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occamsnailfile posted:Yeah, when this book was published I don't think it was really common knowledge that 'eta' is a slur, though the research done for this book is not...great. Lumping them together with 'literally not human' is pretty mean no matter what though. I swear there must have been something in the late 80s / early 90s that "popularized" the usage. My suspicion is an English to Japanese dictionary in common use at the time, just because of the propensity of game writers at the time to throw it around. I do admit it's possible Siembieda saw it used in a BattleTech novel and 'borrowed' something he probably shouldn't have, but at the same time I haven't seen a faction that's a direct analogue to the Draconis Combine's "1940s Imperial Japan with Samurai" gimmick, so I'm thinking it's more an extremely unfortunate coincidence made by two different nerds using the same sources. Edit: Although I suppose if Siembieda was stealing from BattleTech wholesale there'd be more Yakuza fetishization. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 19:30 on Feb 2, 2017 |
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Feb 2, 2017 19:23
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Shogun, by James Clavell.
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Feb 2, 2017 19:33
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MollyMetroid posted:Shogun, by James Clavell. That would do it, that book was a huge influence on Western Japanophilia in the 80s and early 90s
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Feb 2, 2017 19:47
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I strongly suspect it was the primary source for Legend of the 5 Rings's portrayal of what Japan was like. Because L5R's Rokugan basically does read, early on, like Shogun crossed with Greek Myth plus a dash of metaplot.
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Feb 2, 2017 19:49
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My favorite part of early L5R: "East Asia had lions, right?"
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Feb 2, 2017 19:53
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Well hey, it didn't really have dragons and phoenixes either  My favourite thing about Shogun is the protagonist learning judo and karate before those things existed. (Pretty much everyone claiming to teach "traditional" Japanese martial arts teaches stuff that was, in effect, invented in the early-20th century. People in uniforms, standing in rows, doing punches in unison...that's a relic of Shōwa fascism.)
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Feb 2, 2017 19:56
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MollyMetroid posted:I strongly suspect it was the primary source for Legend of the 5 Rings's portrayal of what Japan was like. Because L5R's Rokugan basically does read, early on, like Shogun crossed with Greek Myth plus a dash of metaplot. Hey, let's not leave out Lord of the Rings. If someone had run a game featuring like 4 ratlings and one member of each clan having to travel deep into the shadowlands to dispose of one of the black scrolls into an active volcano I would only be surprised that it wasn't an official adventure.
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Feb 2, 2017 20:00
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PoptartsNinja posted:I do admit it's possible Siembieda saw it used in a BattleTech novel and 'borrowed' something he probably shouldn't have, but at the same time I haven't seen a faction that's a direct analogue to the Draconis Combine's "1940s Imperial Japan with Samurai" gimmick, so I'm thinking it's more an extremely unfortunate coincidence made by two different nerds using the same sources. Yeah, it's all either Edo period or William Gibson with nothing really inbetween. There's Takamatsu, but they're strangely just a footnote despite their massive "access to an entire Earth worth of resources" hook. You'd think that'd be a central point of conflict, but nobody seems to care. Kevin quotes The Book of the Samurai by Stephen Turnbull, so he at least referenced a book, but I suspect he mostly just looked at books on feudal Japan and didn't really look in-depth at modern Japanese culture, which would be pointedly relevant even for a country that somehow reverted back to feudal society. It also bears mentioning this book isn't all Siembieda, but it seems he did most of the New Empire stuff, while Patrick Nowak did a good chunk of stuff for the high-tech nations, and CJ Carella did... something? Not sure what.
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Feb 2, 2017 20:08
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Alien Rope Burn posted:Yeah, it's all either Edo period or William Gibson with nothing really inbetween. There's Takamatsu, but they're strangely just a footnote despite their massive "access to an entire Earth worth of resources" hook. You'd think that'd be a central point of conflict, but nobody seems to care. Carella seems to have done the magic items section, which is actually one of the better (for certain low bars to hurdle) parts of the book except for the usual Rifts lunatic economy. I try not to harp on it also but even the New Empire, technological backwater, uses the universal credit. But yeah, the book sort of assumes that the modern-er parts of Japan are more or less like the US, but you know, "Japan." Even their understanding of the feudal elements is pretty weak. This is the era before RPG books routinely included suggested sources and bibliographies so I have no idea what nonsense he'd been reading. occamsnailfile fucked around with this message at 20:14 on Feb 2, 2017 |
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Feb 2, 2017 20:10
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I'd also like to do some Carella stuff at some point, because they deserve to be judged for their work that's not Rifts.
