|
These are all loving fantastic selling points, I don't know what's wrong with you. 
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 18:27
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 18, 2024 21:47 |
|
|
Hunt11 posted:And how could we forget about the guard hive mind. I think the sad part is that an official Elder Scrolls PnP RPG wouldn't include these things. On the other hand, you could just fluff every critical success and failure as exploiting a bug/a glitch messing you up. Critfail a stealth roll? The Guard Hive Mind now knows who you are, and where you are. Crit succeed an alchemy roll? You found an unintended bug permitting exponential gains
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 18:29
|
|
|
Bedlamdan posted:You also get to keep your victims' house for yourself, with the dead body of the victim lying inert in a hallway. You don't even have to kill him yourself. Any dead man's house is yours for the taking. (True story: I always had to enter "my" house by jumping on the balcony, because unlocking a door is a one way deal and I didn't want to risk getting caught unlocking the main entrance from the outside. I also kept a collection of the armor left from all those random assassins that kept buggering me thanks to that first expansion, until I finally had enough and made an epic trip to the guy who would set the "Leave me alone, ffs" flag.) Doresh fucked around with this message at 18:49 on Nov 13, 2016 |
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 18:45
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:I think the sad part is that an official Elder Scrolls PnP RPG wouldn't include these things. On the other hand, you could just fluff every critical success and failure as exploiting a bug/a glitch messing you up. Critfail a stealth roll? The Guard Hive Mind now knows who you are, and where you are. Crit succeed an alchemy roll? You found an unintended bug permitting exponential gains The world needs a game glitch rpg. Or at least I do.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 20:52
|
|
|
SirPhoebos posted:The world needs a game glitch rpg. Or at least I do. "You critically failed your diplomacy check. Your character is missing his skin." "You critically succeed at your stealth roll. You have noclip for 1d6 rounds." "The ogre hits you. The knockback calculation goes apeshit and you find yourself flying to the other side of the continent." "You talk a step outside and fall outside the world." Doresh fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Nov 13, 2016 |
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 21:08
|
|
|
Doresh posted:"You talk a step outside and fall outside the world." We used to call the people who intentionally did that 'Void Rangers', back when Daggerfall was the current hot mess.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 21:16
|
|
|
Whooo, what a week! Why don’t we sit down and relax with another look at… Part 7: Character Foci Part 1 The Focus is the verb of the colorful sentence we’ve been slowly building over character generation. It’s very special. No two characters can have the same focus. Foci are packages of goodies that add on different bonuses, qualities, and gear to your character, with more benefits as you advance to new tiers. They also come with a list of connections you’re required to pick from at chargen and hitch to another character in the group, so in that way they’re like more specific versions of the initial links provided by character descriptors. And by that I mean they tie the characters in a group together but provide no incentive or benefits for playing with them, and therefore are lovely versions of similar mechanics done in better games. As I mentioned before, the focus usually changes between recursion and each character can pick a new focus the first time they arrive in a new recursion. The focus picked for each recursion can’t change after the fact, so choose wisely! The provided foci are split between ones available to starting characters from Ardeyn (the fantasy world), Ruk (the sorta scifi world), and Earth (earth). On top of all this, the sidebars provide my favorite feature of this chapter: suggested GM Intrusions for each character focus! The book takes a surprising turn here by trying to lead GMs away from treating Intrusions as an arbitrary gently caress-you button and—pfffahaha sorry, I couldn’t finish this sentence. Here’s a full list of the foci:  Note: if a foci is listed as draggable, then that means you can keep it when you translate. You have to decide when you translate whether or not to take a draggable focus with you. You have to choose to drag a focus from its home world at the time of a translation. If you set another focus, you can always go back to the world with the draggable focus and bring it to the second reality next time. Let's take a look at these foci individually:  You would not believe how long it took to grow that beard. Abides in Stone You’re a golem. Recursion: Ardeyn Connections: 1. Pick a PC. That PC woke you up from your rock-hard slumber and you feel indebted to the PC for that. 2. Pick a PC. You were convinced this PC wanted to smash you to pieces, but you’ve grown to think that’s not true or isn’t true any longer. 