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Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

Hipster Occultist posted:

You'll have to sign your name at the Hot Topic Watchtower first.

See a Watchtower in your dreams?... Put a Bird on It!

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Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.
"Foci: Eh... Whatever. Just take some drugs and wave sticks around, or some poo poo? Maybe use a computer? I don't care." :effort:

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

Rand Brittain posted:

Also the Taftani are cool because their basic ethos is "magic comes from the expression of Truth and it's our job to tell the Truth to the world so gently caress Paradox I'm summoning a genie in the middle of New York."

...

That said "vulgar as hell, and prepared to eat the consequences" is an awesomely short-lived niche.

Definitely my preferred way to play Mage if I have to play it.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

theironjef posted:

Afterthought 23 - Randomized is live and ready to roll. We discuss random elements in games and then dive into the standard litany of weird questions and letters.

I found that randomized as a whole tend to be more useful for GMs than players. Players tend to come into a game with a specific concept in mind, and so they want the agency to create a character they'll be happy playing for at least a few sessions. But as a GM, I've found random tables to be a godsend for those days when I don't have anything planned and I need to generate interesting plot hooks.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

Night10194 posted:

I have a couple long-time players who absolutely love randomization as prompting, which they then fill in from or once they've got an idea, stop rolling and pick the rest of their PC themselves. It's a taste thing, I suppose.

No doubt. I think I'm actually that kind of player now, too; I want to jump straight into a game ASAP, so random tables help reduce a lot of time-consuming decision making.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

Josef bugman posted:

I think Jesus may well have something to say about Marc.

"You no good, Marc, you just a LITTLE CHICKEN CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP!!!"

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.
I know that the mechanics are janky, but this write-up actually makes me dig In Nomine. It feels like you could run anything from The Prophecy to Dogma in RPG form, depending on your tone, and much of it feels like a fresh take on Heaven vs. Hell stories, putting in a fair amount of moral ambiguity without descending into cynical grimdark like Preacher.

Sadly, my one experience with this game was a session I played in college where we played angels. The GM saw the Dissonance mechanics purely as an excuse to screw the players, and I was actually thrilled when I rolled a 6-6-6 and we all got killed by a car bomb because it meant I no longer had to tolerate the GM's presence.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

Midjack posted:

Guy named Dan Smith, who did a lot for SJG in the 90s. They look like hammered poo poo colored like this though. If I remember right Smith's originals for In Nomine were all greyscale and this coloring was done by someone else.

I actually like the coloring. It's evocative of four-color comics, which works because the game is reminiscent of a DC/Vertigo setting.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

WINNERSH TRIANGLE posted:

It was a couple of pages ago, but re:mage faction worldview, who has it right, etc., I've always had a soft spot for nMage's Silver Ladder:



:smugwizard:

This is how I feel the Traditions in M:tAs would have phrased their worldview if written properly. The Technocracy's point was "we took the credit for invented indoor plumbing and vaccines, what have YOU done for humanity?", the Traditions' response should have been "we're trying to bring back the world where no one gets sick* ever again."

*or poops

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

unseenlibrarian posted:

Listening to the Wizards review made me realize that Numenera probably takes Wizards as inspiration and that makes me like Numenera even less than I did before!

Frankly, when they got to the bit about "technomancy", I couldn't help but think of M20.

:barf:

Simian_Prime fucked around with this message at 09:33 on Jan 19, 2016

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.
As annoying as Brucato is, he's really just a dumb old hippie who thinks he's an insightful philosopher. He means well, but he doesn't see that he has cobwebs on his opinions of gender, gaming, and technology (he probably thinks "Wizards" is brilliant social satire).

Chris Fields is just a lovely, cynical edgelord who writes creepy poo poo to appeal to the worst kind of gamer/anime fan (he probably thinks "Legend of the Overfiend" is brilliant social satire). Even Brucato would have the sense not to put out a product called Tournament of Rapists.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

Midjack posted:

I'm trying to think how you could structure an In Nomine campaign to have the title "Forgot About Dre" and have it make some sense.

Now everybody talkin like
they got somethin 2 say
but God move his lips
its a new Apocalypse
then every demon talk
like they forgot about Dre

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.
They needed a better writer for Kobal... He's not funny. (Unless that's part of the joke? But this feels like it was written by somebody who doesn't actually understand comedy)

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.
To elaborate, I think that Kobal works better not as the Joker, but as an unfunny hack who's been crowned the King of Comedy despite telling the same racist, sexist, dick-and-fart jokes for centuries. Like a demonic Adam Sandler, with Haagenthi his Kevin James.

Simian_Prime fucked around with this message at 03:31 on Jan 25, 2016

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

The Lone Badger posted:

There seem to be strong hints that Kobal may be arranging for Haagenti to ascend as the Archangel of Prosperity. That would be pretty funny. And the joke would be on every one of the demon princes.

