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Rifts Conversion Book 2: Pantheons of the Megaverse: Part 31: "Ahriman is a tyrant with the mind of an accountant and the soul of a torturer." Persian Forces of Evil Well, what do I add to that? Ahriman - The Evil One  Muttonchops of doooom. He's evil, dwells in a plane of evil, loves to spread evil, and tries to kill everything, because that's what evil does. He was imprisoned in another dimension but somehow communicates with evil gods to try and do a massive prison break with him at the lead. He's also eager to try out nuclear and antimatter weapons. "Ahriman will try anything once, no matter what the the cost to others." But will he try Life cereal? 78K in his crib/15K MDC on earth, invisibles, regens, teleports (though he can't teleport out of his prison, can change into any animal (including people), can cast any normal or necromantic spells, has all ESP and "super" psionic powers, can summon "Baal-rogs" and always has a troop of them (even in prison?). Also he has an evil talking sword with bat wings called the "Sword of Hatred". And somehow he has a demonic robot called the "Ahriman Mark I" made out of reshaped demons with about 2K MDC, spikes, shoots fireballs, and can split into a bunch of warrior demons... wait, how the gently caress? How the gently caress is he getting all this done while he's imprisoned? Is that not a basic logical hurdle for this poo poo? Oh, and "Ahriman likes the Coalition's imagery; one day he may visit its rulers and commend their taste in design." Lawl. "Ahirman" is the Persian name, but his original name is "Angra Mainyu", because he's so angry!... that's not true. Not much else to be said, really, other than that he's the guy that puts the dual in dualism, being Ahura Mazda's opposite and the embodiment of all evil thinking. Aeshma - Fury  "I'd like an axe that looks like me vomiting up an axe." The heavy of the evil gods, Aeshma just likes to gently caress poo poo up and cause destruction and chaos because... he was mythologized that way, I guess. He also sometimes disguises himself to start riots, often racist riots. Whee. He generally goes into a super-rage when he sees the Gods of Light and tries to take them down. He's sadistic and ehnnnnehhennnneh. 27K/5K, invisible, leap super good (seriously), teleports, and turn into a human, rhino, bull, buffalo, or lion, he's a good spy, some basic magic, no psionics, and has demon buddies. He also has a powered-up version of the Dragon Thunderer axe from Rifts World Book Two: Atlantis. The funny thing about some of these evil "heavy" gods is that since they don't have much magic or supernatural powers, they end up being the wimpiest gods in their pantheon. Call the the Fighter Curse. In Zoroastrianism he's the demon of rage, and the good god Sraosha was created by Ahura Mazda to stop his rage. Also, Sraosha will beat him up at the apocalypse, but nowadays Mithra takes over that role, and Sraosha doesn't show up in this book. Sorry, Sraosha. Ahzi Dahaka - The Great Deciever  Physical Beauty 20 / Physical Beauty 5 A minor demon who climbed up the ranks to become a god, he wants to murder all things, and can send out life essence fragments (ugh, those things) to possess people on multiple worlds and manipulate people. He has two on Earth and they're starting to create cult-towns where visitors arrive but don't come back. He's basically the subtle version of Aeshma. 46K/9K MDC, invisibles, shapeshifts, teleport, can send out life essences (but there are no solid rules for how those things work), some mid-level magic, all ESP psionics plus some mind powers, and when you cut him, poisonous insects fly out!... but there are no rules for them. So I guess they're not that poisonous. Azhi Dahaka (the name is misspelled above, and in the book) becomes the evil serpent Zahhak later on, which is way eviler name. And you're not supposed to kill him because evil bugs will come out of him and infest the word, but at the end of the world he'll get killed by an ancient hero. So I guess that works out. Jahi Goddess of Lust  Never trust a woman (who is an evil goddess who likes to murder men during sexes). Another demon who made it big, she's Jahi's favorite evil lover for evil love. One day, Ahriman was like "what's the use, Ahura Mazda and the Justice League of Persia are always whupping me" but she inspired him to be evil again. Naturally she goes around seducing men and getting their loose lips to sink ships or just murdering them with their trousers down. “She likes to kill.” It makes you wonder - given that she’s strong enough to just tear a person’s head off - why she even bothers with the seduction angle. MDC is a piddly 1250 (so she can only take about 13 Boom Gun shots before falling over, how vulnerable), turn invisible, turn into any woman (it mentions her turning into a Dragon Slayer, so that includes giant women), and can super-psionically seduce, has a lot of illusion spells, and no normal psionics. She's basically the evil whore of evilness in mythology, but Ahriman defiles her and basically causes the first menstruation (I guess ancient Persians connected menstruation with loss of virginity). And then she grants it to to all women, whee. Nasu the Corpse  Skull Count: 8 A scary zombie god, he decays everything he touches and is a big superstar amongst the undead. He's tried to team up with vampire intelligences, but it's like herding cats. He managed to recently recruit one that fled Earth after heroes beat it up and it may be the vampire intelligence that made Dracula dun dun dunnn. 28K/5K, invisible, disease-free, teleport, all necromantic powers, animates the dead, can make people sick (even inside power armor) and there is a table of random maladies, he's vulnerable to fire, holy weapons, and millennium tree goodies, can cast any necromantic spell (and some minor normal spells), and he likes to keep around bunches of zombies. Nasu isn't really a god or demon in Zoroastrianism, just a word that's associated with the uncleaniness and impurity of death and corpses. So this guy's mostly made from whole cloth (and kind of redundant with jokers like the actual Death around). And that’s it! He’s the final god! But we’ve got some final thoughts to wrap this up with, it's not over just yet. Next: The Divine Denouement. Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 14:56 on May 6, 2014 |
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May 6, 2014 14:53
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Here comes episode 18 of System Mastery. Pressed for new material, we look to the used shelf in our store, and dredge up a 2nd edition copy of Big Eyes, Small Mouth. http://wp.me/p3NGX8-ds It's better than we thought! It's not great exactly!
