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fool_of_sound posted:
Vendetta
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Dec 31, 2014 09:17
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incoming:
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I AM THE MOON posted:Vendetta You still end up with substantially less damage than a Skilled character unless you spend tons of feat point using backswing. Vendetta just allows Mighty characters to have some semblance of usefulness against boss enemies.
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Dec 31, 2014 16:59
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I do think the biggest fundamental issue with the IKRPG from a character standpoint is that the archetypes are not even remotely balanced against one another. Magic can be very powerful in combat mainly through it's control effects - buffs or debuffs, fairly easy to fish for critical effects, movement impairing spells, etc - but the gifted archetype itself has like, two good options. Skilled is the clear winner, giving you an extra attack every turn by default is absolutely ridiculous, and virtuoso makes the offense oriented mighty abilities look downright stupid in comparison. Mighty itself is just a huge waste of time. The extra damage die seems nice until you actually look at it on the table and find out it doesn't end up changing much most of the time, as it has a lower expected damage output against most things than the extra attack the skilled archetype would give you, in addition to giving you less versatility and less opportunity to gain/spend feat points. Picking Trollblood as a race is pretty much always better than picking Mighty for it's defensive abilities to boot. I'm always really annoyed at how useless Ogryn are in comparison to Trolls as well - they can't be wizards, they don't get any special careers, etc, etc. They obviously didn't think the race selection through very well. I really like running and playing in the game but it's got some problems that just annoy the gently caress out of me. Like how I told all of my players to make their characters out of one combat and one non-combat career so I could make encounters without pulling my hair out, or how PCs can, at character creation, put either their defense or arm to levels where it's almost useless to attack them - where if I make guys accurate enough to hit the high defense guys, they can't hurt the high arm characters, and if I make guys hit hard enough to damage the high arm characters, they could pretty easily one shot the high defense characters.
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Dec 31, 2014 18:25
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Ok, folks. I am howling with laughter looking at Machinations of the Space Princess. Anybody want to do a full read through of this piece of crap? It's from James Desborough. An OSR SF game sold as "sci fi, sex, and sleaze!"
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Dec 31, 2014 18:29
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ascendance posted:Ok, folks. I am howling with laughter looking at Machinations of the Space Princess. Anybody want to do a full read through of this piece of crap? It's from James Desborough. An OSR SF game sold as "sci fi, sex, and sleaze!"
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Dec 31, 2014 18:35
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S.J. posted:I do think the biggest fundamental issue with the IKRPG from a character standpoint is that the archetypes are not even remotely balanced against one another. Magic can be very powerful in combat mainly through it's control effects - buffs or debuffs, fairly easy to fish for critical effects, movement impairing spells, etc - but the gifted archetype itself has like, two good options. Skilled is the clear winner, giving you an extra attack every turn by default is absolutely ridiculous, and virtuoso makes the offense oriented mighty abilities look downright stupid in comparison. The info that came out about the next big book (which will have warlocks) basically came attached to a caveat from PP of "We couldn't figure out how to not make Fury casters overpowered, so they just are. You probably shouldn't use both books in the same game."
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Dec 31, 2014 18:36
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theironjef posted:The info that came out about the next big book (which will have warlocks) basically came attached to a caveat from PP of "We couldn't figure out how to not make Fury casters overpowered, so they just are. You probably shouldn't use both books in the same game." Fury casters are no doubt overpowered in the same way a Warcaster with a jack is overpowered, made worse by the fact that channelers must have at least one (and possibly two or even three) beasts in order to make full use of their casting. I'm honestly not sure how to fix it without utterly divorcing those careers from their source material.
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Dec 31, 2014 18:40
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NGDBSS posted:Sounds like he'd decided to dig himself deeper. At this rate he needs to pause to think about where the mining equipment came from. quote:Libertine (Cultural)
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Dec 31, 2014 18:46
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Did they ever come down with a ruling about whether you can take sorcerer as a career multiple times, taking a different element each time?
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Dec 31, 2014 18:48
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fool_of_sound posted:Fury casters are no doubt overpowered in the same way a Warcaster with a jack is overpowered, made worse by the fact that channelers must have at least one (and possibly two or even three) beasts in order to make full use of their casting. I'm honestly not sure how to fix it without utterly divorcing those careers from their source material. Simple solution: Heavy use of Lesser Warbeasts, or even single members of Warbeast Packs. Just channeling Fury from some wolf or big spider is going to be a very different game from automatically starting with a pet Troll Axer.