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Feb 2, 2017 20:11
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Halloween Jack posted:Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd edition, the book that my father probably still regrets giving me for Christmas one year. I don't mean to be that guy, but I'd love to see a writeup of 1st edition, mostly because it's been so thoroughly forgotten and has some really cringe-worthy Anne Rice copy-paste stuff going on. But even 2nd edition is pretty  thanks to the march of time.occamsnailfile posted:Carella seems to have done the magic items section, which is actually one of the better (for certain low bars to hurdle) parts of the book except for the usual Rifts lunatic economy. I try not to harp on it also but even the New Empire, technological backwater, uses the universal credit. I don't know if there's a contradiction I missed, but they actually later mention that the New Empire uses barter (no currency apparently, motherfucking barter) instead of credits and the credit prices are just given for referencing value. It's in a section named "Odds & Ends" in the middle of an equipment chapter and nowhere near the New Empire chapter, so it's easy to overlook. Everywhere else just uses credits, but it's a credit system that's actually not compatible with mainline American / European / Atlantean credits, because Japan Is Different. All the prices are still the same, tho.
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Feb 2, 2017 20:22
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Halloween Jack posted:I'd also like to do some Carella stuff at some point, because they deserve to be judged for their work that's not Rifts. It seems the natural counterpoint to Rifts would be to do Carella's take on a magical post-Apocalypse, where the son of Thor could team up with an angel and a devil and a talking magical cat who can turn into a person to fight Cthulhoid horrors. http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/628/Armageddon-the-End-Times?it=1
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Feb 2, 2017 20:22
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Well, I'll be reviewing the bizarre South America 2 next which is pure Carella and one of my favorite Rifts books of all time, and I also have Juicer Uprising following that to complete the Carella run on Rifts. But yes, if CJ Carella's Witchcraft was Carella's answer to the World of Darkness, Armageddon: the End Times is his answer to Rifts. It was even written shortly after he left Palladium, so it's hard not to see it that way. And if you think the game line is dodgy at the point we're reviewing now, after Carella, the Rifts game line is best summed up like this.
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Feb 2, 2017 20:41
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Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Night's Dark Masters Blood Dragons: The Murderhobos Eternal Now it is time for the part we've all been waiting for, the Bloodlines themselves. We already know the history of Abhorash in his general outline: The great captain of the guard in the ancient city of Lahmia. He was the last man standing when the city fell, fighting on alone for as long as he could while his enemies flowed around him like a river around a rock, unable to actually move him out of the way. He lost what compassion he had when he saw his beloved city burned to the ground, and marched off to finally indulge the savage fury he'd kept in check for so long. Orcish legends from the regions he passed through speak of 'armies' of throat-ripping demons, when in reality they only faced Abhorash and his few surviving students. Losing all control and living like a monster didn't give him back his purpose, either, and so he began to seek something that could kill him. One day, while his comrades feared to follow, he marched to the top of an active volcano and challenged the great and ancient dragon that lived there. Butchering the creature and gorging on its blood, he finally found himself free of the terrible desire that had driven him since he took the elixir of immortality ages ago. He bade his comrades to follow his example, to seek to perfect themselves so they, too, could seek and slay their own dragons and attain their own enlightenment as something beyond a vampire. He has not been seen since; rumors vary from 'He waits on a mountain until enough of his fellows have succeeded' to 'this is all a silly legend, there is no cure, and he died long ago'. One of his students would give shape to the most visible of the modern Blood Dragons, and likely would have really disappointed his master if Abhorash still pays attention to such things. Wallach Harkon (whether that is his real name or an assumed name is impossible to tell) came upon the Ordo Draconis, an Imperial knightly order on the borders of Bretonnia in the Grey Mountains. Liking what he saw of