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Mors Rattus posted:A new Hunter 2e is really needed because it is the laziest port. (Many Hunter powers involve Morality, which no longer exists, and Integrity, the replacement, works differently.) Fortunately, the Beast kickstarter indicates that one is in the works.
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Jun 14, 2015 01:15
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Aaaand the book's ruined Task Force VALKYRIE for me. 
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Jun 14, 2015 01:16
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bathroomrage posted:Aaaand the book's ruined Task Force VALKYRIE for me. How? I mean, it's stupid, but it's also really easy to ignore.
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Jun 14, 2015 01:20
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I kept it when I ran it but I also made the vampires in question the truth behind the Big Lie of Division 6: The vampires are the original Culper Ring, now with fangs; the dude steering Division 6 knew just enough about what was going on there to steal the idea. So they are super-patriotic revolutionary war-era vampires. Like a bunch of blood drinking Ichabods from Sleepy Hollow.
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Jun 14, 2015 01:24
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Kavak posted:How? I mean, it's stupid, but it's also really easy to ignore. It's just a little facetious overreaction, it's really awful and stupid but you're right, it's also really easy to ignore. I think the thing that makes it so bad is that it's just... Thrown in there, like a useless footnote.
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Jun 14, 2015 01:27
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The best explanation I've ever heard for Valkyrie's paycheck is that it's being funded by a bunch of Vampires and Mages and other monsters who just so happen to be red-blooded American patriots. 
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Jun 14, 2015 01:31
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I'd be inclined to make any vampires hopped-up middle management. They think they're the kings of the hill, but the real driving force is using them to provide the rest of VALKYRIE's budget and as an (ahem) bloodhound for sniffing out the kind of supernatural activity that the managers think is a threat to them. If one of them begins to catch wise? Well, there's always that facility under Arizona. Given vampiric paranoia and egotism, it won't be impossible to net another one to pick up the reins. Or for that matter, VALKYRIE could be funded by trumped up (or fake) Proceeds from Drugs charges. Vampire? No, this guy was a meth kingpin. That's why they're seizing his assets and funneling them to the black accounts. Of course, that puts uncomfortable pressure on the Task Force to make strikes more often, more cheaply, and against targets that are increasingly likely to have spent large amounts on defense...
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Jun 14, 2015 01:34
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White Wolf was really starting to crap out at the start of the decade- between the height of the recession, the layoffs, and the eventual birth of Onyx Path, they produced their last physical books and the writing either became mediocre or outright stupid in some cases, like this or that one creepy as hell chapter in the Werewolf Chronicler's Guide. Besides, the idea of "You are secretly run by teh BAD GUYS O NOEZ!!1!" is so loving cliche and overplayed it's not fun to play with. Twists like "They're monsters, but still patriots" are much more palatable. Kavak fucked around with this message at 01:42 on Jun 14, 2015 |
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Jun 14, 2015 01:39
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Kavak posted:White Wolf was really starting to crap out at the start of the decade- between the height of the recession, the layoffs, and the eventual birth of Onyx Path, they produced their last physical books and the writing either became mediocre or outright stupid in some cases, like this or that one creepy as hell chapter in the Werewolf Chronicler's Guide. Dare I ask what? I only recently got back into Forsaken stuff with 2e.
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Jun 14, 2015 01:41
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Kurieg posted:Dare I ask what? I only recently got back into Forsaken stuff with 2e. Everything You Ever Wanted Take a guess what they meant.  Edit: That book also had a pretty cool Werewolves in Ancient Sumer chapter, though. Luminous Obscurity fucked around with this message at 01:46 on Jun 14, 2015 |
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Jun 14, 2015 01:42
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Luminous Obscurity posted:Everything You Ever Wanted ...don't tell me they put out rules for Gauru Sex.
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Jun 14, 2015 01:48
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Luminous Obscurity posted:Edit: That book also had a pretty cool Werewolves in Ancient Sumer chapter, though. That it did. The issue with the chapter in question wasn't so much the "No werewolf sex taboo" but the way it was written. I can't describe how skincrawly it was, like the author was trying to convince you to have sex in a fursuit. EDIT: ^^^^^ No, but it came pretty close to resurrecting the Animal Magnetism rules from Apocalypse.
