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I think the GURPS Magic system is the perfect magic system for some other theoretical game that actually centers around it.
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Oct 26, 2015 22:55
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I love the central GURPS magic system, but my first piece of advice to anyone making a GURPS character is to never, ever use it. There's a document out there somewhere, I think Dr. Kromm wrote it, that explains GURPS character generation, with things why you really don't need a 16 DX to be effective, where decent skill levels are at, and the like. GURPS really fuckin' needs that, stuffed in at the front of the main book, because its systems and math are just different enough from things like BRP or d20 to cause some serious weirdness in chargen.
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Oct 26, 2015 23:59
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I used to be a huge GURPS devotee, but I fell off mostly because I realized the promise of universality was a false one, and I became acutely aware of all the flaws with the system over the years. I was already phased out when GURPS 4th came along, but when I finally got to read it, I just felt justified. The core book just tries to do too much, and has a infuriating layout on top of that. It's refined compared to 3rd, certainly, but it felt like the kind of modest changes you'd make to a system five years in, not fifteen years in.
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Oct 27, 2015 00:32
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Lightning Lord posted:So generic RPGs... what kind of gameplay are each of them best at, do you all think? "Just do it in Fate" and "Just do it in Savage Worlds" still apply to a bunch of different concepts that all work assuming the players are focused on actively participating in the game. I personally prefer Fate - every time I've tried Savage Worlds it's felt like something was missing. I once read Tri-Stat and maybe even had a session of it, and it was the most boring time I've ever had playing an RPG.
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Oct 27, 2015 01:16
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Alien Rope Burn posted:I used to be a huge GURPS devotee, but I fell off mostly because I realized the promise of universality was a false one, and I became acutely aware of all the flaws with the system over the years. I was already phased out when GURPS 4th came along, but when I finally got to read it, I just felt justified. The core book just tries to do too much, and has a infuriating layout on top of that. It's refined compared to 3rd, certainly, but it felt like the kind of modest changes you'd make to a system five years in, not fifteen years in. where do you think it loses universality?
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Oct 27, 2015 01:34
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Can anyone recommend some systemless setting books with neat art?
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Oct 27, 2015 03:08
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Reason posted:Can anyone recommend some systemless setting books with neat art? Guide to Glorantha is basically the definitive answer.
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Oct 27, 2015 03:10
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How are you supposed to read pre-written campaigns/adventures/modules? Every time I try my eyes glaze over because I know I'm never going to remember all of this stuff and I feel like I'm just going to end up railroading players even if I did. I usually end up reading 3 to 4 pages into the thing then putting it down once I have a seed of an idea. Like, Lost Mine of Phandelver is (spoilered in case anyone cares about chapter 1) "the heroes get hired to escort a caravan to a town, they get ambushed by goblins, they track the goblins into a 3-4 room cave, there's a bugbear at the end"
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Oct 27, 2015 04:56
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gradenko_2000 posted:How are you supposed to read pre-written campaigns/adventures/modules? Every time I try my eyes glaze over because I know I'm never going to remember all of this stuff and I feel like I'm just going to end up railroading players even if I did. When I'm running pre-written campaigns I mostly am doing it so I don't have to read the whole thing in advance. Hopefully the adventure has an overview to let you know roughly how it might go and what the parts of the adventure are, and then you can read the actual encounters and stuff before each session when they become plausibly within one sessions's reach.
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Oct 27, 2015 04:59
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Reason posted:Can anyone recommend some systemless setting books with neat art? Off the top of my head: Guide to Glorantha Atlas of Rokugan Dragon Kings Calidar - In Stranger Skies (There's a tiny Pathfinder section in the back) Tekumel Sourcebook gradenko_2000 posted:How are you supposed to read pre-written campaigns/adventures/modules? Every time I try my eyes glaze over because I know I'm never going to remember all of this stuff and I feel like I'm just going to end up railroading players even if I did. Skim it, see what appeals to you or what you think your players would like and then break it down into gameable content in the way you prefer.
