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I have noticed any NPC with essence 6+ yet. Did they get rid of that?
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May 18, 2019 04:03
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Ego Trip posted:I have noticed any NPC with essence 6+ yet. Did they get rid of that? I forgot if there's one or two lurking about but mostly yea. Your PCs are the big dick swingers of the world, the elders/house leaders/etc are meant to be dangerous but possible to eventually be peers to rather than the GM's 'lol I win because you need thousands of years to reach these guys' levels' venues.
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May 18, 2019 04:11
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This book has some Essence 6 ones but that’s the practical cap for ancient elders of terrifying power.
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May 18, 2019 06:16
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I thought the idea was Essence 6 just means you're an endgame boss monster, just giving you more MP and HP rather than like, a new order of power.
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May 18, 2019 07:32
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It comes with absurd higher level charms is the big deal I think?
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May 18, 2019 07:33
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ChaseSP posted:It comes with absurd higher level charms is the big deal I think? For the most part, not anymore. There are a few canon Essence 6 charm upgrades, but overall E6+ charms are now unique powers of individual exalts rather than a new Elder Tier of charms. And those charms are supposed to be powerful but impractical sort of deals, rather than another +2 bonus to stack.
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May 18, 2019 07:41
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ChaseSP posted:It comes with absurd higher level charms is the big deal I think? You get custom charms, but not like the old edition's ridiculous nonsense with action-length perfect defenses that can be spammed for fifteen rounds straight. They're still strong, but supposed to exemplify the character's legend rather than just be a straight 'bigger numbers' boost. We'll see how it plays out.
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May 18, 2019 08:35
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Night10194 posted:Now, unfortunately for the Mirror Match party, the Brute Squad is an unusually combat heavy party. What would a theoretical perfectly spherical frictionless WHFRP party look like? I'm guessing a Shallyan for Shallya-things, a law worshipper of Ranald for sneaking and talking, a Bretonnian knight for killing the gently caress out of high-threat targets, a ranged specialist for strategic wizard deletion, season with academics and murderers as available.
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May 18, 2019 09:14
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 Rifts Coalition Wars 3: Sorcerers' Revenge part 2, "If Sir Bokobo or anybody else learned he had a genuinely appreciative thought running through his head, it would ruin his reputation!" Tolkeen's Most Notorious By Bill Coffin So, the Tolkeen side has attracted many independent adventurers and mercenaries, particularly because many D-Bees and other groups relish the idea of striking out against the Coalition. In essence, they've been benefiting from waves of highly experienced combatants motivated by a shared distaste for skull robots, which has made things increasingly difficult for the the Coalition. And so, in turn, the Coalition has authorized bounties for "volunteers" aiding Tolkeen - both for soldiers and Coalition-allied bounty hunters. However, this has had the ironic effect of making most Coalition soldiers and contractors more reluctant to take adventurers on, since it it gives the adventurers a rep and makes the whole thing seem even more risky. With that, we get started on a list of groups that bear some of the higher bounties.      Alpha Fight. The 1st Calgary Volunteers are a group of newly-united Canadian D-Bee adventurers, who named themselves after Calgary because of it having a really big rift. They also have a habit of vengeance, and like "revisiting" Coalition troops that trouble them to wipe them out. Each has a 100,000 credit bounty on their head. All of their species can be found in Rifts World Book 20: Canada, and they're pretty much a laundry list of most of the D-Bees from there. They include:
     Fool, I'm the kinda D-Bee the little homies wanna be like. The Caliber Street Irregulars are a gang and resistance force that fought the Coalition in the 'Burbs. More recently, they surrounded and eliminated a whole Coalition platoon in an ambush, and decided to high-tail it to Tolkeen when they were singled out for elimination after that. Even with that, many of them were slain by Coalition pursuit on the way to the war. Similarly to the 1st Calgary Irregulars, this group is basically a laundry list for the D-Bee species introduced in Rifts World Book 11: Coalition War Campaign.
 "I may be a cannibal, but I'm a equal-opportunity cannibal. I ain't no racist." The Vultures of Tolkeen are a group of Simvan Monster Riders (as detailed in Rifts Sourcebook and Rifts World Book 13: Lone Star) and bandits who have raided the Coalition States out West, and are famous for giving the Coalition a hard time. The group as a whole has a million credits in bounties split between them, though the present group in Tolkeen is only part of the larger group out West. As such, they're opportunists, and prefer to attack supply convoys and retreating forces. Though the Coalition has tried to taunt them by accusing them of being cowards, they couldn't care less- they just see it as fighting smart, and will be glad to answer the insult by killing more Coalition soldiers. They don't pay too much heed to the Tolkeen military or their operations, just sharing reports and intelligence when they feel like it. If things seem to be going well enough for Tolkeen, they'll invite the rest of the tribe to join them up North to put down roots. Their leader is Lord Murgesh (9th Level), who's supposed to be the prototypical Simvan Monster Rider - ruthless, daring, warlike, and psychopathic. He likes murder and power in about that order, and rides a Fury Beetle (as detailed in the corebook). We get statblocks for "Heska", (Simvan lieutenants that ride Rhino-Buffaloes from Rifts Sourcebook), "Guress" (sergeants that ride psuedo-velociraptors and similar creatures), and "Throka" (privates and grunts without mounts). And so, we're supposed to see Tolkeen get more shady, but the fact they have good guys at all is still a contrast to the Coalition forces which are either A) farcically monstrous or B) party to the aforementioned monsters. Let's see how the rest turn out! Next: Then, everything changed when the Fascist Nation attacked. Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 12:58 on May 18, 2019 |
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May 18, 2019 11:37
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Oh no! All these people joining up to kill Nazis in a multicultural coalition with a single noble goal! How villainous!
