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Is this bait/switch stuff actually called out as such in the book? Because good god drat, I got tired of KS pretending he was clever with his 'Hook, line and sinker (TM)' adventure seeds. And manga-sized RPG. Good heavens, what could that possibly be?
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Nov 1, 2016 05:51
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Bieeardo posted:Is this bait/switch stuff actually called out as such in the book? Because good god drat, I got tired of KS pretending he was clever with his 'Hook, line and sinker (TM)' adventure seeds. No. I just have gone through some of the Hook, Line, Sinker adventure supplements already and I recognize the pattern. For those less aware, the Hook, Line, Sinker format was created by Jolly Blackburn (of Knights of the Dinner Table) for Shadis and he then provided permission for Siembieda to use it (after contributing some adventure seeds in that format for a Rifts book). It's supposed to be Hook (the situation), Line (something to interest the PCs), and Sinker (a twist that makes it into "a real adventure"), though in reality it often boils down to "Bait and Switch", in my opinion. Though Dead Reign doesn't follow that format the adventure seeds are done similarly enough. Legend of the Five Rings fans will know the same gimmick under the name "Challenge, Focus, Strike" (unsurprising, since Shadis birthed AEG), and I believe it has seen use in just about every edition of that game. For those less aware, "manga-sized RPG" likely refers to Robotech: the Shadow Chronicles, another Palladium RPG from the same year that owes much of its text to a certain goon writer (the Palladium thread has a lot more detail). But, of course, only Siembieda's name is on the cover. 
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Nov 1, 2016 06:38
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I've now run a couple sessions of Myriad Song and will probably start reviewing it tomorrow or the next day, but as a preview I'd like to leave you with how it does improvised weapons because I think it's one of the first games like it to answer 'why the gently caress would you bother with these instead of just a pistol'. If you have the improv-weapon making Gift, you can choose to spend an Equip action (a single combat action) to pull some random junk out of your gear and slam it together into a scroungetech weapon. These weapons are generally a little less accurate and don't add extra successes to damage (though they do respectable damage on their own), and have a small chance of malfunctioning every time you use them, but if you roll well on your Craft check you can make a nailgun-railgun gatling gun that fires specially tooled, high-caliber nails at 600RPM and is somehow equipped with a functioning smart-scope made out of a monocle and a broken beer bottle. Or your own Iron Man 1 Escaping From The Cave suit of improvised armor. Improv equipment and cannibalizing stuff is an entire power set with its own set of gifts and they also apply to weaponizing power and engineering tools if you want to live out your ultimate fantasy of making a remote-controlled chainsaw launcher. I think you can probably tell my review is going to be reasonably positive.
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Nov 1, 2016 06:44
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 The Primordial Feast: Part 3 Family Reunion Stephanie is at her local coffee shop, getting a venti iced coffee with an extra shot of espresso. She didn't sleep well last night. And as she sits in her corner, drinking, she notices a woman. Specifically she notices her again, the same woman who's been there every day for a while. She doesn't order anything, just sits there and reads "The new you", to the point that she could have finished reading it three times over by now. When Stephanie looks at her watch the ticking of the second hand makes her sick to her stomach, so she stuffs her watch in her bag, and leaves as fast as she can. quote:“I think Sparks — I mean, Stephanie — is starting to notice me,” said Nadia, straddling a chair backwards in the dining nook. The glass of the closed window muffled the cacophony from the garage below the apartment, and it faded to white noise from long familiarity for the three throngmates. quote:“Thank you all for being here tonight,” said the woman at the microphone. “As you know, we've gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of one of our finest officers, Detective Kelly Anderson. Let's give her a round of applause!” The next morning, Nadia's at the coffee shop watching Stephanie again. Stephanie looks worse than ever, dark circles under her eyes and that vacant stare of an extremely tired person. Eventually Nadia's concern for her friend overcomes her desire for anonymity so she approaches her. quote:Nadia hovered, hoping to be noticed without speaking, but no such luck. “Hi,” she said eventually. Nadia rushes home and confronts Corazon. It turns out Cora has been intentionally starving her horror so that it will visit Stephanie in her dreams and try to make her remember her old life. quote:Cora sprawled on her back across the hood, her long hair splayed out over the shiny painted surface like corkscrew graffiti, and dropped the wrench with a clunk. “Maybe she's just remembering stuff.” In the meantime, Kelly Anderson's heroic tracking has led her to Stephanie, she makes it sound like there's a murder