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I wonder how many Pirates of the Carribean sequels we need before we get into that territory. And can a Genius create Sonic.exe or Ben Drowned? Is Creepy: The Pastaning possible? Humbug Scoolbus posted:Who the gently caress actually played Spelljammer though? I was in a long running 1889 campaign at least. Spelljammer was long before my RPG time, but I'd be damned if it doesn't sound nifty. Bieeardo posted:There was at least one adventure module written for the original BECMI immortals set. I remember traveling the planes, looking for the essences of senses, and ending up both in weird logic puzzles on the plane of Earth... and on then-modern Earth. I don't think adventure modules really do it for a power level where everyone is is at least a cosmic super hero. And now it's time to go oldschool: Mazes & Minotaurs - Players Manual  Mazes & Minotaurs was inspired by a little alternate history musing from Paul Elliott (readablehere ) about a RPG industry whose grandaddy was inspired by Greek mythology instead of medieval fantasy. This blog entry would inspire Olivier Legrand to write an oldschool RPG based on this alternate history, which we have right here. The official website treats M&M as the free re-release of one of the classics of the industry, and the various comment boxes throughout the books poke fun at things like wargaming grognards belittling the new roleplaying craze, people complaining about a lack of realism, edition wars and the running gag that is Pyros the Spearman, an early playtest character who fell prey to a manticore because of a dodgy interpretation of the breath weapon rules (he got better). The game of course takes Inspirations from Dungeons & Dragons, but it does a lot of stuff so different as to be its own rules system instead of a proper retro-clone. For starters, everything's roll high and beat a TN. There's also a bit of a E6 vibe going on, as level 6 is the highest you can get. Mazes & Mintoaurs comes is available in two editions: the "original" rules from 1972, and the revised rules from 1987. I'll be covering the revised edition (more precisely the revision of the revised edition from 2012), as that one is more fleshed out and better supported. Like AD&D, RM&M consists of several core books: The Players Manual (core rules), the Maze Masters Manual (GM guide)), the Create Compendium (monster manual) and the M&M Companion (optional stuff). I'll cover the first for now. Most of the interior M&M art is free clipart, with the occasional original piece of work. I: Characters Character creation follows the usual procedures: Pick a class, roll attributes, fill in the blanks. Classes (separated into Warriors, Magicians and Specialists) will be covered shortly, so let's tackle attributes first. The 6 attributes of M&M are Might, Skill, Wits, Luck, Will and Grace. Most of them are your typical D&D attributes under a different name, with Might being a hybrid of STR and CON to make room for Luck, a new attribute that represents not only ones good fortune, but also ones favor with the gods. Attributes are determined by rolling 2d6+6 six times. If the total sum is too low, you can try again. You can also swap up to 2 points between two attributes for a bit of customization. When distributing your 6 scores to your attributes, you have to assign the two highest scores to your class' two primary attributes. Attribute mods have a similar range than 3.X mods, except the range of 9-12 has a +0. The highest you can get is +4 at 19-20. Your primary attributes can reach 21 for a +5. Almost all derived attributes are the sum of 3 attribute mods, and most are lumped into general groups. First up are the Combat Scores, which includes your two BABs (Melee and Missile), your Initiative, your AC (called Defense Class, or EDC aka Effective Defense Class when you add your armor) and your Hits Total. The latter three don't use the standard 3 attribute sum formula, and Hits Total is interesting in that no die rolls are involved in it. Saving Rolls come in four: Athletic Prowess (actually more like the athletic skill), Danger Evasion (Reflex Save), Mystic Fortiude (Will Save), Physical Vigor (Fortitude Save). Lastly, there is Personal Charsima (useful for hirelings and social interaction). Magicians and Specialists have an additional derived attribute depending on their class. Since having a BBF up in the pantheon can go a long way in Greek mythology, your Luck mod is added to almost every single derived attribute, making it a literal god stat. To balance things out, only 4 classes have Luck as a primary attribute, and attributes actually go up rather fast as you level up. The Equipment list is pretty small and basic, even moreso considering that almost every weapon deals 1d6, with no additional attribute mod unless your class ability tells otherwise. The main reasons why you would choose one weapon over the other (aside from flavor reasons) is if your class has a Weapon of Choice, which gives you the equivalent of a D&D5e Advantage when attacking with that weapon. Armor comes in three pieces (helmet, breastplate, shield), each adding a +2 to your EDC. Classes Class descriptions are very condensed compared to D&D. That's because there are no charts. Everything about your character is derived from his attribute mods, with Hits Total