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potatocubed posted:The background stuff isn't great, no, but I'd feel like a bit of a hypocrite laying into it while I'm a-ok with Captain America or Jenny Sparks. potatocubed posted:I think a bulletproof soldier would still have been a nice thing to have back then, though. I can just imagine General Melchett paying some boffin to design him someone who "won't die when I send him over the top, what?" Stolze's Godlike is about superhumans in WWII, and it even indulges in the "Let's give someone super-powers with torture!" But Godlike is exhaustively researched, at least compared to AMP, and makes its alternate history plausible by putting events in context. Case in point, it was the Soviets who created superhumans with torture. First, their superhuman initiative was run by Lavrentiy Beria. Two, no one reported failure to Stalin if they wanted to keep breathing. Three, the idea that you could "reeducate" normal people into superhumans suited the official ideology. Four, the Soviet Union could absolutely send secret police to arrest, disappear, and torture hundreds of people for stupid reasons...they did it. And in the end, they scrapped the program because the superhumans it produced were useless. The Soviets fell way behind the other world powers in cultivating super-soldiers, not least because Stalin's paranoia encouraged Soviet supers to run or hide. potatocubed posted:1930s robber barons attempting to make supermen to fight the Japanese menace would have made more sense and not stumbled over the international history aspects.
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Jun 7, 2016 04:38
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The perfect Beast PC!
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Jun 7, 2016 13:59
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SirPhoebos posted:If I didn't know better, I'd conclude that Beasts was anti-LGBT propaganda thinly disguised as a product marketed to that community but in fact shouting "THIS IS WHAT THE GAYS ACTUALLY BELIEVE". Sort of a Chronicles of the Elders of Zion in RPG form.
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Jun 7, 2016 15:47
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Kai Tave posted:How many people actually buy into Beast though? Like, the DTRPG reviews as was pointed out are basically the equivalent of those Amazon reviews that read "A+ product for the service, very good of quality and would buy again" that you see spammed everywhere. Are there any Beast actual plays going on right now? Someone running a sweet Beast podcast so we can see what a game is actually like out in the wild? Obviously there are people who'll go to bat for anything and go digging through a comatose teenage girl's stat block to find evidence that she deserved to be "taught a lesson" if you know what I mean, but there's a difference between the sort of person who likes to argue that Star Wars' Empire is actually a noble force for stability and order and an actual fandom.
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Jun 7, 2016 19:05
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Simian_Prime posted:The only actual play I'm able to find is the one McFarland posted on RPG.net he did for his own group. Surprised red flags didn't already pop up when one of the characters describes "I'm going to a kid's soccer game and I look at the crowd. If I see any parents on the cell phone while the game is on, I'll know whose children to kidnap later."
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Jun 7, 2016 20:32
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Hostile V posted:The big thing about Sin Eaters is that they don't necessarily have a coherent society. Krewes and old loose collections of Sin Eaters exist but they basically have to learn about their society and the Geists accompanying them by jumping through an Avernian Gate down to the Underworld. And here's the thing about the Underworld: on a good day, it's Wonderland. Also, "Queen Gothel" gave me a chuckle.
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Jun 8, 2016 04:51
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For a low-powered, street-level, 90s, espionage-themed supers game, AMP seems like it would make it pretty hard to build a lot of the Marvel and DC superheroes that fit into that category. There seems to be a paucity of powers that would just make you super-talented like Captain America, instead of throwing cars or shooting lasers. Nicest thing I can say is that it's very easy to build Squirrel Girl. Also, for a game implied to have serious themes, the art is consistently silly.
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Jun 8, 2016 14:03
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Yeah, does Palladium ever actually retcon stuff, or is it more like they just keep rambling on with no regard for consistency? (And to be fair to their writers, their best-regarded writers like Carella and Coffin were aware of the many inconsistencies and tried to work within and around them.)
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Jun 8, 2016 19:14
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The fun thing about Palladium is that their attitudes toward fan material is so hostile that I had to get someone to furtively email me a Unisystem conversion for Nightbane, like it's the 40s and I'm trying to buy a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover. I have tried and failed to roll up a Nightbane character from the corebook twice now. The fault has nothing to do with Nightbane itself; basic character creation in all Palladium's game is a nigh-insurmountable nightmare. I honestly don't know how you get through it unless a Palladium game is your first one, and you just get used to the process being a jungle of nonsense.
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Jun 9, 2016 19:05
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:Does the falcon have laser eyes?
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Jun 10, 2016 16:50
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Mover posted:Someone should write a setting where Eugene Sandow founded a secret order of ascetic muscle wizards
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Jun 12, 2016 04:38
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Greg Stolze's Progenitor has a great alternate history, but I think Greg Stolze's Godlike is even better.
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Jun 12, 2016 18:02
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potatocubed posted:But AMP is not a good game. Meaning, there are a lot of people in the hobby who don't demand or even want new things and tighter design, so I suppose there's a market for familiar mediocrity. D20ish mechanics, thoroughly 90s design in every other sense, and nostalgia for conspiracy-ridden 90s metaplot with the PCs as "dark" superheroes. Hell, half the 90s games were really about grimdark superheroes anyway.
