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[idly recalls the many, many, many times people have torn me a whole new rear end in a top hat for saying WoD is problematic] Did you know it's the only game in the entire 90s RPG scene that had LGBT rep? This, of course, makes everything about it good and justified.
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Apr 9, 2022 10:54
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That's an indictment of society and not praise of WoD
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Apr 9, 2022 11:01
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sasha_d3ath posted:[idly recalls the many, many, many times people have torn me a whole new rear end in a top hat for saying WoD is problematic] You know, thinking back on WoD, I don't recall any particular LGBT rep that didn't feel like it was intended to titillate male readers. Like if a character's sexuality was mentioned at all, it was more or less always to show how weird they were or because the writer was horny at the time of writing. Mind, I mostly read VtM and its supplements, perhaps the others were less bad about it.
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Apr 9, 2022 11:04
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On the plus side, V5 has dramatically improved on all that crap, particularly in the last 4 years. Paradox buying the IP and trying to clean it all up into something not-poo poo has overall been great. Well, except for the book layouts, those are terrible, but that's an editing issue and the fault of the old publisher. (The current publisher, Renegade, has done a better job at that for the handful of books that they've released, but it's still pretty cumbersome) Fuzz fucked around with this message at 12:35 on Apr 9, 2022 |
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Apr 9, 2022 12:33
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PurpleXVI posted:You know, thinking back on WoD, I don't recall any particular LGBT rep that didn't feel like it was intended to titillate male readers. Like if a character's sexuality was mentioned at all, it was more or less always to show how weird they were or because the writer was horny at the time of writing. I will direct your attention to the Hong Kong paragraphs I wrote. Tom and Carlos are the best queer representation I've seen from a classic WoD book so far, literally just "These dudes are lovers and sing Karaoke". Nothing weird about them, other than being vampires. Tom and Carlos are A-OK.
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Apr 9, 2022 15:13
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The "Love That Dare Not Speak It's Name" vibe of the late 90s is a big part of that, unfortunately. It's all subtext and innuendo and implication that makes Vampires (and goths, and theater, and Anne Rice) gay, and then you look back at it today and it's hard not to wonder if it's people reading into the system something that didn't really exist beyond the fans.
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Apr 9, 2022 15:28
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PurpleXVI posted:You know, thinking back on WoD, I don't recall any particular LGBT rep that didn't feel like it was intended to titillate male readers. Like if a character's sexuality was mentioned at all, it was more or less always to show how weird they were or because the writer was horny at the time of writing.
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Apr 9, 2022 16:04
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Halloween Jack posted:"Steps Lightly." Always a good idea where werewolves are concerned.
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Apr 9, 2022 16:12
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Soulbound: Champions of Destruction Eat the Rich The Ogor Mawtribes are pretty obviously organized around getting enough food to survive - which for the bigger ones means rolling across the landscape and taking anything in their path, since they need so much. In the Age of Myth, the Mawtribes ranged ahead of the other peoples of the world, killing horrors and monsters to eat and also to clear the way for everyone else. However, when Gorkamorka broke with the Pantheon of Order, so did the ogors, and these days, the Mawpaths that they blaze are generally feared, not loved. It was in the ancient days that ogors formed their two distinct societies as well. Gorkamorka in his aspect as the Gulping God led them to defeat the Sky-Titans of Ghyran, and it was in the looting of the Sky-Titans' palaces that the first Gutbusters discovered blackpowder and cannons. They quickly reverse engineered these weapons and have been working with them ever since. No one can say where, exactly, the Everwinter came from -some attribute it to Sigmar, some Gorkamorka, some other divine figures like the ur-bear Jorhar, slain by the first Frost King, or ancient Winter Gods whom the first Beastclaws freed from Nagash. Whatever the case, the Gutbusters and Beastclaw remain the dominant cultures within the ogors of the realms. They fight relatively often, and they have no particular worries about eating each other (or cannibalism in general), but they often work together to feed their shared hunger, too. Some seek to avoid their wrath by trading food for safety, and while this can and does work fairly often, if the food stops coming, so does the peace. Those who try to fight them, on the other hand, must be ready to deal with overwhelming force - the cannons, beasts and sheer physical power of the ogors are hard to stop. Their primary goal is the feeding of their unending hunger, and while ogor tribes are ruled over by Gutbuster Tyrants or Beastclaw Frost Kings, these leaders remain in power only as long as they can keep the tribe fed. Practically all of ogor life is driven by survival and particularly the fulfillment of their need to eat. Ogor religion is twofold, but even the shamans that channel the divine power of the Everwinter acknowledge that it is a power that they fear and seek to control, not a god they worship in the same sense as their other god: Gorkamorka, worshipped in an aspect they name the Gulping God or the Great Beast that Consumes the Realms. This need to eat shapes everything they do, and most don't care much where their food comes from, and they are famous for their mercenary work for anyone that can provide enough meat. They're as common working for Order as they are working for Chaos, but most ogors have moral lines they won't cross. Their hunger makes them vulnerable to Slaanesh's temptations, and those that become consumed by Chaos in this manner are viewed