getting a static bonus each level. And unless you're a Magician, you only have 2 class abilities. Since attributes are so important, they go up with each level. More precisely, you increase your Luck by +1 and add +2 to another attribute whose choice can be limited based on your class. This system somewhat takes the bite out of swingy chargen rolls, as the guy who rolled six 18s will max out pretty quickly, while less fortunate players will sooner or latter catch up to him. Warriors The martial classes. Their base Hits is 12, and they gain another +4 each level. Obviously, everyone has a Weapon of Choice. Amazons Primary Attributes: Skill and Grace Weapon of Choice: Bow Their "Deadly Shot" (adds Skill mod to bow damage) ability makes them good archers, while their "Battle Grace" (Grace mod to EDC when not wearing breastplates) adds that certain chainmal bikini flavor. The M&M Companion introduces a more realistic version that trades the chainmail bikini for an initiative bonus and allows the amazon to trade in her bow mastery for a javelin, sword or spear. Barbarians Primary Attributes: Might and Will Weapons of Choice: Barbarian weapons (basically any weapon you have to wield two-handed if your Might is below 13) These filthy savages are the opposite of the amazon (right down to only allowing males in this class), with their "Battle Fury" working just like "Divine Grace", except they add their Will mod and lose said mod if they're surprised. They also have "Battle Might", which allows them to add their Might mod to barbarian weapons. These guys hit hard. Centaurs Primary Attributes: Might and Skill Weapons of Choice: Bow, javelin, club or spear Certainly the most monstrous class, they use "Etraordinary Agility" to add their Skill mod against melee attacks, and their "Four-Legged" ability gives them all sorts of abilities related to being part horse, including using ranged weapons while running without penalties and being able to trample opponents. Nobles Primary Attributes: Luck adn either Might or Skill (their "martial attribute") Weapon of Choice: Sword, spear, bow or javelin The classic Greek hero (I think everyone except Orpheus is one), they trade more flashy class abilities for flexibility and good all-around attribute coverage. Not only can they put their highest roll into Luck, but their "Heroic Heritage" boosts their martial attribute and one of the other 3 attributes by +2. Other than that, they have "Battle Fortune" (Luck mod to Initiative). Spearmen Primary Attributes: Skill and Will Weapon of Choice: Spear of course The iconic Greek soldier, focused on raw defense to hold the lines and keep the enemy at bay ("Defensive Fighting" adds their Skill mod to EDC vs melee attacks, and their "Martial Discipline" ads their Will mod to Initiative). Multiple spearmen (I'd also allow properly trained hirelings) can also form a shield wall for even more defense. Specialist The smallest class group. They have 10 Basic Hits (+2 per level) and have access to an additional derived attribute, which is essentially a skill. They are not restricted in their choice of armor, but their skill is generally only hampered by that kind of additional encumbrance. Hunters Primary Attributes: Skill and Wits Weapon of Choice: Any missile weapon Good archers, but not quite as versatile as amazons (their "Deadly Aim" only adds damage versus enemies of the Beast or Monster variety). Their additional derived attribute is "Hunting", used for various wilderness-related rolls. Thieves Primary Attributes: Wits and Luck Weapon of Choice: Dagger, thrown knife or sling These guys are good at dodging ("Evasion" adds their Wits mod to their EDC versus melee attacks) and can use "Thievery" for all sorts of shenanigans. Magicians Magicians are unlike anything seen in D&D. Their spells are fueled by Power (aka Mana/Magic Points), and every class only has 6 spells total. Here's also the greatest difference between the two editions of M&M: Classic has them learn the spells as they level up, whereas revised Magicians know everything from the beginning (though they might not be able to cast the strongest ones due to a lack of enough Power). How strong a spell is is determined by a derived attribute that's different for each class, but generally just the sum of their two primary attributes. This attribute also determines their Mystic Strength, which is used as the TN for Saving Rolls to resist spells cast by that Magician. Naturally, these classes don't have any weapons of choice, and most can't wear armor without gimping their magic abilities. The start with 8 Hits and gain +2 per level. Elementalist Primary Attributes: Wits and Will Derived Attribute: Elemental Mastery The flashiest and most blaster-ish Magician class. These guys pick between two of the four classical elements to determin their spell list (each element has 3 spells). Naturally, opposing elements can't be chosen, and one of the two is considered the Elementalist's main element, making its spells cheaper and more potent. Lyrist Primary Attributes: Grace and Luck Derived Attribute: Orphic Voice These guys are basically bards. Nymphs Primary Attributes: Grace and Luck Derived Attribute: Odylic Charm Attractive spirits using the power of mother nature. They come in 6 different varieties depending on which part of nature they call home (Dryad, Naiad, Nereid, Oread, Helead, Napaea), which