3. Pick a PC. This PC knows the secret of your origin, but you can never remember the details when the PC talks about it. 4. Pick a PC. If you go berserk, you’ll never attack the chosen PC. (There’s no rules for a golem going berserk. I guess it’s at ~the GM’s Discretion~) Equipment: A pouch, chisel, hammer, one weapon of your choice, and 200 crowns (the Ardeyn currency, you don’t get 200 actual crowns, unfortunately.) Suggested Minor Effect: You’re a heavy block of stone. Step on the target and it can’t move on its next turn. Suggested Major Effect: You break a weapon, shield, or armor piece on the target. Tier Benefits: Yeah, I’m not going to cover each paragraph of detail on each tier benefit. Essentially, your hard golem body gives you natural armor and hard fists to punch with. You don’t need to eat or sleep or anything else a fleshy body needs to do. You don’t heal as easily and you’re slower, since you’re made of stone. As you go up in tiers you become harder, better, stronger, but not faster. Suggested GM Intrusions: the book posted:Creatures of stone sometimes forget their own strength or weight. A walking statue can terrify common folk. Adapts to Any Environment You’re good at being discrete and flexible in any recursion and every situation. Recursion: Ruk (Draggable) Connections: 1. Pick a PC. If your chosen PC remains next to you and take no other actions, that PC shares your adaptive qualities. 2. Pick a PC. You’re mad jelly of the chosen PC. 3. Pick a PC. This PC possesses something you really want. 4. Pick a PC. One time the chosen PC randomly said something complementary to you and was very nice. Equipment: Ruk clothing, light armor, one weapon of your choice, a bag of light tools, a breather, an umbilical, and an account with 50 bits. Suggested Minor Effect: Recover 2 points to one of your Pools. Suggested Major Effect: Recover 6 points to one of your Pools. Tier Benefits: You get bonuses to armor against any attack and environmental damage. You’re better at healing than normal. Then you also get this nice little ability to breathe in any environment, even one with no air. You also learn how to pass through any terrain without being obstructed by something unless it’s a solid barrier. Eventually you don’t need to eat, drink, or breathe, but if you “go past the normal bounds of your body,” you face penalties until you can eat/drink/breathe normally. The book doesn’t explain how this interacts with the earlier ability you get that allows you to breathe everything. Suggested GM Intrusions: the book posted:Adaptations fail. Weird side effects can linger. Carries a Quiver You haul around a quiver and a bow or crossbow, which you’re good at firing. Recursion: Ardeyn Connections : 1. Pick a PC. This PC is a true friend who gave you an excellent bow that you currently use. 2. Pick two PCs. When you miss with a bow and the GM decides you hit a PC, it’s one of these two that is hit. (Seriously, who besides a dick would pick this?) 3. Pick a PC. You’ve seen the chosen PC admiring your archery skills. Maybe the PC wants a lesson? 4. Pick a PC. When this PC helps you with fletching or bowery, the time taken up is halved. Equipment: Ardeyn clothing, light armor, a well-made bow, two dozen arrows, another weapon of your choice, an explorer’s pack, tools for fletching, and 400 crowns. Suggested Minor Effect: You hit a tender spot. The target takes an extra 2 points of Speed damage in addition to normal damage. Suggested Major Effect: The target is pinned in place with an arrow. Tier Benefits: You loving love bows. You deal extra damage to them and know how to make arrows and bows easily. You can do a few special attacks with bows. Suggested GM Intrusions: the book posted:Arrows strike the wrong targets. Bowstrings snap.  Channels Sinfire The sin of a dead god is sealed in the core of Ardeyn. It manifests as a fire, which people are forbidden to look upon. You still found out how to master it, and now you can gaze upon the sins of others. Also, throw fire around. In fact, it’s mostly about throwing fire around. Recursion: Ardeyn Connections: 1. Pick a PC. The chosen PC knows a sin you committed in your youth, but not a big sin like murder. 2. Pick a PC. You know a secret about the chosen PC’s past. The PC doesn’t know you know 3. Pick a PC. The chosen PC is mysteriously immune to your sinfire powers. 4. Pick a PC. You feel strangely protective towards the PC. Equipment: Ardeyn clothing, light or medium armor, one weapon of your choice, an explorer’s pack, a candle and 10 matchsticks, and 300 crowns. Suggested Minor Effect: Daze someone with some sin they committed in the past. They’re dazed for one round, modifying all task difficulties by one step to the detriment of the target. Suggested Major Effect: Make an immediate attack with your sinfire as an extra action, even if the target is at a long range. Tier Benefits: You can set your hands on fire and deal damage from the heat, or even Intellect damage! You can also set your weapons on fire. You also get a naughty-sense for significant sins that make it easy to throw fireballs at a range and get more buffs to your fire attacks as you level. Suggested GM Intrusions: the book posted:Some see such power as being demonic. Sometimes the sins of others can be surprising or even overwhelming. Conducts Weird Science You’re a scientist. Recursion: Earth Connections: 1. Pick a PC. This PC thinks your science cured someone close to the other PC of a fatal condition. You’re not sure if you did or if the condition went into remission. 2. Pick a PC. You created something that gives this PC a restful night’s sleep, but there may be long-term side effects. 