investigation going on, but subtly lets drop a question on if Stephanie's been having nightmares before moving on to a more legitimate sounding line of inquiry. The hero has the Beast's target, and she knows the Beast will be there again. She circles the block a few time to make sure that she isn't being followed and pulls into a spot just down from Kelly's building to wait. In Cora's apartment, she's struggling to sleep. As she drifts off she becomes aware of her horror trying to wrench control of Stephanie's dreams. quote:Through the eyes of her Horror, things were not as they should have been. She wasn't in her Lair, but instead stalking a grand concert hall with high vaulted ceilings that vanished into darkness above. Up on stage, a frail little shape sat at the piano, playing to a metronome's beat. The music sounded feeble and tinny by comparison to the monstrous ticking of the metronome, pounding like the rhythmic fall of a judge's gavel. She passed empty row after empty row. She silently climbed the stairs to mount the stage. She raised one razor-sharp claw, ready to tear the false flesh from the pianist's bones to reveal what was really underneath. I'm just going to quote this whole section. quote:Something alive prowled the shadow of a spindly city tree, but only for a moment. That shadow was the door that led Cora into the pitch black of a bedroom, two stories above the street where the tree's sad dead leaves scraped the pavement in their windborne quests. She was the presence of the darkness. She was everywhere, she filled the room. The darkness said, "Sparks! Sparks, wake up." Prin and Nadia are running to Stephanie's apartment, since Nadia suspects some of what is going on. Once Prin realizes the severity of what's going on, she picks up Nadia, uses Pyros to elongate her legs, and takes off down the street, ignoring the horrified onlookers. At Steph's apartment, Nadia rips the door off it's hinges and rushes inside to find Stephanie unconscious and bleeding on the floor. They also realize that Cora has turned Steph's bedroom into a part of her lair, and force their way into the dream. Elsewhere, Kelly wakes up, having dreamt of the hunt to come. quote:The tingling in her limbs meant that something was wreaking its havoc, and she knew she wouldn't be alone by the time she walked into that apartment. She'd heard the rumors about this neighborhood, seen the reports: weird incidents, nonsense complaints that couldn't be corroborated, one teenaged girl begging to be admitted to the hospital's psychiatric ward. The monster and its cohorts had shown their true colors one too many times around here, and now these people would get the chance to retaliate, thanks to their protector. The call to arms was her birthright, too. Just like her duty. In Cora's lair, she's chasing Steph through a factory making hundreds of copies of faceless robot manikins. The monster is rending her flesh revealing the gears and circuitry underneath. "Cora watched her prey's flight, watched as the full horror dawned, threw her head back and howled at the sheer pleasure it brought her. But it wasn't enough. Sparks still didn't remember. The hunt was on." Meanwhile Nadia and Prin are in a dark subway station, every so often the N train rushes by but never stops. From the darkness ahead a mass of people and a uniformed police officer with a flashlight emerge. quote:“Oh, hell,” said Nadia. Prin reaches Cora's heart, a vast barren plain studded with rocky formations beneath a stormy black sky. Flashes of lightning provide the only illumination. Prin reaches Steph around the same time Cora does. quote:Stephanie flinched back, but Prin held on tight so sie could speak close to her ear. “It's all right! I'm here to help you!” quote:“Stop!” called a voice over the rain. Prin and Cora are left alone in Cora's heart as it falls apart. "I didn't want to die like this, not looking like this, not with you here. You thought of me as human, just with a monster in side of me somewhere. It was the one illusion I kind of liked." Back in the real world, Steph wakes up with Nadia watching over her, after she makes it very clear that she has no idea who Nadia is and never wants to see her again, Nadia leaves. But she notices that she's still bleeding, that there's a dent in her closet door, that the nightmare happened, at least in part. quote:The woman in the shadows wasn't a nightmare. She was real. She was real, and every time I turn off the light now I think I see her. I threw out my watch. I bought a nightlight. None of that got rid of the dreams, though. They're just different now. Not nightmares so much as distant pictures behind glass, and if I lie still for a while right when I wake up, I feel sad. Sometimes I wake up crying already. I really really like this story. I don't think I can state that enough, this is easily my favorite story in the book since it portrays the Beast as it actually is, a horrifying self centered monster. Trinkets Which is why I hate that it's immediately followed up by this. quote:“This place is a shithole.” It's a basic beast story told all over again. Long and short of it is that Miranda loves Jason, they've been friends since high school, surprisingly they're both beasts. Miranda does something dumb, raises the ire of a Hero, the Hero targets Jason, the entire brood bands together and kills the Hero, also Dav and Galen are basically one character since they don't do anything separate from each other, except they're also gay. Let's move on.
