FATAL & Friends 2024: 61 billion casualties

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Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Kurieg posted:

Flipping tables at moneychangers?

Getting mad at fig trees?

# ¿ Mar 19, 2024 21:00

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# ¿ May 15, 2025 07:47

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Personally I'd enjoy seeing the game write-up finish and I encourage OP to just make note of this and move on to the whole thing. If this makes me some kind of a cuss word, I accept the burden.

Just Dan Again posted:

I think this sums up the situation very clearly. It would be very cool to see the current review continue, and it would be great to hear folks' commentary around actually playing the game and exploring scenarios at their table. A lot of the time the lore discussions get so deep into the examination that actually showing up to engage with the game in a group setting disappears entirely.

The Magechat Effect

# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 21:36

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Whirling posted:

I was more disappointed about how the setting focuses more on macro-level stuff rather than the places you'll be engaging in conflicts on and the people you'll be engaging in conflicts with, I can't really imagine getting worked up about whether or not you can be a good person and have a NHP considering that you're already in the ethically dubious position of playing as people who kill other people for a living.

From my efforts to read the core books, there is plenty of people/groups to have conflict with, but as is the fashion these days it seems quite strongly leaning towards 'use this macro-level toolkit to create your own microlevel issues and quests'.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 00:10

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Whirling posted:

Really do not like this kind of thing, makes me do too much work as a GM and since I'm the forever GM of my friend group, I've been running on fumes for a while.

It does save on page count but I do think there is a ton of value in these things when they present you with a basic/general/'typical' example of whatever they're aiming to accomplish, if only so you can see what it looks like and raid it for parts.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 00:50

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

My sibling in Jeffrey, Exalted did not contain the flame wars, lol

# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 15:17

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

If memory serves me correctly, I believe Mecha_face is referring to some of the Exalted First Circle Demons being more like fat lizards or weird bushes or clouds of smoke full of swords. The higher ranking demons are all inarguably intelligent beings, although they may be very alien.

It seems that NHPs in Lancer are all meant to be communicating individuals along the lines of other fictional computer characters, such as Cortana, HAL 9000, Holly from Red Dwarf, etc. -- I am not sure if this is entirely accurate, but that seems to be the intent. It puzzles me a little why the authors did not render NHPs as "these are your computer buddies, who can in some circumstances end up breaking out of the mould of their being and becoming something like the big/eldritch AIs; your buddies do not wish to have happen, but may change their mind if it starts happening."

My inference is that by giving their "AIs" an origin that is not simply "programmed a computer real good" or "threw enough processors into one hole," they could more explicitly create their desired aesthetic effect rather than giving everyone an opening to cram in their own personal fanfic about the salvation/damnation brought by the machines of loving grace/Frankenstein gangster computer gods.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2024 14:16

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Pakxos posted:

I'm sure someone is going to chime in with how the comics printed in the various books don't count, but, First Circle demons are written as beings with desires, individual personalities and stoic acceptance of how much their lives suck.

Oh c'mon, I'm really trying not to quote from the book this time around, but 'loving grace/Frankenstein gangster computer gods' are explicitly, textually, what MONIST-1, Metat-Aun and possibly the weird things behind Horus are.

edit.

Oh - you're saying if Lancer jettisoned those entities and the associated lore, these arguments would stop. Well sure, we can agree on that.

On the first, yeah I just remember reading the Malfeas book like eight years ago. It was creative at least.

On the second: my understanding is that AIs in Lancer are all basically little superfragments of Stuff Beyond, while things like phones and automatic rice cookers still run on something comparable to modern electronics. This includes NHPs and the big spooky guys. Thus, both superAIs and the NHPs can�t be �fact checked � by IT nerds because they are not �just� advanced computers.

I might well have misread the content in which case I regret my error.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2024 15:56

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Mecha_Face posted:

Okay, can you tell me how it's wrong in 2nd Edition Exalted? I love learning about the settings I like, and I don't have access to most of the third edition books, so I don't know what is and isn't changed. If none of that was accurate, I'd like to know what it actually is.

