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Covok posted:I agree mostly. This is what I was talking about. Some moves will probably be the same from game to game, but making sure you have a different Agenda/Principles and building from those ensures you have plenty of gm moves unique to what you're trying to do with your game. US is a great example. You can put the AW and US gm sheets side by side and look at what was kept and what changed and how that aligns with what each game is about.
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Feb 11, 2016 20:52
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Nifara posted:I think this is an interesting take on it - letting any of the playbooks play as any exalted type is a cool idea if you can get it to work. How were you thinking you would represent the impact of being different exalt types? I'm imagining Dungeon World esque backgrounds? It's in there under Exaltation Moves, but the whole thing is admittedly pretty unorganized. It's more like Monsterhearts' Darkest Self than DW races. Each Exalt type has its own form of the Great Curse, which the player fills in with keywords; for example, a Solar's past life had an Ambition and was brought low by a Failing. When they're acting on their destiny's terms (the Ambition in this case) they can choose to treat a miss as a 7-9 instead, but are overcome by the Great Curse until a certain condition is met (for a Solar, you succumb to your Failing until that behavior destroys something of value to your present life.) I don't have a lot I can say about The Beast specifically, but I like the look of stress vs. harm in your game. It really sort of emphasizes that threats and intimidation are fine but actually getting stabbed is Real Bad News. Benly fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Feb 12, 2016 |
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Feb 12, 2016 03:37
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Since everybody seems to be sharing their work. Here is a link to the current draft of Malleus, my 17th century monster hunting game. I ran a second playtest game last night, which was fun but I've already made a few changes. I need to get some more regular play testing in so I can try and put more stress of the Drives, Beliefs and Vices stuff. It's hard to bring them all to bear in a one shot. I also just finished the first draft of the playbook layout, which is here. EDIT: I've refined the playbook layout some thefakenews fucked around with this message at 08:42 on Feb 12, 2016 |
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Feb 12, 2016 05:37
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I've been reading the new AW preview, and it reminded me of a big question I had about AW. So, can somebody explain the idea behind Hx? I get that it's supposed to represent how close you are to someone, or maybe how well you understand them. But... the easiest way to become close to someone is to have them shoot you? And if you come to understand them too well, it wraps around and suddenly you're distant again? I don't get it.
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Feb 12, 2016 07:04
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megane posted:I've been reading the new AW preview, and it reminded me of a big question I had about AW. So, can somebody explain the idea behind Hx? I get that it's supposed to represent how close you are to someone, or maybe how well you understand them. But... the easiest way to become close to someone is to have them shoot you? And if you come to understand them too well, it wraps around and suddenly you're distant again? I don't get it. It's how well you understand that the other character is a gently caress up. Has nothing to do with actual closeness. I guess you can justify the way it wraps around at a certain point as: if they keep shooting at you even though you're at +4 Hx, you obviously don't understand how much of a mess they are, but all those bulletholes probably taught you something.
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Feb 12, 2016 07:29
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I don't think of Hx as quite being understanding - rather, it's a tension or similar emotional connection between the two characters which can lead to understanding (which is when the wrap-around occurs). Once you reach that understanding, you learn something from it and that particular tension is broken. I don't think that's the "official" reading, though.
