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Kellsterik posted:Literally lol at the prospect of the USSR allying with the Chinese communists. You're really laughing at something that actually happened? They were close allies, both kicking out the Japanese at the end of WW2 and aiding fellow Communist North Korea, up until the Sino-Soviet split happened in the 1960s. Halloween Jack posted:The ocean! Think of all the steam you can make outta that baby! Think of all the corrosion. Young Freud fucked around with this message at 19:45 on Jan 18, 2014 |
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Jan 18, 2014 19:43
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The greatest empire in the steampunk apocalypse is Sealand.
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Jan 18, 2014 19:47
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Young Freud posted:Think of all the corrosion.
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Jan 18, 2014 20:42
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mmj posted:I don't think I've ever posted in this thread, but I've followed it for quite a while, and I would really, really LOVE to see the rest of the Day After Ragnarok review finished. It appeals to the mythology geek and the budding tabletop geek in me, and whoever was talking about finishing it I would really appreciate the person that started that review finishing it because I liked your review style. That was me! I am sorry I let the review fall by the wayside. The was soon to get into the crunchy bits, which I don’t feel experienced enough to judge, and I was starting to feel worried that I was doing wrong. But your words are encouraging, so I do want to start again. pkfan2004 posted:RE: Day After Ragnarok. I do like the idea and I do like it being possibly being WWII pulp/Thundarr and if it's actually good well you bet your rear end I'll pick it up and give it a read. Well, I can assure you that the setting is quite enjoyable. Day after Ragnarok supports so many kinds of adventures, not just Thundarr style wandering through the ruins of civilization. I’ll discuss this more when we come to it, but the game also supports many different styles of pulpy adventure: spy games, resistance fighting, exploration, and – more interesting to me – rebuilding. I am going to continue with the review. You can expect a new post by this evening, so in the meantime why don't you read the previous posts: Part One Part Two Part Three
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Jan 18, 2014 20:48
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Just go for it man. You and I can play Good Cop, Gas-Masked Oppressor Cop. I'd like to see you finish it, it really is pretty neat. And Australia is doing well enough to make up for it not being mentioned in UM. Vox Valentine fucked around with this message at 20:55 on Jan 18, 2014 |
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Jan 18, 2014 20:52
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pkfan2004 posted:Just go for it man. You and I can play Good Cop, Gas-Masked Oppressor Cop. I'd like to see you finish it, it really is pretty neat. The wildlife scared off the nasty critters
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Jan 18, 2014 20:58
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 Where the morals are made up and the ethics don't matter Being a changeling, you are defined by having escaped your Keeper's durance to return to the mortal world. Caught between these two defining poles of existence, you play within a game of 'Beautiful Madness' where your Clarity- that which defines your ability to stay sane in an insane world. Despite there being no real mechanical emphasis, a changeling's Clarity is what allows the character to tell the difference between the Hedge and the real world, magic and physics, dream-thoughts and mortal truths. The Changeling is described as beginning to falsely perceive fae creatures in the grocery store or mortal concerns while in the thorns. Because this deals with perception, there is more pressure on the ST to play this up, as they are the vehicles for the character's understanding1. Yes, C:tL is a White Wolf game, and the major game conceit within the nWoD is the morality system: characters are given a Hit-Point like singular number that begins at a stable point and lowers until it drops to 0, at which point your character is essentially 'dead' for playing purposes. As part of the system, you are given a codified chart of 'breaking points' that represent a morality play's slide towards inhumanity. In this chart, you are given a fairly unfair listing of commandments. Of all the splats, C:tL is one of the only games to have as its core understanding that your Clarity can be attacked without it ever having been the action of the player2. Along with the easily-understood collection of "don't be a sick twisted freak" you have elements of 'life changes' that could mean pregnancy, losing a home to fire, or getting promoted at work at the higher points. What does that mean for the game? It means that the game doesn't shroud the ST with deniability when it comes to having lovely things happen to the characters outside of what is understood as 'fair play'3. All of the actions have in-game mechanical consequences, and so it forces STs to leaden every cheap premise-threat of stealing a car or killing an NPC with importance- or else you're just creating more dice-rolling work than is necessary AND doing a lovely job. In play, these breaking points are always a factor to consider: you cannot excuse yourself from consequences merely for adhering to your 'shtick' of Vices- because Clarity represents not a simplistic understanding of 'goodness' as being a set of morals held dear, but rather a strong history of stability (right or wrong!) that represents a clear understanding of the difference between mortal and fae. One special point brought up is that Kidnapping, being the defining tool of a Keeper, is especially heinous. Comparatively, this is one of those actions that is so uncontroversial to most PCs of other games that players hardly understand the difference between games until it becomes apparent. Holding someone against their will, especially when it explicitly involves moving them from 'their' space into another, is a core element of human society and stories that changelings simply do not do. Speaking of the human/changeling divide, another point is that murder of a changeling/fetch is merely a class 5 sin, while killing a human is a class 2. Because to a changeling, people with souls are more important than those without them. This means that even playable characters have a much easier time killing their fellow citizens... but as above, have a hard time justifying imprisonment. Its easier to justify murder than arrest in a Freehold. There are other comparative differences between splats, but without the games in front of me, the only one that feels important to note is that violence is a much 'higher' sin, and psychotropic drugs are called out specifically as being dangerous to your Clarity, as is casting magic or dropping the mask in front of mortals, both at what would be considered fairly 'high' points on the scale (7 and 6) So what mechanical emphasis does exist for Clarity? Dropping down does make you develop 'derangements', some of which are quite devastating to a character when they become personal anchors such as alcohol addiction or paranoia. At the higher levels, you gain a +2 to perception versus a 1 to 3 die penalty while your Clarity begins to slip. Further, at only level 6 or higher can you tell whether there is a supernatural presence in the area- and otherwise a slickly disguised object (that is otherwise not being supernaturally obscured) is impossible to pick out from the changeling's surroundings4. If you want to avoid those penalties, despite them being fairly tame5, the game describes an important element of self-definition and stability as being the tools to regain your Clarity. The self-image of a changeling is something that must always be fought for and defined- as such, the only way to raise your score is by spending XP points. Next time: A discussion of merits 1 - This often means that the impact of having a lower clarity is dependant game-to-game and plot-to-plot as to what exactly it entails. 2 - Ignoring the well-known "paladin falls" morality trick questions. 3 - I will admit that this can lead to expectations in the same shade as olden D&D era wizards being considered 'too weak' to have a goblin swing a sword at them. 4 - Winter court uses this fact to hide from their fellow fae in the mortal world once they empower their Mask with glamour. If you've only ever seen Antler Sparks the fae, you'll miss Mary Smith walking down the street. 5 - Later, there are specific other penalties that having low clarity comes into play; I believe this is the result of the authors/designers feeling like the Madness part of the game was getting ignored in exchange for the Beautiful element.
