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Covok posted:Of course. That is what I was implying: the only ones who hate them are the ones who benefit from magic or need it to exist. In other words, selfishness. After all, the world would be better off without vampire, mages, werewolves, and the like, but try telling that to them. But, unless I'm mistaken, wasn't there a theme in oWoD of trying to steer away from your curse? Like a vampire would want to remain as human as possible and hold off on their vampire side? So, shouldn't they like the technocrancy because it would mean less people would have to suffer like they did or may even end their suffering? That theme got dropped like a hot potato really quick. Again, that's the kind of self awareness that oWoD lacked.
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Jan 29, 2015 23:01
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Doresh posted:Sure, you can make it more hard sc-fi-ish, but I have too much of a soft spot for giant robots. The attempts to weed the giant robots out of DP9 games is something I've encountered before. Back in my horrible, horrible MU*ing days, there was a Heavy Gear MUX which explicitly mentioned that giant robots were NOT part of it. I always wondered what on earth was the point.
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Jan 29, 2015 23:03
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Covok posted:Of course. That is what I was implying: the only ones who hate them are the ones who benefit from magic or need it to exist. In other words, selfishness. After all, the world would be better off without vampire, mages, werewolves, and the like, but try telling that to them. But, unless I'm mistaken, wasn't there a theme in oWoD of trying to steer away from your curse? Like a vampire would want to remain as human as possible and hold off on their vampire side? So, shouldn't they like the technocrancy because it would mean less people would have to suffer like they did or may even end their suffering? The in universe reasoning for this is that the Technocracy didn't exactly go around explaining their worldviews to the Vampires and Werewolves, trying to get them on the same page. To their consensus they were monsters, less than human, and needed to be eradicated. Even the nicest vampire still needs blood to live. And from the Werewolves point of view the Technocracy weren't really imposing consensus so much as Codifying reality, which spread the weavers webs and made their job a lot harder.
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Jan 29, 2015 23:07
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Eh, the Technocracy cares about as much about progress and freedom as the modern First World does—that is to say, a lot on paper and when it's their personal progress and freedom in question, and not so much when it's about the freedom of the people in the Third World who work at Foxconn.
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Jan 29, 2015 23:50
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Plus they can convince normal people that vampires aren't real, but they can't convince vampires that.
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Jan 30, 2015 00:07
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chaos rhames posted:Plus they can convince normal people that vampires aren't real, but they can't convince vampires that. Sure they can. It just requires a lot more fire.
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Jan 30, 2015 00:15
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 Chapter 4: Equipment Bolding was in the actual book! posted:War never changes... Violence in the Wasteland is a part of life, and if you do not have the proper equipment you may be taking a dirt nap. As a character travels through the Wasteland he will need the right equipment. The Rad-Tek Survival Guide lists the optimal weapons, survival equipment, medical supplies, and other items considered essential to survive the aftermath of an atomic war; but, in the Wasteland a survivor has to learn to scrounge and make the best use of what can be found hidden in a ruined building or bunker; taken off the body of a hostile traveler: or, stolen from the inattentive and unwary. This chapter details the weapons, armor, and miscellaneous equipment that can be found in the Wasteland. Post-Apocalyptic Economics Rather than bottle caps, the currency of Exodus is coinage. While these are scavenged Old World coins, their value is determined by their material composition. Steel coins are the "baseline" coin, with the other coins being tied to that worth: a copper coin is worth 1/100 of a steel coin, silver coins are worth ten steel coins, and gold coins are worth a hundred steel coins. Coin prices aren't the only thing characters have to be concerned about, however, as there is also an item scarcity rating. Common items include brass knuckles or rope and are found easily and sold by almost anyone, Uncommon items such as 20 gauge shotguns and bolt cutters have a 50% chance of being sold by merchants and are most often found in trading posts, ruins, or communities with manufacturing technology, Infrequent items like Desert Eagle pistols and handcuffs have a 25% chance of being sold by merchants, Rare items such as miniguns and Geiger counters have a 10% chance of being sold by merchants, Very Rare items including .50 caliber sniper rifles and the  Strength Scores and Weaponry As I noted briefly in the last post, Exodus introduces a Strength requirement for wielding weapons properly. Or, more accurately, to wielding firearms properly: archaic and simple ranged weapons, explosives, and melee weapons are exempt for some reason. If you don't have the proper Strength score for a firearm, you're going to be suffering a penalty to attack rolls equal to how much lower your Strength score is than the target number. For example, a character with a Strength score of 11 can wield an AK-47 (Strength prerequisite 10) just fine, but will be suffering a -3 penalty to attack rolls with a Desert Eagle because it has a Strength prerequisite of 14. Other than heavy weapons (which are almost exclusively 16 or 18) and 2d4 damage firearms (Which are between 6 and 8), most firearms have a Strength prerequisite between 10 and 14.  