Godbound

Use the damage dice unless it specifically says to roll it straight.

For damage-boosters, the highest damage die a mundane weapon can provide is a d10, which is how Might and Sword's damage-boosting effects become worthwhile.

For attribute bonuses, apply it to the die roll before using the chart.

Combat is definitely the most confusing part of it, but that's partially because of the Hit Points = Hit Dice thing that makes it transfer nicely between systems so I won't complain about it too much.

What IS the purpose of Hit Dice? Is that just a way of saying "HP, but only for Godbound, otherwise you'd roll this?"

Yep, it's so that you can drop the entire AD&D bestiary into Godbound, or tell your LotFP party that they're being twats by sticking a Made God in their way.

That makes a great deal more sense.

Alright, then I got it mostly right! It wasn't too hard, just a bit of a glitch. Do lesser enemies have Hit Dice or just HP? Like, do they take Straight damage always?

Also, the Fray die - is it always straight, or always on the chart?

Everything in Godbound uses Hit Dice, and the reason for the damage chart is so that a normal soldier doesn't chop down 4 normal humans worth of damage in one hit. Like above, it's on the chart unless it says otherwise.

Fray die is on the chart (except for one Sword gift and maybe others but that's an edge case).

I have managed to compile a list of various responses from Kevin Crawford and snippets of bonus material here:

Dual one-handed ranged weapons deal 1d10 damage at 40 yard range: plus.google.com/109542481433257987536/posts/AxHrqPogcfe

You can commit Effort to a gift more than once: plus.google.com/109542481433257987536/posts/LCgJtu1kHmq

Artifice can make anything out of any materials: plus.google.com/109542481433257987536/posts/ZNvUefB8gEA
forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?773601-Sine-Nomine-Godbound-Staff-Pick&p=19988626#post19988626

Ten Thousand Tools takes no action: plus.google.com/116274497893097582319/posts/JXFZhk9ti6M

Grenades should not be fair game for Artifice: plus.google.com/109542481433257987536/posts/YdRqBUb2bhe

Unending Abundance lasts for all eternity: plus.google.com/109542481433257987536/posts/3EActuB3Rdb

Journeying and companions: forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?773601-Sine-Nomine-Godbound-Staff-Pick&p=20188864#post20188864

The Omniscient Scholar: plus.google.com/109542481433257987536/posts/dhP2ZEY2Ja4

The Luck Word's basic benefit can replace a d20 roll that has already been made: plus.google.com/109542481433257987536/posts/acFR1xiGbuk

Various clarifications on the Wealth Word: plus.google.com/109542481433257987536/posts/2g4q5w9SaCu

Plausible means plausible relative to the character: plus.google.com/ NicholasGoodman/posts/Ewzvvrjx4bG

Regalia armor can be taken off quickly: forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?773601-Sine-Nomine-Godbound-Staff-Pick&p=19985041#post19985041
Regalia armor can be taken off quickly: forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?773601-Sine-Nomine-Godbound-Staff-Pick&p=19985041#post19985041

Unanswered questions:

The Unveiled Truth: plus.google.com/109542481433257987536/posts/QveeGodqGya

Influence and Dominion creating problems: plus.google.com/109542481433257987536/posts/1CH3dMEHFnG

Themed Godbound and mental immunity: plus.google.com/109542481433257987536/posts/AmCquHcZPPm

Bonus material:
Frost Word: forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?773601-Sine-Nomine-Godbound-Staff-Pick&p=20239078#post20239078
Ice Word: forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?773601-Sine-Nomine-Godbound-Staff-Pick&p=20289429#post20289429
Sight Word: forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?773601-Sine-Nomine-Godbound-Staff-Pick&p=20294192#post20294192
Strife of the Seething Contagion: forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?773601-Sine-Nomine-Godbound-Staff-Pick&p=20274669#post20274669

With the revelation that the Artifice Word never actually needs "real" raw materials and that "Plausible" means "plausible relative to the Godbound," I am inclined to say than an Artifice-Bonded Godbound with Ten Thousand Tools (1 point) and Perpetual Perfection (2 points) is rather overpowered for downtime purposes, because there is so much that is "plausible" for someone who can churn out a magic weapon or magic regalia armor every six seconds and can craft never-decaying structures with the speed of a thousand laborers per level.

Likewise, Fertility's Unending Abundance greater gift is quite world-shaking if it lets the Godbound render the realm impossibly fertile, a ten-mile-radius at a time.

If you do either of the above "on-screen," you need not even worry about creating Problems that would arise with expenditures of Influence or Dominion... which I am admittedly still not sure about, especially given that Influence "snaps back" to the status quo anyway.

A Journeying-Bonded Godbound with Know the Path (1 point), The Exodus Road (2 points), and The Path of Racing Dawn (2 points) can fly around an entire world with a whole nation by their side, with no need for neither food nor sleep.

A Knowledge-Bonded Godbound with The Unveiled Truth (1 point) and Irresistible Query (2 points) completely short-circuits any challenges whatsoever involving information. There is very little that can be done to prevent such a character from instantaneously solving any problems even remotely involving "Where can we find X," "Who is responsible for X," "What is the meaning of X event," and so on.

