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Majuju posted:YEAH BOO TO THAT  My workaround is much the same as yours, though. I kept the attributes associated with skills but every PC got a background that's good for a +3 bonus in appropriate situations. Works out alright so far.
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Sep 25, 2014 06:18
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I'm thinking of running a Gamma World game, are there any pitfalls, traps, or things I should otherwise know before I start GMing it?
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Sep 25, 2014 08:53
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My Lovely Horse posted:I read your pitch and thought about posting something along the lines of "I tried this in my game, didn't work because there are tons of specific skill references, have you found a good workaround" but didn't want to come across as a spoilsport. Haha it only took a day or two for the millions of problem cases to come to light, it's good that we came to the same conclusion. It seems like such a great, simple idea on the face but the system is so math-heavy in the weirdest ways.
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Sep 25, 2014 16:36
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Majuju posted:Haha it only took a day or two for the millions of problem cases to come to light, it's good that we came to the same conclusion. It seems like such a great, simple idea on the face but the system is so math-heavy in the weirdest ways. Possible fix: consider all characters "trained" in all skills for prerequisites.
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Sep 25, 2014 17:14
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fez_machine posted:I'm thinking of running a Gamma World game, are there any pitfalls, traps, or things I should otherwise know before I start GMing it? The pre-written campaigns are the usual "Here are ten fights in a row, GO!" poo poo, so write your own. Have your players roll up characters ahead of the game and make cards for their basic powers. Other than that, go nuts.
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Sep 25, 2014 17:49
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Gort posted:The pre-written campaigns are the usual "Here are ten fights in a row, GO!" poo poo, so write your own. Have your players roll up characters ahead of the game and make cards for their basic powers. Possibly better yet, make up cards for all the backgrounds, so you can just hand people their new set of cards when their characters inevitably die (Gamma World is definitely deadlier than 4e). Houserule that you need to reroll a background that somebody else currently has (because you only made one set of cards).
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Sep 25, 2014 18:03
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I found that character creation was not short enough to encourage disposable characters. Base your expectations on players sticking with one character throughout, don't try to kill anyone.
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Sep 25, 2014 18:16
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homullus posted:Possibly better yet, make up cards for all the backgrounds, so you can just hand people their new set of cards when their characters inevitably die (Gamma World is definitely deadlier than 4e). Houserule that you need to reroll a background that somebody else currently has (because you only made one set of cards). 
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Sep 25, 2014 18:20
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Gort posted:I found that character creation was not short enough to encourage disposable characters. Base your expectations on players sticking with one character throughout, don't try to kill anyone. I don't think that's because character creation isn't quick enough, but instead because people quickly get attached to their zany character concepts.
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Sep 25, 2014 18:25
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PeterWeller posted:I don't think that's because character creation isn't quick enough, but instead because people quickly get attached to their zany character concepts. RIP The Black Pauldron, haunted sentient suit of armor.  Also holy cow, those cards. I Googled them because I thought I'd missed an official product -- no, they're just really, really well-done.
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Sep 25, 2014 18:38
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homullus posted:Also holy cow, those cards. I Googled them because I thought I'd missed an official product -- no, they're just really, really well-done. I've got the origins in a pile to draw from and the powers in those little four-per-page card pages so they stay organized. It's pretty slick. I'd actually prefer if they were a little less visually busy, since I usually have players write their power math right on the card pages in dry erase markers, but there's usually space somewhere.
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Sep 25, 2014 18:53
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God damnit I JUST RAN GAMMA WORLD last month and those would've been perfect.
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Sep 25, 2014 18:54
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Majuju posted:YEAH BOO TO THAT These kind of seem like things that aren't really problems? Escaping grappling, for example, could just be "background + str/dex +level" and you just shift the dcs a bit. It could be a bit of work I guess, my main concern with implementing the 13A style skills was things like prerequisites but I was planning on completely severing combat mechanics from the rest of the game and just having people still pick up DnD skills that are only relevant to the combat stuff. Might be a bit too compartmentalised, I guess.
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Sep 25, 2014 19:12
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homullus posted:RIP The Black Pauldron, haunted sentient suit of armor. That's an awesome character. One of my buddies played a suit of armor animated by sentient mold.
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Sep 25, 2014 19:31
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So Zeitgeist 4 looks complex.
