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Fungah! posted:Feel like I should post this, they're no longer accepting people for the first batch of playtesting. If, like me, you put off sending in your e-mail, you're going to have to wait until April and also cry all kinds of bitter tears Nooo! How are they demarcating the people who missed the boat? I just sent my confirmation email agreeing to the playtest restrictions yesterday, will I still be able to get the playtest? I poo poo you not, I literally just started calling people yesterday to form a group for the express purpose of playing this thing, it's going to disappoint a couple friends if I don't get in. 
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Mar 20, 2012 21:31
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Seriously, though, from what I've heard so far this sounds like the absolute best way to introduce someone to a pen and paper RPG. Easy rules, quick fixes to houserule away stuff in the manual, and loads of references to other, good games, so if a new player likes what they see they know what to ask for? If it's only half as good as it's been touted, I'll be using the new group to introduce my girlfriend and roommates to gaming.
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Mar 20, 2012 21:47
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GaryLeeLoveBuckets posted:Unfortunately, to do the Intercept move, you have to roll a d20 and get 11+, which is a recurring theme in the playtest. It seems like a lot of extra die rolling when 4e felt like it was eliminating as many dice as it could. You know, now that I actually think about it, it seems like an easy fix would just be coins. For every awesome ability that seems hamstrung by unnecessary rolling, just have them flip a coin. they get a heads, it works. Quicker, easier, and maintains pretty much the exact same success/failure rate.
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Mar 21, 2012 07:05
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I made it until the point where rpgpundit started posting, and then I gave up.
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Mar 21, 2012 18:01
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Evil Mastermind posted:Sometimes you want to play the warlord and buff everyone while controlling the flow of battle, sometimes you just want to hit someone in the face. Some of them want to use you. Some of them want to be used by you.
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Mar 21, 2012 19:47
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moths posted:It's thematically appropriate (and a little clever) to have a straightforward barbarian, complicated rogue. The experience of playing the class is tied to its nature, and that's pretty OK. I wouldn't mind a harder-to-play barbarian, but their schtick has always been Naked Fighter + Incredible Hulk. The problem with this statement is that you're only talking about in terms of D&D. Sure, in D&D the rogue is a crafty skillmaster and the berserker is Biff McHardCheese, but when you actually go deeper than that it kind of falls apart. In myths, folklore, fantasy fiction, tales, all that stuff like that you don't see these kinds of arbitrary restrictions. You find thieves and rogues that are only good at one thing. You find Barbarians who hulk out, but can also do all kinds of other poo poo because they're not just one-dimensional characters. The iconography you're trying to refer to is made up whole cloth from D&D, it's not anything established outside the realm of Gygax and R.A. Salvatore novels. That being said, however.... The game is, ostensibly, a Love Letter to D&D. It plays off the tropes and understandings that come along with D&D, and RPGs. So, even if it's restrictive in a larger sense, and doesn't have a leg to stand on outside of D&D, that's not necessarily a deal breaker due to the origins of the game. However, that gets all back into legacy mechanics, sacred cows, and all that fun stuff that we can bitch about back in the 5E thread. I do think you're wrong, however. If possible, there's no reason not to give a class ways to add complexity. Even if the default is supposed to be bland and simple, forcing someone to have to reskin some other class just to play the berserker they want is not doing justice to the class. Adding in ways to make the class complex doesn't prevent anyone at all from playing it simple, but leaving those out makes it much harder for someone to play a complex Barbarian.
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Mar 22, 2012 03:13
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Yes! Just got my email. Looks like my Saturday Night is on again!
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Mar 22, 2012 13:47
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Mikan posted:Hey 13th Age playtesters let's go hang out in the secret playtesters-only club Don't forget the secret handshake. We wouldn't want any of these squares to sneak inside!
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Mar 23, 2012 22:56
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Mikan tested, Bravo approved. 
