Options for Damage Types

[Maestro]

  Here's  some optional rules for different types of damage in Novus. I've broken them down into "source material," which is the book and page number if there are already rules for that damage type in the rulebooks,  "constant effects," which are always taking place when the damage type is used, and "boon effects," which are special combat boons that can only be purchased with their perspective damage type. Constant Effects and Boon Effects are not necessarily in the original rules.

  Fire: Damage that is caused by heat.
  Source Material: Eldritch Fire on page 77 of Novus Core Rulebook, Elemental Bolt on page 79 of Novus Core Rulebook
  Constant Effects: Fire Damage heals at half the natural healing rate. Although it draws from the same HP pool as all the other types of damage, players should keep up with how much Fire Damage they recieved for purposes of healing. Also, once you are on fire, the fire has a chance of growing worse over time if ignored. This makes it a little different than bleed damage. Note Bleed cannot be used as a boon for fire damage.
  Boon Effects: 1 boon point - Ignite. Foe is burning for 1 damage a round through armor. Will escalate to In Flames damage in 10 rounds, -1 round for every 2 rolled over the 10 needed to score this boon. If this boon is taken again and the target is already ignited, -5 rounds to the timer. Foe must spend one whole round patting out the flames or douse themselves in a fire suppressant, such as water, to remove this condition.
  2 boon points - In Flames. Foe is burning rapidly burning for 2 damage a round through armor. Will escalate to Ablaze damage in 5 rounds, -1 round for every 2 rolled over the 20 needed to score this boon. If this boon is taken again and the target is already In Flames, -5 rounds to the timer. If this boon is taken and the target is already ignited, target is set to In Flames. Foe removes the In Flames condition the same as Ignite.
  3 boon points - Ablaze. Foe is engulfed in burning flames for 4 damage a round through armor. This level of flaming if kept prolonged renders armor and items weakened or destroyed on the target. This level of burning lasts 2d10 rounds before reverting back to In Flames, +1 round for every 2 rolled over the 30 need to score this boon. If this boon is taken again and the target is already Ablaze, the remaining time on the timer is added to the new timer and the target begins taking an additional +2 damage per round. If this boon is taken and the target was already In Flames or Ignited, follow the normal rules for Ablaze. If the target is becomes Ablaze from the growing condition of In Flames, the condition only lasts 1d10 rounds. Once Ablaze wears off and turns back into In Flames, the condition cannot go back to Ablaze without scoring another boon.

[Maestro]

Phew... I apologize for the wordiness there. This is harder than I first thought. If I need to change anything, please let me know and I will make an edit.

  Ice:  Damage caused by extreme cold.
  Source Material: Frost Breath of White dragons, page 102 of Novus Core Rulebook, Extreme Cold Temperature, page 87 of Novus Core Rulebook
  Constant Effects: Cold has a numbing and slowing effect. Every time a character suffers any damage from Ice damage, they are inflicted with -1 initiative per 5 damage suffered.
  Boon Effects: 1 boon - Chill. Target suffers -1 all action penalty. This penalty goes away at a rate of 1 per 10 minutes spent trying to warm up.
  1 Boon - Frostbite. Target must make a Save vs. Con (TN15 +1 for every 3 over DEF), or suffer frostbite. Frostbite inflicts a base damage of 1, +1 for every 5 points of damage the original hit was, per round. Lasts until the frostbiten area is warmed up or proper first aid is applied.
  2 Boons - Encase. The area immediately around the blow becomes iced over. If the legs were hit, target suffers half movement rate. If the arms were hit, target cannot grab or let go of any objects. If the head was hit, target suffers -5 defense. All other areas inflict -3 all action penalty. Lasts until ice is removed or has melted.

[Maestro]

  Electricity: Damage caused by electrical contact.
  Source Material: N/A
  Constant Effects: Always applies a -3 armor to metal armors. Any all action penalties inflicted by electrical damage wear off at a rate of 1 every round.
  Boon Effects:  1 Boon - Conductive Blow. Target must make a Save vs Strength  (TN15 + number of ranks in the Combat Skill used to make this attack.) If he fails, suffer -4 electrical all action penalty.
  2 boon - Jolt. Target must make a Save vs. Constitution (TN15 + number of ranks in the Combat skill used to make this attack). Target suffers -1 all action penalty for every point he fails the save by.
  3 boon - Electrocution. Target must make a Save vs Constitution of TN20. If he succeeds, suffer a stun, followed by -4 electrical all action penalty. If he fails, he is knocked unconscious for 1 round for every point he failed the save.

These are the three classic elements. I plan to start playtesting these in my campaign. If something seems too weak, too powerful, or out of place, let me know so I can make edits.

[AresLunthar]

Very cool.  It is harder than you think to write these things out, isn't it!?  LOL

I like the continuing damage options a lot.  One of my favorite mini encounters the I GM revolves around it and you have just reminded me.  A Novus Mini in the works now!

I think that maybe the boon points need to be adjusted in the Cold Damage.  I can't tell about the power-level yet honestly.  But, this does bring up something that one of my players said before the holidays....I'll post it in the appropriate thread though.

[Maestro]

Sorry, got busy with real life this week. So about this cold thing, the boon "encase" isn't sitting well with me. One of my players suggested it, but I think I deviated from the original thought. I kind of want to change it. Is that the one that you think needs altering?

[AresLunthar]

I think maybe there should be a Save for it?  But, I'm not sure.....have you played with it yet?

[Maestro]

Not just yet. One of my players is about to purchase an elemental damage weapon but he has not said yet which element. When we get to using it, I will post results

[AresLunthar]

Keep me posted (pun intended)!

[imported_Rasyr]

Oooohhh.... I am liking what I am seeing here.

Though I would consider upping the Boon Point costs, so that the smaller costs actually are like mild burns of sorts (i.e. heat flash damage, etc..), and so forth for the other stuff as well.

[Maestro]

Mr. Tim! Why thank you!
  However, after only some light playtesting with ice, it is quickly apparent that Frostbite is too powerful for a 1 boon advantage. The damage is most often more than 1 per round, making it always better than bleed. I would change it to at least a 2 boon point. (If I knew how to edit older comments...) Encase is still in the works.
  I also now realize.... Frostbite makes ice dragons so flippin' dangerous!!

[imported_Rasyr]

yup, that was what I was talking about, you have to think of the power levels involved in this.

[AresLunthar]

One thing that my revised version of Novus would have is boons by Character Class & Monster Class.  Like a critical specific to a set of training or attacks.  I kind of started to write them into my monsters from Jenaerika as a unique element.

[Maestro]

Having unique boons is a neat idea. Just balancing them is quite the feat. This ice thing is giving me fits. With bleed, it can be stopped with a first aid check, and with fire it can be stopped by water or stop drop and roll. Acid can be washed off, or if nothing is done at all, does its damage in a set amount of time and quits. How should the frostbite mechanic be stopped? Warmth seems like it would take too long, like the damage would kill the character before they could warm up.
  Or... Should the damage be slower than X amount per round? Should it be per minute?

[AresLunthar]

Make is gradual rather than instant.  Use a SAVE vs. CON at the end of each round; if the target fails two in a row they suffer frostbite?