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Jun 14, 2016 14:56
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potatocubed posted:I have a powerful streak of 'this could be better' running through me though, and games like this -- and in fact Mystic Empyrean, my last F&F -- grab that strand and pull hard. In the case of ME, it was careless implementation around a core of really neat and innovative ideas. In AMP, it's just... you could do the same thing so much better with a bit of care and attention and game design.
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Jun 14, 2016 19:20
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 Chapter 8: A Shortening of the Way Fancy title aside, this chapter deals with advancement. There are several types of advancement in this game--experience points to increase your character’s stats, Renown to increase their standing, and Asset points to advance your House. Then there’s the matter of House Ventures, representing critical junctures or long-term projects to further your House’s goals.   Experience Experience points are meant to be handed out after each “chapter” of the story, which I kinda-assume corresponds to one or two game sessions. They’re awarded based on accomplishing the party’s goals, doing so spectacularly, performing great deeds along the way, and good roleplaying. You can also reduce their awards for bad roleplaying or accomplishing the party’s goals only with major setbacks or by creating other problems. (I’m not a big fan of singling out players for good or bad roleplaying, and other rewards and penalties strike me as dependent on the railroady adventure design the authors sometimes encourage.) The theoretical maximum is 10 points, and assuming the Narrator isn’t stingy, PCs can easily be collecting 4-5 points per session. As you can see from the experience costs listed below, they’ll be increasing their stats quickly.   Like pretty much any game from this era, a few things jump out at me, indicating that a savvy player can easily game the experience system. First, new skills are expensive. I’ve come down hard on this game for a character creation system that tends to give you 1-2 points in a bunch of skills, from a skill list that’s way too long, in a game that demands specialization in order to succeed at challenging tests. The advancement rules give you some incentive to have a broad, thin spread of skills to start, for better or for worse. Second, Attributes don’t cost much more than skills. Remember that in this system, you roll your Attribute as a die pool, taking the highest die, while skill points add directly to your total. In the rules chapter review, I discussed how increasing your Attributes doesn’t increase your average roll as much as you’d think--but as there are only four Attributes, you still have the incentive to buy them up, at these prices. Skill specializations don’t seem worth it unless you can use it all the time. Advantages are expensive. Third, Karama is expensive, but worth it--Karama is a pool you can spend to directly increase your skill rolls. The book notes that characters with a high Karama pool can succeed whenever they really need to. I’m not scared of that, since the basic difficulty mechanics of this game are punishing, but I’m not interested in making Karama spending a major factor in gameplay, either. Spending experience is subject to the Narrator’s veto if it doesn’t make sense, particularly when it comes to things like buying Advantages or eliminating Disadvantages. The game also suggests you can give out “limited” experience points that can only be used toward specific Advantages or Disadvantages. For example, if you work with a Bene Gesserit NPC on an adventure, you could get limited XP toward making her an Ally. This makes sense on a superficial level but I really, really don’t like it. It’s an invitation for the Narrator to decide how you should develop your PC for you, and effectively punish you if you want to go another way.  ”So without the Butlerian Jihad, we wouldn’t have these great Mao jackets or overhead projectors.” Renown Renown is a measure of fame, reputation, and rank. As with experience points, there’s a list of recommended rewards, and Renown points are divided into 4 categories (Valor, Learning, Justice, and Prayer) based on what the Narrator feels appropriate. As with experience points, if the PCs are doing what PCs in roleplaying games do, they’re going to rake in Renown unless the Narrator is being stingy. PCs gain Rank in their Profession as they increase their Renown and their Profession’s key skills. Thought Rank doesn’t have direct mechanical benefits, it’s not meant to be some abstract, D&D-esque title for your class and level, but to have meaning in the story--it’s presumed that a Noble who advances to Rank 5 will indeed be the Heir Designate of his House. The requirements to gain rank aren’t high, either, and I can easily see the PCs advancing to high rank after a few adventures. Nothing wrong with that.   The game cautions you not to make Rank simply a matter of gaining Renown and spending experience points on skills, and suggests Renown tests or even interviews to discuss the PC’s history and ambitions. You could adjust a Profession’s key skills based on the nature of the House, and there are rules for “departmental transfers” in which you drop a rank. But really, why gently caress about?  “Kirk!” “Picard!” “Kirk!” “Picard!” “He’s right over there, y’know.” House Advancement and Ventures After each adventure, the Narrator is supposed to conduct a “Narrative Debriefing” with the players to discuss how their actions furthered their House’s goals. The sticking point of the debriefing is whether or not the PCs accomplished any Narrative Ventures. These are critical points during gameplay where the Narrator decides that a single Test, win or lose, constitutes a far-reaching political move. Of course, “stabbing the Emperor to death” would be a huge political move, but it’s meant for things like a speech at a Sysselraad conference, a negotiation with a CHOAM delegate, a tactical decision during a major battle, and other decisions where the outcome isn’t immediate. Players can’t just decide to initiate these--the Narrator is supposed to design the adventure with such opportunities in mind, and determine when one arises. They can be any kind of Test--the only difference is that you use an appropriate House Attribute instead of the PC’s own. Later, during the debriefing, the Narrator awards Asset points for successful Ventures, which can be spent to improve House Attributes.  