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Cythereal posted:Never heard of Beast. From a glance through Leviathan, the basic deal is that it really does suck to be a Leviathan and the race is in a long decline never to recover. Ancient hunters vanquished their great progenitors, destroyed their once glorious civilization, and their descendants hunt the remaining Leviathans still. This doesn't make them bad people as a whole, and while individual Leviathans can be forces for progress and even forces for good, the race is circling the drain never to recover and the world won't miss them. Don't expect them to go gently into that good night, though. Leviathans retain a measure of their ancestors' power and are capable of immense destruction if unleashed. Beast is the new splat for nWoD in the works. It's about preying on humanity's primal fears and feeding the beast inside. There's supposed to be an element of built-in crossover with the game to enforce an idea of family and relation to the other splats, but it's not very good as of yet. It's still in early development. Leviathan sounds better than Beast IMO. KittyEmpress posted:Princesses sounds unironically fun and I would like to actually play it, and I dislike WoD. With a bit of polish and cleaning up, I could see Princess being a good game. Either they drop the WoD elements and go straight into a Magical Girl game or they fix up the WoD elements and give them a greater purpose that doesn't step in every footstep of Hunter (or go whole hog with the Hunter parallels including low Belief Princesses being as nearly inhuman as low Integrity Hunters). Question for the thread: Should I make my posts smaller and easier to digest? In particular, should I break up the Queen post into 3-5 smaller ones or keep it with all five in a single post? It's shaping up to be bigger than the Callings post right now. I'd also offer to make a sort of example character, but since this is WoD, it's fairly trivial to generate one and it's by no means as complex as what Genius requires
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May 26, 2015 01:31
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MonsieurChoc posted:Well, next to the power of Satan... Where does this quote come from. I've heard it come up as a tounge in cheek jab at hunter but I've never seen it properly explained.
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May 26, 2015 01:52
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A good magical girl game would be Fate with your gm invoking magical aspects while in normal mode. I don't know anything about either if those though.
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May 26, 2015 02:13
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Kurieg posted:Where does this quote come from. I've heard it come up as a tounge in cheek jab at hunter but I've never seen it properly explained. One of the hunter Conspiracies, the Lucifuge, are literally descendants of Satan and have hell-themed powers.
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May 26, 2015 02:20
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Xelkelvos posted:Question for the thread: Should I make my posts smaller and easier to digest? In particular, should I break up the Queen post into 3-5 smaller ones or keep it with all five in a single post? It's shaping up to be bigger than the Callings post right now. I'd also offer to make a sort of example character, but since this is WoD, it's fairly trivial to generate one and it's by no means as complex as what Genius requires Your posts should be smaller, yeah. Not that the subject matter is uninteresting but you're going like 12 scrolls deep and it's hard to read on a phone that way. theironjef fucked around with this message at 03:02 on May 26, 2015 |
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May 26, 2015 02:59
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theironjef posted:Your posts should be smaller, yeah. Not that the subject matter is uninteresting but you're going like 12 scrolls deep and it's hard to read on a phone that way. This exactly.
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May 26, 2015 03:39
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Just to mention because  , Rifts World Book Six: South America is now up on the tradwiki, as is every other Rifts review occamsnailfile and I have done.
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May 26, 2015 03:40
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DigitalRaven posted:Speaking of, has anyone done Slasher? I'd like to see something like this because while I am not good with World of Darkness, Serial Killers vs. Werewolves seems like a great Scifi original horror movie/campaign concept. Vampires are also acceptable.
