style (crit range), each granting a specific type of bonus.

  - Removed Body Throw, it's just a copy of Body Slam from Brawn.

  - Added 'Flurry' talent.

* Unarmed manoeuvres removed, with 'Flying Tackle' moved to Brawn.

* Duel Wielding talent is no longer restricted by armour type.

* It now takes 10 days (80 hours) to learn a new skill, talent, spell or manoeuvre.

* The 'Renowned Musician' talent is now 'Renowned Performer', allows you to choose the style of performance you gain money from.

* 'Taunt' manouevre can now apply its effect to multiple targets at higher skill rank.

* 'Danger Sense' talent now only grants a free Move action.

* Exotic swords are now correctly listed as having either S or P damage types.

* The Tanto is now a concealed weapon.

* Doubled the bonus from the 'Transcendent' talent.

* 'Martial Style' talent loses its result bonus, but the damage is increased.

* Cover from smoke and fog now gives anyone into (or attacking/looking into) the cloud the Blind condition.

* 'Bone Cruncher' clubs talent has been replaced by 'Forceful Impact'.

* Added 'Combat Stance' Martial Arts manoevures.

* Added 'Martial Style' Martial Arts talent.

* 'Joint Lock' Martial Arts manoevure has been modified.

* Added 'Body Throw' Martial Arts manoevure.

* Added 'Solid Stance' Brawn manoeuvre.

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 :)

_____________________________________

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.

 _____________________________________________________

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.

After a 4+ month hiatus, I'm back to working on the Sabre RPG :)  I burned out pretty hard after getting the second edition finished, and should have taken some time off then before tackling the revised Feydwiir Atlas. That's how it goes for a solo developer ;) Anyway, our local games have started up again thanks to zero covid cases for the past couple of months (until yesterday at least) so I've done a pass on the entire system with a number of additions and fixes, with the biggest change the revision of the Threat Level calculator. 

Before, you'd probably need a calculator and spend a minute or two going oer a character to find out what your TL is. Watching a couple of people in our group grappling with the math inspired me to find a more streamlined way to get it done. There's some needless calculation in there, so I pared it back to directly calulating the TL instead of doing a sort of weighted system, then converting it. 

The result is the calcution takes about 15 seconds! It's proven very popular with our group, and I think you'll find it makes a big difference. The downside is I had to go through the entire system and recalculate all of the npc templates. Many things came out the same as before, others went down, some went up (a lot). But it's a lot easier, and that's the important thing.

There's a new fantasy race, the Nymph, a high-fantasy concept with interesting mechanics put together by a friend of mine, with a little input from yours truly :) 

Part of what I was up to during the covid lockdown here in Victoria, Australia, was to start a new novel. I'm about half way through now, but on the side, I've decided my next sabre project is a Game Master's Guide. Some of the feedback I've had from those running Sabre games is that they don't feel they have a total grasp on what's needed to run a game. All the information is crammed into the core rulebook, and going through 400 pages to find what you need can be challenging. 

So I'm going to make a short manual to cover my process for making a module, and all the pertinent information a GM needs, to help people get a grip on what is a weighty system. So I'll peck away at that on the side before getting back on to finishing that Atlas. 

Anyway, that's all for now. I hope everyone has a safe happy new year, and that 2021 sucks less than the last 12 months :)

 

Sabre RPG 2e Fantasy Core Rulebook v1.07

* Priest 'Templar' ability is now 'Zen', granting +2 Spirit Points.

* Paladin profession loses its Resolve resistance skill, but gains the ability to ignore the effects of medium armour on casting cost, and heavy armour only costs 2x normal spirit.

* Paladin's 'Inspiring' ability loses the +2 spirit bonus, gains the Commander talent.

* Added sample names for all non half-cast races.

* Dwarven Craft critical range bonus now applies to all their craft skills.

* Added details of what Difficult Terrain is to the Movement section of Game Mechanics, and added an entry in the Glossary.

* Removed the Gambling skill from the system. Cheating while gambling can be achieved via the Sleight skill.

* The Inheritor profession loses the Gambling skill and gains Courtesy.