He ascends to Heaven wearing cargo shorts.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

DAD LOST MY IPOD posted:

It seems to me like the effective way to play Kobal is more about Schadenfreude that Dark Humor-- he represents the small part of human nature that finds glee in the suffering of others, that lacks empathy and callously distances himself from situations so he can laugh. Kind of like Andre, but with situations instead of relationships. What makes him sinister is that he believes in disregarding the bonds that tie us together in society in favor of taking spiteful joy in others' sorrow.

Kobal as "the final episode of Seinfeld".

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

PantsOptional posted:

Well, for the first one, it's probably because "black humor" sounds weirdly racist.

That's the domain of Tosh, Archduke of "Ironic" Racism.

"White angels do things like *this* :angel:, but black angels do things like *this* :snoop:"

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.
Agent Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks always struck me as a good model for a Hunter Avatar.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

Mors Rattus posted:

I'd go with The Waters, rather than the Sea, since that's a Word with a solid history. (Formerly held by the Ofanite Oannes, sister to Gabriel and Janus, but slain by Belial in the middle ages.)

Call him Ishmael.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

Ratoslov posted:

Yves seems nice, but I have little patience for people being cryptic at me in games. Also, I'm looking foreward to the section where it describes what Angels of Destiny actually do in a game.

Keep poo poo Together.

Yves dirty secret is that his supernatural calm and contentment is an illusion; he's seen the signs (at least the part that God lets him see) and the ultimate destiny of the universe, and it all tells him that Everything is hosed and We're All Going to Die. But he holds out hope that, if he stays positive, if he remains an ocean of calm amongst other the maelstrom of the War, that maybe at least *something* will work out.

So he and his angels do what they can to maintain that calm. Reduce infighting between the Archangels. Make sure that signs of prophecy are fulfilled and that people think everything's ok, even when it's not. Power of Positive Thinking. Keep poo poo Together.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

Bieeardo posted:

Ultimately, it feels like a silly D&Dism to me. You're a celestial being, not one of those mortal chumps who got stomped at Babel. You may not want to draw attention to your being an ultimate polyglot, but having to spend resources on it just seems dumb.

Agreed. If you're playing a divine being, any language barrier between mortals should be hand-waved. It's like the rule in Feng Shui where you just assume everyone is speaking Cantonese.

(Though I guess in the case of In Nomine, they all speak French)

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

Midjack posted:

Jordi is an almost complete peckerhead to everyone and I don't think anything ever really improves him.

I can't really blame him. He's the angel who's entrusted the animal kingdom to humanity, and, well...

In a game like this, I think it's good to have one angel who's just completely sick of humanity's bullshit and is one bad day way from Falling and becoming the Demon Prince of Monsters.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

Ratoslov posted:

Nah, Jordi is Animals, and he's basically a oWoD Werewolf that somehow became a Archangel. He fuckin' hates humans.

I almost think of Jordi as a little like Epimetheus from Greek myth; during Creation, he got so excited about the "lets make animals" stage that he forgot God wanted humans to be the star of the show. ("It's a *naked ape*! You can't tell me it's half as cool as the boxer shrimp, or the tardigrade! And think of all the great stuff dinosaurs could have done if they'd had another epoch! What a waste.")

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

Ratoslov posted:

That's too bad. Jordi is the Superior that could most benefit from a good writeup to expand his range from RAR gently caress HUMANS RAR and RAR PEACOCK SPIDERS ARE FUKKIN' ADORABLE RAR

I'd emphasize his range to extend to "Animals, and those that care for them." He should be the patron of shepherds, veterinarians, animal rights activists, etc. He's less of a Red Talon, more focused on creating a world where man and beast achieve a level of harmony not seen since Eden. ("There's nothing intrinsically wrong with eating meat, but factory farms are a little slice of Hell on Earth. Let's work together to find something more sustainable and less cruel").

However, I see no problem with him having rough edges, as long as they're interesting. I agree that Heaven's attitudes shouldn't exactly match up to "the perspectives of 21st century people in liberal Westen society" for the sake of our feels.

Simian_Prime fucked around with this message at 23:44 on Jan 31, 2016

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

Cythereal posted:

Until they find out that heaven and hell really aren't much like what their holy books say, much less how factionalized they both are. Novalis alone would make many hardcore conservative Jews, Christians, and Muslims poo poo a brick. And finding out that Blandine and Beleth were once the heavenly epitome of romantic love, two female-presenting archangels (originally)?

Not to mention the disconnect of one angel that supports the Catholic faith and another supporting Islam working on the same side. I'm sure you'd have a ton of fundies convinced that they're *all* demons posing as angels to tempt the faithful.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.
Yeah, Fleurity feels like the villain played by Joe Pesci in Michael Jackson's Moonwalker video. He's the kind of dealer you only see in DARE commercials from the 80s.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

Mors Rattus posted:

Most of Hell gets your Essence by beating it out of you or torturing it out of you. Even Nybbas gets it by giving his damned souls some tiny thing to focus on and then threatening to take that away from them, or making them engage in blind, useless consumerism. Shal-Mari is the only really 'free' one, and what they do is charge everything you have for the briefest moment of pleasure.