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May 7, 2014 03:10
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GimpInBlack posted:Next Time: We'll learn how a single number is all we need to make a trollbabe and talk about the (minimal) adventure prep a game of Trollbabe needs. You have my attention. After all, even if the subject matter is not my style, a system that simple could be easily hacked to any setting.
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May 7, 2014 08:05
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<Kai_Tave> Hey Ettin, where are my Ctech reviews <Kai_Tave> It's like you gave up after the literal nazi rape machine <Kai_Tave> for SOME reason <TurninTrix> i would <Kai_Tave> tbf the nazi rape machine is like peak cthulhutech <Kai_Tave> it's never going to be quite as entertainingly terrible after that. This is true but gently caress all y'all:  Unveiled Threats: Sex Leeches Last time: Arcanotech chapter, baby-powered magic batteries, the Chrysalis Corporation are dumb as poo poo, blah blah. Let's talk about more dumbshit inventions! • Extreme Therapy Aid And Receptacle: quote:The initial proposal for the research which would come to challenge the Ashcroft Foundation's dominance in the treatment of psychological disorders was penned by Chrysalis Corporation's Director himself. Humanity had become disturbingly adept at combating madness, the very playground of the Old Ones, and could not be allowed to gain full dominion over this potent force. Besides, insanity was proving to be a growth industry with limitless potential and there were shareholders to keep happy. This device is a chair designed to suck the crazy out of your head and store it. It's described as a chair "similar to one a dentist or gynecologist might have" - I wonder what kind of dentists Grau has been to - with restraints, tentacle-like probes that wrap around your head and do technobabble at you, and a bowling ball filled with green fluid where all the crazy goes. It's a painful experience and people who use it need to be on suicide watch for a few months afterward because it makes people depressed for a while ("like someone had violated their very essence"), but it can remove one Insanity Point per week can cure anyone in ten, so Chrysalis still makes a mint in its treatment centers. They won't sell or license the tech to anyone, even the NEG. It's almost like all Chrysalis tech has a hidden catch or something. The catch here is the Extreme Therapy Receptacle, where all the crazy glows. When the green fluid turns into black sludge the Receptacle is sent back to the Corporation to be "recycled", but really the Corporation hoards the ones filled with crazy. There are some attached rumours about how it's really a brainwashing device and they're planning to use the crazy Receptacles to open a rift, so I'm guessing they're true. Anyway, sex leeches. • Erogenous Enhancement Leech: quote:For those obsessed with fornication, the Strange Aeon is a good time to be alive. Sex clubs, swinger's parties, and the loosest morality laws in human memory all create an atmosphere where casual sex and indulgence in just about any fetish or fantasy barely causes one to bat an eyelash. For the wealthy and powerful, it's even better. While a century ago a businessman might have to fly halfway around the world to force himself on a twelve year-old boy, today he can just go down to his local Dionysus Club on his lunch hour – provided, of course, that he’s a member in good standing, having violated his own morals and set himself and the world around him down the road to decay and depravity. quote:While a century ago a businessman might have to fly halfway around the world to force himself on a twelve year-old boy, I think you'll find it's "twelve-year-old", CthulhuTech.  Anyway! Some people are hard for the Dionysus Club to slowly corrupt with increasingly debauched rewards, because they're fine with just going straight to their biggest fantasy. Those guys get the Erogenous Enhancement Leech. I was just going to type up a description while saying "Erogenous Enhancement Leech" a lot because it's hilarious, but here: quote:After being placed within about ten inches of the genitals, this pus-yellow organism, a little smaller than the human kidney, attaches to the host via dozens of small suckers along the underside of its segmented body. Once attached, it begins secreting a hormone into the blood stream that ampli-fies pleasurable sensations to astronomical levels. The process is completely painless, although it's unlikely the host would notice even if it wasn't. The experience is so overwhelming, so all-encompassing, that every other experience pales in comparison. The Erogenous Enhancement Leech drains 2/3 your total Orgone per orgasm, and if you have "more than one orgasm per 24-hour period" with it, the Erogenous Enhancement Leech starts draining your willpower instead - victims start temporarily losing Tenacity. The Dionysus Club uses the Erogenous Enhancement Leech this way to turn people unfit for promotion but too useful to kill into puppets. quote:One such victim was a prominent politician in the New Earth Government Senate, known for his strong moral stance and focus on family values. To the surprise and revulsion of his colleagues, he introduced legislation to drop the age of consent to pre-pubescent levels, setting off a firestorm of criticism against him and his political party. Weeks later, he was implicated in a child prostitution ring, resigning from the Senate in disgrace and further lowering the average citizen's opinion of their government. Oh, also: quote:The secret to breeding and tending the erogenous enhancement leeches is a closely guarded secret within the Death Shadows cult, known to very few. Somewhere out there is a scientist whose specialised, prestigious role is being the Pokemon Daycare of Erogenous Enhancement Leeches. • The Pass: The last item in this chapter is pretty simple - an app made by the Disciples of Death's Shadow where gamblers can bet on anything, from whether a local store will close this month to whether a politician has a mistress to the results of military operations. The Disciples take a 3% cut of every wager, and they also snuck something into the app that takes the emotional "temperature" of gamblers and thereby get a read of the general mood in the NEG. Pretty handy! The final chapter is Chapter Six: Alien Hands. It is pages and pages of Migou/Esoteric Order of Dagon weapons and armour, great if you like that kind of thing but boring to read. There's a nice fiction piece at the start about a Deep One hybrid weaponsmith who is super proud of his work, though. And... that's it, actually. It's done finally! That was Unveiled Threats, the book I decided to skip to because it was quick almost literally a year ago. Enjoy, fuckers. . . . Okay, now that's done, let's talk future posts. First: I'm gonna try and do more of this poo poo, but I don't know what. There are two books left, take your votes: Ancient Enemies: A Tager/Dhohanoid sourcebook, and the one I skipped already. It goes into a lot of detail, so there's some pretty goofy poo poo! Optional rules for Tagers upgrading Guyver-style that badly need houserules, new kinds of Tagers that weren't thought through very well, surprisingly boring new Dhohanoids, and more! Burning Horizon: The 2013 release, a metaplot sourcebook for 2087. As in, sequel to Damnation View. There's no rape furries in this one, but if hearing about ridiculous metaplot that makes no loving sense if you think about it for two seconds and way better new Tagers is your thing, this book is absolutely for you. Second: People keep asking me about my previous posts, but the original thread fell into the archives before it got goldmined, so a lot of them can't be read right now. I was thinking of just copying and dumping all my posts into a single CthulhuTech thread for the ages, but there are problems with that, so I'm not sure. Who's got ideas?
