I have been very busy these past few weeks, but this morning I spent some time and found a solution that allows me to format them in the manner I wanted, and it displays properly on all browsers (at least on Firefox, MS IE, and AOL for sure).

You can find the Libram Novus TOCs in the Product Listing pages for them (see the Products Menu on the left, under the main menu). And this link will take you to the Novus Table of Contents

In the one post that I made, Open Beta v0.7 Update, I mentioned the biggest of the changes additions that I would be making and in a more recent post, Undead Update, I mentioned another addition to the update/change list for version 0.7 of the Novus Open Beta.

One addition that I missed was the inclusion of rules for Mounted Combat as well as for Firing into Melee. For Mounted Combat, I have added a couple of new Talents, and some rules in the Special Situations section of the Combat chapter of Novus. Firing into Melee is handled solely through the Special Situations section of the Combat chapter.

Another change that I have decided to make is to expand Stat Generation back out to 3 methods.

One of the other things I have been thinking about is grouping. In the Creatures section of Novus, I have grouped together all of the Demons, all of the Devils, all of the Dragons, and all of the Spirits. But I haven’t done so for the Undead. I had not actually even thought about it until I started considering where the Undead came from, and about such things as unifying how Holy Water and Holy Oil should be affecting them. In the description for that spell, I basically said to see each entry, yet down in the spell for Divine Bolt, I . . . → Read More: Undead Update]]> As I go through, slowly making the revisions for the next version of the Open Beta of Novus (slowly because real life often interrupts in odd and unusual ways), I found myself thinking time and time again about the Undead that I have in Novus. More specifically, I started thinking about where they might come from, among other things.

What got me thinking about this specifically, was trying to come up with an additional spell or two for the School of Black Magic. I didn’t want to pull the spells out of Libram Novus #2, as that would kind of be cheating those who already purchased it.Doing a compilation later on is one thing, pulling extra spells into the core rules would be something else. And I figured that since Libram Novus #2 contained a spell for summoning Infernals (Demons & Devils), that perhaps I should add something regarding Undead to their repertoire.

One of the other things I have been thinking about is grouping. In the Creatures section of Novus, I have grouped together all of the Demons, all of the Devils, all of the Dragons, and all of the Spirits. But I haven’t done so for the Undead. I had not actually even thought about it until I started considering where the Undead came from, and about such things as unifying how Holy Water and Holy Oil should be affecting them. In the description for that spell, I basically said to see each entry, yet down in the spell for Divine Bolt, I had the effect be unified. And if I was going to unify the effects, then I needed to also group the Undead together so that I only had to explain it once.

And if I was only going to explain it once by grouping them together, then I needed a way to tie them all together, other than simply being Undead, and I got to thinking about where the Undead might come from…

Types of Undead

The way that I have come to view it, there are basically 3 types of Undead; Natural, Created, and Summoned.

Natural

Natural Undead are those that are created through the naturally occuring causes, such as how a violent death may create a Haunt or Ghost. Another method of Natural creation is through transmission. Some Undead, such as Zombies or Ghouls pass along something akin to an infection that creates more of that type of Undead when the infect dies. For certain, more powerful Undead, there is also the ability to sire additional Undead of the same time. Vampires are the ones who most commonly sire other of their ilk.

Created

Created Undead are those types that are created through the use of magical spells or rituals. Those who practice Black Magic may know spells to convert corpses into Zombies, or to summon and trap the spirt of a person, turning it into a Ghost or Haunt. In these cases, the spirit used to create the Undead is almost always unwilling, ripped from its current home to inhabit a dead body.

Summoned

This one was the most problematic. Where do the Undead who are summoned come from? Is there a little factory somewhere cranking them out as needed? Or perhaps, there is a specific plane of existance where they reside.

Purgatory, the Shadow Realms

Then I got to thinking. There is a war between Demons and Devils, often over the souls of those from the mortal realms. Now, what if the death of the mortal wasn’t the end of that war. What if there was a place, sort of like the Neutral Zone between the Federation and the Romulans in Star Trek, where the Demons and Devils could both go to access these souls. A Shadow Realm, perhaps sometimes called Purgatory, where the evil souls and/or evil spirits that form the Undead go and where they actually evolve into Undead of various types. Then when a spell caster throws a summoning spell to bring one forth, it is pulled from the Shadow Realms back to the mortal plane and then serves the caster who summoned them.

So, we have Demons and Devils who can both access the Shadow Realms, and they both want control over it, and the evil spirits and souls that reside there. This then explains their rivalry and animosity towards one another. However, let’s mix things up a bit more, shall we?

What if, the Shadow Realms has its own hierarchy as well. One that rivals, or comes close to rivaling that of the 9 Hells or the Abyss. Or perhaps several different hierarchies, one for each type of Undead. That makes things even more chaotic and interesting over all.

