Seals

SEALS 3.0

Seals 2.0 answered all our problems concerning the power of 1.0 seals. They were very balanced. However, they were also boring as well as weak. Our Woldians want a useful creative "gift" as their reward for playing in a Tap game or winning the lottery. Useful and creative. The 1.0 Seals were creative, but too powerful. 3.0 seals will endeavor to combine both our need for balance of power within the game as well as being creative and fun to use. The latter is the more important, for without fun, why play the game?

Basic Parameters:

--Seals may be earned in many different ways. A player may receive a seal from the CDM or any of the ACDM's as rewards. They be received from the DM of a tapestry game as a reward for the completion of the game. These are two examples. Upon receipt, the player can be given the seal to any of his or her characters to use in game.

--Seals may not be given to other players' characters, traded, bought or sold. They may be used, however, upon another being.

--Seals will only affect an individual, not a group.

--No character may have more than five slots of seals. Level 1 seals take up one slot. Level 2 seals take up 2 slots. Level 3 seals take up 3 slots.

--If a character earns more seals than he has slots, he must choose which seals to keep so as to remain within the slot requirement. Seals are not / removed from their slots until the spell is actually expended. So a character cannot cast a Hobgoblin Seal and add more seals to his collection until the Hobgoblin Seal has been expended.

--Only one seal may be used in any combat.

--All seals expire one year after they are awarded.

Seal Levels:

There will be three levels of seals.

1st level or Goblin Seals.

Awards for lottery and birthdays and hey aren't you cute. They mimic low level potions. They resemble 0-1st level spells and may be used creatively. They either serve a "rare" purpose, or no purpose at all.

Rare purpose: [only works vs. an unusual situation, short term, single effect.]

Goblin Seal of Wild Healing: Heals the damage of one attack from a fey creature.

[No purpose: [creative use only, no game terms involved other than duration]

Goblin Seal of Purpleness: Turns the recipient purple for 5 min.

The object of these seals would be to FIND a way to use them creatively and usefully in roleplay and that would/could earn extra exp.

These seals do not really change in power for a higher level character. Creative is creative. A character does not need a more powerful seal here to be more effective at higher levels. It is all about creativity.

These seals are made by goblins so they are called such. Goblin seal of this and that. Using the name goblin is less confusing than saying that the seal is a 1st level seal since the term "level" is used for so many things in the game.

2nd level or Hobgoblin seals.

Awards that offer practical help. They are straightforward and non-creative. They are used for a larger reward. They still tend to be specific rather than general. They can be prepared early and remain active until used.

Seal of MM: adds 1d6 to a Magic Missile spell. Seal of Healing: adds 1d6 when casting your next cure spell. Seal of Listening: adds +2 to your next listen check.

These seals can be adjusted for higher level. They are automatically written for levels 1-7. If the character is levels 8-14, double the effect. If the character is levels 15-21, triple the effect. (So a Seal of MM would be 1d6x3 for a 20th level character.)

3rd level or Gnomish seals.

These rarely given seals are game shakers. They are magics that, when used by a creative and smart player, CAN unbalance a combat. As Anthony said, "Woldian DMs need these seals around. It keeps you on your toes. I KNOW. Gifts I have given have come back to bite me in the butt HARD."

These Gnomish seals when used correctly make the DM have to say, "I, your lovable DM, worked for 3 weeks on this combat and you ended it in 30 seconds!" However, the Gnomish Seal was used creatively and SMARTLY. The owner came up with the perfect use for it and waited for the perfect time. Then she used it and WHAM the DM cant do anything but say you win. These things should not be obvious. They should simply hold potential. Anthony continues, "One of the reasons Jerry and I love to work together is we absolutely LOVE the fact that the other one can turn our whole plan upside down and backwards and use it against us in about 30 seconds. It makes us better thinkers and better DM's."

There should not be many of these seals out there and they should be earned and individually selected by the DM, The DM of the Taps, and CDM Jerry. Any ADMs or new DMs to a game should be instantly aware of the presence of one or more of these seals and which character possesses it.

Note that these are not uber seals that can turn the tide of a combat in any situation. They must be used in a smart and creative way to take advantage of the magic they provide.

Also, because of the power and source of Gnomish Seals, there is an inherent chance of failure when each is used. Here's how that works. When player receives a Gnomish Seal, the permanent DM of the character that receives the reward also receives from the giving DM, an alternate result that will occur if the percentage roll is missed.

Note that Gnomish seals are still somewhat specific rather than general.

They can let a character use abilities and skills that are not normally his to use. They can simulate a spell or give a metamagic feat. They can acquire one ability of an enemy.

Examples:

--Cross Class Gnomish Seal -- +10 to any cross-class skill that has no skill points placed within it. 20% seal failure. Failure means that the characters suffers -10 to the class skill he has used the most during the last month.

--Acquire Super Gnomish Seal -- Acquire supernatural ability of melee enemy for 1d3 round. 30% spell failure. Failure means that your enemy acquires one of your abilities for 1d3 rounds.

--Double the Range Gnomish Seal -- Doubles the range of any weapon or spell up to the limit of the character's sight. 15% spell failure. Spell failure gives this ability to your opponent.

These seals are only for special awards. The following are examples of situations when Gnomish seals can be given:

1. Character is voted the MVP of hit tap game. 2. Character wins a tournament that has over 10 contestants. 3. Player participates in and survives 5 tap games.