My impression:

1e: the beautiful dream from which all matter is but a fallen and imperfect reflection
2e: minor mechanical refinement plus soulless compilations, plus those parts of infernals
3e: 100% free from bad rules you think you want

# ¿ Apr 30, 2024 23:16

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Mecha_Face posted:

And yet the 3e Crafting System still exists and I really don't like it. It feels way too grindy for a TTRPG that you might only be getting to play once every week or every other week. How does it feel in PRACTICE, if you've tried it out?

Ask the exalted thread, choom, I checked out after Morkes bullshit

# ¿ Apr 30, 2024 23:36

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Glazius posted:

I like that Lancer has a mech that's just a big Boston Dynamics dog; quadruped mechs need more love.

BiggerDogger

# ¿ Jun 2, 2024 09:00

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Rand Brittain posted:

Honestly, the bit I find most annoying is how much time it spends on buzzwords reminding you that the author has the correct politics instead of just making it implicit in the text.

Doing a certain amount of making it completely explicit seems wise, but these samples seem to be somewhat past the threshold where it becomes tiresome.

Is the part of the guy mooning over the Arabic tiles instead of reading them based on something? It's so specific that it sounds like it's rooted in some actual event rather than just being the seventh line under "THIS GUY SUCKS"

# ¿ Jun 16, 2024 05:22

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Cythereal posted:

Well that just seems dangerously irresponsible to be driving... anywhere, really.

Sounds like someone isn't "in the club"!

# ¿ Jun 25, 2024 03:31

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

BinaryDoubts posted:

Outright giving the players a map of the current dungeon floor actually solves my biggest issue with running dungeons, which is that I hate squinting at the map and telling the players what exits exist, in what direction, and other admin like that as they explore. I dunno why but it bothers me and makes me feel like the parser in a text adventure instead of the GM.

I think this is a place where VTT automation makes a superior experience, if you could make the 'fog of war' blackness turn into some kind of reliable 'toggle on and off' thing you could just reveal poo poo as people go along.

# ¿ Jul 30, 2024 01:38

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

This sounds like a strong contender for new omni-system

# ¿ Aug 9, 2024 03:35

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Pvt.Scott posted:

Most anime shows these days seem (to me) to be 11-13 episodes already mostly in the can, released weekly. The cancellation risk would seem to be more between seasons than not. There don�t seem to be many shows shooting for that 50 episodes of weekly toy commercials slot, at least not releasing to the streaming services.

They are definitely not working that far ahead, though I imagine they at least finish the first couple of episodes. That said it also seems hard to get canceled on the, like, second episode, too.

# ¿ Aug 14, 2024 21:22

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Robindaybird posted:

I have to wonder why Houri for a seductress class. I can understand the naming schemes for the rest but I'm just scratching my head at this one.

Probably fishing for a semi-respectable and/or Foreign name for the various entries on the DMG's "random sex worker encounter" table

# ¿ Aug 16, 2024 16:51

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Asterite34 posted:

If you draw a Joker in the authoritarian hellscape check... do you start the revolution?

# ¿ Aug 23, 2024 01:52

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Asterite34 posted:

I'm not sure, but I feel that's what should happen regardless of what's elucidated in the rules just based on vibes, right?

Even something as small as "played a part" would be a possible meaningful conclusion; this happened with Voltes V in the Phillipines

# ¿ Aug 23, 2024 16:52

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Aw, too bad they apparently didn't get enough cash to do Space Fishing. At least we can go to Hell.

# ¿ Sep 12, 2024 03:15

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

EclecticTastes posted:

The World of Darkness would be a hell of a setting for Triangle Agency. Just imagine the kind of Anomalies that might arise from the feelings of Changelings towards the True Fae, or really any of the truly bonkers thoughts Mages could be having at any given moment. And that's just nWoD. With oWoD, you're already working in a consensus reality, which dovetails perfectly with Triangle Agency's own description of how reality functions, and now you've got thoughts like "fear of the Antediluvians" and "anything to do with Wraith: The Oblivion" to contend with.

The Triangle Agency has a soft coup of the Technocratic Union, growing from a specialized branch into, well, the whole thing. Previous Conventions remain as Employee Affinity Groups.

The Traditions first find out about this fifteen-year progress when a Black Suit shows up at the wizard bar in Gary Indiana, bellyaching about how he got laid off.