* Added Nymph race, talents and the Nature Warden profession.

* Revised the Threat Level calculator to remove unneeded mathematics and to better account for certain abilties within the system.

* Spirit Surge action now cannot be used if already under the effects of Spirit Surge.

* Noted that teleportation-type spells only gain the ability to let you mark 1 sigil at a time.

* Increased the ENC on tower shields, kite shields and heater shields to something closer to realistic figures. Corrected shield ENC figures between basic and premium editions.

* The Thief profession now gains a benefit to detecting traps, and the Looter option loses its Evade bonus, but can use its other bonuses in any armour type.

* The Veteran option for Inheritors also grants the servant access to Soldier profession talents.

* Increased the AP from breastplates, plate greaves, cavalry breastplates and cavalry greaves by +1.

* Snap Shot talent now has a range limit of 10 squares.

* Reduced the Small size Evade bonus and the Double Jointed bonus for Feylin to +5%. Raelani lose the +5% Evade bonus from the Elusive trait.

* Ranged attackers trying to hit a Prone target don't lose their Result Bonus if 3sq above the target.

* Removed mention of adding additional enchantments from the Permanency talent.

* Moved details of fumbled ranged attacks to the ranged attack section.

* Added that casting magic requires the ability to speak, and to have one hand free.

* Modified the Restrained condition to allow spellcasting.

* Vial of holy water now does 1d4 damage base.

* Shield Bash manoeuvre now mentions you can't Block unless shield has the Light trait.

* Added 'First Strike' melee manoeuvre.

* 'Shackle' and 'Hold Creature' spells now pins its targets the round after the target is successfuly restrained (at appropriate skill levels), and paralyses the round after restrained.

* 'Incite Passion' charms spell now pins its targets at 90% skill the round after the target is successfuly restrained.

 

Scifi Core Rulebook 2e v1.07

* Revised the Threat Level calculator to remove unneeded mathematics and to better account for certain abilties within the system.

* Spirit Surge action now cannot be used if already under the effects of Spirit Surge.

* Increased the ENC on tower shields, kite shields and heater shields to something closer to realistic figures. Corrected shield ENC figures between basic and premium editions.

* The Thief profession now gains a benefit to detecting traps, and the Looter option loses its Evade bonus, but can use its other bonuses in any armour type.

* The Veteran option for Inheritors also grants the servant access to Soldier profession talents.

* Increased the AP from breastplates, cavalry breastplates, plate greaves and cavalry greaves by +1.

* Updated the Inanimate Objects table with an AP column.

* 'Coalesce' veiran manoeuvre allows them to condense down to a smaller size.

* Reduced the Small size Evade bonus to +5%.

* Ranged attackers trying to hit a Prone target don't lose their Result Bonus if 3sq above the target.

* Added details of what Difficult Terrain is to the Movement section of Game Mechanics, and added an entry in the Glossary.

* Added 'First Strike' melee manoeuvre.

* Shield Bash manoeuvre now mentions you can't Block unless shield has the Light trait.

* Snap Shot talent now has a range limit of 10 squares.

* Removed the Gambling skill from the system. Cheating while gambling can be achieved via the Sleight skill.

Hi everyone, I hope you're all keeping well in these difficult times. We here near Melbourne have had to lockdown again, and so I had to shut down our local games. While disappointing, the four games we ran gave me a chance to tweak some things in the system, which I'm updating today :) You can check the changelog notes at the bottom for more information there. There's nothing major, just some quality of life improvements, and an overhaul of the Raptor profession. I played one of these myself in a game a few weeks ago, and found that it's a) fun! b) a little broken in some ways. Acrobatics isn't especially useful if you can fly, so I've changed the skill attached to the profession abilities to make it more usable. 

I've mostly been working on the Feydwiir Atlas overhaul, which is something I've been wanting to get to for a long time. It's still a month or two away from completion, as filling in the remaining nations, revising the layout, and adding more detail to the current work is a demanding task, but it's the perfect time to get it done. 

Here's a couple of sample pages with the new layout and expanded military unit information.