According to page 14, a character can dedicated one of their Facts for an 8-Dominion artifact.

Thus, a Godbound could effectively cash in their usually-narrow organization-related Fact for an 8-Dominion artifact containing 2 Effort and either Irresistible Query or Loosening God's Teeth. Alternatively, an artifact containing 1 Effort and both Unending Abundance and Ender of Plagues. Both take 1 Effort to use for the day, but the pool of effort cancels that out, and if neither is necessary for the day, the artifact can simply not be brought out.

This seems too good to be true; what is stopping it, other than GM discretion?

Is there a print edition of Godbound?

Looks like Drive Thru RPG has print on demand available for the deluxe version. I've never bought physical books from them before though, so I don't know how the quality is.

looks intriguing, but I'd never have a way to play it.

I don't know whether to hate Colette for his autism, or love him.

who, what, why?

Me again, from I'm contemplating a Stars Without Numbers/Godbound game, or an Other Dust/Godbound game, depending on whether I want to go high-concept sci-fantasy or Shin Megami Tensei/Fist of the North Star with it.

Which ruleset is going to make the more stable base for such a game - the "core" (Stars/Other Dust) or the "deluxe" (Godbound)? Moreover, if I'm converting numbers, how do I handle Godbound using things like grenades and other stuff that does straight damage? Do I multiply it by some number to make it a cleaner "transition" or do I force it onto the damage track like normal?

Also, should I bother with classes? Mutations? Psionics?

The fact that you can also devote those Facts to things like learning an entire Lesser Martial Strife, a school of Lesser Magic, or a pile of Mortal Talents.

So, for instance, you could say that you were a member of a secret assassin order, you could gain the Heroic Old School Ability talents to get all the abilities of the Assassin class (e.g. quadruple damage Backstabs, autohit Assassinations on surprise that have a 100%-(1/2 target's Hit Dice)*5% chance to instantly kill them, poison proficiency, etc.), plus all the relevant Mortal Talents (Blessed Luck, Carte Blanche, Desperate Strike, Expert Thief, Know the Type, Nine Lives, Parallel Life, Professional Training, etc.).

Or, if you want to play a more mage-type, you could say that you're an associate of the Cinnabar Order, and they've taught you all of their magics, letting you do things like summon 8 HD fire elementals and toss around 2d10 damage fireballs at will.

Or you could say that you're a member of a club of duelists, and you've mastered the Lesser Strife of the Bitter Rival, which lets you wreck things one-on-one, even before you start spending Gift points on the Greater Strife's Techniques.

>The fact that you can also devote those Facts to things like learning an entire Lesser Martial Strife
>you've mastered the Lesser Strife of the Bitter Rival
These are worth a single lesser gift at best. For instance, the whole Lesser Strife of the Bitter Rival is of relatively use in standard "four to five PCs, several opponents" battle that the game is supposed to be oriented around. Every single one of the 21 sample encounters in page 116 is against multiple opponents, even the one involving a Made God.

>a school of Lesser Magic
>an associate of the Cinnabar Order
Again, equivalent to a single lesser gift at best. Consider casting times and other casting limitations. You can cast *one* Cinnabar Order spell per level before you need an hour of rest to replenish your casting. You must spend an action to cast it, it activates at the start of your next turn, and any injury before then ruins the spell. That is not especially reliable in battle. The best use of the Cinnabar Order spells, really, is to travel with and babysit a (non-scaling) 8 HD cinnabar conflagration. That, admittedly, is fairly useful at lower levels.

>or a pile of Mortal Talents.
>get all the abilities of the Assassin class
Page 11 and page 195 bot both allude to this, but do not actually lay out just how many talents you are entitled to. It is more or less completely up to the GM, as opposed to the more concrete "one Fact = 8-Dominion artifact, archmastery in low magic, or entirety of a Lesser Strife" rule. For all we know, page 11 and page 195 could entitle a Godbound to nothing more than two or three weaker talents, which would still fit its guidelines.

Also, page 11 lays out that all of the above usually takes up a character's second Fact, usually related to their past profession. That is a non-negligible limitation. Compare this to page 14's rule for devoting any Fact to an artifact, which lets a character dump off their narrow and niche, third, organization-related Fact.

Anyone have the Sixteen Sorrows pdf?

>These are worth a single lesser gift at best. For instance, the whole Lesser Strife of the Bitter Rival is of relatively use in standard "four to five PCs, several opponents" battle that the game is supposed to be oriented around. Every single one of the 21 sample encounters in page 116 is against multiple opponents, even the one involving a Made God.

It's actually still quite useful in those sorts of situations. You just pick out a single opponent to duel, while the rest of the party fights everyone else, and they play "keep away" to stop you from getting swarmed by minions.

>Also, page 11 lays out that all of the above usually takes up a character's second Fact, usually related to their past profession. That is a non-negligible limitation.