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Mar 25, 2012 19:01
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And, honestly, you might as well just let him wallow in his own crapulance. He edited out what little hint he gave as to where to find it, and we already know that he downloaded it, so it's not like some big secret. Sure, we may not agree with it, but it's not like you can put the genie back in the bottle.
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Mar 25, 2012 23:11
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Or just how about an overarching escalation die? Plop a D20 in the center, starts at 1. Every time somebody uses a Daily (for lack of a better term) the die increases by 1, and every time you win a battle it also increases by 1. Monsters can tag the die, reducing it by a set number, but adding it's number to their attack or damage roll. Bada-bing, bada-boom, no more need for 15-minute adventuring days or healing surges.
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Mar 28, 2012 20:55
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Lucky for you, then, because the Crusader has barely edged into the lead.
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Apr 26, 2012 20:41
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It's also excellent because his stuff actually makes for a better read of the Diabolist. The only reason people put up with her bullshit is because if she's gone, the Crusader will be all "Welp, now that that's done, time to destroy everything else."
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Apr 26, 2012 21:09
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The Red Dragon? The Orc King?
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Apr 29, 2012 05:26
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Don't forget, that just because the Lich King might treat people nice in your game, that doesn't necessarily mean he's a good guy. He might prevent them from reproducing, meaning they live out a long, peaceful life, and then in 100 years everybody is dead and turned into a zombie. Sure, things are pleasant under his rule, but if you want any chance of there being a future for the living, you've gotta fight back.
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Apr 29, 2012 08:40
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moths posted:he'd enforce some byzantine dress code from the 3rd Age where men couldn't grow beards, women couldn't show elbows, and no one could wear orange. All men must be properly bearded. Any man without facial hair is given thirty days to grow some, before he is forcibly drafted. All women must wear at least 5 square inches of pink fabric as part of their clothing at all times. Any woman found wearing less is forcibly drafted. Any baby who cries more than 3 total hours per day is thrown into a penal colony for 18 years, then forcibly drafted. Edit: And, feedback sent! Here's hoping they keep me in for the next round of playtesting. My group's been having a blast with the system. Captain Bravo fucked around with this message at 07:55 on Apr 30, 2012 |
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Apr 30, 2012 02:23
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You can also use negative relationships to do things like try and contact an anti-icon movement, or a rebel faction or something. Icon relationships, no matter what kind, are just as useful as you make them be.
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May 1, 2012 03:23
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MadRhetoric posted:Fosborb: That engagement system does sound pretty sweet, but does it trigger when you're moving out of engagement with one enemy and into engagement with another? Because if your intrepid hero got swarmed, it seems like that could be a lot of rolls and bog down combat. I might be wrong on this, but the way I interpreted it was that you can be engaged to as many people as you want, and all of them just count as one engagement zone to you. So you can melee any one of the people you're engaged to normally, it's only if you want to try and get away from them, (And you're not a Fighter rolling with one of the coolest loving abilites ever) that you invite ultimate reprisal with disengagement.
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May 1, 2012 04:44
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Although in practice it usually plays out like: Ok, that hits, 6 damage. Wait, no, I have a thing" You need momentum for that." I have momentum!" What? Where's your momentum die?" I don't know, I was using this white D10 to keep track of it. Yeah, whoops, I used that to roll damage. Do you at least remember what it said when you grabbed it? Maybe a 2? See! I had momentum! Now let me use this thing. FINE! Jesus. 3 damage.
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May 2, 2012 05:32
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No, that actually happened. This was the first time one of my players was using a rogue, and the rules aren't very explicit about the fact that it's supposed to be a binary state, either you have momentum or you don't. So he was treating momentum like a resource, adding one every time he made a hit and subtracting one every time he got hit. Then someone grabbed his die and the whole house of cards fell down. I'm thinking of making a token for the next time we use a rogue, one he can just flip back and forth to represent momentum.