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Feb 12, 2016 07:40
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Benly posted:It's in there under Exaltation Moves, but the whole thing is admittedly pretty unorganized. It's more like Monsterhearts' Darkest Self than DW races. I really, really like this emulation of Exalted's Limit Breaks. Both giving you and not giving you control and not having it be a bean counting experience. It worked well in Monster Hearts and it translates well to this aspect of Exalted. Nifara posted:I think this is an interesting take on it - letting any of the playbooks play as any exalted type is a cool idea if you can get it to work. How were you thinking you would represent the impact of being different exalt types? I'm imagining Dungeon World esque backgrounds? One thing jumping out at me is that a) there may not be enough ways to lose rep and b) you need to have some rule that either says rep caps at +3 or it resets to +1 when it hits +4. I suppose the playbook layout does make it clear, but a tiny line might not hurt. Might be more of a rulebook thing, now that I'm thinking about it. Especially since all three flex stats are like that. The basic moves do a good job of establishing the stakes and problems of that world. It really does feel like a rep driven, crime ridden, hell-hole, but one where people talk out their problems before using weapons. That is a good thing since it avoids the boring "shoot everybody nature that these things can become. The math might be weird with just 3 stats, but breaking the rules when you understand them and account for them usually turns out fine. I really like the background and style options, btw. You can probably condense the beast holding's move text. To go back to the "not enough ways to lose rep" thing. Do a playtest first and all, but it might be currently easy to stay around a +3 atm. If you have +3 stress and take one more stress, do you get hurt? Can no PC hurt someone without the "bloody hell" move? Have you checked to see if these playbooks fold properly, btw? There was a problem with the original AW playbooks about that. Those are just my surface thoughts from my skim. There might be more things you can improve on, but I didn't go in-depth. Looks like it can be a very fun gritty crime game. Benly posted:I'm a little late to the "post your Exalted hack" party, but I was working on one of my own a while back and would be curious if anyone had feedback for it. At the risk of sounding really, really douchey -- and I apologize if I do --, I generally find it easier to get feedback when I format the document I show off. I'm not saying this to sound high and mighty or sound too good for it, I'm saying it because getting feedback can be hard. I find formatting makes it easier to attract people to the doc. Let's the eyes move more easily across the page: less of a chore. I really hope this doesn't pretentious, I'm just trying to help because someone said the same to me a long time back and it helped. My main worry comes down to how it resolves battles. It might be too piecemeal and lead to the same move being rolled too often. This leads to two questions: what elements of Exalted are you highlighting and how are NPCs built? It seems like you want to heighten the cursed-insane God-king elements. Is this correct? If so, lowering the importance of battle might be better. That's the vibe I get, but I could be wrong. I ask about NPC health because it needs to be at a level where combat doesn't go on forever, ya know? Either by narrative reinforcement that taking harm is a big deal, keeping harm low, etc. Otherwise, battles could end up sloggy. It's hard to judge without this information. Assuming characters who can take 1-6 with the higher ends being rare should avoid slogs. I didn't really look at the playbooks, but the idea of linking Exalted type to the Great Curse and making the playbooks universal setting archetypes is a solid way of doing things. This is all from a skim, though. Really hope my first comment wasn't douchey, again. Sorry if it was, again. thefakenews posted:Since everybody seems to be sharing their work. Here is a link to the current draft of Malleus, my 17th century monster hunting game. I ran a second playtest game last night, which was fun but I've already made a few changes. I need to get some more regular play testing in so I can try and put more stress of the Drives, Beliefs and Vices stuff. It's hard to bring them all to bear in a one shot. Making workshops a basic move is a pretty interesting take on things. I wonder how that will work out in play. I didn't get to the playbooks, but the basic moves seemed well enough on a glace. I like how you dropped the clock metaphor and just explained it in wounds. I personally never really thought that clock metaphor worked, honestly. The balance between faith and corruption is handled rather interestingly. I really hope a lot of the playbooks interact with this mechanic in an interesting fashion. If nothing else, it does encourage some interesting roleplaying aspects.