# ¿ Sep 18, 2024 06:00

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

It seems plausible that Buddhism or a Buddhism-equivalent wouldn't be present if this isn't meant to be ancient India; Buddhism faded out in India despite starting there, although I think it was generally known (there were plenty of relics and statues, etc)

# ¿ Dec 7, 2024 23:49

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Might as well just have JHVH-1 from the SubGenius mythos.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2025 00:41

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Mirage posted:

I vote Fledge Witch, it sounds like an interesting premise.

Being a Persona/SMT fan, the big thing with SMT is how dour and self-serious it is. It's all "the world is ending/has ended and now you have to kill God" stuff, but not, like, in a fun way.

Jack Frost Lyfe

Maybe this is where the �all jrpgs are about killing god� came from. That and illiteracy

# ¿ Feb 25, 2025 16:25

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Leraika posted:

Yeah, 'how demon from computer' isn't really a thing in Nocturne that much. In the ones where it is a thing, you basically use the computer as a way of contacting/summoning the demons if you only get one (like the novels/OVA) and/or the computer/terminal is the way you store your pokemon.

edit: wow that was badly written. basically in the original stories you contact/summon demons via computer and they really don't get controlled per se (do not summon Loki, he's an rear end in a top hat). In the games it's usually more of a storage device, if computers are at all relevant.

Yeah I thought it was a mcguffin for "how come you can tote around a party of demons and poo poo" from what I have gathered, like how the PC in the modern Persona games mysteriously has a bunch of brain slots you can stuff Personas in and swap between.

# ¿ Feb 27, 2025 18:47

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Huh, I thought animate dead was level 3. Then again that was from AD&D2E, which may have already been too far down the ol' hole for OSR.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2025 18:47

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Pvt.Scott posted:

I�ve never checked, but is Cthulhu supposed to be pronounced with a silent c like in cthonic? Silly Greek people.

I believe ol' Howard said it was meant to be a kind of "Khluu-hu' or something

I just go with "K'Thulu" when I've had to mention Him aloud

Halloween Jack posted:

Cthulhutech is an interesting niche case because it uses IP that was trendy and public domain at the time (Yog-Sothothery) to shamelessly rip off a very specific set of anime references.

I am down with anime references, and anime in general (at least as a food group if not a primary intake) -- but I am always annoyed when I see directly through a transparent direct lifting of something. I recall this made me roll my eyes a few times when reading through Chuubo. Yes, Jenna, I also saw that anime. Reference something more obscure like Kakegurui.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2025 20:59

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

I also vote Iron Kingdoms. I want to hear what stupid elf poo poo ended up happening!

# ¿ Mar 8, 2025 07:39

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Kurieg posted:

You have no idea how stupid.

It's astonishingly stupid.

I did appreciate the fact that they went ahead and put elves at the north pole

# ¿ Mar 8, 2025 08:01

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

mllaneza posted:

Oh goddamnit, the Aelfir in Spire are from the North Pole.

We brought the elves back from vacation,
Chained them up and called up FATAL & Friends

# ¿ Mar 8, 2025 10:35

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Kurieg posted:

Well, that's partly a function of them no longer having any of the molds or masters from mk1-3 anymore, and also several factions just do not exist anymore. And some others got voltroned together in weird ways.

Also, the game and IP got sold to another company that doesn't seem very interested in making additional rpg books.

I don't know exactly how it all works, but would it be possible for them to replicate sprues if they can find or source unassembled kits?

# ¿ Mar 9, 2025 00:22

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Bar Crow posted:

People want to be praised for their media consumption. And their enemies shamed for theirs.

What higher cause could there be?

# ¿ Mar 11, 2025 21:54

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Runa posted:

As someone who doesn't go out of my way to seek out 40K stuff even if I occasionally enjoy the odd Ciaphas Cain novel or licensed video game when gifted one on steam, some of this stuff absolutely feels like trying to deliberately take a bite out of games workshop stuff.

Which, to be fair, they were absolutely trying to do in the business sense.