with a mix of disgust and pity, having given up their true nature to tie themselves to what ogors see as a weak, arrogant god that will starve them of their true needs. The Gutbusters organize themselves into tribes called warglutts, which can vary wildly in size depending on their leader's ability to provide food, with the smallest barely holding twenty ogors and the largest numbering in the thousands. The leader, usually called a Tyrant, typically takes over by killing and eating all their rivals, then setting up the toughest members of the warglutt as their Gutguard - both protectors of the Tyrant and those recognized as the most likely successors, should the Tyrant die. Near equal authority belongs to the warglutt's Slaughtermaster, the personal chef of the Tyrant and advisor on where the group should head next in search of food. The Beastclaws, on the other hand, call their tribes alfrostuns, each led by a Frostlord elected based on skill displayed in ceremonial hunts. Each alfrostun subdivides into three groups - the vanguard Jorlbad, the Eurlbad supply gatherers and the priestly and spiritual Torrbad - which are each led by a subchieftain called a Huskard, each of whom is assisted by a Skalg. Most alfrostuns also maintain a small, semi-independent scout group, the Skal, who travel separately and answer directly to the Frostlord. When a group of alfrostuns and/or warglutts meet, they tend to form up into a full Mawtribe if they have a strong leader to follow. Most Mawtribes contain a mix of both cultures, but are dominated by one of the pair - usually the one the leader is from. Said leader is called either an Overtyrant or a Frost King or Queen. The Gutbusters very slightly make up the majority of the ogors, but the Beastclaw aren't far behind. There's also a smaller number of ogors not directly associated with either group, like the Firebelly cult that worships Gorkamorka as the Sun-Eater, or the Maneater mercenaries. More pitied are the Gorgers, cursed and feral creatures whose hunger has consumed them utterly and who can derive no nourishment from their food yet who continue to live somehow. Most ogor groups, particularly among the Gutbusters, protect a population of Gnoblars - a small subspecies of grot that are known for mechanical ingenuity and trade their skills with machines to the ogors in exchange for being protected and not usually eaten. The Alfrostuns are often followed by the yhetees, silent and ape-like beings that are known to have ties to the Everwinter somehow. Both groups also have strong ties to animals. The Gutbusters used tamed rhinoxen to haul their war machines around, while Beastclaw society revolves around how potent an animal you can tame and ride, with many riding mournfangs and the most potent mounting great stonehorns and thundertusks. Gutbuster-ruled mawtribes tend to be loud, boisterous and violently expressive. When they arrive at a settlement, they will usually hold a massive feast, or gutbash, and then decide the next day if they plan to attack or negotiate. Gutbusters prize wealth, usually in the form of new weapons and shiny accessories, and they favor straightforward, direct hierarchies of power, with rulership decided largely by size and strength. Beastclaw-ruled mawtribes tend to be more serious, even grim, due to the Everwinter chasing them and threatening their lives constantly. They maintain older traditions and usually hold themselves apart from outsiders. They speak their ancestral language, Svoringar, in private and practice many ancient rites designed to help survive or control the Everwinter. They often feel more at home with other beings touched by the divine storm than anyone else. Both groups often develop their own rituals and cultural traits based on their preferred diets, too. Ogors often develop favorite meals and flavors, which they will seek out over mere sustenance if it seems possible to do so, andsome mawtribes dedicate themselves to religious pursuit of a specific taste, such as hot blood or the charred, lightning-infused energies of the Stormcast. The grots and orruks usually claim that the ogors are green "on da inside," despite their physical resemblance to humans. This is true, but ogors still differ from the other Destruction peoples in a number of key ways. They don't really feel the Waaagh! so strongly, instead just getting hungrier...though in the heat of battle, the difference is purely academic. They're strong, and orruks respect strength, so they're usually given quite a bit of respect when they team up. Ogors are also usually happy to let the orruks pick the more "exciting" fights if they're allowed to eat the boring ones. Ogors that join up with a Waaagh! are almost always paid in food, for that matter. The mushrooms of the Gloomspite aren't the most filling, but the psychadelics are strong enough to affect even the massive ogors, which is usually something the ogors enjoy. The Ironjawz usually just let the ogors eat the bodies of all that die in battle, because they don't consider those valuable anyway, while the Kruleboyz are happy to trade meat for good warriors. The Bonesplitterz usually request the ogors let them have the bones, but the meat is fine for them to take. Ogors are common enough in the Free Cities that the idea of a Soulbound one doesn't actually scare most people, and most ogors Soulbound to Order earned their position by virtue of mercenary work first. Joining a Binding is a bigger commitment than they're used to, of course, but most of the gods of Order consider an ogor's raw power to be worth any price the ogor asks...especially since what they ask for is usually just "so much food that betrayal could never produce more." Plus, it keeps them from serving Archaon or Slaanesh. Some instead ask for specific foods that only Order can easily get them access to, such as the star-teas of Azyr, in massive quantities. Of course, a Binding with an ogor in it has its own complications. Beastclaws, especially, bring their nomadic life with them - many remain chased by the Everwinter, so their fellows must be ready to move to avoid the ice. Plus, well, the Binding has to be ready to help their new comrade feed their cravings or else put up with them getting hangry and go into violent fugues. Usually, the group figures out how to deal with these things, and sharing an ogor's soul sometimes even lets them share the ogor's deep and abiding appreciation of food. (Which, while fun for the Binding, can be quite horrifying to those who don't expect to see people attack a meal like a starving dog.) The Bloodgullets are the likely source of frequent but unsubstantiated rumors of vampiricogors. Even other ogors tend