Firearms: Handguns, Shotguns, and Rifles Firearms start off the actual lists of equipment. As before and in the future, I'll be excising any material that is already in the d20 Modern SRD such as Ak-47s and Desert Eagles, and purely noting what new material that Exodus brings to the table. Pistols: Pistols have eleven newcomers. Most of these are rather unremarkable and generic: the .22 Custom, Derringer, and Ruger MK II are 2d4 damage Tiny pistols with concealment, the MAB P15 and Mauser M96 are dime a dozen 9 millimeter 2d6 damage pistols, and the single-action and double-action revolvers are both 6 cylinder cowboy revolvers that can deal between 2d4 and 2d8 damage based on variable ammunition loads. One that is at least somewhat novel in the type of ammo it takes is the .223 Custom, a 2d8 damage rifle that has been converted into a pistol that fires five bullets and does basically nothing to justify its Very Rare scarcity and exceedingly high price of 3,500 coins beyond having a range increment that is more in line with rifles than pistols. Also at least somewhat noteworthy are the single shot 2d6 damage flintlock known as the trade pistol, the terrifying Sig-Sauer that deals 3d8 damage (that's the same damage as a minigun), and the Colt 6520. That last one? It's a simple 2d6 damage 10 millimeter pistol, which wouldn't be interesting...were it not for the fact that it isn't a real pistol. The Colt 6520 comes straight from Fallout and is the starting weapon of Fallout 2's player character. Guess the settlement lawyers missed that one. Submachine Guns and Machine Pistols: Five SMGs, only one of them noteworthy. The Heckler and Koch P90 deals 2d8 damage, but otherwise you have the Colt 635, M3A1, Mac Ingram 11, and the Thompson M1928 “Tommy Gun” are all rather generic 2d6 automatic weapons differentiated by ammunition used and minor differences in range increment and clip size. This is fine for a game where scavenging ammo is meant to be part of the challenge or you want minute pick and choose elements over widely varying damage, but it doesn't make for good FATAL and Friends posts, so let's hurry onward. Rifles: Twenty-one new rifles, most of them again following general conventions beyond some minor increment, clip size, and ammo type differentiations: the AK-112, bushwhacker sniper rifle, CAR-15, Colt Rangemaster, DKS 501 sniper rifle, M1 carbine, M16A1, and Mauser Bolt Action are 2d8 damage rifles or sniper rifles, the DKS 101 sniper rifle, FN FAL, Heckler and Koch 53, M1 Garand, M14, M1903 Bolt Action, and SKS carbine are 2d10 damage rifles/sniper rifles, and the Bushwhacker heavy sniper rifle is a 2d12 sniper rifle. This does, of course, leave five rifles that don't follow typical conventions. On one extreme of the spectrum, the bolt action target rifle, Henry survival rifle, lever action carbine, and Ruger 1022 are all 2d4 damage rifles of some stripe that use .22 ammunition, which definitely stands out when no standard 2d0 Modern rifle deals less than 2d8 damage. You also have the Heckler and Koch G11 on the opposite end, a Large automatic rifle thundering out 3d8 damage. Shotguns: Oh hey, new game mechanics, that's a breather from listing inconsequential poo poo. In standard d20 Modern, shotguns suffer a -1 penalty to damage rolls for each range increment past their first (which is usually quite short) due to pellet scatter. This move has always been one that even d20 Modern fans have often questioned and designer Rich “I fought wars, you know” Redman defended. For its part, Exodus decides to actually double down on the damage penalty, increasing it to -2 per increment, but also gave all shotguns a 19-20 critical hit threat range when standard d20 Modern firearms always have a straight 20. For new shotguns, the 12 gauge double barrel shotgun, Heckler and Koch CAWS, Pancor Jackhammer, 12 gauge pump action shotgun, and Winchester City Killer (oh hey, another Fallout product identity weapon that sneaked under the radar) are all standard 2d8 damage shotguns, while the 20 gauge double barrel shotgun, 20 gauge pump shotgun, and 20 gauge sawed-off shotgun are the first introduced 2d6 damage shotguns.  Exotic Weapons Heavy Weapons: There are five new heavy weapons, a surprisingly small amount when they only had three from d20 Modern core to reprint. The M60 light machine gun of the Vietnam War is the weakest, dealing a measly 2d8 damage that is only offset by its hefty belt-fed ammo count and a range increment that nears that of some sniper rifles. If you're looking for something with more direct punch, there's always the Trans-Genetic Mutant favorite weapon that is the minigun. A standard minigun deals 3d8 damage, and on top of that there are the even more powerful 4d8 damage Punisher and 5d8 damage Vulcan advanced military miniguns. Finally, you've got the Rockwell Launcher, which can fire either 10d6 damage explosive rockets or 8d6 damage armor-piercing rockets that ignore 10 points of damage reduction. Energy Weapons: While energy in d20 systems typically refers to the quintuplet damage types of acid, cold, fire, electricity, and concussion/sonic, energy weapons in Exodus deal either what is referred to as laser damage if they dish out heat or “energy damage” that covers everything from electricity to plasma. In the former category are the 2d8 damage ElectroMac 500 laser pistol, 2d10 