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Yeah, it could actually be good if you did as like a wizard making potions and then shoving the runoff into the water supply where it starts doing weird and stupid poo poo, but that's not what these cards are for. It needs an actual plot and development.
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Dec 6, 2017 15:53
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Mors Rattus posted:So, y'know...that was the population of New York, broadly, in 1900. (Mind, it doubled within a decade, and London was already at a million before that, and was nearer to 10 million by 1900, so.) You're London figures are off. The estimated 1900 total is about 6.6 million, and it's roughly 8.8 million now. It was a Million in 1800.
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Dec 6, 2017 16:55
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Wait, so if I wanted to play a winged psionic cat in TMNT, I'd have to play a stupid cat unless I upped its size? 
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Dec 6, 2017 17:25
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Halloween Jack posted:Aspects and Fate Points are The Correct Way to do character traits like "Unlucky" and "On the Run from _____" Also, stuff like "Psychosis" and "Addiction". It really works for "Addiction".
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Dec 6, 2017 20:50
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JcDent posted:Wait, so if I wanted to play a winged psionic cat in TMNT, I'd have to play a stupid cat unless I upped its size? Or get really lucky on your dice rolls. You just need one six and two fives or better. And then a little more luck with the next d6 or d6s.
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Dec 6, 2017 20:54
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Alien Rope Burn posted:What's missing are nearly any reptiles (turtles only) [...] marsupials are missing entirely [...]. But the list of animals mentions alligators and crocodiles, as well as opossums. Also, when you examined the BIO-E formulas, they all started with a base of 50 points... except for the last one, which started with 90 points. Is there any reason for that?
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Dec 6, 2017 21:40
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JcDent posted:Wait, so if I wanted to play a winged psionic cat in TMNT, I'd have to play a stupid cat unless I upped its size? Well, technically you couldn't take wings because you can only take animal traits of your base animal. There's more room for crazy stuff in the newest version of the After the Bomb, since that deals more with genetic hybrids, but you'd still have to probably homebrew that. Clarified things in the actual review, in any case. But yeah, any creature of 20 pounds or less starts to take increasing I.Q. penalties, though it's not like psionics have a base attribute or anything. Their effectiveness is based entirely on the Mental Endurance of your target (and whether or not they're psionic). On the other hand, you can play a tiny psychic elephant, so it's not all bad. MightyMatilda posted:But the list of animals mentions alligators and crocodiles, as well as opossums. Mistakes, all of those. Sometimes I am my own Alex Marciniszyn. I had forgotten about the crocodilians and completely forgot that possums have pouches. Fixed, in any case, thanks!
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Dec 6, 2017 22:23
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 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness Revised Edition Part Six: "I hope everybody buys the story that they're my southern cousins." So, one of the interesting parts of the first few Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness supplements is that each one had a mini-comic done by the actual Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles creators, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. What's more, they were largely only available through the RPG books, so if you were a fan of the comics, this was the only way to read them. Nowadays you can get them through IDW's Turtles collections - the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ultimate Collection Volume 6 collects all of the Eastman & Laird stories that were in the Palladium RPG books (though not the Walter Storozuk story from the Road Hogs supplement). It shouldn't be understated what a coup it was for them to get art by Laird and Eastman throughout the book, as well. Though it's common for licensed comic RPGs to use art provided by the publisher, only a few have had art by the original creators (other notable examples would be the Nocturnals supplement for Mutants & Masterminds or the Atomic Robo RPG). Whether or not it's valid, it gives the RPG a feel of authenticity that few licensed RPGs have. And it wouldn't just be a one-off - the first three supplements would have art by Laird and Eastman, and later supplements would have art from Jim Lawson, who would later go on to become the regular artist on the Turtles comic itself. As for the story itself, the turtles are getting ready for a Halloween party at the apartment above April's second-hand shop...  ... when a bunch of thieves break in to rob the place.  Needless to say, the turtles kick the poo poo out of them for it...  ... but their costumes are ruined.  And so, they go with the simple solution and obvious punchline.  It doesn't really tie into the game itself, but it's a cute extra to have. Next: How (not) to run a role-playing game. 
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Dec 6, 2017 22:27
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Terratina posted:Given the current discussion about meta currency, I'd like to hear the thread's opinion about Fate Points in FATE Core/Accelerated. I've found during my play of Dresden Files FATE-splat that there is absolutely a separate gameplay-skill being asked of players versus the general 'show up and play' aesthetic. Very close to how players have to adapt to the classic Fantasy Vietnam 10 foot pole and grid style, conceptually. While the rules of the game are being implied the way you phrase and frame your speech generates greater results.