Dune has rules for using Assets to buy things for your house besides basic stat increases, but the cost and the benefit is totally up to the Narrator--I can’t help but compare it to the Company rules from Reign, which are more fully developed.  ”This is the weirdest catalogue shoot I’ve ever been on.” “What is a ‘tech vest’ anyway?” PCs can also spend Asset points (1-3, Narrator’s discretion again!) to launch an Interlude Venture. These are big, long-term projects to improve your House’s standing as a nation-state, where events happen “off-screen.” Launching an invasion, starting a business venture, initiating a War of Assassins, persecuting dissidents, etc. For example, when Thufir Hawat conducts a security sweep in response to the attempt on Paul’s life, that’s a Narrative Venture. When we learn that Duke Leto has been sending his best fighters to make friends with the Fremen tribes, that’s an Interlude Venture. As with Narrative Ventures, the Narrator determines the relevant skill and type of Test (these are often extended Tests). And if the PCs triumph? Uh, they succeed at their objective. No strictly mechanical impact, no return on their Asset investment. Granted, this could be huge, like assassinating an enemy or eliminating a problem so that it doesn’t come up again. Dune isn’t, and doesn’t need to be, the kind of game where literally everything that happens in the story can be quantified in the rules. But it really doesn’t sit well with me that there isn’t a defined way to use the House rules to pass from House Minor to Great House status. It also appears to me that the problems with Dune’s lengthy skill list are likely to rear their ugly head again when the players want to do Interlude Ventures. This game is good about consolidating its skill list when it comes to combat, but it has way too many professional and social skills. In deciding what skill is most appropriate for a Venture, the Narrator is caught between letting the PCs use a handful of their best skills for everything, or screwing them over by insisting they use Economics instead of Mercantilism.  The Dark Side hasn’t been kind to Billy Idol. Next time, on Dune: A sample homeworld. Chusuk, Planet of Music!
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Jun 14, 2016 22:01
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Doresh posted:As the cockpit still heats up a lot (BattleTech fiction loves describing this), the standard MechWarrior "uniform" is basically underwear with heat-insulated boots.
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Jun 14, 2016 22:05
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Demons own, down with the God-Machine, all loving turncoats must loving hang.
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Jun 15, 2016 03:14
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bewilderment posted:In theory, I think that there does exist a 'perfect ending' where not only is the God-Machine exposed to humanity at large, but becomes allied with it and forms a mutually beneficial relationship.
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Jun 15, 2016 04:52
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wiegieman posted:The God-Machine is a machine made out of other machines, and if it has any meaning at all, it's either self-perpetuation or entirely unknowable. It's the ultimate Chinese Room. Count Chocula posted:Paul Atreidies.
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Jun 15, 2016 14:17
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Just Dan Again posted:Something I've always wondered about with Mechwarrior is how you'd run an RPG if people actually took radically divergent careers. I can just imagine five players making two mechwarriors, a mechanic, a spy, and an elemental, then turning to me saying "So what kind of adventure are we all going on together?"
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Jun 15, 2016 18:24
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Chapter 9: Chusuk, the Music Planet The entire chapter is devoted to the planet Chusuk, complete with a ruling Great House, their Houses Minor, their history and political situation, and notes on the planet’s geography, economy, and religion. It’s an example of how to create a homeworld for the PC’s House, or just a world that they can visit for an off-world adventure. (Several, I hope, if you’re putting this much work into it.) House Varota is a very new Great House, having only enjoyed that status for about 1500 years. Its founder, Francesco Varota, was a virtuoso musician and craftsman from a clan of instrument-makers in the 9th millennium. He became the Emperor’s court musician until the two had a falling out. Shunned by the Emperor’s friends, Francesco took shelter among his rival Houses as a wandering minstrel. Unknown to all but themselves, Francesco and the Emperor had staged their falling out so that Francesco could become a spy. He fed the Emperor’s enemies false information while soliciting their secrets. Francesco and the Emperor “made up” on the latter’s deathbed, and Francesco was granted a baronet on his homeworld. Francesco spent his reign using his broad acquaintanceship among the nobility to leverage trade deals and craft alliances. And whereas he was a charmer and a spy, his son Philippe was a consummate political genius who rallied popular support and conducted political intrigues. He also authored the Varotan Manifesto, a Machiavellian handbook. His heirs added to it over millennia, until it became an encyclopedia of intrigue. The final page was written shortly after House Varota overtook House Mandervold to become the new ruling Great House on Chusuk. Earl Angustin Varota has lead the House ably, but he’s ready to retire. He’d like to hand control over to his daughter Corina, whose husband Dubrahm died suddenly of heart disease that their Navachristian Suk Doctor, Memphis Dion, was unable to treat. They wait for her son Analdo to come of age. Angustin’s wife, Lady Luchessa flunked out of the Bene Gesserit at a young age, but retains their skepticism of religion, though she is a patron of the arts. Sevrenty Tomash is the Varota’s Master of Assassins, almost 100 years old but sharp as ever. Aeneus Miracola is their Swordmaster, and still regrets not finding Dubrahm in time to save him. Houses Minor House Adici controls a bustling city and a booming import/export business. They want to expand their territory, and are making connections with Great Houses who do business with them. According to legend, House Deseo descends from an illegitimate son of Francesco Varota who served his father as a spymaster. They control a large fiefdom encompassing several provinces, and still function as the Varota’s loyal intelligence service. House Levrache is Lady Luchessa’s birth house. They sycophantically support Varota, and control a province which supplies timber to many Varotan industries. House Mandervold still has an axe to grind with Varota for replacing them as Chusuk’s Great House. Their baron and his bound-concubine, who is Luchessa’s sister, plot to assassinate the Varota heir and put their son on the throne. House Nambure controls a northern province. Its people are unusually tall and strong, and form the bulk of the planetary militia. They train their soldiers to fight in a unique and ancient style, and the swords they manufacture are found all over the planet.  