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Kellsterik posted:So like Progenitor, but not as good. Yes, basically. We had fun with it mostly by dumping almost all the background.
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Jun 18, 2015 21:05
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It's weird how much people love Aberrant because it's easily the least interesting of the three settings. That kind of superhero setting has been done multiple times, and I don't see how Aberrant does it particularly better than them. It doesn't help that it had the weakest writing of the three, with broken rufles and god-npcs and stifling metaplot. Meanwhile the Trinity adventures were sll about putting the pcs at the center of the action eith the chance to influence big changes and the books were full of plot hooks and possibilities.
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Jun 18, 2015 21:05
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I think it's mostly that I actually played Aberrant and have never seen the other two settings' books. You know how it is, where when you've played something and had a good experience with it you're way more forgiving than it deserves sometimes.
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Jun 18, 2015 21:07
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Dave Brookshaw posted:The stuff about Fields in combat? My idea. Someone on Big Purple said (as an example of why they didn't like it, natch) that it reminded them of the New York fight in Avengers. Good; that's exactly what I was thinking of. Unless you're playing on an actual grid I don't see what you'd use if not fields/range bands/etc. Keeping track of who's on which roof or whatever is about as much as you want to do in a theater of the mind system. What you want to be precise about is the very fact that movement is abstracted and characters are assumed to be wherever their action places them - the range fuckery that by-the-book WoD lets you do right now ("well I get a penalty for being in close range with you, but since it's my turn, which means you're frozen in time, I'm going to backpedal away from you and then take an unpenalized action") shouldn't be possible by default. Edit: I should note that it sounds like Sardonyx has this well in hand, and I'd be surprised if moving from "Clash" to "Near" was as easy as just saying you do on your turn.
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Jun 18, 2015 21:11
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Ferrinus posted:Unless you're playing on an actual grid I don't see what you'd use if not fields/range bands/etc. Keeping track of who's on which roof or whatever is about as much as you want to do in a theater of the mind system. Oh, I entirely agree, and you'll see more of it as Neall gets into the more detailed combat rules. EDIT: Fields aren't quite range bands. You can have range bands within a Field. Fields are things like "The top of Stark Tower" - "The street level". Characters can move from one to the other. They can shoot from one *into* the other, or forcibly move opponents between them. But they're "grouped" by the system. Dave Brookshaw fucked around with this message at 21:19 on Jun 18, 2015 |
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Jun 18, 2015 21:16
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MonsieurChoc posted:It's weird how much people love Aberrant because it's easily the least interesting of the three settings. That kind of superhero setting has been done multiple times, and I don't see how Aberrant does it particularly better than them. I think context is important. It was the late 90s, and the late 90s in comic books was pretty dire on a lot of levels. It was just the right sort of game at the right time-- the metaplot was obviously a huge problem (as was it always in oWoD) and the rules could be clunky, but it was kind of this walking-talking personification of everything that was right and wrong with comics in the 90s that you could punch your way through. It was an interesting playground.
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Jun 18, 2015 22:07
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MonsieurChoc posted:It's weird how much people love Aberrant because it's easily the least interesting of the three settings. That kind of superhero setting has been done multiple times, and I don't see how Aberrant does it particularly better than them. I always (and may yet, if the timing works out) wanted to run an Aberrant game that takes the premise of superhero = celebrity and work it from the reverse end that the book does. Start the timeline with Our 1999 and the world is populated with Our Celebrities. The Fireman becomes Sully Sullenberger, Nadia Martinez (the lady with the amazing vocal powers) is Christina Aguilera, the guy who invents the OpNet is Elon Musk, etc. I think I had it mapped to Colin Powell as Caestus Pax but couldn't find someone for Divis Mal. Basically, the same people become celebrities as in the real world, but because they are novas instead of whatever twist of fate actually happened. All the Continuum games work well as metamedia/media commentaries, but you have to push much harder down on them than the initial text. As another example, Trinity is a game in the style of a future cop TV show in a universe that has the exact future cop TV show it is emulating.
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Jun 18, 2015 22:24
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Kellsterik posted:So like Progenitor, but not as good. I think Aberrant and Progenitor are the greatest supers settings ever produced for roleplaying games first. It was just Aberrant until I read Progenitor, which is really top notch. The thing about Scaling is that it puts a slight dampener on things that effect PCs, but aims toward just enough to keep things plausible but interesting. In the top vs bottom Scale examples the people on the bottom are still likely to get obliterated! But there are middle cases where we can have the look of big things but keep consequences plausible, but not just a boring foregone conclusion. So I think Scaling can keep the spirit of Aberrant, which I personally love, but bring some things back into the realm of the playable. Much will depend on testing, of course.
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Jun 18, 2015 22:35
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Ferrinus posted:Unless you're playing on an actual grid I don't see what you'd use if not fields/range bands/etc. Keeping track of who's on which roof or whatever is about as much as you want to do in a theater of the mind system. I tried integrating Fields, range bands and movement but it started losing coherence when we're talking about, y'know, carrier-launched cruise missiles and space fighters and such.