Of course, what I put into the core rules will be only the slimmest of overviews, but that will be the starting point for later development and pursuit.

Enough of my ramblings for now. I wish everybody a Happy Holidays (whatever those holidays might be), and a Happy New Year!

Since deciding to add in Casting Options to the spells, I have run across a few issues with the spell creation rules. To start with, I was missing a few Spell Bases for some spells that I was going to add. So I added those Spell Bases and uploaded a new version of Libram Novus #1.

Since then, I have reworked how the pricing of Casting Options were going to work and some of the costs. One of the changes made was to add in a new option to the spell creation rules that allows for adding in Casting Options to a spell. And instead of creating a price (i.e. modifier to CTN) for Casting Options, I just changed it so that Casting Options use the Improv costs while Modifying a Spell using the Spell Bases use the Codified costs. Keeps things simpler that way.

It has also meant that I have had to adjust some of the option costs for various Spell Bases. to make the whole system more viable overall. I have also added a few new options here and there, such as including options and rules for Balls and Cones for attack spells.

Once I finish adding in all of the casting options to the spells in the manuscript, I will update the online version of Libram Novus #1 again as it is always possible that . . . → Read More: Another Open Beta version 0.7 Update]]> Been a couple of weeks since my last update, so I figured that I better provide another one for those who are interested.

Casting Options

Since deciding to add in Casting Options to the spells, I have run across a few issues with the spell creation rules. To start with, I was missing a few Spell Bases for some spells that I was going to add. So I added those Spell Bases and uploaded a new version of Libram Novus #1.

Since then, I have reworked how the pricing of Casting Options were going to work and some of the costs. One of the changes made was to add in a new option to the spell creation rules that allows for adding in Casting Options to a spell. And instead of creating a price (i.e. modifier to CTN) for Casting Options, I just changed it so that Casting Options use the Improv costs while Modifying a Spell using the Spell Bases use the Codified costs. Keeps things simpler that way.

It has also meant that I have had to adjust some of the option costs for various Spell Bases. to make the whole system more viable overall. I have also added a few new options here and there, such as including options and rules for Balls and Cones for attack spells.

Once I finish adding in all of the casting options to the spells in the manuscript, I will update the online version of Libram Novus #1 again as it is always possible that I might need to make more adjustments.

Therefore, I have added 2 new Spell Bases to Libram Novus #1, Communication and Teleportation. I hope that you enjoy them.

If you have already purchased the PDF, you can go to RPGNow (just click on the cover image of Libram Novus #1) and just redownload it to get the latest version.

However, having a Free version of Novus has been helpful, and I had been wanting some way to be able to keep a free version of the rules while still continuing along with my original plans for them.

That is where a minor website update that I made the other day comes into play…

Earlier this week, I added pages to the website for Libram Novus, and in doing so, I re-organized the site slightly by removing the Novus pages from the main menu and creating a products menu where all such pages would be housed.

For the Libram Novus pages, I included a copy of the Table of Contents (TOC) for each PDF. I asked my playtesters if I should do the same for Novus, even though the TOC is not finalized, and they agreed that I should do so, since I could always update it as I need to. So, I added a TOC page to the Novus section.

The next morning, I was looking at it, and I had a thought. I could actually hook the other 3 Novus overview pages that I had into that TOC using a plugin that I have installed that allows me to create/use wiki-style links, including aliasing the pages by making . . . → Read More: Formatting Possibilities]]> Currently, we have 2 distinct versions of Novus. The Free version and the Deluxe version. However, as I have always stated from the beginning, the Free version of Novus won’t always be Free. It will eventually morph into the Thrifty version.

However, having a Free version of Novus has been helpful, and I had been wanting some way to be able to keep a free version of the rules while still continuing along with my original plans for them.

That is where a minor website update that I made the other day comes into play…

Updates & Plugins

Earlier this week, I added pages to the website for Libram Novus, and in doing so, I re-organized the site slightly by removing the Novus pages from the main menu and creating a products menu where all such pages would be housed.

For the Libram Novus pages, I included a copy of the Table of Contents (TOC) for each PDF. I asked my playtesters if I should do the same for Novus, even though the TOC is not finalized, and they agreed that I should do so, since I could always update it as I need to. So, I added a TOC page to the Novus section.

The next morning, I was looking at it, and I had a thought. I could actually hook the other 3 Novus overview pages that I had into that TOC using a plugin that I have installed that allows me to create/use wiki-style links, including aliasing the pages by making the link say whatever I want it to say. So, I updated the TOC page accordingly.

Now, that got me thinking some more…

At a previous job I held, working for a different gaming company, we had had the idea of putting one or two of our products (minus any rules information) on a wiki. Also, I know of at least one other company (who publishes a popular system) that put their core rules on a wiki as well.