Think I’ve got this whole Renaissance thing pretty much figured out. History Central to Chusuk’s identity is its origin as a refuge for Navachristians fleeing the religious persecutions of Emperor Forneus I. Civilization on Chusuk began as a network of communes, so that if one was discovered by inquisitors, the others could escape. Fortunately, Forneus was deposed and the persecution ended before this ever happened. The planet celebrated its religious freedom with an explosion of art and culture that earned it the name “The Music Planet,” and its politics evolved along the same lines as the rest of the Imperium. House Mandervold was recognized as the planet’s Great House a few centuries after Forneus’ death. They ruled the planet with a laissez-faire benevolence, a policy House Varota has more or less continued. So commerce, religion, and art are the three principal cultural forces on Chusuk. Chusuk is similar to Earth in size and shape, with icy poles and a tropical equator. The population is relatively small and ecology-minded, maintaining vast preserves of ancient forests. Much of the world’s economy is based on its unique natural resources, like high-quality cotton and rare woods, used to manufacture luxury goods. All of the world’s Houses Minor grew out of some cottage industry or another. The Varotan Trade Faire, once a quaint cultural festival, grew into a major CHOAM event where merchants come from all over the Imperium to spend billions. At this point, I should mention that Chusuk isn’t completely original to this game. The non-canon Dune Encyclopedia mentions Chusuk, a planet devoted to art and music, Varota the instrument-maker, and the “Navachristians of Chusuk.” It was also Gurney Halleck’s home planet before the Harkonnens raided it. However, although Navachristianity is mentioned more than once in the original Dune as one of the religious traditions incorporated into the Orange Catholic Bible, it never receives even a brief description itself--many people assume it was a blend of Christianity and indigenous Navajo spirituality. The authors of this game take the liberty of defining it here. Navachristianity’s central tenant is that God sent not one, but many messiahs to guide humanity--a messiah for every civilized world, for every era of history. Detractors call it the “Billion Jesus Church.” Navachristian theologians believe that they can examine the history of any inhabited world and identify the Navachristian Messiah for each age, and are fascinated with what they see as the “messianic identity pattern” that identifies him or her. They celebrate several holidays (notably ones that seem to correspond to Easter and Christmas). Chusuk is the center of Navachristianity, but the religion is common enough that you can often find a temple in most major cities throughout the Imperium. It should be noted that Chusuk theologians don’t recognize any messiahs as having been sent to Chusuk yet... By and large, the rest of the Imperium is more interested in Chusuk’s arts than its religion. The Varotan Arts Institute and the Imperial Academy of Music are renowned throughout the Imperium. The exclusivity of the former has sparked at least one War of Assassins. The latter sponsors apprenticeships in instrument-making. Varotan instruments are auctioned off for huge sums. Chusuk has given birth to entirely new art forms such as water sculpture, sculpted fountains in which both the pattern and the sound of water flowing over their surface is precisely controlled for aesthetic effect.  In the grim darkness of the 21st Millennium, there is only Orientalist painting. Locations The Spaceport of Mondriagne is considered the most beautifully decorated spaceport in the Imperium--spaceports are technically Guild facilities, and usually cold and functional. The port is the size of a small city itself, and transports all kinds of goods. Anyone you need the PCs to meet, they could meet here. The Holy City of Coramshar is home to the second-largest cathedral in the Imperium, and features organs carved by the greatest Varotan masters. The Snow Springs are located in the planet’s subarctic region, which also happens to hold an active volcano with open lava pools, creating a network of natural hot springs. It’s a luxury spa for the galaxy’s elite (many of whom probably also come for the trade fair). The Ruins of Lor are an enigma--crumbling stone ruins scattered throughout the planet’s central archipelago, indicating a thriving civilization millennia before Chusuk was settled by Navachristian refugees. The largest ruins now deep underwater. A large corporation has secured exclusive development rights to the archipelago; other businessmen joke that the “Lead Sea” will sink the company. Adventure hooks Chusuk Messiah: Working with a Bene Gesserit contact, the Navachristian Church has received credible reports that God’s messiah has finally appeared on Chusuk. The PCs are sent to find evidence of miracles, reporting to the Bene Gesserit agent. Stalking the Wild Zevec: A nobleman in the PCs’ House wants to capture a dangerous big cat native to the high, cold mountains of Chusuk. Precursors of Chusuk: A kinsman to the PCs’ House has been asked to send a team of experts (the PCs) to investigate an amazing find in the ruins of Lor. Holiday Excursion: After a difficult mission, the PCs are offered an all-expenses-paid vacation to the Snow Springs, where they are certain to come across some kind of trouble by sheer coincidence. Also entangled in the plot are a bearded, kickboxing cowboy and a man who can make grenades out of pine cones. Next time on Dune: Texas Ranger: “Instruments of Kanly,” a sample adventure.