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Dec 6, 2017 23:28
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Yeah, while it has the Current Way of using flaws, FATE and its offspring are odd ducks to get used to. I mainly find myself overthinking things. D&D and its ilk are wrapped up in numbers, while FATE cares about the qualities of your characters more (yes skill numbers are a thing but Aspects make it easier to do Cool poo poo). Still hasn't knocked off Savage Worlds for the best, easiest to grok, generic system yet (personal opinion of course).
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Dec 7, 2017 02:48
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It's an adjustment to get use to the idea of willingly invoking an aspect to make things more difficult, but the value of fate points in the system makes it worthwhile to do. It can also be a pain as the GM to manage all the aspects on PCs, NPCs, the nearby area, and the setting as a whole. It's still a very inventive way of encouraging characters to interact with each other and the world around them. It helps a lot that aspects aren't constant negatives, but also character-defining features that can be used for good, which change and grow with the character.
Nuns with Guns fucked around with this message at 03:00 on Dec 7, 2017 |
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Dec 7, 2017 02:57
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness Revised Edition Part Seven: "First of all, the most important thing that a player can do is PLAY IN CHARACTER." Game Master Section So, we get a Game Master Section, where Wujick emphasizes the need to run an enjoyable game. Beyond selecting or creating an adventure, he emphasizes three points:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness posted:Just consider, if you were keeping score in a card game, would you give more points to your buddies? No one GETS experience points, they EARN them by playing in character and using their wits.  Lastly, we get an extended note on how NPCs shouldn't fall into stereotypes and should have personalities that make them memorable.  Adventures We get some random roll tables for villain alignments, villain objectives, villain associations, and creating criminal organizations. He suggests you can use natural disasters ripped from the headlines as adventure fodder, that danger and tension are important to engaging players, and that adventures should require thought and investigation instead of just being wandering monster encounters. We get a sales pitch for Heroes Unlimited and Ninjas & Superspies as ways to upgrade your game, because this is still very much a Palladium book, and he also has optional rules for adding mutant animals to the random roll charts for Heroes Unlimited - which is problematic, because most Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness characters are notably weaker than heroes that can set themselves on fire or are loaded down with plasma cannons... but Heroes Unlimited is a game without any real balance to begin with, so maybe it's a wash? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness posted:You could run a game where the players actually run the characters of Raphael, Donatelo, Michaelango and Leonardo. While this is NOT recommended for any kind of extended campaign, it would make for a lot of fun in one-shot scenarios.  Granted, using them at all kind of highlights the Turtles themselves weren't made using the actual mutant rules, but... we'll get to that. Speaking of which, we also get the formula (which, as stated earlier, is incorrect) for making new animal types, using kangaroos as an example. It's a decent GM section... for its time. But by modern standards, it's awfully meandering, a kitchen sink of ideas without much focus. Next: Strangeness. 
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Dec 7, 2017 06:45
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Love the "You look great for a human" bit and the fact that turtles cover their shame with a towel... despite never wearing pants anyways. A very Donald Duck quality!
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Dec 7, 2017 08:14
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Kind of funny given on the rare occasion you see the turtles without their bandannas, they kinda look naked.
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Dec 7, 2017 12:09
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People hotly debate the reasons that TSR faced insolvency in the mid-90s, but most gaming history scholars agree that it was due to their failure to adequately meet the massive demand for The Deck of Encounters Set One Part 50: The Deck of Umber Hulks, Unicorns, Vampires, and Wolfweres 294: Subterranean Stalker An umber hulk ambushes PCs in a dungeon, dragging them back through its tunnel network, and it’s all extremely by-the-MM. This card’s main contributions are that the umber hulk drops its victims in a pit and then goes back to capture more; a mechanic for tracking it through the tunnels (“two successful tracking rolls” - is one not enough?); and the treasure, which is 1,600 gp worth of loot and, oh, I don’t know, a +1 luck blade. (Those are the swords that have wishes in them.) Wha wha whaaaa!? Weird combination of boring monster encounter and crazy reward. Pass, but I could imagine keeping it if you were a generous DM who likes seeding powerful rewards in unlikely places. 