So, my idea was relatively simple. Around the time that I transform the Free version of Novus into the Thrifty version (i.e. start actually charging for it), I could also start posting Novus on the website in that wiki-like format. It would have plenty of cross links between the various pages. It would make for a great resource for folks who are online, but it would take major effort for somebody to compile it back into a printable format (to print it locally or have somebody like Kinko’s do it for them). It would be much, much easier to simply purchase the Thrifty version (or the Deluxe version) and print that instead, especially since it will already be formatted nicely.

I would love to hear your opinions on this topic, and you can click on this link and give them to me on the FHG forums.

Ereader Formats

Once Novus is out of Open Beta, one of the things that I am planning on doing is making a version that is specifically formatted for and for use with ereaders. I am talking specifically about the .epub format for ereaders such as the Nook and the .mobi format for ereaders such as the Kindle, those being the two largest and most common ebook formats.

For both of these formats, I will have to completely re-pagemake the book since the InDesign files used to create the PDFs cannot be used to create the ebooks. Many of the pagemaking tips and tricks used in PDF creation just cannot be used in ebooks.

For example, in PDFs, images (and tables) are normally inserted as separate objects (which allows for them to be placed across multiple columns), and the text objects are simply flowed around the image objects. In creating an ebook, this will not work. When distilled into an ebook, the image object (or table) would simply be moved to the end of the book and not appear where you wanted it.

So this means that an entirely different philosophy and design paradigm has to be used for ebooks. It will be interesting to see how well it turns out (I may do an ebook version prior to the end of the Open Beta – if there is enough interest).

The first change is that I am adding a new Character Class to the game, sort of. Since the first version, we have had both the Major Adept and the Minor Adept in Novus. However, while the Mage Class has always made use of the Major Adept Talent, we haven’t used the Minor Adept.

The whole idea behind the Minor Adept Talent was to allow for the creation of a character who could cast spells from two different Schools of Magic. However, prior versions of Novus didn’t make that clear enough and so when one forum member recently asked about it, to clarify his own understanding, I decided that it was time to make it explicitly clear in the rules. And that included adding a new Character Class.

Since this new Character Class would use the same Schools of Magic table as the Mage Class uses, I decided to rename the Mage to Mage (Classic) and to name the new Class Mage(Dual). This allows me to place them side by side and to allow them to share the page with the Schools of Magic table. Keeps it nice and simple.

In making up the sample characters found in the downloads section, I found that I had issues . . . → Read More: Open Beta v0.7 Update]]> Okay, since I finally got Libram Novus #3 finished, I am back to work on the next version of the Novus Open Beta. I figured that I would discuss some of the changes/additions that I am making to it.

A New Character Class

The first change is that I am adding a new Character Class to the game, sort of. Since the first version, we have had both the Major Adept and the Minor Adept in Novus. However, while the Mage Class has always made use of the Major Adept Talent, we haven’t used the Minor Adept.

The whole idea behind the Minor Adept Talent was to allow for the creation of a character who could cast spells from two different Schools of Magic. However, prior versions of Novus didn’t make that clear enough and so when one forum member recently asked about it, to clarify his own understanding, I decided that it was time to make it explicitly clear in the rules. And that included adding a new Character Class.

Since this new Character Class would use the same Schools of Magic table as the Mage Class uses, I decided to rename the Mage to Mage (Classic) and to name the new Class Mage(Dual). This allows me to place them side by side and to allow them to share the page with the Schools of Magic table. Keeps it nice and simple.

Basic Equipment

In making up the sample characters found in the downloads section, I found that I had issues with being able to purchase starting equipment for the characters. Now, granted, starting equipment should quite likely depend upon the campaign and the GM’s playing style, but a character should at least start with the basics.

So, I will be updating the rules with an increased list of starting equipment. I will also be decreasing, slightly, the amount of starting money, but that is okay, since the player will have the basic equipment that he will need.

The Starting Equipment will consist of the following:

• Standard Pack – Contains 50′ Superior Rope, 1 canvas sack, 2 weeks of iron rations, 1 small steel mirror, 1 waterskin full of water, 1 flask of oil, 1 small lantern, 1 set of Flint & Steel, 1 Bedroll
• Tools of the Trade – This will vary by Character Class, but will basically contain 2 weapons, and perhaps things like armor, musical instruments, thieves’ tools, spell books, etc.
• At Belt Items – an equipment belt, 2 pouches and a dagger
• Clothing - 2 outfits, cloak, and boots
• Starting Money – 10 + 1d10 Silver Pieces
• GM’s Option: Mount – recommended if PCs will do a lot of traveling; nothing larger or more expensive than a Light Horse (player may trade up by paying the difference), saddle, saddlebags and any associated tack (including feeding dishes)

This way, the character will have what he needs, but still be able to round things out a bit using his starting money.