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Dec 31, 2014 18:50
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ascendance posted:A quick perusal of Machinations of the Space Princess turned up this little gem: Is that an RPG that has both a Comeliness score and a Looks score?
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Dec 31, 2014 18:58
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Speaking of our terrible sex princess rpgs. Someone should really go over everything wrong with the Lamentations fo the Flame Princess adventure NSFW. If no one else is interested I can work on some posts, but I'm not sure how funny they'll be.
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Dec 31, 2014 19:05
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ascendance posted:Ok, folks. I am howling with laughter looking at Machinations of the Space Princess. Anybody want to do a full read through of this piece of crap? It's from James Desborough. An OSR SF game sold as "sci fi, sex, and sleaze!"
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Dec 31, 2014 19:07
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theironjef posted:The info that came out about the next big book (which will have warlocks) basically came attached to a caveat from PP of "We couldn't figure out how to not make Fury casters overpowered, so they just are. You probably shouldn't use both books in the same game." I saw that, and it really bugs the gently caress out of me. It seems really lazy from a fluff and a design standpoint. Warcasters have a decent parity with the other careers in IK, at least until you get to the 2nd level of the game. It feels like they are just refusing to alter the specifics of the Fury mechanic from the minis game. I'll at least pick up the starter set when it drops since it's a fantastic deal, but I really, really don't want to have to tell people they can't play a warlock.
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Dec 31, 2014 19:08
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S.J. posted:I saw that, and it really bugs the gently caress out of me. It seems really lazy from a fluff and a design standpoint. Warcasters have a decent parity with the other careers in IK, at least until you get to the 2nd level of the game. It feels like they are just refusing to alter the specifics of the Fury mechanic from the minis game. I'll at least pick up the starter set when it drops since it's a fantastic deal, but I really, really don't want to have to tell people they can't play a warlock. It's so easy to fix too. They just need to make a couple of 2 and 3 Fury dogs and wolves and spiders and worms and so on for the various factions they're going to make playable. But apparently they can't even conceive of a warlock that doesn't have a light beast on hand, and gave up immediately.
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Dec 31, 2014 19:11
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Just make it a loving familiar you can start with: raven, dog, giant beetle, whatever. Ugh.
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Dec 31, 2014 19:16
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theironjef posted:Simple solution: Heavy use of Lesser Warbeasts, or even single members of Warbeast Packs. Just channeling Fury from some wolf or big spider is going to be a very different game from automatically starting with a pet Troll Axer. Doesn't solve the problem any more than 'only' letting a warcaster have a light laborjack does. Sure it nowhere near as powerful as a true warjack, but between power attacks, extra attacks, and purchasable boosts to both attack and damage rolls, even a light laborjack can outfight most characters given some focus every turn. Worse, even if the warcaster is pumping three focus into his/her jack every round, (s)he is still able to fight pretty well with a boostable weapon at no penalty.
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Dec 31, 2014 19:17
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fool_of_sound posted:Doesn't solve the problem any more than 'only' letting a warcaster have a light laborjack does. Sure it nowhere near as powerful as a true warjack, but between power attacks, extra attacks, and purchasable boosts to both attack and damage rolls, even a light laborjack can outfight most characters given a some focus every turn. Worse, even if the warcaster is pumping three focus into his/her jack every round, (s)he is still able to fight pretty well with a boostable weapon at no penalty. Not really, unless you spend tons of money upgrading the laborjack. They will hit like a pillow, if they even hit at all, compared to just about any competent combat career without some expensive upgrades. At any rate, lesser warbeasts are considerably easier to kill than any laborjack. I think my familiar solution would work pretty well.
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Dec 31, 2014 19:19
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S.J. posted:Not really, unless you spend tons of money upgrading the laborjack. They will hit like a pillow, if they even hit at all, compared to just about any competent combat career without some expensive upgrades. Even with a stock laborjack without any Drives, a starting warcaster can allocate 2 Focus and cast Redline for a 10" charge leading into a boosted attack headbutt (hits 14.5 on average, does 19.5 damage on average) followed by a fist (autohit, does 18 damage average), while still allowing the warcaster to contribute to combat with a weapon of his/her own (let's call it a hand cannon: hits 14 on average, does 19 damage on average). Probably not as powerful as a truly optimized damage dealer, but this is just one career of a starting character, and warcasters have enormous potential as they improve.