determines the exact effect of their spells. Priests Primary Attributes: Luck and Will Derived Attribute: Spiritual Aura Like clerics, if clerics sucked at combat. Each priest associates with one of the Greek gods of the same gender, which again influences their spells' effect. Sorcerers Primary Attributes: Wits and Will Derived Attribute: Psychic Gift The Circe class. Pretty good at mind control and general Jedi Mind Tricks. Obviously, they can't really do anything against mindless creatures. Patron Deities Each player character should pick a patron deity from the Greek pantheon (PC Barbarians are assumed to have converted to the "true" faith). Actual mechanical effects for this only come into play with the M&M Companion. Character Levels As already mentioned, character can get up to level 6, at which point they are considered true heroes of legend. The weird thing here is that while every class group gains their level after the same amount of points, but said points are different for each group: Warriors have Glory (gained from slaying monsters and fullfilling heroic deeds), Magicians have Wisdom (gained from killing the supernatural), and Specialists have Experience (which Hunters gain Monster-Hunter-style by killing or capturing beasts and monsters, while Thieves gain it from loot like in OD&D). The additional Hits a character gained are actually explained, in that they aren't a result of the character becoming tougher, but because they have become more "important". Encumbrance Encumbrance is handled pretty easy. Each items adds 0-3 points to a total, which is used as a TN for all sorts of physical rolls (which is why say Thieves avoid armor). Having more Encumbrance than your Might attribute makes you encumbered, which reduces your movement rate. At more than twice your Might, you are fully encumbered, reducing your movement rate even further and reducing Initiative. More than 3 times your Might score in Encumbrance is right out of the question. Interestingly, everyone has a base encumbrance of 10 to factor in their own mass, so dumping your Might attribute makes you slow and fat. The comment section of this chapter summarizes the most important changes between editions, included going from 6 to 12 classes, replacing the Faith attribute with Will, heated arguments over a lack of a Satyr class, and the origin of Pyros the Spearman, who makes an earlier appearance as the example character. Speaking of example characters, I'll create Urs the Barbarian. Urs is actually a bear form the north, everyone assumes he's just a particularly hairy savage, and he just plays along for now. The six rolls come out at 16, 16, 13, 13, 12 and 12. Since he's a bear, I'll reduce one of those 12s by 2 and beef up one 16 to 18, which I'll assign to Might. The other 16 has to go to Will, as that's the other primary attribute. Might 18 (+3) Skill 13 (+1) Luck 13 (+1) Will 16 (+2) Wits 12 (+0) Grace 10 (+0) Melee +5 (Might + Skill + Luck) Missile +2 (Skill + Wits + Luck) Initiative 11 (10 + Skill + Wits) Defense Class 13 (12 + Luck) Hits Total 15 (12 + 3) Athletic Prowess +5 (Might + Skill + Luck) Danger Evasion +2 (Wits + Skill + Luck) Mystic Fortitude +3 (Will + Wits + Luck) Physical Vigor +6 (Might + Will + Luck) (Outside of other modifiers, Athletic Prowess and Danger Evasion are identical to Melee and Missile) Personal Charisma +3 (Will + Grace + Luck) Possession: As a Barbarian, Urs starts with a dagger, a barbarian weapon (let's say a big club), a missile weapon (let's pick 3 javelins) and a shield, with 3d6 (15) silver pieces on top, which is sadly not enough for a helmet. Still, with that shield, we're looking at an Effective Defense Class of 15, with a 17 versus melee attacks thanks to his class abilitiy. Overall, M&M characters are a tad bit stronger than your typical level 1 retro-clone character, though character advancement is overall more condensed. Next time: Combat. Let's hit some stuff! Doresh fucked around with this message at 21:35 on Apr 30, 2015 |
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Apr 29, 2015 20:22
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Mors Rattus posted:The thing about doing 7th Sea is that just doing the core book could never do it justice, for good or ill, because of all the insane reveals and crazy poo poo that came later, both good and bad. Like, from the core it's just some goofy, silly swashbuckling thing with bad rules. Sounds amazing. I wouldn't put too much stock in the stuff on the recommend list. If it really grabs us, we'll snag it and do it, but we have over a year's worth of material on the haves list right now. The recommend stuff is for after the Patreon pays for hosting and storage expansion, basically.
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Apr 29, 2015 20:25
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Doresh posted:I don't think adventure modules really do it for a power level where everyone is is at least a cosmic super hero. God, no. This was a fetch quest across literally the whole of creation, with a Chaotic rear end in a top hat NPC along for the ride, in order to provide an elder statesgod with... five knives to throw at a hole forming in the barrier to the great beyoooooond. Oh, and the PCs get to fight spooky ghost wolves from beyoooooooooooond while he's doing it. Gripping.