3. Pick a PC. You think that an invention of yours gave this PC a connection to The Strange. The PC may or may not know this. 4. Pick a PC. You took money from this PC to make a gun that shoots through walls, but you’re still working on a prototype. Equipment: Street clothes, science field kit, light tools, a pen knife, a smartphone, and $2,000. Suggested Minor Effect: When you analyze a thing, you get one additional tidbit of information. Suggested Major Effect: Enemies within sight are dazed by your loving weird machine or the results of your invention. The difficulty of tasks for these targets is modified by one step to their detriment. Tier Benefits: You’re a scientist. You’re very good at science. You can analyze a scene for clues and information. The difficulty of this is task set by the GM. The only baseline given for setting this difficulty is that “discovering that a victim was killed not by a fall, as seems immediately obvious, but rather by electrocution, is a difficulty 3 task for you.” So, uh, good job basing all the difficulty levels based on this electrocution-death metric I guess? You can also make weird inventions and stuff. Suggested GM Intrusions: the book posted:Creations get out of control. Side effects cannot always be predicted. Weird science terrifies people and can draw the media. When a device created or modified by weird science is depleted, it detonates.  A very good dog. Embraces Qephilim Ancestry You’re a doggie—sorry, jackal-headed humanoid. They’re the native race of Ardeyn. You don’t have to take this focus to be one, but you're an extra-special good boy if you do! You have stronger ties to the divine nature of the qephilim that receded after the end of the Age of Myth. Recursion: Ardeyn Connections: 1. Pick a PC. The chosen PC thought you were an avatar of a secretly-returned Incarnation for a while, but doesn’t anymore. 2. Pick a PC who is human. You thought this PC might secretly be a Lotanist at first, but you’e less suspicious now. 3. Pick a PC. You sense that this PC seems interested in the lore of qephilim, so you tell the PC a lot of stories. It’s up to the other PC if they actually care or not. 4. Pick a PC. This PC knows your true nature, even if no one else does. Equipment: Ardeyn clothing, armor of your choice, two weapons of your choice (or a weapon and a shield), a relic in the shape of a badge worn by one of the ancient kindred, an explorer’s pack, and 400 crowns. Mythlight Abilities: You can imbue any power you have that gives off a force or energy with your mythlight. This changes the damage type of the power to Suggested Minor Effect: Your mythlight absorbs a tiny charge from your successful action and feeds it back to you. Gain a +1 bonus to similar actions involving the same task. Suggested Major Effect: Make an immediate attack against a foe, +4 damage from divine radiance on a hit. Tier Benefits: So the thing with qephilim is they were each devoted to a different Incarnation a.k.a. “god”. If you take this focus, you pick which Incarnation your ancestors served and get some kind of bonus realted to it. The Incarnations are War, Death, Commerce, Lore, Silence, Law, Desire, and Qephilim Lore. You also get some other attack powers with your mythlight, including another thing that does Intellect damage, can learn how to summon Ardeyn artifacts to you, and eventually fly! Suggested GM Intrusions: the book posted:Racial prejudices and ancient hatreds can come from surprising corners. Entertains You’re an entertainer of some sort, i.e., a singer, dancer, poet, storyteller, etc. This gives you D&D bard powers. Recursion: Earth (Draggable) Connections: 1. Pick a PC. This PC is your biggest critic and your powers don’t work on him or her. 2. Pick a PC. You’ve been bffs with this PC for a long time. 3. Pick a PC. You’re entertained by this PC. 4. Pick a PC. This PC is your biggest fan. Equipment: Clothing, smartphone, some sort of entertainment item (musical instrument, MP3 player, sketchbook and pens, bag of magic tricks, book of jokes or poetry, and so on) and $300. Suggested Minor Effect: You enchant the target with your dazzling abilities and they remain enchanted as long as you focus. The exact effects of being “enchanted” are not described. I choose to believe the poor bastard is dragged into a musical number with you for as long as you sing. Suggested Major Effect: The target is favorably disposed to you. Forever. Tier Benefits: You get the D&D 3.5 bard powers of inspiring courage and inspiring competence. You can also give people a buff to their recovery rolls and you’re knowledgeable about stuff. Suggested GM Intrusions: the book posted:Failing to entertain can be worse than not having tried, since you often end up annoying or offending your audience. Musical instruments break, paints dry in their pots, and the words to a poem or song, once forgotten, never return.  Infiltrates You’re a genetically-engineered super assassin. Recursion: Ruk Connections: 1. Pick a PC. This character always manages to foil your actions. If the chosen PC is within immediate range of you, the difficulty of any action you take related to this character focus is increased by one step. 2. Pick a PC. You can’t seem to hide them no matter how hard you try. 3. Pick two PCs. The three of you worked together on a mission a long time ago, but you had a falling out. 4. Pick a PC. The chosen PC is your vat-sibling. You two look a lot alike. Equipment: Ruk clothing, light armor, one weapon of your choice, a bag of light tools, an umbilical, and an account with 50 bits. Suggested Minor Effect: You stun an opponent with your stunts. The target is dazed (for an undisclosed length of time). During this time the difficulty of all tasks performed by the target are modified by one step to its detriment. Suggested Major Effect: All opponents within short range are so loving startled by your stunts that they’re all dazed.  Tier Benefits: You get powers related to being stealthy, good at impersonating others, hyper-aware, invisible, good at dodging, and eventually able to control people with pheromones. Suggested GM Intrusions: the book posted:Spies are treated harshly when caught. Their allies disavow them to protect secrets. Some secrets are better left unknown.  