to find their obsession with the consumption of blood to be kind of weird, and they are notable for their ruddy complexions and bloodstained forms. See, the Bloodgullets believe that cooking food dilutes the raw mystical power within it, and they prefer their meat to be raw and very fresh. They drink blood like wine, seeing it as a religious experience, and they tend to smell absolutely terrible as a result. They are often coated in weeks-old gore, while the Beastclaw members are known to snack on frozen shards of raw guts. Their primary home base is Butcher's Gorge in Aqshy, directly on top of a lake of boiling blood and viscera said to have formed around an old broken rib of Gorkamorka. Other ogors often visit to bathe in the bloodwaters to be close to their god, and it is said that those Butchers that regularly drink from it have greater connecting to the Gulping God and the power of gutmagic. Certainly, their prophecies and brews tend to be more potent, but some say this power is actually derived from Khorne, not the Gulping God. They point to the frequency with which the Mawtribe works with Khornate legions as evidence. Despite these accusations, the Butchers of the Bloodgullets are very influential within ogor religious circles, even outside the tribe. Some even command warglutts rather than advising a Tyrant. The authority with which they speak the will of the Gulping God commands respect and obedience among ogors, and few dare to challenge them. If a prophecy demands that a Bloodgullet join a Binding, they'll do it without even questioning the need - even if they're the one giving the prophecy. Of course, most of these Butchers are used to having ogor or gnoblar assistants to catch stray blood, and joining a Binding makes it much harder for them to avoid wastage. They often get along very well with Khainites and vampires in their Bindings, thanks to shared appreciation of blood. The subfaction bonus is Bloodbath: You drink raw blood as it flies in battle. Once per turn, when you kill a creature within Medium range, you can immediately move to Close range of your victim and heal as if you'd drunk Aqua Ghyranis. Minions are equivalent to 1D, Warriors 10D, and Champions or Chosen worth 100D. This blood cannot be stored for later - it must be consumed fresh from the kill. The Boulderhead refer to themselves in Svoringar as the Svard, the unbreakable ones. The Everwinter storms that pursue them take the form of hailstorms with stones the size of fists, which means that only the toughest of them survive to adulthood. They are known for eating stone and metal to harden their own bones, and while they are not a large tribe, they famously are one of the toughest. The beasts they ride are no less resilient, and their beastmasters accept only the strongest stonehorns and thundertusks to train for war. They are the inventors of one of the most painful but potent sacraments of the Beastclaws - a rite in which both mount and rider have a slice of fat carved from them, each to be eaten by the other. This is said to create an unbreakable bond of loyalty. The current leader of the Boulderhead is the Frost King Braggoth Vardruk, an ancient ogor who was frozen in ice in the Age of Myth by an aelven trick. He remains frozen until the Storm of Sigmar, when a stray lightning bolt burst his icy prison. When he learned that his tribe had sworn allegiance to the Meatfists, he burned his right fist as a mark of defiance against them and began a war to not only liberate the Svard but to conquer all ogorkind under them. Many of the Boulderheads have joined him, as have others uncomfortable with the dominance of the Meatfists, burning their right hands to show their allegiance. Currently, the Meatfists and Boulderheads have a truce, but it could break easily, and the Boulderheads still seek to prove themselves the superior tribe. They may not be able to do so via open warfare at this particular moment, but they are able to find other ways to weaken their rivals. Many Boulderheads that become Soulbound do so in order to gain allies for when the truce inevitably ends or to find people who can help them subtly sabotage the Meatfists. Other, less subtle Boulderhead Soulbound simply joing up so they can take part in grand and massive quests to prove their strength. That way, they can brag and spread the legend of the Svard, strengthening their reputation to outdo the Meatfists. The subfaction bonus is Stubborn as Stone: You double Armor against damage from Hazards, and Hazards can never ignore your Armor. Also, the Hard to Kill Talent is added to your Archetype's list no matter what. The Meatfists claim descent from Grawl Meatfist, first of the Overtyrants, who slew a Ghurish Titanox and tore out its intestines with his bare hands to earn his name. It is said that eating the Titanox made him supernaturally strong and tough, and that his descendants inherited his power. They stain their hands red in vats of boiling blood to honor Grawl, and even today, the Meatfists are one of the biggest ogor tribes, with the largest territory to roam in. They claim the finest hunting grounds and are quick to attack and absorb any challengers to their dominance, taking the leaders of these absorbed tribes to be eaten at their home base, the Great Gutfort. Their current Overtyrant, Globb Glittermaw, is not just strong but very clever and very vain. He wears bright red robes and has had his teeth replaced with shining metal - possibly pure realmstone, if rumor is to be believed. He specifically orders his followers not to eat valuables, instead gathering them to increase Meatfist wealth and prestige so he can buy the best gear. Meatfist mercenaries often charge massive prices, but they're worth it. Many other ogors consider the tribe to be stingy, for they have so much but do not share it easily. Many Soulbound ogors are Meatfist, just because there's so many Meatfists. They're also the source of many mercenary ogors, of course, which further ups their representation among the Soulbound, as many will sign on for the right price. They are known to value wealth nearly as much as food, especially in the form of jewels or weaponry. They're used to working with non-ogors because of that, and that desire for wealth drives many Soulbound Meatfists...as does a desire to uphold the Meatfist reputation of skill and strength. After all, the Boulderheads are constantly trying to take them down, and they have to prove that they deserve the dominant cultural position they hold. The subfaction bonus is Glittermaw's Lessons: You don't do your best for free. You deal +1 damage against any creature you've been paid at least 100D to fight, not including