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Halloween Jack
Sep 12, 2003

La morte non ha sesso

SirPhoebos posted:

I would really love for someone to review Cyberpunk 2020.

I would do it if I wasn't spending all my free time playing Dark Souls had the time.

Someone review Cyberpunk 2020 :yosnice:

So I can review Cyberpunk 3.0 :gogtears:

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SirPhoebos
Dec 10, 2007

WELL THAT JUST HAPPENED!

Young Freud posted:

TBF, where would you begin? CP2013, CP2020, or V3.0? Better yet, where would you end?

The only CP2013 book I read was Solo of Fortune, the rest of what I know is 2020.

Young Freud
Nov 26, 2006

SirPhoebos posted:

The only CP2013 book I read was Solo of Fortune, the rest of what I know is 2020.

You missed Rockerboy, with insightful article "Hitler Was A Rockerboy".

Also, seriously, Hardwired is my favorite splatbook.

Halloween Jack
Sep 12, 2003

La morte non ha sesso
Well, it gave us the Cybersnake.

Young Freud
Nov 26, 2006

Halloween Jack posted:

Well, it gave us the Cybersnake.

There's some wonderful black humor in it, it openly takes a piss on what are now cyberpunk tropes like Trauma Team, and I like a lot of the alternate takes Williams' has on 2013s direction (like a super-simple and extraordinarily deadly new combat system).

Hardwired is basically New Game + of R. Talsorian's Cyberpunk.

SirPhoebos
Dec 10, 2007

WELL THAT JUST HAPPENED!

Went ahead and bought the Cyberpunk 2020 pdf off of drivthru. There's quite a bit to talk about, some stuff I fondly remember, some stuff that I didn't notice when I was 15 (as I'm sure is the case with a lot of 30 year old RPGs).

If I do write a review, I'll try to limit the "still better than irl" jokes.

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!


Rifts World Book 22, Part 6: "In fact, an old joke has it that, 'Every Loader, man or woman, feels incomplete without their RHV and loves it more than any flesh and blood spouse.'"

Let's see your Reloader Hover Vehicle remember your anniversary, though.

Combat Vehicles

We get a laundry list of civilian vehicles used there; most notably all the Coalition vehicles from the corebook find a home in Quebec. In case you're wondering if there are any mix-ups, Quebec uses a sky-blue paint job in comparison to the Coalition's blue-black. But...

Rifts World Book 22: Free Quebec posted:

Other Aircraft: Limited imports. Free Quebec has never had much use for fighter jets or even helicopters, and SAMAS, Sky Cycles and light hovercrafts fit their needs much better.

Picture a Quebecois general staring at jet fighter, scratching his head. He doesn't understand. How can flying past the speed of sound with enough firepower to level a mountain help his cause? What tactical use could that possibly be? "I don't get it. This isn't shiny or spiked at all. Let's just build more Glitter Boys and SAMAS suits."


Hot roddin' fascism.

There are some vehicles unique to Quebec:
  • Cougar Hover Jeep (228 M.D.C.): Solid evidence for M.D.C. values being based off a dartboard. This is a landspeeder hover jeep that goes 220 MPH, shoots lasers and mini-missiles. There's a police version called the "Lynx" that that replaces the missiles with a grappling hook so it can tow... other hover-vehicles? Not sure.
  • Bobcat Hover Cycle (180 M.D.C.): A 440 MPH hover cycle with a laser turret, rail gun, and mini-missiles. It packs all that into a 4' frame, somehow. Elite RPAs get bonus attacks when using this, presumably to make it not completely useless compared to a SAMAS... though, you know, it doesn't apply to older hover cycles, because... hm. Well, it's a mystery.
  • GB6-96 Glitter Boy Transport "Sky Hawk" (998 M.D.C.): Looking at that M.D.C. value just makes me think Siembieda rolling his eyes. "The Sky Hawk Transport can't have as much M.D.C. as a Death's Head Transport.", he says, looking over to DesRochers. "Hmm. I'll bring it down to 999 M.D.C.", DesRochers says. "Are you screwing with me?!", Siembieda shouts, pounding the table hard enough to send pencils and papers flying. "Make it 998 M.D.C., maplenuts!" ... in any case, this is a 440 MPH transport that can carry 10 Glitter Boys, and has lasers and mini-missiles. Glitter Boys can fire from this thanks to holes designed for pylons and railings, but it gives -10% to the pilot's skill roll when a Boom Gun is fired from this. Is that per shot, per melee round... when do you make piloting skill rolls, anyway? We just don't know.
  • Reloader Hover Vehicle (328 M.D.C.): This is just a hovering pickup truck that goes 180 MPH. No doubt subject of the song "She's Thinks My Hover's Sexy".

Is it just me, or is the scale way off here?

Robot Vehicles


I don't usually include reused art, but I wanted to point out: this still has the Coalition croch-flag.

We get a note over what robot vehicles from previous books are used by Quebec, even though that was noted earlier. It's a bit redundant, don't you think? I think it's redundant. Did I mention there's a lot of redundancy here? Speaking of which, the UAR-1 Enforcer Coalition 'mech from the corebook is reprinted as the QR-1 Enforcer Prime with slightly more M.D.C. to try and justify it. Even the art is the same!

Rifts World Book 22: Free Quebec posted:

The complete stats are reprinted here, from the pages of the Rifts® RPG, for the gamer's convenience.

But we all already own that if we play Rifts! How is it convenient?! :how:


Cock cannons or goatee guns? You be the judge.

In fact, "convenience" is a funny thing to say, given it's followed by the QR-2 Abolisher Prime, which is just the IAR-2 Abolisher from Rifts Sourcebook or Rifts World Book 11: Coalition War Campaign. But it refers us there. Why reprint the robot that's in the corebook but not the one that's only in supplements? This is supposed to be some kind of loving gamer koan?


It's important to draw the eye to your flag.

The only one that isn't from another book is the QR-3 Guardian Robot (560 M.D.C.), credited to Francois DesRochers, with a pretty neat design from Breaux. "Free Quebec has not been completely asleep at the wheel when it comes to giant combat robots". Well, good, because DesRochers seems to have been, given how typical and uninspired the statblock is. It has a decent particle beam rifle, a ton of missiles, and a smattering of other less important weapons. It also maintains the tradition of being 24' tall and still being crap compared to a Glitter Boy which is a fraction of the size, save when it comes to dumping a poo poo-ton of missiles at something. Yes, they have Glitter Boy technology, yes, they can build Glitter Boys, but upsize it? Woah now, that's too much of a quantum leap for Canuckopfs. Basically just the Enforcer Prime but way more Prime. Optimally prime, maybe.