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May 18, 2019 11:42
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PurpleXVI posted:Oh no! All these people joining up to kill Nazis in a multicultural coalition with a single noble goal! How villainous!
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May 18, 2019 11:52
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 Howdy, I'm Geresh'tarrg of the mountain lizard people and I'm here to kill and eat Nazis. Eat? Can you promise to only eat Nazis?I don't see why not, there's a lifetime supply. Welcome aboard.
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May 18, 2019 12:10
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I guess since none of those D-Bee races were hot, none could be women.
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May 18, 2019 12:18
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Fortunately it seems that Kevin had missed the Furry/Otherkin train FWIW. It could have been much worse.
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May 18, 2019 12:30
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Nessus posted:But what if they win? What if the sacred right of a guy from Chicago to kill and murder the lesser orders as he pleases is made to perish from the Earth? But you see they're bad because they're corrupted by hate for the people who oppressed and brutalized them since birth and also hunted down and killed most of their friends so. By popular demand posted:Fortunately it seems that Kevin had missed the Furry/Otherkin train FWIW. You'll have to look to some of the (fan-written) After the Bomb articles in The Rifter for that. 
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May 18, 2019 13:20
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...reverse panda?
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May 18, 2019 13:28
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Must be a new position only possible in a finely crafted fursuit.
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May 18, 2019 13:31
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See they tried to preserve pandas through genetic engineering but instead got murder pandas with reversed colors who want to eat all the flesh. Which is why the mutant humanoid ones have carnivore and reptile brain so they have to make a roll not to eat you, with special teeth that ignore mundane armor. On Rifts Earth they do double bite damage that in mega-damage! Because... ... ... reasons? Also she has a Physical Beauty of 26 which is like I dunno... somewhere in like 1 in 1000 chance of rolling or something, since they don't get a bonus to that. Also she has boob covers made out of the skin of human hands. I'm not saying it's the author's fetish or anything, I'm just presenting facts.
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May 18, 2019 13:46
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Alien Rope Burn posted:I'm not saying it's the author's fetish or anything, I'm just presenting facts. What IS it with these people and the idea that humanity will willingly genetically engineer an apex predator who just loves to eat us? Not even a supersoldiers, apparently just for something to do on a rainy Saturday afternoon. It's, like, the instantly recognizable cornerstone of SO many of these furry-fantasy settings. Gives me flashbacks to Malatora.
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May 18, 2019 14:02
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The Lone Badger posted:What would a theoretical perfectly spherical frictionless WHFRP party look like? I'm guessing a Shallyan for Shallya-things, a law worshipper of Ranald for sneaking and talking, a Bretonnian knight for killing the gently caress out of high-threat targets, a ranged specialist for strategic wizard deletion, season with academics and murderers as available. A completely 'perfect' and optimized party would be Wizard (Light), Sigmarite or Shallyan Priest (They both have decent heals, Sigmarite is more generally useful but Shallyan healing can be crazy once they level), a Spy or Thief of some kind, Bret Knight with Heroism as primary fighter (Both the original and revised version of Heroism are straight broken and the most powerful combat ability in the game), Elf Kithbander on the elf ranger track for the wilderness and sniping (Alternately, Hunter to Targeteer if you want maxed to-hit right away), yes. The Wizard and Priest can handle academics almost as well as mundane specialists and thieves and rogues usually work for a party face, as do priests. The thing is even in that 'perfect' party, you only have 2 primary fighters (but a thief and the priest are kind of 'secondary' fighters in that they'll eventually have dodge and 2 attacks. Less so with the Shallyan because they'd be healbotting the Bret Kill Machine). In Brute Squad, Liniel's current career is technically a primary fighter, as is Otto's and Katiya's, and their other two will be secondary fighters in time (Pierre is about to get his second attack once he gets more EXP, and Warrior Priestess Solveig will be terrifying). Normally you'd expect a party to have one or two people who just don't do physical combat and spend fights hiding or just trying to prevent an ally from getting outnumbered and not dying. As badly built as most of them were, the party in Lure of the Liche Lord is more 'normal'. There's a lot of room for 'skillmonkey' characters in WHFRP, both because fighters are very powerful and can cover the rest of the team and because you do a lot of stuff besides fighting. In fact, a major thing defining and separating Fighter classes is what they do besides fighting (and if they do anything besides fighting). For instance, Knights (non-Bret) are actually pretty good at politics in addition to being tanks that can smash their way through combat. Soldiers actually learn a bunch of useful skills like Heal or how to take care of animals. A Duelist like Otto gets a little bit of roguishness and charm. Etc, etc. E: A more 'normal' party looks like the one in Lure of the Liche Lord, just better built. Two skill guys who can handle themselves in a fight some, one dedicated fighter, an academic or something, a rogue, and a medic/caster or some kind. Night10194 fucked around with this message at 14:29 on May 18, 2019 |
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May 18, 2019 14:16
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Alien Rope Burn posted:See they tried to preserve pandas through genetic engineering but instead got murder pandas with reversed colors who want to eat all the flesh. I mean, it's a shame he got weird with this because that's genuinely a pretty fuckin funny concept. "We tried to save pandas with modern genetic engineering!" "Oh? How'd that go?" "We somehow flipped it and reversed it, their patterns are different and they're SUPER carnivorous" "Hm...seems like you shoulda double checked the math there." "Also now they're mutated into being humanoid and sentient on scale with humanity."
