Posted December 21, 2024 by Creaper
#Horizon #ttrpg #tabletop #roleplaying #game #Zero Dawn #Forbidden West #HZD #HFW
Each character starts with a legacy. A legacy defines a character's past and present, what they learned, which rites and rituals they hold dear and which people they feel most connected to. Your character must not be born into a tribe to uphold their legacy. You can be adopted into the tribe at a young age or join a tribe later in life. The question is; what does your character identify with?
Your legacy can also be that of an outcast or outlander, people who do not identify themselves with any particular tribe. Even if you have been cast out of a tribe and technically become an outcast, you can still uphold the tribe's Legacy, but if you do not wish to do so and want to go your own way, then your legacy becomes that of an outcast.
A character's Legacy defines their knowledge of the land they call home; this often covers large territories, including multiple settlements and sites of interest. Additionally, any rites, rituals, history and myths told and practised by the tribe or the people around you are known to you. You might not know every detail and still require a check to recall the knowledge, but you know most of the lore and rites.
Each legacy has a particular style of clothing, weaponry, armour and architecture. Every character is at least more familiar with the handiwork of their own tribe or people. Any crafting, upgrading or repairing of known weapon styles is easier, more quickly and cheaply done than normally.
The people of a legacy follow a general set of skills, which they hone and teach to their young. A player character can attain expertise in a number of skills fitting for their individual legacy, which they had been exposed to over so many years.
Certain destinies synergies with specific legacies, inspired by long standing traditions & practices. However, a player character may always follow their own path, choosing a divergent destiny.
Destines are the paths of progression on which player character advance their capabilities. Each destiny further divides into three specialist branches a character may follow to further distinguish their skill set. Although a character may choose one specific Destiny at the beginning of a campaign, they may acquire features and skills from others through the discovery of a suitable teacher to educate them.
The three subordinate paths of a destiny allows for the characters to further hone their abilities in a specialist field of their chosen craft. Destiny features provide certain passive bonuses tailored to specific circumstances or allow for a more efficient use of a characters skills or weaponry.
Valour surges are uniquely powerful actions, that provide player characters with a powerful boon to shift a potentially uncertain situation into their favour. Each destiny path provides one such distinct valour surge in a minor and a major version variant. In total there currently are 18 different valour surges at the player choosing, which provide benefits ranging from additional damage, higher critical chance, improved healing, enhanced stealth, simplified trade, etc.