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Jan 19, 2014 00:58
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Empire Of Satanis: Chartreuse is the most evil colour. why does this picture suck so much Introduction EoS opens up with a brief introduction to the game and some gentle stroking of Dishaw's ego. quote:The thundering crash of dueling void sabers erupts over the ominous chanting of a grotto’s dark sabbath. Two bestial lords, inhuman, grotesque, and satanic slash at each other with blades of chartreuse magical energy from the void itself. A masked onlooker in yellow robes casts a spell as the ululation of strange tribal demons produces yet more sorcery! This is the thing with Dishaw's writing style; whenever he wants to try and describe something, he'll just start free-associating 'eldritch' words to try and get you as psyched up about his setting as he is. The problem is that it's just so over-the-top that it reads like a parody of the work Dishaw is trying to emulate. This becomes a big problem later on in the book when he tries to describe his setting and it becomes ugly walls of interchangeable adjectives. quote:Empire of Satanis, EoS, strives for innovation. I tried to go outside the role-playing box with this virgin effort. The layout is minimalist and garage band; it’s all about the words on the page. It’s akin to Lovecraft on an acid trip hurriedly transcribing the insanity of Hell as he falls deeper into the Pit. The book is Times New Roman on white for all of its 63 pages. The layout is dogshit. EoS is truly the most satanic of games, for it has committed the greatest sin: citing game mechanics before it tells us what the mechanics are. You get the impression that Dishaw wrote all of this, tried to edit it over a weekend then decided it was good enough for print. You'll see for yourself six updates from now, when we finally get to character creation. This intro is also where we get the game's first mention of its one kinda okay mechanic, Story Alteration. Once per scene, any player can try to make a big change to the story by rolling a d6. If it comes up six, the change happens and the story continues down the new route. The game even advises a sort-of troupe play structure where the player who initiated the change becomes the GM for the next scene or until someone else alters the story. This is actually pretty cute, and it's nice to see Dishaw doesn't take the GM AS GOD position that a lot of OSR types do. The book also tells us players can reduce the target number for Story Alteration by spending points of Social Standing and Hideous Paradise, which will be fun to think about several updates from now! quote:Slowly the gelatinous, chattering, translucent, viscous, slime drenched, unholy, bilious green monstrosity withdraws from the cyclopean, nightmare city of Frier. It peers into the decayed walls of "reality", fatigued by its vile sorcery. Alone and unobserved, except for his sword wielding companions, the demonic entity effects an unnamable change upon the universe beyond the Empire of Satanis the Black God! Now imagine the creature described above is You... In EoS, you play Fiends, monsters that are 'part alien, demon and human'. They live in the hell dimension of K'Thana under the Crimson God Satanis, which borders the human universe Sha-la and their home universe Yidhathroth. It's explained the Fiends have no slave-morality and are 100% master-morality, which has turned their society into a hot lolbertarian paradise. They are also very, very evil. quote:Characters in this game are generally encouraged to have traits such as: oppression, cruelty, domination, blasphemy, ambition, lust for knowledge and expansion, aggression, courage, a passion for degradation, and aesthetics. However, Fiends will also help each other out in order to receive something in return. Except for a few strict order-keeping laws (loyalty to Satanis), there is a liberal and laissez faire (hands off) attitude in K’thana and most places that Fiends have contact with. So if you've been looking for a game about objectivist demon monsters, look no further! EoS has got you covered. Next: More setting, plus Fiend races. poo poo's gonna get squamous. Down With People fucked around with this message at 02:05 on Jan 19, 2014 |
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Jan 19, 2014 01:21
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Please tell me this game has Knowledge: Thesaurus that you can take that allows you dice bonuses depending on your skill level and amount of adjectives you can cram in a sentence.
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Jan 19, 2014 01:25
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That's not the worst writing I've ever read. Everything parses and the grammar's correct. It even makes sense. But every time I read something this Derrick guy writes, I wanna give him a swirlie.
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Jan 19, 2014 01:55
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Derrick Dishaw's not the worst game designer in the industry, not by a longshot. However, he thinks of himself as a powerful sorcerer and a master of cosmic horror, and that's why he deserves a swirlie. pkfan2004 posted:Please tell me this game has Knowledge: Thesaurus that you can take that allows you dice bonuses depending on your skill level and amount of adjectives you can cram in a sentence. There's not, but believe me when I tell you the last thing this game needs is more loving skills.