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Nov 1, 2016 06:49
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The Primordial Feast: Finale Premeditation Three years ago, Sandhya wakes up with a start as she was roused from a dreamtime feeding session, her attempts to move as her horror would just end with her falling out of bed with a start. Is that what it's like? Is this what I do to them? The lights flick on, revealing her Mage friend Hal looking groggy as she is, but staring daggers at her. quote:“That was you.” He spat. With that he teleports her out of his apartment and into the forest along with her things, and Sandhya Tembhekar resolves never to get involved with mages as long as she lives. In the present day, Sandhya is working the aid station at a marathon, handing out water cups to the front runners. Ten minutes later an ambulance drives by as her Horror rumbles within her "Another leader humbled, another meal in her Horror's belly. It wasn't exactly lying in wait within a river to bite passing princes, but even nagas had to move with the times." Two months later Sandhya stands outside the residence hall where Charles Foster's family retrieves his belongings. Charles was working with her at the Aid station, but he went missing the next day. He's the fourth student dead this year, the cops say that they're all ODs, but they keep showing up at the old Library. Sandhya has had her suspicions for a while, but by the time Charles' family came around she'd confirmed them. "She sat out there, long after the Fosters drove away, after the sun went down, thinking through her options, not liking any of them. I have to give him a chance, she decided." That night she goes to the library herself, heading to an upper floor where she' knows she'll find her target. To her eyes he's just a short middle aged white man huddled in a heavy overcoat. To her horror he's a bent backed creature with round eyes, pallid skin, needles for fingers and wreathed in IV Lines. quote:“You’re back” He croaked. This story has a mixture of old and new beast in it, in that she was devoured but he kills to stop from "Making Heroes", I'm going to allow it because "Making Heroes" is probably one of the better points of real personal horror that Beast has. That and Dave Brookshaw is an insane maniac. Yes, this story was written by Dave Brookshaw. Sandhya waits at the tube station in London, waiting for Hal. She took the train here then switched to the tube in an effort to hide her real origin in case the Mage was still angry at her. Fighting the urge at every stop to just go home and keep her head down, to hope that the problem solved itself. But after the final train pulls away with no Hal in sight she sighs and goes to leave out to the street. When she does she feels someone grab her arm firmly. Of course it's Hal, being secretive and unexpected as mages are wont to do. She asks to talk to him in private though he wants to stay in a public space. When he asks what she wanted to talk about she says that when he teleported her away he hurt her. And threatened to kill her, and she wants to know if he can actually do it. Later they're at a diner with Halcyon(yes) masking their conversation to be something dull about work. He mentions that she looks "fed" and wonders how things are going for her. Since he hasn't heard anything 'big' through the grapevine but she's obviously doing well. quote:“I have to feed, Hal. My kind, we don’t have a choice about it. I’m a naga. I humble those who stand above the crowd. Now, I’ve arranged my life so I can eat a little, often. Athletes. Top-flight students. Bright young PhDs. Make them stumble a bit, prick their pride, and I can go another week or two.” At her Flat, Sandhya tells him more about Vance. Mainly that he's the Apex of her area and he's got deals in place with all the local Vampires and Werewolves that means she can't attack him in the physical world. And since he's the Apex he'd kill her in a Horror to Horror fight. The way he feeds is by imposing his lair on an abandoned building and chasing his prey until they're exhausted, then injecting them with toxins that are a part of his lair which means they go away when the lair does. Leaving nothing but a dead body with injection marks. The way he feeds is costly but rewarding, making a vicious cycle. Sandhya wants his help to kill him since it's become obvious that Vance won't change his ways, preferably in a way that doesn't lead back to her since his allies might want to get revenge on his behalf. "Can you do it?" "Not alone. And not just with your help." “Welcome to Marrakesh.” Teleportation is definitely a quick way to travel, if nothing else. "Vance's realm is urban and maze-like. We need someone who can navigate through that environment, who's immune to his tricks and traps. A contact of mine lives here, and she's uniquely qualified. Also, unlike many of the beings we might recruit, her kind can make the trip we're about to make." When Sandhya asks why she'll help them, Hal mentions that this woman has been hunting someone for the past twenty years and Hal knows where he is, He's known for five years, he's just been waiting for an appropriate time to use the leverage. "Keep your friends close, Sandhya, and always keep something to offer them if you need them in the future. We’re here." Their target is a woman in faded pants, a loose top and a headscarf, with large golden eyes. Najat. And I'm just going to quote this next bit. quote:“I said I’d help. You don’t seem overjoyed.” Dave Brookshaw posted:Yes, it was me who decided to raid the big backlog of obscure, unloved CofD creatures and settled on Changing Breeds. And I'd do it again, I tell you. quote:“You’ve got an animal’s soul? Like I have my Horror?” The following day, Hal decides to give Sandhya the mage's perspective on things. quote:“Your motives. You said we’d address them later, and now’s later.” That night they meet up with Halcyon and his apprentices on the hill overlooking the town. They enter a prepared tent and all go to sleep after Hal links their minds. They wake up in the Temenos and begin walking through the memories of human history. They start off in a riot, continue through the French Revolution, the English Civil War, a realm made entirely of tall black gallows, all the while heading towards the Horror of the Proud Man Humbled, Sandhya's lair. When they find it, Sandhya merges with it, and they wait for Halcyon's apprentices to finish their part of the spell. quote:Hal sat down. Najat paced back and forth behind him, keeping him between her and the water.  