Next: Ready or not, here comes the boys from the North.

Hunt11
Jul 24, 2013

Grimey Drawer
Even Dark Elder are better then Dark Elves as at least there is a reason for why they are so hosed up unlike the DE who are the vindictive bastards for shits and giggles.

WhitemageofDOOM
Sep 13, 2010

... It's magic. I ain't gotta explain shit.
Big eyes, Small Mouth 3e, Part 1

Seeing as I did BESM 2e, I should probably review 3e after having some time to digest it.
Spoilers: It is bad.

It should be noted that Tristat DX came out before this and is apparently even rules heavier. But we are not here to insult that.

The Foreward: There's actually a lot in the foreward that BESM1e was made for the writer and BESM2e made for people who wanted more complexity and cleaner rules, and that the only way to make a system that is simple and complex is to present the complex thing in a simple manner. (...I play cortex, it is not. You can present a lot of options in a simple game by MAKING EVERYTHING RESOLVE THE SAME). It says you can individualize your attributes or you can just take a racial and occupational template and your character will work of course that is bullshit, this is BESM, we will be BREAKING THIS GAME OVER OUR KNEES.
Still the forward says a lot.

We then after some what is anime standard issue stuff get to the major changes of 3e with a nice bullet pointed list
Switching to a roll high system.(Purely positive)
Increasing character point values and rebalancing stat and attribute costs.(Attributes are still too cheap btw, seriously the solution was to SEPARATE STAT AND CHARACTER POINTS LIKE 1e. Not up the point totals.)
More expansion of add-ons to attributes(oh boy...)
Discarding skill points and converting skills to attributes.(which would have been fine, if they felt like attributes and not skills. If the charisma skill added +1 to those kinds of roles and ate up stuff like appearance and art of distraction frex.)
Changing how damage is calculated and applied.(......oh boy, this is going to be a thing.)
Nerfing item of power into oblivion.
Outlining methods to make paranormal and other effects. (wha?)
Increasing the number of combat options available. (Hahahhahahahaha, combat isn't an option as we will see later.)
Standardizing difficulties/modifiers. (should really mention this with switching to roll high, but again positive.)
detailing the anime multiverse. (It's a basic cross over setting to just run games in, sure.)

It then goes into the 9 steps of character generation, which is a lot of blah blah blah.
Step 1) GM discussion, how many points do you get.
Step 2) Character outline, in what way will you destroy the world.
Step 3) Assign stats, at 10CP a pop.
Step 4) Consider templates, then realize that is loving stupid.
Step 5) Choose method to ruin campaign, I mean assign attributes
Step 6) Implement method of ruining campaign, I mean customize attributes
Step 7) Consider skill specializations, then remember you have no skills because you took dynamic attribute(skills)
Step 8) Select defects....which give 30% of a stat at the top end these are NOT a way to easy power more likely a few scattered points for "poo poo you were going to do anyways."
Step 9) Calculate derived values- ACV= Stats/3, DCV=Stats/3-2, HP=Body*5+Soul*5, EP=Mind*5+Soul*5, Damage Multiplier 5(That last one.....oh boy that last one.)


Right so now we get into campaign power levels aka GM discussion
Human 100-149 Points, normal everyday people well not really Seeing as 4 in all stats is 120 already, then skills...
Heroic- 150-299 Points, this says action movie hero, my arse.
Mythic- 300-499 Points, supposedly people with powerful abilities or might represent ordinary people in a post human world
Super Human- 500-699 Points, A human built with this would have legendary abilities such as the world's greatest thief or best martial artist...So basically this SHOULD be the starting tier.
Super Powered- 700-999 Points, Something about normal people seemingly like ants underfoot. This is probably where you want to set a mecha game since a bog standard grunt mecha is around 400 points to own.
Godlike- 1000+ "powers that could change the world" honey i was doing that since 300 points with the write build

It then mentions advancement, about 1-5CP a session if you want to play with advancement, this is a significant bump from previous editions.

Step 3 stat time. As noted stats cost 10cp per point, the game uses a 1-12 scale with 4 being human average still but the range of 5-12 means a lot different. 12 is now maximum human potential. Bruce lee or Einstein, not Goku or Washuu.
It suggests Washuu would have a mind of 25-30....but you can't play her because that would take away the humanity of your character and you should take attributes instead. Oh you also need your GM's permission to take attributes above 8, I will go into this later.

We are then introduced to the "Keeping it simple rules" a 300 point system where you get an amount allocated to stats, attributes, and skills automatically. For stats it's a 5/6/7 spread here. It should be noted that 300 is a 25% dip in CP from BESM2e assuming CP are worth 1/10th as much(largely, since we should be comparing poo poo you would take. hint: It isn't combat ability.)

Then we come to attributes, and I probably won't cover EVERY attribute as much.... I leave upon this gem.

The Rulebook posted:

Attributes Have to Make Sense!
Since BESM is an effects-based system, it’s possible for you to create Attribute combinations that are illogical or make no sense within the context of your campaign. While the GM always has final say, don’t try to break the spirit of the rules by creating inane Attribute applications. BESM is about providing guidelines for role-playing ... not foolproof mechanics.

Have you....looked at your system? It's point buy, and effects based at this point...
Game breaking nonsense IS the spirit of the rules.

Halloween Jack
Sep 12, 2003

La morte non ha sesso

SirPhoebos posted:

Went ahead and bought the Cyberpunk 2020 pdf off of drivthru. There's quite a bit to talk about, some stuff I fondly remember, some stuff that I didn't notice when I was 15 (as I'm sure is the case with a lot of 30 year old RPGs).
Does anybody read a RPG cover to cover when they're a kid? I know I sure didn't when I picked up Vampire.

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!

WhitemageofDOOM posted:

Big eyes, Small Mouth 3e, Part 1

It suggests Washuu would have a mind of 25-30....but you can't play her because that would take away the humanity of your character and you should take attributes instead.

I let somebody play Washu in a game I ran. I guess I was doing it wrong!

Halloween Jack posted:

Does anybody read a RPG cover to cover when they're a kid? I know I sure didn't when I picked up Vampire.

Absolutely. I absorbed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness, Rifts, GURPS 3rd edition... I didn't have a critical perspective on them back then, of course, but I really did read them cover to cover over and over.

Cooked Auto
Aug 4, 2007

If you will not serve in combat, you will serve on the firing line!