modern knighthood, he challenged the entire order, one man at a time. They were stupid enough to go along with this, fighting duel after duel with him as he picked through their number for those who were worth turning and those who were only worth killing, and by the next evening, the Ordo Draconis were now the masters of Blood Keep and his principle students. Wallach taught them to despise humanity, as Abhorash had after the fall of Lahmia, and they paid no mind to his old strictures about limiting their feeding. Naturally, this eventually caused the exact same problem it did for Lahmia: Wallach was spotted by Imperial forces, the corruption in Blood Keep was discovered, and an army killed him, his wife, and most of his students. While he would eventually return as a batshit crazy idiot with designs to wipe out all of humankind for this 'insult', the scattering of the Dragons led to their more eclectic and ramshackle modern state. Of all the 'human-like' vampires, Dragons are the most likely to be solitary. Any great martial artist or promising student could become a Dragon, depending on their masters' quirks. One might find the greatest of archers, one might see a young girl of immense potential and decide she has to be his student, one could decide he admires the courage of a doomed militiaman and offer to make him strong to match his spirit; there is no single template for Dragons, though the stereotype has them emulating the chivalrous knights of Bretonnia. Dragons also tend to be incredibly violent and actively anti-social; most Dragons wouldn't think anything wrong with testing how well a new style of sword can hack through human flesh by going through a peasant village. At the same time, they're also the most likely anti-heroes among vampires; as someone pointed out upthread, there are plenty of horrific monsters that provide excellent practice, and one could easily decide that murdering the defenseless doesn't teach them anything and they'd rather go deal with the rogue wyvern or marauding warband of orcs threatening the town than bother with its poor militia. Dragons also have a tendency to hide themselves in armies, as knights, mercenaries, or soldiers. Often, they will follow their orders, attend their maneuvers, and quietly watch the ranks for useful recruits as they campaign with their fellows. Normal soldiers will often overlook a bit of oddity in return for having a man or woman on their side who can cut a chaos warrior in full armor in half. And if they're caught and their fellows decide to make something of it, so what? They needed the practice, and it's just another fight. Dragons take a very specific oath, most of the time, passed on from Abhorash himself, and what they argue about in its meaning tells you a great deal about their character. "Let your blade be your only truth, let death be your only answer, and let your quest be for naught but to become more than you are." They don't tend to argue about the last part (most automatically take it to mean either their purpose is to transcend their condition like Abhorash or simply to spend their eternity becoming stronger) or the second (Dragons like killing quite a bit and tend to take this very literally). The first gives them trouble, though; does it mean a Dragon can't use a lance? Or a mace? Is it a paean to the primacy of the sword? A prohibition on polearms and bows? Dragons tend to be very literal-minded people. As a whole, Dragons tend to hate the idea of feeding on the willing. Blood should be taken either in battle from a foe with blade in hand, or as spoils from prisoners after the slaughter. Most prefer to reign in their drinking, thinking of it as a necessary act rather than a pleasurable one. Many Dragons will try to feed as little as necessary. Note that even a Dragon who prefers temperance will still happily cut down two dozen men; their qualm is with indulgence and pleasure, not with the honest act of mass killing. Dragons almost exclusively pass their curse on to their students. If one does not encounter a Dragon alone, it is usually because a Dragon is training an apprentice. Some will take a student along as a human, training and molding them to see if they will be worthy. Others will give a promising and devoted warrior the Kiss immediately, seeking to train them in both vampirism and the martial arts at the same time. Occasionally a Dragon will give a friend or lover their gift, but this is looked down upon among the Order; to be given the Blood is to be given the quest, and it should only be spread towards that end. Three notable Dragons are detailed, one a Lord (the highest level of vampire and definitely end-boss material), one a Count (campaign arc end boss material), and one a Thrall (A likely single plot or random encounter). The Lord is Wallach Harkon, who has returned from his original defeat apparently having learned absolutely nothing from losing his keep the same way Nefereta lost Lahmia. He has