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Feb 12, 2016 08:12
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Covok posted:At the risk of sounding really, really douchey -- and I apologize if I do --, I generally find it easier to get feedback when I format the document I show off. I'm not saying this to sound high and mighty or sound too good for it, I'm saying it because getting feedback can be hard. I find formatting makes it easier to attract people to the doc. Let's the eyes move more easily across the page: less of a chore. I really hope this doesn't pretentious, I'm just trying to help because someone said the same to me a long time back and it helped. It's fine, I'm aware my formatting is poo poo. I don't really know how to use any formatting software I might have access to (I'm on a Mac, so what options are available to me are probably different from most folks) and every time I start thinking about formatting this my hindbrain goes "no, this is too unfinished, make it better". So.. laziness and depression, I guess? I don't know. If you've got any advice for how to learn how to do this poo poo I'd appreciate it. quote:My main worry comes down to how it resolves battles. It might be too piecemeal and lead to the same move being rolled too often. This leads to two questions: what elements of Exalted are you highlighting and how are NPCs built? Mortals have 2-3 depending on their sturdiness (a human would have 2, a dino-man would have 3) but die immediately on taking grievous harm. My thought was that 5 (the standard for PCs) is near the upper end of health for enlightened beings - a spirit-king of predatory beasts or Imperial knight might have 3-4, 5 might be a superior war-demon or the living incarnation of a holy mountain. A PC with Ox-Body Technique has 7 and is about the most unstoppable thing in Creation, a war machine built to go toe to toe with Primordials. PCs in this should be the scariest thing around. Which leads into "what story am I trying to tell", because it is definitely the case that Exalted usually has no idea what story it's trying to tell. "Cursed god-kings" is about accurate. Basically, many years ago I bought the first edition of Exalted before any of the splatbooks had come out, and the story it was pushing was "now you have the power of a demigod who hosed up real bad, and there's no reason to think you'll do any better, and destiny wants you to do great and terrible things", and I wanted to go back to that root. quote:I didn't really look at the playbooks, but the idea of linking Exalted type to the Great Curse and making the playbooks universal setting archetypes is a solid way of doing things. Yeah, it kind of seemed like the only way to allow more than one Exaltation type without a hojillion playbooks, and only a few splats really broke from the usual structure anyway. (And those splats were ones that couldn't really fit into the story I wanted to tell as PCs anyway.) Edit: I've edited the document's section on Harm with examples of what sort of creatures can withstand different amounts of Harm. Benly fucked around with this message at 09:16 on Feb 12, 2016 |
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Feb 12, 2016 08:42
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Benly posted:It's fine, I'm aware my formatting is poo poo. I don't really know how to use any formatting software I might have access to (I'm on a Mac, so what options are available to me are probably different from most folks) and every time I start thinking about formatting this my hindbrain goes "no, this is too unfinished, make it better". So.. laziness and depression, I guess? I don't know. If you've got any advice for how to learn how to do this poo poo I'd appreciate it. One good option I can recommend is to write your work in Markdown. It's plain text, so you can use it on any platform, it's simple enough that it quickly becomes second nature to format as you write, and with a bit of work and good macros you can convert it into basically any other formatting style. (I have a bunch of routine macros I use to turn Markdown into a Scribus layout, for example.) Markdowntopdf.com will generate a quick pdf from Markdown text, and Pandoc is an incredibly powerful document converter (and is Mac-compatible) but was created by someone super-comfortable with Perl and command-line interfaces so is about as user-unfriendly as it comes. E: Benly posted:Basically, many years ago I bought the first edition of Exalted before any of the splatbooks had come out, and the story it was pushing was "now you have the power of a demigod who hosed up real bad, and there's no reason to think you'll do any better, and destiny wants you to do great and terrible things", and I wanted to go back to that root. I am all about this poo poo. The cursed god-kings angle is what hooked me into Exalted in the first place way back when, and I've been increasingly frustrated by successive editions' move away from that. potatocubed fucked around with this message at 09:37 on Feb 12, 2016 |
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Feb 12, 2016 09:23
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I just meant to do things like bold, italicized, use number lists, cut up paragraphs, and the such. Nothing fancy. Just something to help the eyes go across the page.
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Feb 12, 2016 09:27
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Benly posted:Mortals have 2-3 depending on their sturdiness (a human would have 2, a dino-man would have 3) but die immediately on taking grievous harm. My thought was that 5 (the standard for PCs) is near the upper end of health for enlightened beings - a spirit-king of predatory beasts or Imperial knight might have 3-4, 5 might be a superior war-demon or the living incarnation of a holy mountain. A PC with Ox-Body Technique has 7 and is about the most unstoppable thing in Creation, a war machine built to go toe to toe with Primordials. PCs in this should be the scariest thing around. Alright, then my worries with the battle move should be mostly unfounded then. Benly posted:Which leads into "what story am I trying to tell", because it is definitely the case that Exalted usually has no idea what story it's trying to tell. "Cursed god-kings" is about accurate. Basically, many years ago I bought the first edition of Exalted before any of the splatbooks had come out, and the story it was pushing was "now you have the power of a demigod who hosed up real bad, and there's no reason to think you'll do any better, and destiny wants you to do great and terrible things", and I wanted to go back to that root. I am totally for this. I'll take a look later into your playbooks and give you advice on how to back this up. Can I say it's interesting how all of the Exalted PbtA hacks that have come out of this thread so far all focus on a different aspect of the Exalted setting? If they all turn out well, a lot of Exalted fans might be very, very pleased.