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May 26, 2015 03:53
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Okay. Message received. Since it's Memorial day, I've got nothing to do so that's why these posts are flying out. Also, it's a lot of copy and pasting too. I have two Queens done already, but I'll space their posting out a little. Princess: the Hopeful Queens The Y splat. These sections are a lot longer than the Callings section and include stuff such as the Queen's background, the team colors and Heraldry, and essentially an essay about the group's philosophy. Most of this stuff would have been shuttered away into another book including stuff on the Twilight Queens since it's largely irrelevant to a core book. Also included are Duties for each Queen according to the five Callings. For the sake of completion, I'll include what bits seem important or potentially humorous. Otherwise, I'll skip over sections that don't really add too much. This includes the Character Creation section which seems like common sense to anyone building to a concept. There are technically 8 Queens, but Protagonist PCs are suggested to pick from the 5 Radiant Queens. The other three are a bit morally grey in various aspects and are detailed in the Antagonists section where they'll get their deserved attention. Also, in the previous section, I listed them as Examples, but technically they're Inspirations. For what it's worth, they should be mostly one and the same, but it may explain why a character like Yuki Nagato, a cold almost emotionless sentient servant and an otherworldly AI whose sole purpose is to monitor and observe, is listed under the Seeker Calling since she, in no way, shape, or form would be any sort of example for a Princess. She might make a good Demon though. All Queens have three Attributes they can boost via Practical Magic at a one-to-one expenditure of Wisps to add dice to a roll, either to boost theirs or increase the penalty of another's. They also have an Invocation they favor that lets them apply bonus dice equal to their Invocation rating to a Charm roll if it applies. Normally it costs One Wisp to add an Invocation bonus to a Charm roll. Queen of Clubs AKA: The Matron of the Forests, The Mother Followers' Epithets: Wilds, Turtles quote:In any battle your greatest foe is yourself. You must ask yourself why you fight, what can you hope to gain and is it worth the risk of what you might lose? The enemy who says you cannot back down is none other than yourself; overcome it and look at the other options. You could surrender, often it costs you nothing but an apology and some pride. You could examine yourself, what did you do that lead up to this moment. Why couldn’t you live here in peace? If you can learn to live in harmony with your surroundings, isn’t that a better result than whatever you could win in a fight? The hippie Queen. She takes it easy and is generally chill about all things. When tough problems show up, she takes care of the little things while building up to the big stuff. While she could be an immortal Queen that fears no ageing, she prefers to go with the flow and age naturally. Instead of living in a castle and wearing finery, she lives in the woods of her former kingdom and wears donated clothes. She's just totally chilled out, man.  quote:Philosophy quote:Duties quote:Background Practical Magic: Resolve, Stamina, Composure. i.e. The Resistance Attributes quote:Invocation: Legno quote:Quote Inspiration: Nausicaa (theirs)  Animal Man (mine)  Best I could come up with that fit "peaceful naturalist" Xelkelvos fucked around with this message at 05:11 on May 26, 2015 |
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May 26, 2015 03:55
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Crasical posted:I'd like to see something like this because while I am not good with World of Darkness, Serial Killers vs. Werewolves seems like a great Scifi original horror movie/campaign concept. I think I'll see if I can start in on the entire Hunter line, then. I like doing whole lines, and to get VASCU you really need to know some Hunter stuff. E: Also man, half the fuckin' inspirations in Princess aren't magical girls.
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May 26, 2015 04:07
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Mors Rattus posted:E: Also man, half the fuckin' inspirations in Princess aren't magical girls. I was weirded out by that too, is it really that hard between all the magical girl franchises, especially with ones like Precure that drop a whole new set of faces yearly?
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May 26, 2015 04:24
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They picked Elite Beat Agents before any musical magical girls, of which there are at least five big name ones I can name off the top of my head.
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May 26, 2015 04:28
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quote:You could see the notches on his ears through the barroom haze. The smoke didn't seem to bother him at all. An LED cast lit his pantherish features, its green glow accentuating his mahogany skin. He smiled as Race stretched towards the deejay booth, up on her toes like a curious mouse. "Emile Autum?!?" she shrilled through the thumping roar. Ghost nodded, still smiling, but said nothing. His eyes held hers like destiny fulfilled. She took the bait, a goner. I knew then where she'd sleep it off tonight. Why am I not surprised that Emilie Autumn got namechecked in a WoD book? Right, because she's a quirky goth princess who spits tea into her fans mouths at shows and has a devoted, creepy fanbase.
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May 26, 2015 04:32
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Alien Rope Burn posted:Just to mention because Thank you for your service to America and to freedom.