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May 18, 2019 15:36
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Fangs at the Gate: Sadwhale Leviathan was famous in the First Age as a master of the sea and a hunter of extreme skill. He rarely bothered to set foot on land, preferring his spirit shape, but when he did, his body was a seven foot masculine ideal, covered in muscle - at least since his Exaltation. He's trans, y'see. His failure to save his Solar mate during the Usurpation shattered his confidence. He assumed his orca spirit shape and fled from the world, making himself a home in the now-sunken ruins of Luthe. He stood watch over the city and any Lunars that sought refuge there, but he refused to take part in any of the Pact actions against the Shogunate. He convinced himself that the vigil over Luthe would erase the failure of his past, though he was unable to admit to himself how much his courage and pride had been broken by that very failure. This lasted through the fall of the Shogunate, the Great Contagion, the Fair Folk crusade and the rise of the Realm. It was only when the Realm began a Westward expansion that Leviathan finally stirred from sunken Luthe. OVer the centuries, he had finally found the will to act, and when the usurpers trespassed on what he considered his own sacred domain, a thousand years of hate and rage broke free of the depression that had controlled him. The Realm's fleets have lamented the beast Leviatha, scourge of the West, ever since that fateful day, a century ago. Luthe has moved into a war footing, turned into the unattackable headquarters of the Western Silver Pact. Leviathan has finally been recognized as a shahan-ya and has begin to recruit followers to his banner. He speaks of grinding down the REalm until the Blesed Isle itself can be invaded and the Imperial City sieged. While some of the younger Lunars aren't sure what to think of him, the First Age elders mostly welcome the return of such a potent ally. Despite this, Leviathan has few political allies compared to other shahan-yas of his age, and he's still trying to form connections. He's invited Western shahan-yas and even those beyond to attend his councils in Luthe, but he struggles to shed his quiet, hard-to-read manner. The most prominent rejection he has received is from Sha'a Oka. While Leviathan respects all he's heard of the Black Lion, the feeling is very much not mutual, as Sha'a Oka despises the admiral for his centuries of doing nothing. Leviathan's standing offer remains, but his wounded pride is likely to complicate things. His closest ties are to the other Lunars he remembers from the First Age, such as Raksi, Ma-Ha-Suchi and Ul the Burning Eye. These ancients are spread thin across the world, however, and tend not to like each other very much, which makes the value of his old friendships highly variable. He knows he'd probably be best off aligning himself with just one elder shahan-ya, but he's hesitant to alienate the rest. The past century of recruitment has drawn young Lunars to Leviathan from across Creation, strengthening the Pact's Western bulwark against the Realm. He welcomes veterans especially, but he has neither the desire nor the temperament to be a good teacher to the inexperienced. He shares what he can of war, the First Age and the oceans if asked, but he tends to turn his students over to his more senior followers for training and leadership. His real power lies in being an orca the size of Godzilla and commanding Luthe. Luthe is more than just safe from most Realm attacks due its underwater nature. It is also home to armies of aquatic beastfolk, artifacts dredged from the sea floor and other valuable resources, which Leviathan is happy to share with any follower that will use them against the Realm. He's not particularly concerned about the political divisions of the Pact, even if he probably should care more, and he doesn't mind if his followers also pledge themselves to other shahan-yas. Swims in Shadows is a shaman and storyteller who was one of the first Lunars to join Leviathan's cause, eager to support the legendary elder in blocking the Realm from heading Westward. He's not broke ties with his old shahan-ya, the sorcerer Aqadar, but he frequently travels to Luthe to listen to Leviathan and obey his orders. Years of service have made him Leviathan's right-hand man, but he is now being pressured by Aqadar to broker a formal alliance between the two. Kumo of the Black Wave Reavers is a political follower of Leviathans after he was rescued from imprisonment on a Fair Folk-controlled island by a Circle of Leviathan's students. He's never been to Luthe himself or even met Leviathan, but he owes the elder a debt of gratitude and agrees with the old Lunar's strategy of bleeding the Western operations of the Realm slowly. However, Kumo is careful to avoid discussing Pact politics with the other Reavers, as Enemy Ghost is a student of Sha'a Oka. Gjalla the Tusk is a Lunar from a small walrusfolk enclave near the Blessed Isle, and she got wealthy working with smugglers that wanted to evade Realm taxes. She has no particular ideological problem with the Realm, but working against it to help Leviathan is considerably more profitable to her than anything else she's found to do. Luthe also serves as a sanctum more useful to her than anything she had ever imagined. Now, she wears moonsilver finery and her family is safe in the spires of the sunken city. She finds Leviathan unapproachable and terribly boring, but she's friendly both with many of his followers and the beastfolk that make up Luthe's population. Next time: Amatha Kinslayer nee Cynis Amatha
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May 18, 2019 17:50
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Mors Rattus posted:...reverse panda? You know how pandas are reluctant to mate? These love to fuuuuuuuuck.
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May 18, 2019 18:10
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sexpig by night posted:I mean, it's a shame he got weird with this because that's genuinely a pretty fuckin funny concept. "Kung Fu Panda, the Pandaria expansion, Panda in Tekken. I can see that." "So we boosted their intelligence, and gave them thumbs and vocal cords. Not a lot, but enough to be able to understand commands and, like, take a message. A Panda Housekeeper." "...huh. Okay, I'm seeing a couple issues here at this point. Go on." "But, huh, the bamboo was an issue. It's not very nutritious, so the panda was struggling to provide the nutrients the bigger brain needed. Plus, a housekeeper who needs to spend 75% of its time eating isn't very marketable, and nobody wants to have enough bamboo on hand to feed a panda anyway. So we spliced their DNA with a related species, to add some variety to the diet. More protein, more fats." "You mean you made it carnivorous. Okay. Let's not get bogged down just yet. What was the related species you used?" "... Ursus arctos horribilis." "..." "Either the more efficient diet or an undiscovered factor in the splice DNA boosted their intelligence." "..." " It definitely boosted their aggression. But they still looked like pandas, so we didn't take the necessary precautions." "Right. You're all fired."