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Feb 12, 2016 09:55
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Okay, I tried out markdown. Here's a formatted version of Exalted World; the formatting is simple but should make it less wall-of-text-y. The rules are still pretty disorganized, but at least I bolded the key term of each rules paragraph so you can see what the hell it's about.
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Feb 12, 2016 10:25
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Again, thanks for the feedback, all good.Covok posted:One thing jumping out at me is that a) there may not be enough ways to lose rep and b) you need to have some rule that either says rep caps at +3 or it resets to +1 when it hits +4. I suppose the playbook layout does make it clear, but a tiny line might not hurt. Might be more of a rulebook thing, now that I'm thinking about it. Especially since all three flex stats are like that. This is something that's in the core rules, but isn't on the playbooks. I may need to tinker to get it on the playbooks: Bronze Circle posted:If rep goes to -1, you look weak. Your word is worth poo poo, no one respects you. People will try and muscle in on your turf, a rival gang will call you out, or someone waiting for the right time makes a play. Resolve that, good or bad, and set rep=0. Hopefully this fills in the blanks. These are, I guess, peripheral moves (though I hadn't realised that until you asked). It may be that I need to rework the sheets - make them a little less crowded, but give up on having basic moves on each playbook. Covok posted:The basic moves do a good job of establishing the stakes and problems of that world. It really does feel like a rep driven, crime ridden, hell-hole, but one where people talk out their problems before using weapons. That is a good thing since it avoids the boring "shoot everybody nature that these things can become. Thanks, I really wanted to emphasize the fact that in actual criminal circles, violence doesn't break out that often... and when it does, it's super super bad. Covok posted:The math might be weird with just 3 stats, but breaking the rules when you understand them and account for them usually turns out fine. Well, really, there are 5 stats (maybe six) - rep and scratch are basic moves stats that see a bunch of use... they just change their value pretty often. Covok posted:I really like the background and style options, btw. Thanks - I wanted to find some way to get people to choose look and other personal details, but tie it together so it keeps thematic. Covok posted:You can probably condense the beast holding's move text. Agreed. I'll look at making it more concise. Covok posted:To go back to the "not enough ways to lose rep" thing. Do a playtest first and all, but it might be currently easy to stay around a +3 atm. Hopefully, with the resetting at +4 thing, this won't be too much of an issue. I will definitely playtest. Covok posted:If you have +3 stress and take one more stress, do you get hurt? Can no PC hurt someone without the "bloody hell" move? Go for Blood is the only way for PCs to hurt other people - you get their stress up so they'll let their defense slip, then you loving hurt them. Making it so they only actually get hurt on a 10+ is intentional. I want to ensure that people only actually go for blood when they've had a suitable emotional, interactive buildup. If a PC is at +3 stress and they "would take stress in a way that threatens or involves violence, or can expect the worse when they miss on a roll where violence is implicit, they get hurt". Covok posted:Have you checked to see if these playbooks fold properly, btw? There was a problem with the original AW playbooks about that. This was a major problem with my first hack (which is still on the back burner), but I fixed my templates and these should print and folder correctly as long as you're using A4 paper (I'm a Brit).
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Feb 12, 2016 11:29
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Covok posted:Can I say it's interesting how all of the Exalted PbtA hacks that have come out of this thread so far all focus on a different aspect of the Exalted setting? If they all turn out well, a lot of Exalted fans might be very, very pleased. I feel like this is a reflection of how Exalted itself tried to be everything to everyone / had its tone and themes all over the place, generally not to its benefit. Very few of the themes they tried to work with were bad, but they weren't conducive to being crammed into one game together, and in my experience, this often led to people at the table not being on the same page about what to expect. Turning Exalted into a few tight PbtA games with very distinct themes might narrow the scope of each individual game, but it seems a lot more likely to create something interesting and fun from the Exalted setting and metaplot.
