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Kibner
Oct 21, 2008

#1 Pelican Fan
"dad taught me everything I know" but all I know are fart jokes and pub trivia.

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01011001
Dec 26, 2012

Nickoten posted:

Didn't 13th Age's system let you decide how much of the total bonus they'd get to apply, based on how on-point it was? That seems like an easy solution.

Not by default unless I missed something. My table houseruled that in pretty quick though and that helped a bit, though pretty much everyone who knew what they were doing still took a +5 and +3 and mostly leaned hard on the +5.

Splicer
Oct 16, 2006

from hell's heart I cast at thee
🧙🐀🧹🌙🪄🐸

Nickoten posted:

Didn't 13th Age's system let you decide how much of the total bonus they'd get to apply, based on how on-point it was? That seems like an easy solution.
It comes back down to a numbers game again though. If you stretch the +5 to apply but you're getting a -2 penalty why not just use the +3? And if you don't know you're going to get the -2 until after your justification then it ruins the whole flow of the game. It increases the mother may I. Same with increasing the DC. That's always been the big problem with a binary success, single information track system, the mechanically most optimal choice is always the one which requires the lowest die roll to succeed. Flexible skills just make it even harder to judge what is going to get you the best roll. Coming up with an explanation as to why "Dad Lessons +3" applies only to have it knocked down below "Owned a pub +2" just wastes everyone's time. Being able to add a reached "Dad lessons +3" but with a higher chance of complications than rolling your ability score straight makes life easier and more fun for everyone.

01011001
Dec 26, 2012

Yeah, the process of arguing with your players whether or not they get their full bonus just gets exhausting when you can stretch a thing to cover almost anything.

hyphz
Aug 5, 2003

Number 1 Nerd Tear Farmer 2022.

Keep it up, champ.

Also you're a skeleton warrior now. Kree.
Unlockable Ben
One of the things I dislike about Strike is that players end up arguing that they should just roll before deciding what skill they use, or if an action is in their skill’s remit, because 2/3rds of the time it won’t matter.

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy
I think that even in a game with explicitly defined skills, players will strive to only attempt things within their wheelhouse anyway.

In that sense, "bad skills" are almost like Fate aspects where the GM has to "invoke" situations where the player is forced to use a skill that they otherwise never would.

Plutonis
Mar 25, 2011

Alien Rope Burn posted:

I'm sure God would, but God never could figure how those rules work.

Then, curse him, the devil will!

hyphz posted:

One of the things I dislike about Strike is that players end up arguing that they should just roll before deciding what skill they use, or if an action is in their skill’s remit, because 2/3rds of the time it won’t matter.

I brought up skills ten times total in the 20+ session campaign I gmed so that problem was circumvented :cheers:

hyphz
Aug 5, 2003

Number 1 Nerd Tear Farmer 2022.

Keep it up, champ.

Also you're a skeleton warrior now. Kree.
Unlockable Ben

gradenko_2000 posted:

I think that even in a game with explicitly defined skills, players will strive to only attempt things within their wheelhouse anyway.

In that sense, "bad skills" are almost like Fate aspects where the GM has to "invoke" situations where the player is forced to use a skill that they otherwise never would.

I sometimes wonder about what an RPG system would be like where you defined your character by weaknesses, not strengths. That way you’d be forced to consider what challenges you wanted to play right at chargen.

“Ok, roll your Weakness, Clumsiness, Frailty, Stupidity, Naivite and Awkwardness in order...”

Halloween Jack
Sep 12, 2003

La morte non ha sesso
The Dying Earth has stats for your failings. Everyone is assumed to be vain, greedy, dishonest, horny, gluttonous, and pedantic, and you have stats representing your ability to resist the urge to aggrandize yourself needlessly at someone else's expense.

And then there's Rock of Tahamut, of course, where everyone is Craven, Desperate, Unlucky, and Vicious, and your points represent those things being good for you instead of bad.

Plutonis
Mar 25, 2011

hyphz posted:

I sometimes wonder about what an RPG system would be like where you defined your character by weaknesses, not strengths. That way you’d be forced to consider what challenges you wanted to play right at chargen.

“Ok, roll your Weakness, Clumsiness, Frailty, Stupidity, Naivite and Awkwardness in order...”

PDQ has flaws

Spiteski
Aug 27, 2013



As does savage worlds. Also savage worlds skill resolution is pretty fun compared to d20

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!
Savage Worlds strikes me as like my baseline for an average RPG system. It doesn't do anything particularly well or anything particularly badly. It is the definition of a perfectly okay system.

oriongates
Mar 14, 2013

Validate Me!


I get a completely pointless endorphin rush from exploding dice, so that elevates SW from "functional workhorse" to "top 3 systems" for me.

unseenlibrarian
Jun 4, 2012

There's only one thing in the mountains that leaves a track like this. The creature of legend that roams the Timberline. My people named him Sasquatch. You call him... Bigfoot.
My problem with Savage worlds is that it's so average I forget how it works from session to session. But the PEG inc guys run a very professional kickstarter so I've given them money a few times anyway.

Covok
May 27, 2013

Yet where is that woman now? Tell me, in what heave does she reside? None of them. Because no God bothered to listen or care. If that is what you think it means to be a God, then you and all your teachings are welcome to do as that poor women did. And vanish from these realms forever.
After openingly mocking people for wanting to use Genesys for Superheroes...I wrote a lite hack for Superheroes using Genesys. It's "lite" in that I didn't feel like making Careers so I didn't and tried to make a work around for it. It's messy right now, still cleaning it up, but how does it look? Anything obvious that I'm missing?

Likely gonna add a few more custom talents for the archetype. Also, I still need to customize character motivations. I know they don't fit yet.