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May 18, 2019 18:21
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Fangs at the Gate: Cynis Is The Worst Amatha Kinslayer was born the daughter of Cynis. The Cynis. She quickly learned to survive in the Dynasty, as she didn't Exalt, and she was instead quickly married off to the Peleps matriarch's son when she came of age in return for political concessions. Her husband, delighted to have the chance to actually be the dominant partner in a Dynastic marriage, had her locked away in his country estate, taking her out to display as a trophy for parties. Amatha fled this life, spending years evading her husbands agent through the South. She was finally cornered in the glass towers of Chiaroscuro by her sister-in-law, the leader of the search. It was there that she Exalted. She emerged wearing her sister-in-law's face, announced that Cynis Amatha had escaped, and ordered the search to continue. Ever since, Amatha Kinslayer has been a thorn in the side of the Realm, infiltrating its satrapies to spead chaos before fleeing into the desert again to evade her pursuers. She has caused uprisings, sponsored coups and encouraged nepotism and incompetence to the point of total breakdown, and she's loved every second of it. Her goal is to destroy the Realm's economy, topple House Cynis first, then the rest of the Dynasty, and then to spend the rest of her life lounging on the Scarlet Throne with a glass of wine and a wicked grin. She killed her husband a century ago, but before she managed to flee, she had borne him a daughter. She had shown her daughter far more affection than Dynastic society liked, and she still monitors her child's pursuits. That child is now an elder Dragon-Blood, and she views her grandchildren with deeply mixed emotions. Amatha has always had a knack for politics, and she has used her successes in fighting the Realm to earn the admiration of her peers in the Silver Pact, but she still struggles to overcome her Dynastic birth. Few openly question her loyalties, but it is hard for many to overlook her blood ties to the Realm. A handful of Southern shahan-yas, mostly younger ones such as Smiling Zamisha or Blood Nail, maintain ties to her, but many older Lunars refuse to acknowledge her as a shahan-ya still. It'd be pragmatic for her to fall into line with them, but Amatha's pride and anger at her poor treatment drive her to all kinds of tricks and cruelty at councils. Amatha lacks the broad experience and prestige of the older shahan-yas, but her extremely deep and intimate knowledge of the Realm means she draws in followers who want to infiltrate the Dynasty. She is afraid she lacks the temperament to be a good teacher, but she masks her fears with jokes and bravado. Her training tends to be hands-on, throwing students into the deep end of trouble. She brings them into the heart of the satrapies for jobs of infiltration, sabotage and murder. Subverting satraps, intercepting tributes or sabotaging legions gives her students a chance to hone their skills in espionage and their knowledge of the inner workings of the Dynasty. Her personal style is reckless, wild and audacious, and Amatha encourages her followers to be similar. She prefers the ones who are unpredictable, capricious and confident. Students who are not can still learn much from her, but it's rarely a smooth experience. Nida is a young Lunar, new to her power and the Pact, but her wit is sharp and she's eager to spread chaos in the satrapies. She's a street rat, barely 20, but what she lacks in experience and sophistication she makes up for in talent, which matters a lot to Amatha. The two often work to start opposing trends against each other, then sit back and watch as the societies they deal with tear themselves apart over the conflict. It's proven far better training for Nida than any kind of formal schooling, and Amatha enjoys the playful rivalry she and her student have formed. She is willing, even eager, to let Nida oppose her politically in the Pact, valuing the chance for her student to gain experience even over her own goals. Trasenji Yilean was once a pandit, one of the Varangian astrologer caste, until he was too open about his horoscope-fixing and got banished. As an outcast, he started a criminal empire among his fellow criminals and undesirables, and his ambition in doing so earned Luna's touch. Amatha recruited him into the Pact with the promise that he could enjoy both the spoils of crime and the downfall of the Realm. Trasenji looks on his shahan-ya with a mix of respect and jealousy, and he fantasizes about using her teachings to rise up and overshadow her as a new shahan-ya in the Pact himself. Strength-of-Many was a slave, and he has very little interest in the ancient vendetta of the Silver Pact. He has no grudge against the Dragon-Bloods as a whole or even much of the Realm. Rather, he finds common cause with Amatha against House Cynis specifically, fighting against their slave-taking missions in the South. He's an experienced warrior, more peer than student to Amatha, and his cause is simple: end all slavery, everywhere. He often trades favors with Amatha's other students in exchange for assistance in undermining the Guild and slave-taking kingdoms. Next time: Rukhsara-Who-Remembers, Shahan-ya Reborn
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May 18, 2019 19:49
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Amantha's cool. Definitely a clear change when it was Luna's earlier 'barbarian or nothing!' stance.