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Apr 29, 2015 21:42
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theironjef posted:Here's a link to our list of owned titles and then a second sheet for recommended titles. We try to prioritize stuff that's been gifted to the show. What's "Game of Thrones (Sword & Sorcery)"? Is that one of the two published RPGs based on the
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Apr 29, 2015 22:34
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Plague of Hats posted:What's "Game of Thrones (Sword & Sorcery)"? Is that one of the two published RPGs based on the As far as I know (grnegsnspm has that one) it's based on the books and is using the "Sword & Sorcery" engine.
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Apr 29, 2015 22:38
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Hm, maybe I forgot Green Ronin called it that. Could've sworn it was something else.
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Apr 29, 2015 22:42
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Plague of Hats posted:Hm, maybe I forgot Green Ronin called it that. Could've sworn it was something else. It is; Green Ronin calls its SoIaF system Chronicle. No idea what "Sword and Sorcery" is.
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Apr 29, 2015 22:46
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It's the Guardians of Order d20 game distributed by White Wolf under their Sword & Sorcery d20 imprint.
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Apr 29, 2015 23:21
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Is it this one? It has the good taste to use Papyrus on the cover. How can it not be excellent? e:f,b
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Apr 29, 2015 23:24
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Hyper Crab Tank posted:Is it this one? It has the good taste to use Papyrus on the cover. How can it not be excellent? Dunno. I'll have to refine my list once I see the pile at Jon's house. For now I know it's GoT and it's older than the show.
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Apr 29, 2015 23:27
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Hyper Crab Tank posted:Is it this one? It has the good taste to use Papyrus on the cover. How can it not be excellent? We have a winner. That is indeed the one sitting on my shelf for Books of Podcast Future.
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Apr 29, 2015 23:43
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Alien Rope Burn posted:It's the Guardians of Order d20 game distributed by White Wolf under their Sword & Sorcery d20 imprint. Oh? I thought they only did that with BESM3.
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Apr 29, 2015 23:44
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Doresh posted:Mazes & Minotaurs was inspired by a little alternate history musing from Paul Elliott (readablehere ) about a RPG industry whose grandaddy was inspired by Greek mythology instead of medieval fantasy. Do you have a quote from that article? The Archive link doesn't seem to work.
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Apr 30, 2015 00:07
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theironjef posted:Here's a link to our list of owned titles and then a second sheet for recommended titles. We try to prioritize stuff that's been gifted to the show. You do realize that Dark Dungeons is a free game right? The PDF can be had here. Same content as the physical book, just different formatting is all.
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Apr 30, 2015 00:24
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Mors Rattus posted:The thing about doing 7th Sea is that just doing the core book could never do it justice, for good or ill, because of all the insane reveals and crazy poo poo that came later, both good and bad. Like, from the core it's just some goofy, silly swashbuckling thing with bad rules. 7th Sea gets my respect just for the balls it takes to say 'actually this high seas swashbuckling fun we pitched you is about body stealing clockwork robots and an alien invasion SUCK IT'.
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Apr 30, 2015 00:59
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Tatum Girlparts posted:7th Sea gets my respect just for the balls it takes to say 'actually this high seas swashbuckling fun we pitched you is about body stealing clockwork robots and an alien invasion SUCK IT'. I remember the quite thorough reviews of the setting being enjoyable, but also a player going "So, uh, what are we supposed to do with this high seas swashbuckling pirate stuff when there's no Caribbean, no search for gold, etc?" and Wick going "You're supposed to emulate Chinese river piracy, duh."
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Apr 30, 2015 01:11
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GrizzlyCow posted:You do realize that Dark Dungeons is a free game right? The PDF can be had here. Same content as the physical book, just different formatting is all. Yeah, I had no idea. Most of the current stack is at Grnegsnspm's house.
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Apr 30, 2015 01:11
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Cythereal posted:I remember the quite thorough reviews of the setting being enjoyable, but also a player going "So, uh, what are we supposed to do And therein lies the key problem of almost all secret, hidden, heavy Metaplots.
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Apr 30, 2015 01:18
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Well, you could have Musketeer-style continental adventures, which the game is actually very much about and better written for. it won't fix the wonky mechanics, of course, but there it is. I mean, the cover of the corebook shows a dude swashbuckling on the rooftops of Not-Venice.
