A little sample from "Divine Forces: Benten"

[Steve Miller]

Here's a litle bit of a preview from a pdf book of mine that will be available from ID Adventures at the usual outlets by the end of the month (barring disaster).

It's not really Ravenlofty, but maybe this can be of use in some games. (The product describes the religion and avatar of Benten, a goddess of luck, love, and the sea.)

The following is Open Gaming Content, taken from "Divine Forces--Benten: The Golden Goddess of Good Fortune" (Author: Steve Miller, Copyright ©2006 Interactive Design Adventures and Steve Miller).

Benten’s Headdress of Stealthiness
This artifact appears in a virtually endless number of forms, but it is always some sort of headdress; the wearer decides what sort of headgear it becomes when they don it. When worn by Benten's avatar, it usually appears either as an ornate, gold-embroidered bonnet, or as a gem-lined platinum caul that shimmers over her raven-black hair.

The ability to appear as any kind of headgear is this artifact’s most minor power, but it’s Benten’s favorite aspect of the item.

When worn, the headdress grants its wearer total protection from all divination magic, except that cast by a greater god, and gives the wearer a +10 divine bonus to Sleight of Hand and Move Silently skill checks. In addition, by offering a small prayer to Benten (a full-round action), the wearer may invoke the headdress ‘s ability to render him or her completely invisible. The wearer remains invisible until he or she takes an offensive action, or until subjected to dispel magic at a 25th level effectiveness. Even true seeing cannot overcome the power of this artifact.

Benten often lends the headdress of stealthiness to lovers who are forbidden from seeing each other, or to jealous women who want to spy on their spouses. When she lends it, she makes it clear that the lucky mortal has the headdress for a specific purpose and for a limited time. Once it has been used for that purpose, it immediately disappears from the borrower’s possession and reappears in the treasure hold of Takara-Bune.

If a mortal fails to work toward reaching the goal that he or she was lent the headdress to accomplish but instead uses it for other purposes, Benten eventually loses patience. In such a circumstance, she waits until the character is using the headdress and is at a key and very dangerous moment in whatever stealthy action he is taking. Benten appears and says that the headdress was lent to the character not gifted, and that if the character can’t use it in accordance with the terms of the loan, she is taking it back. Benten and the headdress then vanishes, leaving the character exposed to whatever threats are present.

[Steve Miller]

Well, looks like I spoke too soon. The book this item is from won't be released until early September.

Oh well.

[alhoon]

Sorry to hear that mr Miller. I hope you're not disappointed by that.

Also could you tell us a bit more what the PDF is about? The one line within the ( ) is not too enlightening.

[Steve Miller]

Sorry to hear that mr Miller. I hope you're not disappointed by that.

Also could you tell us a bit more what the PDF is about? The one line within the ( ) is not too enlightening.

Here's the text that will be appearing on the sales page. (There's now a firm release date... 9/2. And, naw, I'm not too dissapointed. I just think this is a good book, so I want to see it out in the hands of people!)

"MAY THE GOLDEN GODDESS OF GOOD FORTUNE SMILE UPON YOU AND YOURS."

Gamblers hoping for that big win. Wives fearing their husbands may be cheating on them. Sailors hoping for a voyage free of sea-monster attacks. Bards about to perform before a despot known to execute musicians that don't please him. All invoke the name of Benten, goddess of luck, music, the sea, and harmonious marriages, and all hope she will smile upon them.

"Divine Forces: Benten, the Golden Goddess of Good Fortune" presents a multi-faceted fantasy deity and her followers in a fashion that makes the material easily incorporated into a d20 System game.

Illustrated by Anthony Carpenter and Jeff Ward, and written by game industry veteran Steve Miller (whose prior credits include extensive contributions to the Dragonlance, Ravenloft, and Star Wars roleplaying game lines), this 16-page book includes:

Information about Benten's church and followers
Details about the goddess's history and interests
d20 System statistics for Benten's avatar, as well as additional rules for what happens if a character should attack or perhaps even kill the avatar
A new artifact that the goddess has been known to let mortals use for missions of particularly interest to her
A new prestige class
A new spell domain
Information on other gods that Benten is associated with, known collectively as The Seven Gods of Good Fortune

"Divine Forces: Benten, the Golden Goddess of Good Fortune" is the first in a projected series of books that present fantasy religions and deities written for easy inclusion in d20 System campaigns.

Here's a link to the cover image if you want to check it out.

[Steve Miller]

For a booklet describing a goddess of luck, "Divine Forces: Benten" has been plagued with inexplicable delays and disasters. Hopefully, future entries in the "Divine Forces" series will fare better as far as hitting their release dates go. (First, the original publisher goes out of business and I have to rethink the book the material was to have been part of; then ID Adventures delays release; then RPGNow and e23 have bizarre server problems and they delay making the product available for sale!)