damage MegaWatz 1000 laser pistol, 3d8 damage ElectroMac 950 laser carbine, and both the semiautomatic MegaWatz 2020 laser rifle and automatic Heckler and Koch gatling laser for 3d10 damage. For weapons that deal energy damage, you've got the 2d10 damage B52 plasma pistol, 3d12 damage Winchester P94 plasma rifle, 4d8 damage electro scorcher pistol, KYJ-X2 pulse pistol, and KYJ-Z4 pulse rifle, and 4d10 damage alien blaster. The electro scorcher (a prototype pre-War military device) and alien blaster (an extraterrestrial pistol) both have the distinguished status of being the only Unique scarcity items in the entire book. Explosives: While technically not exotic weapons, explosives happen to be listed under their header. While explosives in d20 Modern tend to deal either slashing, concussion, or fire damage, in Exodus all standard d20 Modern explosives other than the Molotov cocktail (which has been changed to deal energy damage, while the thermite and white phosphorous grenades that also typically deal fire damage are no-shows entirely) have been given an unexplained “explosive damage” type. The newly-added 3d6 damage pipe bomb, 4d12 damage landmine, and 5d8 damage plastic explosive also deal explosive damage, while the 5d10 damage plasma grenade deals half explosive and half energy damage. There's also the EMP pulse grenade, which states it destroys all electronics and robots that fail a DC 15 Reflex save in a 10 foot radius of where it falls. Not disables, straight up destroys. The description even states that all circuitry and wiring is so melted it can't even be scavenged. Energy Melee Weapons: These are technically melee weapons that run on energy as opposed to weapons that deal energy damage, as only one of the four here (the 1d10 damage cattle prod) actually deals said damage type. The 3d4 damage cutter plasma knife and 2d6 damage power fist both deal piercing damage, and the stun club is a paralytic weapon that is used to...uh... “Exodus: Post-Apocalyptic Roleplaying” posted:The infamous stun club by Bushwhack, was designed for police to incapacitate criminals, and was widely used in prison. However, this weapon was sold on the black market, and became known as the new-date rape drug, as perverts used it on unsuspecting woman.   Melee Weapons There are no new archaic melee weapons, only simple meele weapons. Said new simple melee weapons are the 1d2 damage sharpened stick, 1d3 damage shiv, 1d4 damage police baton, 1d6 damage baseball bat, lead pipe, sharpened pole, and wrench, 1d8 damage sledgehammer, and 2d8 damage super sledge. Some of them, like the lead pipe and wrench, honestly sound like they should be counted under the rules for improvised weapons. But what do I know? It's not like Exodus itself still lists wrenches when it copy-pastes the SRD rules on improvised wea-  Oh wait, it does. Thrown and Projectile Weapons For whatever reason, these are listed after melee weapons rather than back with all the other ranged weapons. The 1d4 damage throwing knife and wrist crossbow, 1d6 damage shortbow, and 3d6 damage arbalest are the new additions.  Armor Armor in Exodus basically has no relation to how armor is treated in standard d20 systems. Rather than just providing an armor bonus to Defense (though it does still do that), armor in Exodus has four different types of damage reduction that only provides DR against a specific type of damage. PDR is damage reduction against physical damage types, EDR is against energy damage, LDR is against laser damage, and XDR is against explosive damage. To use an example of two types of armor that were already in d20 Modern and kept in Exodus, leather armor has a +2 bonus to Defense that is augmented only be 1 PDR, while a tactical vest has DR 3 across all four categories on top of a +6 bonus to Defense. Light Armor: Seven new armors here, though I'd hesitate to call the cloth armor new as it is literally the exact same stats-wise as a leather jacket beyond being one pound heavier. The weakest of the new light armors other than cloth is improvised armor. Being just some junk metal strapped onto someone's chest with belts or rope, improvised armor has the same +1 bonus to Defense and lack of any DR that leather and cloth armor has, but has a maximum Dexterity bonus of +3 compared to their +8. Its only upside is that it costs nothing to buy. If a +2 bonus to Defense is more your style, the field suit has 1 in all forms of damage reduction, while the riot shield grants 2 PDR, EDR, and XDR but no LDR. For +3 there's the MK II leather armor with its 1 PDR and XDR, while for a +4 Defense bonus you have the choice of either the relatively cheap combat leather jacket with its 1 XDR or the concealed mesh vest with 2 PDR, 1 EDR and LDR, and a price tag that is higher than some medium armors. Medium Armor: Eleven new types of medium armor are present, starting down at +4 bonuses with environmental armor that has 4 PDR, LDR, and XDR and 5 EDR that is contrasted with armor penalty and maximum Dexterity bonus that are cripplingly poor, metal armor with 2 PDR, EDR, and XDR but 4 LDR, Trans-Genetic Mutant Armor with 2 in all forms of damage reduction, and Tesla Armor with 1 PDR, 3 XDR, 6 EDR, and 8 LDR. For a +5 bonus to Defense there's the MK II metal armor that has the same damage reduction spread as regular metal armor, concealed mesh suit with 3 PDR and 1 for all other forms of damage reduction, MK II environmental armor with 6 XDR but otherwise similar damage reduction spread to standard environmental armor, and MK II Trans-Genetic Mutant armor which has the same damage reduction spread as its normal. Finally, for +6 Defense bonus medium armors, there is the combat armor with 3 EDR and XDR but 4 PDR and LDR, and its MK II version which has a +7 bonus to Defense and 4 XDR but is otherwise similar. Heavy Armor: For whatever