Integrates Weaponry You’re a weaponaut. Weapons on Ruk often have biomechanical components that allow you to integrate them into your body. Weaponauts are considered to have “psychological issues.” Recursion: Ruk Connections: 1. Pick a PC. That PC gave you your first heavy weapon, and you’ve been fascinated with the PC ever since. 2. Pick a PC. That character seems leery of you. 3. Pick a PC. The chosen PC knows a secret of yours. 4. Pick a PC. The PC looks like someone you wronged a long time ago, but you’re sure. Equipment: Ruk clothing, light or medium armor, one weapon of your choice, an umbilical, and an account with 50 bits. Integrated Weapon Abilities: Certain twists/revisions/moves you did come from your integrated weapons. All this does is refluff the description of your attacks. Suggested Minor Effect: Your attack knocks the target prone, or knocks the target back 20 ft. Suggested Major Effect: A creature of level 5 or less is intimidated by your integrated weapons and flees, if allowed. Even if it can’t flee, it loses its next turn trying to run. Tier Benefits: You can replace one of your hands with a gun. It can be any size, but you’re extra-clumsy if you put a heavy weapon on your hand. You can also have two gun-hands but then you can’t do any tasks that require hands. You’re also really good at running and fighting with your gun hand, and get better as you level. Suggested GM Intrusions: the book posted:Weapons misfire, and when they are a part of you, that’s trouble. Is Licensed to Carry You’re a professional soldier or someone else that is proficient with weapons thanks to your occupation. Recursion: Earth Connections: 1. Pick a PC. You accidentally shot this PC during target practice once, leaving the PC badly wounded. 2. Pick two PCs. When you miss with a gun and the GM rules that you hit someone other than your target, you hit one of these two. 3. Pick a PC. You can tell the chosen PC really needs some pointers on how to handle a firearm. 4. Pick a PC. Somehow this PC can get you guns and ammo at half the price. Mmm yes, do I choose to shoot one of two PCs in the rear end when I miss with my gun, or do I choose to get gear vital to my character at a heavy discount? Equipment: Clothing, light or medium armor, two weapons (one of which must be a firearm and three magazines of ammo), a cell phone, and $800. Suggested Minor Effect: You hit the target on the side of the head and deafened the target for “a few minutes”. There are no rules for what being deafened does to someone. Suggested Major Effect: You hit an artery. The target bleeds for 1 extra point of damage until the target succeeds at a difficulty 3 Intellect or Speed task to treat the wound. Tier Benefits: You’re really good at shooting guns and get better as you advance in tiers. Suggested GM Intrusions: the book posted:Misfire or jam! The attack fails and the action is lost, plus an additional action is needed to fix the problem.  "I might be watching porn right now and you could never tell." Leads You’re charismatic and able to convince people to follow your orders with ease. Recursion: Earth Connections: 1. Pick a PC. This PC was once a follower of yours, but you’ve come to think of the PC as a peer. 2. Pick a PC. This PC is independent-minded and immune to your abilities. 3. Pick a PC. This PC will introduce you to a follower you gain at Second-Tier. 4. Pick a PC. You used to be very close to the chosen PC. Equipment: Very nice clothing, leather jacket, a computer of your choice, a smartphone, a car, and $1,500. Suggested Minor Effect: The next time you try to do verbally influence this target, the difficulty of the task is reduced by one step. Suggested Major Effect: The effect of your charismatic influence lasts twice as long as normal. Tier Benefits: You’re very charismatic and can convince people to do things. You also slowly build a cult of loyal followers. Suggested GM Intrusions: the book posted:Followers fail, betray, lie, become corrupted, get kidnapped, or die. Leaders get usurped. Lives in the Wilderness You live in the wilderness. You get all the benefits you’d expect of being a smelly wild-man. Recursion: Ardeyn Connections: 1. Pick a PC who isn’t from the wilderness. You feel contempt for their civilized ways. 2. Pick a PC. You helped this chosen PC out of the wilderness in the past. 3. Pick a PC. This PC freaks out animals in a way that weirds you out. 4. Pick a PC. The chosen PC is almost as adept in the wilds as you are, which you respect. Equipment: Ardeyn clothing, light or medium armor, two weapons of your choice (or one weapon and a shield), an explorer’s pack, and 300 crowns. Suggested Minor Effect: A foe that is a natural creature flees. Suggested Major Effect: A foe that is a natural creature becomes warily passive towards you. Tier Benefits: You’re good at general ranger-y things, and you’re able to scavenge for food in the wilderness without much effort, even to feed a group of people. You also resist natural poisons, can gain enhanced senses, and traverse difficult woodlands terrain with ease. Suggested GM Intrusions: the book posted:People in cities and towns sometimes disparage those who look (and smell) like they live in the wilds, as if they were ignorant or barbaric. Looks for Trouble You’re a scrappy person, prone to solving all of your problems with your fists. Recursion: Earth (Draggable) Connections: 1. Pick a PC. You have a past together and you watch over the chosen PC. By default, this PC is the charge regarding your Second-Tier ability to protect someone. 2. Pick one or two PCs. You think they look tough and you’d like to test their strength at some point. 