sworn that no Dragon who does not follow his dictates on vampiric chivalry and absolute chastity to the letter has any right to exist, and has also promised he will one day exterminate the human race, one swing of the sword at a time. He draws to him vampiric knights who like the structure and batshit insane devotion to pretending to be Bretonnian knights he provides, and prepares to crusade against an entire species. The Count is the infamous Red Duke of Aquitaine, a mysterious black knight of Bretonnia. For some reason, the Red Duke has risen again and again to attack the nobility of Bretonnia. He seems to care for no other enemy, making war on the great Grail Knights and Questing Knights of that backwards but extremely chivalrous land, and even though he has been slain multiple times, still he comes, silent and faceless, never raising the visor of his blood red armor. The Bretonnians believe he may well be some kind of evil counterpart of the Green Knight, the spirit that tests the best of their knights, and that he might exist to challenge the greatest questing knights and kings in mortal combat to prove their worth. Finally, the example Thrall could easily be a PC, a temporary ally, or a foe for a single adventure. Sir Tiberius Kael was an Imperial knight of the White Wolf, devoted to Ulric and his city of Middenheim. One day, he encountered a pale and gaunt warrior guarding a river crossing, and while he was defeated, made enough of an impression to be given a place as the man's student. Devoted to the ideals of Abhorash and an avid hunter even before he became a monster, Kael sees very little point in killing men to practice when nature provides him with Gryphons, Manticores, Hydras, and worse, and so he has made his profession as a slayer of lethal beasts. The book suggests the PCs might even be hired to help track terrible things for a mysterious client, or might find themselves facing a difficult fight if they can't offer Kael something more interesting to kill. He would also make a pretty good Blood Dragon PC, if one wanted to play a cross between Castlevania and Monster Hunter set in 16th century fantasy germany. Kael is very dangerous, but even an unprepared third or second career party might be able to take him in a straight fight, unlike the Duke or Harkon (you'd need a plan for those two). Next: The Lahmian Sisterhood, And Man Are We Gonna Have A Lot To Do There. Night10194 fucked around with this message at 15:26 on Aug 4, 2017 |
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Feb 2, 2017 20:44
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Alien Rope Burn, have you covered Republic of Japan in your RIFTS Japan review? There's brief mentions but I can't recall them showing up in your last posts.
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Feb 2, 2017 20:53
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Also, since the Bloodlines are the meat of the fluff, I'd like to talk a little more about what I think of them. Dragons are great. I like them an awful lot, but part of that probably has to do with having played one through two campaigns and with Wilhelm Metzger, roguish wandering murderhobo, being one of my favorite PCs of all time. The Dragons work because they, too, get at the weird dynamic people and vampires have going in the setting. They do something plenty of human characters do, and plenty of human characters are lauded as heroes for being wandering murderers. They'll try to kill your PC simply because your party looks like a decent fight, and to them, you're just practice. Other times, you might be able to goad one into helping you by offering a 'real' challenge with yon Chaos Warband you were trying to defeat anyway, or you might find work trying to help one craft some insane new weapon or armor they've had an idea for. They can be honorable, if insane, warriors or complete sociopaths. They have a strong central theme but a lot of potential for variety; any martial artist murderhobo or mercenary could be a Dragon. They also work very easily as PCs, though (and the game itself will warn you of this) you should never, ever mix vampire and human PCs in a party. When we get to stats...Vampires get ridiculous stat-bonuses that mean a good second-tier fighter with the Vampire bonuses will often have an SB and TB of 6-7, a Weapon Skill in the 60s or 70s, and on top of that they get other advantages in straight combat. Still, if you want to play a small and colorful band of wandering murdermachines, or if you're running a different vampire campaign and want some muscle that's happy to work for anyone who can get them good fights, Dragons slot into a standard campaign structure easily. They work as opponents, an amusing reflection of a murderhobo PC party, a macguffin players can try to trick or persuade for help, a patron for parties that don't care too much where their money comes from, and they slot well into the setting. Blood Dragons are fun.