payment for becoming part of the Binding - you can't take that and claim it works against everyone. Also, the Savvy Talent is added to your Archetype's list no matter what. The Underguts date back to the Age of Chaos and the Duardin hold Kazak Fulgur in Ulgu. The duardin believed themselves safe underground in a fortress guarded by many cannons and guns. They were wrong. Pale, deadly ogors came through the walls, gnawing their way through the stone and spitting yellowish poison. These deep ogors overwhelmed Kazak Fulgur and seized their guns, quickly learning to master them. Now, Kazak Fulgur is gone, replaced by Mount Bellow, home of the Underguts. They prefer to tunnel their way across the realms, not walk under open skies, and their long generations underground have rendered them masters of mining through eating stone itself. They use explosives to break anything down that's too big to eat, and their mastery of blackpowder has allowed them to take down many mountain holds and underground forts. They rely heavily on blackpowder and heavy cannons, and the Underguts gnoblars and ogors have become powerful gunsmiths with a massive armory. The Underguts are close allies of the Gloomspite Gitz, and they work together against surface foes frequently. The Bindings they show up in most often are those primarily made of themselves and the grots and troggoths of the Gloomspite, forming subterranean alliances that can cause terrifying amounts of chaos for anyone not ready for attacks from below and able to achieve feats underground that no others can. The Underguts are also surprisingly common in Order Bindings due to their interest in duardin technology. They're eager to learn the tricks of the Ironweld Arsenal, the Kharadron and, really, anyone with access to more advanced guns and explosives than they already have. The subfaction bonus is Thunderous Salvo: When you attack with a Blast or Spread weapon, its range is increased by one step and it does +1 damage. Further, your teeth are hardened by mining, and your ogor bite attack does 1+S Damage, not +S. The Thunderbellies, aka the Olwyr, are chased by an Everwinter that manifests as a swift-moving hurricane. They hail from Chamon's Sky Roads, and even more than most Beastclaw-dominated tribes, they never stop moving. Many rarely leave the saddle, killing and eating their prey without ever touching earth, and they are known for their daring, boisterous attitude. They ride close to the storm, daring it to chase after them faster, and are famous for their loud and frequent singing. Their mournfangs are black-furred and closely attuned to the alchemical storms of Chamon, and even the Gutbusters within the tribe ride, taming rhinoxen, clatterhorns and other large beasts. The Olwyr have developed a powerful taste for lightning, and this means they fight frequently with the Dragon Ogors and the Stormcast of Chamon, competing over the power of the storm or trying to eat their lightning-infused forms. Indeed, the Olwyr Butchers claim to be able to trap the spirits of Stormcast in their stews, and the Stormcast are increasingly convinced they're right. The Thunderbellies that become Soulbound often do so because they want to run free of their larger tribe, unbound by its needs and numbers. Many of them believe that if they run fast enough and far enough, they can find the Gulping God on his journey and join him, earning a place of honor at his side. Joining a Binding gives them a chance to find out if that's true, and even if they don't join a Binding of Destruction, the truth is many consider the travel more important than the theoretical goal. Soulbound Thunderbellies tend to be extremely cheerful and friendly, very active and prone to racing ahead of their comrades to see what lies ahead. The subfaction bonus is Riders of the Hurricane: You ignore Difficult Terrain, and your Speed cannot be reduced below Normal. Also, you double Training on all rolls to resist Restrained. The Winterbite are known in Svoringar as the Fraya, the unseen hunters, for they are masters of hunting in deep fog and snow. They allow the Everwinter to be their earliest weapon, wielding the storm that chases them against their foes to isolate and chill them before striking. They are often merely vague figures in the fog, terrorizing their prey until it's too late to escape the ambush. It is only when their prey is hobbled by cold and weak in spirit that they commit their forces. Most Beastclaw-dominated tribes try to stay as far ahead of the Everwinter as they can, but the Winterbite stay along its edge, using pale clothing and white-furred beasts to hide in the snows. Even their Gutbuster members are often coated in frost, and most Winterbite prefer frozen meat to fresh or cooked. They believe the Everwinter is the Breath of Gorkamorka, and they always leave some of their prey alive after each feast to feed to their god by leaving them in the blizzard. The Everwinter is both the great strength and weakness of the Winterbite, for its power is not lessened against them, and they know it will kill them if they let it. They are always seeking out new possibilities to blunt its impact on them, so that they can reap its benefits without needing to pay its terriblecosts. Some Huskard Torrs will select a champion from the tribe to venture out and seek a secrets that might fulfill this goal. Some seek the bones of the ur-bear Jorhar, some the Icefell Vaults that may have once held the Winter Gods, and some even want to speak to Sigmar and ask him if the Everwinter was sent by him. Joining a Binding is often one of the best ways to pursue these quests. The subfaction bonus is Ghosts in the Blizzard: You double Training and Focus for all rolls to hide in fog, snow or mist, and you can spend Mettle to get extra actions in a surprise round. Also, the Vanish talent is added to your Archetype's list, no matter what.  