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Apr 30, 2015 01:29
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Cythereal posted:I remember the quite thorough reviews of the setting being enjoyable, but also a player going "So, uh, what are we supposed to do with this high seas swashbuckling pirate stuff when there's no Caribbean, no search for gold, etc?" and Wick going "You're supposed to emulate Chinese river piracy, duh." You know, absolutely not designed to fit in rivers?
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Apr 30, 2015 01:55
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Zereth posted:... the ships were like the ones from the corresponding era of real history, right? Yes and yes. Wick in general had issues with the idea that players would want to play the game in a way he doesn't.
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Apr 30, 2015 02:41
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Plague of Hats posted:Oh? I thought they only did that with BESM3. A Song of Ice and Fire was published in conjunction with White Wolf just as GOO was ailing, it was before the outright sale of their properties.
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Apr 30, 2015 03:27
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Alien Rope Burn posted:A Song of Ice and Fire was published in conjunction with White Wolf just as GOO was ailing, it was before the outright sale of their properties. Well, there's the S&S logo and White Wolf production information right there in my $100 super deluxe limited edition copy. I never noticed that before. I thought White Wolf just helped out with BESM3 after it became obvious Guardians imploded; I didn't realize there were signs even before they started the whole "please pre-order poo poo we know we will never ship" bull.
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Apr 30, 2015 03:38
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Zereth posted:... the ships were like the ones from the corresponding era of real history, right? Well, there were river boats during the Renaissance, but they weren't really slick or speedy. More often than not, they were barges and the pirates that preyed on the Danube and other rivers would probably just ambush them with smaller boats or traps. Hardly swashbuckling, broadside-to-broadside action.
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Apr 30, 2015 05:34
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I started running my first 7th Sea Campaign that started out as a tavern brawl then escalated to a rooftop chase across not-Paris and ended with a massive set of sword duels in the loft space of the city's main opera house during a production...That was the first game session.
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Apr 30, 2015 05:39
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Genius: The Transgression, Metatropi Your Transmutation and Illusion schools of magic, Metatropi is all about change and usually in an alchemical way (but not too alchemical, that's Promethean). Not much more to say than that. All Metatropi wonders require Science to build, then Medicine for stuff working with organics or turn anything into organic material, and Craft likewise for non-organics and turning organic material into non-organic. Genius posted:Mania: Releasing transformations is simple as long as you have access to the wonder used to do it and the subject. Spending willpower can recover the bound point of Mania from a permanent transformation without releasing it. Also, unless otherwise specified a high-ranking Metatropi wonder can perform all lesser transformations as well. If the subject chooses to resist a transformation, rules are provided. Metatropi 1 allows a genius to change the appearance of a subject, though such transformations are strictly cosmetic. You can make a squirt gun look like a real gun, or look like it's made of glass, but it still just shoots water. Additions and changes cannot alter the functionality of the subject in any fashion. A bunch of rules are given for using this tier of wonder to disguise a person as someone else, or do the chameleon trick for camouflage. Metatropi 2 allows direct changes of one material into another, growing more difficult if transforming organic materials to non-organic or vice versa, changing a solid to a liquid or gas or vice versa, etc. By fiddling with a subject's biology with this level of wonder, a genius can also alter a subject's physical attributes. Doing so is only an adjustment, though, and say increasing Dexterity by 2 would require reducing either Strength or Stamina by 2, or both by 1. Transforming stuff into valuable materials (specifically the kind that can destabilize the world economy) is more difficult and complicated and gets its own table. This level can also be used as a weapon, though Metatropi wonders that would cause simple health levels of damage are instructed to use Katastrofi instead. However, fair game includes all-or-nothing, save-or-die type effects like turning someone to stone, or indirect damage with the given example being turning someone's hat into acid. Bunch of rules for either. A whole slew of rules follows next, because this level of wonder can also create free-standing illusions and holograms. Not getting into this unless someone's curious. Metatropi 3 allows for growing and shrinking objects in size, with another page full of rules about it. Metatropi 4 is full shape alteration, capable of turning a harmless bunny into a T-Rex or vice versa, or that handy cinder block into an assault rifle. Yet another page full of rules. Also at this level are shapeshifting wonders - this is how you get your space fighter that turns into a suit of powered armor or a tank on command, and turns into a wristwatch for easy carrying when not in use. Metatropi 5 makes all bets off. Want to turn someone into a conscious and able cloud of smoke? You can do that. Invisibility? Sure. Phasing so you can pass through solid objects? Yep. Full on dimensional folding so you have something much bigger on the inside than it is on the outside? Can do! Not including the three or so pages worth of mechanical rules about all of this. Metatropi variables! Attached Transformation requires that the wonder remain attached to the subject to maintain the transformation. Removing the wonder immediately ends the transformation. Does grant a bonus to construction. Increased Range you know what this does. Limited Illusions is the standard "restrict what it can do for a construction bonus based on how specific it is" variable. Metatropi Ray is just like all the other axiom rays. Self Only you've seen this before, and can't be combined with Attached Transformation to prevent a gimme doubling up on bonuses. Specific Transformation see Limited Illusions. Transmutation Booth see Sarcophagus in Exelixi. Sample Metatropi faults: Genius posted:1. All changes that the wonder induces have a distinct "theme," often a color but sometimes a general style,
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Apr 30, 2015 06:56
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Alien Rope Burn posted:
Awesome, more RIFTS! I've spotted a bunch of the books at my local Half Price. I am sorely tempted to own some of this crazy.