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Jun 15, 2016 19:41
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FMguru posted:This is so loving nineties I think my wallet just grew a chain.
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Jun 16, 2016 14:19
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My wife has not forgotten about Kult, and still really wants me to run this some time.
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Jun 17, 2016 16:24
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I once tried to read DRYH, and didn't get any farther than the part where it tells you that you need black dice, white dice, red dice, pocket change, and two bowls. I probably wouldn't use the Kult system as written but I'd probably also just use some basic functional system instead.
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Jun 17, 2016 17:34
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PurpleXVI posted:The Kult system is janky, yes, but it can be the sort of janky that could be fun, assuming the players get to mess around with it, the GM doesn't abuse his end of it, and no one assumes it's meant to be a horror game. Because pushed to the limit, it becomes a game where you take a nap in the middle of combat to summon a tank piloted by your idealized dreamself while one of your friends kicks a vampire or zombiedemon in half from across the room with his "martial arts," and the third guy rides into the fight on a rhino that's been crossbred with a semi truck. 1. Like a lot of 90s games, Kult emphasizes story but is weirdly obsessed with what caliber of bullet your gun loads 2. The martial arts rules are goofy and overpowered 3. Magic is incredibly swingy as to whether it's too easy to cast powerful spells, or way to hard to cast highly situational ones 4. Monsters are also very swingy regarding their strengths--plenty of spirits with high Ego and the ability to possess, effectively a save-or-die. I think Kult was one of the first published games, maybe the very first, whose authors almost certainly had dark fantasy works like Clive Barker's novels and Neil Gaiman's comics in mind when they designed their magic system. I sometimes find such magical shenanigans confusing and unsatisfying even in the source material, and translating it to a roleplaying game is really hard.
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Jun 20, 2016 21:41
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Torg is really screaming to be translated into a modern system that can actually handle stuff like "what genre you come from" being a mechanical and flexible part of your character. I'm not one to prescribe Fate for everything, but...wdarkk posted:I'm starting to feel that if a Demon could eliminate all competition and gain enough power, they could become a new God Machine. WhitemageofDOOM posted:Except worse.
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Jun 21, 2016 19:25
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Young Freud posted:Oh man, never was there something that would turn me against an artist like that comic. Year 100 was even enjoyable to that point, when I find that Pope's a libertarian. The whole thing about the German Batman saving the works of Von Mises was
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Jun 22, 2016 15:16
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I don't think Kevin Siembieda's foibles are much different from many small business owners who see entrepreneuership chiefly as the opportunity to recreate their world in their image. If you read horror stories about bad bosses in small businesses on sites like askamanager.com, you'll find that the traits singled out by Palladium's former employees are all too common--lack of boundaries, weird notions regarding industry standards, and above all, the toxic combination of micromanagement coupled with an inability to accept responsibility for mistakes. Palladium hasn't exactly fallen--their publication schedule has slowed to nearly nothing besides The Rifter, but they're supposedly very good at selling their back catalogue and bringing in enough revenue to pay salaries for the old-timers who are left. They were once successful enough to be competing with D&D for top sales--a few other companies can say the same, but all those companies are defunct. (Though whether or not Kevin has surpassed those companies by keeping Palladium going is a matter for debate, obviously). The thing is, you guys make it sound like Siembieda is a bizarre outsider artist or something. If the Megaversal system seems wildly out of step with what you expect from a game, it's because it's a relic from 1980, when cutting-edge game design meant "I'm going to fix AD&D."
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Jun 23, 2016 17:30
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I've never fired an automatic weapon, and I can't imagine firing .45 ACP at 600 rounds per minute. I would probably want the gun to be heavy even if I was lugging it across the Pacific.
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Jun 23, 2016 22:11
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Activism in spandex punchman comics goes as far back as superheroes fighting thinly veiled Fascists before Pearl Harbor was attacked.