Here is my hack.

Covok fucked around with this message at 00:39 on Jan 1, 2018

dwarf74
Sep 2, 2012



Buglord

01011001 posted:

Yeah, the process of arguing with your players whether or not they get their full bonus just gets exhausting when you can stretch a thing to cover almost anything.
Yeah, I like to front-load that as much as possible during character creation.

Nickoten
Oct 16, 2005

Now there'll be some quiet in this town.

Splicer posted:

It comes back down to a numbers game again though. If you stretch the +5 to apply but you're getting a -2 penalty why not just use the +3? And if you don't know you're going to get the -2 until after your justification then it ruins the whole flow of the game. It increases the mother may I. Same with increasing the DC. That's always been the big problem with a binary success, single information track system, the mechanically most optimal choice is always the one which requires the lowest die roll to succeed. Flexible skills just make it even harder to judge what is going to get you the best roll. Coming up with an explanation as to why "Dad Lessons +3" applies only to have it knocked down below "Owned a pub +2" just wastes everyone's time. Being able to add a reached "Dad lessons +3" but with a higher chance of complications than rolling your ability score straight makes life easier and more fun for everyone.

I could see how taking the highest numbers and going for the Hail Mary every time would get tedious. But I also don't like the flipside where your veteran sailor doesn't get to add their proficiency bonus to tying knots because the designers didn't want to have too many skills.

I like the idea of there being a devil's bargain associated with using your background though, that seems like it could help.

The Glumslinger
Sep 24, 2008

Coach Nagy, you want me to throw to WHAT side of the field?


Hair Elf
Dumb question, but anyone got a recommendation for a fantasy series in the classic sword and sorcery, D&D style? Something that isnt super deep, but can give me some inspiration as try to be a better gm

funmanguy
Apr 20, 2006

What time is it?
whats the first book ever published that contained both dungeons and dragons?

slap me and kiss me
Apr 1, 2008

You best protect ya neck

funmanguy posted:

whats the first book ever published that contained both dungeons and dragons?

The Legend of Huma, but word of caution, it's an erotic dragon.

funmanguy
Apr 20, 2006

What time is it?

slap me and kiss me posted:

The Legend of Huma, but word of caution, it's an erotic dragon.

think older, way older

remusclaw
Dec 8, 2009

Holly Bibble no?

Where the hell does D&D get it's usage of the word dungeon from, as opposed to the usage it is most known for, as in being a place to lock people up?

WrightOfWay
Jul 24, 2010


I don't remember any non-metaphorical dragons in the Bible.

Beowulf had dungeons and dragons. Not sure about older stuff.

Otherkinsey Scale
Jul 17, 2012

Just a little bit of sunshine!

The Glumslinger posted:

Dumb question, but anyone got a recommendation for a fantasy series in the classic sword and sorcery, D&D style? Something that isnt super deep, but can give me some inspiration as try to be a better gm

Lone Wolf comes to mind. I haven't read/played in years so it might actually be awful (I remember the LPs that used to happen here drew my attention to how consistently "swarthy" people are evil), but I can't think of anything else in that vein that isn't definitely awful.

Moving away from that a bit, there's Perdido Street Station and sequels, which mostly comes to mind because a low-key parody of a D&D party shows up at one point. "The Fifth Season" is not classic sword-and-sorcery and is super deep--stratigraphically--but it's also the only fantasy novel I've read in years that actually took a stylistic risk, and a successful one at that.

alg
Mar 14, 2007

A wolf was no less a wolf because a whim of chance caused him to run with the watch-dogs.

The Glumslinger posted:

Dumb question, but anyone got a recommendation for a fantasy series in the classic sword and sorcery, D&D style? Something that isnt super deep, but can give me some inspiration as try to be a better gm

Fafrd and the Grey Mouser series by Fritz Leiber. Classic buddy story with a lot of ideas that inspired D&D

General Ironicus
Aug 21, 2008

Something about this feels kinda hinky

WrightOfWay posted:

I don't remember any non-metaphorical dragons in the Bible.

Beowulf had dungeons and dragons. Not sure about older stuff.

The Catholic Bible has one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bel_and_the_Dragon#The_dragon

My Lovely Horse
Aug 21, 2010

Man Perdido Street Station is great but could not possibly be further from classic sword and sorcery

Tuxedo Catfish
Mar 17, 2007

You've got guts! Come to my village, I'll buy you lunch.

My Lovely Horse posted:

Man Perdido Street Station is great but could not possibly be further from classic sword and sorcery

Yes it could.

It could be Iron Council. :v:

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy

The Glumslinger posted:

Dumb question, but anyone got a recommendation for a fantasy series in the classic sword and sorcery, D&D style? Something that isnt super deep, but can give me some inspiration as try to be a better gm

Tamora Pierce's Alanna series?

Dragonlance was already mentioned, and I have some very fond memories of the Cormyr series of Forgotten Realms fiction

ZeroCount
Aug 12, 2013


Alien Rope Burn posted:

I'm sure God would, but God never could figure how those rules work.

Which rules, Nobilis or Fate/Stay Night?

Vulpes Vulpes
Apr 28, 2013

"...for you, it is all over...!"

The Glumslinger posted:

Dumb question, but anyone got a recommendation for a fantasy series in the classic sword and sorcery, D&D style? Something that isnt super deep, but can give me some inspiration as try to be a better gm


I write a series of short stories about a couple of Sword & Sorcery adventurers in the greatest city of the world (Alfuo) over at my tumblr, extra applicable since both characters started out as Dungeon World characters for PBP games here.

(Desiderio is a Dashing Hero, Baros started out as a Witch but moved over to Collector)

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Ettin
Oct 2, 2010
Happy new year, folks. New thread time!

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