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Dec 31, 2014 19:45
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Luckily the only way for a starting character to have a bonded warjack is to play as an Iosan Field Mechanik/Warcaster and take the extra bond trait. Or I guess just for the GM to ignore the extreme importance of the gold economy in this game, which honestly is one of the game's biggest weaknesses. Player power being almost entirely monetarily acquired is so annoying to have to balance.
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Dec 31, 2014 19:54
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ZeeToo posted:Is that an RPG that has both a Comeliness score and a Looks score?
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Dec 31, 2014 19:54
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theironjef posted:Luckily the only way for a starting character to have a bonded warjack is to play as an Iosan Field Mechanik/Warcaster and take the extra bond trait. Or I guess just for the GM to ignore the extreme importance of the gold economy in this game, which honestly is one of the game's biggest weaknesses. Player power being almost entirely monetarily acquired is so annoying to have to balance.
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Dec 31, 2014 19:56
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ascendance posted:But the flip side of it is that there are no "gold per level" guidelines, like in the D&D. You basically have to wing it a bit, and hope it works out. And maybe run military adventures, so if the players become too powerful you can easily up the opposition or take away their toys for a different kind of mission. No RPG should run on a balancing factor of "Maybe take their toys away." Like half the stories you ever hear about rear end in a top hat GMs or smug GMs talking about how big of an rear end in a top hat they are stem from stuff like "Monkeys came in the night and stole your Glitter Boy" and so on. Honestly they needed to modern up and put some gear progression in the game instead of what they did. Because what they did was introduce a meta-level to their game where parties sit around the table and argue over gold distribution based on who can most quickly leverage gold into an extra damage die, etc. Paradoxically, just saying "Warcasters receive their first warjack from somewhere at 35 XP" ends up way less gamey than the gold distribution system they did use.
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Dec 31, 2014 20:03
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fool_of_sound posted:Even with a stock laborjack without any Drives, a starting warcaster can allocate 2 Focus and cast Redline for a 10" charge leading into a boosted attack headbutt (hits 14.5 on average, does 19.5 damage on average) followed by a fist (autohit, does 18 damage average), while still allowing the warcaster to contribute to combat with a weapon of his/her own (let's call it a hand cannon: hits 14 on average, does 19 damage on average). Probably not as powerful as a truly optimized damage dealer, but this is just one career of a starting character, and warcasters have enormous potential as they improve. Redline costs 2? So you put all of your focus into the 'jack, and you also cannot headbutt on a charge. That's also two starting careers because you can't start with a warjack, and if you use the career that starts with one, you miss out on using any of their drives and a whole host of other abilities they have. If you're bonded to your jack, you also miss out on having a bonded weapon or armor, which are also very expensive to pick up after the fact. What you wrote here isn't any scarier than a gunmage, rifleman, pistoleer, etc. I'm honestly, as a GM, way more concerned with warcasters who go full-on tank mode. e: Yeah the gold thing is really hosed in this game. I think someone pointed in the official PP forums how it makes no sense to be an adventurer at all considering the loads of cash you can make just being a mechanic or whatever. S.J. fucked around with this message at 20:25 on Dec 31, 2014 |
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Dec 31, 2014 20:20
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S.J. posted:That's also two starting careers because you can't start with a warjack, and if you use the career that starts with one, you miss out on using any of their drives and a whole host of other abilities they have. If you're bonded to your jack, you also miss out on having a bonded weapon or armor, which are also very expensive to pick up after the fact. . It's technically doable. Since Iosians get an extra class ability as their racial benefit, you can play as an Iosian Gifted Field Mechanik/Warcaster, take "Extra Bond" as your bonus class feature, and bond to the 'jack you start with from Field Mechanik, plus get the bonded armor. It's sort of dumb that the option exists, since the narrowness of it suggests that it probably is an oversight and not meant to happen. Oh hey while we're angry about dumb stuff in IKRPG, why does Sail use the lower of two stats? It's the only skill in the game that comes with a dumb restriction like that, and makes it hard to improve in the skill for no reason.
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Dec 31, 2014 20:31
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The skill system is also one of the worst parts of the system, but it's not D&D bad at the very least. Anyways, I remember when one of my players ended up playing an Assault Kommando with a flamethrower. The flamethrower fuel tank's rules re: exploding made it so hilariously fragile that a random bog trog hitting him triggered it.