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May 7, 2014 13:27
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Go with Ancient Enemies. Everything about the metaplot has been stupidly boring to read so far.
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May 7, 2014 13:38
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Pantheons of the Megaverse: A few final thoughts When I first saw this book as a teenager I thought it was kind of neat. I liked reading about mythology and some of these were new for me, things to read more about on my own. Of course, even teenaged me recognized the inherent balance issues in the god-numbers and some of the things they were presented as possessing, as well as the stupidity of some of the writeups. A lot of these beings would heavily overshadow a campaign without a lot of reward. I know a lot of games start with ‘you as the little guy in the big world’ but Rifts is inherently built in such a way that a base human can only climb so far through technology and magic, and will stop there. There is no lichdom or many other ways to ascend above one’s roots into this sort of realm. These are basically unapproachable forces even though they have numbers. Using them in a game requires a deft touch, as it would with any game involving an unbeatable power. This being a twenty year old book, they don't function like 13th Age icons or even Gloranthan myth cycle powers--they're just big chunks of numbers. The power level issue is only part of the problem, however. Including all these myths from Earth’s past suggests that A) these are the ones that are real (and Yahweh and Allah and etc are not) and B) that Earth’s religion is relevant to a lot of areas outside Earth. There should also be a fair number of actual alien gods wandering around, but most alien godlike beings we see are completely awful and just want to kill everything after torturing it a while. I guess Siembieda wanted a Deities & Demigods for Palladium and while having that for D&D was sort of silly, it could generally be ignored or included without too much hassle since cleric domains were well-established even early on. Rifts doesn’t really have that and so we just have these nebulous powerhouses tiptoeing around anything actually to do with religion. They also tried to cram too much into the book, and paradoxically didn't try too hard in examining new things. I suppose Greek and Norse are pretty much expected once you start statting gods, but their part of the world was detailed without them in it, so they don't feel really attached to the world. Having Aztec AND Maya feels like overkill even if the Mayans were somehow even lamer than the Aztecs. All of the writeups discard a lot of the nuance of the original material. I suppose to be fair to Palladium, even recent games like Scion still have this problem, trying to distill too much into a single column.
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May 7, 2014 14:37
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Ettin posted:First: I'm gonna try and do more of this poo poo, but I don't know what. There are two books left, take your votes: Mmmf. Go with Ancient Enemies. That way we know the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming metaplot train. And maybe see if you can get permission to put the whole thing up on the wiki, or maybe just a Google document somewhere?
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May 7, 2014 14:49
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Tagers are the only thing I unreservedly like about Cthulhutech (even if they're a ripoff) so yeah, Ancient Enemies. By the way, when did the database go down? I was reading PurpleXVI's Kult review not that long ago and suddenly I couldn't access it anymore.
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May 7, 2014 14:55
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Covok posted:You have my attention. After all, even if the subject matter is not my style, a system that simple could be easily hacked to any setting. It's definitely easy to hack. For the narrative framework of the game to work, you really need protagonists who sit on the border between two groups that exist in a state of perpetual tension, but as long as you have that and can break down the protagonists' approaches to problem-solving into three broad categories, you're all set. I've seen a Blade Runner hack, a hack where you play wandering shamans, even an Exalted hack that seems like it would work pretty well. Maybe I'll do a wrap-up post highlighting some of them. Me personally, though I give Ron Edwards crap for that weird "no little aerobicized butts allowed" comment and a couple of other bits of prose later on, I like the default premise a lot. It's not the best attempt at deconstructing the typical portrayal of women in a fantasy RPG, but it's a fairly good subversion as such things go. Which makes the whole Circle of Hands thing all the more surprising to me. Ettin posted:Okay, now that's done, let's talk future posts. Ancient Enemies gets my vote.
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May 7, 2014 15:26
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Ettin posted:Okay, now that's done, let's talk future posts. Ancient Enemies is pretty great just because the rules for metamorphosis are so incredibly dumb. Everything else about it is pretty hilarious as well but it's a Tager Sourcebook so that counts for a lot.
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May 7, 2014 15:34
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By the way, while I was trying to find a cached copy of Purple XVI's review of Kult, I found a review of Purple XVI's review of Kult. Truly, it is us, we are the friends of FATAL.
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May 7, 2014 15:38
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I'd going to also go with Ancient Enemies. That way on the off chance that they actually get another metaplot book out you'll have two to do back to back. Also speaking of lost posts, what caused one of the Carcossa posts to get eaten?
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May 7, 2014 15:43
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Go with Ancient Enemies. Let's see how badly they manage to gently caress up Tagers this time.
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May 7, 2014 16:09
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Ancient Enemies! It's complete fuckin garbage!
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May 7, 2014 17:48
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Ettin posted:First: I'm gonna try and do more of this poo poo, but I don't know what. There are two books left, take your votes:  ), I'd vote the Tager section of that book as the most solid of the line wow that's kinda depressingEttin posted:Burning Horizon: The 2013 release, a metaplot sourcebook for 2087. As in, sequel to Damnation View. There's no rape furries in this one, but if hearing about ridiculous metaplot that makes no loving sense if you think about it for two seconds and way better new Tagers is your thing, this book is absolutely for you. Ettin posted:Second: People keep asking me about my previous posts, but the original thread fell into the archives before it got goldmined, so a lot of them can't be read right now. I was thinking of just copying and dumping all my posts into a single CthulhuTech thread for the ages, but there are problems with that, so I'm not sure. Who's got ideas?