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Apr 30, 2015 07:09
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:I started running my first 7th Sea Campaign that started out as a tavern brawl then escalated to a rooftop chase across not-Paris and ended with a massive set of sword duels in the loft space of the city's main opera house during a production...That was the first game session. The game I was in, we suddenly realized no-one in our party knew how to pilot a boat so the Castellian Wandering Don rolled a bare Wits check to see if he could, rolled a 40 from die explosions, and the DM declared he had always been a natural genius for this but had never tried captaining before and gave him the knacks for free. We went on to found a pirate nation.
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Apr 30, 2015 07:11
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I've always thought that if you're going to make a game with exploding dice that you really ought to codify something like that for when players roll quintuple super critical successes, it seems like such a waste otherwise.
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Apr 30, 2015 07:16
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We also had a drunken Irish pirate who was A: Never sober the entire game and B: Never missed a single shot with his musket and pistols. Not a single one. Even blew a zombie dog's brain out from hundreds of paces away by just firing his gun at it 'to make it shut up, I've got a hangover.'
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Apr 30, 2015 07:34
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Alcohol has always been the best substitute for rifling.
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Apr 30, 2015 16:18
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Alcohol is aiming water. Man, imagine if 7th Sea was about clockwork swashbucklers having some boarding action against alien sailing ships. MJ12 posted:Do you have a quote from that article? The Archive link doesn't seem to work. Dammit, that links has indeed stopped working. Gimme about 3 hours or so. Doing some archive-fu on a smartphone would drive me nuts. Doresh fucked around with this message at 17:55 on Apr 30, 2015 |
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Apr 30, 2015 17:52
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That campaign was also instantly killed when the GM went and read the metaplot, got super excited, tried to incorporate it, and get this: Players who'd been having a lot of fun being cool swashbuckling weird pirates didn't enjoy suddenly being told we had to get off our boats and that the Inquisition was basically right and the 3/5s of our party that used magic were in thrall to Satan. It crashed and burned shortly after and we all agreed the real ending was just our pirate nation getting founded.
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Apr 30, 2015 17:57
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Adventure Fantasy Game, part 3 In part 1, we covered the core mechanic, character generation, and basic combat. In part 2, we covered experience, character growth, accomplishments, treasures and dungeons This time I'll talk about FIGHTMORE, the more advanced combat system. FIGHTMORE is divided into 4 distinct phases: Melee, Missile, Manoeuvre and Magic. Combat always cycles through these 4 phases in a strict order. At the beginning of every a phase, a player declares if they are acting during that phase, and that precludes them from acting in any other phase. Melee Phase Every character acting in this phase selects a target they are in melee range with to attack. If it's just one character attacking another, then both characters roll a d6 and add their Fighting Capability. If the attacker's roll is equal to higher than the defender's roll, the attacker hits and rolls for damage. If it's two characters attacking each other, then both characters roll a d6 and add their Fighting Capability. Whoever's roll is higher gets to hit and rolls for damage. If it's a draw, both of them hit each other and both of them roll for damage. Other options: Charge! lets you move up to twice your movement speed and do a melee attack in the same phase if you're not in melee range of anyone yet. You get bonus damage if you need to charge more than 20 feet to get to your target Shield Block will let you avoid damage if the attack rolls are a draw. Unarmed Combat will give you a -1 penalty to your rolls, unless you are a Fighter in medium or heavy armor, or a monster with nasty claws or fangs and the like. If you didn't have a weapon at the start of this phase, you can spend this phase to draw a weapon and attack and suffer a -1 penalty, or draw a weapon but only defend, avoiding any penalties on your rolls. Missile Phase If you were damaged in the Melee Phase, you cannot act in this phase anymore To make a missile attack, roll a d6, add your FC, apply a -1 to -3 penalty for medium to very long range, apply a -1 to -4 penalty for the defender using a shield and/or hiding behind cover, and get a 5+ on the result to hit and roll for damage. Manoeuvre Phase You can move up to twice their movement speed during this phase, although moving farther than your movement speed disables the benefit of your shield until the next round. Magic Phase This is where you can declare casting spells and when spells take effect. There's an exception though: if it's an instantaneous spell, then it's declared during this phase