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May 2, 2012 05:56
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Ashtear posted:Wait, what? Did you run another rogue besides me? I thought it WAS binary, then you told me it was a number to keep track of. Then you kept rolling that die and the thing was moot because I never kept momentum long enough to attack with it. Nobody made a big deal out of it. So it IS binary? Yeah, it is binary. Like I said, you were the first rogue we had, so it had never come up before. It's not a big deal, though, just a funny story.
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May 2, 2012 07:42
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Yeah, we can attest to the fact that mobs were ridiculously more powerful than players. I nearly one-shot his rogue by accident just using one of the pregenned mobs special abilities. Does anyone know when we'll get anything back about the feedback we sent in? Obviously it's going to be a bit before the second playtest comes out, but just something along the lines of "Here's what people said during feedback, yadda yadda yadda"?
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May 2, 2012 08:47
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Strong Positive Relationship with The Archmage: The Archmage personally visits you to request your help. He's found an item of amazing power from an Archmage of a previous age, but his duties require him to stay in the capital. You're the only person he can trust with a task of this magnitude. Are you up to the challenge? Possible Epilogue, tying other party members and Icons into the vignette: The Archmage becomes powerful enough to finally bring peace to the empire! Except, (Insert Icon(s) other Party Member has relatonship to here) have a way to stop it! Sally forth, and fight/steal/diplome for eternal peace! SPRW The Great Gold Wyrm: You have been appointed one of the few able to meet the GGW in person. The path to his resting place is perilous, but he requires your assistance with a matter of great import. Possible Epilogue, yadda yadda yadda: The Wyrm is weakening, due to his duty. None may know of this, but you must journey to the lair of (") and Fight/Steal/Diplome the macguffin of power to help him. SPRW The Priestess: Some evil force has found a way to kill gods themselves! The Priestess requires your help, as well as confidentiality, to keep word from spreading and put an end to this horrible blasphemy. Possible Epilogue, blah blah blah: (") is to blame/has found out about it/is willing to assist you for a price, Fight/Steal/Diplome... Seriously, do you just have no imagination at all, dude? I pulled these straight out of my rear end, and there's a billion other directions you can go with it. The only thing I would slightly agree with you about is that Strong Positive relationships should be a high-level, nearing the end of the adventure thing. Because all the quest hooks that could tie into that are badass, world-changing things. Either way, though, it's stupid as hell to say that there's nothing you can do with a Strong Positive relationship. Edit: I can actually wrap all that up in a much easier to digest format. Every Icon has goals, including one major goal that will save or destroy the world. A strong positive relationship just means that your character(s) become an integral piece of achieving that goal.
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May 5, 2012 06:10
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Yeah, the whole Good/Evil thing is played very loosely. Hell, just look at the Crusader. You can have the white-knightingest, goodliest, demon-killing motherfucker in the world with a Strong Positive relationship to the crusader, and it's totally cool. They'll go beat up the Diabolist for a bit then fist-bump. That's where I think 13th Age actually does what 5th edition purported to do, but better. It gives you great ideas, with strong mechanics, and a lot of hooks, then says "Hey, if you don't wanna use these, that's totally cool too. Here's some other ways you can try to play this, for you to use or to base your own off of." It gives amazing, easy mechanics to homebrew, but fleshes them out for those that don't want to. It's the best of both worlds.
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May 7, 2012 03:09
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Right, I mean obviously most fo the contact that players will have with icons is through agents, bureaucracys, and so forth. But I think it's still best for those who haven't seen the playtest or run the games to actually talk about the Icons themselves, since that's all they've really seen. The little bit of info released was just the blurbs about the Icons. Plus, hell, being able to actually meet an Icon in person is kind of an end-game, you're a bad motherfucker thing that's nice to shoot for. If the Emporer is reclusive and never meets anyone, doing all of his biding through other people, then it really shows just how far your characters have come when they get a personal audience to shoot the poo poo with the dude. It just seems like if you're given a list of people who are the defining men and women of the age, any decent game is going to feature an appearance somewhere near the end of the line. otherwise you might as well just sub in "Mages Guild" or "Fighters guild" and be done with it. Which sounds more fun, "In a hidden basement deep within the slums, The Prince of Shadows himself stepped out from the darkness to present me with a reward, and a warning", or "We filled out form B-15, and the Thieves Guild flunky pulled our reward off a shelf then handed us a note."? (And yes, before anyone says anything, I do realize that almost that exact situation happened in our last game, but ya'll are level one and you'll have to put in your dues to get to meet the big shots. I'm just saying that you guys in the thread aren't shooting nearly high enough with your examples.)