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Dec 31, 2014 20:46
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theironjef posted:It's technically doable. Since Iosians get an extra class ability as their racial benefit, you can play as an Iosian Gifted Field Mechanik/Warcaster, take "Extra Bond" as your bonus class feature, and bond to the 'jack you start with from Field Mechanik, plus get the bonded armor. It's sort of dumb that the option exists, since the narrowness of it suggests that it probably is an oversight and not meant to happen. gently caress if I know. Also, regarding charging headbutts: what's up with power attacks, when they can be used, and how they work? I couldn't actually find my IKRPG book earlier today (I just moved, gently caress finding stuff) so I was wondering if you can use power attacks on a charge in the RPG? I ended up resolving a throw the same way it's done in the miniatures game the last time someone wanted to do one, because I couldn't actually find how to resolve a two handed throw in the book, or even if two handed throws were a thing or not. I love playing this game but man does it have a bunch of problems that could've been easily fixed. S.J. fucked around with this message at 20:53 on Dec 31, 2014 |
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Dec 31, 2014 20:51
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The rules for power attacks are in the steamjack rules section, pg. 312. Headbutt doesn't specify any restrictions, just that you cannot do so if you're in a headlock.
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Dec 31, 2014 20:59
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Azran posted:The rules for power attacks are in the steamjack rules section, pg. 312. Headbutt doesn't specify any restrictions, just that you cannot do so if you're in a headlock. Are there rules for a two handed throw in there, out of curiosity? I found it really weird that they took a bunch of restrictions off of certain power attacks.
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Dec 31, 2014 21:03
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Yup, pg. 314. Honestly, it's the main reason I'm taking a bit with the Gobber Mechanik character post, I want to go into detail re: warjack rules and they are so verbose that checking if they're any different from the wargame is kind of annoying  My players had access to a Nomad once, as part of the defense force of a manor, but they just hit things with the sword and didn't try anything special.
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Dec 31, 2014 21:14
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My favorite part of the IKRPG is that GNK has rules for tons of warjacks and their individual parts. Meaning if you have access to a scrapyard and a motivated Mechanik you can make a horrific Cyghadornoth Frankenjack.
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Dec 31, 2014 21:17
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Azran posted:Yup, pg. 314. Honestly, it's the main reason I'm taking a bit with the Gobber Mechanik character post, I want to go into detail re: warjack rules and they are so verbose that checking if they're any different from the wargame is kind of annoying Just to clarify because I still can't find my loving book, there are rules for two handed throws, not just throws (one handed) right?
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Dec 31, 2014 22:34
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Hey, are we doing a new thread for 2015?
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Dec 31, 2014 22:47
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S.J. posted:Just to clarify because I still can't find my loving book, there are rules for two handed throws, not just throws (one handed) right? Yup! Rules for both.
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Dec 31, 2014 22:50
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S.J. posted:Just to clarify because I still can't find my loving book, there are rules for two handed throws, not just throws (one handed) right? Yup, and most of the limitations on power attacks that are in the wargame aren't present in IKRPG.
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Dec 31, 2014 23:24
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2014's almost done, so let's finish this thing! Part 9: The End The Power of Ali Komani This is a difficult adventure, five players minimum, at least one feline PC (Reasons why will become apparent). You're called into a meeting with Eathan Openwater, a "thin, hyper-mutant alligator" and Cardania's Under-Secretary for Foreign Relations. The town of Wet Rat is now a smoking crater and Ian Wholehog has recently been decapitated. Why does this concern the party? Ian was Cardania's Ambassador to Yehcat, a territory that's been recently expanding its borders and has a secret weapon, which was demonstrated on Wet Rat; he'd been sent to smooth things over with a diplomatic party, and his head was the only thing sent back. Cardania's got enough problems with The Empire, so the PCs are being sent in undercover to find whatever the hell it was that destroyed a farming community of 1,350. IT'S ISTANBULLDOG, NOT CONSTANTINOPOLECAT! There are three ways to get to Yehcat; Gatorland (safest option, if you don't mind quicksand and the occasionally unfriendly native), Free Cattle Plains (local patrol will corner them and demand what the hell you're doing there) or sea (Empire fighter jets are patrolling the area, so probably not a good idea). Whichever way they go, they'll pass through a town full of the nicest mutants you'd ever meet. They don't know anything about Yehcat, but there were some douchebag felines demanding their surrender. They got laughed out of town, of course... which is why the aforementioned town gets turned to ash when the PCs get 15 miles away. There'll be no explosion, just a wave of heat.  