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Jun 14, 2015 01:51
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My take on it in the TFV campaign I run is that VALKYRIE was founded by normal human beings and still mostly staffed by it, but the Director is a Promethean who completed her Pilgrimage and retained her memories, and has parlayed that into getting VALKYRIE substantial financial, intel, and R&D backing from other supernaturals who are also patriotic, tax-paying American citizens, mostly changelings, sin-eaters, and werewolves who explicitly don't take part in field operations. TFV's overall line in my campaign is that law-abiding citizens who simply happen to be supernatural should be treated and protected like any other, and having supernatural powers does not confer immunity to the law. Including tax evasion. Looking at you, vampires. RICO is a bitch. The Arizona supernatural Gitmo is in part for supernaturals who have done various horrible things that there aren't laws for, like reanimating the dead as zombies and tearing holes in reality. TFV has counterparts in the FBI, NSA, and DoJ in my campaign.
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Jun 14, 2015 01:52
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Did you fold VASCU into Valkyrie or are they still their own thing?
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Jun 14, 2015 01:56
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Luminous Obscurity posted:Did you fold VASCU into Valkyrie or are they still their own thing? They're the FBI's supernatural division and one of the three main agencies in the US that deal with the supernatural - mostly, they're the ones who actually arrest, try, and imprison supernaturals that Valkyrie takes alive. Valkyrie is formally part of the CIA in my campaign and is the most action-oriented of the three, and the NSA has Project Looking Glass, which is basically a more organized, militaristic Network Zero that wiretaps mages and conducts drone surveillance of werewolf packs. My players have also run into counterpart organizations from other countries, including the UK's MI Null, China's Ministry of Celestial Security, and the Special Guards Division of the Russian Spetznaz.
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Jun 14, 2015 02:04
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If I ever run a Hunter campaign, the cell is going to find itself competing/cooperating with Iran's counterpart to both Valkyrie and the Malleus Maleficarum, VAJA's Subministry for Unusual Threats to the Islamic Republic*, colloquially known as the "Djinn Hunters". *Name pending
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Jun 14, 2015 02:21
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Kavak posted:If I ever run a Hunter campaign, the cell is going to find itself competing/cooperating with Iran's counterpart to both Valkyrie and the Malleus Maleficarum, VAJA's Subministry for Unusual Threats to the Islamic Republic*, colloquially known as the "Djinn Hunters". Change name to Sons of Sulayman, stat.
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Jun 14, 2015 02:30
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Tsilkani posted:Change name to Sons of Sulayman, stat. Is there a reference I'm missing besides Solomon ruling over Djinn?
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Jun 14, 2015 02:38
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He's also a really big deal in Islam.
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Jun 14, 2015 03:00
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Strange Matter posted:I had a brilliant idea today for a UA Adept school based on fetishizing motorized vehicles (cars and motorcycles primarily). Is that already in one of the books? I'm not sure, but there are surprisingly extensive car chase rules, so it wouldn't be hard to write one up. quote:I could have sworn there was an official videomancy spell that required yanking the tape out of a Bruce Lee VHS and wrapping it around your arms and legs to get a 100% martial arts skill for a while. Maybe that was in a supplement? Or just a fansite? New version: EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A VHS INTO THE SLOT. IT'S CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I START DOING THE MOVES ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, RIDDICK. I DO EVERY MOVE AND I DO EVERY MOVE HARD. MAKIN WHOOSHING SOUNDS WHEN I SLAM DOWN SOME NECRO BASTARDS OR EVEN WHEN I MESS UP TECHNIQUE. NOT MANY CAN SAY THEY ESCAPED THE GALAXYS MOST DANGEROUS PRISON. I CAN. I SAY IT AND I SAY IT OUTLOUD EVERYDAY TO PEOPLE IN MY COLLEGE CLASS AND ALL THEY DO IS PROVE PEOPLE IN COLLEGE CLASS CAN STILL BE IMMATURE JEKRS. AND IVE LEARNED ALL THE LINES AND IVE LEARNED HOW TO MAKE MYSELF AND MY APARTMENT LESS LONELY BY SHOUTING EM ALL. 2 HOURS INCLUDING WIND DOWN EVERY MORNIng
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Jun 14, 2015 03:04
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Is there an adept school based on being really obsessed with trains?