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May 7, 2012 03:49
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Well, skulls do have multiple holes. That's one well you can draw from a few times.
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May 7, 2012 13:13
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He's paraphrasing. It gives a few options for why the party is going to the Mage Tower, and one of the options is that one of your party members is being recognized for heroism. His example is probably just how he or his GM ran it. For instance, in my group we didn't have anybody who was a sword user, (Plus I didn't much care for giving one character above the others an entire adventure just about the one cool thing he's going to get that nobody else will really benefit from) so I spun it as the group meeting a friend who was recieving the sword, and over the course of the adventure I came up with other rewards for the players, and had them return the sword at the end. (Although it may come up later... hint hint wink wink) Captain Bravo fucked around with this message at 13:40 on May 7, 2012 |
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May 7, 2012 13:35
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I just used that to set the scene. Gave one of the characters the chance to do something cool, set up an awesome repeating joke for another, and then just had them arrive at the critical moment. It felt better to slightly modify elements of what they gave, than to just ignore it completely and not give any feedback at all.
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May 7, 2012 14:40
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Yeah, the trick seemed just stupid as gently caress. I tried to work it in as giving my players something they would need to return to the tower and try to decipher, but they said gently caress that. They just sent it off in the mail, continued their investigation, and came up with their own reason to arrive at the ruins, which was supported by a timely return message confirming what they found out.
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May 7, 2012 14:57
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Hey, what the heck!? I sent in feedback, and haven't gotten anything back from her. Dangit.
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May 10, 2012 20:02
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Oh, der. I misread your post. I thought that you had already gotten that email from her. I'll just sit patiently over here in the corner and wait.
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May 10, 2012 21:48
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The entire Chaos Shaman section should just bequote:Chaos Shaman -
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May 12, 2012 04:07
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Mikan posted:I'm being facetious; the guy on that blog "invented" a thing that already exists in 13th Age, and it even has the same name. The implementation of his idea is clunky and irritating too. Also the fact that you predicted people would be stealing the idea like twenty pages ago, and then were proven exactly right.
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May 14, 2012 17:49
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moths posted:People laughed at me for suggesting that. Ok it was for suggesting that a cheap PDF knockoff of the playtest would show up on drivethru. Whoops! Looks like I got you confused with Mikan, my bad! Either way, I'm saddened that you were right.
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May 14, 2012 21:06
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His reaction tells you all you need to know. If someone points out that a "novel idea" you had is a thing that's already been and is being done by someone else, you don't get defensive. Only a thief or a jackass says "Well, I certainly hadn't heard about it, so it's cool." At the very least, you'd edit your blog to reflect the fact that, no, this isn't your brand-new awesome idea. Whether he's guilty of conscious plagerism or not, gently caress that guy.
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May 15, 2012 03:32
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Got the response! Boo-yeah!
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May 15, 2012 16:40
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Wade, was that you? You guys are the best. 
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May 16, 2012 01:16
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I am enjoying looking forward to this playtest.
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May 19, 2012 05:33
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I believe they're planning for the max level to be around 10? But don't quote me on that.
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May 21, 2012 06:00
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waderockett posted:Hmm. I'm not seeing any mention of a "Chaos Shaman." But it's a great idea for a class -- I'll suggest it to Rob! Since this is from the first playtest document, and not the most recent, I'm assuming it's ok to repost. Tell me if it's not and I'll delete it. First Round Playtest Document posted:Orc Lord’s Power: Choose one spell of your
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May 22, 2012 08:52
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