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It's the opposite of a trope, because you're not picking them out of some lovely, ever-expanding list compiled by brain-damaged internet people who think they're funny. Rather you come up with a character's background like normal, and then you summarize a few important aspects of that background in a form that's short enough to write on a character sheet, and you stick a number next to them, and then you use that number as a bonus whenever you roll to do something where that part of the background would be relevant.
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Jun 29, 2014 16:20
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As far as I can tell it's just the skill system, except you have freedom to make up your own skills rather than pick them from a list. There's a pretty good Let's Play of the system which gives a good idea of what it's like.
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Jun 29, 2014 16:59
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Yeah pretty much, plus skills are at the same time broader and tighter than in D&D. Like when you write down "Circus Acrobat" that may not in itself cover absolutely everything the Acrobatics skill does, but you get the bonus whenever something comes up in the game where you'd say "a circus acrobat would be pretty good at this", including things like knowing how to talk to carnies, figuring out which one is likely to be the director's cart etc. Gotta say though, love 13th Age but Roy figuring out Durkon's deal right now with a roll wouldn't make for a terribly good story development the way this thing is set up right now.
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Jun 29, 2014 18:52
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My Lovely Horse posted:Gotta say though, love 13th Age but Roy figuring out Durkon's deal right now with a roll wouldn't make for a terribly good story development the way this thing is set up right now. Of course. It was a jab at the 3.5 Fighter more than a complaint. This is the best thing (er, character development-wise) that's happened to Durkon. Now every OOTS fan wants him to have more screentime!
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Jun 29, 2014 22:05
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My Lovely Horse posted:Yeah pretty much, plus skills are at the same time broader and tighter than in D&D. Like when you write down "Circus Acrobat" that may not in itself cover absolutely everything the Acrobatics skill does, but you get the bonus whenever something comes up in the game where you'd say "a circus acrobat would be pretty good at this", including things like knowing how to talk to carnies, figuring out which one is likely to be the director's cart etc. The thing that annoyed me the most about D&D was that my half-orc could not intimidate anyone, while the pixie bard was great at it (despite being built as a polite diplomat). Dogs in the Vineyard has a skill system that's similar to how 13th age sounds, and there's no problem at all using skills like "I can bench-press my horse" to help you win a debate or a gun fight.
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Jun 30, 2014 05:34
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Not only can your half-orc intimidate people in 13th Age, he can also do it using whatever ability score you want! The default mode is less "roll a skill" and more "roll an appropriate ability check, and add an applicable background."
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Jun 30, 2014 06:09
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I'm pretty much assuming Durk kills Belkar at this point.
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Jul 1, 2014 04:43
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Eifert Posting posted:I'm pretty much assuming Durk kills Belkar at this point. That would certainly be an obvious thing to happen.
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Jul 1, 2014 05:06
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And makes him into an undead, what with the coy "will draw his last breath" thing and being a cleric of Hel and all.
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Jul 1, 2014 06:45
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My Lovely Horse posted:And makes him into an undead, what with the coy "will draw his last breath" thing and being a cleric of Hel and all. That, on the other hand, sounds pretty boring.
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Jul 1, 2014 06:48
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He's going to get killed/die in a second to last panel on a page, the last panel being the Oracle looking at the viewer and saying "Hey, not all of my predictions are said cryptically. I said he was going to die, so he died. Go on home, show's over!"
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Jul 1, 2014 08:53
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My Lovely Horse posted:And makes him into an undead, what with the coy "will draw his last breath" thing and being a cleric of Hel and all. Even undead have to draw breath to talk. No way you'd make Belkar into a non-verbal undead. Snarky comments are half his character.
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Jul 1, 2014 10:28
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DrakePegasus posted:How so? Seriously, convincing others to try and play this game is very important to me, and a key stumbling block is that I have to pitch it to people who are all but married to older systems. I'd like to know what you think. That kind of direct evangelism annoys people, especially when you admit that's what you're doing.
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Jul 1, 2014 14:14
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Angela Christine posted:Even undead have to draw breath to talk. No way you'd make Belkar into a non-verbal undead. Snarky comments are half his character.
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Jul 1, 2014 15:43
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IMJack posted:That kind of direct evangelism annoys people, especially when you admit that's what you're doing. Also I think reducing the Durkon-Roy thing to a die roll (when one of the strengths of most non-D&D systems is avoiding things like that) was a bad way to sell it.
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Jul 1, 2014 19:55
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Angela Christine posted:Even undead have to draw breath to talk. No way you'd make Belkar into a non-verbal undead. Snarky comments are half his character. Undead probably talk through magic, not air. Xykon certainly has no trouble talking without a pair of lungs, or even when he's reduced down to just a skull, or a pair of eyes lurking in his phylactery.
