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Razorwired posted:I'm creating pregens for a "lowkey try my preferred D&D" one shot. I've decided to run a capes game based on Young Justice. So far I've got. a reach icon w/no blue beetle pre-gen sounds a little silly, maybe make him one of those melee-capable sorcs zatanna would be a simple choice for a wizard, kid flash/impulse could be a rogue(or monk?) built to disengage easily
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Sep 16, 2016 07:35
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 Also, I can't say this enough, an elven monk + dwarven commander is a very fun combo. Especially once the commander starts dropping increased crit ranges and extra standard actions.
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Sep 16, 2016 14:09
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Brother Entropy posted:a reach icon w/no blue beetle pre-gen sounds a little silly, maybe make him one of those melee-capable sorcs I honestly couldn't decide between two builds for Blue and decided to see what the first person said. But Spellfist is pretty perfect. Thanks. And that Impulse build will probably round out the roster with a Barbarian Lagann.
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Sep 16, 2016 23:48
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So I've been doing an older style adventure, running players through 80s d&d modules in 13th age. To give them a reason to be looting ancient temples, I replaced exp with a gold tracking system--loot 20,000 gold for level 2, loot 50,000 gold for level 3, and so on. Combined with a goofy inventory system which replaces encumbrance weight with the resident evil 4 system, looting temples is a blast and when the inventory grid fills up the players stop screwing around searching every room and start heading for the big finale. All this means I got to say tonight, "In this adventure you've collected 39 duodecillion gold, and advanced to level 4." That was fun.
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Oct 3, 2016 01:56
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I'm in the early stages of some campaign planning and I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on Magic Item distribution. I want to strike a good balance between giving my players fun toys (and if they need them for the encounter math to work, then that too I guess) but also making the rewards feel special. Additionally, any advice on striking a balance between letting players get their hands on a particular Item if they want it, and finding treasure in an organic or plot driven manner?
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Oct 6, 2016 14:42
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Mystic Mongol posted:So I've been doing an older style adventure, running players through 80s d&d modules in 13th age. To give them a reason to be looting ancient temples, I replaced exp with a gold tracking system--loot 20,000 gold for level 2, loot 50,000 gold for level 3, and so on. Combined with a goofy inventory system which replaces encumbrance weight with the resident evil 4 system, looting temples is a blast and when the inventory grid fills up the players stop screwing around searching every room and start heading for the big finale. This is a head-smackingly brilliant idea.
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Oct 6, 2016 14:48
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Mystic Mongol posted:So I've been doing an older style adventure, running players through 80s d&d modules in 13th age. To give them a reason to be looting ancient temples, I replaced exp with a gold tracking system--loot 20,000 gold for level 2, loot 50,000 gold for level 3, and so on. Combined with a goofy inventory system which replaces encumbrance weight with the resident evil 4 system, looting temples is a blast and when the inventory grid fills up the players stop screwing around searching every room and start heading for the big finale. That sounds really cool. Incidentally, that inventory system reminded me of this, IMO the best encumberance tracking system if you want a bit of resource management but don't want to count the weight of individual torches and poo poo: http://rottenpulp.blogspot.se/2012/06/matt-rundles-anti-hammerspace-item.html
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Oct 7, 2016 09:41
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Am I wrong in thinking there's almost no downside to multi-classing in 13th age? IT seems to spike the power level a ton, and it gives spell casters access to 2x the number of dailies.
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Oct 7, 2016 23:34
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Turtlicious posted:Am I wrong in thinking there's almost no downside to multi-classing in 13th age? IT seems to spike the power level a ton, and it gives spell casters access to 2x the number of dailies. You get spells a step later and some (specifically martial) combinations just don't work, but generally yeah, it's super powerful.