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May 26, 2015 04:34
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Alien Rope Burn posted:I was weirded out by that too, is it really that hard between all the magical girl franchises, especially with ones like Precure that drop a whole new set of faces yearly? From what I can tell in the changelog, those sections haven't been touched for a long, long time. The Callings don't seem to have been touched since before Septermber 2012 (and a cursory inspection on the Wiki seems to confirm this). The Inspirations for all of them don't seem to have been touched much either and seem to be something that was decided upon at the outset and then utterly forgotten. Likely, they pulled their Inspirations from TVTropes and kept it at that. Most of the recent development seems to be updates to antagonists and fluff of later sections. Queens and Callings, I assume, are largely complete to them and need no changing. Except for how samey they both are and the piles of typos still within it. I do wonder if the people on RPG.net that are working on it would react to any of the criticisms we make beyond a huff and a silent dismissal. That aside, let's continue. Princess: the Hopeful The Queen of Diamonds AKA: The Crystal-eyed One, Lady of Clear Water, The Philosopher Queen Followers’ Epithets: Crystals, Lights, Hope-Engineers quote:Contrary to popular belief, people aren’t stupid. It’s just that people don’t think, or they don’t know how to think, or they just didn’t have the right facts. If you don’t think, you miss all the flaws in your plans. If you don’t have all the facts, you make stupid assumptions because you didn’t know any better. If you don’t think and don’t understand the world around you, you’ll put all your efforts into a plan that simply won’t work. And then things go wrong. Sometimes, they go very, very wrong. quote:From her seat in The Academy the Queen of Diamonds rules the Danann Archipelago. Upon a throne of whale ivory and pearl sits The Philosopher Queen: Regal as a glacier, six foot tall and adorned in the latest sleek future-chic fashions of her court. Here she judges the petitions and arguments of her subjects. Her replies are lengthy and explain the facts, theories and reasoning behind every decision. Every word spoken by The Lady of Clear Water is precise and rehearsed, as calm as a moonlit pond. quote:Philosophy quote:Duties quote:Heraldry Practical Magic: Intelligence, Wits or Resolve. i.e. All of the Mental Attributes quote:Invocation: Acqua quote:Quote Inspiration Not for  , but the archetype that's being drawn is a pretty common one so rather than putting up images of the ones they list, since it's actually kinda bizarre.Washu of the Tenchi series Sailor Mercury of Sailor Moon Jonas Salk, the scientist  On the Wiki, Iron Man is used instead.Watanabe Eriko of some TVTroper fiction called Saga of Soul (this took me a little bit to find it since there's an actress with the same name) Xelkelvos fucked around with this message at 04:54 on May 26, 2015 |
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May 26, 2015 04:46
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quote:Leviathans: You look old, timeless, like something from the early days when the world hadn’t learned there was more to life than sex and violence. I’m sorry, but we’ve come so far since then and until you do the same there’s just no place for you here any more. Ironically, from what I'm reading of Leviathan most of them would completely agree with this assessment. Which is weird from a splat stereotype standpoint. Next installment of Genius will be up tomorrow.
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May 26, 2015 04:47
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Alien Rope Burn posted:I was weirded out by that too, is it really that hard between all the magical girl franchises, especially with ones like Precure that drop a whole new set of faces yearly? I'm going to guess the people who worked on this project was mostly just familiar with Sailor Moon, Card Captors, Lyrical Nanoha, and Madoka after that came out. Basically stuff that was popular with 4chan or otherwise present on TV or the internet without anyone specifically searching for it. Mors Rattus already pointed out that Precure wasn't and isn't exactly big in the west, so it isn't too odd in that respect.
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May 26, 2015 04:56
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Xelkelvos posted:Watanabe Eriko of some TVTroper fiction called Saga of Soul (this took me a little bit to find it since there's an actress with the same name) I went to his  page and clicked on what I thought was another work of his with an interesting title. It turned out to be an obscenely-long Sailor Moon/Dungeon Keeper fanfic. I then said "ugh" aloud to no one in particular but my cat.
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May 26, 2015 05:44
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I don't watch much anime, so I just saw a Princess Bubblegum splat.
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May 26, 2015 06:02
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It's time for more NIGHTBANE Nightbane - The Factioning Previously on Nightbane, we discussed how Nightbane were things that had been around for a long time and were like, natural and stuff. But you see, Nightbane don't just hang loose, even though they're not really in competition for anything. You might think that the logical thing for Nightbane to do is, at most, kind of keep an eye on each other to make sure nobody's spilling the beans. You would be wrong! quote:At first, the Nightbane were disorganized, traveling alone or in small groups, hiding from the authorities and giving little thought to anything other than their survival. Some of these independents are still out there, but they are the most vulnerable and short-lived, falling easy prey to the Nightlords and their minions. Eventually, however, the "newbies" or "nightbabies," as they are sometimes known, run into one of the larger groups of Nightbane . These groups, commonly called "the Factions," are loose organizations that operate on a regional, national, or even world-wide scale. The Factions vary widely in power, numbers, and goals. Some of them include humans, sorcerers and even vampires and other supernatural beings in addition to Nightbane. Let's take it to the threatdown. The Resistance is the largest Nightbane faction, growing out of the "Underground Railroad" (see below). The name