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Feb 2, 2017 20:53
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Alien Rope Burn posted:Well, I'll be reviewing the bizarre South America 2 next which is pure Carella and one of my favorite Rifts books of all time, and I also have Juicer Uprising following that to complete the Carella run on Rifts. But yes, if CJ Carella's Witchcraft was Carella's answer to the World of Darkness, Armageddon: the End Times is his answer to Rifts. It was even written shortly after he left Palladium, so it's hard not to see it that way.
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Feb 2, 2017 20:58
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Are there character types you could mix with vampires well? I feel like a monster party is boring if everyone has to be vampires rather than, like, a team of wandering, semi-heroic monsters.
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Feb 2, 2017 21:09
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Young Freud posted:Alien Rope Burn, have you covered Republic of Japan in your RIFTS Japan review? There's brief mentions but I can't recall them showing up in your last posts. They're coming up, they're just not in the overview of countries at the frontend of the book, they're instead mashed in after the New Empire O.C.C.s and before the equipment, because Palladium books seem to be chiefly organized by the order in which sections were written. Also, they're not my posts! But I'll be doing part of the review later. Halloween Jack posted:My understanding is that Coffin and Carella were at their wit's end, fighting with Siembieda to try to maintain some sort of internal consistency to Rifts when it constantly contradicted itself. Exactly what happened with Carella isn't clear, and Carella hasn't said much on the matter but what he has said wasn't terribly kind. It seems like his exit was relatively sudden - he was supposed to write Rifts World Book 12: Psyscape, and there are multiple ads crediting him as the writer coming up on it (citing material that never appears in the book), but it didn't happen for whatever reason and the book was delayed heavily as a result and ended up being written by another author. Siembieda also casts shade on Carella's rules design in the Rifts Gamemasters' Guide as well. All of that predated Coffin's work on the line, but everything suggests that Carella's issues with Siembieda were similar to Coffin's.
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Feb 2, 2017 21:10
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Mors Rattus posted:Are there character types you could mix with vampires well? I feel like a monster party is boring if everyone has to be vampires rather than, like, a team of wandering, semi-heroic monsters. It sort of depends on the size of your party and the tastes of your players. Though if you wanted, a buddy comedy about an Ogre Maneater (Ogre warriors who wander around finding the bravest warriors they can and trying to copy them or learn from them) and a Dragon would be awesome. There were rules for playing as Ogres in another sourcebook I don't have and they're about on the same power level and will generally work with anyone as long as they're paid and fed. Similarly, introducing, say, a vampiric academic or courtier to an adventuring party of more hardened killers and warriors might work; their natural abilities would let them keep up despite not having the careers for combat. Also, a party of 2nd or 3rd tier PCs with a single Thrall attached to them might work. You've also got Wights, liches, and other intelligent undead. Dragon Ogres (weirdly, no relation to actual ogres) usually serve Chaos, but when we get to the Old World Bestiary, they have some really cool hooks and having one as part of an Old World Monster Party could work. Similarly, playing as the frankensteins' monsters and genetic abominations a Necharch made as henchmen could be fun, given you have rules in the back of the book for DIY abominations of multiple stripes. If there was a Lustria book, a vampire joining a bunch of Lizardmen to go kick the poo poo out of Skaven would be hilarious. The main problem with a vampire PC in a mixed party isn't actually so much that they might eat the other PCs (the book seems to assume this is a big issue) but rather that a vamp gets +10 WS, +10 S, +15 T, +15 Agi, +10 WP, +10 Fel, +1 Attacks, +6 Wounds, +2 Movement, and +1 Mag. Just for being turned. That's stat raises equivalent to an entire 2nd tier career. The power gap is very real, partly because vamps are primarily intended as antagonists (they insist throughout the book you should not have them as PCs before going 'But we know you'll do it anyway so here's a chapter on it'). Add to this every Vampire potentially being a wizard, too. They're boss monsters.
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Feb 2, 2017 21:26
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Vampire campaigns are great times where you crush the foolish mortals under your mighty heel until you get blown away by 100 muskets.