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Oct 8, 2016 00:22
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Mixing two spellcaster classes is typically going to make you stronger in that your normal limitation of spell slots goes away real fast, which means you can take a lot more dailies and use more then one each battle. The actual downside is not being a spell level behind, but rather that it typically forces you to split your attributes into TWO attributes that don't go to a lot of defenses - in other words, a wizard/necromancer is going to be the glassiest motherfucker alive and will go down if you so much as glare sternly in their direction. Wizard/sorcerers can sorta mend this with Spell Fist, and you'll note that the downside really isn't that much OF a downside. That said, being a level behind DOES matter - and not just because you lose access to the hot new awesome spells, but also because it means your at-will damage falls behind with it. In the end, odd levels puts you most likely slightly behind non-multiclassed spellcasters, even levels puts you probably a bit ahead. The thing to remember is that most spellcasters have a means to spread out their dailies already. Sorcerers have Draw Power, and while it's true you don't need Draw Power if you just have twice as many dailies, it's equally true that what you've done is come out at close to a net average. Casting your sweet daily twice, and casting it once at twice power, is going to be very close. Basically, at a certain point, what limits you is not the number of dailies, it's how many actions you can utilize - and multiclassing another spellcaster doesn't really fix that. Of course, the biggest issue is that you aren't multiclassing into Ranger, which is the actual most absurd multiclass choice for pretty much anyone. EDIT: To be frank, action economy is what stops multiclassing from being absurd, which is why the best multiclass combos are all about subverting it (rangers and monks, largely). For the most part, you can be one class or the other - very rarely both simultaniously, and even then usually still limited.
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Oct 8, 2016 03:15
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Yeah, ranger multiclasses are silly sometimes. My favorite gimmick combo in that regard is a ranger/sorcerer with spell fist who has paladin AC and close-range casting.
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Oct 8, 2016 16:09
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Why I love 13th Age, and why Reskinning is great. I added a player to my 13th Age campaign, which is set in a more Victorian Era than Medieval. He wanted to have a character that was retired military, from a wealthy family, but an avid outdoorsman who enjoys boxing and unarmed combat. He is a mostly lawful do gooder that enjoys a good jolly fight and is very enthusiastic about adventure and helping the weak. So, we made him a barbarian with the approriate backgrounds so he has the skills that match up with it. His One Unique Thing is that he got runic tatoos on his fists that make them more powerful. So, mechanically, he's a Barbarian with a Great Ax that Rages. But reskinned, he's a high class gentleman with powerful fists who gets very enthusiastic in battle. During our gaming session he drew up his character. (He's quite the artist)  Any resemblance to Armstrong from Full Metal Alchemist is intentional.
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Oct 9, 2016 16:46
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I appreciate Backgrounds as a replacement for D&D's skill system. It's a good way to make sure you don't get hit with any annoying skill taxes. Is it part of your background that your order of knights had a hand in creating modern banking? If so, your Knight background also helps you with accountancy as well as being a noble and elite heavy cavalry, without forcing you to spend a bunch of actual character resources on something that'll mostly be flavor.
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Oct 9, 2016 16:50
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Night10194 posted:I appreciate Backgrounds as a replacement for D&D's skill system. It's a good way to make sure you don't get hit with any annoying skill taxes. Is it part of your background that your order of knights had a hand in creating modern banking? If so, your Knight background also helps you with accountancy as well as being a noble and elite heavy cavalry, without forcing you to spend a bunch of actual character resources on something that'll mostly be flavor. As far as I'm concerned, skill points are an obsolete mechanic. Backgrounds for life yo.
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Oct 9, 2016 17:12
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Master Twig posted:As far as I'm concerned, skill points are an obsolete mechanic. Backgrounds for life yo. It's really helped in Folklore, my 18th Century Alt Hist vs. D&D thing. Because a lot of the PCs are really broadly educated people, as befits swashbuckling heroes. Ex mercenary church scholars, secret jewish assassins, kabbalists, turkish scientists, deist math professors, etc are all really easy to get going with Backgrounds.
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Oct 9, 2016 17:22
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Backgrounds also solve the "How can my Rogue be a priest?" without necessitating dumb Multiclassing. Master Twig posted:Why I love 13th Age, and why Reskinning is great. My Barbarian was a Forgeborn from the Clockwork Kingdom. My first character made him as a doll/guardian for a little girl. She taught him to play tea party(Impeccable Etiquette and Decorum) hide and seek(Tracking) and dress up(Disguise) all under one background. His Rage was an overdrive. Reskinning owns.