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Jul 1, 2014 20:03
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Angela Christine posted:Even undead have to draw breath to talk. No way you'd make Belkar into a non-verbal undead. Snarky comments are half his character. Non-corporeal undead like ghosts and spectres probably don't breathe to talk.
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Jul 2, 2014 03:13
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IIRC, when a speech bubble's black the character's using negative energy to talk. And then you get some undead characters (e.g. Malack) who still use their windpipe (presumably to keep up the pretence that he was not a vampire to Durkon)
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Jul 2, 2014 07:36
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So, um: new strip: Takes One To Know One Hardest I've laughed at a oots comic in a while.
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Jul 5, 2014 03:37
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Oh, right. Lurky can dominate the entire Order nearly at will because only Roy has anything remotely like a Will save. That's disconcerting.
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Jul 5, 2014 03:43
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That was good. I particularly liked how it shed light on why exactly Belkar's not buying the Durkon act - his understanding of character development would shame Elan. The only thing I have to wonder is whether the Vampire was hoping Belkar would fall to his death or was just screwing with him.
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Jul 5, 2014 03:53
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DrakePegasus posted:Oh, right. Lurky can dominate the entire Order nearly at will because only Roy has anything remotely like a Will save. That's disconcerting. Actually, V probably has a respectable Will save as well. Elan might too, though it really depends on how many levels he's taken in his prestige class and whether or not it gets a good bonus to Will.
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Jul 5, 2014 04:13
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Well, in terms of the WIS stat, V's is mediocre and Elan is through the floor. Haley might have a decent Will save, has it ever been shown?
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Jul 5, 2014 04:21
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So I guess Belkar took Favored Enemy: Undead at some point. ( )
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Jul 5, 2014 04:23
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W.T. Fits posted:Actually, V probably has a respectable Will save as well. Elan might too, though it really depends on how many levels he's taken in his prestige class and whether or not it gets a good bonus to Will. I'd be kinda surprised if it didn't because what kind of Dashing Swordsman isn't strong-willed?
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Jul 5, 2014 04:26
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MikeJF posted:Well, in terms of the WIS stat, V's is mediocre and Elan is through the floor. Who cares about your WIS score at that level, though? As a primary caster, V's class Will save is through the roof.
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Jul 5, 2014 04:36
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Yeah but he has a -2! A WHOLE MINUS 2!
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Jul 5, 2014 04:38
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Well, that could be interesting, Vamp Durkon doing bad things and Belkar chastizing/complaining about it, its an interesting role-reversal from the early days.
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Jul 5, 2014 04:58
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Shugojin posted:I'd be kinda surprised if it didn't because what kind of Dashing Swordsman isn't strong-willed? But it's more dramatic for you to fail your Will save at first, then in the next battle be more determined and make the save at a key moment.
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Jul 5, 2014 05:10
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HisMajestyBOB posted:But it's more dramatic for you to fail your Will save at first, then in the next battle be more determined and make the save at a key moment. Come to think of it, it was Elan who twigged to the problems in the Grand Illusion first...
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Jul 5, 2014 05:17
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Dolash posted:The only thing I have to wonder is whether the Vampire was hoping Belkar would fall to his death or was just screwing with him.
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Jul 5, 2014 06:42
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Here's to a great update, at a timely pace, for once. Let's hope we're getting right back into the swing of things again.
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Jul 5, 2014 08:01
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I think Durkula just made the first of the mistakes that will end up his undoing. This was the first real time that he gave off a 'a demon wearing Durkon's skin' vibe instead of 'Durkon now undead' vibe. I suspect its not ordering Belkar to jump that will cause him later problems, but the idea that he can that will make him keep making little slip ups until it all falls apart.
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Jul 5, 2014 09:14
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I dunno, I think we'll end up with a 'Belkar who cried Durkon' kind of story, where we'll see the jolly little halfling attacked and not believed until he's dead. Only the will Roy accept that his best bud has been hijacked for the last few weeks.
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Jul 5, 2014 09:51
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nimby posted:I dunno, I think we'll end up with a 'Belkar who cried Durkon' kind of story, where we'll see the jolly little halfling attacked and not believed until he's dead. Only the will Roy accept that his best bud has been hijacked for the last few weeks. It'd be an interesting emotional thing for Roy to go through, where he wanted Belkar to die just to be rid of him, and when he does it's to show him the worst possible thing Roy could suffer right now.
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Jul 5, 2014 12:26
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If he hadn't snagged on the boat, would Belkar have died? As a high level ranger/barbarian at full health, he can fall quite a long way, can't he?
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Jul 5, 2014 12:38
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He has a cape, he would just flare it like Super Mario.
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Jul 5, 2014 13:06
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Just link the new comic people. http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0957.html
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Jul 5, 2014 13:48
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ikanreed posted:So, um: Just read the thread people.
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Jul 5, 2014 13:53
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Huh, my mistake then, sorry about that.
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Jul 5, 2014 14:01
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