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Oct 5, 2014 19:16
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How hosed am I if I decide to run a 3 player campaign? Everything seems to be hard around the 5 times being there. I figured I need to make sure they have a Leader at least.
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Oct 6, 2014 09:42
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Cerepol posted:How hosed am I if I decide to run a 3 player campaign? Everything seems to be hard around the 5 times being there. One leader, one defender, one striker, and you'll be alright. Maybe one leader and two strikers will work too. Just make sure to adjust encounters accordingly.
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Oct 6, 2014 10:01
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I imagine it'll be a huge advantage in terms of encounter speed.
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Oct 6, 2014 10:45
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Helps if the leader in question is tanky so he can hold his own when the defender is otherwise occupied.
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Oct 6, 2014 11:16
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It really just comes down to how good they are at mechanically optimizing as a group. One leader + two strikers could absolutely wreck plenty of poo poo in game if they all had their poo poo together and the characters all fit.
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Oct 6, 2014 12:14
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ProfessorCirno posted:It really just comes down to how good they are at mechanically optimizing as a group. One leader + two strikers could absolutely wreck plenty of poo poo in game if they all had their poo poo together and the characters all fit. You ever see a party of 2 Warlords and a Barbarian........ Its, terrifying.
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Oct 6, 2014 13:05
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Alright I'll try and steer them to something that hopefully meshes well together.
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Oct 6, 2014 20:36
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Two Warlords and a Slayer works even better. In a small party, the most sacrificable role is either going to be defender or controller depending on whether your DM likes lots of minions or big single monsters. Probably controller, since almost anyone can pick up a minor in control.
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Oct 6, 2014 21:05
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thespaceinvader posted:Two Warlords and a Slayer works even better. Yeah, I guess your right about the slayer, I was thinking Barbarian because of their Nova potential later on, in addition to their good MBA, but yeah, slayer can swap out a power strike for rain of blows, giving it a decent Nova ability. And its MBA is just plain better.
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Oct 6, 2014 21:10
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Yup. Power Strike > Bash and Pummel, Reserve Maneuver > Rain of Blows and one of those warlords should be Bravura. Draeven Marauder, Rending Gouge, MC Avenger, Ghost of the Past theme. All critfishing, all the time. Blend some poo poo.
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Oct 6, 2014 21:18
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You actually want two strikers, not two leaders, as the best leader abilities effect the entire party but don't always stack. Better to have one leader use their action point to give a huge party-wide buff, then do something like give everyone a free charge, and then both strikers hit their APs on their turns and more or less destroy the fight in one round. To put it another way, the leader starts the nova, the strikers end it. Also just go Barbarian|Fighter if you want the best of both worlds~
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Oct 6, 2014 21:24
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Cerepol posted:How hosed am I if I decide to run a 3 player campaign? Everything seems to be hard around the 5 times being there. Additionally try to keep them in even fights.
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Oct 7, 2014 01:08
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Cerepol posted:How hosed am I if I decide to run a 3 player campaign? Everything seems to be hard around the 5 times being there. I ran a 3 player castlevania game for years that was quite successful. It featured a Paladin (Defender/Leader), an Avenger (pure Striker) and a Druid (mostly built for Striker, light Control). What I did to ensure I didn't get too many TPKs was: 1.) Even fights. If you want to have more monsters, use lower level monsters (like 2 or more levels lower than the party) or minions. Even then, keep in mind your action economy, which often creates a harder encounter than the numbers would tell you. 2.) Because it was Castlevania, I had a sub-weapon system that basically gave everybody access to Minor-action attacks. There are a bunch of little trinkets out there that let you do stuff with Minors, so consider sprinkling them in to boost the party's action economy. 3.) Potions, particularly if you have no leader. Don't be scared to sprinkle in potions that are 'too good' for the party, either, since without a leader they're going to want to use their own Minors to heal. 4.) Consider encounters that offer advantages to the party under certain circumstances rather than just challenges to overcome. Traps they can activate to defeat monsters, boulders they can push over, power-ups they can collect and so forth. These can help make up for the lack of other players. 5.) Companion characters. They don't need to be complicated - you can have them follow a very simple, transparent script. For instance, if you have an NPC cleric that can attack, turn undead, or heal (1/Encounter), have it a.) retreat if injured, else b.) heal a wounded ally, if able else c.) attack the nearest undead else d.) melee.
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Oct 7, 2014 01:34
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I hate companion characters. Nothing is worse than watching a DM play D&D against himself.