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Jan 19, 2014 02:08
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In 1992, White Wolf published Werewolf: The Apocalypse as a sister gameline to their flagship Vampire: The Masquerade. It was a different game in a lot of ways, for one up until that point, while werewolves did exist in Vampire's world, they were known as Lupines and were basically nigh-unkillable faceless plot sticks used as a threat to keep Vampires in the cities. The Garou of W:tA were much different than Lupines, for one they were playable, and they actually had a culture and society of their own. The gameline went through some growing pains as it tried to find it's own theme, usually falling into the unfortunate trap of "just make them angsty vampires with fur", but after a restructuring and a new line developer it started to move off in its own direction. In 2004, White Wolf published "Apocalypse", the last game for the Werewolf gameline. It provided a couple of different scenarios for how the world where Werewolf takes place would end, but the answer was pretty clear: Werewolf the Apocalypse, as a gameline, was over. Shortly thereafter came the New World of Darkness, with it's own Werewolves, the Forsaken. To say it was poorly received by some would be an understatement but after an initial growing pains period it too improved. But things were going to get even more confusing. In 2006, White Wolf merged with CCP, under the auspices of creating a World of Darkness MMO while White Wolf continued to produce books. Which worked fine until 2011, when almost the entirety of CCP's publishing staff was let go, including the Werewolf line dev. Which seemed to be the final nail in the coffin of Werewolf: the Apocalypse. But then in 2012 Richard Thomas announced Onyx Path Publishing, made up of old White Wolf employees, which had licensed the rights to continue publishing White Wolf's material. Vampire 20th anniversary addition was announced and released shortly before this, followed by the book I will be reviewing today.  Part 1: Foreword and Comic. quote:Those of you holding this book in your hands probably need no introduction to Werewolf: The Apocalypse. You already know the savage horror and the joyous exultation of Rage. You know the tragedy of a warrior-people who turned on their own, and the one last hope that still burns as long as their hearts possess the will to fight. You know the glory of a struggle against a god of Entropy and Corruption, and the triumph of delivering just one small mortal soul. You know the pain of a world and the beauty of the spirit. I'm going to be using this book as a guideline, glossing over the crunch except where it might be interesting to a new or returning player, and expanding on the fluff regarding the tribes and the universe. Now like any other White Wolf book, it opens with a short story, this time in comic form. I won't be copy/pasting the whole thing as it is long and requires a fairly large picture size for the text to remain readable, curse you vectorized fonts.  Meet Blackpaw and his spirit guardian Golden Eagle. Blackpaw's caern in Yellowstone is being attacked by Wyrm Forces, and they're holding them off long enough for Blackpaw and Golden Eagle to get away and get help. Blackpaw takes a silver bullet to the shoulder, and Golden Eagle picks him up and takes him into the umbra, and then opens up a moon bridge to the Caern of the Green in Central Park.  Mother Larissa is the ranking member of the Bone Gnawer tribe in New York, and the Caern of the Green is also a pretty big deal. Larissa notes that just any old guardian spirit wouldn't have been able to bring them this far and straight to her in such a protected place, so there's something weird going on. It cuts to some time later. Blackpaw has apparently told his story to every Garou that would listen, including Mari Cabrah, one of the highest ranking Black Furies in existance, and a packmember of the current King of the Garou Nation, Albrecht. Also present is Kleon Winston, leader of the Glass Walkers in New York City. Kleon does some internet investigating and discovered that most of Blackpaw's pack is dead, save Ten Tooth, whom Pentex have taken north into the Alberta tar sands. Blackpaw tells them that there's a bane bound under the Bison Rock Caern, and that Ten Tooth knows the glyph that will allow Pentex to unseal it. In the meantime Larissa has been stitching up Blackpaw's wound and discovered something.   Mari decides they can't wait for Albrecht to gather a force big enough to take back the Caern, and decides the three of them will go to Alberta and save Ten Tooth. Unfortunately, the nearest Caern to the tar sands is a blighted hellhole, and all it's defenders are dead. Needless to say they're not happy about this situation, but Golden Eagle intervenes.  Whatever could this mean. The three get captured soon after entering he Pentex grounds, however, because apparently the Silver Bullet contained a nanotech tracer or something. They're caught, put in silver chains, and brought before Magda and Francesco, two of the heads of Pentex, who are currently gloating over their impending victory to Ten Tooth. After a quick big of gleeful cackling about the capture of Mari Cabrah, Francesco resumes telling Magda about the Prophecy of the Phoenix. A note about the Prophecy of the Phoenix, it's basically the Werewolf Book of Revelation, a road map to the end times that will inevitably destroy the world. The Prophecy posted:Phoenix took me. Francesco is gloating since the Garou themselves say the Wyrm is going to win, since Phoenix, the spirit of life after death basically told them "you're all going to die horribly". Even better is the fact that Mari brought Blackpaw back with her, because his birthmark is in fact the glyph key he needs to release the beast bound under the Caern. In a startling bout of competency, he takes a picture of it, texts it to one of his subordinates, then starts choking Blackpaw to death so that no one else can do anything about it. But then Golden Eagle saves them, because as probably everyone's guessed by now, Golden Eagle is actually Phoenix  . He burns their bonds off of them and allows them to escape as the Ghosts from earlier start attacking to cover them. Blackpaw asks Phoenix why he spent so long watching after him and Phoenix shows him an 8th omen, the Garou Victorious. Basically "What part of 'not as it should be' did you guys not get? gently caress." Ten Tooth expands on this to say that the 8th sign is Blackpaw's birthmark, and it marks him as the Son of the Phoenix Spirit. Not figuratively, literally. Because this is W:TA and yes that can happen. Phoenix finishes opening the portal back to the Caern and they step through into  The arrival of Phoenix rallies the Garou to rout their enemies and they claim victory. Also Albrecht takes some time to show why he's my favorite NPC of any White Wolf storyline.  Look at that poo poo eating grin. Ten Tooth tells Blackpaw that he can't stay anymore, that he has to go back with the others and tell the tale of the 8th sign. And make sure that the Garou know that they can and will win the battle as long as they don't lose hope. Ultimately I like the comic, the art style isn't bad, and the writing isn't terrible. The only problem is that a lot of the impact of it is lost on people with less background knowledge. They spit out names like Kleon and Mari Cabrah and without knowing who you are you don't know why you should care. There's also the note about the 8th sign. Which is basically White Wolf going "Yeah we kind of set things into a Nihilistic spiral towards the end of the game line, so we're shifting things towards the more hopeful side of things. Shits still hosed but it won't always be." The next chapter is the intro, which is short, but also segues into the 1st chapter, which is not. Meaning the next update will be covering 70 pages worth of content. It might take a while Kurieg fucked around with this message at 03:50 on Jan 19, 2014 |
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Jan 19, 2014 03:46
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Alright. I'm recharged, I'm ready to talk some more about Unhallowed Metropolis and I hope y'all are ready to hear about what kind of characters you can make. So without further ado, London beckons. CHAPTER TWO: PLAYING GOD (or A TREATISE ON THE NEO-VICTORIAN AND HOW THEY ARE TRULY SCREWED) PART ONE: BASIC CHARACTER CREATION AND CORRUPTION Unhallowed Metropolis wants you to have a character you can step into and role-play and empathize with. I would assume if your players break down weeping because their characters are faced with the shadow of death and failure then you've got the right players for this. Or don't make a character you like. Whatever. Unhallowed Metropolis isn't the boss of you. Just enjoy London. Character creation isn't particularly hard and I'll outline the basic framework before I get technical.