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Jun 14, 2015 03:11
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wdarkk posted:Is there an adept school based on being really obsessed with trains? Sure, but the other Adepts keep getting confused and offering them drugs. I don't like Project Valkyrie being controlled by vamps, but I love that the Malleus is lead by a ghoul since it ties in so well with the whole Catholic sin/blood/redemption thing. The Luciferge sound like they should be their own line, like Demons. It's like a Hunter cell has Fox Mulder, Sam Winchester, the priest from The Exorcist, Anonymous... and Ghost Rider. Count Chocula fucked around with this message at 04:24 on Jun 14, 2015 |
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Jun 14, 2015 03:39
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It's interesting how many Adept types would find their magical lives enormously eased if they were rich. Money is a type of magic all its own. A very powerful type of magic, in this modern world.
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Jun 14, 2015 05:14
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wdarkk posted:Is there an adept school based on being really obsessed with trains? Not officially (but fans loooove to make new Avatars and adepts so you never know what's out there), but in the Postmodern Magick sourcebook there are...I guess you could think of them as "lesser adepts" called Mageekians (because UA has no problems swinging from brutal and hosed up to really bad wordplay) who can focus on just about anything. Mageekians basically have the adept's obsession but lack a powerful paradox to back up their obsession. Instead their paradox is personal (a dog-lover who is allergic to dogs for instance) and they're limited to minor, magickal effects, usually produced unconsciously at random. quote:It's interesting how many Adept types would find their magical lives enormously eased if they were rich. Money is a type of magic all its own. A very powerful type of magic, in this modern world. Exactly why the New Inquisition is so powerful in UA. It's funded by a billionare who is aware of magick but doesn't use it himself. Instead he uses his resources to find some of the more reliable adepts and avatars and provides them the funding they need to get more powerful and in exchange he can direct where that power gets used. For example, one of his top agents is a plutomancer who he pays in non-cash goods. Instead of giving her cash he buys her all the things that she can't (since it would break taboo) so she gets the fancy cars, the big house, etc. so long as she continues helping him out. He'd pay her cash directly to help her charge but that would violate the plutomancer charging code as well, so instead he provides her with "stock tips" (i.e. insider trading) which she can then use to rake in cash and charges. oriongates fucked around with this message at 05:26 on Jun 14, 2015 |
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Jun 14, 2015 05:20
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The Lone Badger posted:It's interesting how many Adept types would find their magical lives enormously eased if they were rich. Money is a type of magic all its own. A very powerful type of magic, in this modern world. This is how the collapse appears to those doomed to live in it. Harumageddon is happening now.
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Jun 14, 2015 05:38
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I'm not sure how many Louises Porter Jr. there are, but I may have a mutual Facebook friend with the world-famous author of Haven: City of Violence. (this friend is a freelance author for various RPG supplements, most memorably having worked on some sourcebooks for the Babylon 5 RPG from Mongoose). Fake Edit: While writing this post I wandered down the LPJ rabbit hole and found out that Louis Porter Jr. Design is the company behind Neoexodus, a fairly popular series of Pathfinder supplements that I have skimmed but never read. The official site for Neoexodus includes a quote from LPJ that calls the line his 'fantasy loveletter to Babylon 5.' Conspiracy!  Unfortunately the links to the Haven pages on his site only lead to some custom 404 not found screens  Jon and Jef, has there been any follow-up from LPJ being linked to System Mastery a while back? I'm very curious as to what he thinks of his older work.
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Jun 14, 2015 05:45
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oriongates posted:For example, one of his top agents is a plutomancer who he pays in non-cash goods. Instead of giving her cash he buys her all the things that she can't (since it would break taboo) so she gets the fancy cars, the big house, etc. so long as she continues helping him out. He'd pay her cash directly to help her charge but that would violate the plutomancer charging code as well, so instead he provides her with "stock tips" (i.e. insider trading) which she can then use to rake in cash and charges. There's a really good opening fiction about that character in I think Postmodern Magick that shows just how much an adept will sacrifice for a shot at a Major charge- in her case a winning lottery ticket.