3. Pick a PC. The chosen PC has a 50/50 chance of helping you in a fight or hindering you. This is determined at the start of every encounter. You get +1 to all attack rolls if the PC helps, or -1 to all attack rolls if the PC hinders you. 4. Pick a PC. You two used to be in a relationship. Equipment: Street clothes, light armor, two weapons of your choice (one of which must be a melee weapon), a first aid kit, a utility knife, a cell phone, and $400. Suggested Minor Effect: The target is dazed for one round. Like before, the difficulty of all tasks are modified by one step to the target’s detriment. Suggested Major Effect: You smash a piece of the target’s equipment. Tier Benefits: You’re mean fighter and you get meaner as you go up in tiers. You can also designate a single character in each turn of combat to be protected by you, and the target gets a Speed asset for Speed defense tasks. Suggested GM Intrusions: the book posted:Weapons break or fly from even the strongest grip. Brawlers trip and fall. Even the battlefield can work against you with things falling or collapsing. This is getting a bit long and I’m only halfway through the foci, so I’ll break it off here. So far, these foci have really made it clear how arbitrary and weird the difference is between minor and major effects and that’s bothering me. Also seriously, who is going to pick a connection that actively inhibits you in your role or annoys the rest of the group?  This thing is going to make some sick-rear end boots. Next: Moooore Foci! Nuns with Guns fucked around with this message at 03:14 on Nov 14, 2016 |
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 21:24
|
|
|
Man, every time I read about The Strange, all I can think is "you could do this so much easier and more effectively in Fate Core," with the added bonus that if you made all the tier abilities stunts, they'd at least be balanced against each other.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 21:46
|
|
|
Evil Mastermind posted:Man, every time I read about The Strange, all I can think is "you could do this so much easier and more effectively in Fate Core," with the added bonus that if you made all the tier abilities stunts, they'd at least be balanced against each other. oh, absolutely! you also wouldn't have to lean on GM arbitration for loving everything
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 21:50
|
|
|
SirPhoebos posted:The world needs a game glitch rpg. Or at least I do. 1: the regular game in an unedited PDF. 2: the player's guide which is the regular game but with notes scribbled in that openly explain stuff like speed runner tactics and exploits for the players to abuse (like the exponential alchemical potion skill potion abuse loop explained, or how to build a spell that affects and hurts you for an insignificant amount of damage that raises your magic skill to higher degrees, or how to use rocks/trees as ramps by rolling at them from a certain angle). 3: the GM's guide, which contains all of the info from the core game and then a separate installation that explains the effects the exploits have on the world. Basically, abusing glitches and poo poo should be allowed...in moderation. Too much abuse and exploitation everything starts acting wacky and broken. Way too much abuse and the world ends and everything collapses due to the strain on reality and physics. Complicated, sure, but I think it would be interesting to have a game where stuff like the Peasant Railgun is actually encouraged.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 22:30
|
|
|
Strange has some really nice art, too bad the whole thing is pretty bad.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 23:58
|
|
|
Hostile V posted:3: the GM's guide, which contains all of the info from the core game and then a separate installation that explains the effects the exploits have on the world. Basically, abusing glitches and poo poo should be allowed...in moderation. Too much abuse and exploitation everything starts acting wacky and broken. Way too much abuse and the world ends and everything collapses due to the strain on reality and physics. So essentially Paradox/Frag amounting, but at the worst end of the scale the end result is either "reality needs to be rebooted, everything from the last few hours has been reset... but some people still remember what they learned during this period" or "There's an admin countdown to permaban, you have X time units to stash as much of your stuff with friends(if you trust them) or in various caches as possible so your next character can access them."
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 00:21
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:So essentially Paradox/Frag amounting, but at the worst end of the scale the end result is either "reality needs to be rebooted, everything from the last few hours has been reset... but some people still remember what they learned during this period" or "There's an admin countdown to permaban, you have X time units to stash as much of your stuff with friends(if you trust them) or in various caches as possible so your next character can access them." Besieged by a horde of t-posing Orcs (thus making it impossible to tell what attack may come next, giving the Orcs an overwhelming advantage in a fight), our valiant heroes find themselves repeatedly running past the same tree just to be thrown back ten feet to try again. In a fit of inspiration, the rogue attempts to mesh himself into a tree to escape, only to fall through the earth into The Void, screaming as he goes. Can the Cleric cast "Summon_MacDaddyGankster_location_me" before the Orcs are upon them?