CORRUPTION: Corruption stems from Physical
There's also Devil's Luck. Devil's Luck can be invoked once per session and what it does is it forces the GM to pull your certainly-doomed rear end out of the fire so you can live to fight another day. Invoking Devil's Luck, however, invites the GM to give you a touch of karma for your action, rough you up in the escape and add another point to your Corruption Track. So how else can you gain Corruption? Repeated exposure and repeatedly doing certain things in game can result in it being assigned to you. Say you keep doing heroin in game. Eventually your rear end is gonna be Addicted to Heroin, yeah? You can gain multiple Corruption Tracks this way. Or you can do something bad, something so bad the GM punishes you with it. GM punishment can't raise your tracks past 3, though, and it raises it 1 point per Track. It's also advised that the GM tries to tempt you with your Corruptions, but some of them probably won't come up in game unless they throw things intentionally your way. It also doesn't totally make sense for you to raise some of your Corruption through doing stuff in game. Like, killing children would result in raising your Killer Instinct. How the heck are you supposed to raise your Monstrous Corruption or your Cursed Corruption? It's a good idea but it's not executed particularly well. You also have the option to redeem yourself and lower your corruptions. Every attempt needs to be roleplayed and requires you to take efforts to behave yourself for a number of sessions equal to the number you want to reduce. You also can't spend any Second Chances during redemption and must declare you're redeeming yourself step by step. Physical corruption can be redeemed through abstinence, exercise, therapy and surgery. Beating physical corruption requires help from others and coming to terms with what's happening to yourself. Reducing desire requires abstinence and might need to involve isolation, meditation and religion. This requires your friends to leave you alone to handle it and work it out by yourself. To lower drive, you have to try to life a healthy, better life. You have to sleep better, live better and not obsess on things and friends and family should help them keep their minds off work. Like I said, this requires multiple campaigns. Most of these rules don't really apply if you're doing one-shots or small campaigns and unless your GM is pulling some punches and trying to keep a long-term thing going, a bullet or a claw through an artery is gonna kill you before you can become a better person. But that's London for you. NEXT TIME: Character classes, assets, stats and skills. Vox Valentine fucked around with this message at 08:56 on Jan 20, 2014 |
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Jan 19, 2014 04:02
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So I'm going to get off my rear end and finally do another one of these! Maybe this time I'll completely finish the loving thing! My time is kind of weird these days, what with two kids and the like, but I thought I'd be productive in my free time (for some values of "productive" anyway). I want you goons to tell me what to do, though. Option 1 (the good one): Ehdrigohr  This was one of the first Kickstarters I particpated in; it ran simultaneously with Fate Core. The designer apparently teaches game design, which is pretty sweet. It's a non-European take on classic fantasy. Its inspirations include Lakota myths, The Black Company, Nausicaa, Chinese Ghost Story, and Swamp Thing. Heck of a grab bag! I have a lot of good things to say about the imagination and setting, but I'm a bit lukewarm on its specific Fate Core mechanics, so it'll be a mixed bag. It's pretty amazing in its imagination and has some amazing art. Really, this stuff's good.    (the turtle is what sold me on it.) And with the recent discussions on "Native Exceptionalism" in Changeling, I can see if the author fell into any of the same traps. Option 2 (the  one): Testament I was super-excited for this book, because when I grew up my parents made my brother and I go to church. As a good little nerd, I spent a lot of time reading the really fun parts of the Old Testament about giants, angels, etc. Basically, the parts that read (more) like greek myths and whatnot. So I jumped on this. It's a d20 conversion, and it has ... um ... character. It has all the spergy details, useless feats, insane statblocks, etc. that you'd expect from a product written at the tail end of the d20 glut. It's mostly about the Israelites, but other cultures from around that region get some love, too - Egyptians, Caananites, and Babylonians. Ever wonder how many levels of Paladin Moses had 3? Want to know the CR of a biblical Cherub? 22. Need stats for that Ark of the Covenant? yeah, of course it's powerful Ever wanted to play a Babylonian Magi? they are terrible, don't? What about a Canaanite temple prostitute of their fertility cult? (  ) I bet I'll have some good things to say about it, but it's mostly awful in that unique way that only d20 conversions of things that have no business being d20 conversions can be.So ... what do you say, goons?
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Jan 19, 2014 04:05
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Ehdrighor looks loving amazing, do that one.
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Jan 19, 2014 04:18
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I wanna tell you to do both, so do both. But do BIBLE RPG D20 3.0 FOR YOUR SINS firs.
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Jan 19, 2014 04:35
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I have been curious about Testament ever since I saw it in a gamestore, but since I hate D20, I never picked it up. Whereas Ehdrigor I might actually pick up now that I know it exists. So Testament gets my vote.
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Jan 19, 2014 04:37
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I say this thread needs a little more positivity. So Ehdrigor.
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Jan 19, 2014 04:45
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Ehrdigor! Because a native American inspired setting sounds like it could be amazing.
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Jan 19, 2014 05:06
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JohnnyCanuck posted:I wanna tell you to do both, so do both. If you guys end up tied, I'll be leaning towards Ehdrigohr because it will be a lot less painful. And I keep meaning to read it, so this is a good kick in the pants. But don't let that sway you, because I also want to do Testament. It's just so ... d20. I mean, I think the idea of (non-religious) roleplaying in Biblical myths sounds fantastic, but why in the world you'd want to use d20 for it escapes me. And the answer of course was, "It's 2003. Everything is d20, no matter how ill-fitting." Oh, and it uses the Levitical purity laws as a game mechanic, so there's that . Which makes it so very F&F. Tasoth posted:Ehrdigor! Because a native American inspired setting sounds like it could be amazing. dwarf74 fucked around with this message at 05:14 on Jan 19, 2014 |
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Jan 19, 2014 05:09
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dwarf74 posted:That's the eventual plan, unless someone else scoops me on the one I'm not doing. (Really, I'm stunned nobody's done Testament yet. It just screams for an F&F treatment.) If The God Of Abraham has stats I will kill myself laughing.