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Feb 12, 2016 11:35
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Antivehicular posted:I feel like this is a reflection of how Exalted itself tried to be everything to everyone / had its tone and themes all over the place, generally not to its benefit. Very few of the themes they tried to work with were bad, but they weren't conducive to being crammed into one game together, and in my experience, this often led to people at the table not being on the same page about what to expect. Turning Exalted into a few tight PbtA games with very distinct themes might narrow the scope of each individual game, but it seems a lot more likely to create something interesting and fun from the Exalted setting and metaplot. I'm in 100% agreement - there's just too many conflicting themes in Exalted to make a single PBTA game. I think it makes lots of sense to have a bunch of different hacks. I'm loving the variety. Based on (very helpful) feedback I have a new version of the Beast playbook, the new Charm playbook, and a copy of the Moves Sheet for Bronze Circle. Let me know what you folks think. Lupercalcalcal fucked around with this message at 13:03 on Feb 12, 2016 |
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Feb 12, 2016 12:18
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I have made some revision to my playbook layout, I think for the better, and have added the Mystic. They can be found here. I would be grateful if anyone has any feedback as to whether the layout for the Mystic's moves make sense.
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Feb 12, 2016 12:37
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thefakenews posted:I have made some revision to my playbook layout, I think for the better, and have added the Mystic. They can be found here. I would be grateful if anyone has any feedback as to whether the layout for the Mystic's moves make sense. Makes sense to me, and looks good to boot. Out of interest, what software do you use for your playbook layouts?
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Feb 12, 2016 13:02
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Nifara posted:Makes sense to me, and looks good to boot. Thanks. I'm making them in Adobe Illustrator. I have a feeling that I would be better off using InDesign, but I am much more familiar with Illustrator.
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Feb 12, 2016 13:08
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Honestly, I'm of the opinion you're better off using whatever works best for you - playbooks don't need to be works of art, and in fact it's often counter productive. Clarity is the most essential trait in my view, and you've definitely got that down.
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Feb 12, 2016 13:19
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Nifara posted:
Haven't had a good look, but this looks neat and I really like your playbook layout. However, I did notice the the Beast and the Charm have the same little fluff description, I'm not sure if that is an error?
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Feb 12, 2016 13:27
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It is! I've fixed it now, so the link should update shortly. Glad your first impressions are positive. I'll upload the other playbooks as I get them sorted.
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Feb 12, 2016 13:35
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Welp, I've had insomnia and I've been chewing over Exalted World and I'm kind of coming to think that Dragonblooded, much as I love them, might not fit as player characters. The essential problem I'm having is that the other splats I'm using have an inherent tension that entwines their power and their curse. Solars' greatness magnifies their failings, Lunars have superhuman totem powers coming with subhuman bestial instincts, Abyssals are raised to greatness by the same thing that shackles them into servitude. I can't think of something like that for DBs. The Great Curse I have for them now is basically just an elemental version of the Lunar curse, which feels kind of weaksauce. I don't mind changing canon around some to find the narrative beats I want, I'm just having trouble thinking of how to do it.
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Feb 12, 2016 14:34
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The great tension in the Dragon Blooded, as far as I see them, is service vs ambition. They were created as a great communal army - ten thousand dragons who operate at their greatest when working together, and following orders as one. While the Solar Deliberative ruled, the Dragon Blooded could live without a dichotomy, because they could give their service to the Solars without concern. But when the great curse took hold of their superiors, and the Sidereals schemed to overthrow the rules of Creation, the Dragon Blooded were, for the first time, thrust into the limelight. With the formation of the Shogunate they suddenly were forced to take on the roles of leaders and rulers, which they were never created for and never intended for. Suddenly, without the challenge and rule of the more powerful celestials to keep them in line, the terrestrial exalted could begin to act singly, embracing their ambitions and allowing the bonds they felt with all of their kin to wane as they schemed and fought for power. When the Scarlet Empress exerted undeniable force and united them once more under her rule, the Dragon Blooded could return, in part, to their original ways. But the Great Curse had bitten them too, and they couldn't just give up their ambitions and indulgences, and so they fractured into houses and conspiracies and all kinds of intricate social arrangements, all so they could exert the most power (via cooperation) and still vie for supremacy (according to their ambition). The Scarlet Empress kept this balance perfectly, pushing terrestrial society along a knife's edge - rampant and indulgent enough to indulge the excesses of selfishness the Great Curse imbued them with, but forcing them into bonds and communities which allowed their great strength to shine through. With her gone, however, the balance is wrecked, and the Great Curse threatens to, once and for all, undermine the strength that unity grants them. The Rose Black looks to remake the Shogunate, more or less - dictatorial command driven by military structures and commands. Defeating the Great Curse with direct lines of authority and rigid discipline. It certainly works for Lookshy. But it won't impress many of those on the Blessed Isle, who have become indulgent and soft, and shun the military service which kept them together under the rule of the Deliberative and then the Shogunate. ... Just my view. I may have gotten carried away. I loves me some Exalted.