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Jun 27, 2016 02:08
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Hostile V posted:Japan segregates its Deltas by gender. The men are forced to join the Rising Sons where they’re indoctrinated into an Imperial cult and dedicated to strength and physical prowess along with being told to follow the rules of bushido as samurai. Count Chocula posted:Any random Moorcock story contains more that is original and 'fantastic' than everything Tolkien wrote. And I don't recall anything racist in his stories. Count Chocula posted:There's a Paul Di Flippo story where Kurt Cobain's sweater is a time-traveling AI. Is one of the splinters the grunge scene right before Nirvana got huge (aka 'the only thing anyone knows about Seattle') ? 3. Space Needle 4. Shadowrun
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Jun 27, 2016 16:57
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Young Freud posted:Hahaha, sorry if you combine superheroes with cyberpunk you'll either get an Image Comic, probably from Top Cow; Pat Mills' Martial Law; or Ray Winninger's Underground. Halloween Jack fucked around with this message at 17:24 on Jun 27, 2016 |
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Jun 27, 2016 17:14
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It's been quite some time since I read the novels. While comics and tabletop games may have portrayed the Pan Tangians as all being Inscrutable Orientals, I don't recall if they're portrayed that way in the source material. Besides "Pan Tang," the names don't sound particularly East Asian, nor do I recall characters being described as sallow-skinned, silk-robed, etc. etc.
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Jun 27, 2016 19:28
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Wasn't one of the principal NPCs a very, very well done Mechanomancy project?
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Jun 28, 2016 03:08
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If I read the consensus right, the biggest strike against Monster of the Week was that it had no consistent, inherent theme or tone. That most people seemed to want to use it to run a monster-hunting agency seemed to confirm that for me. It's also funny to me that that Mortal Kombat: Generic Subtitle I Can't Remember spec trailer (with Michael Jai White!) reimagined the franchise with all the bad guys as X-Files villains.
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Jun 28, 2016 16:23
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I can't hold back anymore. I have to do Godlike.
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Jul 1, 2016 13:55
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Captain America: Civil War is about a paramilitary gang funded by a private corporation waging war around the globe with no apparent legal authority whatsoever. And people ate it up because it's fun and the characters have cool costumes. So it's not like "we" as a country learned anything. Turns out Ray Winninger was right.
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Jul 4, 2016 05:47
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Funny thing is, there are already plenty of cult leaders as bad as Chae Jin Sook, no demonic possession required.Young Freud posted:For some reason probably known only to my subconscious, I've been on a Twilight 2000 kick. I ended up rereading through the 2nd edition and the background history is pretty laughable, kind of locked in that old Cold Warrior mentality because the Warsaw Pact manages to hang together past 1991 for reasons, despite the Berlin Wall falling, German reunifying and the Soviets concerned largely about fighting China in the Siberian east. Poland stays in the Pact because of concerns of ethnic Germans might being leading to the Fourth Reich or some poo poo. If you don't know, the Warsaw Pact pretty much collapsed in 1991 with Poland the first to leave. Once the Iron Curtain fell, none of those nations wanted to be within Russia's sphere of influence, because they got nothing out of being allies to the Soviet Union and in the event of a war, Russia would basically be throwing them into nuclear craters as cannon fodder. I heard that the 2.1 edition changed the background again, to where Alfa battalion sides with the reactionaries in the Russian White House and kills Yeltsin, but even that wouldn't change the fact that no one would east of Dnieper river would be willing to die for Russia. quote:Also, the technology is all over the place. The G11 somehow became standard issue, because GDW was really counting on German reunification not killing that for the Bundeswehr, but no one uses SAPI plates that were being developed at the tail end of Vietnam, re-emerged just before Operation Gothic Serpent in Mogadishu, and started becoming standard issue with the Interceptor vest in 1998-1999. I ended up quizzing a friend who played it and nothing like that shows up even in the Merc 2000 books (where GDW basically abandoned the whole WW3 premise and made it about mercenaries and special forces) that were made after Somalia. Halloween Jack fucked around with this message at 16:11 on Jul 4, 2016 |
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Jul 4, 2016 15:56