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Jan 19, 2014 05:12
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One of my friends got Testament really cheap online, and I flipped through it. The Egyptian wizard class is interesting, I'll give it that. Yeah, do Testament!
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Jan 19, 2014 05:25
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Ehdrigohr because that sauropod-sized spider looks cuddly.
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Jan 19, 2014 05:39
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dwarf74 posted:Oh yeah, and it also has awesome little setting details like giant riding War Rabbits, domesticated spiders, and dog-sized pillbugs that kids keep as pets. (The latter's discarded exoskeletons are used as bowls, fyi.) When you say things like this, you better deliver on them. I want an isopod shepherd.
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Jan 19, 2014 06:00
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Tasoth posted:When you say things like this, you better deliver on them. I want an isopod shepherd. I've been reading Ehdrigohr tonight. Allen's profile on kickstarter mentioned that he is a storyteller, and it shows. FYI, and I'll mention this in my write-up, I actually recommend the pdf over the print version. The page backgrounds came out too dark in printing. And it's a shame, because there's some real art in it.  JohnnyCanuck posted:If The God Of Abraham has stats I will kill myself laughing. There's no "here's how you kill Jehovah" type stats, but there is a pretty typical writeup.   You heard it here, folks. The God of Israel loves his longswords. dwarf74 fucked around with this message at 06:35 on Jan 19, 2014 |
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Jan 19, 2014 06:19
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And now, after more than six months, I return to The Day After Ragnarok: Part Four: Edges Part One Part Two Part Three Last time I discussed the official Hindrances of DAR, so now I’m going to talk about the Edges. You can take all the normal Edges in the Savage Worlds core book; Hite tells us that the Noble Edge covers Americans and Texan “judges, corporate executives, [and] ranchers.” DAR adds some new Edges, some of which are based on our own history, some of which cover setting-unique elements. Background Edges DAR has four Arcane Background Edges: Magic, Miracles, Ophi-Tech (replacing Weird Science from the Savage Worlds core book) and Psionics. Super Powers aren’t appropriate to the setting, so they’re left out. This is a grimdark setting, and just like most everything else, the arcane is tainted by Serpent venom. In Core Savage Worlds, you get 10 Power Points when you buy an Arcane Background, but DAR Arcane Backgrounds only give you 5 PP; you have to effectively pay twice the Edge cost for the full 10 points. Each Arcane Background picks their powers from a set list. DAR also adds a couple of arcane powers:  Hideous underwater mutant or hideous underground mutant? You can't be both! Magic Requirements: Novice, Knowledge (Occult) d8+, All Thumbs or Anemic Ken Hite posted:Magic is inherently tricky and dangerous, and it imposes a cost on its practitioners over and above any danger to their souls. Their body energies flare and flux and interfere with precision equipment and electrical gear, or simply dwindle and drain slowly into Niflheim. Although all the major nations deny any official magical efforts, there may well be secretive government programs ongoing at Mount Shasta or Ayers Rock, not to mention whatever Stalin has bubbling away behind the Wall of Serpents. The Savage World system can be used to emulate many different kinds of magical traditions and DAR encourages the would-be mage to work with her GM to figure out the methods and trappings she uses. The book gives the examples of “an Aleister Crowley wannabe, a Pennsylvania hex magician, [and] a Kenyan witch-smeller;” the only restriction is that the magic require “ritual components or activities” of some kind. Mages pick 3 from this list: barrier, bolt, burst, detect arcana, dispel, elemental manipulation, fear, obscure, puppet (“requires a voodoo doll with target’s hair or blood”), shape chance (pick one animal per character rank), speak language, and zombie Miracles Requirements: Novice, Knowledge (Religion) d6+, Special In a world where the Norse religion has been definitively backed up by a giant fuckoff snake, you’d expect the other faiths to be on the wane, but nope! People of all religions are harnessing divine powers. Hite suggests that the GM restrict the Miracles background to NPCs by putting practical limits on miraculous abilities – the need to take hallucinogens, rituals that go on for days, purity requirements, etc – that make it hard to be a good miracle worker and an adventurer. Different religions require different Hindrances: Mormons, Christians, Jews and Muslims have to take Holy Roller; Buddhists and Hindus have to take either Poverty or Minor Pacifism; everyone else takes Outsider. (Forcing people to take Holy Roller in order to work miracles in their faith traditions kind of annoys me; I disagree with the notion that being devout means being obnoxious. But I’m not the game designer here, and it’s not like a GM can’t house-rule a different required Hindrance.) If you do get to use miracles, pick two from the list: boost trait (Guts, Healing, Intimidation, Persuasion, Spirit, Strength, Survival, and Vigor only), detect arcana, dispel, greater healing, healing, light, smite, and speak language. Ophi-Tech Requirements: Novice, Knowledge (Science) d8+, not a Luddite Ophi-Tech involves developing and using technology derived from Jormungandr’s remains; it’s the setting’s take on weird science. The player who wants this Edge has to justify her access to this bleeding edge technology; and the easiest way is to have status at Rhodes University or the British government. DAR posted:Rhodes University engineers and scientists are at the forefront of biotechnology, energy, and advanced airframe research based on study of the Midgard Serpent. Although some Rhodes-developed devices have been around long enough for gray-market knockoffs to emerge, virtually all the cutting-edge experimental “ophi-tech” or “ophiurgy” is still in the hands of Rhodes researchers and/or His Majesty’s Government. Not that there’s much difference. Of course, there are also ophi-tech programs at Caltech, Los Alamos, and the Nouvelle-Sorbonne, to say nothing of the Pingfan Institute in Japanese Manchukuo or Science City 14 outside Tomsk. But Rhodes still does it most and best.  