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Oct 27, 2015 05:25
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gradenko_2000 posted:How are you supposed to read pre-written campaigns/adventures/modules? Every time I try my eyes glaze over because I know I'm never going to remember all of this stuff and I feel like I'm just going to end up railroading players even if I did.
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Oct 27, 2015 17:17
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gradenko_2000 posted:How are you supposed to read pre-written campaigns/adventures/modules? Every time I try my eyes glaze over because I know I'm never going to remember all of this stuff and I feel like I'm just going to end up railroading players even if I did. Isn't Lost Mine of Phandelver designed for organized play? Railroading is a bit of a requirement there.
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Oct 27, 2015 17:26
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It doesn't help that "heroes fight goblins, and later a bigger goblin", has to be the most boring, low-effort adventure ever. Goblins are dull.
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Oct 27, 2015 17:30
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I'm a goblin, and I find that remark accurate, but also insensitive.
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Oct 27, 2015 19:21
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Simian_Prime posted:It doesn't help that "heroes fight goblins, and later a bigger goblin", has to be the most boring, low-effort adventure ever. Agreed, unless I get to play as a goblin.
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Oct 27, 2015 19:29
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Simian_Prime posted:It doesn't help that "heroes fight goblins, and later a bigger goblin", has to be the most boring, low-effort adventure ever.
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Oct 27, 2015 19:37
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I know there is a billion things you can buy during the Autumn/Winter season, but I wanted to give another shout out to Silent Legions this October. You can get it in the Bundle of Nerves +3 for $11.95 along with Savage Worlds Deluxe and Horror Companion, and Dead Teenager. https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Nerves3 Like other Sine Nomine games (Other Dust, Stars Without Number) Silent Legions has a Group vs Group minigame system. However in Silent Legions the Cult vs Cult system is so well developed with a variety of Muscle, Sorcery and Influence Assets and detailed special abilities that it would not take much effort to convert what the book gives you into a card or board game. I think it is the most detailed Group vs Group system Sine Nomine has published but don't quote me on that.
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Oct 28, 2015 08:07
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Helical Nightmares posted:I know there is a billion things you can buy during the Autumn/Winter season, but I wanted to give another shout out to Silent Legions this October. You can get it in the Bundle of Nerves +3 for $11.95 along with Savage Worlds Deluxe and Horror Companion, and Dead Teenager. I had bought Silent Legions months ago(bought the Bundle of Nerves 3 primarily for the Savage Worlds stuff), and personally I found it incredibly dull and useless for my needs which has occurred with pretty much everything from Sine Nomine I've read except Exemplars & Eidolons(heck buying a physical copy of Stars Without Numbers remains one of my single largest regrets regarding RPG purchases ever, as I quickly realized I didn't like anything about it from a rules perspective, which is a rarity for an OSR product)
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Oct 28, 2015 11:56
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drrockso20 posted:I had bought Silent Legions months ago(bought the Bundle of Nerves 3 primarily for the Savage Worlds stuff), and personally I found it incredibly dull and useless for my needs which has occurred with pretty much everything from Sine Nomine I've read except Exemplars & Eidolons(heck buying a physical copy of Stars Without Numbers remains one of my single largest regrets regarding RPG purchases ever, as I quickly realized I didn't like anything about it from a rules perspective, which is a rarity for an OSR product) I got excited by that pitch for Silent Legions and picked up the bag of holding and after looking it over I really have to agree with this. It was pretty underwhelming. The Cult mechanics actually seem less fleshed out or interesting than the faction mechanics in Stars Without Number. There are some nice random tables in there for creating your own mythos, I guess. Also it has a Prince of 1000 Leaves thing going on as an example, in case you aren't familiar with it from WoD. Honestly while I used to really like Savage Worlds and Deadlands in the past, I was also really disappointed while paging through the horror companion as well. Its just a messy, clunky system and the horror companion is a bunch of tacked on subsystems, and like Feat Bloat in D&D, the Edges don't really add anything other than small bonuses in the dark on tuesdays against specific enemies, etc. Fortunately I'm only out $11.95, but I really wouldn't recommend anything in that Bundle of Nerves.