does, in fact, come from the WWII french resistance, but there's no American army coming, folks... probably. Anyway, they recruited disaffected young Nightbane, supported by a few old Nightbane who had acquired large sums of currency. Cell organization, generally speaking; they also tend to distrust "norms" and other critters. The Nocturnes These people involve a lot of the deep lore on how vampires appear to work in this setting. This is complicated. Basically, they are like the Resistance, but vampires. The true face of vampire intelligences will come in the fulness of time. The Underground Railroad You remember how I talked about how there might be a kind of self-help group for Nightbane who don't really do much to boss people around? This is basically that group. They did in fact borrow their name from the abolitionists, rather than vice-versa, and their goal is to help young new Nightbane. The Warlords These folks are a gang. And I mean a gang. quote:The first Warlords were Nightbane who had grown up in the violent slums of the United States. Some of them were already gang members when Dark Day and the change came upon them. Using their supernatural powers, they quickly clawed their way to the top of their gangs, and formed a loose alliance of Nightbane ruling over humans. In two or three years, the Warlords had taken over the Bloods, Gangster Disciples, Latin Kings and other nationwide gangs, and absorbed most of the smaller ones. The Warlords have no racial bias: "You're all red inside," is the threatening motto of the Warlords' leaders. These are portrayed as good antagonists, as well as being possible to use as heroic campaigns with PCs. Unstated, but implicit, is the possibility of becoming the Third Street Saints. The Seekers You ever play Call of Cthulhu? Your PC would be in this group. The Lightbringers These mysterious angel-like beings appear and shoot bad people with radioactive holiness beams. They get called Guardians, and sometimes will work with Nightbane, who appear to not qualify as inherently evil. They shoot those who prey on humans, and have apparently been lurking in the shadows of history (presumably cast by all their lights, whe you think about it.) You may ask, don't a bunch of holiness critters running around in a WoD-like setting kind of invalidate a lot of moral ambiguity potential, in much the same way that the direct intervention of God tends to end conversations about morality? Well, either way, they may also have something to do with UFOs, bringing up the exciting possibility that the Space Brothers are, in fact, here to help us out. The Spook Squad Agents of SHIELD or what have you, these are a bunch of people who used to work for the government but got fired because of President Ron Paul's "Kill You're Parents" initative, which sharply downsized the federal workforce that didn't originate in the mirror universe. Unlike most of these other factions, which are either dominated by a splat (usually Nightbane, but sometimes Guardians, vampires, scions of New-English blood, etc.) this one is bossed around by normal humans. Anyway, having had that happy time, we go to the magic of Other Splats. Vampires Dammit, Bobby! They just couldn't wait. However, vampires have been around and fought by mortal wizards, etc. Vampires have at times lurked in the Nightlands, but they largely persist in Earth. The Ba'al invaded and hosed them up good, though not to the point of extinction. Vampires hate the Nightlords but also don't like Nightbane, who do things like interfere with blood orgies - and that's no fun, Johnny Joestar!! Sorcerous Orders There are wizards floating around. Some are good, and others, bad. The Nightlords were leaning on the bad ones for a while and it is theorized that the "Cults of Eternal Night" helped the Nightlords institute the Dark Day and rule Earth, which just stands to reason. Of note is that wizards can learn spells that let them go into the Nightlands, which is important as that is where you will probably want to shoot some fools. The Guardians This ancient mystery, which has lasted approximately 3 pages, is answered here. Nobody knows. There are also some fun vocabulary words and glossary terms which I will leave alone. We then receive some wise words... Kevin Siembieda posted:Role-playing games are really just an advanced form of regular board games. In fact, they are so advanced that they no longer use a board. Some of the elements are still the same; you still need paper and pencil, dice and players. But the main thing you need to play a role-playing game is IMAGINATION. That's right, folks, we're at the Palladium Boilerplate sections! Do people want those to be discussed?
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May 26, 2015 06:29
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Does Brucato find a way to cram bestiality into every third paragraph in his other work, or is it only in Furry: the Yiffing?
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May 26, 2015 08:57
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Nessus posted:That's right, folks, we're at the Palladium Boilerplate sections! Do people want those to be discussed? Do they discuss how skill rolls are actually rolled?
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May 26, 2015 11:47
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Alien Rope Burn posted:I was weirded out by that too, is it really that hard between all the magical girl franchises, especially with ones like Precure that drop a whole new set of faces yearly?  The Lone Badger posted:Does Brucato find a way to cram bestiality into every third paragraph in his other work, or is it only in Furry: the Yiffing? ... But only a bit.
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May 26, 2015 12:02
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Nightbane appears to give the PCs clear story hooks, factions to join, and enemies to fight and does it better than some actual White Wolf games.Nessus posted:That's right, folks, we're at the Palladium Boilerplate sections! Do people want those to be discussed? [BOILERPLATE REGRET RE: MEGAVERSAL SYSTEM]
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May 26, 2015 13:39
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Asimo posted:Spoiler: the people who wrote the book are middle-aged male nerds and not actually the target audience for magical girl shows I know, I'm crazy to think before you barf out 431 pages of magical girl material, you might want to at least do basic research on the genre. It's a peculiar malady indeed.