at least the Feral is clowning on the Beasts and Mages alike.The apprentice lets Hal know that her spell is done and they're able to continue through the primordial dream. They leave Sandhya's lair through the last place that she fed, and in the split second that she's separated from her horror but not yet in control of it it tries to eat Hal ("We'll talk about it later.") But now that they're in a Chamber of the Hive, they'll be able to find the Apex's lair. As they get closer they can hear the whispering of the Omphalos, being brought closer to the Primordial dream by Hal and his assistants, meaning it's time to go to work. quote:Vance snarled, swiping the air with his claws. One passed uncomfortably close to where she actually stood, hidden by the illusion Hal had cast on their way in. But Vance's Horror can't keep up, and Najat can see through all his tricks, eventually she actually manages to lead him (and all of them) Out of his lair and through the space between lairs, straight to where Hal wants him to be. They land in the midst of a great desert, winds and hot sands eroding away at their dream selves while Najat just kind of watches. Vance howls in pain while Sandhya is at least somewhat protected by Hal's spell. quote:“You said we aren’t human. That we’re monsters. Other people,” she looked at Hal, who seemed ashamed “have told me, at length, that we’re just dreams. The thing is, we’re both. We are the nightmares of the human soul; we exist to remind thinking beings that their Bright Dream is fragile. Everyone tells me that I’m an idiot to see a purpose in that…but they’re wrong.” The police find Vance's body and chalk it up to another overdose. Sandhya feeds by bringing the mighty low, and she just killed the former Apex. Her horror is happy, and for now isn't trying to bite Hal's head off. Things are mostly right with the world. And that's it. And you can see after that last story why I was compelled to finish off this review with the fiction anthology. If you haven't listened to it and you have the time you can listen to our Podcast Review of Beast now that it's technically not full of spoilers. We also did a review of the Beast Kickstarter when that first came out (After we spend 2 hours talking about better games ). I will probably review the Beast part of Dark Eras when that's finally released since being the one person who can stomach this game enough to hate review it is the superpower that I never actually wanted but this review is done. Get thee behind me Beast. Oh Right. DON'T BUY BEAST
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Nov 1, 2016 06:49
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The Promethean story is an exceptionally good horror story, and more or less the only unequivocally good thing about Beast as it currently exists. Shame it only exists because of the rest of it.
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Nov 1, 2016 06:55
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God drat that Promethean story sounds good.
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Nov 1, 2016 07:30
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Congrats on finally finishing Beast. FOR NOW 
Vox Valentine fucked around with this message at 07:49 on Nov 1, 2016 |
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Nov 1, 2016 07:31
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thelazyblank posted:From a more historical context, it was one of the first games that had that sort of drama/plot/etc point system where the goal was basically to spend them. They gave you a lot of them, and were pretty friendly about giving a few more here and there. Not a perfect game by any means, but you could probably make a pretty good 2nd (3rd if you count Angel as a 2nd?) Edition of the Buffy RPG that would stand up to modern design without having to gut the game and start over. Also unlike TORG's 'Possibilities', Drama Points were awarded separately from experience and were only used to change the situation to the user's favor.
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Nov 1, 2016 07:58
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The Promethean story read to me like someone digging up the personal details of a transwoman and insisting on using her given name despite her protests, in an effort to make her return to her pre-transition life.
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Nov 1, 2016 10:47
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The Mage story is hilarious because while it is a huge example of Mage egocentrism it also is completely consistent with evidence.
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Nov 1, 2016 12:00
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Alien Rope Burn posted:No. I just have gone through some of the Hook, Line, Sinker adventure supplements already and I recognize the pattern. For those less aware, the Hook, Line, Sinker format was created by Jolly Blackburn (of Knights of the Dinner Table) for Shadis and he then provided permission for Siembieda to use it (after contributing some adventure seeds in that format for a Rifts book). It's supposed to be Hook (the situation), Line (something to interest the PCs), and Sinker (a twist that makes it into "a real adventure"), though in reality it often boils down to "Bait and Switch", in my opinion. Though Dead Reign doesn't follow that format the adventure seeds are done similarly enough. Ah! Thanks. It felt a lot more self aware than he usually comes off, but I wouldn't have put a new adventure seed gimmick past him. Speaking of, I had no idea that he'd borrowed the Hook, Line and Sinker format from someone else! That would go a long way toward explaining why it felt so awkward in the RIFTS books where I encountered it. His presentation felt weirdly affected, like it was a gimmick that he was determined to make popular, even though his own adventure seeds rarely merited the presentation. I never got into Shadis or AEG's lineup, so I didn't realize its origins. Learned something neat today.  LatwPIAT posted:The Promethean story read to me like someone digging up the personal details of a transwoman and insisting on using her given name despite her protests, in an effort to make her return to her pre-transition life. This, on the other hand, makes me think of the Beast shouting 'what gives you the right?' at a Hunter. Chills upon chills. Fuckign Beast. 
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Nov 1, 2016 13:07
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Bieeardo posted:Speaking of, I had no idea that he'd borrowed the Hook, Line and Sinker format from someone else! That would go a long way toward explaining why it felt so awkward in the RIFTS books where I encountered it. His presentation felt weirdly affected, like it was a gimmick that he was determined to make popular, even though his own adventure seeds rarely merited the presentation. If you ask the man himself, he'd probably say that he improvded on a bunch of vague suggestions, so it's really all his work. quote:This, on the other hand, makes me think of the Beast shouting 'what gives you the right?' at a Hunter. Chills upon chills. Fuckign Beast. Someone needs to make a snarky bullshit table where each splat gives an answer to this question, followed by the Beast getting roflstomped.