295: A Friend in Need Not to be confused with #97 A Friend in Need. This is a different Friend in Need. An old beggar sits at a rock by the crossroads. He asks for their help retrieving an unspecified object, offering his goodwill in return. It turns out his life is buried in a box under the rock. The only obstacle is the fact that the rock is very heavy, but all you need is three people with 40 total strength or some players ready to abuse their out-of-character basic engineering knowledge, so it should be no trouble. When he opens the box the old man pulls out a sword and ring, becomes young, and says "that he will know of [the PCs'] hour of greatest need, and will aid them." Nice and folk-tale-ish. Sure, I'll say Keep. 296: Honor Bound It says this happens in a “furnished but uninhabited tower or keep,” but I’m not sure what the uninhabitedness has to do with anything. A unicorn has been bound with a magical amulet by an evil mage, assigned to guard the property. It’ll reluctantly gore the PCs unless freed. If they help it rather than kill it, it’ll give them a token telling sylvan creatures to help them. Keep. 297: Native Earth Deep in a forest, far from civilization, just before dawn, the PCs hear someone digging in the dirt. It’s a filthy hermit-looking person, glancing east occasionally in panic. When he notices the PCs (which he does, “no matter how well they have hidden themselves”), he hesitates, weighs his options, and pleads with them for help. He’s a vampire, and he needs to hide himself in the ground during daylight hours. He says he only lives on animals, which is why he lives so deep in the woods (a lie). I could’ve used a single sentence about why the vampire is so behind on his hole-digging today when it’s literally undeath-or-death, but other than that it’s cool. Keep. 298: The Forest's Bliss In a beautiful fairy-tale forest, the PCs hear two women singing and playing the lute. Their song has no words - “it is apparently just a vocal exercise.” They don’t notice the PCs until they enter the glade, at which point they’ll startle. If the PCs aren’t hostile, they’ll start singing again and invite them to join. But the song is magic, and they have to save vs spell or be slowed, and if anyone is slowed the women will turn into their wolf-human forms and attack. Haha, they were wolfweres! Are you shocked and surprised that the beautiful women in the middle of nowhere are actually murderous monsters? Are you? I like the fairy tale setup, but I’m okay passing on this. 299: What Gullible Eyes You Have! The party comes across a scared-looking pretty woman with red hair and green eyes, sitting on a boulder in the forest. She says she needs to get to the village on the other side of the forest. If they take her with them, she’ll play her pan flutes at night while they camp to slow them - then her mate will attack and she’ll join in a round later. Haha, this beautiful woman in the middle of nowhere was also a wolfwere! Maybe you were expecting it last time, but I’ll bet you didn’t think I’d do it again! Look, I admit this pass/keep system involves a lot of personal bias, but… just pass. P.S. Per the card: “Any PC who states he is suspicious of Greta will not be surprised by her attack.” ”Uh, I’d just like to state for the record that my character is always suspicious of beautiful women. I’ll write that on my character sheet so it’s official.” 
Dallbun fucked around with this message at 03:44 on Dec 8, 2017 |
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Dec 7, 2017 14:24
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Somewhere in D&D land there's a genuine party of beautiful women in the middle of nowhere who are incredibly frustrated with how no-one will trust them to have wild bacchanalian parties.
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Dec 7, 2017 14:27
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That's just the bit from Monty Python & The Holy Grail. We've reached peak accidental Monty Python in our D&D.
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Dec 7, 2017 14:30
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Night10194 posted:Somewhere in D&D land there's a genuine party of beautiful women in the middle of nowhere who are incredibly frustrated with how no-one will trust them to have wild bacchanalian parties. This is how you get maenads.
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Dec 7, 2017 16:43
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Bieeardo posted:This is how you get maenads. Nah, those are psionic and a separate species.
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Dec 7, 2017 17:07
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Menaeds are great in Dominions. Pans (like... goattaur wizards) attract human women to go wild and crazy, so you get 6-8 of them per moth per Pan However, they're just crazy naked women, so you can only use them to live out your ASIATIC HORDES fantasies by sending them as the first wave. Made one a hero via the gift of reason (nature spell that transforms one non-mindless shlub into a hero) for really no reason.
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Dec 7, 2017 17:12
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The writeup makes them sound like psychic infantry-focused cossacks, what with squads and leutenants.
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Dec 7, 2017 17:14
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Your party runs across a beautiful woman in the forest claiming she's on the run for her life. The party aids her and two night's later under the light of the full moon they discover that she is a werewolf! A nice werewolf, she was on the run from a bunch of townsfolk who blamed her for some missing livestock (in actuality it was a bunch of Wargs). Also she likes ear scratches.
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Dec 7, 2017 17:23
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Your party runs into some beautiful women singing in the forest. They're just some elven women looking for some of that adventurer strange. Paladin stands the longest and the most awkward watch of his life.
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Dec 7, 2017 17:46
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Really you have to wonder if D&D babies ever happen, given the amount of erotophobia that could be engendered by scores of sex trap monsters.
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Dec 7, 2017 17:49
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I imagine D&D courtship consists of tests to find out what sort of shapeshifting monster your potential partner might be. Changelings, Shifters, Tieflings etc presumably come from people going "eh close enough" and shacking up with a doppelganger or whatever.
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Dec 7, 2017 17:53
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Alien Rope Burn posted:Really you have to wonder if D&D babies ever happen, given the amount of erotophobia that could be engendered by scores of sex trap monsters.