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Feb 12, 2016 14:54
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If we're sharing PBTA hacks I'd like to share my current hot mess. I call it PBTA because of the way choices and consequences are framed even though it's got a different resolution mechanic. Basically the premise is that every die rolled has an effect. Right now it's very board games and not rpgy, and it's only half a system. Discussion and criticism invited. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4w2ZvCSYT6AcTJCWTc1Nk50SzQ
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Feb 12, 2016 15:06
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madadric posted:If we're sharing PBTA hacks I'd like to share my current hot mess. I call it PBTA because of the way choices and consequences are framed even though it's got a different resolution mechanic. Basically the premise is that every die rolled has an effect. Right now it's very board games and not rpgy, and it's only half a system. I'm having a read, and there's some interesting stuff here. I like the dice mechanic a lot, and I think it shows promise. "Dungeoneering" feels like a weird addition in that list though - it really stands out. It really does feel very board gamey - the phases in particular don't feel like they belong to an RPG. That could be good, but it does feel a little strange. Ah, so the Dungeoneering suddenly makes sense with the expedition phase. I would say this is really more about scavenging than dungeon raiding - consider changing the dungeroneering to something else? I would also like to see some way of expanding the expedition stuff out so you can do, I don't know, hunting trips, or trade journeys and so on. Oh, uh... so you don't actually play characters on an expedition? You just pool everything and it acts as it's own thing? That's kind of weird. I'm not sure about the fixed encounters thing, it feels... unsatisfying, if I'm honest. I feel like it would be really repetitive in long term play and... I don't know. This doesn't feel like something where I get much agency, if any! I have to do things in set phases, I have to pool my stuff, I have to fight this thing and I have set results for the only way I can interact with it... I don't want to come across too harsh, but I'm really struggling to see what the appeal of this is. I like the dice mechanic, and the way things are tracked, but it feels... way way too limiting. There's no actual opportunity for agency and roleplay. I think a game where, for example, you were a group of villagers who were the ones brave enough to venture into the wilds, dungeons etc, and you needed to do so to keep the village alive, and the village had its own stats you could interact with and stuff... I think that would be cool. But I'm not sure that's what's going on here. From the pitch on your first page I'm expecting a sort of Mutant: Year Zero game, but in a dark fantasy setting, and that's not what's being produced. It's more like a solitaire game at the moment, I feel. I'm sorry, I really don't want to be too negative, I'm just not sure this is ending up in the place you want it to. If there's anything you want more detail on, or to talk over more, I'm happy to help as I can!
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Feb 12, 2016 15:56
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potatocubed posted:One good option I can recommend is to write your work in Markdown. It's plain text, so you can use it on any platform, it's simple enough that it quickly becomes second nature to format as you write, and with a bit of work and good macros you can convert it into basically any other formatting style. (I have a bunch of routine macros I use to turn Markdown into a Scribus layout, for example.) Hell yes, whoa.