Alien Rope Burn posted:

I let somebody play Washu in a game I ran. I guess I was doing it wrong!

Even more so when she even apparently has rules in a Tri-Stat game considering the latest System Mastery episode.

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Halloween Jack posted:

Does anybody read a RPG cover to cover when they're a kid? I know I sure didn't when I picked up Vampire.

I used to do this because I was sure I was going to be a grand RPG designer or something some day, so I'd 'study' the games I bought and read them cover to cover.

I made so many different heartbreakers in high school.

Cooked Auto
Aug 4, 2007

If you will not serve in combat, you will serve on the firing line!




I remember reading the Star Wars D6 books pretty thoroughly when I was a kid. Can't say I really did the same with the D&D 3.5 books though I got later on.

Halloween Jack
Sep 12, 2003

La morte non ha sesso
Oh, I read my books throughly, but I jumped all over the place in reading them.

Dawgstar
Jul 15, 2017

Cooked Auto posted:

Even more so when she even apparently has rules in a Tri-Stat game considering the latest System Mastery episode.

Yeah, I've got that Tenchi book which goes into great detail on how to make and play the cast. Alien Rope Burn is both a loner and a rebel.

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!

Dawgstar posted:

Yeah, I've got that Tenchi book which goes into great detail on how to make and play the cast. Alien Rope Burn is both a loner and a rebel.

Yeah, my friends wanted me to run it, and I agreed to it with the caveat that it wouldn't be longer than the original series; 6 sessions, intended to pretty much wrap up the at-the-time unfinished storyline with the anime. So I didn't really worry about people's point values per se. They liked it enough that I ran 6 more sessions (the second series) and a "bonus" crossover with El-Hazard, and that was that. I ran with the basic house rule that combat rolls were opposed rather than standalone, which is pretty much the main change you need to make it playable. (Not balanced or well-designed, mind, but playable.)

Man, the first twenty minutes or so of System Mastery was Jef and Jon basically sparking every nerdsplain impulse I had as they proceeded to forget everything about Marvel and anime, to the point I have to wonder how much was trolling. I just wanted to be like "How can you bring up girl-oriented harem anime and forget you were just talking about Fruits Basket?!" (Then again, Fruits Basket is solely for those who enjoy the notion of being surrounded by handsome boys who just need somebody who understand their feelings and who turn into cute animals when you hug them.)

also puck is small and doesn't have any powers, he's the krillin of alpha flight

Tibalt
May 14, 2017

What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee

Which version of Cyberpunk had the Journalist class where you played Hunter S Thompson and which version of Cyberpunk had the Disani where you controlled animatronics?

And what was the third one?

Edit: Desnai (get it???) not Disani

Tibalt fucked around with this message at 19:24 on Feb 14, 2019

Halloween Jack
Sep 12, 2003

La morte non ha sesso
CP2013 and CP2020 had character classes, one of which was the Media. The Media is an investigative journalist, though; not really a Thompson type.

3.0 dispensed with character classes. Desnai was one of the AltCults in that game. Cyberpunk 3.0 is also non-canon now, at least as far as the video game is concerned.

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!
Yeah, they were called "roles", and determined which skills you favored, more or less, and provided a unique skill only your role got. These varied from complete loosely-goosey what the GM says you get (the Nomad's "Family" skill) to utterly breaking combat in your favor (the Solo's "Combat Reflexes"). But it wasn't really a class game per se in that they didn't dictate leveling or anything, just the special ability you had.

Young Freud
Nov 26, 2006

Halloween Jack posted:

CP2013 and CP2020 had character classes, one of which was the Media. The Media is an investigative journalist, though; not really a Thompson type.

Except an expy of HST exists in all three versions of Cyberpunk as an example of the Media class.

Halloween Jack posted:

3.0 dispensed with character classes. Desnai was one of the AltCults in that game. Cyberpunk 3.0 is also non-canon now, at least as far as the video game is concerned.

Sad thing is that CPv3.0 had some interesting ideas, but either executed badly or too ahead of it's time. For instance, it's remarkably prescient regarding the proliferation of "fake news", either as information warfare or just plain old conspiracy theories becoming mainstreamed.

Halloween Jack
Sep 12, 2003

La morte non ha sesso
The DataKrash is a really clumsily executed idea, but I was talking to my wife about it the other day and she found the premise remarkably prescient.

Alien Rope Burn posted:

Yeah, they were called "roles", and determined which skills you favored, more or less, and provided a unique skill only your role got. These varied from complete loosely-goosey what the GM says you get (the Nomad's "Family" skill) to utterly breaking combat in your favor (the Solo's "Combat Reflexes"). But it wasn't really a class game per se in that they didn't dictate leveling or anything, just the special ability you had.
I don't think The Sprawl is a very well-designed PbtA game, but it definitely allows you to play a Media or a Rockerboy with actual clear mechanical benefits for your special skills. PbtA is good at that.

Young Freud
Nov 26, 2006

Halloween Jack posted:

The DataKrash is a really clumsily executed idea, but I was talking to my wife about it the other day and she found the premise remarkably prescient.

Oh yeah, the "Nixon shooting himsel to avoid impeachment" was something possible but almost unthinkable, but now we have stuff like Deep Fakes adding celebrities' faces to open videos or making Nick Cage star in every movie as everyone. Or both.

The most unrealistic thing about the DataKrash is that it was a virus that did not require human interaction. We humans don't need some AI to make us willing participants in our own manipulation.

Wrestlepig
Feb 25, 2011

my mum says im cool

Toilet Rascal
There’s something extremely stupid about designing an archetype in an rpg called a Solo. How could you think that would work?

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

Wrestlepig posted:

There’s something extremely stupid about designing an archetype in an rpg called a Solo. How could you think that would work?

The Han?

Tibalt
May 14, 2017

What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee

Okay thanks and which one was the one where you played as teenage X-men/the Runaways due to nanomachines and rampant AIs?

Edit: I feel like this gimmick is running a little thin but God I love CP, so maybe I'll review Cybergenerations.

Halloween Jack
Sep 12, 2003

La morte non ha sesso
That was CyberGeneration, which does have a F&F writeup!

Wrestlepig posted:

There’s something extremely stupid about designing an archetype in an rpg called a Solo. How could you think that would work?
But it just means that you're a one-man army, right? The problem is that its special skill is a huge, measurable, combat-related, mechanical benefit as opposed to the more narrative and ill-defined abilities of several other roles.