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May 7, 2014 18:02
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I want to say Burning Horizons, but saving the "best" for last sounds good.
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May 7, 2014 19:10
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AmiYumi posted:I vote wiki-dump, but I was also just shy of getting Archives so I could read the old thread so maybe I'm weird? The issue is that the database that was used for Archives died about a week ago. So even if you had bought it you can't see the old thread since it was Archived before it could be Goldmined.
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May 7, 2014 19:16
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Are the archives going to be fixed at some point?  But yeah, I've been wanting to move our Rifts reviews to a wiki sooner or later for posterity. I know Plague of Hats was working on one, but the link is lost to me at the moment.
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May 7, 2014 19:24
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PresidentBeard posted:Also speaking of lost posts, what caused one of the Carcossa posts to get eaten? I was going to redo it, but it was too laborious to type up. (It was probably much longer than it needed to be in the first place.) that was the chapter that covered the descriptions of each hex. That's a huge chunk of the book, but what was worth pointing out was that many of the hex descriptions just reuse the same few ideas over and over. For example...oh gently caress it, my boss is out of town...   Oh, of course there's just brainwashed naked titties all over the...wait. Octopotamus?  Still a better bet than going to law school.     Yeah, we're going to go on a mission to save a world covered in slime gods, to save all the people who want to rape us and sacrifice us to slime gods.  Wasn't this a scene in the Holy Mountain?  This too.  Haven't you ever wanted to roleplay rimming a hobo for drugs?    Is Roberta Williams responsible for this?   There's some great scenery here, and even some good encounters. But the scenery will become monotonous if the PCs can't interact with it, and the encounters are so marred by save-or-die bullshit that eventually, it will all become monotonous scenery as the players learn not to touch anything. Raggi has openly stated that LotFP supplements don't provide their own context; it's up to the DM to find a place for the dungeon in their campaign, or to provide a way for the PCs to discover how to interact with something like "a pit full of bugs that will give you a free spell if you jump in and let spiders rock out in your butthole while ants throw a tea party in your urethra." But how will the PCs trust you when even the good stuff is often booby-trapped with awful side effects, just because? Not to mention that linked points of interest (which will probably just kill you) are often separated by many ten-mile hexes (full of stuff which will probably just kill you). The main thing Carcosa has going for it is a lot of macabre, Clark Ashton Smith weirdness. I think that an extended Smith story is how McKinney sees a Carcosa campaign working out. But the stuff in a Smith story is not random, even when it appears to be, and the PCs are not going to think it's sardonic or ironic or funny at all when poo poo randomly kills them in the middle of an adventure. Except the Octopotamus. That poo poo is choice.
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May 7, 2014 19:35
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Besides Death Frost Doom, and Carcossa sort of, have any of the other LotFP supplements been reviewed? I was gifted a large number of them and wanted to do something with them before burning the physical ones and deleting the digital ones.
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May 7, 2014 20:18
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If you have Vornheim, you can mail me your copy instead of burning it.
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May 7, 2014 20:21
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Is it that good or that bad?
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May 7, 2014 20:31
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I'm glad I could have a part in getting Ettin back on the Cthulhutech wagon. Anyway, I vote for Ancient Enemies too because it sounds like a good idea (tagers) executed in a goofy and dumb and maybe terrible fashion, which is like cthulhutech.txt so go with that.
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May 7, 2014 20:40
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Halloween Jack posted:By the way, while I was trying to find a cached copy of Purple XVI's review of Kult, I found a review of Purple XVI's review of Kult. Truly, it is us, we are the friends of FATAL. Well, poo poo. He got our number. I do wonder, though: quote:Then he sums up the core resolution mechanic pretty succinctly: What was the actual conflict resolution mechanic, then?
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May 7, 2014 20:54
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Kai Tave posted:I'm glad I could have a part in getting Ettin back on the Cthulhutech wagon. The sad thing is, the Tager-upgrade thing could have been a neat idea- it's essentially an Achievement based advancement system. Except it's the bad sort of achievement, where you have to do thousands of lovely repetitive tasks and -then- pay in-game resources to get your prize which may or may not actually be worthwhile. It's the tabletop equivalent of the Assassin's Creed II feather cloak. unseenlibrarian fucked around with this message at 21:21 on May 7, 2014 |
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May 7, 2014 21:15
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unseenlibrarian posted:The sad thing is, the Tager-upgrade thing could have been a neat idea- it's essentially an Achievement based advancement system. Except it's the bad sort of achievement, where you have to do thousands of lovely repetitive tasks and -then- pay in-game resources to get your prize which may or may not actually be worthwhile. I think someone did the math and going by the "recommended Experience per Adventure" chart they have, it would take somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 years worth of weekly games to achieve the amount of experience required to both level up your stats from base and pay for Metamorphosis for one of the weaker Tager breeds.
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May 7, 2014 22:00
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PleasingFungus posted:Well, poo poo. He got our number. Dammit, that is my dream. It's time to step up your game, Palladium fans. 
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May 7, 2014 22:08
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Cardiovorax posted:Go with Ancient Enemies. Everything about the metaplot has been stupidly boring to read so far. Yeah, go with Ancient Enemies. I've read it, I've talked to you about it (2 years ago on IRC), and talking about how they managed to put Achievement Grinding into a PnP RPG is truly amazing. Bad Achievement Grinding, even.
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May 7, 2014 22:12
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I know some people freak out about Trollbabe but it's about as offensive as Heavy Metal and very much in the same theme. And yeah, the system is pretty slick. I think Ron Edward's perspective is "I'm a college professor in his 40's who likes T&A, so what" isn't that big a deal. I do understand that anything sexual is so poorly handled by most RPGs that people are wary as hell of any of it, though.