You can also buy this Edge after character creation, but it takes two Advances instead of just one. The book gives the example of a member of the Royal Air Force getting a transfer to the Royal Rocketry Air Force. Ophiurgists pick one technological marvel that represents a power from this list: armor, acquatic, bolt, darkvision, entangle, environmental protection, fly, quickness, and speed (vehicles only). The ophi-tech items that produce these powers are discussed at the end of the Gear section. Psionics Requirements: Novice, Blank Stare, Minor Pacifist Both the US and the Soviet Union tried to weaponize psychic abilities in our timeline, but their experiments never bore any fruit (that we know about  ). In the Serpentfall setting, the Soviet Union successfully cultivated a crop of psionicists. Most of the people with the Psionics Edge have been trained at either the Leningrad Brain Institute or the Ukraine’s Makarenko Commune, which means that they are scary brainwashed assholes who are most likely antagonists to our heroes. If you want to be a good-guy psionicist, Hite recommends that you write a “Himalayan lamasery or mysterious glowing meteorite” into your backstory, but I think it would be interesting to play a Soviet defector. The Minor Pacifist Hindrance is the result of the distress a sentient being’s death causes a psi; “The NKVD well and truly grides this Hindrance out of NPC Soviet psis, of course.” Psis pick three from this list: boost trait (Agility, Strength, and Vigor only), dark vision, deflection, invisibility, puppet (requiring three rounds of eye contact), stun, telekinesis. Bump for Languages Requirements: Novice, Smarts d6+ You are indeed a cunning linguist. You have a talent for learning not just languages, but also accents and dialects. You start with two bonus languages and can make a Smarts roll at -2 to brokenly speak and understand any spoken language you’ve been exposed to for 1d6 days. Combat Edges Fencing Requirement: Novice, Fighting d6+ +1 to Parry when using a sword. Boring, but useful. The description notes that swords are more useful nowadays because it’s harder to manufacture and distribute ammunition. Martial Arts Training Requirement: Novice, Fighting d8+ You never take unarmed combat penalties because your body is a weapon.  Melee opponents get a -1 penalty to their Gang-Up bonus against you.Improved Martial Arts Training Requirement: Seasoned, Martial Arts Training When fighting unarmed, roll Strength AND Agility and combine them.  Sykes-Fairbairn Requirement: Seasoned, Fighting d6+ KNIFE FIGHT!!!!! You have learned the close-quarters combat techniques developed and taught by William E. Fairbairn and Eric A. Sykes. (People generally talk about Fairbairn-Sykes or F-S, but I guess Sykes comes first because this is an alternate universe.) +1 to damage with any melee knife, plus the ability to ignore 2 points worth of Called Shot penalties when you have the advantage of surprise or the Drop on your opponent. Improved Sykes-Fairbairn Requirement: Veteran, Fighting d8+, Throwing d8+ Your damage bonus with a melee knife increases to +2; you get the same bonus with a throwing knife. Furthermore, a raise on your knife attack roll gives you a +d8 damage bonus rather than the standard +d6. Professional Edges Airman Requirements: Varies. This Edge works like the Soldier Edge below, except you are part of an air force – probably Britain’s RAF or RRAF or the USAAF. You can be an Aircraftman (Requirements: Novice, Piloting d6+, Shooting d4+), an NCO (Seasoned, Piloting d8+, Shooting d6+), or officer (Requirements: Novice: Smarts d6+, Piloting d4+, Knowledge (Battle) d6+). If you’re part of the RRAF, you have to buy the Ophi-Tech Edge and the bolt Power, which represents your standard issue Marconi gun. Bush Pilot Requirements: Novice, Piloting d8+, Repair d8+ You are a pilot who is not part of an air force. You may very well be a former USAAF pilot who was let go after the war – there are a lot of those guys. You get a Piper J-3 Cub (or equivalent plane) and a place to hangar it on the cheap. Mountie Requirements: Seasoned, Vigor d8+, Guts d6+, Knowledge (Law d6+), Riding d8+, Survival d6+, Tracking d4+ In addition to their normal duties as national police and counter-intelligence agents, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police explores and reclaims the Canadian land poisoned in the Serpentfall. “That means everything from uncovering Soviet spies on the waterfront in Vancouver to fighting plesiosaurs in the Great Slave Lake.” You always start out as a constable, advancing on the Promotion Table like a soldier. You get a shiny badge that gives you +2 Charisma when dealing with those who respect the RMCP’s authority, you have jurisdiction over civilians in Canada, you ignore Difficult Ground and Unstable Platform penalties from snow and ice, and you get +2 to Fatigue rolls to resist the cold. Mounties are awesome, and I will be shocked and appalled if none of you express an interest in playing one. Rhodes Scholar Requirements: Novice, Smarts d8+, Knowledge (Any Two) d6+ You are associated with Rhodes University in South Africa somehow; you could be a full professor, but you could just as easily be a stringer or a paid researcher. You get £20 a month from Rhodes U, and you can call on the University to either give you advice (+2 to a Smarts-based roll) or free equipment to pick up. The pick-up has to be at either a city where Rhodes has a bank account (any English-speaking city or any major French- or Spanish-speaking city) or the site of a Rhodes project. If you’re an Ophi-Tech user as well as a Rhodes Scholar, you can swap one ophi-tech item for another one. The catch is that you’re required to help the university by performing scholarship or helping with expeditions. If you find something cool, you have to turn it in along with any equipment left over at the end of your adventure. To do any less means endangering your stipend – or worse!  Sailor Requirements: Varies Like a soldier, except on a boat or a sub. Officers get a pistol, Royal Navy NCOs get Owen SMGs, and everyone else gets jack for personal firearms. You can be a Junior Seaman (Requirements: Novice, Boating d6+, Swimming d4+), a Naval NCO (Requirements: Seasoned, Boating d8+, Intimidation d6+, Shooting d6+, Swimming d4+), or a Naval Officer (Requirements: Novice, Smarts, d6+, Boating d4+, Knowledge (Battle d6+) Soldier Exactly like a soldier.  You can be a private (Requirements: Novice, Fighting d4+, Shooting d4+, Throwing d4+), an NCO (Requirements: Seasoned, Fighting d6+, Intimidation d6+, Shooting d6+, Throwing d4+) or an Officer (Requirements: Novice, Smarts d6+, Knowledge (Battle) d4+). DAR posted:Each step comes with its own opportunities and headaches—it’s not necessarily better or more heroic to You should keep in mind, however, that NCOs get +1 Charisma and Officers get +2. Soldiers are on duty all time; PC soldiers are generally part of a special unit that has more leeway to go around and do exciting stuff, like the British Special Air Service or the USMC Raiders. After each mission, the GM rolls on the Promotion Table to see if a military character gets a promotion. The promoted character moves up a rank on the Military Pay table as appropriate.  