That's all for now, and it might be the last update before the Atlas comes out, given that I'm not running any games for a while. No new bestiary art at the moment either, but I've enhanced the loot rolling tables to cover all of your random looting needs! Take care and stay safe!

 

v1.06 Premium Fantasy Rulebook

* Revised the special options for the Raptor profession.

* The Raptor profession talents are now based on the Evade skill instead of Acrobatics.

* Added 'Nerves of Steel' and 'Tumble' resistance manoeuvres.

* The Feylin minimum height is now 120cm to avoid certain... complications.

* Noted that Incorporeal creatures are visible at 5 squares range.

* Tweaked the language on the Monster Bond summoning talent to cover planar creatures.

* Corvid's unarmed attack is referred to as 'Beak & Talons' for flavour.

* Added a table for random herbalism checks.

* Altered 'Channel Power' magic talent.

* Reduced the damage bonus from 'Battle Mage' talent.

* Magic profession options that offer 2 spells and +1 Critical Range now grant only 1 extra spell.

* The damage dice size bonus for Crossbow Expert increases again at 90% skill.

* Added extra mercenary options to the hirelings table.

* Disintegrate's damage dice is now d8 instead of d12.

* Detailed the effects of a fumble on melee, ranged or spell casting.

* Reduced the time for putting on or taking off armour.

* Shields can now be used to block certain spells, mentioned under the spell's Resistance type. Spells are Sceptres of Fire and Lightning, Brilliant Lance, Brimstone, Hail of Thorns, Lightning Strike, Rust, Corrosion, Storm Totem, Arc Lightning, Disintegrate, Fireball, Dragon's Breath, Acid Blast, Lightning Bolt.

* Improved the high-end capabilities of 'Fortified Shield'.

* Expanded the list of commodities for the Commodities talent, and boosted the talent's bonus.

* The Heal Rate benefit of Superior Accommodation is now x2 Heal Rate instead of +2.

 

v1.06 Basic Edition Rulebook

* Noted that Incorporeal creatures are visible at 5 squares range.

* Added a table for random herbalism checks.

* Altered 'Channel Power' magic talent.

* Reduced the damage bonus from 'Battle Mage' talent.

* Magic profession options that offer 2 spells and +1 Critical Range now grant only 1 extra spell.

* The damage dice size bonus for Crossbow Expert increases again at 90% skill.

* Added extra mercenary options to the hirelings table.

* Detailed the effects of a fumble on melee, ranged or spell casting.

* Reduced the time for putting on or taking off armour.

* Shields can now be used to block certain spells, mentioned under the spell's Resistance type. Spells are Brilliant Lance, Brimstone, Acid Blast, Lightning Bolt.

* Expanded the list of commodities for the Commodities talent, and boosted the talent's bonus.

* The Heal Rate benefit of Superior Accommodation is now x2 Heal Rate instead of +2.

 

v1.03 Bestiary

* Increased the TL of Zombie, Zombie (Fast) and Zombie (Giant), and Skeleton.

* Added expanded loot rolling tables.

 

v1.06 Scifi Core Rulebook 

* Corvid's unarmed attack is referred to as 'Beak & Talons' for flavour.

* Added a table for random herbalism checks.

* The damage dice size bonus for Crossbow Expert increases again at 90% skill.

* Added extra mercenary options to the hirelings table.

* Detailed the effects of a fumble on melee, ranged or spell casting.

* Reduced the time for putting on or taking off armour.

* Boosted the the Commodities talent bonus.

* The Heal Rate benefit of Superior Accommodation is now x2 Heal Rate instead of +2.

It's time for an update on some current tweaks and upcoming stuff! 

With the pandemic going on, we haven't had a chance to play a game until last week, when we managed to get a small group together (with all the precautions neccesary) to play some of the fantasy system. I had some concerns about the power of some spells, so I've done a little tweaking on the numbers, which you can see in the changelog notes below. But overall, the second edition game is running really well, and the easy to use character creation system is much better than before. 

While I do want to make a print-on-demand version at some point, I really like having this flexibility to iron out some of the kinks in a digital format, before committing to a papery version. Speaking of such...