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May 7, 2014 22:36
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PleasingFungus posted:What was the actual conflict resolution mechanic, then? I just looked it up. Lower the roll, the better, because after you roll under (skill, etc), you subtract the result from your skill and reference the result on a table to determine the magnitude of its Effect. Conflict resolution turns into dueling Effects, subtracting aggressor from defender and referencing the result. Or not, because it's apparently optional, and has riders, and combat is called out as using something different. Basically, it's roll-under meets marginal success systems. Or not, because those subsystems are optional.
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May 8, 2014 00:52
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Alright, votes are pretty overwhelming for Ancient Enemies so you can stop voting.  Kurieg posted:The issue is that the database that was used for Archives died about a week ago. So even if you had bought it you can't see the old thread since it was Archived before it could be Goldmined. Can the posts be recovered?
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May 8, 2014 02:00
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GimpInBlack posted:Aside from Norse mythology, the Icelandic Sagas, and related fantasy literature, Trollbabe is heavily indebted to the underground comix scene of the 1970s. In particular, the aesthetic of Vaughn Bode seems to have had a big impact. Link NSFW for lots of cartoon nudity, but unlike a lot of fantasy art from the same period, there's a sort of... I dunno, innocence to a lot of it? The art in Trollbabe definitely reflects this, being all black-and-white line art. Forums Barber posted:I know some people freak out about Trollbabe but it's about as offensive as Heavy Metal and very much in the same theme. And yeah, the system is pretty slick. Bieeardo posted:Basically, it's roll-under meets marginal success systems. Or not, because those subsystems are optional.
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May 8, 2014 02:50
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Halloween Jack posted:The thing is, when Moebius and company started Metal Hurlant and guys like Bode were doing their thing, they were having fun and taking the piss. Maybe their work reflected the meatheaded side of the 60s sexual revolution, but they never intended to create this cottage industry that caters to companionless geeks the way muscle magazines catered to closeted gay men, nor the grotesque entitlement that came with it. All very true, but I think lack of awareness of this is one of the main reasons a lot of people assume the worst about the game. Trollbabe's art is actually quite good about not being skeevy. There's some nudity, sure (moreso in the Italian version), but the characters are all reasonably-proportioned with plausible anatomy, and none of the pieces I can recall suffer from porn posing. Hell, there's a straight up sex scene in the Italian version, and even that's not overly cheesecake-y. Most of the art shows trollbabes being active, badass heroes. Later on in my review, I'll talk a little bit more about this when I cover the Trollbabe webcomics Ron Edwards and some of the artists did back around the release of the first edition, but yeah. A lot of people were put off by assumptions based on the name of the game without really looking at it, I think.
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May 8, 2014 03:16
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unseenlibrarian posted:The sad thing is, the Tager-upgrade thing could have been a neat idea- it's essentially an Achievement based advancement system. Except it's the bad sort of achievement, where you have to do thousands of lovely repetitive tasks and -then- pay in-game resources to get your prize which may or may not actually be worthwhile. doesn't help that I came back to C-tech right after reading some L5R books, which had things like Rosoku's Challenges (the epitome of "STARS ABOOOOOVE" GM-ing).
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May 8, 2014 03:26
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AmiYumi posted:The XP factor hadn't even occurred to me, wow. I was more struck by how much they took an interesting idea (achievement-based advancement), focused on the fiddliest poo poo you would never keep track of ("kill 3X dozen dhohanoids, 2X dozen of which must be killed with a bite attack, X dozen of which must die in one hit, X of which must wet themselves..."), and made it all seem so formulaic. Trying to emphasize for a chapter how rare and individual and mysterious and unnatural Metamorphosis is, then having a Trophy Hunting FAQ right afterwards? Peak C-tech. The problem is that rather than have the character grow organically into their new roll, the 'achievements' are spelled out to a ridiculous extreme, you're not just distant, "you have refrained from indulging in personal contact for at least 90 days while still maintaining your friendships". It's also not just "things you have to do" it's "events that must transpire", which require your storyteller to work them into the fiction even if it means that your character is off doing something by themselves or actively working against the other players interests.
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May 8, 2014 03:40
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Spoilers  (for a game from 2010 half of you have read already)
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May 8, 2014 03:53
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AmiYumi posted:The XP factor hadn't even occurred to me, wow. I was more struck by how much they took an interesting idea (achievement-based advancement), focused on the fiddliest poo poo you would never keep track of ("kill 3X dozen dhohanoids, 2X dozen of which must be killed with a bite attack, X dozen of which must die in one hit, X of which must wet themselves..."), and made it all seem so formulaic. Trying to emphasize for a chapter how rare and individual and mysterious and unnatural Metamorphosis is, then having a Trophy Hunting FAQ right afterwards? Peak C-tech. Falkenstein has an actual working achievement-based advancement system, so look forward to that! When I get to the rules section in a million billion years.
