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Count Chocula posted:I just think 'every artifact carries power but also a terrible curse' is a perfect fit for a certain kind of story, and its one HOTB is trying to tell. You don't fill a setting with bloody operas, doomed romance and revenge if you want people wielding +3 Swords with no consequence. Epics work partly because of the doomed ending. While I agree with that, combined with the rest of the rules it seems more like just another way to screw over the player. Maybe if doom could also hit NPCs wielding blood swords (which are said to be common) then it might be better, but that and the fact that you can simply buy these at character creation just strikes me as a bad decision.
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Oct 31, 2013 09:52
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Count Chocula posted:I just think 'every artifact carries power but also a terrible curse' is a perfect fit for a certain kind of story, and its one HOTB is trying to tell. You don't fill a setting with bloody operas, doomed romance and revenge if you want people wielding +3 Swords with no consequence. Epics work partly because of the doomed ending. As mentioned by others, the problem is that blood swords are, well, uncommon if not common. It's the kind of thing that should have more of a profound effect on the society than it does, akin to the Yogo Curse from Legend of the Five Rings. In theory, somebody walking around with a blood sword should be under a stigma, because, well, they've got doom on their hip. Of course, when he first gave us bloodswords in Legend of the Five Rings, there were only four, so they made some sense... not that he didn't like to throw in others, like Togashi Nyoko's Five Swords of Legend, which have some pretty severe drawbacks despite being crafted by one of the best smiths in history. Of course, reading about those ruins makes me just want to do a reactionary fantasy setting where this is the first civilization ever, the sorcerer-kings are around now, and there are no ruins anywhere. 
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Oct 31, 2013 13:10
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When you realize that House Of The Blooded is just Wick recreating Polaris, things make more sense.
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Oct 31, 2013 14:18
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Heh! I was pretty much thinking myself that if I was to run a game about elves doomed by their own flaws, Polaris'd be a better choice.
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Oct 31, 2013 14:26
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If you want to run a game of doomed anything, run it in Polaris or the even better Moorish Spain version whose name escapes me.
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Oct 31, 2013 14:46
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Mr. Maltose posted:If you want to run a game of doomed anything, run it in Polaris or the even better Moorish Spain version whose name escapes me.
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Oct 31, 2013 14:51
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Yes! Lehman even said that Thou Art But A Warrior did everything he was trying to do in Polaris more effectively than Polaris. EDIT: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/archive/index.php?topic=23815.0 Here's Ben's play report of it.
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Oct 31, 2013 14:55
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scissorman posted:Expect in those stories cursed artefacts are rare; here it sounds like DOOM is an everyday event. Admittedly, the Phase limitation is pretty big, since if you survive a Doom's triggering you're scotfree for years of game time (unless Wick actually meant Seasons instead of age Phases, which with the book's wonky editing might very well be a possibility). But the Doom not only steals privilege from you, it also ruins whatever wagers you could've made, which feels especially lovely when players are supposed to get a say in world building through the rolls they make. Wick's intention is pretty drat clear: the GM must build a situation in that everything hinges on one roll for an Artifact user - whether they're bearing the Skull of Ven-cna or the setting equivalent of a +1 sword in terms of availability -, then screw the roll. That shouldn't get a pass. The book does tell you Blood Swords are DOOMED - in a small sidebar you could easily miss, since the swords don't really have that many rules. To make things worse, there's another sidebar hidden in the Seasons chapter that mentions how regular swordmakers can make quality regular swords that also grant bonus dice. Which actually seems like a trap option, on second consideration: a blood sword can easily cut through a regular iron sword. Alien Rope Burn posted:As mentioned by others, the problem is that blood swords are, well, uncommon if not common. It's the kind of thing that should have more of a profound effect on the society than it does, akin to the Yogo Curse from Legend of the Five Rings. In theory, somebody walking around with a blood sword should be under a stigma, because, well, they've got doom on their hip. Of course, when he first gave us bloodswords in Legend of the Five Rings, there were only four, so they made some sense... not that he didn't like to throw in others, like Togashi Nyoko's Five Swords of Legend, which have some pretty severe drawbacks despite being crafted by one of the best smiths in history. Yeah, that's the thing. Blood swords here are not unique foozles, they're a constant reminder to ven society that sorcery powered by their own blood is a thing and they better not bring it up if they don't want to get skewered. (My own reactionary fantasy setting idea is wuxia heroes kicking the poo poo out of the ven. Swords, meh, I've got FISTS  )
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Oct 31, 2013 16:26
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Alien Rope Burn posted:Of course, reading about those ruins makes me just want to do a reactionary fantasy setting where this is the first civilization ever, the sorcerer-kings are around now, and there are no ruins anywhere. This was kind of the idea, as I understand it, behind the Dawnforge d20 stuff- it was one of the setting search entries that eventually just got published on its own. "This is the first age, we are a mighty empire and everything is MORE MAGICAL AND MORE POWERFUL" Being d20 I imagine instead of dungeons you wind up with "Oh no, the lord high zookeeper's game preserve has exploded, releasing his newest creation on the city, a horrible hybrid of OWL AND BEAR"
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Oct 31, 2013 17:48
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Count Chocula posted:I just think 'every artifact carries power but also a terrible curse' is a perfect fit for a certain kind of story, and its one HOTB is trying to tell. You don't fill a setting with bloody operas, doomed romance and revenge if you want people wielding +3 Swords with no consequence. Epics work partly because of the doomed ending. They also work because all of the curses have a sense of both weight and logic to them and never simply go "haha gently caress you". The DOOMED mechanic is utterly retarded for so many reasons. It encourages the GM to be a prick in an already adversarial game, the "curse" element is impossible to integrate interestingly into the narrative, and it completely ignores the fact that there are already tools of tragic downfall (namely Aspect Tags and Compels) built into the system that it could just use instead. Top it all of with the fact that Blood Swords (something you're all but required to have) give you doom and will be used infrequently means that they are pretty much never anything but a hindrance.
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Oct 31, 2013 18:11
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Traveller posted:The book does tell you Blood Swords are DOOMED - in a small sidebar you could easily miss, since the swords don't really have that many rules. To make things worse, there's another sidebar hidden in the Seasons chapter that mentions how regular swordmakers can make quality regular swords that also grant bonus dice. Which actually seems like a trap option, on second consideration: a blood sword can easily cut through a regular iron sword. Zereth fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Oct 31, 2013 |
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Oct 31, 2013 19:22
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Dammit Wick! Still, you can fix the DOOM easily; let players invoke not only the DOOM of their opponents, but their own DOOM as well. To prevent "oh no i fail at going to the toilet oh woe is me", set a minimum for how intense the stakes can be before you can invoke DOOM.