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Feb 2, 2017 21:27
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wiegieman posted:Vampire campaigns are great times where you crush the foolish mortals under your mighty heel until you get blown away by 100 muskets. This is seriously the best way to kill one of them with simple force. There's a reason all the knightly vampire-fighting careers in this book, when we get to them, all focus much more on ranged weapons than is normal for a knight.
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Feb 2, 2017 21:31
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Vampire hunters unwillingly turned into Blood Dragons is a thing that needs to happen.
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Feb 2, 2017 21:34
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Halloween Jack posted:Vampire hunters unwillingly turned into Blood Dragons is a thing that needs to happen. "Nothing in the rules that says I can't go kill a shitload of my own kind, anyway. What could be better practice?"
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Feb 2, 2017 21:46
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Vampires do get access to quickblood which lets them dodge ranged attacks (normally you can't even try) but yeah, gunpowder weapons are serious business.
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Feb 2, 2017 21:50
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wiegieman posted:Vampires do get access to quickblood which lets them dodge ranged attacks (normally you can't even try) but yeah, gunpowder weapons are serious business. But they still only have one Dodge per round. Hence a ton of musketeers or crossbowmen being the best way to take one out, as those also do the kind of damage they can't easily tank through. Also, only Dragons and Lahmians, or others with a bit of Dragon/Lahmian cross-breeding in their Blood Gifts, get Quickblood. For reference: A PC who has all the ranged talents will hit someone for d10+5, ignoring 1 point of armor, and rerolling their damage and taking the best of two rolls, if they shoot you with a pistol or musket. Firstly, that's two chances for Fury instead of one, secondly, even if a vampire has okay odds of tanking that level of damage, the Impact reroll will make it add up quick when they find themselves facing more guns. Add silver ammo to that and you do +3 damage straight up if they're vulnerable to that. Add BLESSED silver ammo and you'd do +6 if they have both vulnerabilities. Even a vampire can't take a d10+11 AP 1 shot and pretend it doesn't hurt. A pair of pistols with blessed, silver ammunition will likely kill a Thrall in one turn if both hit. Also, never underestimate the fact that PCs have fate points and Vampires, PC or NPC, explicitly don't. Night10194 fucked around with this message at 21:58 on Feb 2, 2017 |
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Feb 2, 2017 21:52
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And don't forget to add multiple people shooting muskets. There is a certain practicality that the Empire takes to warfare that is always so appealing.
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Feb 2, 2017 21:58
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Hunt11 posted:And don't forget to add multiple people shooting muskets. There is a certain practicality that the Empire takes to warfare that is always so appealing. There's a reason I mentioned a 'cannonball to the head'. On tabletop, that was even the preferred method for stopping vampiric heroes. A vampire will insist they remain incognito in Imperial lands solely for matters of convenience but the real reason is because a state troop detachment will loving murder them if they don't play it careful.
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Feb 2, 2017 21:59
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Night10194 posted:There's a reason I mentioned a 'cannonball to the head'. Or go live with the dwarves. Pretty sure most vamps* would be reluctant to tangle with flamethrowers. *Exception: Blood Dragons.
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Feb 3, 2017 03:33
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Night10194 posted:The main problem with a vampire PC in a mixed party isn't actually so much that they might eat the other PCs (the book seems to assume this is a big issue) but rather that a vamp gets +10 WS, +10 S, +15 T, +15 Agi, +10 WP, +10 Fel, +1 Attacks, +6 Wounds, +2 Movement, and +1 Mag. Just for being turned. That's stat raises equivalent to an entire 2nd tier career. I'm not super familiar with the way Warhammer Fantasy works, but could you have the vampire player take those stat adjustments instead of their second career, assuming you were starting high level? Would that balance it out?
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Feb 3, 2017 03:32
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JackMann posted:I'm not super familiar with the way Warhammer Fantasy works, but could you have the vampire player take those stat adjustments instead of their second career, assuming you were starting high level? Would that balance it out? Eventually, some. Vampires also have specific Vampire careers they have to take in addition to their human ones to unlock their powers and stabilize their need for blood, which will come up when we get to building them. Sticking a vamp PC a career or two behind normal characters would still make them a physical monster but keep them a bit more even on other skills. Cythereal posted:Or go live with the dwarves. Pretty sure most vamps* would be reluctant to tangle with flamethrowers. Just wait until we get to the Lahmians. Nefereta's underground lair/palace/academy where she trains agents and holds court is built out of a captured Dorf hold. She's got a steady supply of Slayers making stabs for her and an entire PAGE in the Grudgin' Book.