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Oct 7, 2014 14:12
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Gort posted:I hate companion characters. Nothing is worse than watching a DM play D&D against himself. Agreed, though I think there is a use for them. Not to shore up a small party mind you, but in fulfillment of a story objective or plot point for a fight or 2, and the DM should hand the companion character's sheet over to someone in the party to run in combat.
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Oct 7, 2014 14:18
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Gort posted:I hate companion characters. Nothing is worse than watching a DM play D&D against himself. That's why you hand them out to your players.
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Oct 7, 2014 14:25
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Nobody plays Gokuphiroth better than I, your DM, now watch this time stop.
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Oct 7, 2014 14:28
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Really Pants posted:That's why you hand them out to your players. Even so, it kinda sucks to have to play a character that you didn't build yourself. I want to cast Fist, dammnit, I didn't build Muscle Wizard just so I can only play him every other turn 
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Oct 7, 2014 14:29
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You're still getting just as much Muscle Wizard per round. But yeah, that's another reason why it's probably best to just throw potions at everybody.
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Oct 7, 2014 14:44
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Mendrian posted:I ran a 3 player castlevania game for years that was quite successful. It featured a Paladin (Defender/Leader), an Avenger (pure Striker) and a Druid (mostly built for Striker, light Control). What I did to ensure I didn't get too many TPKs was: Also, consider making Second Wind a minor for non-dwarves, and a free action for dwarves.
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Oct 7, 2014 14:52
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Really Pants posted:You're still getting just as much Muscle Wizard per round. But yeah, that's another reason why it's probably best to just throw potions at everybody. Yeah, this is what I'd do. If it's necessary (for some reason) that there be a cleric in the group just chuck some healing powers at the party fighter and say, "Yo, you can do one of these each turn as a free action".
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Oct 7, 2014 16:38
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Refluff the party's potion stash as an NPC.
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Oct 7, 2014 16:46
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Alright, I'm brain storming ideas for Saturday's session. A bit of background: Heroes saved the town from outer-plane invaders near the excavation site they were hired to explore. They have now gained access to the site, a large war defense tower from a high-tech civilization that died out 5,000 years ago. I want this to be a major exposition point as well as the first real dungeon of our campaign. We are level 15. My first idea is they need to gain access to the control level to find out the source of the evil raiders (machine plane of a demigod, AKA Phyrexia) and how to stop them since the world is going to end. But how do I make them earn it? I don't want to scatter three parts of a special key across the dungeon so they have to hunt for it, unless I can figure out a way that doesn't sound like bullshit. First level is the ground level. 2nd level down is the barracks, third down is perhaps a machine foundry level where the warmachines were built on assembly line so I could do an interesting combat there with changing terrain. Fourth level down is the mine. I was thinking of an encounter where they have to activate a giant, ancient drill to burrow through to a collapsed room to get *the thing* but in doing so the giant drill goes fuckshit crazy and it's a skill challenge to turn it off. Kinda like that one part in Dead Space 3, which is the only part I remember of that game. Because it sucked. Any suggestions? Monsters are mostly golems and maybe a few ghosts of those left behind who died angrily after being shut in from the war when it turned south. Getting to the top of the level and learning about where the next adventure is should take them to where the big weapon to win the war was being worked on. That's about all I got.
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Oct 8, 2014 00:36
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Well crisis averted? A random player joined my game so now I have Warforged Paladin (Cha) Longtooth Shifter Barbarian (Cha) Human Warlord (Cha) Drow Ranger (spoofed as Wis/Dex like regular ol elves) Much better than I was expecting my new player enjoys defending so I got what I though I wasn't going to have. Only problem was the char building took like 4 hours.
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Oct 8, 2014 07:19
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crime fighting hog posted:Alright, I'm brain storming ideas for Saturday's session. A bit of background: If the workers were sealed in against their will you could have the key hidden deliberately from spite (akin to Myst III's "I've changed the codes, and if you want your linking book back you'll need to go through where I've been trapped all this time to get them"). Have someone leave a message (in some form that would survive 5,000 years) about where the key is, and they've collapsed hallways and such to force anyone trying to get it to see what happened to the place after it was shut. In the end the tunnel to the key is collapsed with a final "gently caress all of you" taunt, forcing the players to find a way past. A good chance for various traps and ambushes.
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Oct 8, 2014 07:41
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