 

Bestiary

I messed up the list for NPC's available, with a mix of the old version and the new in there, so I've fixed that up. I've also add a picture for the Vorax, which has been vexing me for quite some time. But I'm really happy with it, so it's all good! The remaining pictures will need to be done by me - I've enjoyed "cheating" with stock art images, but these last few are rather unique so I'll get them done eventually.

And now, for what's next:

Atlas

What started out as a reformatting and spellcheck has turned into a fully fledged overhaul. The old atlas weighed in at around 2mb, but the new version I'm working on is already up to 30, with a big, high-res map that you can zoom in on with a table, and new stock art pieces at the start of each country, to add some flavour. I've also completed some new cover art!

 

I'm redoing some of the information in a nicer (and familiar) style, and expanding detail of each city now that I'm alloting additional space. I'll also be adding two new regions, the democratic Free States of Lyden, and the quasi-steampunk Grand Duchy of Kurhain into the mix. Anyone familiar with my novels will know of these countries, and I'm excitied to finally add details of them to the atlas. I'll be releasing this as a new product for the usual $3.99, as it's a big facelift and second edition-izing of the old tiny book.

I've decided I'll be removing the magical relics section from it, as I want these to be more radily available to any setting, not just my campaign world. So, once the Atlas overhaul is done, next comes...

Legends

Getting to 99% skill in sabre is quite an accomplishment, but it feels like the end of the road too. So this book will cover new legendary talents, manoeuvres, spells and magical items for high-level adventures! It'll include the basic magic items from the old atlas, as well as the sa'quaarin "space magic" stuff too, but with a lot more. Each item will have a full page entry and some artwork, and like most sabre material, it should be quite compatible with other d100 systems too. 

There's lots to be done, so I'd better get back to it. Stay safe and healthy, everyone.

 

v1.05 Sabre 2e Premium Fantasy Core Rulebook

* Shields used as weapons can't be used to block on the same turn, except with the Shield Bash manoevure or Light shields.

* The Thief profession gains an extra background event, and has better special ability options.

* Armour of Faith, Arcane Armour, Amulet of Armour, Psychic Armour, Spectral Armour, Gargoyle's Skin spells are now an Action to cast, but provide better AP at higher skill levels. 

* Traps you set can be recovered if they haven't been set off.

* Spirit, Pain Relief and Energy tonics are now considered addictive due to their potent ingredients.

* Planar Guardian divinity spell now requires you to be adjacent to it to transfer wounds back and forth.

* The casting time for Empower, Vampiric and Vorpal Weapon, as well as Fortified Shield spells is now 1 Action.

* Vorpal Weapon spell now has a chance to kill the target outright when cast at 99% skill.

* Added 'Vengeance Aura' divinity spell.

* The result bonus for the Empower Weapon spell has been doubled.

* Disintegrate, Dragon's Breath and Fireball spells have had their damage reduced.

* The addiction chance is now 5% instead of 10%.

 

v1.05 Sabre RPG Basic Fantasy Core Rulebook

* Shields used as weapons can't be used to block on the same turn, except with the Shield Bash manoevure or Light shields.

* The Thief profession gains an extra background event, and has better special ability options.

* Armour of Faith, Arcane Armour spells are now an Action to cast, but provide better AP at higher skill levels. 

* Traps you set can be recovered if they haven't been set off.

* Spirit, Pain Relief and Energy tonics are now considered addictive due to their potent ingredients.

* Planar Guardian divinity spell now requires you to be adjacent to it to transfer wounds back and forth.

* The addiction chance is now 5% instead of 10%.

 

Scifi Core Rulebook 2e v1.05

* 'Fast Repair' manoevure now greatly reduces the repair time.

* Shields used as weapons can't be used to block on the same turn, except with the Shield Bash manoevure or Light shields.

* The Thief profession gains an extra background event, and has better special ability options.

* Traps you set can be recovered if they haven't been set off.

* Spirit, Pain Relief and Energy tonics are now considered addictive due to their potent ingredients.

* The addiction chance is now 5% instead of 10%.