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Oct 28, 2015 14:59
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Gravy Train Robber posted:I got excited by that pitch for Silent Legions and picked up the bag of holding and after looking it over I really have to agree with this. It was pretty underwhelming. The Cult mechanics actually seem less fleshed out or interesting than the faction mechanics in Stars Without Number. There are some nice random tables in there for creating your own mythos, I guess. Also it has a Prince of 1000 Leaves thing going on as an example, in case you aren't familiar with it from WoD. I bought the bundle for Rippers and Accursed myself, cause both seemed pretty interesting, haven't gotten around to reading them yet though, been kinda busy
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Oct 28, 2015 17:05
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http://venturebeat.com/2015/10/29/paradox-interactive-buys-vampire-the-masquerade-publisher-white-wolf-from-ccp/ Oh hell yes Based Swedes!!!
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Oct 29, 2015 14:50
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Paradox? This is great news.
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Oct 29, 2015 15:23
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TheLovablePlutonis posted:http://venturebeat.com/2015/10/29/paradox-interactive-buys-vampire-the-masquerade-publisher-white-wolf-from-ccp/ thats a great loving picture at the head of that article.
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Oct 29, 2015 17:05
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Where's that thread about RPG podcasts? Here or in Rapidly going deaf (can't find it).
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Oct 29, 2015 17:08
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http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3743698
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Oct 29, 2015 17:22
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ty
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Oct 29, 2015 17:36
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What are some of the most cool Monster Manuals? Doesn't matter which system just looking for some cool monsters that aren't just goblins and dragons.
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Oct 30, 2015 06:27
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Book of the Shadowlands for Legend of the Five Rings comes to mind. So does the 13th Age Bestiary. Also I have a soft spot for all the Planescape Monstrous Compendiums, but mainly I & II and the related pamphlets that game with most of the boxed sets. Green Ronin's Book of Fiends was pretty good for its time, too.
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Oct 30, 2015 06:38
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Reason posted:What are some of the most cool Monster Manuals? Doesn't matter which system just looking for some cool monsters that aren't just goblins and dragons. D&D 4E Monster Manuals 2&3 NWoD Horror Recognition Guide
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Oct 30, 2015 06:42
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Alien Rope Burn posted:Book of the Shadowlands for Legend of the Five Rings comes to mind. So does the 13th Age Bestiary. Also I have a soft spot for all the Planescape Monstrous Compendiums, but mainly I & II and the related pamphlets that game with most of the boxed sets. Green Ronin's Book of Fiends was pretty good for its time, too. Can definitely confirm Book of Shadowlands and Planescape. D&D 4th edition Monstrous Manual 3 had some interesting monster abilities (in a tactical and synergistic sense). Try the Dark Sun Monstrous Manual (any edition) and maybe Pathfinder Bestiary 3 I actually did like the Numenera Bestiary for the creature descriptions, not the mechanics. Pro Tier: Gurps Fantasy 2 The Mad Lands  Speaking of bestiaries, I remember there was a D&D bestiary, maybe AD&D or 3.5 that had a slew of alchemist familiars. I think it was a Mystarra one if that was a game line. Any ideas? Helical Nightmares fucked around with this message at 06:54 on Oct 30, 2015 |
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Oct 30, 2015 06:49
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The 13th Age Bestiary is cool. It does feature variations on goblins and dragons and a lot of other fantasy standbys, but it also has a number of really weird and unique monsters. Also, almost every monster comes with like a page worth of potential plot hooks. Even if you're using the stats for monsters from another game, it can give you ideas on putting a twist on standard monsters like chimeras and manticores and such. It's still heavily tied into 13th Age's Dragon Empire setting and its Icons, but the Icons are easily translated into just about any fantasy setting. E: On a different topic, I'll be running a haunted house type of one-shot for a bunch of friends (some of whom have never played an RPG before) tomorrow in celebration of Halloween. This'll be the first time I'll be running an actual horror game, so I've been writing down all the horror movie haunting cliches so I have a bunch of twists I can throw at the players during the game. The scenario is basically about a bunch of government agents working for a secret branch of the U.S. government that investigates the supernatural and the paranormal. One of their agents have discovered that one of America's many supposed haunted houses is the real deal and actually