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May 26, 2015 13:44
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Count Chocula posted:Why am I not surprised that Emilie Autumn got namechecked in a WoD book? Right, because she's a quirky goth princess who spits tea into her fans mouths at shows and has a devoted, creepy fanbase. The Lone Badger posted:Does Brucato find a way to cram bestiality into every third paragraph in his other work, or is it only in Furry: the Yiffing? Brucato's not about beastiality per se, he's just really really into sex. He's written or contributed to about four separate books about the "magic of Sex". It's just that in a book that's literally a journey into the depths of his otherkin fantasies that takes a sharp right turn into Yiffing very quickly. His Black Fury book was basically "We should abandon the ways of the Judeo Christian Patriarch god and have glorious naked pagan sex in the fields. Also men should learn their place, that place being 'provider of sperm and in all other things subservient to women.' "
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May 26, 2015 14:03
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Beast is actually out of development and should be up for Kickstarter sometime in June, with the more-or-less final text available, Demon-style. The leaked version that was poorly received was the pre-development alpha and could have changed a bunch.
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May 26, 2015 14:23
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Halloween Jack posted:Nightbane appears to give the PCs clear story hooks, factions to join, and enemies to fight and does it better than some actual White Wolf games. Except, y'know, the part about being tied to the Palladium house system and Siembieda's editing.  Alien Rope Burn posted:I know, I'm crazy to think before you barf out 431 pages of magical girl material, you might want to at least do basic research on the genre. 
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May 26, 2015 14:27
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Genius: The Transgression, More Storytelling At its heart, Genius is a game about creation. Creating stuff, beautiful or horrific, is what the mad scientists do and their mechanics reflect that. Genius again encourages the DM to put a lot of power in the players' hands: let them create things, let them be forces of change, and have the world react to that. It's a common idea in stories about mad scientists and wizards that they create their own worst enemies, their own nightmares and destroyers, and given the themes of Genius it's quite likely that the PCs will follow that example. That said, Genius does encourage the DM to put a leash on what axioms PCs have - higher ranks of many axioms, notably Skafoi, can put a severe crimp on many campaign stories, so the DM may not wish to bother. Genius posted:This is a lot to ask, especially of new players. Sometimes your players will get stuck. The variations of mad Genius next delves into a brief discussion of science fiction, horror, and weirdness, three concepts and genres that lend themselves to Genius stories. Science fiction in its purest form is about asking questions: break one established rule of science or technology, and what happens? Invent a new machine, and who does it affect? Technological proliferation usually isn't a valid option to explore in Genius, given the nature of Havoc, but almost any wonder can draw someone else into the plot as victim, antagonist, ally, or some or none of the above. Build a gate into the realm of spirits, and you might invite the wrath of a pissed off werewolf or a curious werewolf intrigued by this anomaly. Or an old woman who thinks she's talking with her dead husband. Or hunters who think you've built a gateway to hell. Or a tech-spirit that wants to use the Inspired to build more such portals. Take a wonder, think about the consequences. I think we're all familiar with the tropes and forms of horror attendant to mad science, so I'll skip over most of that except for Genius noting the most banal, mundane fears that are also among the most insidious for geniuses: simple fear of failure, and fear of insanity. That creeping fear that you really don't have everything figured out, that your ideas don't work, that your family you don't talk to anymore because they think you're mad are actually right. Inspiration tears every genius away from humanity to some degree, but the only salve it offers to that bleak, mundane everyday horror of a dead-end life chasing immaterial dreams is genuine insanity. For every genius who proudly marches into unmada triumphantly proclaiming their righteousness and superior intellect, there's two more who quietly retreat into it looking for a mental happy place that Inspiration denies them. Genius posted:The power and value of high weirdness is in the juxtapositions it can produce. Weirdness is invaluable when Using all three ideas - science fiction, horror, and weirdness - is what Genius strives for to present a rich setting. One of my favorite examples, taking from Genius' suggestions as ideas, comes from a book I enjoy called Riptide. In a lonely, mysterious island off the storm-battered Maine coast, a high-tech archaeology company explores a doom fortress built by a legendary pirate to conceal his accumulated treasure, and the place's architect was a visionary so brilliant that the traps and defenses confound even modern technology and kill the best-prepared treasure hunters. As the protagonists research what went on there to warrant such a fortress, cracking seemingly impossible ciphers in the architect's journal, they learn that the prize at the bottom is a sword said to belong to the archangel Michael, and the blade killed everyone it ever came into contact with, and indeed its very presence laid waste to entire cities. What is the sword? Why did the architect go to such lengths to protect it? And can they stop the increasingly insane man leading the expedition who's obsessed with finding the sword? That's pretty much all you need for a good adventure right there. Genius posted:Genius ' theme is Transgression. In his quest to create, to transform, and to transcend, a genius can commit The discussion of themes and moods is old hat to anyone familiar with the nWoD so skipping over it. Next time, which may be sometime tonight, I'll delve into the storytelling section on antagonists and plots.
