EMPYREAN

Lore is another fundamental extension to EMCore. With Lore it becomes possible to detail and highlight the knowledge of each character. This immediately increases the game value of Insight, because Lore doesn't limit itself to stories the character knows, but practical knowledge, like the ability to treat wounds, the ability to operate specialist equipment or technological devices, etc. All players begin with a number of Lore known equal to their Insight Aspect Level. Players with Insight Level 5 gain 2 additional types of Lore. Players with Insight Level 4 gain 1 bonus type of Lore. Among a host of others, the following types of Lore are available: Academia: You have had the luxury of studying some mode of education which makes you familiar with erudite texts, capable of reading and writing with ease, knowing the proper use of grammar and syntax. You are also familiar with fundamental teaching and learning concepts, so that you can use your skills to facilitate teaching or...

Talents are the most basic extension to the EMCore System. The role of talents is to extend or even tamper the function of the Aspects, allowing players to experiment with more complex characters. Each character begins play with a choice of 3 Talents. High Adeptness grants bonus Talents. Adeptness Level 4 grants +1 Talent, and Adeptness Level 5 grants  +2 Talents. Some basic Talents follow: Focus : You ignore the effects of a roll of '1' on any dice. A result of '1' no longer reduces the amount of successes by 1. You must choose an Aspect that will be coupled to this talent, starting with the Aspect with the highest level and moving down. You can choose this talent multiple times. Each time it applies to a new Aspect. It can never apply on the same Aspect. Prowess : (Requires Force Level 5, Focus (Force)) There is no match to a well-trained, forceful warrior. With sheer, uncomplicated power, you forge your path into the frey, carving your path with brutal i...

The following rules make up the Empyrean Core Game System (aka EMCore).  Overall, the game system of Empyrean is modular, and can be extended in many ways. Even some Core Mechanics highlighted here can be altered within a certain context. The Dice:  Empyrean can be played with any dice. Currently, the core system is being balanced around using primarily the d12 dice. In its extended version, the game system has also been tested and balanced around using primarily the d20 dice. Each dice has the following potential results: Botch, Failure, Success, Critical Success.  The Botch Number is 1. Botch counts as -1 success for the entire roll.  Failure counts as 0 success. Success counts as 1 Success, and  Critical counts as 2 successes. The Success / Target number determines the minimum result needed to score a success. So for a roll with 8+, any result of 8 or higher is a success (and any result between 2 and 7 is a failure). The Critical number d...

Empyrean Awakening So it's time to return focus on the primary subject: Empyreans. Following up on the preliminary post here , that paints a very loose, very general picture, we're not yet going to give any more concrete answers that could provide a clearer picture of what an Empyrean actually is. Instead we're going to remain vague for a little while longer, because being vague suspends the mystery that is necessary in the initial experience of being an Empyrean, and this is what we're mostly exploring here: The character's awakening to the life of the Empyrean character. Kaltos led a peaceful and relatively unassuming life, in the small subterranean settlement of Atias. He helped run the settlement's church, lending moral, psychological and physical support to those that needed it. Although he was hardy and strong-willed, he didn't have the violent spirit needed to practice in martial ways. When a gang tore his settlement apart in a brutal ra...

Because Empyrean characters have access to Empyrean Powers they have little use for active Talents, as they cannot combine their benefit with that of their powers. So Passive Talents are more appealing to Empyrean characters. Nonetheless, passive talents can be more appealing to other characters as well. In fact, as only Champion characters benefit from active talents, passive talents are overall more interesting for most character types. What follows is a list of passive talents that can be useful to any characters: Focus : You ignore the effects of a roll of '1' on any dice. A result of '1' no longer reduces the amount of successes by 1. You must choose an Aspect that will be coupled to this talent, starting with the Aspect with the highest level and moving down. You can choose this talent multiple times. Each time it applies to a new Aspect. It can never apply on the same Aspect. Prowess : (Requires Force Level 5, Focus (Force)) There is no match to a well-t...

Because of the wide distribution of the d20 dice, this is a dice better suited when larger dice pools are involved. However the core system is more closely matched to smaller dice pools, of usually between 3 and 6 dice. In addition to this, the baseline target number of 16 for rolls with few dice does come a little lower than necessary. So this is an alternative approach to playing the core system of Empyrean using d12 dice as a baseline instead of d20, but still using the d20 dice for bonus rolls. Because of the bigger impact of the escalation of power with the change of success and critical success numbers, some additional rules have been changed. To achieve this conversion consider the following: A roll of 1 still remains a botch result, and subtracts one success. The Aspects are now modified as follows: Level 1: 2 Dice, Success: 8, Critical: 12 Level 2: 2 Dice, Success: 7, Critical: 12 Level 3: 3 Dice, Success: 7, Critical: 12 Level 4: 3 Dice, Success: 6, Critical: 11 Lev...

The greatest champion in all the legends of the Unfolding Dream was Caldonnas - the champion of dreams. He was the first of the Elu to stand steadfast against the horrors of the abyss, and against the depravity of Ulaheron, the Shadow God. Every demon, every devil, every creature of darkness and shadow trembles at the approach of Caldonnas, for his was the Ire of Akaon, the great maker - and unmaker - of dreams. Such was the power and valor of Caldonnas when he led the shining host of the Shanacan, that all darkness hid from the face of the dream, for they dreaded the fire of their unmaking that burned in the hearts of these stalwart warriors. But for all his power and glory, greater still was Caldonnas' punishment. The Vaenu, the deities of Fate feared the rise of Caldonnas and the Shanacan. They had become an unstoppable force, and wherever they went all horror and darkness was undone, scorched in their all-purging fire. The cosmic balance was disturbed. The Vaenu, alw...