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Jun 18, 2015 22:38
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Dave Brookshaw posted:Oh, I entirely agree, and you'll see more of it as Neall gets into the more detailed combat rules.
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Jun 19, 2015 00:43
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MalcolmSheppard posted:I tried integrating Fields, range bands and movement but it started losing coherence when we're talking about, y'know, carrier-launched cruise missiles and space fighters and such. For space fighters, okay, but individuals scrapping? By the by, the special effect of the "Love" social condition is adorable. In general giving ties, alliances, etc. like that mechanical teeth - especially ones that scale with social skills - is a good move.
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Jun 19, 2015 01:06
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Ferrinus posted:For space fighters, okay, but individuals scrapping? The game is designed so that not-Superman can have a boxing match with the not-SDF-1. I can't guarantee it will do this as well as it does other things, but it was in my head. In typical fights the real in-world values will effectively allow movement across bands, sure. quote:By the by, the special effect of the "Love" social condition is adorable. In general giving ties, alliances, etc. like that mechanical teeth - especially ones that scale with social skills - is a good move. I hate, hate, HATE love being modeled as a social attack. So there's this.
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Jun 19, 2015 02:27
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I really appreciate the effort. Even if you aren't using combat metaphors, it's messed up that social skill use in most games pretty much always amounts to the "Manipulation" category in that preview pdf.
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Jun 19, 2015 03:07
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MalcolmSheppard posted:The game is designed so that not-Superman can have a boxing match with the not-SDF-1. I can't guarantee it will do this as well as it does other things, but it was in my head. In typical fights the real in-world values will effectively allow movement across bands, sure. Yessss. One step closer to a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH6ZiySBy_w
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Jun 19, 2015 03:11
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Just hire Kevin Siembieda already!
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Jun 19, 2015 04:20
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Wales Grey posted:Just hire Kevin Siembieda already! Imagine a scream of horror and fear resonating through your eardrums.
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Jun 19, 2015 04:38
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David Hill just posted a small preview for one of the new Dark Eras chapters, Hunters during the Tokugawa Shogunate.
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Jun 19, 2015 05:43
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Luminous Obscurity posted:David Hill just posted a small preview for one of the new Dark Eras chapters, Hunters during the Tokugawa Shogunate. "We hunt witches, you know." "Yes, we know." "We're super good at it and maybe you should try following our god." "Yes, you said that." "I mean maybe we could find it in our hearts to forgive you for laying with unnatural beasts and the forces of darkn-" "I said hold the torch, not judge my ancestors. Hold the torch or gently caress off."
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Jun 19, 2015 06:13
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I'm really liking how this is looking. Literally the three things I was hoping for out of this chapter were the Malleus showing up (check), a compact centered around the "floating world" of urban nightlife (surprisingly check), and a distrusted compact of ronin who have nowhere else to go themed around the redemption/disgrace angle of the Thule Society (fingers crossed). I wonder if this is before or after the Shimabara Rebellion? Life for a Japanese Christian hunter (much less a missionary) is going to get way, way harder depending on when it's set. On the other hand, playing Silence as a Hunter game would be weirdly cool. Kellsterik fucked around with this message at 07:45 on Jun 19, 2015 |
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Jun 19, 2015 07:42
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Kellsterik posted:I wonder if this is before or after the Shimabara Rebellion? Life for a Japanese Christian hunter (much less a missionary) is going to get way, way harder depending on when it's set. On the other hand, playing Silence as a Hunter game would be weirdly cool. I actually asked Hill something similar (except about isolationism) and he said he's aiming for the 1640s, so shortly after the Shimbara Rebellion and the implementation of Japan's hardline isolationist policies. Edit: Direct quote. David Hill posted:Yeah. I figure the Malleus showed up in the very early 17th century, when the Netherlands and Japan established trade relations. The Dutch helped to quell the Japanese Christian uprisings, which I figure was a matter of ideological purity for the Malleus. The Malleus doesn't maintain a strong presence in Edo in the period, but enough of one that others pay attention.
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Jun 19, 2015 07:53
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Aberrant has a big, huge setting where you can slot in a lot of different things. My favorite Aberrant game I've played in was taking the role of the guy (my own character, not the canonical Scottish or English dude) who founded the Aberrants and playing global spy games against Utopia trying to get justice for Slider. I think the thing is that a lot of people have weird relationships with metaplot and some metaplot is super lame, but generally I think you should use it, abuse it, or drop it and that there's no moral weight to doing anything with or without it.
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Jun 19, 2015 18:03
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Blog post on Neolithic Mage/Werewolf is up. I don't know if I'm cool with an origin that Eurocentric for the Uratha, but it's not like there's a set canon for nWoD anyway.