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Jun 14, 2015 05:46
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The Lone Badger posted:It's interesting how many Adept types would find their magical lives enormously eased if they were rich. Money is a type of magic all its own. A very powerful type of magic, in this modern world. I feel like every UA party needs to have a non-Adept with a normal job just so they can get basic things done. Not a boring job - cops, lawyers, detectives and doctors are good candidates - but somebody who can drive around and talk to normal people and pay for things. In higher powered games I guess they eventually turn into Avatars.
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Jun 14, 2015 06:35
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Luminous Obscurity posted:The best explanation I've ever heard for Valkyrie's paycheck is that it's being funded by a bunch of Vampires and Mages and other monsters who just so happen to be red-blooded American patriots. The bloodsucker hid behind the desk in his office. Finding out that vampires were helping run VALKYRIE was stunning, but not shocking. What was shocking was the positions the vampires were in. This particular bastard was the assistant to the head of the Department of Natural Resources in Iowa. Every single national park was under the vampire's control and it made her stomach turn. "What's your game?!" she roared as she fired a few blind shots to keep him down. He had kept himself well-armed in case of a confrontation and cracking the defenses was going to be hard. The vampire chuckled. "What isn't, Agent? We've done so much for our country." "Why the Middle East? Why the War on Terror? What's so drat important about that desert?" She braced herself and rolled to closer cover, positioning herself behind an ornate wood column. "Do you know what happens to a vampire in the sun, Agent? Of course you do. I've seen some of your toys. Tell me, what does a desert have." The vampire loosed a few shots at her roll but missed. He cursed and reloaded. "Sand, wind and heat." "EXACTLY!" The vampire laughed. It was a dry, wheezy thing. "I hate the desert, Agent. It's hot and dry and it's too drat bright. It could kill me and I don't trust the desert. I hate all deserts." "So why send our men there, why clear the desert, dig up the land, drop those capsules?" "For our plan, Agent. For our...masterstroke. Soon, there will be no more deserts. We've been working on it for years and the time is right for our operation to come to fruition!" "America has deserts, you blood-sucking idiot." He grinned madly, his teeth long and keen. "Not for long it won't! Terraforming, Agent! Imagine deserts being transformed into lush prairies with groves of fruit trees, long strips of shade, houses and farms and arable land, people and business! God bless America, Agent, we're helping her bloom and prosper!" "What the hell is he talking about?" buzzed Samson in Johanna's ear. Johanna glanced past the column and lowered her gun. "Environmental efforts? Are you making GBS threads me?" "On the contrary. I am deadly serious." THE LAS VEGAS COURIER SUNDAY EDITION "FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DECLARES WAR ON DESERTIFICATION, PROMISES ENVIRONMENTAL EFFORT AND REFORM" "I was confused by why the government wanted to take my pie and cake away at first", says local man.
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Jun 14, 2015 06:37
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Count Chocula posted:I feel like every UA party needs to have a non-Adept with a normal job just so they can get basic things done. Not a boring job - cops, lawyers, detectives and doctors are good candidates - but somebody who can drive around and talk to normal people and pay for things. When I ran a UA campaign to completion, probably the most effective and stable character in the party was a completely mundane doctor who was just trying to survive this insane mess he'd gotten caught up in and not get sacrificed in anyone's ritual. He succeeded! 
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Jun 14, 2015 06:47
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Cheiron.avi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKkRDMil0bw
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Jun 14, 2015 06:54
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Kellsterik posted:When I ran a UA campaign to completion, probably the most effective and stable character in the party was a completely mundane doctor who was just trying to survive this insane mess he'd gotten caught up in and not get sacrificed in anyone's ritual. He succeeded! He did so well that Martin Scorcese made a movie about him, starring a real-life occult superstar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfUwvmRmMtw ! Taxi Driver is another good 'mundane' UA occupation. Your Madness Meter starts at 'Chaz Chandler' and maxes out at 'Travis Bickle'.
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Jun 14, 2015 07:19
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Count Chocula posted:He did so well that Martin Scorcese made a movie about him, starring a real-life occult superstar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfUwvmRmMtw !