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Oct 31, 2013 21:54
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Amechra posted:Dammit Wick! Or just make it a purely negative Aspect with unique brands of doomedness just like the curses. But that would be coherent and we can't have that in a Wick game.
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Oct 31, 2013 23:59
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AccidentalHipster posted:Or just make it a purely negative Aspect with unique brands of doomedness just like the curses. But that would be coherent and possibly fun for the players and we can't have that in a Wick game. Missed a few words.
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Nov 1, 2013 04:18
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Houses of the Blooded Special Spooky Saint Soliloquy So, Suaven! As we know, when ven start going into Solace they emanate a white substance called altrua. Eventually, the ven is entirely wrapped up in altrua, sleeping and dreaming.  These ven are known as Suaven. The ven revere their Suaven as saints and ancestor spirits. They pray to them at shrines, collect artifacts (but not Artifacts  ) from their lives, and maintain their bodies. The altrua shroud protects the Suaven, but they're not invulnerable. In fact, they're highly susceptible to fire, and many Suaven have been lost like this. Not all Suaven are held to the same regard: some are only cared for by their immediate family, while others have temples in every city and are revered by everyone. It's not rare for ven to find a special relationship with a Suaven not of their own House. Many ven join mystery cults devoted to the Suaven, with priests, temples, ceremonies and rituals revealed only to the most faithful. Then there's the fashuva, the fell Suaven, the ones so terrible Wick can't bear to talk of them anymore!  Ven pray, but they do it... quote:With Style. That's... uh, I don't think that's humility, Mr. Wick. Anyway, rules-wise every character has a Devotion rating for the Suaven they worship. Each Suaven has Blessings to give to the faithful, but the ven must prove themselves by joining the mystery cults and not just being conveniently faithful when the need comes. A character can only start with a Devotion of 3 for any particular Suaven, the maximum Devotion for a single Suaven is 5, and no character can have more than five ranks of Devotion total between the Suaven they worship. Wick says the Suaven should be the only element of Shanri out of the player's hands, and as such Suaven cannot be defined or modified by risk wagers or Style points. The ranks of Devotion are:
Gaining Devotion for a Suaven requires a Season Action. Going from zero Devotion to Devotion 1 is, uh... it doesn't say! From Devotion 1 to 2, it requires sacrificing one resource. Roll a die: odds you get nothing, evens the Suaven finds the sacrifice pleasing and your Devotion rises. Additional sacrifices give you extra dice for this rolls, and if even one rolls evens the Suaven is pleased. Luxuries provide two dice. Devotion 2 to 3 works the same, but you must sacrifice at least two Resources. Devotion 3 to 4 requires sacrificing at least three Resources, as well as going into an adventure given by the Suaven's devoted, like building a Shrine for the Suaven, writing an Opera about it, or some other act of faith. Gettting to Devotion 5 is essentially GM fiat, but at the very least it requires an adventure. But don't you just get one Devotion point for every Temple you build? Hmm. The Greater Suaven are those available at chargen. One for every House. Ashalim Avendi, Blooded of the Falcon. Master of the Road, Falcon's Friend, the Beggar Brigand. Avendi appears most often as a blind beggar that teaches miserly ven not to mock the unfortunate. In life, he was one of the first roadmen, and once he was made Baron he married a Blooded of the Serpent lady. The marriage was arranged for by her father - a Duke of ill, sorcerous repute - to clear his name using the young hero's reputation. Eventually, Avendi put an arrow through the sorcerer Duke's heart, and declared himself Grand Duke of the Falcon with his lands. As the Suaven of the Road, he now rests in the Western Reaches, his Shrine guarded by roadmen along with his bow. It's said that no ven can string it. Avendi blesses only those who realize fortunes are easily lost and assist those who have lost their luck. Holy poo poo, he's a non-dick ven! His devotees literally help old ladies cross the street! And he made it to saint!  Falvren Dyr, Blooded of the Wolf. Swordsman, Old One-Eye, The Crimson Cloak. Dyr is the Suaven of , appearing as a large man with flowing red hair, with armor, blade and shield, and a body seemingly made of scars. Dyr despises those who petition him with prayer, and his followers embrace a life of self-reliance. He never assists those who ask for it, only protecting those who show courage and prowess in battle. A Suaven that doesn't like being relied on, worshiped by those who don't like relying on others. "Prayers" to Dyr sound more like curses or boasts than anything.Manna Renay, Blooded of the Bear. Holy Mother, Protector, the Green Lady. She personifies Hospitality, and as such there are temples dedicated to her in every city. The Bears recognize her as their first great matriarch, and the House's entire structure is based on her own family. Her famous book, House and Home, sets proper methods for cooking, cleaning, and the rules of hospitality. Her blessings are for those who respect the concepts of manners and hospitality. Architects and stoneworkers also call upon her wisdom. Children are most often witnesses to her interventions as she looks out for them, especially orphans.  Talten Steele, Blooded of the Elk. The Iron Heart, Winter's Promise, The Ruthless. He was the first ven to fly the banner of the Elk in the Senate. He was imposing physically and mentally, a Duke at the age of nineteen and Archduke by the age of twenty five. But then he lost his heart to a woman, who slowly destroyed everything he had built until she had her Revenge, with Steele falling to his knees and begging her not to leave. He recovered, mind you, and then executed the mother of all Revenges. His blessings are based around his life, bending the wills of others to accomplish his goals. A ven's ven. Maybe we should've made Dio worship this guy. Talia Yvarai, Blooded of the Fox. The Celestial Muse, Sacred Harlot, Keeper of Roses. She has exotic temples and her cult only admits priestesses, skilled in all the arts, love included. All artists revere Talia as the muse of muses. In return for their Devotion, followers of Talia learn secret arts no other school or academy knows, including ~*magic kisses*~. Seriously.  Tyane Bran, Blooded of the Serpent. Keeper of Secrets, The Blind One, Whisperer. Also called The Patient One, or The Indefatigable. In his tales, even the smallest of actions have monumental significance. He only acts when it's most appropriate and most effective. His devotees follow his example, acting only when necessary, and despising the "corrupt world of temptation." True devotees become ascetics, casting away everything that distracts from pure thought, reason and truth. His blessings come as bursts of enlightenment or insight. Blessings! There are nine Blessings per House. Each of the Greater Suaven grants five of them, the others are so that the GM and players can make up Suaven of their own. Characters pick up to their Devotion rank in Blessings from the Suaven to use, but as an optional rule it's the Suaven who decides which Blessing they will provide when the ven calls upon them. All Blessings require at least one Style to use, and they may only be used once per Story. Blessings with lasting durations last until dawn of the next day by default. Bear