reason, none of the three types of heavy armor from the d20 Modern Core Rulebook were kept in Exodus, meaning all five types of heavy armor are new. The weakest heavy armors are space armor with a +6 bonus to Defense and MK II space armor with a +7 bonus. As they are meant to be space suits and thus deal with cosmic particles more than physical force, they have 3 PDR and XDR but 5 EDR and LDR. The other four are all variants of everyone's favorite Fallout standby, power armor. Bog standard power armor has a +10 bonus to Defense, 6 XDR, 7 PDR and EDR, and 8 LDR. Hardened power armor ups the PDR to 8 and the XDR to 7, advanced power armor boosts the Defense to +11 and improves on the hardened power armor with 8 EDR and 9 LDR, and MK II advanced power armor further improves things with a +12 armor bonus to Defense, 9 LDR, and 10 PDR. Power armor is also special in that while it has crippling armor penalties to armor penalty-tied skills (-7 for MK II advanced power armor, -8 for the rest), it doesn't reduce your base move speed.  Medical Supplies: The name of the game here is “make the Treat Injury skill pointless”. Poisoned? Bypass a Treat Injury check and immediately fix that up with a poison antidote. Wounded? There's healing salve to instantly patch up 1d3+2 HP, Drugs: Don't get too excited about the idea of going chem-crazy, most of them really aren't worth it. Almost all drugs have an after-effect once they've worn off, and for a lot of them it's ability score damage. Rather than being a temporary debuff like all non-ability score effects (which wear off after between two to eight hours of time, depending on the drug), you have to heal 1 ability point of damage per day like normal ability damage, meaning that you are taking days to even weeks to heal up the benefits of a drug that lasts for a few hours. There's also the chance of addiction, which is low (10 or 20% for most drugs, save for two particularly potent ones) but nonetheless possible. The actual rules for addiction are found in the next chapter. There are only two drugs that avoid having any after-effects or addiction. These are Rad Blocker 2, which decreases the amounts of RAD taken by half for 24 hours, and Radium X, which removes 1000 RADs already taken. There's also the odd drug out of Black Sunshine, which provides darkvision for four hours and has the after-effects of a -10 to Spot checks rather than any type of ability score boost followed by after-effects of ability score damage. The rest of the drugs tend to provide a benefit to an ability score and possibly some other benefit. You've got Afterburner to grant +10 movement speed, +2 Wisdom, and +4 temporary HP for ten minutes with the after-effects of taking 2 points of Wisdom damage, Burnout that grants +6 to Listen and Spot checks and a +4 to Reflex saves but -4 to Wisdom for four hours with the after-effects of 4 points of Wisdom damage and a -4 to Reflex saves, Inferno which provides +4 Dexterity, -2 Intelligence, and PDR 4 for four hours with after-effects of 6 points of Dexterity damage and +2 extra damage taken from any attack, Mindmeld that grants +2 to all mental ability scores for a whole day with the after-effects of taking two points of damage to those same ability scores, [/b]Mutagen[/b] that grants +4 Strength and +2 Constitution for two hours but has the whopping after-effects of taking six points of ability damage for the same abilities, Vigoroids which is literally Mindmeld but for the three physical ability scores rather than three mental ability scores, and Voodoo which provides +2 Dexterity and an extra Karma Point with the after-effects of four points of Dexterity damage. Field Gear: Most new added field gear/survival items are self-explanatory as to what they do. I'm fairly sure you know what a Geiger counter, chemical light stick, cigarette lighter, motion sensor, road flare, canteen, volt-ohm meter, water skin, or USB stick (renamed a flash crystal for some reason), given that they're real world objects. This leaves two items that are explicitly not so real world in nature to discuss, both of which are created by the RoboCore company, who are also unsurprisingly known for creating security robots. The RoboCore Personal Assistant 2000 is our renamed Pip Boy, and does the things you expect a Pip-Boy to do: keep a clock and calendar, record and display text or sound files, and auto-map areas traversed. There's also the Stealth Belt, which refracts light in order to provide a +20 to Hide checks while worn. Grub: Food and drink that doesn't really have any mechanical benefit beyond counting as some unstated amount of daily intake to avoid starvation or extreme thirst. Most items are things like fruit, bread, rations, or beer, but you've also got the ever-popular Toxicola, the cola soda of various flavors that became extremely popular before the Great War. There's also rules for getting drunk. The heavier a character is, the more alcohol they can imbibe before needing to make a Fortitude save to avoid being drunk, but also the higher the penalties. For instance, a character weighing under 100 pounds only needs to imbibe 20% alcohol before needing to make a DC 12 Fortitude save to avoid being drunk and suffer a -1 penalty to all d20 rolls, while a character 301 or more pounds in weight needs to drink 50% alcohol before they end up needing to face a DC 30 Fortitude save to avoid falling unconscious. If they're really lucky with their saves you could have the former character drink enough to need to make the latter Fortitude save or become unconscious themselves, but they're going through multiple saves to get to that point as opposed to a one-way trip to knockout city. Manuals of the Wasteland: Yep, skill books are still a thing in Exodus. After taking between thirty minutes to an hour to read, a manual of the Wasteland