Young Freud
Nov 26, 2006

Wrestlepig posted:

There’s something extremely stupid about designing an archetype in an rpg called a Solo. How could you think that would work?

"Solo" came from "solo operative", a supposed term from the Soldier Of Fortune set for a mercenary who didn't hire on as a team or an outfit. Didn't mean they could work as a group, but they contracted in an individual basis. There's a similar criminal term, popularized in Michael Mann films like Heat, called "cowboy", where it described a guy who could work individually or in a team, but could "cowboy up" or get ready for a job at a moment's notice. The same applies to solos.

Nowadays (and it's what I've renamed them in my cyberpunk heartbreaker) they'd be called "operators".

Edit: oh, just FYI, the Martin Caidin novel had no part in that name.

Also, the only time I've seen it outside of Cyberpunk is in Masamune Shirow's Appleseed: in the first volume, both Briareos and Deunan are both called "solos", which im certain that it wasn't a translation thing, since Shirow was a big fan of that military mercenary fiction and probably got it from there.

Young Freud fucked around with this message at 22:18 on Feb 14, 2019

wiegieman
Apr 22, 2010

Royalty is a continuous cutting motion


Cyberpunk is supposed to be the sort of game where "have the solo engage murder mode" isn't the solution to all problems.

It's just, that sort of ends up being the solution to a lot of problems.

Halloween Jack
Sep 12, 2003

La morte non ha sesso
I forget, does Cyberpunk ever refer to Netrunners as cowboys?

Hostile V
May 31, 2013

Solving all of life's problems through enhanced casting of Occam's Razor. Reward yourself with an imaginary chalice.

Console cowboys, I believe.

Young Freud
Nov 26, 2006

Hostile V posted:

Console cowboys, I believe.

Which is a Neuromancer or Gibson ref.

SirFozzie
Mar 28, 2004
Goombatta!
Weird question, but I see someone mock suggested to review Cyberpunk. I know I'm setting myself up for ridicule and mocking, but I have a book on DTRPG (an add on for the Fighting Game FIGHT!) and while it's short, I'm just curious to see what others think.

WhitemageofDOOM
Sep 13, 2010

... It's magic. I ain't gotta explain shit.
Big Eyes, Small Mouth 3e, Part 2 : Attributes

Oh thing I forgot, and one thing to talk about.

The I forgot is it is the attribute benchmark table, which alters the attribute caps based on tier, and has some suggested minimum/maximums for combat values and damage multipliers. But it tells you not to use this table because it reduces player freedom...Please ignore that it raises the baseline attribute cap for superpowered and godlike games. Or that it tries to impose some sanity so your mythic character doesn't become ultra instinct goku, limit players freedom.

The thing to talk about is except for weapon/special attack attribute modifiers are flat cost modifiers(to a minimum of 1cp), this is going to do....hilarious things. Keep that there are generic modifiers in mind as you read these.


So first up Item, which is sort of an attribute... you tie a bunch of attributes into an item which because the GM can randomly deny it to you, costs 1/2 as many points. This is why robots are so drat expensive btw, you need to buy up everything the robot does. Hp, movement, etc.

Alternate Form: Costs 9 points/level and gives 10 points/level, there's no restrictions on your alternate form you can literally just grab 6 free points here. But it's pretty obvious this is designed to have a bunch of defects slapped onto it to give you magical girl mode. It's still a cap of 60 points. If you want to go all ben 10 or kamen rider you can just buy this attribute at 1 a bunch of times, rip it out of the other forms except the prerequisite of it's own form, and there you go.

Alternate Identity 2 points/level, each one gives you a different identity, the stats are the same except any social attributes/defects and appearance. They are completely siloed idenities. It's cheap.

Armor Attack Combat Mastery and all similiar attributes will be saved for the big ol' "Why we ignore combat" post.

Aura of Inspiration Is bard song, it lets people resist despair and fear and spend energy points to perform dramatic feats at non-dramatic moments. Translation, ignore.

Block Power It is counterspell, it only works on a select category of powers based on the cost/level, it's 12/level for everything when used on an offensive power you roll soul vs. whatever stat their power uses and they get a penalty equal to your level of block power. Oh but it only protects you not anyone else, so this is basically more like omni defense than block power.

Combat Technique for 2points/level there are a grab bag of minor combat features, god i wish skills worked like this.

Companion A combination of servant and flunkies. The higher the points per level cost the more points your slaves, i mean pokemons get, and the higher the level the more of then. To be exact It's 1point/level for each 10 points they have over 100 to a minimum of 2points/level, with the amount of them doubling each rank after rank 1.
So, with rank 4, and 20points/level you get......8 300 point mons.
God i love point whoring attributes.

Computer Scanning Have you ever wanted to make your GM cry? With 4 points/level and 5 levels you can! And there's very little reason your hacker character shouldn't have this. This attribute let's you read ALL the data on every computerized device in range, no check needed. Now Level1-3 not much of a difference going from 10cm(so touch) to 10m(in the same room), but rank 4 gives you 100m. Just walk past places you think the villains are and get their secret plans. Rank 5 gives you 1km, rank 6 will get you 10km. You do not even have to look, you will just know by being in the same general area.

Dimensional Portal and Walk Let me summarize both of these, they let you get to other dimensions, albeit in different ways. These aren't things that should cost massive investments, they are plot devices, magical kiko should not need to throw 8 points at "get to bug land", oh and you need to use dimensional portal to get to your pocket dimension for some reason.

Divine Relationship 1 reroll/session! That one attribute that was worth stat points without breaking the system......2cp/level. Right, 12 point tax got it.

Dynamic Powers Is the old dynamic sorcery, ie do whatever but you roll Stat+Attribute Rank after the GM assigns a rank to whatever you want to do....and it costs 20, 30, or 40 depending on how large a scope you can BS powers in. Ergo there is never a reason to raise the attribute rather than the stat.

Elasticity Let's you strech your limbs, it also provides +1 bonus to unamed combat for, so if you want to punch people you better be piccolo or dhalsim.

Energy Bonus For 2 points you get +5ep, this is a MUCH better value than buying stats. Sadly the main use for EP 10ep for +1 to a roll is better done by divine relationship.

Enhanced Stat If you want your stats to be magical....It then references maximum stats of the campaign(namely this can't be used to bring it over them). I am pretty sure that thing about attribute caps used to include stat caps and was a bigger part of the design just from this. But "Player freedom".

Environmental Influence This is weather control, you control one part of the enviroment per level for 2cp/level....out to 10m.