Elk
Falcon
Fox
Serpent
Wolf
You can also become a Suaven! If you actually manage to survive all the way to Solace, you become a Suaven. You must choose your portfolio, then you start as a Rank 1 Suaven, and get to pick one Blessing from your House to deliver unto your faithful. You get more Blessings as you grow in rank. The Suaven are ranked as:
And then there's the forbidden fell ones we will certainly never talk about, no sir. PC Suaven start at Rank 1, Family. To become a Lesser Suaven, they must have Shrines built to their memory by five different nobles in five different Domains. When five Shrines to your memory have been built in ten different Domains, you become a Minor Suaven. You become a Greater Suaven once you have one Temple to your memory built in ten different Domains. Temples require ten Shrines in a Domain to be built (aha! But this wasn't on the Seasons chapter. ) Finally, to become a Grand Suaven you require... one Temple to your memory built in ten different Domains. Editing! You get Suaven Points to execute your Blessings. Shrines give you one Suaven Point per season, Temples give you five. Each Blessing you bestow on your faithful costs you one Suaven Point. Finally, you may turn your Wrath on those who offend you for three Suaven Points. The unworthy get an Aspect relevant to your portfolio (like, if you're the Suaven of boogie, they get an Aspect that makes them suck at boogie) with a tag that grants bonus dice equal to half your Suaven rank rounded up, and an appropriate compel. Your Wrath lasts one season or until you feel the ven has made amends. I don't know what to make of these rules, really. They certainly bring the PC's power level up (and some Blessings are almost game-breaking, I'd say - The Heart's Riddle Revealed, holy poo poo) and it's nice to see that not all ven are doomed highborn manchildren, but still they feel kind of... off? Like some Blessings are almost straight up Sorcery. And seriously, how the gently caress does dual wielding require literal divine favor? And I'm really not sure where you would get to use the PCs as Suaven rules, though an interesting campaign would be the PCs trying to get their family Suaven to rise on the pantheon by hook or by crook.  An extra fortified dose of  to make up for this post.Next: This chapter is for you, the player. Traveller fucked around with this message at 06:45 on Nov 1, 2013 |
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Nov 1, 2013 06:42
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Traveller posted:That's... uh, I don't think that's humility, Mr. Wick. It's the closest that  For those who don't want to go back to Part 1, Perform Checks are the skill check you make to do a jutsu you know and Skill Thresholds is the point for every jutsu where your bonus is considered so high that you no longer need a Perform Check. Yes, that is defined in Chapter 1 despite it not being very relevant until Chapter 10, but it'll help you understand the Talents in Chapter 3.
AccidentalHipster fucked around with this message at 06:04 on Nov 2, 2013 |
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Nov 2, 2013 03:48
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Well, nobody has offered any rookie nin for me to make, so I'll just move right along with PART 2: ZIPPING THROUGH CHAPTERS AT NINJA SPEED Today I will covering 3 chapters in a single post. And it'll still probably be shorter than the previous one. New Races Chapter 2 covers new races and it explains that since Naruto is a world pretty much exclusively populated by humans, these races should be considered the results of body altering upbringings/heritages like coming from a long line of genius ninja or being a test tube baby. Everyone gets Simple Weapons Proficiency as a Racial Feat (but so does every Base Class so  ), but only 100% bog standard humans get the benefits of increased skill ranks and a 2nd feat at 1st level.There are 5 different "elemental" humans that represent someone who is exceptionally tied to their homeland's element. They each receive +2 to one attribute, +1 to saves against their element, a +2 skill bonus, and a racial power that can be used once per day, plus an additional time per 10 levels they posses. In exchange, they get a -2 to another attribute and must have their starting element match their country's. The first are Earth humans who get a +2 Con, -2 Wis, +2 to Climb and have the Racial power of gaining 30 ft Tremorsense out to 30 ft for 1 minute as a Swift action. In the series, Earth ninjas are pretty much the "rear end in a top hat" nation and hold a grudge against the Fire ninjas for whupping them in the last big world war. Next are Fire humans who get a +2 Cha, -2 Str, and have the Racial power of granting all allies within 30 ft a +1 morale bonus to attack rolls, saves and skill checks, and a +4 morale bonus to saves against fear effects for 1 minute as a Swift action. They're an odd duck skill-wise because they get a +1 to Diplomacy and Gather Information instead of a +2 to one skill. In the series, Fire ninjas are the "hero" nation who believe in the After that are the Lightning humans who get a +2 Dex, -2 Wis, +2 to Tumble and have the Racial power of making a single electric attack deal half damage to them before Resistance. In the series, Lightning ninjas are gangsta rap badasses who love pro-wrestling. It is the most stupid/awesome outside interpretation of American black culture ever.  Anyway, next are the Water humans who get a +2 Str, -2 Cha, and +2 to Swim. Instead of a daily Racial power, they get a 20 ft Swim Speed and can hold their breaths twice as long. In the series, Water ninjas are shark toothed psychos who go through revolutions like popcorn. Finally, there are the Wind humans who get a +2 Dex, -2 Wis, and have the Racial power of effectively having Evasion against a single wind attack against them. Like the Fire humas, their skill bonus is split (+1 to Balance and Tumble) instead of a single +2. In the series, Wind ninjas are desert dwelling bros of the Fire ninja and are way too caucasian to be living in the desert. There are 4 other races that aren't tied to any nation or element in particular. The Gigantics (big people), the Monstrous (freaky people), the Smallfolk (midgets), and the Trueblooded (ninja uebermensch). Gigantics are pretty swole, getting a+8 to Str and a +4 to Con for only -2 Dex, as well as +2 Natural Armor and are Large sized, but they get +2 LA for all of their toys. Monstrous are similarly beefy at +4 to Str and +2 Con for -2 to Dex and Cha as well as counting as Monstrous Humanoids instead of Humanoids, picking 2 special passive abilities from a "deformities" list (like a Natural Weapon or Darkvision), and they can trade their Simple Weapons Proficiency for Archaic Weapons