Butchers are the mages and priests of the Gulping God, and most begin their training as children. Each is chosen by an elder Butcher to learn, though the criteria are different each time - some have mouth-shaped birthmarks, some show an early talent for cooking, some are just quite fat early on, a sign of the Gulping God's favor. Whatever the case, the ogor must train for years, learning the prayers, rituals and recipes of their tribe. They learn to read the future in entrails and how to wield the magic of meat and offal, serving as the guides for their tribes' search for new food and gaining power from what they consume. Most Destruction peoples have healthy appetites, and even if they aren't ogors, they appreciate the skills of the Butchers, who hold that any act of eating honors the Gulping God. Those that disrespect their skill or effort may well end up in the pot, though. Many Butchers are wandering mercenaries, offering their skills up to anyone who will give them ingredients to cook with. This helps them learn many recipes from many cultures, and most become expert chefs, even if the most common meal they make is simple meat stew. A particularly good meal can send a Butcher into a divinely granted trance. These visions from the Gulping God guide Butchers along pilgrimages, often to Ghur, where they meet up in large numbers to swap recipes and techniques, throwing massive cooking festivals called gollops. However, sometimes, a vision instead leads them to a Binding or to the people who will join them in a Binding in the future. Soulbound Butchers usually have to cook smaller meals than those that travel with a warglutt or alfrostun, but that's okay. They usually have access to far more foreign and interesting ingredients, after all, and plenty of new people to taste their creations. Soulbound Butchers often end up as diplomats for the art of ogor cookery, spreading their love of good food to their comrades and those they meet. Butchers must be ogors and start with Body 3, Mind 3, Soul 2. Their Core Skill is Channelling, plus a decent selection from Athletics, Channelling, Crafting, Devotion, Fortitude, Intimidation, Medicine, Might, Survival or Weapon Skill. Their Core Talents are Spellcasting (Gutmagic) and Unbind, plus three from among A Warm Meal, Blessed (The Gulping God), Devour the Enemy (Ogor only, as an Action you can consume the flesh of a recently killed creature in Close range, recovering Toughness equal to its Body. If it has been dead for more than a day, you instead heal 1 Toughness per pound of flesh eaten.), Guts, Iron Stomach, Loyal Companion (Gnoblar), Potent Spells or Relentless Assault. They begin with a bloody tenderiser (a Warhammer), a jagged cleaver (a Sword), a stained apron made from tanned flesh (Light Armor), and a pouch full of ingredients and leftovers.  Firebellies belong to a splinter cult, who teach that once, in the Age of Myth, Ghur was lit by a great Red Sun. Gorkamorka seized the sun, swallowed it, then burped up a blast of fire so hot and terrible that it formed the Realm of Aqshy itself. They worship the Gulping God as the Sun-Eater, traveling among the many ogor tribes as mystics. To join the cult, an ogor must burn off every bit of hair, tattoo their skin with the ink of the chorsquid, and then kill and eat a magmadroth. This lights a fire inside their gut, allowing them to burp flames as their god once did, both as a weapon and to sear meat. They especially adore spicy foods, the hotter the better. Even when they join a tribe to travel, they don't belong to it any more, giving up their allegiance to better serve the Sun-Eater. They teach their cult teachings, spread the ways of spicy cooking and are more than willing to preach even to orruks and grots. (The Gloomspite actually tend to like them, because the idea of eating the sun is nearly as good as killing it.) Few of their audiences ever actually join the cult, but they tend to be well-liked. Firebellies are pretty good at becoming Soulbound. They're already used to traveling a lot and working with whoever will listen to them, after all. Many of them consider Destruction Bindings to be a sacred honor granted to them by the Sun-Eater, while those in a binding of Order often liken the power of Soulfire to the heat of the sun's flames. They are also often extremely helpful when facing the forces of Tzeentch or the Skaven, for they love eating the sources of warpfire and are often quite able to do so. That said, they usually have a harder time convincing the peoples of Order of their good intentions, especially Fyreslayers, who tend to get upset about the whole 'every Firebelly has killed and eaten a magmadroth' thing. Firebellies must be ogors and start with 3 in all stats. Their Core Skill is Channelling, plus a small selection from Awareness, Beast Handling, Channelling, Determination, Fortitude, Intuition, Might, Theology or Weapon Skill. Their Core Talents are Reborn From Flames (must have Sun-Eater spells, you take half damage from heat and fire of all kinds, natural or magical, and you ignore Minor Hazards from fire. Also, you can belch fire as a ranged weapon out to Medium range, which is Magical and Spread), Spellcasting (Sun-Eater), and one of Crushing Blow, Devour the Enemy, Iron Stomach, Unbind, or Witch-Sight. They begin with a Greathammer with a basalt head, a fire-scarred gutplate and Sun-Eater mask (Light Armor), an Aqshian Coal, and a scale fragment from the magmadroth you killed and ate to join the cult.  Icebrow Hunters are the scouts of the Beastfang, ranging far ahead of their tribe. They are part of their tribe's Skal, often because they prefer to be alone and are uncomfortable with the hierarchy and power dynamics of the tribe. They are usually much more comfortable around animals, particularly frost sabres, large icy-blooded cats that they take in as cubs and raise. They are very loving and loyal to their kitties, and they also carefully harvest their freezing blood. The blood can then be drunk to give them freezing breath, and they supplement this with heavy spears to fight. While they are often gruff and standoffish, their survival skills are amazing, and when an orruk or grot loses track of prey or needs help finding a lost ruin, the Icebrow Hunters are who they usually turn to. The price is usually just fresh meat, though sometimes they instead ask for a baby animal that they spot in a war camp they decide absolutely must be adopted into their little family. (Or perhaps as food for their frost sabres. Who can say?) Because they often have to head out into the wilds, the Icebrow are very valuable for a Binding. Almost no one can match their tracking skills. However, since most Icebroware already not really comfortable around even their fellow ogors, they tend to be hard to convince to join up. Some will do it to ensure the safety of their hunting grounds or their animal friends, while others are shocked to find that they can often find far stronger connections to troggs, Sylveneth or even the Lumineth who bind themselves to spirits of the land than they can other ogors. These often eventually come to view their Binding as packmates to their kitties. Icebrow Hunters must be ogors, starting with Body 3, Mind 2, Soul 3. Their Core Skill is Stealth, with a good selection from among Athletics, Awareness, Ballistic Skill, Beast Handling, Crafting, Devotion, Fortitude, Intuition, Medicine, Might, Nature, Reflexes, Stealth, Survival or Weapon Skill. Their Core Talent is Loyal Companion (Frost Sabre), plus three of Acute Sense, Animal Friend, Backstab, Blessed (The Everwinter), Born Survivor, Devour the Enemy, Hunter, Observant, Orientation, or Trapper. They begin with either a culling club or a handaxe, a spear or two javelins, a great crossbow or a trap launcher, cloaks of fur and hides from your hunts (Light Armor), and a flash of Frost Sabre Blood harvested from your very first kitty.  