imparts a +2 bonus to certain skill checks. This bonus is presumably either permanent, as there's no listed time limit on the check benefits but checks are still referred to in plural and thus are probably not “make the check once, then read the book again”. Doc Brown's First Aid Guide provides the +2 bonus to Treat Injury checks, Electronics and Gadgets to Craft (Electronic), Knowledge (Technology), and Repair checks associated with electrical equipment, Firepower and Ammunitions to Craft (Mechanical) checks to craft or upgrade either firearms or amunition, Knowledge (Tactics) to plan an assault, Knowledge (Technology) checks to determine a type of firearm or ammunition, and Repair checks made to repair or unjam firearms, Hammer Time's "How To" books to Craft (Structural) checks, Logical Science with Dr. Spock to Craft (Chemical, Electronic, Mechanical, and Pharmaceutical), Knowledge (Science), and Repair checks, Rad-Tek Survival Guide to Survival checks, Road Warrior to Drive checks, and The Widower's Guide to Gambling to Gambling checks. There's also Cherry Bomb Magazine, which is literally a Playboy magazine. It provides no mechanical benefits, but sells for far more than any other manual at 1,500 coins. That's enough for a shotgun or a decent suit of light armor.  Vehicles A combination of a massive oil crisis and popularity of Cold War era cars, most pre-War vehicles of Exodus look like 50s muscle cars but run on fusion cell batteries rather than traditional fuel. There are only four vehicles, so not a lot to go through here. The Cobra Impaler is a totally-not-Chevy-Impala two seat car that tears across the Wasteland at a speed of 350 feet per round but eats up fusion cells at 25 miles per cell, the Colt Switchblade is a generic 50s motorcycle that travels 250 feet per round at 50 miles per fusion cell and has an optional sidecar attachment, and the dune buggy moves 150 feet per round but makes up for it by seating three and great mileage at 40 miles per fusion cell. Oh, and then there's the Roadmaster MK IV. While stated to be just an average family car, this six seat, 250 feet per round, 15 mile per fusion cell beast is quite literally built like a tank. It has the same object hardness as military vehicles in d20 Modern, and it has 350 HP to soak up damage with. This is far more than even an M1 Abrams in d20 Modern (64 HP), but since even the humble dune buggy here has 150 HP I'm imagining that the writers of Exodus weren't fans of the low hit point pools d20 Modern used for vehicles. Next Time Now that equipment is out of the way and we're halfway through the book, it's all smooth sailing on the way downhill. Next post finishes the Exodus: Post-Apocalyptic Roleplaying Survivor's Guide with rules on radiation, rehab, and rubble, as well as advanced classes that don't always play by the rules.
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Jan 30, 2015 00:21
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I just don't get d20 Modern. What about the d20 System says 'This is going to work for gritty, modern adventures with no wizards?'
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Jan 30, 2015 00:28
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Night10194 posted:I just don't get d20 Modern. What about the d20 System says 'This is going to work for gritty, modern adventures with no wizards?' "Find, stay off our overcrowded and lovely bandwagon!" *Breaks down on the first turn, spilling heartbreakers and fetish games everywhere*
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Jan 30, 2015 00:33
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Young Freud posted:Oh, wait, I know you skipped the whole CyberFrance section, but I think you missed out on the Neo-Cathars and hints of a new Albigensian Crusade. Yeah, I know. The problem is that that whole chapter is a huge-rear end wall o' text. I might backtrack and get into the weird poo poo, though, because these last few chapters have been pretty dull.
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Jan 30, 2015 00:36
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Kavak posted:"Find, stay off our overcrowded and lovely bandwagon!" *Breaks down on the first turn, spilling heartbreakers and fetish games everywhere* *Quietly picks Monte Cook's World of Darkness out of the ashes. pockets it for later*
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Jan 30, 2015 00:40
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Night10194 posted:I just don't get d20 Modern. What about the d20 System says 'This is going to work for gritty, modern adventures with no wizards?' Because the D20 System back in the early Aughties was hailed by Wizards as this universal, all-for-one game system. A year before D20 Modern they had Call of Cthulhu D20, also by Wizards of the Coast. Naturally with the Open Gaming License, a lot of 3rd party publishers took to this and started making D20 games for all sorts of inappropriate stuff. Like a WWE RPG.
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Jan 30, 2015 02:15
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Libertad! posted:Because the D20 System back in the early Aughties was hailed by Wizards as this universal, all-for-one game system. A year before D20 Modern they had Call of Cthulhu D20, also by Wizards of the Coast. Hey, WWE Know Your Role was surprisingly not awful. I ran a campaign of it for a while. Tag matches did tend to drag and there was endless confusion over what constituted a Savvy move, but otherwise I'd take KYR over at least 75% of the d20 glut. It's probably one of the best wrestling games out there, not that there is a hell of a lot of competition. After the license lapsed, an indy publisher picked up the rules and polished them into a new system, Wild World Wrestling. Haven't played that one yet though.