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Chapter 10: Instruments of Kanly “Instruments of Kanly” is a sample adventure for PCs. It makes some assumptions about the Entourage’s House, and provides some background. The Entourage’s House has a longstanding rivalry with another House Minor, House D’murjzin. (That’s hard to spell and impossible to pronounce, so I hate these fuckers already.) More than a century ago, Lord Anton defeated Innis D’murjzin in a duel to first blood, winning a priceless Varotan baliset. However, decades later, he was assassinated and the baliset went missing. News just broke that House Adici, one of the Varotan Houses Minor, has recovered the baliset. They’re going to auction it off at the Varotan Trade Faire. The Entourage’s House patriarch sends them to Chusuk on a diplomatic mission to authenticate the baliset, so as to establish favourable relations with House Adici and impress both House Varota and their own Great House. He’s given them an allowance to bid on the baliset, but isn’t particularly concerned about regaining it--that’s a tertiary goal at best. He introduces them to Master Desmond Karos, the archivist at their House’s Academy of Arts, who will authenticate the instrument for them. Little do they know that Karos is a traitor working for House D’murzjin, who plans to steal the baliset for himself, leaving the Entourage’s House in a political bind, and flee Chusuk with the D’murzjin delegation. The adventure takes place in 9 scenes set over 7 days.  Dude. Don’t be that guy. Act 1, Introduction, Day 1: At a strategy meeting, the House patriarch explains the importance of the Varotan Trade Faire, Lord Anton’s baliset, and their mission to use the occasion as an opportunity to convince Compt Lorenzo Adici to forge a trade agreement between their Houses. CHOAM laws entitle the Adici to act as the “agent of sale” for an anonymous owner. He acknowledges the symbolic value of recovering the baliset, but makes it clear he doesn’t want the Entourage getting “emotionally involved.” The trade agreement comes first. Act 1, Scene 1, Day 1: The Entourage is introduced to Master Karos. Though an old man, he is eager to visit Chusuk “one last time.” If permitted, he’ll describe the customs of Chusuk and the Trade Faire at some length. More importantly, he’ll demonstrate his means of authenticating the baliset. He’s not just going off of long-ago memories; he has an illicit Ixian device which precisely measures harmonics. He demonstrates with his own baliset, clipping the small device to the back of the instrument as he plays. It reveals that his baliset is an “inferior replica” of the Varotan masterpiece. (The device is harmless, of course, but it uses microprocessors to measure and analyze data, and is therefore a violation of the Great Convention. This is another instance where the authors have to come up with their own interpretation of the novels’ details; the Butlerian Jihad was a rebellion against “thinking machines” and the Orange Catholic Bible says “Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of the human mind.” But the books never precisely state that any and all computers are forbidden, and it’s implied that the Jihad wasn’t as simple as a war against robots. Anyway…) Act 1, Scene 2, Day 2: The Entourage boards their patron Great House’s massive frigate, which conveys them to a much more massive Guild Heighliner for transit to Chusuk. The scene is meant to impress upon them the luxury of the Great Houses and the even more vast resources of the Guild. A Guild representative visits the Entourage and gives them the once-over, asking them if they have anything to declare. If they conceal the Ixian device, he cryptically says “Your future is safe with us.” If they reveal it, it’s merely a faux pas--he just waves his hand and says that such things are beneath notice. Act 1, Scene 3, Day 4: The Entourage arrives at the lavish Spaceport of Mondriagne. This scene is also mainly an opportunity for the PCs to soak in the setting, learning about the customs of Chusuk and the other Houses participating in the Trade Faire. They meet Sator Pell, the Adici’s chief of security, a gruff military man who welcomes them and takes them to their guest lodgings. Pell has to return to the spaceport to receive the Adici’s next guests--the D’murjzin. In the meantime, the Entourage has the opportunity to mess around if they want. Act 2, Scene 1, Day 5: After enjoying the Trade Faire for a couple days, the Entourage is invited to a lavish but informal reception hosted by the Adici. Karos is well respected here, and offers to make introductions. The PCs can interact with any number of minor NPCs here who could reappear in future adventures. One such NPC is Rugi Pallos, a very successful “antiquities dealer” and rumoured art smuggler. She and Karos display an immediate mutual dislike. However, she is actually his handler for the D’murjzin. The Entourage will also meet Compt Lorenzo Adici, who receives them warmly with a short speech and a toast. Act 2, Scene 2, Day 5: Sator Pell interrupts the reception to address Compt Lorenzo, who immediately ushers the Entourage into an elevator along with Pell and several guards. The Entourage and the Adici guards interrupt a theft in progress in the museum! There is a fight with several black-clad ninjas trying to steal the baliset. If the Entourage doesn’t get involved, the Adici guards defeat them anyway. If captured, they refuse to talk, but interrogation may reveal that they are D’murjzin agents. Hours later, they die from poison already in their systems. Karos examines the baliset and uses his device to authenticate it, ensuring that it hasn’t already been replaced. (In fact, that’s exactly what happens, and Karos and Pallos are in on it.) Act 2, Scene 3, Day 6: This is the big one. As the auction is about to begin, the Entourage arrives with Karos to publicly validate the baliset. This time, Karos declares it a fake, feigning worry and confusion. If they try to tell Karos to go ahead and pass it off as genuine, he confesses to Compt Lorenzo himself. Either way, Compt Lorenzo drags the Entourage into an adjoining conference room to chew them out and figure out what the gently caress is going on. Act 3, Scene 1, Day 6: Compt Lorenzo, Pell, Karos, Pallos, and the Entourage are in the conference room. The Adicis don’t believe the real baliset could have been stolen after the attempted theft--it’s been in a vault. They let the Entourage direct the conversation, but if they reach an impasse, Lorenzo will ask Pallos for a second opinion. Pallos leaves to get her notes, and during this time, she’ll instruct her D’murjzin agents to plant the real baliset in Karos’ bedroom. When she returns, she produces notes and even