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Magic Burner is the "modular" book of the system - it presents rules for around a dozen different variant magic systems, like spirit-summoning, necromancy, and crafting magic, but notes that only a few should be active in any given setting. Burning Wheel isn't very hackable because it's very tightly constructed. Torchbearer, even more so in a smaller space. In a lot of systems, you've got skills and abilities and flavor stuff, and if you rewrite that you're good to go. In Torchbearer (which I read more recently than BW, so I remember more of it's complexity), there's a whole activity loop to mine, and you can't really alter one part of the equation without changing the way everything fits together. I haven't run it, so there are undoubtedly subtleties I'm still not grasping, but the core loop goes like this - Players start fresh, but every four skill rolls everyone gets a condition, like Hungry and Thirsty, which get progressively worse the longer you're out there. Hungry and Thirsty is easy to fix, but other conditions are more difficult and impose more interesting problems that just penalties - Angry makes you unable to use Helping rules. You can't fix most conditions in the field, because dungeons are dangerous and you can't cure a cold while you're working your rear end off to survive, so you'll need to make camp. You make tests (checks) in camp to fix conditions, but in order to do that, you need to spend checks. How do you get checks? You use traits, which are on another part of the character sheet, against yourself, to give yourself penalties on a roll, or reduce your successes when you do well. Then there's a whole set of ways you can game the system to get bonuses on your roll so that even though you're hindering yourself with a trait you aren't getting yourself killed. It's really a cool system, but it's not one I'd ever run as a one-shot or a con-game without a session or two to get to know the system a little to start. And changing one thing, like the number of turns it takes to get a condition, can make it significantly easier or more difficult. Mimir fucked around with this message at 04:24 on Sep 14, 2014 |
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Sep 14, 2014 04:06
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Mimir posted:
This brings to mind my recent info binge on Mountain climbing, facilitated by the Everest threads of the last few years. What would be a good rpg for the sake of running campaigns based on expeditions up high mountains and other hostile environments? Would Burning wheel do well for that? The only product I can ever recall seeing in rpg's for this kind of thing is Chaosiums "Beyond the Mountains of Madness", and I am not sure CoC is best suited for that kind of game, alongside the fact that BTMOM it is out of print and commands a high price these days. remusclaw fucked around with this message at 07:47 on Sep 14, 2014 |
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Sep 14, 2014 04:39
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The Nite Crew 13th Age game is progressing... Despite my sleepiness, stairmaster's fuckery, bees' naivety, zoq unwilling to speak on voicechat, windy's lack of attention and general derailing due to us speaking about inane crap, our party has gotten a ride on Smiling Sammy's boat, but we were beset by pirates. Actually i went to sleep at that part and i think my wizard was murdered but basically it was a fun experience and I think people should try to get non-TG people to play because its how this gay stupid hobby won't die peace!
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Sep 14, 2014 05:23
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I just found out what it's like to GM for a group that doesn't really mesh. My friends who expressed interest wanted me to run a game tonight. While none of them expressed this beforehand, half of them seemed to want a serious game, half of them seemed to want a silly game. I tried to appeal to both sides and keep things moving...,but that didn't work and it got bogged down in arguments. Including one big one at the end. I could have probably run things better, but, yeah, that was a bit of headache.
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Sep 14, 2014 07:52
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So I did that thing again where I manage to cut through my depression for a few hours and write down most of a game in one sitting. It's sort of like the real world parts of The Matrix or Terminator's future, if the surviving resistance relearned and extensively utilized arts of diabolism that were mostly lost after the ancients drove demons from the world  E: Basically if you ever wanted to punch a security robot with claws wreathed in hellfire and shoot another in the face with a giant revolver that's actually a demon bound into that shape while your buddy steals one of the Hundred Hearts of the Machine so that your enclave can later use it to summon a demon prince and send it on a rampage, I might have a game for you 
Tollymain fucked around with this message at 10:28 on Sep 14, 2014 |
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Sep 14, 2014 10:23
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TheLovablePlutonis posted:The Nite Crew 13th Age game is progressing... Despite my sleepiness, stairmaster's fuckery, bees' naivety, zoq unwilling to speak on voicechat, windy's lack of attention and general derailing due to us speaking about inane crap, our party has gotten a ride on Smiling Sammy's boat, but we were beset by pirates. Actually i went to sleep at that part and i think my wizard was murdered but basically it was a fun experience and I think people should try to get non-TG people to play because its how this gay stupid hobby won't die peace! Windy as in Lord Windy? As I'm pretty sure I've got footage/audio of him falling asleep and snoring during one of our Rogue Trader games....
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Sep 14, 2014 10:49
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Tollymain posted:So I did that thing again where I manage to cut through my depression for a few hours and write down most of a game in one sitting. It's sort of like the real world parts of The Matrix or Terminator's future, if the surviving resistance relearned and extensively utilized arts of diabolism that were mostly lost after the ancients drove demons from the world That does sound kind of fantastic!