Excorcism It cures mind control and metamorphosis. No praying the demons away in 3e.

Extra Arms This gives you extra arms but importantly not extra actions, you can still manipulate more stuff. Only costs 1point/level if you have telekinesis and you are using it to be able to manipulate more things via telekinesis.

Extra Actions Another attribute that was worth it compared to stats, giving +1 action per 4 points.....15points/level

Extra Defenses It's extra actions but for defenses.

Features Extra minor poo poo we didn't come up with, 1 point per feature.

Flight It uhhhh lets you fly. Costs 8points/level and each rank ups the speed pretty significantly. There's some specific downsides but like...hovering used to drop the cost by half now it's -1 point total that should explain everything.

Healing For 4points/level you can heal any target upto 10points/level which is...actually the cost of just having more hp dear god healing doesn't suck. At level 3+ you can restore the clinically dead, at level 5+ you can regrow limbs, at level 7+ you can sew back on their head or similar revivals. The only problem being the attribute cap being, you know, 6. (Once again proving attribute cap variability was probably a bigger feature before.)
I really like healing, it has a clear progression and they show how you improve at tiers.

Heightened Awareness/Senses These add bonuses to perception checks, they feel more like skills.

illusion Blew massive chunks in 2e, in 3e it is amazing. for 2points a level you affect sight, and raising the level raises the maximum area. It has two extra variables "Extra senses" and "Multible illiusions" both a measly 1 point/level.

Insubstantial For 8points/level you can move through progressively denser materials....Except iron is level 7, let that sink in. Iron is above the level you can reach. Ghosts apparently cannot haunt skyscrapers.

Invisibility Is not stealth, for 6/points level pick one sense or method per level and tell it to fudge off.

Item Oh look it's a more in depth look at items. Lemme just quote the most relevant part.

The freaking book posted:

A device or object that cannot be lost or stolen (such as something implanted in or fused to the character’s body) is not an Item
So your mecha WILL be stolen.

Jumping This multiplies your jump distance for 2 points/level, if it's faster than your ground movement it can take multible rounds....
OK, LOOK, This should have a flat speed progression and say every 2 levels let's you stay in the air one more round. None of this calculate my normal jump distance, multiply it, compare to my speed poo poo. I should be able to leap X speed, for X rounds.

Land speed for 2cp/level makes you...at 3+ rather fast, level 1-2 are only 8 and 15 KPH

Metamorphasis This changes someone into something worth upto between 10 and -10 points per rank, it also overwrites any attributes from their species/form(take human as a 0 point form, aim it at dragons and poo poo.) If they resist they roll body against your mind or soul with a penalty equal to your attribute level. It's 10 points a level if you can only turn them into toads or whatever, 20 points a level if you can do a related group, 30 points a level if you can do "whatever". REMINDER! If your entire party is human, someone could slap 60 points of metamorphasis "Robot" and give every one else 60 free points.
You can also pretty much cripple people with a -10 point template ANYWAYS if you do it right.
Oh combining is still robot only and listed under metamorphosis, for some reason.

Mimic Powers This let's you copy powers upto it's level but only from one source(this is why all your characters have different power sources kids!), 15points/level copies one power, 20points/level copies all of theirs or from multible people. Mimic powers has no listed duration, so apparently if you take the 20 point version you are a blue mage, and will just eventually have everything at 6.

Mind Control You can make one person you can see your mind slave for one minute by rolling their mind or soul vs. your mind+attribute, the cost per level is based on what you can affect, from very specific at 4 points, dogs at 5 points, males at 6 points, 7 sapients, animals or AI, 8 for loving everything. At the point of costing 8 why put more points in this, you shouldn't just buy a mind of 12.

Mind Shield This gives you a bonus to the guy who took the previous attribute. 2cp/level.

Nullify This negates attributes upto it's level in one power source (Seriously, this games obsession with power sources is staggering nullify only tech should be a defect.). 14 points/level if you can nullify one attribute of a touched target, 24 if you can nullify all, +6 if you drain attribute levels rather than nullify upto(always take this.).

Organizational Ties Hooray it has full attribute status, oh god...it's borked. It's based on an absolute rather than how much control you have scale, and always costs 2cp/level, it also has a chart upto level 10. So while it's totally ok to literally own your provincial town in a highschool game, you can never be president or galactic emperor no matter how hard you try.

Plant Control Weirdly it's own attribute, the area you can affect is based on level, and how quickly/much you can make them grow is a variable.

Pocket Dimension You get a personal pocket dimension for 4cp/level, it's still hillariously tiny at lvl1(10cm) upto 10km at lvl6, of course....

The Book posted:

This Attribute can only be taken by a character who already has either the Dimensional Portal (page 27) or Dimension Walk (page 28) Attributes — otherwise, the Pocket Dimension is inaccessible
What because my pocket dimension can't be linked to an explicit place and just be bigger on the inside or whatever? The old method of "Locked to one place" "You can access from a general thing" "You can access" affecting the price per level was so much better.

Power Flux Oh hey something actually new. This is dynamic powers with rules basically, each attribute rank gives 4 flux points which you can change on the fly(upto once per minute), the cost per level is based on theming/restrictiveness, if it's very limited(like cats) 5 points/level, 10 points/level for reasonable restrictions(cities), and 15 points/level for a theme so broad it won't restrict you. It then gives the two best examples.
Power Flux-creation is for gadgeeters, summoners and green lanterns, you can only do item or companion and it gives examples of 5 and 10 point versions and 15 being like "I can make any enchanted item, yeah."
Skill Flux is a power flux dedicated to skills, and they suggest it for characters who have lived centuries or can download skills or just is batman, and should nominally have basically every skill, this way instead of tracking them you just go "Yeah ok, I learned to do that 300 years ago."

Power Variation A more limited version of flux, it costs 10points/level, and affects 1 attribute+1 attribute/level, allowing you to move points between those attributes freely. Meh cost too high.

Projection It's illusion, there's some nominal differences(like you can't choose to not affect people and don't need to buy up senses besides side) but it's illiusion. 6points/level illiusion.
Stick with illusion.
Why are these separate....

Reincarnation If you die you reform, for 5 points a level this is easy to stop, for 10 points it isn't. Higher levels take less time, with level 1 requiring a MONTH. This is a toy for if you have way too many points.

Resistance This gives you protection from all non-mind attack save or sucks like nullify, to the tune of +1/level.

Sensory Block AoE invisibility is cheaper to the tune of 2cp/level.