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 00:36
|
|
|
Hostile V posted:I would legitimately love to see a RPG get released where there are three products in a folder. ...I might have to try my hand at this if I get another writer's itch that needs scratching. E: About Mummy's review, I feel like  for it being on effective semi-permanent hiatus, but the undertaking to write up the whole series got a lot bigger than it looked at first, and current events combined with job hunting and juggling graduate school have been vampirizing my will to do a lot. I might get back to it at some point, but I don't know when.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 00:52
|
|
|
Would anybody be interested in doing an F&F of Fortitude: By the Docks of Big Lake? I feel like it's exactly the kind of thing that would improve my mood right now, but they weren't hugely popular when I did Chuubo reviews myself. Maybe some other Jenna fan would be into it?
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 01:21
|
|
|
I can't help but think that Broken Bethseda Game Engine: The RPG is just 3e with a permissive and creative DM. The game gave us the moon throwing/blue whale shotgunning hulking hurler build and Pun-Pun the kobold. Just have anyone who wants to hit things with a sword build a caster class for it and decrease the time for rests to regain your spell slots.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 01:56
|
|
|
Those Incursions from the Strange as so loving bad. Your bow breaks! Your weapon breaks! You need an additional round to fix your weapon! It's just loving fumble rules with a snazzy name. Cook should have done some self-referential humor and suggested "Stumble over an unseen imaginary deceased turtle. You are very confused. Stunned 3 rounds."
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 02:11
|
|
|
Nuns with Guns posted:oh, absolutely! you also wouldn't have to lean on GM arbitration for loving everything Even better, you don't have to power all your drat abilities worth a drat of of your stat pools that are your HP! Or spend XP to save your rear end!
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 02:51
|
|
|
Robindaybird posted:Strange has some really nice art, too bad the whole thing is pretty bad. God, yes, I can fault many parts of the system and fluff for The Strange but the art is fantastic. If nothing else, it really shows how much a middling-dull system and setting can be carried by evocative and interesting art. gradenko_2000 posted:Those Incursions from the Strange as so loving bad. Your bow breaks! Your weapon breaks! You need an additional round to fix your weapon! It's just loving fumble rules with a snazzy name. This is is a good point. A bit problem with intrusions is that people default into really dull fumble/weapon break rules. Maybe that's because the most predictable way to get them are in natural 1s and you're most likely to get natural 1s in combat? Intrusions really are like a poorly-implemented version of Aspects. No guidance is given on when it's appropriate to inject an intrusion into the story and how to make it forward the narravtive instead of bogging it down in tangential bullshit. I mean, look at these other examples that are given in the Using the Rules section of the book: quote:An NPC ally disavows the PC who is caught spying. The PC is incorrectly singled out as a pickpocket in a public area. The security routine of the guards doesn’t match the intelligence the PC was given. The PC’s disguise slips. A woman named Zelda appears, claiming to be the PC’s long-lost lover, sister, creditor, or brother (having undergone radical surgery in the last case). That's four "gently caress you!" buttons and one completely "WTF" scenario there. Any of these would completely blindside a PC. Something like Aspects work well because the PC has given you this lever to pull and will probably be considering the wide scope of possibilities when a GM brings it up. GM intrusions really are intruding. They're not consensual and usually not interesting or compelling or in any way an interesting twist on the narrative. Evil Mastermind posted:Not to mention that a lot of non-caster-ish abilities in Cypher tend to boil down to "get a +X to this skill", a.k.a. The Most Boring Fate Stunt Possible. Yeah the abilities are either random combat maneuvers, a standard buff to a thing, or something super abstract that requires GM consent to pull off. And so far my count on the number of abilities that do any damage besides Physical is: 1 "Carries a Bow" ability that does Speed damage, plus 2 "Channels Sinfire" abilities and 1 "Quephilim Ancestry" ability that do Intellect damage. This is vs. every other power, ability, and random attack dictated so far.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 03:40
|
|
|
You pull that Zelda poo poo on your players and Dave is gonna be like "man gently caress you I don't wanna play another Legend of Zelda fan game, stop backdooring this poo poo."