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Nov 1, 2016 15:48
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And I did technically Finish the review on Halloween, all it took was me absolutely destroying my sleep schedule. WheeeeeeeeDoresh posted:Someone needs to make a snarky bullshit table where each splat gives an answer to this question, followed by the Beast getting roflstomped. quote:Vampire: You're loving with my Herd and threatening the Masquerade.
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Nov 1, 2016 15:56
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Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I love the idea of Beasts as just some kind of jumped-up, superpowered Goetia-Claimed. It works. I also like the flat delivery of the line 'I'm a cat.' I actually think the Changing Breeds as a concept have a place in the game. This place would involve throwing out literally their entire book. What I would go with is, essentially: you don't just have an animal soul, you were an animal. Human is not your natural form. You are a shapeshifter because sometimes, animals become people. Why?  We can figure that out later.But it'd essentially be a focus on looking at humanity from something nearby but not quite there. It could never support an entire gameline, but maybe a sort of side-group, like ghouls or wolf-bloods. But the basic idea of 'we aren't human, we're animals in human suits' and running with it to explore instinct, 'nature' and so on. Their Integrity-alike would probably be built around going against your animal instincts versus your adopted human worldview and would probably vary pretty wildly, kind of like Harmony in that sense. Basically: Thanks DaveB, you wrote a good story that breaks down Beasts to something hilariously unimportant in the greater scheme of things and gave me a good idea for how to do Changing Breeds.
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Nov 1, 2016 16:25
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Mors Rattus posted:I also like the flat delivery of the line 'I'm a cat.' I actually think the Changing Breeds as a concept have a place in the game. This place would involve throwing out literally their entire book. What I would go with is, essentially: you don't just have an animal soul, you were an animal. Human is not your natural form. You are a shapeshifter because sometimes, animals become people. Why? Well, the furries would buy it up like hotcakes, and the furries do have money.
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Nov 1, 2016 16:33
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Mors Rattus posted:I also like the flat delivery of the line 'I'm a cat.' I actually think the Changing Breeds as a concept have a place in the game. This place would involve throwing out literally their entire book. What I would go with is, essentially: you don't just have an animal soul, you were an animal. Human is not your natural form. You are a shapeshifter because sometimes, animals become people. Why? Wait, isn't that the concept behind Golden Sky Stories?
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Nov 1, 2016 16:38
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Davin Valkri posted:Wait, isn't that the concept behind Golden Sky Stories? Similar, though I think tonally the games would easily be distinguishable. In one, you solve the minor problems of children. In the other, you fight vampires for unclear reasons.
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Nov 1, 2016 16:46
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RiotGearEpsilon posted:Well, the furries would buy it up like hotcakes, and the furries do have money. also, side note, i would prob not give them hybrid forms because i want them to be distinct from werewolf, their gimmick would probably be more weird
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Nov 1, 2016 16:47
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I was always disappointed with Changing Breeds because it tempted me with the possibility of playing a wererhino and then made it dirty and awful. But yeah, it would be better if it was like Feng Shui, and you could draw upon a lot of animistic mythologies for it. Of course, you'd probably want mechanics that aren't crap. Essentially, like Beast, you'd be better off starting from scratch if you wanted to "fix" it.
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Nov 1, 2016 16:49
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Yeah, that's correct. I have some ideas, though, and not a ton else to think about at a data entry job. I certainly wouldn't even crack Changing Breeds open while working on it, though.
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Nov 1, 2016 17:01
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yeah, the Promethean story definitely reads like someone trying to drive a transwoman or lesbian back into the closet for "The good times we had", or trying to make someone come back to an abusive family because "You can't break up family" - it's well-written from the excerpts, but kind of nauseating.
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Nov 1, 2016 17:03
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Robindaybird posted:yeah, the Promethean story definitely reads like someone trying to drive a transwoman or lesbian back into the closet for "The good times we had", or trying to make someone come back to an abusive family because "You can't break up family" - it's well-written from the excerpts, but kind of nauseating. Which is why I like it. It portrays the Beast as a horrifying monster that insinuates itself into a stable healthy social group exclusively for it's own gain and forces others to dance to it's tune against their own interests. Cora is a petulant child who doesn't understand that sometimes friends move on and wants everything to stay the same.
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Nov 1, 2016 17:19
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Davin Valkri posted:Wait, isn't that the concept behind Golden Sky Stories? Yes but GSS is actually good and fun.