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May 18, 2019 22:15
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Fangs at the Gate: The Inheritor Rukhsara-Who-Remembers was formerly Mashaha-Who-Remembers, one of the greatest lorekeepers of the Silver Pact. Her memory stretched back millenia, encompassing many things even Raksi had never learned. However, she was always a jealous, suspicious woman, and even as she lay dying, she refused to share her most precious knowledge. When she died, it was thought her lore was lost forever...until her Exaltation passed to a young shaman of the Northern Kathaashi clan. Rukhsara is the name she chose after her rite of passage, an ordeal so harsh that she Exalted during it, becoming both Lunar and earning a body more satisfying to her as a woman. (She is also trans, y'see.) Rukhsara is burdened by memories not her own. She thought she was going insane until the Lunars found her and offered her friendship. Now, she knows that her memories belong to her past life, and she has devoted herself to mastering her own mind, that she may recall the millenia of knowledge of Mashaha without losing herself in it. Since her Exaltation, Rukhsara has been the witch-queen of the Kathaashi. Over the past few generations of guidance and supernatural aid, she has turned from a marginalized clan to a powerful force, reclaiming the relatively fertile lowlands that had been taken from them by neighboring satrapies. Now, Rukhsara wants to fortify her new dominion so she may protect her clan from whatever the Realm sends to take it back. Other voices, within both her clan and her school, urge her to more aggressive action, as they believe that conquest will most improve the lives of the Kathaashi and weaken the Realm. Rukhshara, now approaching a hundred, is well respected within the Pact. Even among much older Lunars, she is never interrupted. However, respect doesn't mean they like her. Those that knew Mashaha and endured her petty rivalries and treacheries are careful with Rukhsara, afraid she may retain those traits as well as those memories. The most prominent shahan-yas to seek the wisdom of Rukhsara-Who-Remembers are Raksi and Aqadar of Fajad. Each is a master of sorcery, and they correspond with Rukhsara using magic, offering their teachings in exchange for the secrets locked in her mind. Raksi is shockingly respectful, largely due to a centuries-past romance with Mashaha, while Aqadar is much colder with her, and Rukhsara is pretty sure he only sees her as a walking library. While they have never met in person, Rukhsara has a lot in common with Third Daughter of Leaves. Both are consumed by the memories and passions of their past lives, and the pair have become close friends despite never being in the same location. They discuss their past lives, occult knowledge and Pact politics by use of sorcerous spells to communicate. Third Daughter is working to subtly encourage the younger Rukhsara to pursue open warfare against the Realm. Rukhsara has led the Kathaashi since Exalting, and now she has a number of young student Lunars as well, guiding them with aid from the vast lifetime of Mashaha. In exchange, she expects them to aid the Kathaashi in some way - lead them on raids, make valuable steel weapons for their warriors, bless their lands with sorcerous power. While Rukhsara has deep knowledge of many fields, she also knows her own wisdom and perspective are limited. She debates her followers about the best ways to pursue their needs, her needs and the Pact's needs, valuing their opinions highly. She is especially concerned for her people's future. She is trying to decide if the best way to secure the safety of her clan is to conquer other peoples and rule over them at the cost of surrendering their own culture, or to withdraw from the Realm at the cost of surrendering their ancestral land. Tholamai is a warrior-poet, fierce and wise, who sought out Rukhsara after hearing tales of the young-yet-ancient teacher of wisdom and magic. She wasn't quite what he expected, but he's stuck around. He values her knowledge, yes, and he respects the struggle she has with her memories, but more importantly, he's part of her family now. Tholamai has fallen in love with Rukhsara'a grandson, Urakur. Rukhsara, for her part, is deeply invested in Tholamai's life as a result. She prizes his combat and strategic skills, but she's also deeply interested in messing around with his domestic life with her grandson, as she loves her family deeply. Echo-Prince Piyo seeks Rukhsara as something like a god, though he believes that life amongst the Kathaashi is not suitable for her high station. She was drawn to her wisdom and sorcerous power, and Piyo believes that she should be a god-queen, ruling from spell-made towers attended by retinues of enslaves demons. Piyo is a smuggler herself, a criminal mastermind covered in macaw feathers, and she advocates for anything that might increase Rukhsara's dominon or status, even if it would harm the Kathaashi. Rukhsara has no particular love of Piyo's misplaced ambition, but she thinks the woman's thieving skills are valuable and that, with care and experience, the Echo-Prince could be made into a useful ally. No Trouble Zhang is a shaman and explorer who has very little interest in Rukhsara's actual policies. Rather, he's happy to support her in exchange for the knowledge of the Wyld and Fair Folk she shares with him. Zhang spends most of his time in the bordermarches of the North and beyond, hunting for lost artifacts or fae monsters that could be turned against the Realm. When in creation, he spends most of his time protecting mortals, and particularly the Kathaashi, from the predations of the Winter Folk, so that their strength may be turned against the Realm. Next time: Selected other shahan-yas.
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May 18, 2019 23:41
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Fitting this thread's theme of lovely elf games being made by shitter old white men: https://www.reddit.com/r/GamerGhazi/comments/bq9cw4/designer_of_13th_age_dd_spinoff_game_posts_race/ LOL gently caress this guy.