Maneaters are mercenaries, the name coming from the Age of Myth, when the ogors broke from the Free Peoples alongside Gorkamorka. For the first time, they were allowed to kill and eat humans. The name stuck, evenwhen they ended up working for anyone who could pay. Most Maneaters are restless young ogors who want adventure and a taste of the foreign world. They are often folk heroes among their tribes of origin, coming home to tell stories of their triumphs every so often and showing off their foreign fashion and new snacks. Most Maneaters get their start working for orruks and grots in their endless battles, but also tend to move on pretty quickly. After all, the forces of Destruction are usually too similar to their home tribes to sate their taste for the new and unknown. Even so, experienced Maneaters know they pay well, so they're worth working for when you need cash. Maneaters are extremely good at being Soulbound - they're familiar with many cultures and are happy to work with them, after all. When a Maneater grows potent enough to draw divine attention, however, they often want more payment than just cash and meat. They are still the people they were when they set out, after all - they're only going to sign on if they can be promised something truly new and exciting. They can get money and meat anywhere, after all. The other way a Maneater signs on is if the job will ensure their legend will live on forever. Maneaters must be ogors, starting with Body 4, Mind 2, Soul 2. Their Core Skill is either Ballistic Skill or Weapon Skill, and a decent selection from among Athletics, Awareness, Ballistic Skill, Beast Handling, Fortitude, Guile, Intimidation, Might, Reflexes, Survival or Weapon Skill. Their Core Talent is Been There, Done That (At the start of combat, you pick one benefit: Brawler for +1 dice and Rend on all melee attacks, Crack Shot for +1 dice and Penetrating on all ranged attacks, Strider for Fast speed when Charging and the ability to ignore Difficult Terrain, or Stubborn for immunity to Charmed, Frightened and Stunned. You can spend 1 Mettle on your turn to switch benefits, but you can only have one benefit at a time.), plus three from Battle Rage, Bulwark, Combat Ready, Criminal, Devour the Enemy, Fearless, Hard to Kill, Intimidating Manner, Loyal Companion (Gnoblar), Opportunist, Relentless Assault, or Savvy. They begin with any two Common melee weapons or any one Common ranged weapon, thick iron armor and a gutplate (Heavy Armor), 30D in various currencies, and an unusual trinket or curio from one of the Free Cities. Next time: Assorted other tricks.
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Apr 10, 2022 00:31
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Ogres are always cool. Been using some Maneaters as antagonists in my Soulbound game.
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Apr 10, 2022 01:44
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 KonoSuba TRPG Part 5: Putting all my points into EXPLOSION! Now that I've covered the main classes, I'll go over what really I can only call subclasses. In OG Arianrhod, characters had a primary class such as Warrior or Wizard or what have you, and a secondary class to flesh it out and customize it a bit (yes you could take two main classes, or in fact take the same class twice and be a Double Wizard). This isn't the case in KonoSuba. Here, you're only one class at a time, though you can easily change your class upon leveling up, and you can still learn skills from your previous class as you progress. It does still have the weird effect that in this licensed game with only partially modified rules from the base SRS System, that you have seven or so classes that feel kinda vestigial, not nearly as meaty as the "core" classes. They can still be taken as your starting class, they still have the full complement of stat bonuses and HP and MP and such, though they tend to spread their +6 bonuses a bit wider over more stats in unique combinations. The main thing is they only have three Skills each, making them better suited for dipping into for a few levels to get some new toys that synergise with other classes and give them new playstyles. Archers specialize in ranged weapons like bows, and have bonuses to DEX and PER, with minor boosts to AGI and LUK, making them... strictly a little worse than Thieves. That said, that bonus to Luck is actually useable if you take the Sniping Skill, which adds your Luck mod to ranged attack damage. They also have Skills to increase their ranged accuracy as well as an attack that inflicts -1d6 to an opponent's Dodge rolls if it hits. Good against single agile targets. Elemental Masters have bonuses to INT AND PER like Wizards, but only minor boosts to MND and AGI, so a little harder to hit physically but less magic defense. As the name inplies, they're all about doing stuff with conjured spirits that augment elemental magic spells. On the offensive side, once per combat they can pick an element and do more damage of that type. Defensively, once per combat they can have someone take less damage of a chosen element. Or they can pick a passive Skill that makes them better at THAT one element, forever (this can be taken multiple times with different elements, btw). Useful as a dip for Wizards and defense-oriented Priests. Creators are basically a Thief-Wizard hybrid, specializing in putting down arcane traps. High bonus to AGI and PER so expect to go first in combat, with minor boosts to DEX and INT. This class doesn't have much in the way of attacks, but does have some self-synergy through the Booby Trap Skill that inflicts a chosen debuff upon dealing damage with something, as well as the Trap Enhancement Skill that boosts the effectiveness of all inflicted debuffs. And to make sure you deal that needed damage even to heavily armored targets, there's a Skill that strips Physical and Magical defense from the target. Swordfighters have bonuses to STR, DEX and AGI like the base Warrior, but the Strength is reduced in exchange for a boost to PER, sacrificing some maneuverability for speed. As the name inplies, they love one-handed blades. They can get a Skill that gives bonuses when dual-wielding, the Sword Dance Skill that adds your AGI to damage rolls, and