and then happens immediately after declarating. However, if the spell takes 1 round or more to cast, then the casting should be declared at the start of the round (as in before the Melee Phase), and then only when it gets to the Magic Phase does the 1 round elapse and the spell takes effect. The reason for this is that if the caster is damaged during the Melee or Missile Phases, then the spell fizzles and the mana is wasted. Rolling for Damage Whenever you successfully land a hit, roll a d6. Then: Roll a bonus d6 for every 1 FC you have Roll a bonus d6 if you're using a two-handed weapon and your PHY stat is high Roll a bonus d6 if you're using a magic weapon Roll a bonus d6 if you charged more than 20 feet in the Melee Phase Roll a bonus d6 if you charged more than 40 feet while mounted Out of all the d6 that was rolled, choose the one with the highest result. That's your base damage. Look at the remaining d6 - every other d6 that rolled a 5 or higher adds 1 to the base damage. Armor Whereas in basic combat, armor acts as a penalty modifier to the 5MORE roll to hit, armor is considered flat damage reduction in FIGHTMORE. Light armor reduces the damage taken from any hit by 1, Medium reduces it by 2 and Heavy reduces it by 3. In closing FIGHTMORE differs from the basic 5MAIL combat in a few aspects: melee combat is an opposed roll instead of a 5MORE roll, damage is higher and potentially more lethal, and armor is damage reduction rather than a reduction in hit chance. I can't say I really see the benefits of FIGHTMORE though. Opposed rolls are, at least to me, harder to eyeball the probabilities of, and the increased damage seems like it'd throw off the survivability curve of HP that's all d6 based. There's another chapter on optional combat rules that I'll cover in a later part, but those are supposed to be equally applicable to both 5MAIL and FIGHTMORE, so FIGHTMORE by itself does not really feel like it delivers on being more "advanced" when it comes to combat. It's marginally more complicated, but I just don't see the point.
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Apr 30, 2015 18:32
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Yeah, it doesn't seem like this combat system offers much in terms of interesting changes. And why does the melee phase come before the missile phase? Isn't it usually the other way around?Alien Rope Burn posted:A Song of Ice and Fire was published in conjunction with White Wolf just as GOO was ailing, it was before the outright sale of their properties. I thought they put it into their Arthaus label, just like they did with BESM. MJ12 posted:Do you have a quote from that article? The Archive link doesn't seem to work. Now here it finally is as a quote: quote:The Gygax - Arneson Tapes
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Apr 30, 2015 21:25
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Rifts World Book Six: South America (Part 3): "The conflict became fiercer when it was discovered that the vampires' master had allied itself with a demonic being that was trying to transform South America into a desert!" The Republic of Colombia It starts with numbers! There are 1.7 million humans! 150 thousand dwarves! 2,500 jungle elves, whatever they are! 800 were-jaguars! 16 dragons! Then history! This is a human-run nation like the Coalition or the New German Republic, but has greater tolerance for magic usage. See, after the rifts, Colombia was ailing, but the military took over the nation. A combination of military order and a influx of techno-wizard dwarf refugees (because rifts) known as "Enanos" helped out. There were a lot more D-Bees accepted back then, but things would change because of vampires. The Vampire Wars First, vampires appeared! But then the military found them and staked or used squirt guns or whatever and they thought - they thought - that the vampire menace had been driven out. But then a vampire force leading thousands of demonic creatures did simultaneous lightning raids on Colombian villages across the nation in the- NIGHT OF BLOOD The vampires and their evil demonic allies murdered whole villages and towns, but even though the Colombians were caught off guard by the- NIGHT OF BLOOD - they were able to rally and fight off many of the attackers, causing the vampire assault to lose half its forces. Of course, all this meant war, because they wanted revenge for the- NIGHT OF BLOOD Also they found out the vampires had allied with a demon that was trying to turn South America into a desert. How they found that out isn't particularly clear, but they did. Maybe a vampire let something slip during a particularly villainous rant. The war has gone on for nearly a century, and a decade ago - in a display of competency that would shock the Coalition or NGR - they nearly wiped out the vampires, destroying most of their cities, but the bloodsuckers have a cockroach-like tenacity. It hasn't helped that Colombia has become racist against D-Bees due to them not being able to tell demons from D-Bees. So you have D-Bees teaming up with the vampires after being kicked out of Colombia. Well, less "teaming up" and more "please I'll do as you say please don't eat me". Government Colombia is a military republic, where local government is democratic but national government is a military dictatorship, if a largely benevolent one for humans and dwarves. Other D-Bees can gently caress off, though, and are treated as second-class citizens at best. Human rights are (usually) respected, and they hate throwing people in prisons. They hate prisons so much, they'll usually just execute you instead, or comdemn you into forced labor. Of course, the labor is also likely to get one killed. So it goes. The head of the country is General Mauricio de la Plaza, who is a brilliant tactician, distinguished racist, and is "honorable but ruthless" aside from the racism.  "Are we a real military if we don't put skulls on everything?" Society Largely, Colombia has 19th century values, where the military and landowners are the upper class and everybody else better be humble or else. It notes that the country is "religious and patriotic" but doesn't say what religion, because Rifts is too terrified of religious protestors to mention Catholics exist. The military is a meritocracy, and so it's the main way for commoners to rise up social ranks. It's noted that the government rarely abuses its power unless people speak out against them or are suspected of being vampire collaborators, which I can't imagine is all that rare..  There are also six wealthy families that rule over large plantations. (There were eight, but two of them tried defying the military.) They have rivalries and big dramatic telenovela-esque story arcs that Rifts will never care about. Dwarves, as noted, are accepted as citizens. Lizard people are accepted, but are still firmly second-class. Other D-Bees are judged based on looks, and the less human you are, the more likely you are to be expelled or killed. Dragons are the exception, and are allowed to stay if enough humans can vouch for their character. It notes that some D-Bees rely on human stand-ins to make business deals or contracts on their behalf, while a lot of the exiles have formed border towns like in the NGR. Rift Activity Colombia relies on strike teams to go after anything that crawls out of a rift. Known monsters are destroyed, D-Bees are usually exiled, and humans and near-humans are often accepted. Sometimes really terrible things crawl out, and they have to do a national alert to stop something really bad. It notes that once they had to fight some god-being for an hour before driving it back into a rift, and are worried it will return! (It won't, at least in published material.) Foreign Relations Time for a discussion of things we have no context for yet!
This is the capital city and a frequent focus of vampire attacks, but has fought off seven sieges, because apparently vampires learn badly. They have modern accomidations and entertainment, and essentially anything wandering murderhobos might need. It notes that though credits are used here, reales and coronas are the main currency, in defiance of Rifts usually insisting on a single currency across continents and dimensions. Festivals occur about once a month to try and defuse the constant tension the city lives under, though it's accompanied by increased security to prevent "mini-riots" or to watch for vampire activity. Also, they make anti-monsters here, which is apparently the main human enhancement practiced here- they apparently don't have juicer, crazy, or cyborg technology. What's an anti-monster? No time for that, let's talk about crime! The Black Market is here! What's the Black Market? gently caress off, we're over a dozen books into the game line and we can't be bothered to explain that! Instead let's talk about Doctor Prometheus, who's a Splugorth spy who gives modification treatments to criminals using bio-wizardry! Where are the rules for those? There are none, let's talk about vampires getitng into the city! They're spies! Then we get a bunch of numbers and lists of equipment describing the Colombian forces of La Fortaleza in exhaustive detail. Until the Coalition, they have wizards in their army, including "voodoo priests" and "biomancers", which we'll see described later. Which is weird, given that biomancers are A) pacifist hippies or B) raging ecoterrorists. Maybe they're medics? Oh, and they have psychics, too. Other Places of Note
Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 03:57 on May 4, 2015 |
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May 1, 2015 04:48
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Doresh posted:I thought they put it into their Arthaus label, just like they did with BESM. 
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May 1, 2015 04:57
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... Someone thought THAT was a good idea?! (specifically d20 game of thrones) My problems with d20 notwithstanding, this system really doesn't feel like the best fit for that setting...
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May 1, 2015 05:14
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It was 2004 or something. Everyone was jumping on that bandwagon. The cover art is pretty bland for the d20-only, non-deluxe version, but still better than the weirdly cartoony deluxe edition's cover. Edit:  The part of the cover with Jaime Lannister on it is much worse. He looked like a blonde Vampire Hunter D. That Old Tree fucked around with this message at 05:33 on May 1, 2015 |
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May 1, 2015 05:27
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| # ? Oct 13, 2024 15:33 |
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I don't think there was anything that people didn't try to turn into d20, just because they could.
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May 1, 2015 05:29
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