I learned Warmahordes at a shoppe which also had 40k stuff kicking around. (Ironically, there was a random Space Marine who you were encouraged to take out back if you were going to spray-prime... the Primer Marine... mods knew)

There was, ah, substantial overlap, I think

# ¿ Mar 12, 2025 01:22

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

So how else are you going to get your players comfortable with cannibalism?

# ¿ Mar 12, 2025 22:02

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Halloween Jack posted:

You can't make them much more lethal, but you can always add lifepath tables that give your character disabilities or say that they're ugly or they smell like onions, encounter tables that dunk them in poo poo and give them a skin disease, magic items that chafe their taints raw every time they use them, etc. Some people love this stupid garbage.

This reminds me of the strange trend in online World of Darkness games of making the most aggressively boring, ugly and mundane character possible, instead of simply being aware that you were not required to be a stock photo model if you are also a vampire

# ¿ Mar 13, 2025 15:29

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Halloween Jack posted:

I haven't encountered that. Is this recent? Maybe it's a reaction to the odd runway fashion in V5.

I have seen people on forums kinda-joke about how if they played a vampire they'd play the nerdiest most unglamorous vampire possible. Sometimes it's better to accept that a particular game is not your thing.

This was in the elder times, when I was a Youth. This was back when Vampire had two editions - if you were lucky!

Traveller posted:

There's a particular kind of nerd that gets their jollies by stating or implying that A Game is bad because they can't do a character concept that is inconsistent with game expectations. D&D is a game about adventurers going into dungeons to kill monsters and take their stuff - but the real reason it's bad is because you can't make a blacksmith that stays in town and doesn't go on adventurers. I also remember "but what if my ordinary human stays home at night, why can't I do that in a game that allows me to do anything" bad faith arguments regarding WoD.

I remember someone complaining because they couldn't have their explicitly/formally hyper-mundane Mutants and Masterminds character (who did the thing where you get the same dice bonuses as the guy with Superman Powers +10 by buying sixty-seven feats) would not be able to potentially whup everyone if translated into Exalted, without, again, specifically not using any Magic at all.

It was an interesting thing because it seemed like the power origin siloing from City of Heroes just became baked into people's brains. Lot of people wanting to do the "aha, I want a guy with an Enforced Mundanity power!" When, like, I can't say the comix themselves haven't done that, but a certain point you're creating a new, superior/more fundamental classification and saying you're going to use that instead.

Nessus fucked around with this message at 17:32 on Mar 13, 2025

# ¿ Mar 13, 2025 17:28

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

Street Fighter was a remarkably robust implementation of the Storyteller System, they were right on that one.

# ¿ Mar 13, 2025 17:37

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

He has to get a new hat each time.

I think the hedges are interesting if you look at them as "this is the core idea of these hedges," but also treat them as religious sects or philosophical schools or a blend of both. You don't even have to have them make sense. Maybe the higher-purpose guys and the knot-cutters are both down with the Great Teacher who walked among the elves for seventy-seven years and perished from the bite of the asp, but the tapestry weavers' founder's brother was the betrayer of the Great Teacher (brought the asp hidden in a can of nuts) and so the former and the latter are at cultural loggerheads for no "good" reason, but nevertheless a passionate one.

Or maybe they buried the hatchet 130 years ago but retain the

wait for it

beefs except when faced with non-minotaur challenges.

e: Everyone's also sick of the Riddlers' poo poo because their founder was in fact The Riddler, whose presence in a fantasy realm is best left unexplored. Riddle me this! Riddle the gently caress away from my maze, rear end in a top hat!

Nessus fucked around with this message at 05:19 on Mar 28, 2025

# ¿ Mar 28, 2025 05:13

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

I remember the "Returners" RPG (what a fuckin' nonsense-name for a rebel group) which had you go to level 100, because that's what you did in Final Fantasy.

# ¿ Mar 30, 2025 01:29

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

By popular demand posted:

Actual armies heard about the KISS* principle, why haven't wargame designers?

*Keep it simple, stupid.

To be fair this thing is old enough to have voted in '16

# ¿ Apr 4, 2025 16:49

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# ¿ May 15, 2025 07:47

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; we'll get there sooner or later

You know, if you're a cyborg dog, most of these problems go away.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2025 02:36

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