one Skill that's basically that samurai movie thing where you unsheathe your sword and instantly bisect someone with +3d6 damage. It's the Drizzt Class. Knights have a sorta noble paladin flavor to their stuff, and have lots of STR and MND, meaning they can get into the front lines and have a lot of innate MP and Magic defense, but only minor DEX and AGI. They're a little mechanically uninteresting in a lot of ways, with a Skill that gives bonus damage to attacks and one that gives temporary buffs to Physical and Magic defense. Probably their most interesting ability is the Oath Skill: at the start of a session, you pick another character, and as long as you share a scene with them you deal +1d6 damage, fighting in their name. Lancers are sorta Final Fantasy dragoons, specializing in spears and polearms. Again much like Warriors in stat spread, with lots of STR and DEX but with slightly lowered AGI in exchange for more PER. They're all about movement: a Skill that deals bonus damage if you moved previously that turn, an attack that temporarily immobilizes a target, and a Skill that can subtract from an enemy's Action Points, placing them later in the initiative order. Rune Knights are goddamn weird, in that they get a major +2 to DEX, and +1s to everything but PER and LUK, giving them a wider stat spread than any class other than Adventurer (Adventurers just get a +1 to every stat, which I guess is slightly mathematically better on average than any other class but not in a really useful way). It certainly suits their versatility, as their stuff focuses on turning situational bonuses on and off via runes in your equipment. They can put a rune on their armor that gives them a bit more Physical and Magic defense kinda like the Knight skill, a rune on their weapon that boosts physical damage, and the Elemental Rune. With that, you can expend some loot in the form of a consummable gem you shatter, which turns your weapon damage into magical elemental damage. Useful if you suddenly find yourself against a physically sturdy foe and need to bypass their defenses. After this is a section of 19 generic Skills that anyone of any class can take. They're mostly ways to specialize in non-combat stuff, usually giving a +1d6 to an ability check to do certain things like lying or appraising items or disarming traps or performing dumb party tricks, or useless magic cantrips that can conjure a single glass of water or enough wind to blow a piece of paper. Two Skills do stand out, though.  The world of KonoSuba has two dominant religions that you can join. The Church of Eris worships the Goddess Eris, a being so synonymous with wealth and fortune and civilization that this world's civilization named their base unit of currency after her. Her clergy makes up most of the world's priests and healers. The Axis Church, on the other hand, worships Aqua, a Goddess of water and beauty and being a terrifying moron. She's personally responsible for all these nerds from Earth getting isekai'd, so understandably most people treat their sect with deep suspicion. After all this generic stuff comes the Advance Classes, which you can only take after Level 10. They're pretty much better versions of the base classes, even giving larger stat bonuses, a total of +8 instead of +6. These are: Crusaders are Warrior+, with higher STR and MND, and are preposterously good tanks. Skills to protect multiple allies from attacks, Skills to resist debuffs, the ability to boost your own Physical and Magic defense until you can just stand there and take scratch damage from everything. And all that HP you're very pointedly NOT losing, you can then spend one-for-one to enhance the damage of your own attacks for when you need something to die right now and don't care what happens afterwards. Arch-Priests are Priests+, with higher MND and LUK, and offer tools to enhance the Priest's already-acquired skillset. Healing spells heal more, better versions of shield spells and Turn Undead and Demon Exorcism, a passive +1d6 to ALL ability checks associated with Priest and Arch-Priest Skills, and even a bit of a buff to your melee damage if you feel like working on it. Arch-Wizards are Wizards+, with higher INT and PER, and they are walking nuclear warheads. A Skill enhances the damage of your spells at the expense of reducing your Action points, but that just means the fireworks show has a bigger Grand Finale. Here's all the big elemental spells like summoning Tornados and Earthquakes and just chucking Lightsabers at people, with the big signature capstone, the EXPLOSION spell. That's right, for the low low cost of 60 MP, you can cause a minimum of 6d6+85 non-elemental magic damage to what is soon to be a charred silhouette on the wall. Assassins are Thieves+, with higher AGI and PER, and in comparison to the other Advance classes are a little lackluster. None of it's bad, but it's very much "you're a better dodge-tank." It's a lot of dodging, a lot of hitting single targets hard, a little bit of Stealth. It has decent synergies with other classes, as it improves lots of hit chances and can give more actions on a successful dodge (which will probably be a lot of them) Next Part: Equipment
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Apr 10, 2022 03:11
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:Nightlife is so much better. If we very pointedly ignore the Inuit, I guess.
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Apr 10, 2022 16:08
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Dawgstar posted:If we very pointedly ignore the Inuit, I guess. For all the deserved poo poo that Nightlife receives, Vampire has set a very very low bar.
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Apr 10, 2022 17:07
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IIRC Werewolf was even worse, but I'm not taking any of the splat books into account.
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Apr 10, 2022 17:12
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:For all the deserved poo poo that Nightlife receives, Vampire has set a very very low bar. Having started reading the 1st edition core of Vampire recently for later review, Dracula in the opening fiction literally says the Inquisition was as fearful a time as the Holocaust. It's barely 10 pages into the book when this pops up I am once again questioning why I have chosen to do this to myself, other than entertainment.
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Apr 10, 2022 17:12
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The WoD is generally awful, which is proven by the fact that Monte Cook's D20 based take on it is somehow the least cringey.