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May 8, 2014 04:05
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Speaking of, GUESS WHAT TIME IT IS! To Rule the World! The Nations of Castle Falkenstein It’s time to learn about the nations of this strange new world we find ourselves in! History nerds are welcome to geek out now.  The Kingdom of Bayern (Bavaria)  Ruled by the extensive Wittlesbach family, Bayern is a constitutional monarchy ruled currently by King Ludwig II. It is a peaceful nation which holds to enlightened and cosmopolitan ideals. It is known for both it’s advanced technology and magickal arts. Geographically Bayern is mostly gently rolling hills and heavy forests. Your typical village is made up of a collection of wooden cottages, small churches, lots of flowers, and a central market square with at least one Inn and beer-garden. The most important part of the country is the capital of Munchen (Munich). Built mostly in Neo-Grecian style, and is known for its high culture and academia. Notable locations are the Alte Pinothek, one of the largest art galleries on the continent, the Residenz, home of King Ludwig and the Royal Palace, the Englishergarten, a massive Victorian park, and the University capital of Germanic learning. The Austrian-Hungarian Empire  Formerly a powerhouse of New Europa, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire is now showing its age, though it still serves as an international center and is not to be dismissed. The Empire is an absolute monarchy ruled by the kindly Emperor Franz Joseph, and held together by one of the largest spy and police organizations on the continent and a masterful diplomatic corps. Clearly outarmed and outteched by the Prussians, Austria-Hungary is looking east to the Balkans as its new frontier, which as any history major will tell you is a bad idea. While overall cosmopolitan and peacable, there are ethnic and nationalist stirrings in the Empire, as the various peoples that make it up are starting to agitate for independence. It’s hard to keep Germans, Coats, Serbians, Turks, Italians, Jews, Magyars, Slavs, Armenians, and Greeks together as one big happy family. Major cities are Prague, Cracow, Budapest, and the capital Vienna which is a lovely place for parties, dancing, talking long walks in the woods, and dealing with intrigue, secret agents, and backstabbing diplomacy. The Second Empire (France)  Ruled by Emperor Napolean III (Nephew of Bonaparte) the Second Empire of France is the capital of New Europan fashion and culture. While lacking the industrial might of their ancient rival Britain, they make up for it in style. Go to France for fashion, art, cuisine, literature, philosophy, the finest shopping, and of course parties parties parties! And if you want some exoticness feel free to visit one of the Empires foreign colonies, like Algiers, Martinique, or the Pacific islands. So, if you want beauty, class, fashion, and high society head to Paris! Also if you want Mad Science. Turns out Napoleon the III has a thing for eccentric geniuses and has named an obscure writer by the name of Jules Verne as his Minister of Science. Mssr. Verne is responsible for the ace up France’s sleeve, the Verne Cannon a 275cm intercontinental cannon aimed by Babbage Calculation Engine and able to rain devastation anywhere in New Europa. The British Empire  The World Power of the Steam Age and big boss of Industry. Britain controls the largest Empire on Earth, funded by the trade fleets that bring the wealth of the world to merry ol’ England and protected by the war fleets of Ironclads that form the mightiest navy in the world. This power is thanks to Britain’s massive and rapid industrialization which has turned the country into a double-sided Nightmare/Paradise. In the cosmopolitan heart of London and the high-class countryside Britain looks like My Fair Lady come to life. In the country there are horse rides and fox hunts and balls at country manors held by members of the British peerage, while the city is marked by bustling shops, hansom cabs clattering down cobbled streets, and the sharply dressed lads from Scotland Yard keeping her Majesty the Queen’s Imperial peace. But on the outskirts of London, in the slums and dockyards or the smoke filled mill-towns it’s another story. The poor labor in great churning factories for pennies on the dollar, crime breeds and thrives in the shadows, and technology must march ever on no matter who gets trampled ‘neath Progress’s heel. Britain is the one place that truly earns the label of “steampunk”. Prussia  Bogeyman of New Europa. Second only to Britain in sheer industrial might (though they try harder) and second to none in nationalistic chest thumping and war mongering. In Prussia the military is everything: You are only as important your rank, it’s considered a shame to get out of College without at least one good dueling scar, and every city and public building looks more like a Brutalist fortress than anything else. Prussians are in themselves not evil though, and Prussia is quite a nice country to live in. People are well educated, laws are not onerous or tyrannical, and the worst thing likely to happen is to be challenged to a duel by a drunken Collegiate looking to impress his equally drunken friends. Still, a nation which has the Adversaries hands as deep in it as Prussia is not exactly a wonderful vacation spot. The Russian Empire  Don’t go to Russia. Sure, Petersburg is a very lovely city! But don’t go to Russia. In the semi-civilized west, around cities like Moscov, Kiev, and Petersburg you have brutal imperial opression. The Tsar is paranoid and mad, and keeps his head on his shoulders with the help of the largest secret police force in the world. These guys are basically the Steampunk KGB, and are not to be hosed with. Further out in the semi-rural areas are good old Feudalism. Local barons and petty lords crush poor peasant farmers ‘neath their heels, and it’s borderline lawless, what with the petty lords, crushing poverty, and y’know. Cossacks running around Cossacking it up. Then you get to the back country, where it’s still, y’know, Feudal-y, but you’ve pretty much forgotten that you were ever in an Empire now. Dark spooky castles, villages made of crappy huts full of scared villagers huddling against the night, and monsters galore. Vampires, werewolves, ghasts, ghouls, and wicked Faeries are everywhere, held back by nothing more than light, prayer, and a wreath of garlic or a horseshoe over the door. Then you get to the parts where people don’t dare go, the deepest darkest woods, or the high steppes. This is the domain of the Leshye, wild Faerie kings of the wilderness. The Leshya ruled the wilderness before man ever came there, and they are quite unwilling to share. Travel into the far reaches is a death-sentence, if you’re lucky. Other Nations of the World
Miscellaneous Historical Trivia that Doesn’t Fit Elsewhere in this Update
A Brief History of the World