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Sep 14, 2014 11:08
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Grey Hunter posted:Windy as in Lord Windy? As I'm pretty sure I've got footage/audio of him falling asleep and snoring during one of our Rogue Trader games.... Windmillslayer :v
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Sep 14, 2014 12:09
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I DM'ed my second game ever tonight, a short Microlite20 adventure with my younger brother and dad. They took to their characters almost immediately, staying with the caravan they were supposed to protect even after they had fended off a bandit ambush and found a map leading to the hideout. I expected that my brother, a Ranger, would try to commune with the two guard-dogs I posted at the entrance to the cave, but instead he looked for poisonous herbs, wrapped them up into a doggie treat, mounted the treat onto a crossbow bolt and shot it at the foot of the dogs so they'd eat it and die. There were a bunch more occasions where they totally surprised me with what they did and I had to ride along with them, but suffice it to say that I really really like this hobby now. EDIT: Something that I thought worked really well was having them roll for their own defenses, and using the phrase "what do you do?" a lot, and trying to narrate things like a director: "the bandits walk into your sights, with their back turned to you. FREEZE FRAME! What next?" and I picked those and other various things up from TG, so thanks goons. gradenko_2000 fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Sep 14, 2014 |
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Sep 14, 2014 18:39
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gradenko_2000 posted:There were a bunch more occasions where they totally surprised me with what they did and I had to ride along with them, but suffice it to say that I really really like this hobby now. This is definitely my favorite part of running games, and it sounds like you handled it perfectly. I had to actively train myself to stop designing 'events' and just design 'situations' instead. Like, whenever you make an encounter you should try to imagine at least one really cool way it could play out, but you should never put more than a minute of prep into anything that relies on an assumption as to how the PCs will react to a given situation. Err, unless you're running a game that explicitly runs that way. It gets more complex when you're running a mystery or something, but I've found that in general cutting down on prep counterintuitively lets me run games way more smoothly.
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Sep 14, 2014 20:45
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Sounds like good times. Glad you're enjoying it.
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Sep 14, 2014 21:26
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remusclaw posted:This brings to mind my recent info binge on Mountain climbing, facilitated by the Everest threads of the last few years. What would be a good rpg for the sake of running campaigns based on expeditions up high mountains and other hostile environments? Would Burning wheel do well for that? The only product I can ever recall seeing in rpg's for this kind of thing is Chaosiums "Beyond the Mountains of Madness", and I am not sure CoC is best suited for that kind of game, alongside the fact that BTMOM it is out of print and commands a high price these days. For a mountain climbing game I think Cortex+ Drama or Fiasco. For a K2 expedition Fiasco might be best since everyone dies. Cortex+ for something more nuanced, you could play up the poo poo that goes on between different climbing teams (maverick Russians, thieving Italians, do-gooder Brits) and the mountain has built in Complications, HAPE/HACE, frost bite, avalanches.
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Sep 15, 2014 03:21
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TheLovablePlutonis posted:The Nite Crew 13th Age game is progressing... Despite my sleepiness, stairmaster's fuckery, bees' naivety, zoq unwilling to speak on voicechat, windy's lack of attention and general derailing due to us speaking about inane crap, our party has gotten a ride on Smiling Sammy's boat, but we were beset by pirates. Actually i went to sleep at that part and i think my wizard was murdered but basically it was a fun experience and I think people should try to get non-TG people to play because its how this gay stupid hobby won't die peace! Nah, Friend saved you. You're good.
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Sep 15, 2014 03:22
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i feel like butts about the contest that at this point i might as well have abandoned 
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Sep 15, 2014 03:44
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This was mentioned in the Dungeon World thread, but I'm linking it here because its loving awesome and I'll probably use it instead of normal carrying capacity rules if I ever run a more complicated RPG like Rogue Trader or 13th Age or something. It also seems like it'd be a potentially good addition to Gradenko's Microlite game. Matt Rundle's Anti-Hammerspace Item Tracker   
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Sep 15, 2014 04:18
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Galaga Galaxian posted:This was mentioned in the Dungeon World thread, but I'm linking it here because its loving awesome and I'll probably use it instead of normal carrying capacity rules if I ever run a more complicated RPG like Rogue Trader or 13th Age or something. It also seems like it'd be a potentially good addition to Gradenko's Microlite game. Oh man, I was trying to figure out how to visually represent a system just like this earlier today (right down to the 'heavy armor uses up slots' bit). Bookmarking the hell out of this.
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Sep 15, 2014 04:27
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Now I'm wondering if you could do a whole game where stuff is tracked like that. Thieves might have "tool belts" to determine what small items they have handy, wizards would have to have enough pages in their spellbooks to copy a spell, and so on.
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Sep 15, 2014 04:28
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Evil Mastermind posted:Now I'm wondering if you could do a whole game where stuff is tracked like that. Thieves might have "tool belts" to determine what small items they have handy, wizards would have to have enough pages in their spellbooks to copy a spell, and so on. Isn't this sort of what Torchbearer does?