The pdf is now on sale at RPGNow, DriveThruRPG, and e23. It may not be exactly "Ravenlofty", but if you get a copy, I'd love to hear what you think. (I can use your feedback to improve on future installments.)

Here's the link to the RPGNow listing: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=7486&

[alhoon]

I bought that from DriveTHRU along with Mind over matter and that cute 30mis RP system.

Haven't checked them yet, but I have to say one thing:

You really made a 8page long RPG system? ! ? You cannot imagine how helpful that is. I have a few friends and many aquintances that would like to see what "Role Playing" is but are intimidated when I show them the PHB... not to mention when they see the dozens of rule books I have.

EDIT:

SM-30: Cooler than I thought. Needs some work from my part though. Still the idea of simplifying everything is cool.

Benten: I liked it overall. A good description and helps putting her in any campaign, giving her depth. However the Cleric's prestige class is too powerful IMO. (and the serpent is actually around CR 9)

Mind over Matter: Still reading (and enjoying it). A very good book. I'll give it a review for the FoS site in a few days. Better than the Star War system actually.

I disagree with you in some respects mr Miller. The book can be used in Ravenloft along with wizards etc.
Yes, it is toned down. But what about the human fighter with intelligence 14? He has skill points to spare. What about the smart detective type? Usually they are rogues and smart rogues have a few skill points to spare if they are not thieves.

Sample Ravenloft use: An assassin's guild that trains the members in psionics. They learn the Psychic ability feat in a ritual by a demon and get 1 to 4 ranks for free in a psionic skill accoriding with the sacrifice they bring the demon. You can use the possibilities here. The powers are not the point in the adventure as much as 1. the unexplained 2. The demon threat

[Steve Miller]

I bought that from DriveTHRU along with Mind over matter and that cute 30mis RP system.

My cats and I thank you for buying those books. We all get to eat!

You really made a 8page long RPG system? ! ? You cannot imagine how helpful that is. I have a few friends and many aquintances that would like to see what "Role Playing" is but are intimidated when I show them the PHB... not to mention when they see the dozens of rule books I have.

And it's not the only one. Did you notice "Dyvil" and "ROLF!"? ("ROLF!" is arguably the most complete of the three, even if doesn't work well in combats that aren't one-on-one... although I think all three may suffer from that weakness.)

SM-30: Cooler than I thought. Needs some work from my part though. Still the idea of simplifying everything is cool.

Yep. All the elements that MUST be present for something to be labeled an "RPG" are there in eight short pages. I hope you end up selling your friends on gaming! (And if any of them immigrate to the United States, I need players for my "Star Wars" campaign!

Benten: I liked it overall. A good description and helps putting her in any campaign, giving her depth. However the Cleric's prestige class is too powerful IMO. (and the serpent is actually around CR 9)

Hrm. I probably should have left in the bit about if the sea serpent dies, no more sea serpent summoning... and been more forceful about how dragons REALLY expect to be compensated....

Mind over Matter: Still reading (and enjoying it). A very good book. I'll give it a review for the FoS site in a few days. Better than the Star War system actually.

Yep. The system is actually what I would have liked the d20 Star Wars Force mechanics to be. (First off, the Jedi don't get tuckered out by using the Force...)

I disagree with you in some respects mr Miller. The book can be used in Ravenloft along with wizards etc.
Yes, it is toned down. But what about the human fighter with intelligence 14? He has skill points to spare. What about the smart detective type? Usually they are rogues and smart rogues have a few skill points to spare if they are not thieves.

My comments were made with the "typical" game group, and I doubt many of us who frequent these boards play in the "typical" group. In such a group, the player who is a psychic using the rules from "Mind Over Matter may well get quite frustrated, because he can't dish out the same level of damage as that fireball-popping wizard next to him

Sample Ravenloft use: An assassin's guild that trains the members in psionics. They learn the Psychic ability feat in a ritual by a demon and get 1 to 4 ranks for free in a psionic skill accoriding with the sacrifice they bring the demon. You can use the possibilities here. The powers are not the point in the adventure as much as 1. the unexplained 2. The demon threat

Oh, I think the rules can fit BEAUTIFULLY with a Ravenloft-type game... and I may well be selling gamers short with my fear about power-levels.

Thanks for your comments, and I look forward to any reviews you post!

[alhoon]

My comments were made with the "typical" game group, and I doubt many of us who frequent these boards play in the "typical" group. In such a group, the player who is a psychic using the rules from "Mind Over Matter may well get quite frustrated, because he can't dish out the same level of damage as that fireball-popping wizard next to him

Well...
Pyrokinesis is balanced since it is dangerous... but telekinesis deals a lot of damage. A 4th level human rogue with 7 ranks in telekinesis has a very reasonable chance to deal 7d6 points of damage. If he fails to achieve that roll and can only throw something... Had anyone said "sneak attack"?
I can't wait to try that in game BTW. As you describe psionics, they don't need movements. So a hidden rogue in a room of daggers and crates could stay hidden for many rounds as the PCs get battered by thrown weapons.