yay tables  Ken doesn't think accounting is fun, but understands that a lot of people do. Good for him! Speleo-Herpetologist Requirements: Seasoned, Vigor d6+, Climbing d6+, Guts d6+, Knowledge (Biology) d4+ DAR posted:It is the British Royal Society who have cut into the body of the Serpent at Hereford, and (at hellish cost) brought back living samples of the things, the cultures, swarming in its cavernous belly. The writhing creatures that dwell deep inside the Serpent hold biological—and perhaps magical—secrets on which depend the survival of the free world. It is the speleo-herpetologists, or “snake-cavers,” who go in to get those secrets. A speleo-herpetologist gets +2 to Guts checks involving the Serpent and Serpent-spawn, and deals +1 damage to Serpent-spawn he combats. If he’s Snakebit, the Vigor penalty is only -1. Texas Ranger Requirement: Seasoned, Vigor d8+, Fighting d6+, Riding d6+, Shooting d6+, Survival d6+, Tracking d6+, Like the Mounties, only Texan and without the spiffy uniforms. Rangers are part of a military-style hierarchy, yet are expected to act independently and on their own initiative – “One riot, one Ranger.” Like the Mounties, they have authoritah over civilians and a +2 Charisma badge. They also get a gun and a +1 bonus to their Common Knowledge rolls dealing with threats to the peace in Texas. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And that’s all the new Edges. The next section, Gear, is going to be tough for me because I haven’t developed the instinct to make mechanical judgments. I will do my best to do an intelligent analysis, but you all should feel free to help me compensate for my ignorance by providing your own input. And now, I would like some audience suggestions of cool character and party concepts. Will they fight for King and Country? Science? Money? Their people's freedom? Or just because fighting is awesome? If you have the Savage Worlds rulebook, you might build characters yourself, but I’d like to try building a party too. It’s good to be back, goons! Pththya-lyi fucked around with this message at 06:56 on Jan 19, 2014 |
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Jan 19, 2014 06:51
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dwarf74 posted:You heard it here, folks. The God of Israel loves his longswords. Jesus did say he didn't bring peace but a sword.
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Jan 19, 2014 06:52
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I would have guessed the sling, myself.
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Jan 19, 2014 07:13
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So where the hell is Thor, aka the goddamn hammer-weilding protector of mankind when his mortal enemy is ravaging his charges? 
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Jan 19, 2014 07:33
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Hipster Occultist posted:So where the hell is Thor, aka the goddamn hammer-weilding protector of mankind when his mortal enemy is ravaging his charges? This is from the GM's section later in the book - the part discussing the United States: Snorri Sturlusson, Prose Edda posted:Thor shall put to death the Midgard Serpent, and shall stride away nine paces from that spot; then shall he fall dead to the earth, because of the venom which the Snake has blown at him.
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Jan 19, 2014 07:50
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Pththya-lyi posted:Remember, the US nuked Jormungandr and was all but destroyed by its venom - the venom blown across the Atlantic ocean. Thor has already played his part in killing Jormungandr and is now dying because of it. That's total bullshit. If we're not Captain America, then who is?
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Jan 19, 2014 08:01
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Kavak, you may be interested in one of the setting inspirations: "Thor Meets Captain America" by David Brin.
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Jan 19, 2014 08:13
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Empire Of Satanis: 666 Pits of Hellfire and the 999 Layers of the Crimson Gate Introduction 2: Intro Harder The first chapter is called 'A Little Background' and is meant to be a basic guide to the setting I guess. Both it and the Races chapter are written in first-person from what I assume is a Fiend's POV. We find out a little more on the boring, stupid history of the Fiends. Dishaw's written this with the same corgi-esque, frothing-at-the-mouth excitement that he does for all his fluff. quote:This is a game of demonic alien fiends, black robes and dark cloaks, serpentine daggers, vile sorcery, crackling scarlet energy void sabers, servants of thinking black ooze, action, investigation, and exploration. Empire of Satanis is the story about creatures from a dark plane that have risen to power using cunning, will, fortitude, intelligence, and the Black Arts! Understanding forbidden, eldritch lore and satanic wizardry allows one to reshape “reality”. To forever alter the physics, laws, and truth of the world. That is greatness! Fiends were once human sorcerers who were banished from Sha-la. They broke through the dimensional barriers into Yidhathroth and met the Crimson God Satanis, who rewarded them by turning them into Fiends. Under the guidance of their new god, the Fiends journeyed to K'Thana, where they created a bunch of city-states and got heavily into back-stabbing each other and murder/raping/enslaving any humans they could find. Their magic is weaker in Sha-la, but they keenly await the day they can invade en masse and gently caress its poo poo up. There's only one real law in K'Thana: 'Thou shalt not kill evil without good reason, sufficient provocation, or for sport.' Despite the poor wording and immense vagaries of this one law, we're assured that it is brutally enforced by the Insidious Order of the Ninth Angle, the ruling body empowered by Satanis. This seems like it would contradict the Fiends' previously stated laissez-faire philosophy, but that's okay. Y'see, it's all part of the Dark Way, the path to evil enlightenment available to all Fiends, and by following it you too can become a god and start your own evil empire. It's all about freedom and liberation! I mean, you will always have to obey the Crimson God Satanis, and your empire will still be a part of his empire, but that's just how the Dark Way do. quote:Evil has two sides, the matter-of-fact death and destruction is but one. The other is a more intangible, spiritual evil that raises us the masters of creation. This is post-modernism and post-apocalypse mixed with chaos magic and the viscous, unameable, infinite, terrors that have only now come into the light. The political state is one of totalitarianism, religious zealotry, rule by black magic, total anarchy, and survival of the fittest. In this chapter, several organisations are mentioned, including the Imperial Murderers, the Sect Of The Stifling Air and the Bureau of Disinformation. We later learn that the Imperial Murderers are Satanis' military force, but the latter two are never expanded on in any way. Hail Satanis!  