Not really. It just means that that second fact is the most flexible. Compare "I am a wizard, and I know magic", which could grant you any Low Magic tradition, vs "I am a member of the Cinnabar Order, and I know their magic," which could only grant you theirs. Similarly, "I was raised from infancy in an Empty Way monastery" could give you knowledge of their mystic arts using your first Fact.

Or, of course, you could use the Knowledge + Sorcery trick in to learn all of every form of magic any mortal in the world knows.

>It's actually still quite useful in those sorts of situations. You just pick out a single opponent to duel, while the rest of the party fights everyone else, and they play "keep away" to stop you from getting swarmed by minions.
The initiate level explicitly works only against a solitary opponent. The master level deactivates if anyone "engages the opponent or aids the master," so if you are being swarmed by a mob opponents and allies help you by defeating that mob, that is arguably "aid."

Additionally, noncombat-specialized Godbound are far more adept at using their main actions (as opposed to the Fray die) to attack major opponents than lesser opponents. Thus, if a party has a combat-focused Godbound and two noncombat-specialized Godbound and the former engages an enemy in a duel, the latter two will be operating at relatively diminished capacities. Kevin Crawford has explained in RPG.net that major opponents have much more raw offense than durability, so a party actually does want to focus their fire on such enemies as much as possible. Compare a 10 HD angelic guardian to a mob of elite warriors or a brazen legion; the former is far more lethal for its durability.

>Compare "I am a wizard, and I know magic", which could grant you any Low Magic tradition, vs "I am a member of the Cinnabar Order, and I know their magic," which could only grant you theirs.
The latter would still take up your second Fact as per page 11, not your third Fact.

>Similarly, "I was raised from infancy in an Empty Way monastery" could give you knowledge of their mystic arts using your first Fact.
Again, page 11 stipulates that using Facts to purchase abilities normally consumes the second fact.

>learn all of every form of magic any mortal in the world knows.
Low magic is truly not that effective, and Kevin Crawford has already stated that it never stacks with or synergizes with gifts ( plus.google.com/109542481433257987536/posts/2g4q5w9SaCu ).

Bumps

I guess it's the guy (?) posting with anime pictures. Known in Pathfinder General.

>The initiate level explicitly works only against a solitary opponent. The master level deactivates if anyone "engages the opponent or aids the master," so if you are being swarmed by a mob opponents and allies help you by defeating that mob, that is arguably "aid."

Yeah, it doesn't help you fight mobs. If you're fighting, say, a team of three enemy Godbound, however, you can pick one to duel, while your allies fight the other two and prevent them from assisting your opponent.

>Low magic is truly not that effective, and Kevin Crawford has already stated that it never stacks with or synergizes with gifts

In that particular case, it's two Gifts synergizing with each other: Omniscient Scholar giving you knowledge of every pieces of knowledge known by a mortal scholar, and Perfection of Understanding giving you the ability to master any form of magic by studying under someone who knows it for a month, or to learn a Theurgy spell in a day. Together, they basically let you download all magical knowledge possessed by any mortal scholar anywhere in the world.

Also,
>not being able to use Artifice + Theotechnology to build (Level x2) 4 HD automata each hour
>not being able to use Artifice + Theotechnology to enchant a Lesser Magic Item in an hour
Sadface. The saddest face.

>Again, page 11 stipulates that using Facts to purchase abilities normally consumes the second fact.

"Usually", not "always". It's simply that it's easier to justify them using the second Fact, since it's the least restrictive. The third Fact requires it to tie into an organization you're associated with, while the first requires you to tie it into where you grew up. The second just requires you to say "this is what I do for a living".

>If you're fighting, say, a team of three enemy Godbound, however, you can pick one to duel, while your allies fight the other two and prevent them from assisting your opponent.
You are preventing focused-fire from occurring, which is a good tactic in most games. Godbound is no exception, particularly since you have to place pressure on an opponent to drain their Effort.

Additionally, "aids the master" is too nebulous for comfort, and could mean that even indirect aid could shut off that final benefit of the Lesser Strife.

A single lesser gift invested into the first technique of the True Strife of the Bitter Rival, on the other hand, is generally quite reliable.

>Omniscient Scholar giving you knowledge of every pieces of knowledge known by a mortal scholar, and Perfection of Understanding giving you the ability to master any form of magic by studying under someone who knows it for a month, or to learn a Theurgy spell in a day. Together, they basically let you download all magical knowledge possessed by any mortal scholar anywhere in the world.
That is not what I am attempting to say. Yes, you can do so. The issue is that the mortal magic in general will be of limited use compared to gifts, particularly considering that mortal magic can never stack with or synergize with gifts, as per Kevin Crawford.

If anything, the real sorcerous brokenness comes from being a Sage Exemplar and instant-casting a Throne-level invocation at no cost. (It turns out that there is a reason to not just be a Rebel Exemplar.)

>"Usually", not "always". It's simply that it's easier to justify them using the second Fact, since it's the least restrictive.
If the third fact can break that "usually guideline," then yes, I would strongly consider using it to be a Cinnabar Order archmaster solely for the 8 HD companion. Then the second could be used for an artifact anyway, or vice versa.