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 04:30
|
|
|
Rand Brittain posted:Would anybody be interested in doing an F&F of Fortitude: By the Docks of Big Lake? I feel like it's exactly the kind of thing that would improve my mood right now, but they weren't hugely popular when I did Chuubo reviews myself. Maybe some other Jenna fan would be into it? That sounds great. I heard it was like middle-school aged kids reenacting creation myths, and that just makes me curious how such a bizarre concept would be implemented.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 06:34
|
|
|
Nuns with Guns posted:That's four "gently caress you!" buttons and one completely "WTF" scenario there. Any of these would completely blindside a PC. Something like Aspects work well because the PC has given you this lever to pull and will probably be considering the wide scope of possibilities when a GM brings it up. GM intrusions really are intruding. They're not consensual and usually not interesting or compelling or in any way an interesting twist on the narrative. I know it's been said before, but intrusions really do feel like Monte read Fate but didn't quite get what makes it work. God, I wish I had the focus to write that Fate Torg conversion.  quote:Yeah the abilities are either random combat maneuvers, a standard buff to a thing, or something super abstract that requires GM consent to pull off. And so far my count on the number of abilities that do any damage besides Physical is: 1 "Carries a Bow" ability that does Speed damage, plus 2 "Channels Sinfire" abilities and 1 "Quephilim Ancestry" ability that do Intellect damage. This is vs. every other power, ability, and random attack dictated so far. It's just the old 3.Path "profession" skill problem again, which isn't surprising given that it's Monte.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 06:57
|
|
|
Monte is just fixed in his ways, like people who use arsenic in cosmetics.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 07:05
|
|
|
golden bubble posted:That sounds great. I heard it was like middle-school aged kids reenacting creation myths, and that just makes me curious how such a bizarre concept would be implemented. That's The Glass-Maker's Dragon. This one is the paired setting book, and it's more like "Jenna made the world's best setting book out of information about jam-making and her thoughts on local restaurants."
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 13:56
|
|
|
Rand Brittain posted:That's The Glass-Maker's Dragon. This one is the paired setting book, and it's more like "Jenna made the world's best setting book out of information about jam-making and her thoughts on local restaurants." Wes Anderson: the RPG?
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 16:13
|
|
|
Hostile V posted:Yeah, exactly. Not to mention these strange incidents involving emotionless people that can only say the same phrases over and over again (they usually want to trade with you) and just roam the land to hoard money and loot. I've also heard you can pay a Wizard to mind control you in such a way that your body is training while you're sleeping. Hostile V posted:You pull that Zelda poo poo on your players and Dave is gonna be like "man gently caress you I don't wanna play another Legend of Zelda fan game, stop backdooring this poo poo." Dungeons & Dodongos. Evil Mastermind posted:My personal favorite is the Tier 1 "Carries a Quiver" ability Fletcher, which makes you trained in making arrows. Whoop-de-loving-do. It's not the only ability you get at Tier 1, but it's useless because a) who loving tracks ammo anymore outside a survival-based or resource-based game, b) not something the character should have to roll for. What's the interesting consequence of failing to make arrows? And if someone's out of arrows and can't make more, they're pretty much useless until they can get some more. If you fumble arrow creation, they obviously fly in the opposite direction when fired.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 18:00
|
|
|
The golem intrusions have got to be the worst. 'You don't know your own strength!' 'You don't know your own weight!' 'You are absolutely at an unimaginative rear end in a top hat's mercy not to kill a peasant with a handshake, or go through the floor at the inn!' That's the kind of thing a new DM stretching his pucker does to a player who picked a race he doesn't like.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 18:37
|
|
|
Bieeardo posted:The golem intrusions have got to be the worst. 'You don't know your own strength!' 'You don't know your own weight!' 'You are absolutely at an unimaginative rear end in a top hat's mercy not to kill a peasant with a handshake, or go through the floor at the inn!' That's the kind of thing a new DM stretching his pucker does to a player who picked a race he doesn't like. Right? Even if it was something like 'you know your own weight, but sometimes it gets in the way when you want to ride a horse, take a boat, or walk across an old, crumbling ruin's second story' would be better because it's the kind of thing you could reasonably expect, and it makes a challenge, not a random 'gently caress you you just squashed some guy's hand'. Prism fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Nov 14, 2016 |
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 18:42
|
|
|
Intrusions just aren't interesting. They're not really narrative drawbacks, they're just GM "gently caress you"s because you rolled a 1.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 19:43
|
|
|
Evil Mastermind posted:Intrusions just aren't interesting. They're not really narrative drawbacks, they're just GM "gently caress you"s because you rolled a 1.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 19:52
|
|
|
Chernobyl Peace Prize posted:Every time I think of GM Intrusions and the core conceit of "bribe you with XP to accept complications, or extort more XP out of you to prevent those complications" I get a little angry at stupid Numenera and its dumb garbage everything. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 19:58
|
|
|
So how does moving between recursions work, do you physically transfer or do you manifest a new body? Cause from what I'm reading here I can be a dogman mage in one reality, then travel to techworld and suddenly my dogman has guns for arms?
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 20:35
|
|
|
Simian_Prime posted:Wes Anderson: the RPG? Maybe? I'm honestly not familiar with his movies, although maybe I should be. It's a slice-of-life fantasy adventure, so the book mostly reflects what it's actually like to live in Fortitude, and the places and things you might be doing when it comes time to have a Shared Reactions or Adversity scene. I'll give you a sample! Talking To Your Family posted:Your family might or might not understand you.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 22:05
|
|
|
Rand Brittain posted:*snip* Yep, that's a Wes Anderson RPG, alright. I can practically hear Jeff Goldblum narrating that text. I like it!