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Feb 3, 2017 03:42
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Night10194 posted:Just wait until we get to the Lahmians. Nefereta's underground lair/palace/academy where she trains agents and holds court is built out of a captured Dorf hold. She's got a steady supply of Slayers making stabs for her and an entire PAGE in the Grudgin' Book. Please tell me they picked one specific page in the Book of Grudges for her that they have to turn to every time something new happens and now it's just a huge mess of ink and scribbles.
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Feb 3, 2017 03:45
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the mess in the grudge book is in itself a continuous source of grudges
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Feb 3, 2017 03:46
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Kavak posted:Please tell me they picked one specific page in the Book of Grudges for her that they have to turn to every time something new happens and now it's just a huge mess of ink and scribbles. Right there under Queen of All Evil, it is. I love the goddamn grudge book. Dwarves are great and the lack of a Dwarf (or Elf) sourcebook is a crime.
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Feb 3, 2017 03:53
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thatbastardken posted:the mess in the grudge book is in itself a continuous source of grudges Can't be worse than Da Eight Peak Loonies in Total Warhammer with their dwarf-on-a-chain.  I love the dwarfs in Warhammer Fantasy but drat if they don't seem to constantly get stomped on in the fluff.
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Feb 3, 2017 03:54
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Cythereal posted:Can't be worse than Da Eight Peak Loonies in Total Warhammer with their dwarf-on-a-chain. I've always had the theory that that's supposed to be their hat. They get their teeth kicked in but they never give up and they never stop helping the other good guys, as much as they grumble. The Empire book notes the dwarves view humans as one of their legacies, like a childless man viewing a favorite nephew, someone who will carry on their memory if the worst happens. And that's enough. No-one will ever forget the dorfs and they'll never give up. And I like to think it works out for 'em some day (because God knows the canon end times never happen in any RPG continuity!) That's what made the Chaos Dwarves, after all. Their great sin wasn't greed or hatred. It was giving up their principles and begging the darkness to let them survive, whatever the cost might be. That they actually gave in instead of staying true to the end no matter what happened is the greatest sin that could be committed in dwarven culture.
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Feb 3, 2017 03:57
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SirPhoebos posted:Someone needs to cover Shadowrun, either here or on System Mastery. There's no doubt we'll get to it eventually (I'm pricing first edition right now), but incidentally I'm reading through Shadowrun Anarchy right now, just for fun. It is a weird book and I am of mixed opinion.
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Feb 3, 2017 04:45
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theironjef posted:There's no doubt we'll get to it eventually (I'm pricing first edition right now), but incidentally I'm reading through Shadowrun Anarchy right now, just for fun. It is a weird book and I am of mixed opinion. Apparently someone went "hey, the way to make a rules light game is to leave out a bunch of rules and then put insults in the book for anyone who finds it confusing". Plus it speaks volumes that Anarchy is the recommended system for Court Of Motorcamels.
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Feb 3, 2017 09:24
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theironjef posted:There's no doubt we'll get to it eventually (I'm pricing first edition right now), but incidentally I'm reading through Shadowrun Anarchy right now, just for fun. It is a weird book and I am of mixed opinion. Yeah the more veteran players in the SR group I'm in has the same opinion of that book. Been meaning to read it myself for fun, but I got to the timeline in my first attempt and just closed that out of sheer disgust. Parts of it is really insufferably written.
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Feb 3, 2017 10:25
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Night10194 posted:It sort of depends on the size of your party and the tastes of your players. Though if you wanted, a buddy comedy about an Ogre Maneater (Ogre warriors who wander around finding the bravest warriors they can and trying to copy them or learn from them) and a Dragon would be awesome. What are the rules like for Ogres / Maneaters? Everything I've read about them sounds awesome.
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Feb 3, 2017 13:08
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