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Sep 15, 2014 04:31
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Arivia posted:Isn't this sort of what Torchbearer does? Kind of, but I was thinking more class-specific. Fighters get extra spaces for weapons, thieves get bunches of pockets/gadget belts, and so on. I also just remembered where I saw that before: ASH LAW did a little more detailed version for 13th Age.  e: Also goddamn it I wanna play Torchbearer. 
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Sep 15, 2014 04:38
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Is Torchbearer to D&D like Don't Starve is to Minecraft?
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Sep 15, 2014 07:44
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Tollymain posted:Is Torchbearer to D&D like Don't Starve is to Minecraft? If you mean that it focuses alot more on the staving off hunger, disease, darkness, and things of the like instead of what some might say is the source of inspiration's primary focus (for D&D: combat, for minecraft: crafting), then yes that is a good comparison.
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Sep 15, 2014 08:11
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Yeah that was pretty much what I was aiming for.
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Sep 15, 2014 08:13
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Evil Mastermind posted:I also just remembered where I saw that before: ASH LAW did a little more detailed version for 13th Age. For bonus points, it's a version that doesn't arbitrarily screw over non-casters.
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Sep 15, 2014 08:50
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just say that their weedy bodies take away a number of possible slots like armour does for buffer, bigger people
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Sep 15, 2014 09:10
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That dungeon die sounds kinda poopy and the healing rules below doubly so. That inventory system however, is the loving best.
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Sep 15, 2014 09:36
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how does one carry around ten-foot poles are they in like 2-foot sections you screw together
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Sep 15, 2014 09:39
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Tollymain posted:how does one carry around ten-foot poles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ugCWZAoTDc
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Sep 15, 2014 09:42
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Tollymain posted:how does one carry around ten-foot poles I always imagine them being telescoping.
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Sep 15, 2014 13:19
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Tollymain posted:how does one carry around ten-foot poles http://youtu.be/UHhDHFQgai8?t=13s
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Sep 15, 2014 13:25
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Tollymain posted:how does one carry around ten-foot poles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-taleg-JPY#t=90
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Sep 15, 2014 13:30
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Is it a thing to have campaigns/worlds that are completely bereft of magic? I guess that make it literally 'medieval', except the PCs and NPCs end up being really really good at martial skills. Are there any systems that explicitly support this or is it just a matter of stripping out casting classes and forming the universe accordingly. This is coming from me not really being sure how to handle spellcasting without too much crunch. Like, how do you introduce a spell list to a newbie who wants to play a Wizard? Just lay out his selection of first level spells on a printout/handwritten notes? Is Vancian Magic easier or difficult to track than, say, a mana-based or health-cost-based system? My players from last night were a Fighter and a Ranger and it was easy enough for them to work with the concept, but now I'm wondering how to work with casters.
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Sep 15, 2014 13:31
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gradenko_2000 posted:This is coming from me not really being sure how to handle spellcasting without too much crunch. Like, how do you introduce a spell list to a newbie who wants to play a Wizard? Play a system where casters don't get 20 times the options that non-casters get, like 4E or Dungeon World. Other than that, if you want a magic-free game, play something that supports you getting rid of magic classes (like 4E or DW) or magic items (like 4E or DW) without breaking the game. It's totally okay for you to curate what classes are available as long as everyone is okay with caster classes not being allowed because it's "a world of wuxia and psionics" instead of "a world of gods and Vancian casting" or whatever. Lemon-Lime fucked around with this message at 13:58 on Sep 15, 2014 |
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Sep 15, 2014 13:54
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Does regular D&D really break that badly if you don't have casters? Magic items, yeah, definitely, but I don't see how playing caster-light screws anything up.
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Sep 15, 2014 16:05
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SALT CURES HAM posted:Does regular D&D If you mean the garbage editions with no concept of balancing encounters (  CR), like 3.x or Next, yes (because the players can no longer resolve encounters in one spell and so are at the mercy of the terrible monster design). If you mean 4E, no, that's why I recommended it.
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Sep 15, 2014 16:09
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Define "regular". It works fine in 4e, but in 3.5? Too much stuff basically requires magic to be doable.
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Sep 15, 2014 16:09
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Might as well roleplay your characters randomly getting bubonic plague and dying the first time they got hit by a sword 
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Sep 15, 2014 16:16
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Lemon Curdistan posted:For bonus points, it's a version that doesn't arbitrarily screw over non-casters. Yeah but all it takes is saying "armor doesn't take up slots." And you've fixed it.
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Sep 15, 2014 16:21
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Wasn't it specifically stated at some point that higher-level 3.x was designed with the idea that characters would have access to lots of spells and magic items?
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Sep 15, 2014 16:25
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Higher-level 3.x wasn't designed. Playtesting stopped at level 10.
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Sep 15, 2014 18:24
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Evil Mastermind posted:Now I'm wondering if you could do a whole game where stuff is tracked like that. Thieves might have "tool belts" to determine what small items they have handy, wizards would have to have enough pages in their spellbooks to copy a spell, and so on. Hardmode: spell component pouch for Wizards.  I do love the idea of visually representing equipment like this and I'm totally stealing it for the next time I run World of Dungeons.
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Sep 15, 2014 18:49
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