Spellcasting Options

In the first game I ever designed, High Adventure Role Playing (HARP), I included a feature called “Scaling Options” I had actually gotten the idea for them from another game called HârnMaster. In that game, the spells had various effects which could be chosen from based upon your skill level in the spell. In HARP, Scaling Options increased the number of Power Points required, which in turn increase the difficulty of casting the spell by giving the casting roll a negative modifier.

I realize now that that mechanism was, to put it bluntly, stupid and amatuerish (along with a number of other aspects of the game). Oh, it was a pretty good game overall, but it my first ever attempt at writing a game so I made plenty of mistakes in doing so, and unfortunately I never got the chance to fix those mistakes.

Well, now I am writing Novus, and it is actually the fourth game that I have written (one of the other two being an unpublished revision of another game I worked on, and the other being another new system that I dropped in order to write Novus), and I have learned a lot more about game balance over the years.

Okay, enough rambling, time to get back on topic. When writing Novus, I designed the spell creation system first. And I designed it specifically with several goals in mind.

• First - There would be static or Codified Spells. These would be sort of learned by rote, by basic practice. This is how apprentices are taught. They learn the basic skills first, and then they start learning the principles behind the skills (first the how, then the why, and then the expanded how). This then leads naturally into the Second point…

   

• Second - As characters learned the underlying principles, they could then learn the Spell Bases and use these to create and cast spells on the fly. Of course, casting spells on the fly (known as Improv Casting) would cost more Spell Points and have a higher Casting Target Number, since it uses the Improv column to determine the overall costs. However, the caster could also use the Spell Bases (Codified column) to create AND Codify more spells (thus creating more Codified Spells on his own).

   

• Third - I also designed the rules about Spell Bases so that a caster could use one of the Universal Options to unlock Codified Spells and use the Spell Base Options to alter the Codified Spells on the fly (sort of half-way between the First and Second points). This option uses the “Codified” costs, rather than the “Improv” costs.

   

However, I have had numerous requests for me to implement something along the lines of the “Scaling Options” from that first game I wrote. The folks who have requested it want some options in the core rules.

Therefore, I have gone back to my Spell Creation rules and looked at how this might be possible without break or damaging the rules that are already in place. The last thing I want to do is to invalidate the rules for Improv Casting or the rules for Unlocking/Adjusting Codified spells.

In designing the Spell Bases, I made sure that in almost every single instance, there was a difference between the Codified and Improv costs, and in most instances, that difference was at least 2 points or more (there are some 1 point differences).

So, my solution was actually pretty simple. Since the rules for Modifying Existing Spells uses the Codified costs (and requires that the player look up the new TN to determine the new Spell Point cost), and Improv Casting uses the Improv column, which is usually 2 or more points higher than the Codified column, I decided that could create my Casting Options using the Codified Costs + 1.

For example, Using the Spell Bases to “Unlock a spell” for adusting it increases the TN of the spell by 3. For the Casting Options, “Unlocking a spell” will add 4 to the TN of the spell.

However, I also don’t want players to have to go to Libram Novus #1 to recalculate the costs of a spell for each option, I decided to use a simple cumulative system for additional Spell Point costs. This will result in a Spell Point Cost that is higher than using the rules for Modifying Existing Spells from Libram Novus #1, but which will still be less expensive than Improv Casting.

So, basically, for every 3 points (or portion thereof) that the TN is increased, the player will have to add 1 Spell Point. The exception here will be the “Unlock Casting Options”, which has a TN increase of 4, but will only have a SP increase of +1. The reason for this is simple, this option MUST be used if any other option is to be used, as it is a required cost, but it is one that will never be used by itself. Therefore part of its cost will always be born by the first additional option selected for use.
(I hope that makes sense the way that I explained it – I know what I mean, but sometimes trying to get the concept across is difficult).

Anyways, the important thing is that these Casting Options will not break the existing spell creation rules or the rules for Modifying Existing spells. In fact, this will give players 2 different methods for modifying existing spells. One of which offers codified options, and the Spell Base option which allows for Improv modifications.

These are the biggest changes planned for the next version of the Novus Open Beta. They should be the last of any major additions/changes. I am hoping for no more than one additional Open Beta version, just to correct any errors and typos before I finalize the manuscript (and then start preparing it for epub and Print-On-Demand releases).

Libram Novus #3 continues expanding your Novus universe.

In this issue, we bring you the following:

This addition to the Novus rules will bring you hours and hours of additional fun!

Enjoy!

Right now, that first draft of the PDF is being examined and proofed to find any last minute errors and/or problems. If all goes well (meaning that no major problems are discovered), Libram Novus should be available for sale come Monday morning (November 14th).