Dragon Age Set 3 Class Preview: The Mage

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Our Dragon Age Set 3 Class Previews come to a close with the Mage.  By higher levels, Mages in Dragon Age possess vast mystical power capable of destroying hordes of lesser foes.  Where Warriors use martial skill and physical power and Rogues rely on finesse and stealth, the Mage uses their knowledge and will to bend magic to their will and fight off the dangers of the Fade.

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Mage

Mages get even more mystical power to call on. Spells like Death Hex, Inferno, and Earthquake as well as new magic school specific stunts will help high-level mages channel devastating power. New specializations come in the form of Shapeshifter, Force Mage, and Keepers. Shapeshifters can change into various beasts to give them close combat abilities they might otherwise lack. Force Mages possess an array of telekinetic and force powers that can shatter foes and protect allies. Keepers give elven mages a chance to utilize primal forces as only they can. Talents include Runecrafting, which lets a mage enchant items with powerful runes that provide a variety of effects. Bonus powers include the ability to fire off multiple arcane lance attacks or boost their affinity with schools or certain stunts even higher.

Well, that’s it for our Class Preview.  Hope you enjoyed a glimpse at just some of the things coming in Set 3 to help GMs and players move their play to higher levels.  We’ll see you in Thedas!

Ronin Round Table: Chronicle System Community Development

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The Chronicle System is what we call the "engine" that "powers" our A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying system. Though we have no plans at current to divorce the system from the setting of Martin’s Westeros, we would like to expand on it some. To that end, we’ve been working on a series of PDF releases under the Chronicle System banner.

In many ways, these products are for our fan-base, who have always wanted some expansions to the system. We’ve talked to folks on the forums and in person and the results of those conversations are the Chronicle System products in the works.

But, we figured we’d take that community participation one step further. Not just in terms of what product ideas you’d find useful, but also its specific contents. This week, I posted the first of our Community Development posts in our Chronicle System Community Development forum, a subforum under our A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying forum. In it, we’ve presented a whole expansion to a favorite system of rules for the game: the Holdings element of House-building.

The intention behind doing so is simple: we want your feedback. What will be useful to your game? What is flavorful? What inspires you and what leaves you flat? We’d love your feedback on as macro or micro a level as you care to share, knowing that your contributions are going to be put to serious consideration and implementation by the developer. Obviously, not every idea can be used, but I’ll be mining the conversations for the very best ideas.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be presenting more and more chunks of this PDF for scrutiny and discussion, so that the final product isn’t just something that our fans want, but something that our fans helped make. It should be something everyone really wants to get their hands on—those ideas that will help your game, as developed by those of us who create the game system.

At this point, it’s an experiment—we’ll see how this goes. But if it works, who knows? We might like the process so much that we do it again in the future.

As always, thanks for reading, and thanks for playing.

A Blog of Games : Season 3, Episode 2: “The Three-Eyed Crow Is You”

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Today’s A Blog of Games entry is by guest blogger Steve Kenson. Read along as Steve applies his super-vision to the topics of Greensight and Green Dreams. There may be spoilers for both the books and the show, so be warned!

A Blog of Games : Season 3, Episode 2: “The Three-Eyed Crow Is You”

Mutants & Masterminds Gadget Guide: Energy Weapons

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Mutants & Masterminds Gadget Guide: Energy WeaponsSince the days of pulp heroes armed with "ray guns" various types of directed energy weapons have been part of the superhero genre. Heroes and villains are frequently armed with them, and minions from uniformed agents to robots wield them. This Guide looks at energy weapons from lasers to blasters and energy blades.

Mutants & Masterminds Gadget Guide: Energy Weapons