Proficiency. This all comes at the same LA as the Gigantics of course. Smallfolk are straightforward getting +2 Dex and Small size for no LA. Lastly are the Trueblooded who get a nice +2 to Str, Con, and Cha, Low-Light Vision, Darkvision, and can trade Simple WP for Archaic just like the Monstrous. This all docks them a +1 LA. Base Classes Chapter 3 is about classes and is largely a reprint of the d20 Modern material. Not much new has been added to the base classes except for some new skills and a new ninja-y Talent tree for each that let's you pick up Sense Chakra and Suppress Chakra as Talents once you pick up the first Talent from the tree. Strong Heroes are martial artists and swordsmen who excel at melee combat. Their new skills are Genjutsu and Taijutsu, and their new Talent Tree is (confusingly named) Taijutsu which gives a +1 to Unarmed Attack Rolls and Taijutsu skill checks per level in it and a +2 to Learn checks to learn Taijutsu at the final level. Nothing groundbreaking, but fitting with the short range focus. Fast Heroes are acrobats and burglars who mix it up with both long and short range combat. Their new skills are Genjutsu and Taijutsu, and their new Talent Tree is Deflection which gives a +1 Deflection bonus to Defense against ranged attacks per level in it. As always, Fast heroes are the hardest to kill through sheer avoidance. Tough Heroes are brawlers and guardians who draw on their huge Chakra Pools to win the day. Their new skills are Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, and their new Talent Tree is Stamina which gives a +5 to your Chakra Pool per level in it and a +2 to saving throws against chakra exhaustion and chakra drain at the final level. They also add the new Elements (except Holy) to their list of Resistances they can gain through the Energy Resistance tree. Tough Heroes really get a good boost thanks to the lack of guns and the Chakra system making their specialty (victory through endurance) a real possibility, but that might not be a good thing if you don't like drawn out combat. Smart Heroes are tacticians and jutsu specialist who fight smarter instead of harder. Their new skills are Chakra Control and Ninjutsu, and their new Talent Tree is (again, confusingly named) Ninjutsu which gives a +1 to perform Ninjutsu, +2 to identify jutsu, and +2 to Reserve Chakra per level in it and a +2 to Learn checks to learn Ninjutsu and +1 to Skill Threshold with Ninjutsu at the final level. Smart Heroes are one of the most buffed classes thanks to the new jutsu system letting them easily work around their pathetic combat stats and you'll see why when we get to Chapter 10. Dedicated Heroes are medics and scouts who make the most of their intuition. Their new skills are Chakra Control and Ninjutsu, and their new Talent Tree is (still confusingly named) Chakra Control which gives a +2 to perform Chakra Control and +2 to Reserve Chakra per level in it (although it start at +1 making it +1/+3/+5 instead of +2/+4/+6) and a +2 to Learn checks to learn Chakra Control and +1 to Skill Threshold with Chakra Control at the final level. Dedicated Heroes are similarly buffed by Jutsu but they specialize in a much less combat oriented skill and don't have awful combat stats. Charismatic Heroes are spies and dashing rogues who rely on wit and style to pull through. Their new skills are Chakra Control and Genjutsu, and their new Talent Tree is (confusingly- you get the idea) Genjutsu which is just the Ninjutsu tree but for Genjutsu. Charismatic Heroes are reliant on Jutsu just like Smart Heroes, but they are much more Save-or-Lose about it. Starting Occupations Chapter 4 covers the new ninja Occupations which smart players will be taking in favor of the Modern Occupations because they hand out Chakra Skills and jutsu related Feats very liberally. There are 6 regular ninja occupations but Academy Student (you're a vanilla rookie nin) and Mentored (you got special treatment) are the best because they provide 3 Skills, a Feat, and a huge list to choose from for both. Mentored gets a slightly smaller Skill list, but a bigger Feat list and a Reputation bonus. Ninja Law Enforcement (you were raised for black ops) is similar but grants only 2 Skills in exchange for a +2 Wealth instead of a +1, Wandering Ninja (you're an Old West style drifter) does the same but gets a +2 to Rep instead of a Wealth boost, Seal Expert (Fuinjutsu expert) is extremely limited, and Ninja Technician (forgotten jutsu expert) has Skill and Feat prereqs and gives you nothing but a bonus to learning Lost jutsu. The Clans are where things get interesting because they are Occupations that mark you as a member of a prestigious clan with Bloodline powers. I'll talk more about Bloodlines in Chapter 11, but suffice to say, they are power suites that are exclusive to certain lineages and are bought with your 1st level feat. Clan Occupations grant you bonuses to learning Clan Jutsu and let you pick up the Clan's Bloodline instead of an Occupation feat which leaves your 1st level choices wide open. The listed clans are the Fire country's Aburame (bug loving weirdos), Hyuuga (arrogant chakra damage experts) and Uchiha (copy-cat ninjas), the Earth country's Ishimaru (brutal brawlers) and Yachoumaru (defensive Earth Jutsu experts), the Lightning country's Dattoumaru (zippy taijutsu experts), the Water Country's Kaguya (berserker psychos), and the unaffiliated Fujiwara (jutsu reverse engineering experts), Kagetsuki (medical drug experts with frequent chakra disorders), and Mibu (the bad guys from Samurai Deeper Kyo). Note that the Mibu are listed as optional and that canonically the Kaguya are dead and the Uchiha are down to 2 members (both of which are named villains) but the only time canon really matters in a pre-built setting is when the GM needs to slap down munchkins. So that was Chapters 2, 3, and 4 and by now you should see why I'm doing this on Majuju's heels. The when the next part happens will be dependent on him, and I'm sorry if I'm putting you on the spot there pal. I'm still willing to write up characters if anyone in the thread wants me to, but only if people are insistent (or bribe me). But until next time, just remember that Killa Bee is the funkiest ninja ever. Next time: Why I don't allow d20 Flaws AccidentalHipster fucked around with this message at 06:04 on Nov 2, 2013 |
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Nov 2, 2013 05:42
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AccidentalHipster posted:It's the closest that Can we please, this one last time I will ask, stop calling John Wick a bad person because he is a bad game designer. I get it. He makes bad unfun games and likes poison and is therefore scum. You can stop constantly stating that he's a huge manchild and if he was dying in the desert it'd be a favor to let him dry out.
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Nov 2, 2013 15:26
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Honestly have to agree, save the vile for the absolute worst of the worst, like the creators of WGA, FATAL, and whoever wrote the Exalted Infernals book
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Nov 2, 2013 15:40
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Alright, I get it. It was an off-hand joke anyway. Can we please focus on the write-ups?