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May 19, 2019 04:09
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Goblinville Gazette #1 Earlier this year Kickstarter did a big push for zine format RPGs. Small size format, short books, and as much inspiration as the creator can squeeze in. This project was a smash success and lots of clever little games got funded. Today I’m going to start in on a clever little game about clever little creatures: Goblinville. Physically, this is a 32-page booklet, sharply laid out, and filled with cute illustrations. I'm adopting the book's style and bolding important game terms when they are introduced. You'll also want the accompanying PDF which has a blank character sheet, a character creation cheat sheet, an adventure tracker, a record sheet for the town, and a blank hex map with a summary of the overland travel rules. One of the reasons I'm as happy as I am with Goblinville is that it shows a clear line of descent from OD&D, marching order, turns, tracking torches and all that old school goodness. It also has a lot of modern concepts like starting with a blank map, the players' occupations literally define the starting state of the town, how narrative the rules are despite a clear structure to play, and an explicit emphasis on fail forward. The rule book starts with a page of introduction, what you need to play, and how to setup for the first session. "Goblinville is a fantasy adventure role playing game about broke goblins and the town they live in..... Their job is to venture forth into the wilds and see if they survive." Their sales copy has it as "...broke goblins traveling to dangerous and fantastical places to find treasure and make rent." That's the gist of the introduction, and it's a good statement of what the game is all about. What you need is 3-5 players, a Goblin Master, pencils, dice, and snacks. Dice are important in Goblinville! You'll need a d20 and a lot of d6. Most importantly, every player will need a unique die to use as their action die. Everyone will share a sorcery die, which is recommended to be "weird". And then a pool of 5 or 6 matching dice in case you get to roll extra dice. The first session will start with character creation. As we will see, character creation is pretty light mechanically, the real meat is in asking the other players about their goblins, and filling in details conversationally. The GM is supposed to be listening and taking notes on what the players find interesting about the characters. The GM will also be filling in the town sheet based on character occupations and making a start on filling in the blank map. Where Dungeon World starts with a blank map and puts the party and their first dungeon in the center, Goblinville starts with the community in the center of the map. This is the game emphasizing its main theme again. Lastly, the GM will need to come up with an opportunity for the party, some chance for a score. I recommend thinking of this as a low-level heist game; the PCs aren't notably competent or powerful, but they are determined and clever. Ocean's 11 with sharp sticks and broken bottles. Once the players are sold on the idea, play proceeds. Turning the page, we get the eight pages of actual rules. The first three are mechanics, then we get rules for making camp, monsters, travel, sorcery (knowing a spell is free, but they're barely cantrips), damage and dying, and the end of session rules. The first of the mechanics is the marching order. At the start of an adventure the goblins roll initiative with their unique die, and place them on the marching order track from high to low. This isn't a strict order of play, but the current "leader" is first into trouble and is who the GM asks what the party does if it's ambiguous. When a goblin does something risky, they take their Action die out of the marching order. Once all of the action dice have been used, the turn ends and the players will roll initiative again for the next turn. Turns are very important structurally. Torches only last for two turns, and the party has to camp after every fourth turn. Being in the dark is a bad position, and skipping camping costs everyone a condition. After marching order and turns comes Positioning & Effectiveness. Position is shared by the goblins and will be good, bad, or standard. As a group, the party shares the stakes. For example, when running from a giant spider, the goblins hide among stalagmites. The GM sets the position to good without requiring a roll. When running from a swarm of bats, the goblins stumble upon a group of human guards, bigger and better armed. The GM sets the position right down to bad. Effectiveness influences position. Action outcomes can be success, progress, or failure. Progress won't get you out of a bad position, but it will improve a standard position, and counts as a success in good position. Failure sets the party back from a good or standard position, and puts a goblin down in a bad position. In combat, a success inflicts harm, and an extra harm if the goblins are in a good position. A player makes an action roll when they try to succeed at something risky. They roll a dice pool that starts with their action die from the marching order. The GM says what the danger is, possibly drawing on a monster's moves, and gives the player another die. If they might suffer harm, the GM says what and hands over another die. Characters can have traits and titles, each can be invoked once per session (unless the character is suffering from a condition), these each add a die to the pool without adding any new trouble. Any player can propose a twist, which does add to the stakes, but also adds a die to the pool if both the acting player and the GM agree to accept it. That's a maximum of six dice. The player rolls and then assigns one die each to action, danger, harm, and twist. For action, a 5-6 succeeds, a 3-4 is progress, a 1-2 is of course a failure. Consult the current condition for the effectiveness of these outcomes. If there's a fight going on, a success does harm to the monster. The danger and the twist both resolve as 4-6 it doesn't happen, and 1-3 it does. The harm result is "totally fine" on a 6, mark a condition on 3-5, and are injured on a 1-2. A second injury kills the character, even if the danger on the same roll imposed that condition - goblins are kinda fragile. Group actions are when everyone is doing the same thing and running the same risk, like scrambling up a cliff or fleeing a burning building. Unless there's a volunteer, the first goblin in the marching order will roll and the group succeeds or suffers the danger together. Teamwork counts ! Once per session each goblin can apply their expertise from their job to ask the GM a question. The GM can decline to answer, which doesn't cost a use of expertise, but if they do answer they must be generous and truthful. This is the player's opportunity to contribute to world building or create an edge. If a goblin needs to do careful study of something; searching for traps or deciphering runes for example, that's an action roll where the danger is time passing. If it happens, then the turn ends right there, torches burn down a step, and they're closer to having to camp. Those are the core mechanics. In just three zine-sized pages, admittedly with smallish type. You will have noticed that there has been no mention of hit points, damage, attributes, skills, or the like. This is very old school game play in a very rules light package. Monster time ! When a monster appears, determine positioning. A monster is made up of moves, which are things they do. They also have armor from outnumbering the goblins or natural defenses. When a goblin makes an action roll against a monster, the danger will be one of the monster's moves. When a goblin does harm to a monster, cross off an armor if it has any, or a move if it doesn't. When all its moves are gone, the monster is defeated. A monster can have finishing moves, which only come into play when the goblins are in a bad position. A monster using a finishing move as a danger on an action roll will either adds harm to a risk of just a specific condition, or takes a goblin out of the fight entirely. As a sample, here's one from later in the book. Gnoll Hyena men with mercenary sensibilities and a knack for capturing their foes alive. Moves: Threaten, Flank, Trip, Tackle Finishing move: Bind With Chains Loot: 1 scratch, a ration, flail or halberd. That tells the GM a lot about how to play gnolls - full of bluster, very tactical, and a bad situation the goblins can't get out of means they get captured. Compare that to a skeleton warrior's moves: Shamble, Push over, Slash With chain mail armor in their loot, they get at least one armor, but only three moves limits them considerably, and the armor means they're worth the risk to take down. Having dealt with a monster the goblins probably need to make camp and recover from conditions. I'm going to close here and finish off the mechanics in the next post before getting to character creation. To keep interest up, here's a preview of a goblin character. You can roll your own at the link below. You're a roughneck Sailor wearing a tooth necklace. You experienced a motivating loss and then your boss ran off. You are carrying 2 rations, 2 torches, some dice, and a small hammer. You are wielding a sharpened stick.  https://www.narrativedynamicspress.com/goblingenerator.html mllaneza fucked around with this message at 04:34 on Jun 2, 2019 |
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May 19, 2019 05:25
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Rifts Coalition Wars 3: Sorcerers' Revenge part 3, "And remember, the potential for these things to critically unbalance a campaign is very high, so forget killer satellites even exist and do not include them in your game." And we continue on with the Tolkeen allies the Coalition really wants to kill, but not their most wanted. Their wantish.     The first wizarding boy band. The Jorukeva are fraternal quadruplets who are all 9th level Warlocks - elemental spellcasters. The work in preternatural concert impassively, seeming somewhat detached from the rest of the world. Also, they've murdered lots of Dead Boys and give no fucks about much else. And yes, thir group name is just the first two letters of each of their names mashed up.