photographs verifying that the baliset on hand is a fake--and that an expert like Karos should have known this just by looking at it. Karos is panicking. The D’murjzin weren’t set on abandoning him, but they left it up to Pallos, and she decided that throwing him to the wolves is the only way to make sure that the Entourage can’t recover from this fiasco. If he’s a fraud, then clearly the Entourage orchestrated the theft. Basically, she exposes the scheme, but says it was Karos and the Entourage rather than Karos and herself. Enraged, Karos calls her a no-good art thief, but doesn’t reveal the truth. If the Entourage doesn’t suss out the truth then and there, Compt Lorenzo orders a search of everyone’s quarters. Act 3, Scene 2, Day 6: The Entourage is present for the search. The search of Pallos’ quarters reveals nothing, scaring Karos. His quarters are searched next, and Pell finds the real baliset. However, he also finds a small shigawire reel. If the Entourage examines it, they find that it contains 150-year-old readings from the real baliset, as well as recent readings and false ones. It should be obvious at this point that Karos betrayed them, and the right course of action is to declare him a traitor and convince Compt Lorenzo. If discovered, Karos makes a run for it, hoping to reach the D’murjzin embassy, and is quickly captured. Act 3, Scene 3, Day 7: The day of the auction for the real baliset. The Entourage will be bidding against either the D’murjzin or a proxy (if Pallos revealed that they are the “anonymous owner”). The bidding is resolved with skill tests to determine if the they can both win the baliset and stay under budget. If the Entourage has accomplished both their goals, then they’ve won both a substantive political victory and a symbolic one.  Stop or I’ll shoot...darts, I’m pretty sure! Poison ones, maybe! So what do I think of it? First, I’m impressed with the concept and theme of the adventure. This is an introductory adventure, designed to get the players to embody their characters and become natives of the setting, so to speak, and it’s excellent at illustrating the Dune setting. It highlights all its essential elements--the social order and caste system, the prohibitions on technology, the importance of culture and how it affects the way people think and act, and above all, the emphasis on diplomacy, intrigue, and the struggle among the ruling class to get ahead at one another’s expense. The Entourage has to navigate an unfamiliar world with an unfamiliar culture. They get to see the wealth of the Great Houses and the staggering power of the Guild. The rules of the Butlerian Jihad play an important role in the story, as does CHOAM and the tradition of kanly. The only things missing are the overarching importance of melange and the machinations of the Bene Gesserit, but the plot really wouldn’t benefit from such entanglements. But the execution is flawed, and it brings to bear all issues with the rules and with the way the game encourages you to structure adventures. Each scene ends with notes regarding possible Ventures and important skill Tests that can be made. It’s really bad at this. First, most of the Ventures aren’t actually Narrative Ventures--they don’t specify that you gain Asset points from succeeding. The recommended Tests are even worse. Several of them are just there for show, and the PCs aren’t said to gain anything by succeeding. The only fight that occurs doesn’t matter, and is just there for the Entourage to flex their muscles--they can stand around watching the Adici guards fighting the D’murjzin infiltrators, and the Adicis will still win. But most importantly, almost all of the listed Tests are BG Way or Truthtrance Tests, and almost all of those are to notice that something is going on with Karos--he’s agitated, apprehensive, afraid, et cetera at various points in the adventure. The notes don’t mention the possibility of a Mentat using Computation or Projection to read Karos, despite the fact that reading people and analyzing motivations are specific uses for those skills. Of course the listed Tests are not supposed to be the only ones, but the adventure as written doesn’t give you anything to do with any character class besides a Bene Gesserit Adept. The adventure assumes that all the listed scenes will play out with their basic structure intact, and the Entourage has few actual decisions to make. Essentially, the success or failure of the mission boils down to them saying to themselves “I think this really suspicious guy is trying to gently caress us over” and saying to Compt Lorenzo “No, we’re not in cahoots with this guy, he’s trying to gently caress us all over.” And if you have a Bene Gesserit in your Entourage, you will have found a bunch of giant neon signs reading “This guy’s really suspicious” before the big reveal. There’s no guidance on what to do if the Entourage confronts Karos before the auction. (I don’t mind that, if the players are really boneheaded, they eventually find the smoking gun in his luggage anyway. It is an intro adventure, after all.) Truthtrance is for “discerning the truth of an event,” which sounds like something Slavoj Zizek would mumble in his sleep.  Next time on Dune: The culture of the Imperium! Halloween Jack fucked around with this message at 23:11 on Feb 15, 2017 |
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Jul 4, 2016 18:14
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It was one of those licensed games published by Guardians of Order around the same time they were publishing games based on various animes (using the BESM rules) that also doubled as "fan bibles" with lots of setting info and illustrations and such. It was the only thing the company ever did that was based on a live-action property, so I wonder what the story is behind that. Strangely, it was written by the authors of Transhuman Space and Heaven & Earth.
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Jul 5, 2016 03:32
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