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Nov 1, 2016 17:28
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Speaking of companies bouyed by furries having money, it's time for more of Sanguine's work in Myriad Song I'd like to give the disclaimer that once again I won't be posting art from the game. Finding pictures is a little tough, I'm not a very visual person, and let's be frank: Aside from one really good artist they commissioned for the species pictures in Ironclaw, Sanguine's art direction is consistently awful. At its best the art is usually pretty generic cartoony stuff, at its worst it's just *bad*. I have no idea if this stems from having no real budget for art or if they've just got a terrible visual sense like I do. Myriad Song is a weird game. Myriad Song is also not a furry game, though it does contain exactly one (1) furry playable race. Myriad Song is a game about playing as seeming small fry thrown into a galaxy that's collapsing on itself because the tyrannical demigods (or maybe actual gods) stabilizing it just up and walked off the stage 100 years back. Their toadies and minions are trying to keep things together and insisting they're coming back, but in the meantime, rebels who'd normally be easily crushed have all split off into competing nations and empires and the exploration of the galaxy is kicking into high gear. But surely a small crew of space truckers, private investigators, ex-stormtroopers, engineers, bounty-hunters, and navigators won't matter in such a vast and mighty galaxy, will they? Of course they will! This is heroic, feel-good sci-fantasy and your party of misfits and weird aliens are one cosmic macguffin away from upending the galactic order even further at all times. Ages ago, as many of the races of the Myriad (a term used to refer to the overarching galactic community of sentient species) were just getting into space, strange beings called Syndics showed up out of nowhere. They had faster than light travel and mastery of a strange musical-magical force called Xenharmonics that tapped into higher planes of reality. They were also hostile as hell, conquering the entire galaxy within a short span of time. No-one could possibly stand against them, not when they could just teleport half your ship into another reality at will. Thus began the Syndicate Empire, and it would persist for millennia. The Syndics found their own uses for each race of the Myriad, and all toiled under their terrible masters, and eventually under their terrible masters' favorites. The Syndics picked servants from among those who had surrendered or displayed great loyalty and uplifted them, working with their genetics to enable them to tap into the music of the Xenharmony and see beyond sight. They granted inferior forms of their Xenharmonic technology to these aristocrats and put them above the others of their races. Those who could truly see the Xenharmonic weave became known as Conductors, used to ensure the success of Rondo jumps between the Magh-Signal towers the Syndics put up on every world. Conductors are essential to FTL, even now, though it's possible for a ship to handle normal runs and routes without them. They're also fully capable of teleportation, space-time distortion, and other time and space powers, and are, of course, fully playable. These families took these powers as proof of their exalted status and ruled over the others at the pleasure of their masters. No-one could challenge the Syndics or their lesser servants, until suddenly the Syndics just vanished. No-one knows if they left or if they somehow all perished. But suddenly, where the Syndics had mostly confined species to their own worlds outside of heavily regulated travel, people could go where they wished. Suddenly, there was no demigod propping up the local tyrant, and a lot of the less well-armed and well-prepared aristocrats quickly found themselves overthrown. Suddenly, inscrutable alien space tyrants weren't suppressing conventional scientific research anymore, and people started to wonder if their own science could one day match the power of Xenharmonics. Sure, the Remance Empire remains; many of the core worlds of the Syndicate were able to fight off their rebellions and come together under one jackbooted-and-snazzy-uniformed galactic tyranny. They insist that the Syndics are coming back any day now and until then, they control much of remaining Xenharmonic technology, print the Monetary Note (the reserve currency of the Myriad), and try to ignore the fact that they're slowly running out of spare parts and don't exactly understand the technology their masters gave them. Every day, though, the Remnance gets a little more desperate, and the various rebels and competing states get a little bolder... So! What first? Want a summary of more of the setting (there's no actual big Setting section, mostly, outside of the setup and summary in the front of the book and a bunch of example planets and plot hooks later on) or should we get into the races and things you can play as? The races in this game are tremendously weird and range from brain-eating accidentally sentient plants to a giant bat-monster with a symbiotic cordyceps infection (that the PC is actually playing as), for a barometer of how odd they are.
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Nov 1, 2016 17:31
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Night10194 posted:So! What first? Want a summary of more of the setting (there's no actual big Setting section, mostly, outside of the setup and summary in the front of the book and a bunch of example planets and plot hooks later on) or should we get into the races and things you can play as? The races in this game are tremendously weird and range from brain-eating accidentally sentient plants to a giant bat-monster with a symbiotic cordyceps infection (that the PC is actually playing as), for a barometer of how odd they are. Gimme these weird fuckin' playable species!
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Nov 1, 2016 17:49
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Kurieg posted:[Snarky Bullshit Answers to a Snarky Bullshit Question] Excellent. Davin Valkri posted:Wait, isn't that the concept behind Golden Sky Stories? GSS shall henceforth be in continuity with the Chronicles of Darkness. The mascots for Mahou: The Shoujoing gotta come from somewhere. Doresh fucked around with this message at 17:58 on Nov 1, 2016 |
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Nov 1, 2016 17:50
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Mors Rattus posted:I also like the flat delivery of the line 'I'm a cat.' I actually think the Changing Breeds as a concept have a place in the game. This place would involve throwing out literally their entire book. What I would go with is, essentially: you don't just have an animal soul, you were an animal. Human is not your natural form. You are a shapeshifter because sometimes, animals become people. Why?
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Nov 1, 2016 17:59
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Zereth posted:Because opposable thumbs are pretty cool. The cat teacher from Princess Tutu lives a perfectly good life without those.
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Nov 1, 2016 18:01
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Zereth posted:Because opposable thumbs are pretty cool. "Behold, humans! I have petitioned the spirits of the great beyond to be reborn as one of you, for a grand, noble, purpose!" "Tell us, oh wondrous shapeshifter! What is this purpose?" "Well you see I can't play Call of Duty without thumbs. Now shuffle over and let me get to work."