      Average Rifts PC Group #261. Kado & Co. is a group of rogue Tolkeen soldiers lead by Jara Kado seeking to outrace the Coalition towards getting access to a "killer" satellite. It turns out Operation Falling Star is the name for the Coalition's top-secret attempt to find an orbital energy weapon. Though the Coalition doesn't consider it likely, they're getting desperate and willing to take chances trying to dig up anything that might end the war. Jara, having found out about those, is searching Minnesota trying to find a secret bunker with access to the satellite, but it may just be hokum. However, if there is even a one percent chance, she has to take it as an absolute certainty. Naturally, Tolkeen considers it nonsense, and so she and her compatriots have gone rogue to seek this out. Granted, even if she finds it, she wouldn't use it on Chi-Town or the like - instead, she'd make a warning shot, then try and threaten the Coalition into submission. Then, since Coffin has dared to offer a means to resolve the war in a single plot, it's time for some Siembieda shade! Rifts Coalition Wars 3: Sorcerers' Revenge posted:G.M. Note: For more information on the dreaded killer satellites of Rifts Earth, please refer to the Mutants in Orbit™ sourcebook. But before you introduce killer satellites into your campaign, keep in mind two things. One, that both the Coalition and Jara Kado really are on a big wild goose chase. There is no way for them to contact, much less control a killer satellite. It is just the very thought of such power that keeps them going on this quest despite its obvious futility. Two, if any killer satellite were taken over by anybody on Earth, the space colonists in orbit and on the moon would either usurp that control or destroy the satellite. And remember, the potential for these things to critically unbalance a campaign is very high, so forget killer satellites even exist and do not include them in your game. 
   Proud Graduates of Keldor Memorial University. The Dark Cabal is a group of eeevil spellcasters who have joined Tolkeen in fighting the Coalition, mainly because they're seeking out artifacts in the region and having a bunch of spider-skull robots marching around is just really bothersome. Tolkeen doesn't care for them, but it'd be more trouble to deal with them than it's worth... but we're reminded that Tolkeen's leaders are becoming as evil as these guys, which... no? Not really? Not as a whole, ultimately. But then, I have the foresight of knowing their eventual writeups, which these authors might not have penned at this point.
Next: Protecting a fatherland that hates and fears them. Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 09:13 on May 19, 2019 |
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May 19, 2019 09:05
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Off topic but, Alien Rope, where did you get your ADORABLE avatar from?
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May 19, 2019 09:32
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'And remember, the potential for these things to critically unbalance a campaign is very high, so forget killer satellites even exist and do not include them in your game.' Then why bring it up? Just say it's a wild goose chase that can't be ignored.
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May 19, 2019 11:16
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Cassa posted:'And remember, the potential for these things to critically unbalance a campaign is very high, so forget killer satellites even exist and do not include them in your game.'