15,000 BC The Ice Age Cro-Magnons enter New Europa and displace the Neanderthal, becomes new food source for primitive Dragons. 12,000 BC-The Faerie Arrival The Faeries arrive from a dimensional rift deep below the site of the future Castle Falkenstein, Dwarfs renounce their Faerie nature. 11,000 BC- The Nightfall War The two godlike Faerie races of the Tuatha De Danu and Fomorians wage a massive war in ancient Ireland. The Tuatha win, but both sides are so devastated they must interbreed with humans to replenish their population. 10,000 BC- The First Compact Auberon tricks the Adversary into signing a peace treaty between the Faerie Courts and the Human race. 4000 BC- Dawn of Civilization Sumerians and Hittites build the first cities in ancient Mesopotamia. Faeries are thought to be demons and monsters. Dwarfs and Humans make contact and an alliance: Dwarfen craftsmanship in exchange for that most sacred of substances, beer. 3000 BC- Rise of the Egyptians Unseelie take control of the Nile civilizations by masquerading as Animal headed Gods. Egyptian Magick is created. Dwarfs teach Egyptians how to build pyramids. 2000 BC- Fall of Babylon The Unseelie take control of the Assyrians, Seelie teach Babylonians writing, law, and astrology. The Israelites arrive in the Middle East toting the Ark of the Covenant and carve out their own civilization. 800 BC- Golden Age of Greece Both Seelie and Unseelie act as the Greek Gods, interbreed with people all over the place, and increase humanities genetic talent for Magick. Aristotle’s Treatise on Paranormal Cosmology begins the development of modern Magick. 220 BC- Rise of the Dragon Empires Seven Clan-Lords of the Dragons travel east to found the Empires of Asia. 31 BC- Imperial Rome Romans realize Faeries are not gods, and wage war against them with Magick and Cold Iron. Unseelie push rome into decadence and warmongering, while the Seelie push barbarian tribes to attack the Empire, facilitating the Fall of Rome. 400 AD- The Dark Ages Faeries torment Mankind, stealing babies, ruining milk, eating people, etc. until the Church rediscovers the writings of Aristotle. Clerics are taught Magick and push the Faeries back into the wilderness. 800 AD- Rise of Islam Islamic Empire masters their own forms of sorcery, as well as progressing mathematics, astronomy, and calligraphy. 1090 AD- The Crusades Crusades in the Middle East cause contact with Islamic sorcery. New interest in the art is kindled in the west, and Pope Innocencia rules Magick as a Gift from God. 1450 AD- The Renaissance Writings of Aristotle spur further development of Magick. Marco Polo journeys east and returns with knowledge from the Dragon Empires. 1490 AD- Age of Discovery Columbus discovers the Americas, Spain conquers the Mayans, Incas and Aztecs. Aztec use blood sorcery to curse the Spanish and cause the Inquisition. 1588 AD- Age of Exploration Sir Walter Raleigh and the Irish-Selkie admiral Liam O’Connagh lead Britian to defeat the Spanish Armada, beginning a new wave of exploration and colonialism. 1600 AD- The Enlightenment New wave of science and philosophy sweeps the world. The Empires of New Europa begin to form. The Seelie Faeries reveal themselves and begin to join human society. Cotton Mathers fuels Witch Hunts that send most American spellcasters to death or hiding. 1776 AD- War of American Independence American colonists rebel against British taxation, becoming the United States of America. The Iroquois Shamanistic Confederation forms. 1790- The Age of Napoleon: Napoleon conquers New Europa with the help of Templar magick and Dwarfish artillery. Stopped by a mystic winter conjured by the Russian Leshye. 1814 AD- The Indian Alliance North American Indians halt white expansion west of the Mississippi. Because of the Mathers witch-hunts massively reducing the number of sorcerers, U.S. cannot stand up to native Magick. 1815 AD- The Battle of Waterloo Napoleon is defeated, the Congress of Vienna establishes the modern Empires of New Europa. Next Time: A Walk in New Europa: A View from the Steam Age, or, a lot of much smaller posts cause holy dip this book is dense!
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May 8, 2014 04:12
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Halloween Jack posted:Ah, the 90s. It's really cute, in retrospect-- they're just so earnest. "How do I narrate? I don't know how to create drama!" "Here, use this table. You can always trust tables." As guidelines, they wouldn't be too bad: here's what you can generally accomplish on a success, here's what generally happens on a crit; in order to crit, knock the last digit off your skill and roll at or under the remaining one. Instead there's three different tables and two pages of poorly written examples and rules for calculating modifiers. It's like peering at a living transitional fossil.
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May 8, 2014 04:18
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Rifts: Conversion: Book: 2: Pantheons: Of: The: Megaverse: Part: 33: THE FINAL CHAPTER I wasn't sure how to wrap up this book, how to sum it up. How to really get that Rifts feeling across. Then I came up with something.  Adonai Warrior God Once the head of the Canaanite pantheon, Adonai was once one of the chief gods, but descended into obsession and madness! As the king of the Canaanite pantheon, he was deeply troubled by the “Gods of Darkness”, and saw to trying to purge such gods from his pantheon entirely. However, his methods became so cruel that many of his fellow gods spoke out against his ways, including his brother, Hadad. Adonai relaxed his ways for a time, but seethed at the idea of evil existing alongside good. When Yam and Lotan finally got their revenge on Hadam by subjecting him to the Rite of Transmogrification and changing him into the demon lord Baal Zebub, the act of which drove Adonai to madness. Blaming the other members of the Canaanite pantheon for not having done enough, he declared all of them to be Gods of Darkness in his eyes! The pantheons quickly fell apart, and in his paranoia, Adonai even banned his followers from acknowledging the very existence of other gods, and even hid his true name away. Though his followers were reduced to a mere single tribe, Adonai doted on them and lashed out at other gods, seeking to make himself the sole divine power on Earth. Were it not for his megalomania and paranoia, Adonai might have succeeded. He once fathered a demigod by the name of Jesus, but the two became estranged when Jesus’ personal cult began to eclipse that of Adonai. His aggressions helped drive the Greek, Norse, Egyptians, and Persian pantheons off of Earth, and it’s arguable that he may have succeeded at becoming Earth’s sole god had fate not intervened. When his followers were decimated by the Rifts, Adonai was driven further into madness! The deaths of billions drove him over the edge, and he now is a mere shell of his former self. Adonai now believes he really