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 22:31
|
|
|
Evil Mastermind posted:Intrusions just aren't interesting. They're not really narrative drawbacks, they're just GM "gently caress you"s because you rolled a 1. Chernobyl Peace Prize posted:Every time I think of GM Intrusions and the core conceit of "bribe you with XP to accept complications, or extort more XP out of you to prevent those complications" I get a little angry at stupid Numenera and its dumb garbage everything. Remember that GM Intrusions on a natural 1 don't award any XP. They're just an unapologetic gut-punch. GMs are expected to be inserting at least one additional intrusion out of nowhere per game, but are allowed to do up to twice per session per player this way. Kurieg posted:So how does moving between recursions work, do you physically transfer or do you manifest a new body? Cause from what I'm reading here I can be a dogman mage in one reality, then travel to techworld and suddenly my dogman has guns for arms? when translating you either need to find an open gate to walk through, or you all sit in a circle, enter a trance, and then your consciousness shifts between realities. Your appearance and powers can also be altered exactly as you describe with the in-universe justification being that you're building an entirely new body each time you enter a new recursion. The example given is almost the same as your hypothetical, actually: quote:When translating to Ardeyn, you might take on the physical form of a qephilim, with chainmail armor, a battleaxe, and a crossbow, even though on Earth you were a librarian with a smartphone. Your race and gender may also change from recursion to recursion. it's kind of vaguely worded but I'm pretty sure you don't leave your other physical bodies behind when you translate, either. So I guess you end up putting those in some pouch inside your brain until you shift back to a prior recursion. Nuns with Guns fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Nov 15, 2016 |
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2016 03:47
|
|
|
So it's like Fate compels or Cinematic Unisystem letting the GM hand out Drama Points for setbacks but with a bunch of pointless poo poo piled on top.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2016 04:16
|
|
|
Maxwell Lord posted:So it's like Fate compels or Cinematic Unisystem letting the GM hand out Drama Points for setbacks but with a bunch of pointless poo poo piled on top. Monte saw something original, creative, fun, and cool, but he didn't actually get why it was any of those things. I mean, not rolling? Players helping to shape the game? What are you, some kind of lower life form?
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2016 05:29
|
|
|
Doresh posted:They really love using their most baffling, ill-conceived splat as the crossover one, don't they? It's kind of inevitable that that would happen, when you think about it. A lot of the strength of the other WoD lines comes from their fluff (because it certainly doesn't come from the crunch! :iamafag:), and part of what makes the splats so strong from the fluff side is that they're very tightly written and self-contained. They do brush up against the other splats, and most of the books will give you at least some ideas on how to include the other lines in your game, but they're not at all necessary, which means that each line is free to do its own thing and develop its own theme. Beast suffers from bad writing anyway (and I have no idea about Gypsies, as I am a bit too young to have much experience with oWoD, but with a concept that bafflingly and obviously offensive, I'd be amazed if the writing for Gypsies DIDN'T suck), so it's kind of hard to tell if it could have ever been viable as a game built explicitly for crossovers, but I personally doubt it. A game written specifically for that purpose would basically have to include poo poo from all of the other lines, which would make it kind of a struggle for it to have the focussed writing that those lines have. You can see it quite clearly in Beast. Even ignoring the omnipresent awful stuff, the line's writing is kind of slapdash; because it has to work with all the other lines, and therefore can't outright contradict any of them, it's confused (and therefore confusing) about its own cosmology, lacks any truly coherent underlying theme, and never really has the opportunity to try to be its own line. Where it does have it's own flavour, it's terrible, obviously, and that is quite plainly the fault of the writer[s]. This lends it a unique personality through sheer badness; it's the WoD game where the monster's victims are the villains for daring to oppose this thing that's feeding off their terror. But even if the writing for Beast had been fantastic and they'd avoided the weird victim-blaming stuff, it still would have struggled to have its own niche, simply because of how dependent on/referential of the other lines it is. Given how self-contained most of the other lines are, I'm not sure it's possible to have an explicit crossover line that can avoid this problem. If you're looking for a CoD game that can fit into all the other CoD lines, it already exists; it's called Mage: the Awakening, and it works with the other lines because being a mage is all about discovery and exploring the strange and unreal - which means that exploring the territory of those other lines doesn't diminish Mage's own themes, since its protagonists are nosy bastards who are literally compelled to stick their noses into any kind of supernatural mystery they come across. The Sin of Onan fucked around with this message at 11:07 on Feb 7, 2017 |
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2016 12:38
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 18, 2024 21:47 |
|
|
That explains why the Gypsy splat never got redone, and also seems like inspiration for Beast.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2016 17:42
|
|