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May 26, 2015 14:56
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 It's a Supplement Special on System Mastery this week. We cover Path of Rage, the Haven: City of Violence ... I guess worldbook? That's not enough though so we also toss in an appetizer of Starfleet: UFP Federation, which is just extra dumb crap that you could attach to your horrible Prime Directive game, Dan. Also holy crap, someone just linked Louis Porter Jr. to our review on Facebook. I hope this isn't the first time he's been directly insulted for his ultraviolence and terrible editing. theironjef fucked around with this message at 16:19 on May 26, 2015 |
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May 26, 2015 15:14
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Good stuff as always! More Haven poo poo has me giggling wildly. Totally unfair slam on Pittsburgh, though. It's actually known for its reinvention in the 80s, and is now extremely livable. Lots of tech companies have landed there, for instance.
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May 26, 2015 16:43
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Platonicsolid posted:Good stuff as always! That's fair. I was basing my knowledge of Pittsburgh on watching Queer as Folk back in my bisexual formative years, and thinking "wow, that place is basically gay Disneyland" and then checking the internet to learn that it actually isn't and the show was just Hal Sparks tainted bullshit.
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May 26, 2015 16:50
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Count Chocula posted:Why am I not surprised that Emilie Autumn got namechecked in a WoD book? Right, because she's a quirky goth princess who spits tea into her fans mouths at shows and has a devoted, creepy fanbase. What makes her fanbase (and especially Emilie Autumn herself) creepy is that they're 13-14 year old girls. I was dragged to one of her shows, and watching the spectacle of that show while getting dirty looks from all the parent chaperons remains the most uncomfortable moment of my life.
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May 26, 2015 17:00
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We just got the first half of the Louis Porter Jr. stamp of approval. He just hasn't listened to the episode where we guess he's a racist white guy yet.
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May 26, 2015 17:44
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theironjef posted:That's fair. I was basing my knowledge of Pittsburgh on watching Queer as Folk back in my bisexual formative years, and thinking "wow, that place is basically gay Disneyland" and then checking the internet to learn that it actually isn't and the show was just Hal Sparks tainted bullshit. Or just Hal Sparks taint...
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May 26, 2015 17:45
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Cythereal posted:A fair point, I'm just used to thinking of Hunters in terms of Conspiracies, and Princess does not feel like a terribly well thought-out line in general. Nothing about most of those stereotypes screams magical girl to me, or that they're genuine beacons of light in the World of Darkness. Doubly so considering how many ways they can apparently go wrong or destroy themselves. Still not getting any sense of them having a place in the World of Darkness not already filled by Hunters who haven't lost their senses of empathy and humanity. Proper magical girls would confuse the hell out of the other WoD inhabitants. Seriousness has no power before moe. hyphz posted:HackMaster, 2 Oh, this reminds me that Stars Without Number uses the older edition order. quote:So, questions for the moment: Bec de Corbin. Not even plate armor can protect groins against this hammer. quote:Philosophy Crap. She's a Feral in disguise! Alien Rope Burn posted:I was weirded out by that too, is it really that hard between all the magical girl franchises, especially with ones like Precure that drop a whole new set of faces yearly? Asimo posted:Spoiler: the people who wrote the book are middle-aged male nerds and not actually the target audience for magical girl shows This would explain my mild Furry Pirates flashbacks (I'm currently on a System Mastery archive binge). I guess that's why this game is not explicitly called "Magical: The Girlening". Nessus posted:The Warlords How about the Baseball Furies? Alien Rope Burn posted:I know, I'm crazy to think before you barf out 431 pages of magical girl material, you might want to at least do basic research on the genre. And that's why I know way more about Sailor Moon musicals than I'd like to admit.