EDIT:

I forgot to mention the most important!

Rogues can be very good psions with these rules. And rogues were never meant to throw fireballs or restore negative energy levels.
On the other hand, the rogue class is a very well developed class in itself, without the psionics. And don't think that the telepathy skill is less useful that gather information skill.

IMHO The mistake Mr Miller actually made (one of the very few in this very good book) is that he seems to believe that the book is intended only for magey types.
No, the classic D&D party can still have tried and true the cleric, wizard, rogue and fighter composition and still benefit from the book. Sure wizards and clerics won't benefit as much as other classes.
Sure, as mr Miller said the rogue will never have such a great arsenal of magic attacks as the wizard. But he will have something more than the typical rogue of D&D. Nobody expects the fighter to be able to dish 45 damage on a critical in melee and heal the party after the fight.

I hope you take my well intentioned criticism accordingly mr Miller! I just think you undermine your own work saying that high fantasy characters should avoid these rules. I will include these rules to my forgotten realms campaign as well as the Ravenloft campaign.

[Steve Miller]

Pyrokinesis is balanced since it is dangerous... but telekinesis deals a lot of damage. A 4th level human rogue with 7 ranks in telekinesis has a very reasonable chance to deal 7d6 points of damage. If he fails to achieve that roll and can only throw something... Had anyone said "sneak attack"?
I can't wait to try that in game BTW. As you describe psionics, they don't need movements. So a hidden rogue in a room of daggers and crates could stay hidden for many rounds as the PCs get battered by thrown weapons.

I hope you'll let me know how it goes!

EDIT:

I forgot to mention the most important!

Rogues can be very good psions with these rules. And rogues were never meant to throw fireballs or restore negative energy levels.
On the other hand, the rogue class is a very well developed class in itself, without the psionics. And don't think that the telepathy skill is less useful that gather information skill.

IMHO The mistake Mr Miller actually made (one of the very few in this very good book) is that he seems to believe that the book is intended only for magey types.

Not really. I just throught some players would be unhappy comparing their psychic characters to D&D spellcasters. (And the assumption was based both on my gut feeling AND a very unhappy munchkin-esque player in one of my games.)

No, the classic D&D party can still have tried and true the cleric, wizard, rogue and fighter composition and still benefit from the book. Sure wizards and clerics won't benefit as much as other classes.
Sure, as mr Miller said the rogue will never have such a great arsenal of magic attacks as the wizard. But he will have something more than the typical rogue of D&D. Nobody expects the fighter to be able to dish 45 damage on a critical in melee and heal the party after the fight.

I hope you take my well intentioned criticism accordingly mr Miller! I just think you undermine your own work saying that high fantasy characters should avoid these rules. I will include these rules to my forgotten realms campaign as well as the Ravenloft campaign.

You're the first person to give me feedback that makes me wonder if I was wrong in that advice about keeping MoM and high-level spellcasters seperate, so I'm definately taking your criticism as well-intentioned!

And I hope you have more to say as your games progress!

Thank you for your detailed thoughts. If anyone else out there has comments, I'm listening (about anything I've worked on; there's always room for improvement on future projects).

(BTW, there is ONE psi power in the book that I think needs to be changed... I'm not sure I like the "instant kill" nature of it in retrospect. Actually, I think what needs to be added is another skill or feat called "Retrieve Soul"... hmmm... something to create in the next few days.)

[alhoon]

I hope you'll let me know how it goes!

The problem is that it will be quite some time until I have the chance to play or DM D&D. I will give you more feedback, but it will take long.

The assumption was based both on my gut feeling AND a very unhappy munchkin-esque player in one of my games

You're the first person to give me feedback that makes me wonder if I was wrong in that advice about keeping MoM and high-level spellcasters seperate!

Ahem... What? Don't your players tell you that all the time?

And about that player thinking that he is weak, have you thought the following? If you gave him a wizard (full normal one) and the party's rogue was a human with psionic talents...
You would hear that:
"Hey! Psionics are overated! They are too powerful and they cost too little! After all I am to throw the fireball! And I throw one per day!
What do you mean there is 1/20 chance that the rogue burns when he throws his own? And he practically can throw one in every encounter!
I knew that you liked him more than me!
Should I have bought you a car in your birthday to be treated fairly?
And he constantly reads minds! "

add infinite bad comments...

One reason I believe MoM will bring an uproar in my table top is that my PCs will think I'm cheating their powers unless I give them some psionics too. I think that I'll throw in a mind flayer against them, and I will add an item in his most trusted servant that gives the feat "Psionic talent". That way they will sush I hope... Not to mention that leaves me some opportunity to throw in some cool barbarians.