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Oct 9, 2016 20:06
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I wrote up some custom rules for Icon Dice. Mainly because I was having trouble trying to work them into the game every session. I felt like sometimes including players relationships into the direction of the story felt forced and I was able to do the mechanic justice. I was having them roll their dice at the end of the session, but trying to fit 5 players relationship dice into the story was getting taxing on my creativity, especially when all 5 players hit a their 5s or 6s. I decided to put the burden in the hands of the players themselves, and so far it has been working splendidly. Huckabee Sting posted:Combat: You can roll your 1d6 of your Icon Dice as part of a d20 roll and add that result to your roll. If you roll a 6 on your Icon Dice and your roll without the Icon Dice would have succeeded anyways, the roll is a critical success. The DM will work with you to give extra benefit for the success. If you fail the roll but roll a 6 on the Icon dice you automatically succeed, but with no extra benefit. If you roll a 5 on the Icon dice and your normal roll would have succeeded you can gain an extra benefit but it puts you in a tight spot as pertaining to the narrative. If your roll fails but you get a 5 on your Icon Dice you can turn it into a success but, again, you get put into a tight spot. Huckabee Sting posted:Narrative: You can use your Icon Dice to help push the narrative during social or exploration scenarios. You roll the dice, and describe how you change the narrative. On a 6 you can choose what happens, basically gain complete narrative control for a moment, with help from the DM if needed. On a 5, you choose what happens but the DM gets to choose something as well. On any other roll the DM will work with you to create a happy medium. Example: “ I know the prison guard because we used to work together when I was a younger and a member of the ICONs cult” This one has worked wonders so far, and the players have been extremely happy with it. The players have used it pretty creative with its use gaining answers to massive plot questions, and advancing the story at a pretty steady pace. I am happy with this as it is.
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Oct 10, 2016 00:16
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We stopped bothering with icon dice long ago and just go 'Hey you guys got any ideas for what your connections might add to this session' because icon dice are a terrible concept. They're one of those 'oh won't this be cool and involving' things that gets tedious after about 3 sessions.
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Oct 10, 2016 00:19
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I'm planning an Eberron game using Keith Baker's idea for more local Icons, in this case the political powers that influence the city of Sharn. Do you think it would be handy to make a flowchart of which groups are allied or opposed to each other? I wouldn't necessarily share it with the players but I think it would be a good way to look at how the group's actions would shake up the power dynamics within the city and it would let me forecast the unseen consequences of their actions.
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Oct 10, 2016 14:31
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Zephirum posted:I'm planning an Eberron game using Keith Baker's idea for more local Icons, in this case the political powers that influence the city of Sharn. Do you think it would be handy to make a flowchart of which groups are allied or opposed to each other? I wouldn't necessarily share it with the players but I think it would be a good way to look at how the group's actions would shake up the power dynamics within the city and it would let me forecast the unseen consequences of their actions. I am running an online game with a guy who is using Eberron. I would tweet at @WolfSamurai and ask him, as he's our GM and I'd wager he's got some info.
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Oct 10, 2016 14:59
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Night10194 posted:We stopped bothering with icon dice long ago and just go 'Hey you guys got any ideas for what your connections might add to this session' because icon dice are a terrible concept. They're one of those 'oh won't this be cool and involving' things that gets tedious after about 3 sessions. Honestly just reskin the glorantha rune thing as pertaining to icons and go from there. That system seems to work better.
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Oct 10, 2016 16:51
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01011001 posted:Honestly just reskin the glorantha rune thing as pertaining to icons and go from there. That system seems to work better. I forgot to do the Kickstarter so I have no idea how that works. Can you give a general idea of it?