is the only “true” god, and that all others are imposters/fakes! The only saving grace is that the other gods universally detest Adonai, though some Gods of Darkness like Set or Ahriman are seeking to find a means to fool or deceive Adonai to joining their ranks. An ironic fate for a once-noble god. Real Name: Yahweh. Also called Em. Alignment: Aberrant (but paranoid and vindictive) M.D.C.: 98,000 (14,000 in the Rifts world) Height: 7 to 47 feet (2.1 to 14.3m) Weight: Varies with size Attributes: I.Q. 30, M.E. 26, M.A. 32, P.S. 45 (supernatural), P.P. 23, P.E. 38, P.B. 17. Spd 60 (41 mph / 65 km) Disposition: Full of bluster and threats, Adonai expects all the respect due to the one true god (in his mind), but can be very protective of those he considers loyal. He takes betrayal on the slightest pretense, however, and has often punished his followers for even small failures of obedience. Despite all this, he often works against the Gods of Darkness, though his unwillingness to seek allies also makes him vulnerable to them. Horror Factor: 15 for his worshippers, 17 for everybody else. Experience Level: 20th level warrior and sorcerer/warlock Natural Abilities: Nightvision 800 ft. (182 m), bio-regeneration (1d6 x 100 M.D.C. per minute), see the invisible, turn invisible at will, healing touch restores 6d6 S.D.C. / H.P. / M.D.C., knows all languages, teleport 96%, dimensional teleport 96%, impervious to disease, heat, cold, possession, exorcism 98%, turn dead 96% (affecting 2d6 x 100 dead at a time). Does not need to eat, drink, or fatigue. Can grant the Gift of Power, Gift of Magic, or Gift of Union like a supernatural intelligence! (See the Witchery section in Conversion Book.) Adonai often has used these to empower warriors and “prophets” in his name. Special: Plague of Curses! Once every melee round, Adonai can cast a curse that effects 1d6 x 100 ft. (30m). Roll on the following table: 01%-10%: Water to Blood! All water in the area turns to blood and becomes undrinkable. Any creature that does drink it becomes sick for 1d6 x 10 minutes and loses 1 melee action per melee, -3 to strike, parry, and dodge, and -15% to any skills. 11%-21%: Plague of Frogs! 1d6 x 100 frogs appear and attack. Each frog has 1d4 H.P. and does 1d4 S.D.C. with a successful bite attack. Also they can interfere with sensor systems and weapon ports; robots and power armor lose one melee attack and have -10 on attacks. 21%-30%: Curse of Lice! Characters in this area are infested by biting lice; power armor and robot vehicles offer NO protection. They lose 1 melee action per round and take -2 to attack, parry, and intitiative, and -10% on skill rolls. This can be cured by spending 1d6 melees under water, or 1d6 melees on fire. 31%-41%: Swarm of Flies!: Vicious, sadistic biting flies attack and bite. They do 1d6 S.D.C. per round and give -8 to attack, parry, and dodge for the unprotected. Those in sealed / power armor are unaffected.. 41%-50%: Death of Farm Animals! Farm animals (chickens, cattle, camel, goats, etc.) take 1d6 x 10 M.D.C. damage (half on save vs. magic). Mutant farm animals take half damage. 51%-60%: Painful Boils! Characters suffer painful boils (power armor is NO protection!). This causes them to lose half of their melee attacks and take -6 to parry/dodge, and any jarring bump causes 1d6 S.D.C. / M.D.C. damage when the boils burst. 61%-71%: Rain of Boiling Ash! Burning ash and fire come down, doing 2d6 x 10 M.D.C. to everybody in the area (except Adonai!). The ash causes characters to lose one attack per melee and gives -3 to strike until they can clean themselves off. 70%-80%: Plague of Locusts! 1d6 x 1000 locusts arrive and bite and attack all present. In addition, all plant life takes 2d6 x 10 S.D.C. damage per round!! Characters take 2d6 S.D.C. damage per round and suffer -10 to attack, parry/dodge and intitiative. The plague also has a Horror Factor of 16! 80%-91%: Cloud of Darkness! The area becomes covered in darkness! Not even nightvision can help. Being trapped in the darkness is maddening and any character trapped in it has to roll vs. insanity for every minute (4 melee rounds) they are trapped in the darkness. They also lose half melee actions, -30% to skill checks, -9 to attack, parry and roll, and have -6 on initiative! 90%-100%: Death of the Firstborn: All characters that rolled “First Born” under the birth order chart suffer 1d4 S.D.C. / M.D.C. damage a turn for 1d4 minutes, and must make a save vs. coma/death. If they fail, they fall into a coma for 2d4 months! Only remove curse cast at a ley line nexus can undo this coma, but it is recommended that characters that survive roll on the insanity table! Special: Shapeshifting. God can shapeshift into the following forms: a burning bush, a flying flying trumpet, or a lamp (he can choose the form of the lamp he takes, anything from a oil lantern to a spotlight). Skills: Knows all skills he cares to use at 92%, and magically knows all languages. Combat Skills: Hand to Hand: Martial Arts plus Boxing Number of Attacks: Seven hand to hand or psionic attacks or four by magic Restrained Punch - 1d6 x 10 + 30 S.D.C. Full Strength Punch - 6d6 M.D. Power Punch - 2d4 x 10 M.D. (counts as two melee attacks) Leap Kick - 2d6 x 10 M.D. (counts as two melee attacks) Kick - 6d6 M.D. Bonuses: +4 on initiative, +6 to strike, +11 to parry/dodge, +30 S.D.C. damage, +6 pull punch, +7 to roll with impact/fall, +8 vs. horror factor, +10 to save vs. magic, +8 save vs. psionics. Magic Knowledge: All spells from levels 1-15, including the spells of legend, at 20th level. Also can cast any Fire or Air spell at 20th level. P.P.E.: 8,000 Psionic Knowledge: All sensitive, healing, and the super psionic powers of hydrokinesis, empathic transmission, telepathy, bio-manipulation, pyrokinesis, group mind block, auto-mind block, psi-shield, and psi-sword, at 20th level. I.S.P.: 2,000 Allies: None, the demon lord Set, however, is scheming to find a way to manipulate him as a potential “ally”. Though Adonai detests almost all other gods, he gets along with Thoth and the two often get together to drink (though they CANNOT get drunk). Enemies: Disliked by almost everyone! Minions: Adonai can summon 1d6 x 100 spirits of light, and usually has 1d6 spirits of light accompanying him at all times. He also often has a witch/prophet (see special abilities, above) and 1d6 x 1000 followers under that “prophet”. Description: Generally a caucasian elderly human with a long, flowing white beard and long robes. Sometimes he appears as burning flora, a lamp, or a flying trumpet. He is often severe and commanding, and rarely smiles. Weapons and Equipment of Note: Adonai prefers to rely on his natural powers and abilities, but he has a collection of rune swords (he particularly likes flaming swords). Next: Book's over, so we get a bit of a break. After That: Die Todesengel.
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May 8, 2014 05:29
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