AccidentalHipster fucked around with this message at 18:32 on Nov 2, 2013 |
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Nov 2, 2013 18:12
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John Wick has never kicked a puppy that I am aware of, but it's pretty hard to criticize his terrible games without also indicting his terrible public persona because he goes to such lengths to identify one with the other. HotB is entirely written from the conceit that John Wick hisownself is sharing his findings about the ven-- how are we supposed to criticize the shortcomings of "John Wick" without it reflecting on John Wick? If he were capable of writing in any kind of authorial voice other than King Smuggo things might be different.
Parkreiner fucked around with this message at 19:38 on Nov 2, 2013 |
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Nov 2, 2013 19:34
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AccidentalHipster’s review of Naruto d20 reminds me that there was also a d20 Modern Pokemon fan-sourcebook of all things.  I've never been able to actually find it again, and the XP laptop that I had originally read the PDF on literally went up in flames ages ago. Modern Magic Volume Two has a bit of a different focus than Volume One. While the first volume of the pair focused heavily on traditional urban fantasy genre conventions, Modern Magic Volume Two has a larger focus on translating real world religious beliefs and superstitions into something with real power. Of course, we're still going to start out with spells that can be quite varied in their use, so let's not be too hasty on that matter.  Arcane Art The spells presented in chapter 1 of Modern Magic Volume Two are just as mage-focused as the first volume, with eighteen arcane spells opposed to seven divine spells and seven spells useable by both types of spellcaster. For spell school coverage, we're still pretty strong on the same themes as well: nine Enchantment spells, eight Transmutation spells, five in Illusion, three in Conjuration, three in Divination, two in Evocation, one in Necromancy, and then one spell that counts as both Abjuration and Conjuration. The spell levels are probably where Modern Magic Volume Two's new spells differ the most, being less front-loaded and more mid-loaded with three 0-Level spells, eight 1st Level spells, ten 2nd Level spells, seven 3rd Level spells, and four 4th Level spells. No 5th Level spells this time, sorry to you power players out there. As with last review, let's look over some of the more notable/interesting ones.
 Urban Vooodoo Voudon (the spelling used by the writers here), also known as vodou, vodun, or voodoo, is a mingling of western African religion with Caribbean traditions and - in the case of Louisiana voodoo, at least - Catholicism. It also just so happens to be the focus of the second chapter of Modern Magic Volume Two, presenting voudon as an alternative magic system. It can be used as the only magic system in a campaign, one of several ritualistic magic systems, or even just one form of ritual magic that exists alongside more "game-y" magic. To truly understand how voudon works in d20 Modern, though, we need to dive into the two advanced classes that use it in two very different ways. The first voudon advanced class is the Houngan, a divine spellcaster who has a heavy burden to bear...if spirits are heavy, that is. They get their power from the Loa, powerful spirits that may or may not cross into deity territory depending on whose religious practices you ask. In addition to having to perform a ceremony known as the Great Caille every week in order to keep their divine spellcasting juiced, the Houngan advanced class has the ability to call upon the Loa to "ride" (possess) them. While possessing the Houngan, a Loa imparts specific bonuses and penalties to ability scores and/or free ranks in a certain skill that increase in number as the Houngan gains levels in that advanced class, but in return the Houngan character must roleplay certain personality traits. Offending a Loa means the Houngan gets placed under a "burden". That burden has roleplaying restrictions and removes the ability to cast certain spells that are associated with that Loa until a specific ritual to atone is made. The specific Loa given in the title are as follows.
After the complexities of the Houngan, it's probably for the best that the arcane spellcasting voudonist is a lot simpler. The Bokor advanced class is capable of creating magical charms, summoning djab (any creature with the Outsider creature type), and eventually being able to perform a ritual to transform someone into a sombi as the capstone ability of the class. I'll go over the zombi in a minute, but first I'd like to note the fact that the Bokor's arcane spellcasting works a little bit differently than the standard Mage's. The Bokor's magic has the "Bokor's price", which causes them to take 1d4 + the spell's level worth of damage any time they cast a spell. No pain, no gain, I guess. Last but not least for chapter 2 is the whole deal about those zombi. Rather than being undead like zombis, the zombi template is applied to a Humanoid and they stay Humanoid in type. It is mindlessly subservient to the bokor that created it, however, and has the ability to be turned as if it were an undead creature with +4 turn resistance. Zombi are also capable of fighting even when they are dying, have higher Strength than their normal form, and can punch things harder than your average Joe. The zombi template is removed and the character goes back to normal when either the vessel that holds their soul is broken or the Bokor releases them of their own free will.  When Worlds Collide The third chapter of Modern Magic Volume Two is entitled "Mundane Magic". If the title confuses you, it can be summed up as "weird poo poo that people who can't cast spells or incantations can still do". These are little rituals or charms that help non-magical players deal with magical foes. Or so the idea is, at least, as the granted boons for most of these can be best described as quite minor. As with spells and magic items, I'll be listing some noteworthy ones to avoid to much clogging.
More useful than any of these trinkets are the feats that come after them. Magical Ground is a feat that grants spell resistance equal to 5 + half your total character level. This would be good enough on its own, but it also lets you take Magical Sink, a feat that makes you into a walking anti-magic field that forces anyone in the area to succeed on a level check with a DC of 5 + your total character level if they want to cast any spell or use a spell-like ability near you. While you can't get any spellcasting class levels, cast incantations, or even use magical items (including potions), the sheer defensive capabilities these feats give you against the supernatural is pretty drat desirable. They are also just sort of stated as something you can do rather than implementing the Anti-Magic Atheist cliche I have seen in way too many d20 Modern titles. Finally, the chapter ends off with a really interesting discussion of how magic affects crime and punishment. Not only does it show how spells can be used for crimes, such as casting mage hand to do a minor deed with major consequences such as remotely flicking the trigger of a sitting gun to make a murder look like a suicide, it also discusses how mundane but knowledgeable people can figure out the hallmarks of a supernatural crime even though they can't pop out detect magical aura whenever they want to, spells that aid in investigation if you are a Harry Dresden type, and even workarounds for the pressing question of how to prosecute a supernatural criminal even if you are in a world where magic isn't commonly believed in. There is also a handy new advanced class, the Arcane Investigator, which allows for a character to sniff out the supernatural even though they themselves are not necessarily spellcasters.  The Item Shop Magic items: you want 'em, we've got 'em. 29 of them, in fact. Let's cut to the chase and hit the highlight reel.