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Oct 10, 2016 22:14
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Night10194 posted:We stopped bothering with icon dice long ago and just go 'Hey you guys got any ideas for what your connections might add to this session' because icon dice are a terrible concept. They're one of those 'oh won't this be cool and involving' things that gets tedious after about 3 sessions. I think both backgrounds and icon dice work way better at chargen for shaping interesting PCs than they do in longterm play. Probably why they get so much good press since they're frontloaded benefits. (this is based on running this game for 15 months)
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Oct 11, 2016 04:16
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xiw posted:I think both backgrounds and icon dice work way better at chargen for shaping interesting PCs than they do in longterm play. Probably why they get so much good press since they're frontloaded benefits. Backgrounds still work fine as a basic 'Which parts of my schtick am I better at for non-combat' and come up more often for me than Icon Dice. Icon Dice are straight up bad ideas as applied, something that gets immensely tedious, especially if the players and GM both have an actual plan for things. I find their role is better served by just asking players what they're interested in doing.
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Oct 11, 2016 04:20
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I agree with Icon Dice really losing their charm really quick, but I prefer Backgrounds pretty solidly to any skill system that I've ever used in any d20 game.
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Oct 11, 2016 04:22
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Icons in general are too unevenly baked into the rules. It's easy to drop them and write your own...kinda...unless you get to high levels as a Sorcerer. Not to mention all the Talents that are all about Icon Dice. I've never actually had issues replacing them with things like Abyssal Horde, Angelic Expeditionary Force, The Cardinal, The Pope, the various heads of state, etc, but I wish they'd decided firmly and made them entirely their own subsystem. The best part of Backgrounds is the playtesters convincing the 3e guy 'No you dumbshit don't give the Fighter less Backgrounds for 'tradition''.
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Oct 11, 2016 04:25
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The icon dice aren't just really boring, but they seem super under developed. I feel that way about the icon relationships in general, but I was really expecting that the icon dice would be the bridge into some kind of concrete mechanic or something, but they weren't. It's like there was a missing step after you roll the dice that never got brought up.
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Oct 11, 2016 04:32
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Ominous Jazz posted:The icon dice aren't just really boring, but they seem super under developed. I feel that way about the icon relationships in general, but I was really expecting that the icon dice would be the bridge into some kind of concrete mechanic or something, but they weren't. It's like there was a missing step after you roll the dice that never got brought up. I feel that way about a lot of the 'improv' abilities. Though a bigger reason I feel that way is I feel like everyone should just have the ability to go 'I'm trying something crazy, is this possible to try' since that's what those powers amount to anyway, and I don't feel any one class should have a monopoly on it or that players should have to spend resources on something that can be GM vetoed. Everyone should have Swashbuckle by default is what I'm saying, but then I run a swashbuckling setting.
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Oct 11, 2016 04:34
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Night10194 posted:I feel that way about a lot of the 'improv' abilities. Though a bigger reason I feel that way is I feel like everyone should just have the ability to go 'I'm trying something crazy, is this possible to try' since that's what those powers amount to anyway, and I don't feel any one class should have a monopoly on it or that players should have to spend resources on something that can be GM vetoed. Every elf game is swashbuckling until proven otherwise.
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Oct 11, 2016 04:38
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Many, though not all, of my criticisms with this game are easily countered with "5e handles it so much worse". I'm not convinced that's a good thing, either, considering which game is the market leader.
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Oct 11, 2016 04:40
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Ominous Jazz posted:Every elf game is swashbuckling until proven otherwise. I mean the amount of refluffing we do is already enormous. Like how a Longbow is just, you know, a musket. Or a fencing saber is a Sword And Shield because it's lighter and one-handed and defensive. Heavy Armor just means you wear a fashionable cuirass over your cool uniform or coat. Everyone has to have an excellent hat. Basically, I bought 13th Age in hopes I could find a better system for Folklore after Pathfinder failed it around level 5, and I have not been disappointed. It has a lot of flaws, but for a D&D alike and a general Heroic Fantasy game it does what we want and it's a good time. It even provides for ramping up in Tier so that eventually their inquisitors and musketeers and scholars can go off around the Planes and do stuff like invade the realm of the dead and try to demand the Wall of the Faithless be torn down in the name of the Messiah. Night10194 fucked around with this message at 04:43 on Oct 11, 2016 |
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Oct 11, 2016 04:41
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My issue with backgrounds are: * they serve two purposes, both skill checks in game and defining your character. Tightly-defined backgrounds are better at defining your character, broad backgrounds are far more useful in play. The examples include both 'chef' and 'thief' - you're gonna roll one way more than the other. It's also easy to pick two backgrounds that overlap because you want to say you were previously both. * you allocate 8 points among them. This means you probably have good and bad backgrounds. This means you're incentivised to try and roll your 5-pt background instead of a more-appropriate 1-pt background - and they're generally easy to argue. The example of play in the book suggests doing this! I'd be happier with * pick three backgrounds. you get +3 to checks when using a background. (replaces point allocation) * free background reallocation between full rests to cover ones that turn out to be inapplicable / too narrow / too broad.