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Dec 7, 2017 17:57
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Terrible Opinions posted:I imagine D&D courtship consists of tests to find out what sort of shapeshifting monster your potential partner might be. Changelings, Shifters, Tieflings etc presumably come from people going "eh close enough" and shacking up with a doppelganger or whatever. Eberron changelings at least are explicitly a stand-in for the social stigma faced by mixed-race children and social fears and issues about miscegnation.
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Dec 7, 2017 18:05
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let's maybe unbite this sandwich and walk away now
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Dec 7, 2017 18:05
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Cythereal posted:Eberron changelings at least are explicitly a stand-in for the social stigma faced by mixed-race children and social fears and issues about miscegnation.
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Dec 7, 2017 18:20
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Terrible Opinions posted:High school me never picked up on that, and I haven't read the books recently. For me it was pretty blatant the moment the books started talking about how many changelings try to "pass" as members of other races. At least in the US, that's a loaded word when discussing race, particularly historically. Then you start reading about how changeling children are usually strongly encouraged to hide what they are, to mimic the dominant local race as much as possible and never reveal what they are, and that many marriages break up when a child pops out who's a changeling. And then Races of Eberron talks about how there's a new movement among changelings to try to form their own communities, develop their own arts and culture, and to try to take pride in what they are. Like warforged being demobilized veterans of WW1 in the 1920s, changelings to me are screaming "We are an allegory for racial minorities in the West in general in the early to mid 20th century."
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Dec 7, 2017 19:02
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I think it’s like Star Trek. How many times does the average star ship get thrown through a time warp or into an alternate dimension? Zero. How many times did it happen to the enterprise? Like 15 in a year. All the villagers ignore you because all your stories are about things that have never happened to anyone they know. “Yeah, you explored a ‘dungeon’, whatever man,”
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Dec 7, 2017 20:53
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That's a weird take on it. When were thieflings introduced? Sexy thiefling offering you anything would be either too obvious to be a trap, a trap laid by the most oblivious of thieves (and therefore not as dangerous) or a trap by thieves that know you'll be horribly confused by this and then they pounce!
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Dec 7, 2017 20:54
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Tieflings came in with Planescape, and both that and the Deck were published in 1994. It was a while before they became an official option for non-planar campaigns, though.
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Dec 7, 2017 20:57
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I'm curious if those sexy trap scenarios come from old grogs and old sword and spell books where male protagonists are lured with sexy women - because what old grog playing Nanoc the Barbarian wouldn't feel the lure - or because of nerd trauma where heartthrob classmate played a prank on them? Of course, a true DM could make any of these cards a trap. Speed elf? Trap. Trolls fight onto death? Trap. Mimic barstool? Trap. Drunk evil wizard? Trap. Trap? Trap.
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Dec 7, 2017 21:14
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JcDent posted:I'm curious if those sexy trap scenarios come from old grogs and old sword and spell books where male protagonists are lured with sexy women - because what old grog playing Nanoc the Barbarian wouldn't feel the lure - or because of nerd trauma where heartthrob classmate played a prank on them? A little of both, and some good old-fashioned American slut-shaming sex-hate. That lady is sexy? She must be a demon! What do you mean we didn't draw any other ladies in the rest of the book, they weren't sexy.
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Dec 7, 2017 21:17
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JcDent posted:Of course, a true DM could make any of these cards a trap. Speed elf? Trap. Trolls fight onto death? Trap. Mimic barstool? Trap. Drunk evil wizard? Trap. Trap? Trap. Haha, the barstool mimic was actually a beautiful woman! ...wait, I think I got turned around.
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Dec 7, 2017 21:28
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*sound of dice clattering across the table* You have successfully impregnated the barstool.
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Dec 7, 2017 21:33
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I'm loving these encounter cards. I used three in a dungeon yesterday to good effect. It's like I'm actually creative!
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Dec 8, 2017 02:24
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JcDent posted:I'm curious if those sexy trap scenarios come from old grogs and old sword and spell books where male protagonists are lured with sexy women - because what old grog playing Nanoc the Barbarian wouldn't feel the lure - or because of nerd trauma where heartthrob classmate played a prank on them?
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Dec 8, 2017 03:05
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U.T. Raptor posted:Also sex trap monsters (and regular old trap monsters, really) aren't exactly uncommon in folklore. yep, from the Rusalka who drown men who swim with her, Sirens who depending on the version you hear lure men to eat, because they want to see men drown trying to get to them, or because they're so enchanting, the men stay and starve to death on their hostile island. Very old trope from very old times where women are considered devious and dangerous to men.
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Dec 8, 2017 03:21
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