We are also provided with four new magic weapon qualities, two of which only apply to firearms. Chameleon is a weapon ability that lets you take an attack action to turn your weapon into a similarly-sized mundane item or back again, Hollywood is a firearms-only magic weapon quality that lets you keep firing in combat even when you are out of ammunition but requires you to feed the leftover amount you "owe" back into the weapon once combat is over, versatile grants your magical gun an extradimensional second ammo clip with a different type of ammunition from your actual clip so that you can freely switch between two ammo types without reloading the main clip, and whispering lets you make the ranged weapon it is applied to fire completely silently twice per day. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Next time: We will not be looking at another TGM product or even another d20 Modern title, as I'll be taking a break from those. Why? Well, it's the month of Thanksgiving here in the U.S. of A., and that means only one thing: alternate history Colonial America with technomage Benjamin Franklin! 
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Nov 2, 2013 19:44
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Parkreiner posted:John Wick has never kicked a puppy that I am aware of, but it's pretty hard to criticize his terrible games without also indicting his terrible public persona because he goes to such lengths to identify one with the other. HotB is entirely written from the conceit that John Wick hisownself is sharing his findings about the ven-- how are we supposed to criticize the shortcomings of "John Wick" without it reflecting on John Wick? If he were capable of writing in any kind of authorial voice other than King Smuggo things might be different. It's actually really easy but we'd have to put away the John Wick emote and I know that would just be devastating.
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Nov 2, 2013 22:32
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Robindaybird posted:Honestly have to agree, save the vile for the absolute worst of the worst, like the creators of WGA, FATAL, and whoever wrote the Exalted Infernals book MadScientistWorking fucked around with this message at 23:34 on Nov 2, 2013 |
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Nov 2, 2013 23:24
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AccidentalHipster, how impossible/boned would an attempt to create an actual/historical ninja be in Naruto d20? You know, relies on stealth and poison and distraction, and any "mystical juju" is just sleight-of-hand.
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Nov 3, 2013 00:19
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AmiYumi posted:AccidentalHipster, how impossible/boned would an attempt to create an actual/historical ninja be in Naruto d20? You know, relies on stealth and poison and distraction, and any "mystical juju" is just sleight-of-hand. Actually, not that hard. Since this is a supplement, you could just limit the "mystical" material used to to make the character. It would be time inefficient to use mundane solutions instead of jutsu, but it would let you dodge a lot of jutsu detection moves. You can accomplish a lot with good subterfuge. This all assumes that he only handles traditionally ninja duties because he would be dead, dead, dead in a straight up fight. This a setting where the Badass Normal who uses Taijutsu exclusively can break the speed of sound. AccidentalHipster fucked around with this message at 00:49 on Nov 3, 2013 |
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Nov 3, 2013 00:46
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AccidentalHipster posted:Actually, not that hard. Since this is a supplement, you could just limit the "mystical" material used to to make the character. It would be time inefficient to use mundane solutions instead of jutsu, but it would let you dodge a lot of jutsu detection moves. You can accomplish a lot with good subterfuge. This all assumes that he only handles traditionally ninja duties because he would be dead, dead, dead in a straight up fight. This a setting where the Badass Normal who uses Taijutsu exclusively can break the speed of sound. How effective are poison and traps in Naruto D20? In the manga at least e.g. the suna puppeteers can be quite deadly; combine that with tactics like Shikamaru and you should be able to take down most opponents. Of course the S rank ninja serving as major antagonists are an exception to this, but in my opinion those break the rules anyway; to defeat them you either need to target their gimmick's weakness or come up with a more ridiculous superpower.
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Nov 3, 2013 01:01
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scissorman posted:How effective are poison and traps in Naruto D20? They're deadly as hell just like in the manga, but expensive. You need to be about level 5 and decently specialized to be able to start semi-reliably making the really good poisons, but there are ones that deal d4's of Con damage and are inhaled. Explosives (the most common trap) are much harder to make but can deal fat fistfuls of d6's with just one bomb tag and they can be stack into bundles. AccidentalHipster fucked around with this message at 01:26 on Nov 3, 2013 |
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Nov 3, 2013 01:24
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AccidentalHipster posted:They're deadly as hell just like in the manga, but expensive. You need to be about level 5 and decently specialized to be able to start semi-reliably making the really good poisons, but there are ones that deal d4's of Con damage and are inhaled. Explosives (the most common trap) are much harder to make but can deal fat fistfuls of d6's with just one bomb tag and they can be stack into bundles. Since you're in a giving mood, I'll drop my own question: do they still have that original Bloodline trait, Red Eye and True Red Eye I think they were? That was my favorite non-canon thing they had back when I read a release of the system a few years ago just because it was equal parts really nifty and insane.
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Nov 3, 2013 01:30
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LornMarkus posted:Since you're in a giving mood, I'll drop my own question: do they still have that original Bloodline trait, Red Eye and True Red Eye I think they were? That was my favorite non-canon thing they had back when I read a release of the system a few years ago just because it was equal parts really nifty and insane. Yup. The Mibu Occupation even lets you pick up either the Red Eyes or the Satori.
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Nov 3, 2013 01:38
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AccidentalHipster posted:Yup. The Mibu Occupation even lets you pick up either the Red Eyes or the Satori. Excellent, I'll eagerly await that portion then. Keep up the good work and thanks for answering.