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Jan 30, 2015 03:44
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Selachian posted:Hey, WWE Know Your Role was surprisingly not awful. I ran a campaign of it for a while. Tag matches did tend to drag and there was endless confusion over what constituted a Savvy move, but otherwise I'd take KYR over at least 75% of the d20 glut. It's probably one of the best wrestling games out there, not that there is a hell of a lot of competition. That era of WWE licensed games was relatively well done. The Raw Deal card game wasn't too bad either the couple of times I played it. RocknRollaAyatollah fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Jan 30, 2015 |
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Jan 30, 2015 04:58
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The best part of Know Your Role were the insane number of trademark symbols after everyone's name or signature more or whatever every time they were used.
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Jan 30, 2015 04:59
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Doresh posted:So, what should it be? Are you doing 2nd Ed or 1st? I have the entire 1st edition collection of Jovian Chronicles boxed up in the garage. That was the second RPG I ever bought, and probably why I love giant robots so much. I can try to dig them out if you want me to do any of the books that didn't make the edition jump.
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Jan 30, 2015 06:12
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Rand Brittain posted:Eh, the Technocracy cares about as much about progress and freedom as the modern First World does—that is to say, a lot on paper and when it's their personal progress and freedom in question, and not so much when it's about the freedom of the people in the Third World who work at Foxconn. I think it's telling that when the Order of Reason made their big speech about freeing humanity from ti's shackles and making a beter world for everyone, their first target weren't Vampries, Werewolves or Demons, all of which are very clearly dangerous to normal people, but "those guys over there who don't think like me".
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Jan 30, 2015 08:42
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It turns out that everybody in the World of Darkness is a big dumb jerk, who knew.
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Jan 30, 2015 08:50
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Mage, in many ways, is easily the grayest of the oWoD games. From 2E forward, it's amde rpetty clear that, aside from the Nephandi, no faction si prue goodor pure evil. They're all humans, with all the messiness that comes with it. So even in Sorcerer's Crusade, when the Order of Reason is arguably the "Égood guys" they do a lot of really lovely things that announces their eventual corruption while the Traditions are prideful and selfish and make a lot of stupid decisions but also have a lot of good points.
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Jan 30, 2015 08:54
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Looking through it again, I've got to say my review of Albedo is basically done. The last parts of the book are just stuff about what standard military formations for both sides consist of and it's pretty much what you'd expect. Both armies favor mounted, mechanized infantry and as much supporting fire from orbit, air, and artillery as the strategic situation will allow, with the EDF being somewhat better at air power and coordinating their combined arms due to their better information technology. Albedo: Last Thoughts I wish I'd realized the game was out of print when I began this review. I still recommend it, if you can get a cheap copy on Amazon or something of the sort. It's a strange game, but I feel like the mechanics do a very good job of selling the feel and in my (admittedly and unfortunately limited) experience playing and running it, they do a decent job of being crunchy while having reasons for being crunchy. I'm fond of crunchier systems, but only insofar as the crunch actually helps set the mood and tone of the game and enables actual, meaningful decisions. Sanguine's games consistently have complicated crunch that pulls that off, in interesting settings. Albedo was probably someone's labor of love, seeing as it was a niche game for a niche genre for a niche comic that came out 20 years before the Sanguine version of the RPG was printed, and I probably shouldn't be surprised it apparently didn't do well on sales or get much of a line devoted to it. Existentialist Furry Space NATO Tabletop X-COM is a pretty unusual genre. I originally started writing this review entirely in response to HSD's idiocy, but doing it has given me a greater appreciation for Albedo's setting, a setting I despised when I was first exposed to it like 8 years ago. For some reason (probably that I was a dumb early college kid going through the upper class white kid vaguely right wing phase) when I first saw the setting I never really picked up that the EDF was meant to have dystopian elements itself and thought it was another socialist utopia battling capitalist strawmen; reading the setting again years later and getting a real sense for it has made me quite fond of it. Doing this review and re-reading the books makes me want to run the game again some time, and I think that's some of the biggest praise you can give a game-book. After all, they're designed to enable ideas and inspire campaigns, and the surest sign a book is doing its job is when you read it and go 'Yeah, I want to play that.' or 'That would be a cool place to set an adventure'. I also feel like the system could be pretty easily adapted away from its setting, and used for almost any relatively-low-tech (as in, no transhumanism and particle cannons and energy shields) hard mil-sci-fi setting. At the end of the day, maybe I'm just charitable towards it because I'm tired of space wizards being in every single science fiction setting, I admit.
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Jan 30, 2015 09:47
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Doresh posted:
Jovian Chronicles please.