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May 26, 2015 17:55
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I'd love for the two big fan/creator reactions to your podcast to be fanboys flipping out because you didn't like a particular edition of their mediocre favorite game, and then the actual creator of a piece of undeniable garbage nodding his head and going "Yep, that was pretty dumb of me  "
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May 26, 2015 17:55
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Biomute posted:What makes her fanbase (and especially Emilie Autumn herself) creepy is that they're 13-14 year old girls. I was dragged to one of her shows, and watching the spectacle of that show while getting dirty looks from all the parent chaperons remains the most uncomfortable moment of my life. Hey! She's been putting out albums for more than a decade now; some of her fans are in their 30s and only act like bemused teenager girls.
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May 26, 2015 17:57
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 Hunter: the Vigil Hunter opens up with, like all World of Darkness stuff, some intro fiction. It's about some cops hunting for illegal immigrants in Philly, being smuggled in by the Russians. They're following a mysterious note, and they end up running into a monster - a huge, scaly man-beast that kills at least one of 'em, if not all. This is what makes Hunters happen. Hunters, the game tells us, are the people who recognize that monsters are real, the ones who are driven to study these creatures, to act against them, to stop them from hurting others or using them. Hunters never get to retire - it's not a job that ends. It is, as per the title, a vigil - and endless, crushing vigil. It drives them mad, in the end, the things they have to see and do. But they have no choice. The hunt drives them, the need to sacrifice themselves to protect everyone else. Hunters are a light in the darkness - the light of a torch burning a vampire, and the light of a candle illuminating an ancient manuscript on strange wizards or the burial chambers of a long-dead mummy. Hunters both seek action and seek knowledge - not a safe combination. Some Hunters seek to document their quarry, seeking the mystery just as compulsively as those who fight seek violence. Hunters aren't unified in even the slightest way, as a whole. Some Hunters are just a small taem - a group of friends, a family, even just those stuck together by circumstance. They protect their patch, whatever that is. They don't know what's out there, really. They have only the barest light in a profound darkness. Other groups band together, pool resources. They share information, try to support each other. These are more than cells - they are compacts, a more unified front. And above them are those who have more power. Ancient organizations, modern agencies, but all with the resources and ability to supply their teams with powerful weapons and tools - strange ones, dangerous ones. Conspiracies, which have hunted monsters behind the scenes for decades - even centuries. Even conspiracies are fighting a losing battle. They are a brilliant light in the dark - but there's always mroe dark. The light will die, eventually. The darkness does not. Humanity is powerful - it is not helpless against the monsters - but it is fragile, too. Hunters aren't weak, but they die with depressing frequency. Alone, a hunter is dead. It is together that they find strength, and together that they become able to take down even the most terrifying foes. Hunters cannot work alone. It never ends well. And yet, Hunters are alone. They are isolated. They know that the monsters are real, but only the worst of what they see ever hits the real world - and even then, distorted. Newspapers don't report the werewolf devouring people - they blame the body on a cougar. They report the mother killing her child, but not that she was controlled by an evil wizard. Hunters realize that not all supernatural beings intend to cause harm. But they do - they are dangerous. EVen the most pacifistic monster has powers that can harm people - and enemies that will kill them. Enemies that a normal person could never be ready for. Hunters are the people who have seen the dangers, and who take it on themselves to deal with them. They're the ones who can't lie to themselves - who can't ignore that the deer they barely missed had a human face, say. The people who can't just shake their heads and desperately pretend it never happened. There have been Hunters since the dawn of man - for as long as there have been monsters. Some say that the tablets of the Assyrian Lost Library of Ashurbanipal tell about the first hunter cell. The tablets say that Marduk was no god - he was a divine hero, championed by an army called the Nibiru. He was righteous and holy, tasked to reclaim the Tablet of Destinies, said to detail all events, past and future. and to grant great power to its bearer. Unfortunately, it fell into the hands of the monstrous goddess Tiamat, who gave it to the god-king Qingu to rule with. The Nibiru and Marduk hunted Qingu and Tiamat, stealing the tablet, which Qingu wore as a breastplate. Marduk tore into Tiamat, but when she was slain, an army of horrors was released - scorpion-men, dragons, demons. Thus, the Nibiru were said to have taken up the Vigil to atone, to bottle the demons back up from Marduk's legacy. Other Hunters who know of the story say it's total bullshit. There were hunters in Rome, too. Many of them, for Rome was besieged by monsters within and monsters without - cannibal barbarians, undead monsters, skin-stealing owl-women. The Hunters of Rome tended to work as cults or gangs