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Nov 3, 2013 01:55
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This is neither here nor there, but a couple of the people I know who know John Wick tend to talk of him as two different people. There's John, who is their friend and a game designer, and The Wick, the biggest cheating bastard they've ever had the misfortune of running into. And when he runs games, he'll spend months as John, being perfectly normal, and then some nights he's just holding himself different and they know tonight is going to be hell because it's not John running. It's The Wick. Some of them refuse to play when he's The Wick, but The Wick doesn't seem to care, even if he calls the next day to apologize.  Traveller posted:I want you to make Space Mary Poppins, which is most certainly an appropriate concept for this game I know nothing about. Without Further Ado, I give you the concept you requested... The Nanny. The Nanny exists outside the system, working to preserve order by any means necessary. Not Social Order, as others may do, but house hold harmony. If you can find her, if you can afford her, she can turn the worst problem child into an angel(rarely literally, but it's been known to happen). One part event planner, one part psychologist, one part spy; The Nanny is a miracle worker par excellence. No one knows more about children, or what secrets they hold. Of course, it is not all sunshine and rainbows. Rumors have it that her charges become agents in their own right, shaping those around them to fit Her will. Beware. Beware the Nanny, for she knows more about you than you ever will. AccidentalHipster posted:Don't sweat it man, I'm used to being a total hipster. As for character, I vote for Joseph Joestar, kung fu monster hunter and lighthearted trickster with the psychic ability to predict his opponent's one-liners because I wanna know how psychic powers work and we need something to balance out Dio and the other Jojos that fought him aren't as funny. Anyway, Young Joseph is... The Psi-Rat Growing up without parents is never easy, but it's worse still when you're a second generation Psionic. If they know, no one trusts you; if they don't you have to be careful not to let the cat out of the bag. You grew up hard, on the streets and in labs. Your rich "uncle" was little more than a researcher trying to find out more about you, to use you as a weapon. Your 'kindly teacher' is prepping you to use as a war machine against Xenos unseen by the rest of the galaxy. The only person you can depend on is yourself. The only weapons you need are your fists and your mind. And the occasional bottle of Neo Coke Classic. Now that the concepts are out of the way, it's time to start working on step three, Attributes and Skill points. This isn't, as you might expect, allocating the skill points, that's step four. No, this is determining how many you get. There are two ways of doing this, and I've got two characters. The first is to just take the 65 Attribute Points and Twenty Skill points that all the Pregens are based on. Sounds good for The Nanny. The other is... Random roll! Looks like I'm not the only liar here. Remember?  This looks like both assigning numbers without why or how, and rolling up a character. But hey. Let's go to the chart.  Roll 2d10, sum the result, and check the chart. A one and a three gets me 62 attribute points and twenty six skill points for the Psi-Rat. Which is nice, because he'll need them. The eight attributes in Shatter zone are Agility, Dexterity, Endurance, Strength, Intellect, Mind, Confidence, and Charisma. Agility is your gross motor control, while dexterity is your fine. Endurance is how well you can take hardship, and strength is a measure of how physically powerful you are. Intelect is how inventive and flexible your mind is, while Mind is how much you've learned. Confidence is how self-assured you are and how well you can project that, while Charisma is how charming and Witty you are, with maybe a little bit of beauty thrown in. Attributes can't be below five or above thirteen at character creation, at least, not this stage. Background generation can change that somewhat. Now that we know how many points we have and what they do, it's time to move on to actually assigning Abbility points in step three. They'd like to remind you, once again, that it'd be so much easier if you just used the pre-generated characters. Let's start with the Nanny. The Nanny is more of the party face, and certainly not a front line fighter. She's got 65 points to spend. Now, you have to understand that the player hand book says nothing about what is an average difficulty or anything like that, so if you couldn't pry the Futzing around, and jumping ahead to see what each attribute actually covers, and each skill does, I decided on this spread for The Nanny. Agility 8 Dexterity 6 Endurance 7 Strength 6 Intellect 12 Mind 12 Confidence 8 Charisma 8 Everything will be explained when I get to skills. For The Psi Rat, his 62 attribute points are split up as so: Agility 9 Dexterity 5 Endurance 6 Strength 8 Intellect 11 Mind 10 Confidence 6 Charisma 6 If they seem a bit low, that's okay, he's a Young Prodigy. And by that I mean I'll be abusing the specialization and skill rules. And remember "You will want to assign your attribute points so that they will affect your Skill Values in a positive way (unless you are creating a really interesting character)." It tells you to go check the Master Skill List on page 14. So... Here you go.  Step Five, Buying Skill Adds. Long story short, there are General Skills and Specializations. When rolling for a relevant skill, you add your Skill to your Stat, and then you add the Bonus to that total to get your roll. Not that this is ever explained in the Player's Guide. At character creation, buying Adds is a linear thing. One skill point gets you one Skill add. In play, it... varies. And I'll get to that next time I post. What you need to know now is that the Bold Skills require training, and are thus more expensive, and the normal ones don't require normal training and are thus cheaper. But at character creation everything costs the same. So, here are the skills I chose for the above. I'll give consolidated sheets when I get through everything. The Nanny Agility: Stealth 2 Dexterity Endurance: Resist Pain 2 Strength: Lifting 2 Intellect: Perception 2 Scholar: Teacher 4 Mind: Artist: Song and Dance 2 Hypnosis 3 Psychology 3 The Psi-Rat Agility: Dodge 2 Martial Arts: Tai Chi 4(Chosen because I can BS most GMs into letting me get a +2 on psionic attack rolls) Endurance: Resist Shock 4 Intellect: Psionic Manipulation 3(Psi-Strike 4, Influence 2) Trick 4 Mind Psionic Resistance 6 Next time, we cover what these skills actually do and background stuff. Psionics will have to wait.
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Nov 3, 2013 02:35
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Just in case some of you didn't see the thread show up, gamegoons aldantefax, Uber Jew and Lynx Winters have announced their own Meikyuu Kingdom localization project, but unlike any others you may have heard about, this one's already got the official stamp of approval from the game makers. Mind, they're still a long ways off from printing, but it's deffo happening for realsies this time, kids.  On a semi-related note, everyone's favorite happy-go-exploring-to-make-dragon-food game Ryuutama just hit Kickstarter earlier tonight and is already funded. Magical laundry knights inbound.  As for me, I'm out of overtime and more-or-less caught up with the thread, so I dunno whether it's been made more or less relevant by that first paragraph, but either way I'll get the next part of the Meikyuu write-up written up and posted 'round about when I do.