Sixth Sense for every 2/cp you get a sixth sense, which the GM will have to track, doesn't that sound fun?

Size Change It turns out 25/cp and 30/cp a level to be giant man is a terrible idea.

Skills for 1-3 cp a level you get a bonus to some relevant non-combat related attribute rolls....why is that not the sum of it with a bunch of examples and probable costs? Why do we have a chapter of skills?

Spaceflight You can fly through space, oh and star flight is gone, so the Space flight 8+s you will need to hit light speed? yeah those are banned.

Special Defense Has nothing to do with combat! this basically makes you immune to basic stuff like "The need to breathe" or "Aging"(who loving cares, it's not like aging will come up.)

Special Movement A list of minor movement modes like wall crawling, 2cp each.

SuperSense Pick a sense or make one, this gives you a distance you detect poo poo at. Level 6 hits 1000km, just in case you want to literally hear them all.

Super Speed Land Speed, meet the flash. This starts at 100kph and goes upto 30,000Kph, while giving +2 init per level...12cp/lvl, so for one level of this you could max out land speed and be at 250kph, but hey sometimes you just got to be that fast.

Super Strengh 8points/level let's you carry lots of stuff, and gives +2 to body stat rolls that involve strengh. A bit expensive...
It also gives you +1 damage multiplier for unarmed attacks and weapon attacks with the muscle variable. So basically "to melee". It really shouldn't, it absolutely shouldn't then this could cost less!

Swarm Let's you transform into level*current hp critters and scurry away.

Telekinesis This costs as much as super strength and can't lift nearly as much. Oh you can also pay 4cp/lvl to only do things like control air, or earth, etc.

Telepathy No longer has weird combat rules, only for mind reading and probing, 2-6cp/lvl based on what you can poke. Only bonus to more levels is a bigger bonus to opposed rolls.

Teleportation 10cp/level, starts at 10m and tops out at 1000km

Transfer For the low low price of 20cp/level you can hand out attributes upto your level of transfer. It is not like you lose them or anything.

Transmutation Expensive and fiddly, for 6-12cp/level you can make items worth upto 2cp per level. Just....take power flux creation.

Tunneling You tunnel, Look, bluntly, special movement modes should have ALL been under a single attribute and speed be a single attribute, but noooo.

Unknown Power Give your GM X points get X*1.5 points for back that he spent, probably not well.

Water Speed

Wealth 5cp/level starts at 300k$, and ends at a measly 100m$ no being batman apparently. Ok, to be fair this is your liquid assets, it states you have non-liquid assets that are appropriate.

Great lovely, That's everything but the combat attributes. Next time Combat Attributes and why combat is absolutely loving stupid.

WhitemageofDOOM fucked around with this message at 00:01 on Feb 15, 2019

WhitemageofDOOM
Sep 13, 2010

... It's magic. I ain't gotta explain shit.

Alien Rope Burn posted:

I let somebody play Washu in a game I ran. I guess I was doing it wrong!

No you were doing absolutely right, 3e is just weird and messed up.

Cooked Auto posted:

Even more so when she even apparently has rules in a Tri-Stat game considering the latest System Mastery episode.

Mmmmm Hmmmm
Late 1e besm still is the best version of besm.
And the power sources made some kind of sense since they were all tied to a power source attribute.

WhitemageofDOOM fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Feb 15, 2019

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!

WhitemageofDOOM posted:

No you were doing absolutely right, 3e is just weird and messed up.

I know, sarcasm is tough online.

The fact they uncapped attributes is kind of hilarious, the fact people could trivially get a 12 was already a good lever to break the game with.

WhitemageofDOOM
Sep 13, 2010

... It's magic. I ain't gotta explain shit.

Alien Rope Burn posted:

The fact they uncapped attributes is kind of hilarious, the fact people could trivially get a 12 was already a good lever to break the game with.

It really is weird that they changed the scaling from 12 being "I am the greatest mind in the universe!" to "Human maximum", well probably because for most of the design 12 was the cap in the 300-500 range, and the higher tiers had their own caps, if say the 800-1000 range has a cap of 18 in a stat that makes more sense.

Actually tri-stat DX's raise the dice category by campaign scale so DBZ characters roll 2d12 for standard tasks works sort of beautifully. But apparently previous solutions shan't be used.

Libertad!
Oct 30, 2013

You can have the last word, but I'll have the last laugh!

Introduction

Jasper Stone. The one-man TPK Machine. The undead mug plastered on countless Deadlands core books. The prime competitor with Dr. Darius Hellstromme as the biggest Marty Stu of the Weird West. Back in the 90s he was a Lady of Pain-esque figure who was less a complex character and more a force of nature responsible for shaping the setting into what it is. For the Pinnacle writers he was a “hero killer” plugging holes in those who could make a difference against the Reckoners, the cosmic horror entities unleashing all the bad magic and monsters into the world. For Deadlands Game Masters he’s meant to reign in out of line party members: he didn’t even have stats in the original, as it was presumed that he could kill without the need for die rolls.

Twenty years and one KickStarter later we have the third Plot Point Campaign for Deadlands, pitting the PCs in a campaign-length epic with the Deathly Drifter as the primary antagonist!


The Tombstone Epitaph

The Tombstone Epitaph operates out of the Arizona town of the same name, and serves as an in-universe newspaper whose reporters are caught upon on a lot of the stranger happenings around the Old West. This time they’re reporting close to home, covering the American Southwest’s territories. As of 1881, it is a lawless region where the Confederate army is too few in number to enforce the law. Outlaws and bandit gangs run rampant, and the Bayou Vermilion rail company is the most powerful organization in the area. The fact that they hired on a gang known as the Cowboys to act as hired guns does little for the safety and security of the common folk. Wyatt Earp and his circle of friends are the closest Cochise County has to a proper lawman, and his recent bouts with the Cowboys and Bayou Vermilion show no signs of coming to a peaceful resolution.

The other articles in the Epitaph cover stories hinting at plot hooks and strange goings-on later in the campaign, along with a rundown of the three most prominent outlaw organizations in the area. Strangely there is no covering of the events of the Great Summoning from the prior Last Sons Plot Point Campaign. I find this odd as the Epitaph did the same for the results of the Flood, and this one pointed to the Last Son’s epilogue battle in Dodge City, but nothing about an anti-technology field covering the entirety of the Sioux Nations resulting in a Union rout.