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Jan 30, 2015 13:15
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Covok posted:In other words, the Technocracy were making things better for everyone by replacing magic with science thus making things more consistent, safe, and happier for the average man, but that doesn't align well with the people who would suffer from the loss of magic -- like mages -- or cease to exist from its exclusion -- like vampires and werewolves. Am I reading this right? Rand Brittain posted:Eh, the Technocracy cares about as much about progress and freedom as the modern First World does—that is to say, a lot on paper and when it's their personal progress and freedom in question, and not so much when it's about the freedom of the people in the Third World who work at Foxconn. Kurieg posted:Well, it's not precisely magic. When a Tradition actually cared about making a significant number of Sleepers see reality from their point of view, the result was, well, the big loving mess you'd expect from superpowered philosophers having a gang war--and that's why the Akashic Brotherhood and the Euthanatos play nice with each other now. MonsieurChoc posted:Mage, in many ways, is easily the grayest of the oWoD games. From 2E forward, it's amde rpetty clear that, aside from the Nephandi, no faction si prue goodor pure evil. They're all humans, with all the messiness that comes with it. So even in Sorcerer's Crusade, when the Order of Reason is arguably the "Égood guys" they do a lot of really lovely things that announces their eventual corruption while the Traditions are prideful and selfish and make a lot of stupid decisions but also have a lot of good points. MonsieurChoc posted:I think it's telling that when the Order of Reason made their big speech about freeing humanity from ti's shackles and making a beter world for everyone, their first target weren't Vampries, Werewolves or Demons, all of which are very clearly dangerous to normal people, but "those guys over there who don't think like me". Kurieg posted:There's a lot of writing in Werewolf about how you do good things, and you might be an okay person. But you aren't a Hero by any stretch of the imagination. You love your family, and you don't precisely want to kill that kid who works at Pentex, but he came in on his day off and that building has to go. Warlocktopus posted:The attempts to weed the giant robots out of DP9 games is something I've encountered before. Back in my horrible, horrible MU*ing days, there was a Heavy Gear MUX which explicitly mentioned that giant robots were NOT part of it. I always wondered what on earth was the point. Halloween Jack fucked around with this message at 15:47 on Jan 30, 2015 |
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Jan 30, 2015 15:44
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I'm going to say Core Command. I heard it was a mess with some neat ideas.
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Jan 30, 2015 15:44
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Halloween Jack posted:When I was young I was actually offended by some of the writing for Werewolf. Specifically, when it discusses the stance of groups like the Red Talons without appearing to take a stance for or against it. Well, according to First Edition, the red talons were sort of right. Filled with rage and prone to going off the handle but they were right in that humanity was stupid and evil and needed to be destroyed. Second Edition dialed that back, particularly once Bridges was moved to be the line developer for Mage. By the time you get to Revised they are 100% completely in the wrong. But they are also completely 100% incapable of understanding that. Red Talons divide all of their thoughts into "Human Mind" and "Wolf Heart" and if they had their druthers they would eschew thought entirely and work only on instinct, because that makes them more wolfy. But that's not how wolves work, they are quite intelligent and can learn tasks and problem solve, if they couldn't then we wouldn't have been able to domesticate them. The opening Fiction to RT:Revised is a red talon pack taking their wolf kinfolk to a human campsite and teaching them to kill humans, all the while the point of view character is going "My Human Mind is telling me this is wrong. But my Alpha is telling me that this is right, so I do my best to ignore the Human Mind even if it makes me sick." So they're wrong, they know they're wrong, but they ignore it because they think they're right.
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Jan 30, 2015 16:28
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Actually, now that I think of it I don't think the Traditions had any sort of policing force at all, did they?
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Jan 30, 2015 17:45
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I recall that the Euthanatos have a black ops team, but that's probably not what you're thinking. I believe that when Tradition mages get so out-of-hand that other Tradition mages go after them, it's basically mob war. Which would make them less organized than vampires in this regard, since Kindred are all about mob war and openly organize their society around it. Most mages can't stomach that.
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Jan 30, 2015 17:52
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The Euthanatos, and Janissaries before them, basically took upon themselves to be the Traditions' police.
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Jan 30, 2015 18:44
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MonsieurChoc posted:Mage, in many ways, is easily the grayest of the oWoD games. From 2E forward, it's amde rpetty clear that, aside from the Nephandi, no faction si prue goodor pure evil. They're all humans, with all the messiness that comes with it. So even in Sorcerer's Crusade, when the Order of Reason is arguably the "Égood guys" they do a lot of really lovely things that announces their eventual corruption while the Traditions are prideful and selfish and make a lot of stupid decisions but also have a lot of good points. Well except the Si Prue Goodor. They're pure evil.