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Nov 1, 2016 18:02
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Tell us, oh mighty sorcerer, the tale of Cawdblops
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Nov 1, 2016 18:18
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My big idea at this point is that sometimes, animals become more human. You get some of this from Hachiko-style 'dog awaits beloved master for decades' stuff, sometimes from an animal killing and eating a particularly metaphysically potent human, and sometimes from just being in the wrong place at the wrong time when big magic goes down. There is no grand unified mythology of the Changing Breeds, and their 'society' such as it is has more to do with the fact that they tend to be able to spot each other because they can spot the social cues of another animal in a human world than anything else. They don't have an ancient progenitor as far as they know (though if they did I'd tie it in with the over-beings of Pangaea like Wolf or Spider). The event that gives them humanity tends to shape their goals, and for the most part their goals tend to be fairly small-scale. Hachiko adopts a human family and decides to protect and guide them. Jaguar that ate a guy either tries to become that guy or starts hunting things like that guy. Magical accident cat is magnetically attracted to Weird poo poo. In all cases, their instincts and vaguely Uncanny Valley nature tend to attract trouble and chaos because, y'know, a cat pretending to be a human isn't likely to be super good at it.
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Nov 1, 2016 18:19
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Wolf Children is a very good anime.
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Nov 1, 2016 18:23
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PurpleXVI posted:"Behold, humans! I have petitioned the spirits of the great beyond to be reborn as one of you, for a grand, noble, purpose!" The spirits of the great beyond should've just let him become a fighting game tournament player. You don't really need thumbs for an arcade stick.
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Nov 1, 2016 18:36
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RiotGearEpsilon posted:Gimme these weird fuckin' playable species! Myriad Song: The Races of the Myriad So, first off, you obviously have humans. Humans are generally good at leadership and paradoxically, also great at blending into a crowd. Their racial skills relate to diplomacy, investigation, and coordination with others. You know what a human is, but what's interesting is a few of the things the game thinks are superior about them on the galactic stage. For one, the Syndics really liked humans, for some reason, so you'll see plenty of Human Conductors and Aristocrats, often marked by curious mutations or strange skin colors. Humans are also noted as the best cooks in the galaxy, as some of the most omnivorous guys and gals around. Finally, humans actually have superior eyesight to most of the other Myriad. This lets a human see more colors and clearer pictures, making them prized as marksmen. Next you've got the Adhalians, space-birds. They don't have hands, and do everything with their feet and prehensile tails. They have tremendous phenotype diversity because it's common for their eggs to contain multiple children, and for the strongest to eat the others and take on physical features and genetic bits from them. This means they can also pick up insanely weird stuff like having teeth and mouths on their tails, extra eyes, or gently caress up their bilateral symmetry. This becomes a major marker in Adhalian culture: If you were born with a killing tail you're a raptor, a warrior. If you were born with extra eyes, you're an observer, a scientist or scholar. Adhalians excel in creative thinking, violence, and piloting anything that flies. Their specific racial gifts let them fly on their own power and revolve around their weird physiology. Next come Elvers, eel-like amphibians (they're much more fish-like, but considering they can capably exist on dry land I feel comfortable calling them amphibian). They tend to be about 4m long and will lift themselves a couple meters off the ground from their tail to use tools or converse face to face with other races. They do not die of old age; Elvers just keep growing and growing. The eldest Elvers can't actually operate on land, being too heavy to exist outside of water and being dozens of meters in length. They tend to have terrible eye-sight, and it's stereotypical to see an Elver with high-pressure corrective goggles, but they can sense electrical currents instead. They're friendly, patient, and gregarious people, and curiously, have 4 genders that they shift between as part of their life cycle. An Elver is born neuter, and if they live in isolation, will remain neuter their entire lives. Elver develop their sexual characteristics based on the other Elver around them; a young Elver growing up among many female Elver is much more likely to turn out male. The fourth gender carries the fertilized eggs of the others to term, a process that has to happen underwater. Elver are kinda weird, but they're mostly nice people. They get racial bonuses with academics, observation, and athletics, they're excellent swimmers (obviously), and their weird bodies let them use their snake-like body as a weapon or store electricity and taser people like an electric eel. Next we've got the Ishato, space-octopi. Standing on four tentacles and using the other four as manipulators, the Ishato are dexterous, quiet people. They were used by the Syndics as shock troopers because of their skill at silence, their cleverness, and the poison barbs on the end of their manipulators; their appearance also scared the hell out of most other sentients despite them being decent folk. Once the wars of conquest were over, their ability at multitasking led many Ishato to become professional bureaucrats and managers of the Syndic empire, and they were considered one of the most loyal species. Ishato cannot speak easily; without an amplifier their vocal communication won't rise above a loud whisper. Instead, they prefer to communicate via touch and dance. Needless to say, they mostly only do this with other Ishato because a race unfamiliar with them might mistaken being rubbed with a pair of tentacles for an attack. They have their own elaborate fashions, designed to set others at ease by wearing ceremonial robes