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Jun 14, 2015 07:30
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Just Dan Again posted:I'm not sure how many Louises Porter Jr. there are, but I may have a mutual Facebook friend with the world-famous author of Haven: City of Violence. (this friend is a freelance author for various RPG supplements, most memorably having worked on some sourcebooks for the Babylon 5 RPG from Mongoose). He is probably angry with us, but he was very diplomatic about it. Here's everything. I'd use that anonymizer plugin they love over in PYF, but I don't have it and the only person here that comes off bad is me trying to soften the blow like a big wimp. 
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Jun 14, 2015 07:33
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Kavak posted:Besides, the idea of "You are secretly run by teh BAD GUYS O NOEZ!!1!" is so loving cliche and overplayed it's not fun to play with. Twists like "They're monsters, but still patriots" are much more palatable. They should make "star-spangled bloodsucker" an official Y splat for vampires. Don't tell me there weren't some vampires fighting the good fight in some of the major American wars.
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Jun 14, 2015 08:03
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Doresh posted:They should make "star-spangled bloodsucker" an official Y splat for vampires. Don't tell me there weren't some vampires fighting the good fight in some of the major American wars. Fighting Nazi vampires is a calling for every supernatural character who has ever existed.
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Jun 14, 2015 08:05
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Jun 14, 2015 08:15
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Doresh posted:That's weird. I seem to recall them being treated like they make Glitterboys look like toddlers or something. How could the internet lie to me?! The real story, to put bluntly, is that few Palladium fans read their books cover to cover. There are classes like the dysasha that you'd never notice on a casual glance-through, since it's buried in a villain NPCs' statblock. Cosmo Knights are presented in an in-your-face fashion and the book can't shut up about how badass they are, so of course they get a rep. But, of course, the best way to break a game is to find something the designer just didn't think through at all. Funny enough, I have just one of those ill-designed classes coming up in my next review. That's not to say the Cosmo Knight isn't a powerful class, it's pretty drat powerful if they get a chance to climb through the levels and start hitting 100-200 damage a blast, but at 1st level they're not too overwhelming other than their flight speed, which is a great way to break plot points. Unless you set all your adventures in the Yucatan, anyway. Just Dan Again posted:Fake Edit: While writing this post I wandered down the LPJ rabbit hole and found out that Louis Porter Jr. Design is the company behind Neoexodus, a fairly popular series of Pathfinder supplements that I have skimmed but never read. The official site for Neoexodus includes a quote from LPJ that calls the line his 'fantasy loveletter to Babylon 5.' Conspiracy! I mainly know them for having cover art like the piece below. Which I didn't exactly have to dig for, it's the cover to the "introduction to the world" free PDF they put out for the setting.  For some reason I could not take their setting very seriously.
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Jun 14, 2015 09:37
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Alien Rope Burn posted:The real story, to put bluntly, is that few Palladium fans read their books cover to cover. There are classes like the dysasha that you'd never notice on a casual glance-through, since it's buried in a villain NPCs' statblock. Cosmo Knights are presented in an in-your-face fashion and the book can't shut up about how badass they are, so of course they get a rep. But, of course, the best way to break a game is to find something the designer just didn't think through at all. Funny enough, I have just one of those ill-designed classes coming up in my next review. That's not to say the Cosmo Knight isn't a powerful class, it's pretty drat powerful if they get a chance to climb through the levels and start hitting 100-200 damage a blast, but at 1st level they're not too overwhelming other than their flight speed, which is a great way to break plot points. Unless you set all your adventures in the Yucatan, anyway. So the one useful ability they start out with can be either game breaking or completely useless if the whole adventure is set in a single location or the party has access to faster ships? Oh well, that's better than having a game-breaking ability that works all the time. And it looks like Louis Porter Jr. is a big fan of Queen's Blade 
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Jun 14, 2015 10:06
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| # ? May 16, 2024 21:45 |
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If you really want to go with the Horror X-COM angle, TFV could be funded by a wide array of supernaturals (all of which assume they have the lion's share of control) as a sort of supernatural peacekeeper that keeps things from getting too out of hand and getting to the notice of unpredictable elements like other Hunters. "This council of funding monsters believes your Task Force will be in the position to have considerable influence on the fate of our world." and all. Sinister shadowy dude and all.
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Jun 14, 2015 15:08
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