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Apr 10, 2022 17:36
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By popular demand posted:IIRC Werewolf was even worse, but I'm not taking any of the splat books into account. It's hard to weigh the Uktena/W*nd*g* versus the Inuit going off the initial descriptors on both. There's much less on the latter simply because the game line is so much smaller which is probably if we're being honest the secret to why Nightlife comes off better. Given several dozen books I'm sure it would have scaled the same heady heights of cringe.
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Apr 10, 2022 17:42
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Dawgstar posted:W*nd*g* Wait, is that a slur? Genuinely confused, hadn't seen it censored before
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Apr 10, 2022 20:03
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It is a monster that some tribes wish not to be discussed, though others will discuss it openly, unlike the Dine one.
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Apr 10, 2022 20:10
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Probably too late though, there has been several movies and video games about said monster.
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Apr 10, 2022 20:13
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joylessdivision posted:Having started reading the 1st edition core of Vampire recently for later review, Dracula in the opening fiction literally says the Inquisition was as fearful a time as the Holocaust. This also implies that old Drac knew, since you can’t fear what you don’t know about, and despite being a magic vampire chose to do nothing. Stake em all.
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Apr 10, 2022 21:26
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nm
Ronwayne fucked around with this message at 21:51 on Apr 10, 2022 |
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Apr 10, 2022 21:26
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Bogart posted:This also implies that old Drac knew, since you can’t fear what you don’t know about, and despite being a magic vampire chose to do nothing. Stake em all. 
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Apr 10, 2022 23:45
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By popular demand posted:Probably too late though, there has been several movies and video games about said monster. Well the other has plenty of media about it too and it’s like the least someone could do.
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Apr 11, 2022 02:28
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By popular demand posted:Probably too late though, there has been several movies and video games about said monster. It also appeared in Marvel Comics and isn't a mutant so it'll likely show ip in the MCU any time now.
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Apr 12, 2022 15:04
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I picked up the digital edition of the new Marvel game and am looking through it right now. Rank handles stat caps and effective difficulty of tasks (A Rank 5 Agility test would be Trivial to a Rank 10 Character) by the looks of it. Stats are on a point-buy system. Roll 2d6 plus one 'wild die' d6 (official dice has a 'Marvel' instead of the one pip) If you roll that 'Marvel'/1 on the wild die, it counts as a '6' and also as a 'fantastic' roll. The Marvel plus 6s rolled on the other two dice is an 'ultimate fantastic roll' which I assume means you get free candy. Three 1s (Two 1s plus the Marvel) is a botch/guaranteed fail. Fantastic successes are a 'Yes and...' situation, success plus some kind of bonus. If you rolled the Marvel and still did not succeed versus the TN, you get a 'No but...', failure, but something good still happens. Health is physical hit points, Focus is psychic damage hit points. The web- stuff in the Spider-Man sheet was done to show what can be replicated with the system. The playtest rules only have the powers of the sample characters listed in the back. The full rules will have a lot more apparently.  
Humbug Scoolbus fucked around with this message at 20:15 on Apr 12, 2022 |
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Apr 12, 2022 19:52
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You know a game is having a normal one when it steals dice mechanics from In Nomine.
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Apr 12, 2022 20:17
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Mors Rattus posted:You know a game is having a normal one when it steals dice mechanics from In Nomine. I never played In Nomine so I wouldn't know.
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Apr 12, 2022 20:18
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At this point I can only imagine the designers locked in a room together, smoking weed and laughing their asses off at us. Yeah, it has levels and modifiers. And dice pools. And a wild die because WEG's DC Universe game was such a hit. Let's get Monte Cook onboard and swipe some mechanics from indie games that we don't understand at all.
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Apr 12, 2022 20:22
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These combat mechanics make me want to scream. Also nice to see that a shotgun can attack "up to adjacent Average-sized targets".
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Apr 12, 2022 20:26
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:I never played In Nomine so I wouldn't know. The gimmick of the dice was you were trying to roll under a TN on two d6s, and a third d6 determined degree of success or failure, with 111 and 666 having special effects that helped good or evil respectively. E: in practice it was incredibly bad and random to no benefit
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Apr 12, 2022 20:30
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This looks... rough.
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Apr 12, 2022 20:32
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potatocubed posted:These combat mechanics make me want to scream. Typos are whatever, it is a playtest and I had a ton of returned gift crap store credit at Barnes and Noble, so buying this wasn't out of my pocket really. I don't mind the combat system, but I do proudly have a Scarlet G for grog as my avatar (and I still don't know who gave it to me).
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Apr 12, 2022 20:34
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I'm honestly amazed at the Game Designer chutzpah to put "d616" to paper.
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Apr 12, 2022 21:01
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Kurieg posted:I'm honestly amazed at the Game Designer chutzpah to put "d616" to paper. That was probably mandated by Marvel to get '616' in there somehow.
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Apr 12, 2022 21:05
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:That was probably mandated by Marvel to get '616' in there somehow. Undoubtedly. Marvel loved messing with Marvel Heroic and the developers didn't care for it, to put it mildly.
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Apr 12, 2022 21:11
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I love me a 25% chance of success as the default target number.
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Apr 12, 2022 21:21
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Loving a game with relatively detailed gun rules which imply Captain Marvel needs to worry about getting shot with a bunch of Uzis.
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Apr 12, 2022 21:48
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3d6+67 is such a ridiculous thing to write that whoever did so just doesn't give a single gently caress.
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Apr 12, 2022 22:03
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:That was probably mandated by Marvel to get '616' in there somehow. Someone just pointed out to me that the stat block is MARVEL. 
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Apr 12, 2022 22:04
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