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Nov 3, 2013 05:17
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I dig you idea for The Nanny! Training minispies all over the cosmos. And your point about the two faces of John Wick is incredibly spot on, as I will comment on later. But first! Houses Of The Blooded I need to spend Style to do what? The next chapter is for the Players. This contains Wick's advice on how to play HOTB and get the most out of the system. But it's also about troubleshooting and keeping the game together! In his experience, 90% of the problems players have are because the group is not communicating effectively. So far, so good. Most RPGs, he says, are designed "with cheaters, wankers and munchkins in mind." But not HOTB! Wick trusts the players. In fact, he trusts them so much he's given them all sorts of storytelling power in the game. It's not just the GM's role to make sure everyone's having fun: it's everyone's role. But if you're going to ruin everyone else's fun, go find yourself another game. That's good! Then he goes into a tangent about Diplomacy, and how he loves Diplomacy, but that game is capital-C Cursed because you must do everything to win and as such he doesn't play it with friends. Games like Vampire, L5R and HOTB also have this Curse. So be warned! You may not be comfortable with that, or have the Courage to play! Gamers are obsessed with details. But that's okay, wagers make the details! So Wick doesn't feel bad about leaving holes in ven Law to exploit because... quote:See, I don’t believe “good game design” is about fixing holes. So if the Law is vague or ven economy just plain doesn't work, that's okay! It's not like our culture has clean cut answers. Also something something never watch Rome with historical reenactors. But yes, Wick has  made stuff up about the ven, but you won't know the difference anyway unless you're a ven scholar. The point is, there is no ven canon, and as such you should feel perfectly comfortable with adding details to the setting. Is it a small yes/no thing? Spend a Style, decide. But don't make rolls for everything to bank wagers into Style, that's bad form. Also, you can Spend style to correct errors of yours that your ven character would never commit. "Of course I meant..." Also:quote:The ven are portrayed as brilliant, scheming masterminds. Of course, not all of us fit that bill. To simulate the games of 11-dimensional chess ven play, there is The Kibitzing Rule. When you're in a sticky situation, other players can give you suggestions about how to proceed. They just have to spend Style to do it.  Also, you should be used to the idea that, since everyone has a measure of narrative control, then other people's ideas about your character can be equally as valid as yours. But it's a good idea to get together and talk with the group about how comfortable you feel about other people messing with your PC like that. Still, give it a shot! Wick also struggled because it seems that in every game he runs he has a moment where some twist he makes makes everyone stand and clap and call to give him Void Points/Drama Dice/whatever. Only, well, those are pretty drat useless for a GM. So Wick had to come up with a mechanic that encouraged players to reward the GM. Wick does not want you to forget about his PCs. He wants you to hate some so bad you will do whatever it takes to kill them. Or protect them. He works hard to make his NPCs as real (or even more!) than the PCs. As such, NPCs can also receive Style points from the players, and they can use them the same way PCs do. The Narrator chapter has more rules on this but the point is, players can give Style if they like NPCs or feel the GM is doing a great job. Then he talks about friendly and cutthroat games. I brought this up during the Blood and Honor already so, in short: Friendly games are those where everything is over board, no secret notes. Players set betrayals for each other and willingly walk into them because hey, we're all friends here and we like grand tragic drama. Cutthroat games, on the other hand, are, well, cutthroat. Everyone's out to win and to drive everyone else into the ground. But Wick actually doesn't like to play like that! He cares too much about his characters to do so. If you play Cutthroat, then you should have as much attachment to your character as your average roguelike guy. There's some "min-max" advice for Cutthroat games: get vassals, specialize, get married, build-expand-build-expand, and have an escape plan. This all comes from the famous ven book on politics, philosophy and strategy, The following advice is for non-cutthroat games. Make sure your character's hooks are for everyone to see. Your rich internal narrative does nothing for the game if others can't interact with it. So write no more than one page of background, and leave yourself open to build your character through play. Don't play the game "safe", ven are ~*tragic*~ and have weaknesses and your character is not going to die well. Don't make Mary Sues! No one likes them! Ever! Insert Wick's Vietnam con flashbacks here. No secret notes and no secret meetings: everyone is a grown up here. Share your plots: you've got a hated uncle? I have a favorite uncle, maybe they're the same guy! Use wagers and style points to trigger other character's plots. Someone's interrogating a character's shy, easily frightened maid and used a Blessing or something to force them to tell the truth? Bam, spend Style and make the maid change demeanor and answer she's a House assassin spying on her lady. As long as your wagers are leaving openings for others to work with and moving the plot forward, you're Doin' Fine. Spend style for flashbacks or whatever else is cool, just have fun! And don't make John Wick look like a jerk. That's Bad Form. There's some advice on playing the game troupe-style, like Ars Magica: everyone makes ven nobles, then everyone makes vassals for those nobles. Every season, they play one ven and their servants. There's some stuff on how some ven scholar defined ven literature as either dramatic, operatic or epic, but it's not too interesting. What is interesting is The Dragon: for ven, dragons are not firebreathing beasts, but those moments in time where everything seems to stop. When characters and players stand with jaw open. Pay a Style, declare you've "seen the dragon" and change an Aspect to reflect the moment. Moments are poo poo like seeing your best friend cut down by arrows, seeing your lover leave on the deck of the ship, that sort of thing. To finish this chapter: John Wick trusts you. No, seriously, he does. Do you want to have a friendly game with him? Next: Being John Wick.
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Nov 3, 2013 05:41
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quote:The ven are portrayed as brilliant, scheming masterminds. Of course, not all of us fit that bill. Oh John, you do go on.
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Nov 3, 2013 06:02
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I remember Wick waging a one-man war on rpg.net to prove that Diplomacy was the actual first RPG, because of how much he personally disliked Dungeons & Dragons. When I saw this section in Houses of the Blooded for the first time, I couldn't help but completely lose it.
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Nov 3, 2013 06:09
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Of loving COURSE he loves Diplomacy. The original killer of friendships and progenitor of backstabbing, agreement-breaking fuckery.
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Nov 3, 2013 06:44
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Do style points turn into XP at the end of a session like similar points do in other games? Cause "Sure you can help out your friend, but it'll cost you Experience Points" seems like something Wick would encourage.
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Nov 3, 2013 06:47
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FourmyleCircus posted:Always good to find another devote of the immortal vampire who ages backwards. Joseph's also the Joestar with the most screen time. His own series, a primary role in Jotaro's, and he gets several chapters of appearances(felt like half the arc, to me) of Josuke's. Actually, unless you count his influence during the Stone Ocean arc, Joseph appeared more than Dio did. Obviously, not counting New!Dio of Steel Ball Run as Dio. Joseph really is the best Jojo. And I'm surprised that this character concept worked out so well! If it's not too much of a spoiler, can The Psi-Rat actually do Joseph's "The next thing you're going to say is" trick and if so, how?
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Nov 3, 2013 07:23
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Kurieg posted:Do style points turn into XP at the end of a session like similar points do in other games? HOTB doesn't really use XP, characters advance through training during season actions and getting older. What mystifies me is that you have to use an in-game resource to suggest a course of action for someone else (who, incidentally, isn't compelled to listen to you or anything - if they don't do what you're suggesting, the Style is gone), to the point that there's a specific Aspect with a pretty big drawback that says "no, you don't need to spend Style to do this."
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Nov 3, 2013 07:27
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