Makin’ Heroes

Here we get new options for Player Characters appropriate to the region. We have a handful of new Hindrances and Edges*: notably, Pistolero replaces the Two-Gun Kid from the Last Sons, where you can apply the benefits of aiming for both weapons or fire two to four rounds per attack when wielding one or two double-action pistols. But perhaps the biggest amount of content is for two iconic Deadlands archetypes: the Harrowed and the Hexslinger.

*Savage Worlds’ equivalent to Dungeons & Dragons feats



The Harrowed is an undead brought back to unlife when an evil spirit known as a manitou inhabits the body. The original human soul’s still present, so the two are locked in an endless battle of will for control. Although present in the Deadlands Player’s Guide, the section for Stone and a Hard Place is a comprehensive rules revamp.

Mechanics-wise a PC becomes a Harrowed in one of two ways: the first is that upon true death the player draws a number of playing cards equal to the PC’s Grit score. If a Joker is drawn, the PC regains consciousness as a Harrowed, going through visions of their Worst Nightmare as they come back from the grave. Alternatively one can take the new Harrowed edge from this book to automatically start play as one.

In short, a Harrowed’s base abilities include bonuses on Toughness, Grit, and on rolling Fear checks along with the typical undead stuff (no need to breath, can’t get sick, etc). They also only “die” if they become incapacitated from severe head trauma, and have a Final Fantasy Blue Mage style ability known as “Coup” where they can learn special abilities from certain monsters if said beast dies within their vicinity. They also get access to exclusive “Harrowed Edges,” which they begin with one for free.

A Harrowed’s major weakness is their Dominion score. Ranging from -4 to +4, it represents how “in control” their occupying manitou is, and the GM can call for an opposed Spirit test modified by said score by anteing up a Fate Chip. Success on the Harrowed’s part grants them more Dominion, but failure can cause the manitou to take short-term control and get up to various wicked deeds. The only thing in favor for the poor hombre is that manitous relish having a physical shell and will not needlessly endanger the Harrowed. That doesn’t mean they won’t think twice about mugging old ladies or getting into fights if they think the odds are in their favor.

A significant part of the Harrowed entry covers the 25 new Edges of the archetype. Generally speaking they are either infinite-use or always-active abilities which typically require a Spirit roll to activate in the former case, and a few mimic existing spells but have added hindrances to balance things out. They run a mixture between utility and offensive powers, all themed around macabre themes of death and the resilience of the unliving.

Some of the more interesting Edges are as follows: Burrowing lets you slowly move through raw earth at the expense of looking like a corpse covered with with creepy-crawlies and soil upon exiting; Dead Man’s Hand which lets you detach and remotely move body parts for a short duration; Ghost, which effectively allows you to become incorporeal for one round and is now steeper in Rank* to take at Heroic rather than Seasoned; Possession which allows you to take control of another’s body and actions but imposes a -2 on all actions on your part due to concentration; Spiritual Barbwire which conjures an invisible barrier to keep away ghosts, spirits, and similar entities; and Trackin’ Teeth, which allows you to turn a plucked tooth or other tiny bony body part into a tracking device effective out to a 10 or 1,000 mile radius (normal and Improved versions of the Edge, respectively).

*Savage World’s equivalent to Experience Levels



The Hexslinger is our other archetype covered here. Originally a subgroup of Hucksters in Deadlands Classic, they are an Arcane Background of their own now! Their tradition stems from runecarvers of Northern Europe who imbued physical objects with magical power. The modern-day Hexslingers derive their talents from a Swedish immigrant who passed on his talents to the famed Doc Holliday, who in turn decided to cast a spell while holding a gun in his hand rather than the traditional deck of cards used by Hucksters. From there Holliday passed on what he learned to a small circle of gunslingers in the Southwest.

Hexslingers as a “casting class” channel their powers through a single personalized firearm gussied up with runes and other intricate designs that audibly crackle with power when used to cast spells. They have most of the powers available to Hucksters, plus two new ones detailed later. As part of their “gunmage” background they can cast 3 buffing spells (Aim, Boost Trait for Shooting, and Smite) as free actions in regards to their signature weapon. Naturally many of their offensive powers manifest as them shooting a weapon or confidently spinning their gun around in their hands or finger.

Like Hucksters they run the risk of being viewed as “practitioners of the dark arts” if their powers are found out for what they are, so it’s common for them to explain away their spells and fancy shootin’ iron as New Science devices. They also suffer a penalty on casting spells if they do not use said item, but can craft a new one in several days if lost.

The two new Hexslinger powers are Numb, which temporarily removes penalties to Pace and die rolls from wounds, and Shootist, which allows the Hexslinger to imbue runic symbols on individual bullets.

Shootist bears special mention as it is technically 13 powers in one, with varying degrees of prerequisite Ranks to automatically learn once you reach said rank. A hexslinger can imbue a bullet, which indefinitely stores the effect until used, but at the cost of having the required Power Points “tied up” in the bullet until fired. The ammunition can even be given to other people to use and doesn’t need to be fired from their signature weapon, which makes them quite versatile. The various runes either enhance a bullet’s existing effects such as ignoring a certain level of range/cover penalties or increasing/modifying the damage type, or grant new features such as exploding in an AoE shrapnel burst or affecting a supernatural monster as though it were of its weakness. Provided the hexslinger knows of said weakness and the monster is not one of the four Servitors, of course.

Thoughts So Far: The American Southwest is a highly iconic setting for the Western genre, with outlaw gangs and crooked rail barons as classic foes. The Harrowed’s revision and expansion empowers the archetype with a +2 Toughness and some new Edges, which make it a good choice for PCs who want to be a fighter who just won’t go down or a more macabre investigator/scout with the various utility powers. The hexslinger is a mechanically strong and thematically cool gunmage, and I can see it as a popular choice at many gaming tables. Allowing PCs to start the game Harrowed with an Edge will let many more players have the benefit of using this archetype in play, something I approve of.

Join us next time as we cover the GM-facing Marshal Territory chapter!

Robindaybird
Aug 21, 2007

Neat. Sweet. Petite.

for some reason my first thought with hte hexslinger art is "That's what Monterary Jack from Rescue Rangers would look like as a human."

And Hexslingers is a really cool idea.

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WhitemageofDOOM
Sep 13, 2010

... It's magic. I ain't gotta explain shit.
Big Eyes, Small Mouth 3e, Part 3: Combat is stupid

First let's go down some skipped attributes.

Attack and [/b]Defense Combat Mastery[/b] for 10 points/level these raise ACV or DCV by 1, this is as bad a deal as ever compared to raising stats(30CP for +1 to each and +3 to a stat) EXCEPT defense combat mastery stacked with shield and other factors if you want to go ultra instinct.