devoted to various gods, and the Aves Minerva of Aventine Hill were just one among many, a rough gang that worked under cover of darkness to protect the hill. One story says the Aves Minerva defeated Cacus, a cannibal beast with fire eyes, some say child of Vulcan. Cacus lurked in the tunnels beneath the Hill, eating his victims and leaving the heads nailed to doors and cave walls. It's said that the Aves Minerva dragged the beast's corpse down to the cattle market to show their success. Some say the Aves were nothing more than a brute squad, thugs and nothing more, not to be admired. Others say the Aves were heroes to be emulated. They were hardly the only ones, though. Rome had plenty - and vicious Hunters, at that. No one's found any evidence of some of the monsters they wrote about, the dog-headed Cyncocephali, the long-toothed Macrocephali or the shadow-foot Skiapodes. Others name Beowulf as one of the first recorded Hunters. Grendel and his mother, in the original poem, are named as 'kin of Cain' - an occasional euphemism for vampires and other unholy beasts. But not all historic Hunters were fighters. The 15th century theologian Johannes Nider drafted the Formicarius, a book detailing the habits and practices of the witch hunters. Nider was a clergyman above all, part of the Council of Florence. He publically denounced magic and worked to ensure his fellows felt the same. He and his cell gained much of their information from an infamous German judge and Hunter named Peter of Greyerz, who himself served in a cell that exemplified the rigor of the Inquisition. Geyerz claimed to have tortured confessions out of more than 200 men, women and children, sentencing them all to death. Each one, he said, was a witch, soul sold to the devil. More recently, the 19th century biologist Anthonid Cornelis Oudemans, director of the Royal Zoological Gardens in the Hague, encountered a sea serpent. He was struck with a desire to learn more about such impossible creatures, an obsession that drove him to hunt down many 'mythical' sea beasts or accounts of them from across the globe. Early on, he could hide it, but in time he was removed from his post after he and his cell published a dissertation on sea serpents. (The cell tried to stop him, but it didn't work.) It was ridiculed, laughed at, and Oudemans resigned in shame. His public career ended, but many Hunters believe he got the world's first photographic evidence of monsters. No overall records of the Vigil exist - how could they? But the conspiracies and compacts keep their own records. The Lucifuge is rumored to have an archive containing the names and histories of every member it has ever had - some say even with clandestine samples of hair, blood and personal articles. Its existence has never been confirmed, but some say it is in the Syrian peaks of Mount Hermon, where Jesus was tempted by the Devil. Other groups are said to have similar archives. Some certainly exist, and these files claim great victories. The Aegis Kai Doru claim that in the late 1500s, they stopped Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who had a relic that drained the blood that kept her young. Some say a spear, others a mask. The Aegis say they tortured Bathory for years to find its location. The records claim success, but others are less certain. Some who know of these records claim the Aegis was less than innocent in their desire to stop her - one Thule researcher believes that a group named the Aegis tortured a Hunter to death to find Bathory's relic. The Ascending Ones have journals from the 1700s, claiming that they hunted the Beast of Gevaudan, a wolf-monster that killed dozens. They hoped to harvest its body to create their mystic elixirs, spending two years tracking the beast while also keeping ahead of royal French hunters after it as well. They failed at first - in 1765, the king's chief wolf hunter, Francois Antoine, took down a massive wolf said to be the Beast. The Ascending Ones bribed him for the body's samples, but they proved useless - perhaps not even the right wolf. Two years later, that proved correct - the beast took two more children, and a devout farmer slew it with a rifle loaded with silver bullets carved with the image of Mary. The Ascending Ones never got the body, but the attacks stopped. Everyone knows about Jack the Ripper, too. They say he was never caught, but Ashwood Abbey knows otherwise. The ironically named Hellfire club set out to catch him, interrogate him...and then, at last, they recruited him. Modern Abbey members insist they planned to turn Jack's homicidal impulses to good use against monsters. Certainly their official records claim it, though few ever get to see them. Within months, however, it became clear he wasn't going to stop, and while the Abbey had no sympathy for the prostitutes he killed, they didn't want to be implicated. The Ashwood Abbey tried to stop him, and when they failed, they hunted Jack, the first but not the last of their own subject to their hunts. Abbey records suggest that the cell that caught him voted on his fate, settling on evisceration but voted against the eating of his organs, as he did to his own victims. Next time: Hunter society.
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May 26, 2015 17:57
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Halloween Jack posted:Hey! She's been putting out albums for more than a decade now; some of her fans are in their 30s and only act like bemused teenager girls. The biggest condemnation I have of Emilie Autumn is that every fan of hers I've ever met were also huge into Changeling: The Dreaming.
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May 26, 2015 18:23
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