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Jun 20, 2015 13:30
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Kavak posted:Blog post on Neolithic Mage/Werewolf is up. I don't know if I'm cool with an origin that Eurocentric for the Uratha, but it's not like there's a set canon for nWoD anyway. The human culture we're showing is the Vinca (and we mention their neighbours), but the Uratha live in Pangaea, which stretches across the whole world.
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Jun 20, 2015 13:32
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Dave Brookshaw posted:The human culture we're showing is the Vinca (and we mention their neighbours), but the Uratha live in Pangaea, which stretches across the whole world. How does that work? Will we see Uratha NPCs from other parts of the world?
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Jun 20, 2015 13:34
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Wherever there are humans, there ar eUratha is my guess.
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Jun 20, 2015 14:21
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Kavak posted:How does that work? Will we see Uratha NPCs from other parts of the world? One of the things about this being pre-Sundering, is that we're finally getting a look at Uratha culture as separate from any mortal human society - they live in their own tribes in their own world, and obvious Wolf-Blooded in (at least) the human society we're focusing on get sent into the wild to join their own kind. Different tribes of Uratha will have different customs, follow different Firstborn, and have different opinions on what to do about Wolf's illness, but while a mage could (say) wander far across the world via Space magic and meet a radically different civilization there, if he then went into Pangaea the werewolves would be werewolves.
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Jun 20, 2015 14:41
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Yeah, re-reading that post I have no idea how I thought it was Eurocentric, nevermind. I like the title, too, it's been too long since I listened to that song.
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Jun 20, 2015 15:03
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I told Dave, "Sure, go for pre-Sundering." And the fucker took me at my word and has done it right. Almost makes up for the time I dared him to include Pilot's Oh Ho Ho It's Magic in the official Fallen World Chronicle (as was) soundtrack.
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Jun 21, 2015 02:50
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DigitalRaven posted:Almost makes up for the time I dared him to include Pilot's Oh Ho Ho It's Magic in the official Fallen World Chronicle (as was) soundtrack. Please tell me he did it.
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Jun 21, 2015 02:59
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Kavak posted:Please tell me he did it. Best twenty quid I've ever spent.
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Jun 21, 2015 03:04
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Kavak posted:Please tell me he did it. I'd never believe it's not so.
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Jun 21, 2015 05:36
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First two revised chapters of Beast are up.
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Jun 22, 2015 18:31
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A lot has changed, and I'm overall feeling that the changes are decent. I'm disappointed, however, because a lot hasn't changed at all. A lot of the text is exactly as it was, and in chapter 2's description of heroes especially it contradicts itself, with the new text talking about how heroes can modulate what they do and then immediately turning on itself to say that they universally can't and don't. Also I think the Eshmaki and Ugallu Birthrights are kind of stupidly powerful, one in combat and one in solving literally every mystery - anything that relies on hidden secrets seems difficult to do when an Ugallu can effortlessly ferret out anything they go to look for.
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Jun 22, 2015 19:37
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Some decent changes to chapter 1, but not enough for my tastes. Most of the stereotypes have been changed to compliment other splats, save for Demons. They're still WoD stereotypes, so they suck, but they suck less. Fluff hasn't changed much, though. Still got the angry feminist lady who beats guys up and the petty cab driver who hates rich people, along with others.
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Jun 22, 2015 20:12
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At this point, I kind of want the passive-aggressive cab driver to stay just because of how stupid it is.
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Jun 22, 2015 20:37
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Wait, what's wrong wiith WoD's stereotypes? They are not the most detailed thing ever, but they do give you a generic idea of how certain splats regate to each other.
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Jun 22, 2015 20:51
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SunAndSpring posted:the petty cab driver who hates rich people, I thought the worst implication with Bad Cabbie is that he gets his rocks off creating situations where poor people get "neighborhood watched."
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Jun 22, 2015 20:57
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paradoxGentleman posted:Wait, what's wrong wiith WoD's stereotypes? They are not the most detailed thing ever, but they do give you a generic idea of how certain splats regate to each other. The original Beast Stereotypes made it sound that Beasts liked to hang out with Changelings because they're easy to bully. Now they come across as groupies looking up to their kinship-senpais. e: hahaha, one of the lives in the new document is a legitimate serial killer who targets "happy people" every few years so other couples learn to love and appreciate the other more quote:He knows what it’s like to be on the outside, but he likes it there very much. He gets to watch people. Happy people. Sad people. Loving people. He sets up camp every night across the street from the only bar in town, and watches the little people go about their lives, blissfully unaware that they share their town with a monster. He’s very strict with his Horror. He only lets it feed with abandon every few years, but oh, what a glorious feast. To take one of those happy people and break their neck before they can even stop smiling, and then to feast on the flesh. The rest of the happy people cling their loved ones tighter, and shiver, and think “there but for the grace of God.” And he watches, sated. Wales Grey fucked around with this message at 21:29 on Jun 22, 2015 |
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Jun 22, 2015 21:20
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Less Beast, more Sardonyx. Thanks in advance.
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Jun 22, 2015 21:30
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Less everything else, more neolithic mage.
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Jun 22, 2015 21:46
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