Melee Attack, Ranged Attack, Melee Defense, Ranged Defense Now you are probably thinking these cost some reasonable amount less than Combat mastery and specialize you but hey paying 6 points for melee attack is still actually a good deal for the melee fighter. No these are more specialized than that requiring you to Pick a specific combat mode under them why the melee and ranged distinction is even there I have no idea. At 3cp/level Attack is worth it "Hmmmm my swordsman only gets a bonus with swords? sign me up!"

Tough For 2cp/level this gives you 5 hp, which is about half what it needs to be since you get 5 damage for 2/points level. This also means your hp not from stats cap is 30 not 60.

Armor For 2cp/level gives....2 damage reduction. Armor is best at shutting down small attacks or combined with health. It also has a max level of 24, so 48 points Which is...much lower numbers than we are used to seeing in BESM, and we will get to scaling when we get to the damage. You can make your armor homogenous for 4 points, aka no called shots to hit the weak point, for -2 points you can make it emphasized x2 vs. category, 1/2 vs. everything else now why would you do that? Well you could have another 24 levels of armor that way, explicitly. Optimized armor is -4 points gives double protection against whatever you pick and no protection against anything else...why would you take this when Empasized exists?
Oh and if you are wondering how an attribute with more than six levels works with higher caps, multiply. So armor with a cap of 8 would be 32 capped. Or they could have just raised the cost to 5 points/level for 10 armor and capped it at 6 levels or something.

But armor is made worthless because of....

Forcefields for 3points/level you get 4 armor, this has a max level of 12. Anything that penetrates your forcefield drops the level by 1...except...that only drops the protection by 4 points not the 15 points from 2e. There is also a string of shield modifiers like blocks incorporeal and negates shields, they are 1 point each.

But forcefields are made worthless because of....

Shield The pinnacle of defensive attribute technology! is long Shat on shield, for 4cp/level you get +1DCV/level or they can ignore your shield then you get 2 armor/level, now this sounds AWFUL worse than armor in every way right? Well you can pay 1 point to add another 2 armor/level if they ignore your shield...with no cap. 60 Armor Shield is 32 points vs. 48 points for 48 armor. Stack this with defense combat mastery and you can render combat pointless.

Damage Absorption This is basically crack armor, For 10points/level it absorbs the first 5damage/level and converts it to hp or ep. So half as efficient as armor and smack gobs less than shields...unless you stack them, then if anything doesn't one shot you it does jack diddly.

Damage Conversion Not nearly as good as absorb. For every 5 damage you take, you get 1cp/level to add on based on the current fight. It's 10cp/level if you have to take the hits, and 20cp/level if blocked damage counts. At "reasonable" point values of combat(ie 300 or so or having things that just poo poo on the idea of it), this is terrible if you actually were to face some planet crackers this would get kind of nuts.

So let us talk about WEAPONS and DAMAGE.

Now there was a stat called damage multiplier and it was set to 5, and i mentioned getting +5 damage for 2 cp so you probably think "Oh hey maybe unweaponed characters are relevant and the damage formula is something like" (Acv+Massive Damage+Weapon ranking)*Multiplier, or maybe (Acv+Massive Damage)*(5+Weapon Ranking). No, No, those would be not completely sucky.
The damage formula is Weapon Ranking*Damage Multiplier+Acv, what if you don't have a weapon attack on your sheet? Then you do ACV+1/2 multiplier with your fists, and remember there is no personal gear, your samurai can't just have a sword with 15 damage on it.

Massive Damage For a whopping 10cp/level this raises your damage multiplier by whopping 1, why do you CARE?! Until your weapon level reaches near cap(weapon levels go up to 24.) this costs more than just raising your weapon, ofc you can lower the cost by reducing what it applies to, massive damage "Swords", "Fists" or "Fire spells" is only 4cp/level....which is basically all you need, 7 gets you melee or ranged.

Weapon Attack Costs 2cp/level to do damage equal to multiplier*level as noted, there is a giant list of weapon modifiers. Now unlike EVERY OTHER TYPE OF COST MODIFIER weapon modifiers are per level, though not generic modifiers to weapon attacks. This means adding accurate +3 to a lvl20 weapon costs 60 points....you could buy +6 ACV for that much.
This blatantly encourages what it always did, stacking the gently caress out of irrelevant negatives, and makes some positives 100% worthless frex aura.
Aura- can be used at it's normal level but if someone touches you while it's activate ONLY DOES DAMAGE EQUAL TO THE NUMBER OF AURA STACKS IN LEVEL, now if this was a flat +1CP per aura stack this would be fine it isn't.
And the great big loving game breaker of weapon attacks.
Incapacitating- See incapacitating has to be taken in ranks like aura, each rank adds +1 to their body or soul stat check they need to make to survive the attack. Here is the thing, incapacitating costs 1 point PER LEVEL OF THE ATTACK. Level 0 attacks are totally legal, allowing arbitrarily large DCs for 1 point attacks. Spend an action they make a stat roll or die. It should be noted things like flare have the exact same difficulty to resist and just blind not insta kill.

Ofc you might be thinking "Well with 48 levels I can cleave a building in half at least right?" No, no you loving can't. Because they rescaled the poo poo out of damage. Lemme just quote the book.

The Book posted:

What does a given Weapon Level indicate? Weapon Level 0 is equivalent to the damage of an unarmed attack (punches, kicks, etc.). Levels 1-5 cover the range of ordinary melee weapons and guns, from knives to largecalibre sniper rifles. Levels 6-12 cover the range of heavy machine guns to medium automatic cannon; most magical fireballs and lightning bolts would also be in this range, as are most weapons installed in powered suits. Levels 12-24 are in the range of tank or warship guns, anti-tank missiles, and giant robot cannons, and increasingly destructive spells. Levels 24+ are extremely powerful, such as the beam cannon of super mecha, various heavy bombs and missiles, or the powers of superhuman psychics or mages

Mecha Weapons? Outside the allowed league, As is the dragon slave. The same is true for armor.
And damaging objects? destroying a small office building now requires 250 damage. The earth? 2200.
So you do less damage and need more to actually do fun poo poo weapons are good for.

So yeah, combat is entirely out of whack and you can't even blow up the scenery properly.

Join me next time as we make game busting powers for 40Cp or less via generic variables.

WhitemageofDOOM fucked around with this message at 05:03 on Feb 15, 2019

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