Being a damned soul is very much not a good time. The best you can hope for is to be the guy who is beaten slightly less and gets to beat other damned souls a little - and even then, only in the 'nice' Principalities. In Saminga's, for example, your soul is literally ripped apart until all you are is a mewling, crying grub.

Saminga's a dude who knows how to party!

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.
Holy Crap, when a friend first mentioned this game to me in college, he told me about the Demon of Stale Bong Water, but I didn't believe it until now! :lol:

But my friend must have been best buds with Imbap because he drank bongwater all the drat time!

Simian_Prime fucked around with this message at 02:21 on Feb 2, 2016

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

theironjef posted:



This week System Mastery is covering Dinosaur Planet, a book that took us by surprise. With a name that cool, we figured we'd just be generally researching how yet another small print house mucked up the OGL, but what we got instead was some good old down-home whitewashing of the big fence of the Confederate States of America. If you ever wanted to read a book where the Union are rapacious space-conquerors and President Robert E. Lee magnanimously freed the slaves in 1881 because it was the right thing to do, here it is.

One of the things that bugs me in Western RPGs is the constant need to have some sort of breakaway Confederate State, or and alternate Southern victory. For once I'd like to see a Western game where the Civil War ended exactly the way it did in our own history. Or, possibly, one that turned out better (promises of Reconstruction are followed through, black civil rights are protected and Jim Crow never takes root, etc.)

This game was done by Goodman Games, the makers of the awesome Dungeon Crawl Classics. It's really a shame they're still selling this on their site.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

Robindaybird posted:

As pointed out, there's other ways to extend the "Lawless" period - make the war more lethal - maybe given the horrendous battlefield medicine a plague starts sweeping through the ranks, or a hurricane decided to sweep through, and the Weird version - ghostly vengeance, real-life Thunderbirds snatching cattle and wagons making the perilous journey even more dangerous, even Gaia going "What the gently caress are you doing to my Bison?".

if the confederacy stood, many of the people who had gone out west for one reason or another would not have done so, and many of the famous Outlaws would be nobodies among other things.

All good ideas, but do you really need to extend the lawless period for you average game, unless you expect it to take place over decades?

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.
I vote GM's Guide. I'd like to see the developers response to the question, "So what do we *do* with all this setting information?"

Because as cool as this setting is, I feel like it can leave an inexperienced played a bit stranded as who finding story-hooks, and figuring out stuff for PCs to do.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

Kavak posted:

I prefer "The south survives by the skin of its teeth, but collapses back into the Union over time" or "The North and West end up better developed and more powerful over the long term without the millstone of the agrarian south to support".

I've always like "The British used the South's moment of weakness to swoop in, conquer the Confederacy, and reclaim its former colonies for the Empire. The Second Revolutionary War has begun!"

(Or Third, if you count the War of 1812)

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.
I've been thinking about using the Superiors like the Icons in 13th Age: they're the major power-players in the setting, but how they influence the *story* is up to the players. Each player would put a handful of points into Superior Relationships (Ex. One angel determines a positive relationship with Jean, but two point in an antagonistic relationship with Lilith, or vice versa).

The player's choices will then determine which Superiors influence the plot, and you can get some interesting twists depending on their choices (If a number of players choose a negative Relationship with Dominic, he could turn out to be an Infernal infiltrator and the main antagonist). The Relationship points could also be used as a dramatic editing mechanic (Ex. A relationship with Kobal can be used to call in a favor or request aid).

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

Mors Rattus posted:

Superiors: Litheroy


"M'lady."

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.
"I was a Nice Guy angel on the Celestial Ladder, but now I'm a Superior PUA... Thanks to the Andrealphus Method!"

Simian_Prime fucked around with this message at 21:40 on Feb 6, 2016

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

Cythereal posted:

I'm not sure why this guy exists, myself. Isn't the search for knowledge and whatnot supposed to be part of Yves' bailiwick in addition to Destiny?

I feel like a couple of the Superiors feel redundant; Jordi works better as a Servitor of Eli, Laurence as an underling of Michael, etc. Maybe that's on purpose? I like the idea of Heaven/Hell not being a perfected hierarchy; there are Superiors who should be demoted but they have tenure, or some who got promoted because they serve another role besides their intended purpose (like Haagenthi). Creates more drama.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.
Wrap up Superiors, then do GMs Guide.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.
Asmodeous was personally responsible for the Edition Wars. He even named-dropped himself as a D&D deity in 4e. :devil:

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.

theironjef posted:

This isn't really about RPGs but I had to tell someone that we just got a real podcast setup. We are no longer both hunched over the same old Snowball mic, we have a sound board and stabilizers and pop filters and everything! System Mastery is a real boy!

Awesome! Congrats! B-Day party at CheeseDude's! Mulled Yump is on me.

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Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.
Fighting evil by moonlight
Finding love by daylight
Never running from a real fight!
She is the one named Zadkiel.

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