There are a bunch of races in this game, since Fiends come in all shapes and sizes. There are other gods besides Satanis, and they got in on the Fiend game too. Each Fiendish race gets a brief write-up explaining its background, culture and physical appearance. Mechanically, your choice of race gives you a bonus to two skills, normally one of the many types of magic. Aside from “The Smile”, all of them have names which look like giant fuckfests of random letters, with no attempt at resembling an actual language. First up, the Fiends of Satanis. Kurur-esh: quote:Kurur-esh are almost always uncivilized. City dwellers see them as barbarians. Their skin is a dark red, brown, and their thick tangled dark brown hair are physical trademarks...Their wild, untamed expressions also include jumping up and down, guttural chants, head butting passersby with their thick skulls. Dark-skinned tribal barbarians from the shadow jungles of Tharr. They eat human brains and smother themselves in cranial fluid. I think it's meant to make them smarter, but the wording implies that they only think it does. +1 Flesh Magic, two free skill levels from Music, Meditate or Rune-Casting. Zeph n' Glarl: quote:Their skin is a putrescent greenish black hue. Upon maturity, it is their custom to shave the head of hair by the light of the green flame in a ritual that further separates them from mortal creatures of “normal matter”. Not related to the bump n' grind. Scholarly types on the hunt for ancient black magic. They are also decadent socialites and killer mad scientists who hang out in alleys looking for victims, 'like an unspeakable monstrous Jack the Ripper'. +1 Word Magic, +1 to one other magic of your choice. Zirakeans: quote:Zirakean flesh is a pale green complemented by a wormy texture. Their 6 inch horns grow out of their forehead, sometimes effective for head-butting opponents in the stomach. Another common physical aspect of Zirakeans are the elongated ears, Cro-Magnon brow, semi-bipedal stance and loping gate. The elongated fingers ending in serrated claws are particularly noteworthy. Zirakean hands sometimes extend as long as their 2 feet. Psycho warrior race. They were interbred with hatred chimps to make them even stronger and killy-er. They don't much natural skill with magic, but the book says that member of other races will often teach them, even though its obviously not in their interests to do so. +1 to any two combat skills, though I think you can just go with +2 to one combat skill. Vihm: quote:The most noticeable characteristic of the Vihm race are the masks that always obscure their face...Their skin is an ivory white that is strange to behold, and vehemently clashes with the fuscia (sic) furr (sic) covering their calves on down and ending in cloven hooves. Creepy mute mask dudes who are prone to introspection. They prowl around and act all sneaky-like. This is the race for Lone Wolf players, and the book offers no advice for how to incorporate a completely silent loner into the party. +1 Mask Magic, +1 Shadow Magic Blazht:
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Jan 19, 2014 12:01
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posted:
Draculas. They drink blood, but also end up consuming part of their victims' personality, which eventually drives them insane. Most of them join the Temple of Blind Knowledge to learn ancient black magic, particularly rituals to calm their inner turmoil. They are also decadent hedonists who like sex ('Consent is inconsequential'). +1 Blood Magic, two free skill levels from Meditation, Sensitivity or Disinformation.
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Down With People posted:('Consent is inconsequential') Good Christ. A lot of these games, I can at least pretend that someone, somewhere, is having fun with them without jerking off. Even games like Maid still have potential to not be loving creepy as poo poo, with some skimming or skipping past certain parts. But I'm not seeing how this could be anything but a Creepy gently caress Game For Creepy Fucks.
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Jan 19, 2014 12:09
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So three out of the seven races have obnoxious antisocial behaviour built-in, and the other four are barbarians, psycho warriors, serial killers, and... dwarves. 
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Jan 19, 2014 16:31
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Ratoslov posted:So three out of the seven races have obnoxious antisocial behaviour built-in, and the other four are barbarians, psycho warriors, serial killers, and... dwarves. I'm surprised, given that the main rule is 'Don't kill each other unless you're having fun!'
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Jan 19, 2014 16:39
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I have the feeling the Shmekblut got their name when one of them was talking about "how he really vanted to shmack zat butt, ha ha ha" and they couldn't understand the Dracula accent. Seriously, why would you basically name a species "smack butt".
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Jan 19, 2014 16:45
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It's (possibly not very good) German for "consumes blood". source: my dad habitually describing food as "gut geschmeckt", good tasting
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Jan 19, 2014 16:51
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Kellsterik posted:I would have guessed the sling, myself. Pththya-lyi posted:Kavak, you may be interested in one of the setting inspirations: "Thor Meets Captain America" by David Brin. Unfortunately, reading some reviews, I'm not so sure that was perfectly executed. Not just the NORSE gods get juice from mass death, it turns out it works on literally anything godly! So you have a bunch of really questionable pantheons (including stuff like Egypt deciding to bring back Osiris and co. because I guess Egyptians are secretly only pretending to be muslims) duking it out with the aesir and all the primarily-Abrahamic countries (the ones that didn't have pantheons to spontaneously revert to) cuddling up to be bros who are too kindly to sink to mass sacrifice like everyone else. Drakyn fucked around with this message at 17:38 on Jan 19, 2014 |
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Jan 19, 2014 17:31
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Yeah, the expanded story is pretty racist trash where the unwashed pagans attempt to accelerate global warming because apparently gods are climate powered. There is a nazi plan to create a literal nuclear winter.
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Jan 19, 2014 17:38
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