Komani, by Laird... See, Ali Komani was a petty warlord (Yehcat is less a nation, more a walled city mostly populated with farmers) until he stumbled across the controls to a solar power satellite which he soon had weaponised (Whoever was responsible is now buried just outside Yehcat). As a result, the people of Yehcat live in fear of Komani's Feline Guards and the threat of their village/friends being burnt to a cinder. Finding the controls isn't difficult, per se; it's on the third floor Komani's "palace" (an abandoned post office), so you just have to get past Komani's guards and harem (Komani only has one regular girl, but he has delusions of grandeur; his real name is Rex Wondacat). The controls themselves are much easier (remember, Komani's no genius) - a monitor showing the location, a joystick to position the beam, and a dial to adjust the intensity. Naturally, it wouldn't take much for anyone to duplicate this technology, which is why it's important to have the decoder to plug into the controls - a briefcase-shaped device that will explode if you try to open it (12d6 damage - in all fairness, there is a huge "SERIOUSLY, DON'T FIDDLE ABOUT WITH THIS poo poo" label on it).  ... and by Okamura. I think I prefer Laird's interpretation, to be honest. As with most Palladium adventures, there's no real ending... but it's heavily suggested that you hijack the satellite, aim it at The Empire then get the gently caress out of Dodge before they send the jets in to "turn Yehcat into pavement". Yes, that is a direct quote. The Rodent Plague After The Bomb posted:Note: This is a difficult adventure, but recommended for first-time players. Any number and level of players could attempt it.  God loving drat it, Palladium.Bad news: The Empire's unleashed a new man-made virus to kill all the mutant rodents. Good news: they've got a cure. Worse news: it's safely locked up in their laboratory compound. IT'S LIKE DISCO FEVER, ONLY WITH LESS BOOGYING AND MORE VOMITING The party gets dropped off near The Empire's borders, where they meet up with a black market from The Rodent Cartel named Smuggler.  As expected, he's kind of a douchebag, but nobody knows the secret tunnels into Empire territory like he does. The plan to get into the vault involves knocking out power in that district, which works... but it also sends some security robots on a rampage to find the saboteurs... which to their circuits means "everybody we can find". If the party manages to not die and get into the vault, they can find some schlub Rodney cowering in fear. He claims he's the only one still alive who can make the cure, and given that The Empire is sending troops in exo-suits to contain the area soon, you'll have to take him at his word. There'll be Canine Patrols waiting for the party as they leave, but there'll be 1,200 Cardanian Militia to hold them off for you. Smuggler. Nice-looking fellow, isn't he? It's suggested that at least some of the PCs be infected with the Plague, for added drama. There are three stages of infection, but none of them are nice. Encounter Tables It wouldn't be 80's Palladium with some stupid random generation tables.  A Rodent Cartel Caravan, guarded by SL 13 Rats with every Animal Power. Sounds like a group that no PC would ever want to mess with, making them useless for use in any adventure!And that's After The Bomb. Palladium's first ever post-apocalyptic game, and now a sneaky way for them to keep the BIO-E system. Rough round the edges, but that's Palladium for you.  
Eldad Assarach fucked around with this message at 01:32 on Jan 1, 2015 |
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Jan 1, 2015 00:57
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I'd assumed that they'd handle Warlocks one of two ways. 1: Warbeast packs! Nothing bigger than a Lesser, and preferably a pack beast. A one fury familiar being standard starting equipment - with a two Fury Lesser if you were lucky. 2: PC warbeasts (e.g. small Trolls, Cyclops, Warpwolves). And part of the Warlock's job is to enable the PC warbeast to be a wrecking machine.
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Jan 1, 2015 01:47
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My least favorite part of IKRPG by far is the mechanika crafting rules. They smack of developers so loving terrified of someone crafting better weapons than they're "supposed" to that the time and cost requirements are inflated to near uselessness. I've been playing an IKRPG game for two months as an arcane mechanik/cyriss warcaster and I have been able to craft nothing mechanika so far because either I have the gold and not the time, or I have the time and not the gold.
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Jan 1, 2015 02:19
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ascendance posted:No, Machinations of the Space Princess has a Comeliness score and a Save vs. Looks/Charm, which is presumably activated by Comeliness. So being prettier makes you more resistant to being charmed or seduced?
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Jan 1, 2015 04:55
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BatteredFeltFedora posted:So being prettier makes you more resistant to being charmed or seduced? However, coming from a planet which is Libertine does make you more resistant to being charmed or seduced. I guess your tastes get jaded.
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Jan 1, 2015 05:39
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