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May 19, 2019 11:42
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Fangs at the Gate: And The Rest Among the dozens of other shahan-yas out there, we have...Aqadar of Fajad, whose tower rises in the very heart of a Realm satrapy. He is a self-centered, arrogant jerk, but his mask of cold calculation hides a fury unmatched by even most other Lunars. His grudge is very old, born from the Shogunate-era massacre of his people and the murder of their clan god. He ignores the Realm satrapy around him, because the Fajadi are not his people and he really does not care what happens to them. Of course, any Dragon-Blood entering his tower is killed quickly, and any concerted effort to drive him out would cause him to free the behemoth Pyrevein from its prison under the ower. Aqadar is a believer in long, laborious preparation and overwhelming overkill. He has been researching sorcerous lore for centuries, that he might destroy the Realm in one fell swoop. He has few followers, both because of his ruthless obsession and because of the dangerous of getting to his tower, but he will happily share his full sorcerous knowledge with anyone willing to contribute to his work. Tayan Silver-Crowned is the warlord-queen and shahan-ya of the Shadow Fang Vanguard. She started out as a low-ranking Shogunate officer before her Exaltation, and she made a name for herself in the early Pact by using her knowledge of Shogunate tactics to blindside the Northern forces of the daimyos. Today, she continues to pursue the strategy of irregular warfare that the Pact uses, and she's brilliant at it, but her firm belief in a clear chain of command and military discipline have made her break from the Pact. Shge only accepts followers who will offer perfect obedience, though to them she offers peerless training in military theory and several martial disciplines, plus the chance to be part of a regimented Lunar force unlike any other today. Tayan is still advised by her own shahan-ya, the First Ager Feather Drenched in the Blood of the Fallen. Feather barely survived the terrors that slew her Solar mate during the Usurpation, and she hates above all the Sidereals. She is one of Creation's foremest experts on the abilities, methods and particularly the vulnerabilities of the Sidereal host. This knowledge is valued by both the Pact and Vanguard, but Feather rarely takes students, for she has extremely high standards when it comes to talent and requires her followers be ruthless in order to further her own war with Heaven. Many support her when she does bother to shopw up to Pact councils outside the Vanguard, however. Sublime Danger was a thief, bandit and mercenary in the First Age. She lives for challenge, traveling throughout the East with no fixed headquarters. She raids Lookshy and the Eastern satrapies not out of any actual belief in the Pact's war, but because she wants to test her own martial skill. Sublime Danger doesn't care at all about the Usurpation or vengeance on the Dragon-Blooded or Sidereals - she just likes a fight. She is a master of Thousand Blades STyle, an esoteric martial art of the First Age, and she wears wings made from the daiklaves she has claimed from countless foes. She accepts only students that share her daredevil nature, setting them against dangerous challenges to test their limits. She is very interested in the return of the Solars, and particularly wants to find her own reincarnated mate, so that she can demonstrate her superiority in any field he may choose to dedicate himself to. Sublime Danger really, really wants to show her dominance over her mate, y'see. Tanisa Ring-Eater and Seven Obsidian Leopard are a pair of shahan-yas that work together from Mount Namas, north of the Dreaming Sea. Tanisa is a calculating, seren master of intrigue who works within the nations of the Dreaming Sea to sabotage diplomacy and busines dealings from the Realm. Leopard is a powerful, brooding necromancer and mystic who is quite knowledgeable about the Sea's mysteries. For centuries, the two agreed on all things, but a schism has grown between them since Prasad emerged from the Realm. Leopard believes Prasad is but an extension of Realm imperialism, and thus should be ground down by his army of horrors, while Tanisa believes that they can guide Prasad into opposition to the Realm and Lookshy, thus splintering the Dragon-Bloods even further. Ul of the Burning Eye is a First Age elder that was once a terrifying champion of the Pact. In more recent years, however, he hwas withdrawn from active battles against the Realm to focus on his more long-term plan: total and complete genocide of the Dragon-Blooded. He plans a second Great Contagion, carefully engineered with sorcery and the aid of disease spirits. This one will not kill just anyone - it will only wipe out those that bear the blood of the Dragons. Which, I should note, is a huge proportion of Creation's mortal populace. Ul accepts students who come to his Southwestern island, encouraging them to embrace his slow, stoic approach. He views the Realm as a mere diversion from the true aims of the Pact, which he envisions to be wiping out the Dragon-Blooded in their entirety. Next time: Friends and foes
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May 19, 2019 11:57
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Cassa posted:'And remember, the potential for these things to critically unbalance a campaign is very high, so forget killer satellites even exist and do not include them in your game.' Kevin loves to play this game of "I'm not touching you" when looking over another writer's shoulder.
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May 19, 2019 12:17
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Alien Rope Burn posted:Then, since Coffin has dared to offer a means to resolve the war in a single plot, it's time for some Siembieda shade! Thanks Kevin, something interesting almost happened. Oh god the Vanguard are next.
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May 19, 2019 12:49
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For an RPG where supposedly anything is possible, Kevin sure does seem to frequently tell players and GMs what they can't do.
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May 19, 2019 16:41
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Killer satellites exist! They're in space with all the mutants! You told us about them in your book, "Mutants In Space", Kevin!
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May 19, 2019 16:45
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Tibalt posted:Killer satellites exist! They're in space with all the mutants! You told us about them in your book, "Mutants In Space", Kevin! On top of that, if I remember right there was a throwaway mention of the Nazis being in tenuous contact with one of the orbital factions, though whether that was a mention in the faction description or a possible adventure hook escapes me.
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May 19, 2019 17:04
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TheNamedSavior posted:Off topic but, Alien Rope, where did you get your ADORABLE avatar from? It was a commission from retrokinetic, based on an old Mutants & Masterminds character of mine, Heroine. I've commissioned her a number of times on character designs as well, she's been great to work with when she's available. Dawgstar posted:Kevin loves to play this game of "I'm not touching you" when looking over another writer's shoulder. Pretty much; he doesn't want to throw out the text because he needs to publish some pages, but opts to invalidate it instead. The leading quote is one that pretty much stuck in my mind for years as the most defining Siembieda quote in my mind. Midjack posted:On top of that, if I remember right there was a throwaway mention of the Nazis being in tenuous contact with one of the orbital factions, though whether that was a mention in the faction description or a possible adventure hook escapes me. Not that I recall - the Coalition space launches failed thanks to the paranoia of the orbital factions shooting them down (or because of the orbital debris field, pick one). There was note that when the New German Republic's attempts similarly failed, the Coalition leaders experienced schadenfreude over it. The only figure I can think of who has contact with any of the orbital factions is the Archie (the AI), who has more recently contacted an AI counterpart on the moon and has used them as a backdoor to utilize the orbitals' satellite communication network without their knowledge, back in an "official" Rifter article I covered a little while back.
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May 19, 2019 17:31
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