haunted by a multitude of spirits, and they're sent to investigate. The thing is, to conceal government involvement in order to alleviate panic and hysteria, the agents' cover story is that they're the production crew of an up and coming reality TV show in the vein of those ghost chaser shows that the History Channel and Discovery Channel seem to be pumping out at a steady pace. So, the characters, who are hard-boiled agents with an actual knowledge of the paranormal, have to pretend to be a bunch of idiots during their investigation. The setting is a former religious boarding school that has since been repurposed as a hotel whose owners really play up the haunted house angle. The truth is that the numerous disappearances and murders that have happened at the manor are due to the faculty of the school having been part of a cult intent on summoning some kind of dark entity into this world. Said entity feeds on negative emotions, which is why the faculty upheld a very strict regime of discipline and corporal punishment, in between sacrificing the occasional orphan student to the entity to expedite their entry into this world. The faculty didn't quite succeed at this, because the aforementioned fire happened, but the entity was still sort of summoned, only bound to the school and its grounds. Since then the manor has been rebuilt and has been the source of a number of murder suicides (as the entity bound to the building is still trying to rack up the death count in order to become powerful enough to break free) and as the scenario begins there'll be an invisible death countdown which, when it reaches zero, ends up summoning the entity into this world. It's not a corporeal entity though, more like a spirit of hatred and pain that needs a human host to do its thing, so one of the potential fail-states of the scenario is the PCs accidentally ending up summoning the entity, the entity possessing one of them and forcing them to go on a murderous rampage, possessed PC waking up in a hospital afterwards being asked for a statement by their agency while a mysterious voice in the back of their head whispers "We have work to do," roll credits. So, yeah, that's probably going to be fun. Ratpick fucked around with this message at 09:20 on Oct 30, 2015 |
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Oct 30, 2015 08:52
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Reason posted:What are some of the most cool Monster Manuals? Doesn't matter which system just looking for some cool monsters that aren't just goblins and dragons. The original Games of Divinity, for 1e Exalted. Gods, elementals, and demons. I remember flipping through that book and every page had something on it that made me think 'Oh yeah, I've got to get that into a game somehow. '
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Oct 30, 2015 12:21
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Xenology and the Horror Recognition Guide are both "in-character" books about the monsters and aliens of their settings. They also both own bones, although your going to have to do since legwork to find either of them.
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Oct 30, 2015 13:02
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grassy gnoll posted:Xenology and the Horror Recognition Guide are both "in-character" books about the monsters and aliens of their settings. They also both own bones, although your going to have to do since legwork to find either of them. The HRG's in PDF and print-on-demand on Drivethru...
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Oct 30, 2015 14:06
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I could have sworn there was a long period it was print only, but I'm delighted to be wrong. HRG is probably the best book White Wolf has ever produced.
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Oct 30, 2015 15:00
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Thanks for all the recommendations! Can't wait to dig in with these.
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Oct 30, 2015 15:43
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grassy gnoll posted:Xenology and the Horror Recognition Guide are both "in-character" books about the monsters and aliens of their settings. They also both own bones, although your going to have to do since legwork to find either of them.
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Oct 30, 2015 15:48
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MadScientistWorking posted:I actually owned the Horror Recognition Guide (Not sure where it is at the moment) without knowing nothing about the game line and its still fun to read. Yeah the main difference between knowing wod and not when reading it is basically: Not a wod fan - these are some kickass monsters. wod fan - these are kickass X Y and Zs.
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Oct 30, 2015 18:25
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grassy gnoll posted:I could have sworn there was a long period it was print only, but I'm delighted to be wrong. HRG is probably the best book White Wolf has ever produced. Every time someone says this, it warms my coal-black heart.
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Oct 30, 2015 21:16
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Also Atlantis: Theragraphica on the good monster manual front. I love me some monster manuals and I don't have nearly enough of them.
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Oct 30, 2015 21:17
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