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Jan 30, 2015 18:53
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Libertad! posted:Because the D20 System back in the early Aughties was hailed by Wizards as this universal, all-for-one game system. A year before D20 Modern they had Call of Cthulhu D20, also by Wizards of the Coast. Those DP9 products I'm currently targeting fell victim to this. Though they didn't make something like "Heavy Gear d20", they just dual-statted things. Selachian posted:After the license lapsed, an indy publisher picked up the rules and polished them into a new system, Wild World Wrestling. Haven't played that one yet though. I have WW and W. The main differences I can see (I should really read up the review of Know Your Role for the details) is general streamlining. No classes, attributes where changed and now only show their bonus (like 3rd edition Mutants & Masterminds). To specialize your wrestler, you get to pick feats/traits/abilities known as "Gimmick Enhancements". You get more with each level, and you can get additional ones by picking flaws - which are guaranteed to trigger when you least need them because you opponent decides when they do. Looks really neat. A shame it doesn't really seem to have a community. Tsilkani posted:Are you doing 2nd Ed or 1st? 2nd. I only have the latest editions. AFAIK, 2nd edition only really has one book, so there's more than enough for you to do. Midjack posted:Jovian Chronicles please. I think we have a winner. LeSquide posted:I'm going to say Core Command. I heard it was a mess with some neat ideas. JC is the clear winner, but don't worry. Core Command will happen. Not Vault Boy is coming across as a very dark version of Dennis the Menace in this chapter. And d20 Modern didn't have throwing knives and a shortbow o_O ? Warlocktopus posted:The attempts to weed the giant robots out of DP9 games is something I've encountered before. Back in my horrible, horrible MU*ing days, there was a Heavy Gear MUX which explicitly mentioned that giant robots were NOT part of it. I always wondered what on earth was the point. "I keep telling you guys: The only way to truly experience the BattleTech universe requires you to ditch those silly mechs!" Halloween Jack posted:I can understand where the sentiment comes from. I, for example, don't care much for giant robots, but the politics of Jovian Chronicles sounds really interesting, and I like political sort-of-hard military sci-fi. Consider looking at it from the other direction: Say you're intrigued by the setting, science, and "war is hell" message of Hammer's Slammers, but nuclear tanks and hovercrafts are dull...you want giant robots! Nuclear robots all the way. Doresh fucked around with this message at 23:37 on Jan 30, 2015 |
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Jan 30, 2015 19:27
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Has someone already reviewed All Flesh Must Be Eaten? Because AFMBE is the business and I think I'll do that some time now that Albedo is done.
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Jan 30, 2015 19:43
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Warlocktopus posted:Back in my horrible, horrible MU*ing days, there was a Heavy Gear MUX which explicitly mentioned that giant robots were NOT part of it. I always wondered what on earth was the point. Gears are more sort of 'medium robots', so maybe they were just ditching some of the stupider Striders?
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Jan 30, 2015 21:32
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The Lone Badger posted:Gears are more sort of 'medium robots', so maybe they were just ditching some of the stupider Striders? Don't forget the recent introduction of Gear Striders.
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Jan 30, 2015 21:35
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Night10194 posted:Has someone already reviewed All Flesh Must Be Eaten? Because AFMBE is the business and I think I'll do that some time now that Albedo is done. I've been thinking of doing AFMBE for a while, actually, though I don't have much experience playing it or doing a F&F review. I'd love to see it covered either way, though!
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Jan 30, 2015 22:08
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I've run a couple of AFMBE campaigns, including one I consider one of the best games I've ever run, so I'll probably tackle it in a couple days, then! AFMBE is a really good take on generalist horror roleplaying, even if it's meant to be specifically about zombies.
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Jan 30, 2015 22:14
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Night10194 posted:I've run a couple of AFMBE campaigns, including one I consider one of the best games I've ever run, so I'll probably tackle it in a couple days, then! AFMBE is a really good take on generalist horror roleplaying, even if it's meant to be specifically about zombies.
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Jan 30, 2015 23:30
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The only thing I really recall about Changing Breeds was the Man Your Man Could Kill Like... that, and the Were-Elephants being equal in toughness to a main battle tank.
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Jan 31, 2015 03:06
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Bacchante posted:The only thing I really recall about Changing Breeds was the Man Your Man Could Kill Like... that, and the Were-Elephants being equal in toughness to a main battle tank. I remember this and also wereapes are all full of crap.
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Jan 31, 2015 03:36
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Doresh posted:And d20 Modern didn't have throwing knives and a shortbow o_O ?]  Night10194 posted:I've run a couple of AFMBE campaigns, including one I consider one of the best games I've ever run, so I'll probably tackle it in a couple days, then! AFMBE is a really good take on generalist horror roleplaying, even if it's meant to be specifically about zombies.
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Jan 31, 2015 11:17
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Doresh posted:2nd. I only have the latest editions. AFAIK, 2nd edition only really has one book, so there's more than enough for you to do. I'll dig them out over the weekend, then, and maybe get a couple write-ups started while I wait for you to start hitting the core. Probably won't post anything until you've at least covered the setting chapter so I can hand hooks off that.
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Jan 31, 2015 17:28
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Doresh posted:JC is the clear winner, but don't worry. Core Command will happen. After I finish work on Squadron Strike:Traveller I'll find time to do a bit about Lightning Strike. That was a really nicely done tactical space combat game with giant robots and spaceships. There was also a campaign game that was basically Axis & Allies in the solar system. SS:T is almost done, we've even got art. 
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Jan 31, 2015 18:45
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