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Oct 11, 2016 11:41
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As far as icons go, what I think I'm going to do is that for every point they have put into an icon, when interacting with someone associated with an icon, when called upon to make a skill check against them, such as diplomacy, intimidation, bluff, etc, or even in opposed checks such as stealth vs perception when sneaking against a negative icon, you get a bonus. I was thinking they get to roll 1d4 for every icon point they have. So, trying to roll diplomacy to get aid from the Emperor and you have a point in them? Add a d4! Trying to get information out of a Crusader grunt and you have a point in them? Add a d4! Yeah, not perfect, but it's something.
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Oct 11, 2016 11:49
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I literally just treat Icon dice as another skill, to be honest. Want to throw your reputational weight around? Roll the Icon dice for whatever Icon you're invoking.
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Oct 11, 2016 12:14
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Doublehex posted:I forgot to do the Kickstarter so I have no idea how that works. Can you give a general idea of it? Roll a d6 at the beginning of the day, 1-3 gets you your 1st, 2nd, or 3rd runes, 4-6 means you roll among all of them to see which one you attune. If you roll between all of them and get a rune you already have, you get something extra (item, probably) when you use it. Your attuned rune is used more or less like a rolled icon die except the player is more explicitly supposed to be the one to make it happen, and your GM rolls a d20 when you use it and 1-5 means there's a complication. Kind of has the same problem where you have to shoehorn a bunch of external setting crap in there when it's not always appropriate. Also it doesn't really mesh well with most any other mechanic in the game, it just kind of sits on top of it. It avoids the problem where the one guy rolls all his and nobody else does though.
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Oct 11, 2016 16:01
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xiw posted:My issue with backgrounds are: This is basically my big thing. Basically backgrounds seem to read as "Roll +3, +4, or +5 depending on how good you are at justifying things.
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Oct 11, 2016 16:44
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My DM uses montages and skill challenges 90% of the time the party isn't looking for leads or something more open ended. Backgrounds work 100% of the time for us. Are y'all using them against prepared challenges? What makes "+3 if you can justify it" less attractive than skill points/training? My personal critique of Backgrounds is that the Batman vs. a literal bird post didn't adequately address how to deal with a party with both Batman and a bird. Still my favorite skill system but there's always That Guy in a group who writes "knows everything" and "sees everything" as his two Backgrounds and hates the entire concept of player niches or weird Backgrounds.
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Oct 11, 2016 17:23
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Razorwired posted:My DM uses montages and skill challenges 90% of the time the party isn't looking for leads or something more open ended. Backgrounds work 100% of the time for us. Are y'all using them against prepared challenges? What makes "+3 if you can justify it" less attractive than skill points/training? Tell the DM that's butt, and if the DM doesn't agree then that DM s butt. That whole thing could be dismantled with "well HOW does he know every everything?"
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Oct 11, 2016 17:39
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You really shouldn't pick Batman as a background anyway. To make Batman, you would have backgrounds of League of Shadows trainee, trust fund kid and philanthropist. Batman should be a class, not a background. A DM should take a large broad background like that and make the player split it into several backgrounds.
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Oct 11, 2016 17:45
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Ominous Jazz posted:Tell the DM that's butt, and if the DM doesn't agree then that DM s butt. That whole thing could be dismantled with "well HOW does he know every everything?" You could also do it really interestingly if that was your OUT: "I know everything. How consistently I can access any of it or remember it actively? That's the hard part. And what I roll my Background to see if I can do."
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Oct 11, 2016 17:54
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