and wrappings emblazoned with brail decorations for other Ishato to 'read'. Modern Ishato are having an identity crisis; with the Syndics gone, the conservative traditionalists want to keep to the Remnance and act like nothing happened. Younger Ishato are starting to turn against this, wanting to go 'bare' and no longer be ashamed of their appearance, and to forge their own identity for their species. Ishato get multiple arms and are naturally great at hiding, and their skills relate to dodging, fighting hand to hand, and enduring danger. They are cool space octopi. Next come the bugfolk, the Lhampyr. They're a little underdeveloped, in my opinion. Sure, they can fly like the birds and they have some weirdness to 'em: they have 4 arms and a pair of powerful grasping feet, they can see in ultraviolent and IR but can't perceive color, and they have the ability to coordinate allies and friends by flashing their bio luminescence and doing a cool bug dance, but that's about it for them. They're good at spotting details, coordination with allies, and athletics. They were mostly undiscovered during the Syndic's reign, and so they don't have much of a known society. NOW we're getting to the weird poo poo, with the Ludm-Rabo. Each Ludm-Rabo is actually two creatures (and this plays by having an extra d4 Trait die to throw around, since you have two separate Legacy (species) stats). The Rabo looks like a gaunt, muscular humanoid bat with no wings, and is dumb as all hell (they're barely sapient). Their entire species, however, has a symbiotic relationship with the Ludm, a kind of hyper-intelligent brain fungus. The fungus grows on a young Rabo's hair and spine, then plunges its tentacles into the brain when both are mature, networking their brains together. Rabo are massively strong and capable hunters, while their brain fungi are clever and charismatic. Ldum can't communicate, but the Rabo have such a wide range of vocalizations that the Ludm can easily speak fluently through their host. By nature and by the necessity of protecting their symbiotic host, Ludm are masters of chemistry and medicine; their species gift makes them excellent physicians and their second species Gift gives them the ability to use both the Ludm and Rabo's racial skills. The Rabo side handles senses, combat, and muscle. Play as these guys if you want to be able to argue with yourself and be a distinguished medical doctor who is also a crazy bat person. The Rabo side gets bonuses to Observation, Athletics, and Endurance while the Ludm is excellent at academics, presence (the ability to make an impression), and investigation. Ludm-Rabo are cool. But they got nothing on Morphirs. Morphirs were a species confined to forbidden zones by the Syndics, for good reason: They're potentially insanely dangerous and they don't even mean to be. In their natural state, Morphir are unusually humanoid plants, about .3-2 meters in size. Nothing seems odd until they're fed: They're carnivorous pitcher-plants in this form, feeding on small animals and other creatures attracted to their scent. If they're fed intelligent creatures, or even just relatively clever animals like rats, a female Morphir will begin to produce buds that store a substance called Charas. This stuff is the distilled 'chemical memories' of the Morphir's victims, and when smoked it gives a crazy high as well as the ability to absorb some of the memories into the smoker. Criminals quickly got hold of Morphirs and started using them as drug manufacturing plants. Then some idiot decided to try giving them sapient brains to produce a stronger strain. Fed sapient brain matter, a Morphir slowly takes on the form of the creatures she's eating, and will gradually become capable of independent movement and sapient themselves! Morphir farmers usually try to stop this, but the longer one is fed sapient brains and the closer they get to awakening, the more powerful and valuable their charas becomes. Inevitably, some push their luck too far and end up with an escaped brain-eating plant that's newly sentient and doesn't quite know what to do. People are, obviously, a little suspicious of a brain-eating, possibly shapeshifting space-plant that just attained sentience because criminals fed it brains harvested from all their murdering and so Morphirs are usually not looked upon kindly. They aren't inherently evil, though, and while they can continue to eat brains (and absorb memories) they don't have any especial need or desire to. Morphir PCs are good at stealth and dodging, interrogations, and deceit. They get a host of powerful poisons and brain-eating natural abilities, and they're also great at hiding themselves and pretending to be another species. I'll get to the last four next time, but I really wanted to get up to the shapeshifting brain-eating space-plants from evil drug plans gone wrong. They're awesome.
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Nov 1, 2016 18:48
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Kurieg posted:Wolf Children is a very good anime.  Also Mors, your idea is cool but but I am pretty sure I'm legally obligated to give you a swirlie for trying to salvage Changing Breeds.
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Nov 1, 2016 19:28
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Daeren posted:
does it count if all I'm taking is the name
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Nov 1, 2016 19:36
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Mors Rattus posted:does it count if all I'm taking is the name No. But do not give them a chicken Illuminati. Feng Shui gets to keep that.
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Nov 1, 2016 19:38
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I'm pretty sure none of my Changing Breeds would be capable of being the Chicken Illuminati without a lot of help from, like, the actual Illuminati. These are not a group of creatures entrenched in places of power. The closest you get is some dogs and cats who have decided to become family guardians/manipulators.
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Nov 1, 2016 19:57
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The whole reason the Ascended can pull off their global Illuminati schtick is that they have the feng shui sites and you don't. Without that they're just another group of people who are good at kung fu and shooting people.
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Nov 1, 2016 20:07
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