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Feb 12, 2016 16:39
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A while, while back I was working on a Powered by the Apocalpyse hack on shuesiha's shonen battle comics. It was kind of weird because it was a hack that focused more on a style of a story and not a style of a story and setting. I did a playtest, put in edits for most of the complaints, then finals came around and I forgot about it. Cue yesterday, someone who found an old link to it reminded me of it and wanted to playtest. I cleaned it up and updated it with some ideas I had in my notes and am looking forward to the feedback. Currently, this hack tries its best to give you the kind of adventures you see in Dragonball, Naruto, Bleach, and other shuesiha battle comics. Despite the differences in setting and power level, those stories use very familiar archetypes. The focus on big battles was handled by borrowing from the World Wide wrestling RPG (the idea is a new one that came during the last playtest and is currently unplaytested, but the game should be updated for it). The MC side tries its best to reinforce the conceits and structure of these stories. Some of it might feel artificial, but I do feel those elements are the best way to emulate those stories. Any feedback either here or commented on the document would be greatly, greatly apperciated. You can find it here. Edit: One thing I want to do in the next draft is cut out and replace all the moves that give you training and make it just an aspect of the archetype. Like, that is always a thing, basically. The idea of doing so wasn't a thing when this draft was written. Also, I might get ride of the general tags on the friends and enemy moves. I also have a note to make frds like strings. I know I mean Monster Heart strings, but I'm not 100% on how'd I implement that. Quick warning, I put all the MK stuff before the player stuff. It might be because I GM so much, but I prefer it that way. I know a lot of people don't. Covok fucked around with this message at 19:36 on Feb 12, 2016 |
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Feb 12, 2016 19:18
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I'm going to read through the FEV document tomorrow when my brain isn't so melted from doing playbook layout - but I'll definitely read and feedback. My brain is melted because of all this stuff! Crazy. I need to write up the MC sheet, but otherwise it's playable and hopefully good. I'll be playtesting when I get a chance. I'll update the document with the MC sheet when it's written.
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Feb 13, 2016 23:41
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On the design document chat, I meant to say "I'm currently running a game, btw, so ttyl." I accidentally didn't type that part. Anyway, thanks for looking it over. It's a big help. For those curious, I realized how to implement the strings-like frds resource and the next draft will incorporate it. It works well with my other idea of taking all the moves that just let you mark training and making that always true to that playbook: I'm replacing those moves with moves that interact with the new mechanic. Then, I'll play around and balance things out. I really like the idea of using friends as a string-like device rather than the more binary "friend/nothing/enemy" approach of the previous drafts. Allows me to quantify how friendship works in shonen battle comics more accurately: something to tug on for effect. These leads to two questions: should I change the Forever Young's Nakama move and should I keep the friendship/enemy moves or remove them completely?
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Feb 14, 2016 00:05
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Nifara posted:I'm going to read through the FEV document tomorrow when my brain isn't so melted from doing playbook layout - but I'll definitely read and feedback. My main issue is the Twilight playbook. It looks a bit cluttered and hard to follow, no offense. I think the spells might make it too much. Perhaps a third page would make it more legible. The others look well enough. The amount of spells seems like it might be much and give the Twilight a bit too many options and, perhaps, some clunk. I haven't looked in-depth at any of the playbooks, but that's my take off a skim. Covok fucked around with this message at 03:23 on Feb 14, 2016 |
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Feb 14, 2016 00:34
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Nifara posted:I'm going to read through the FEV document tomorrow when my brain isn't so melted from doing playbook layout - but I'll definitely read and feedback. So I guess I'm not 100% clear on how Excellencies work. I'm reading it as "when you do your caste's core move in specific ways, add the relevant charms you know to the list of options for that basic move", plus "when you get 12+ you go hog wild and pick all the options you want"? Where does rolling +virtue enter into this? Do you roll the +virtue instead of the +caste if you want access to the excellency's benefits? Sorry if I'm being thick.
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Feb 14, 2016 07:54
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I've just finished the latest draft for Friendship, Effort, Victory. The big things on this change are:
I'm feeling pretty good with the new draft. To reiterate: this is a hack to specifically play titles like Dragonball, Naruto, and Bleach. Shonen battle comics, not just anime. I'm going for a particular story that isn't directly tied to a setting. That said, I put in many mechanics (many of which are GM facing) to reinforce the elements of the genre. I realize it can kind of a big read, but any feedback is appreciated.
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Feb 14, 2016 08:47
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Covok posted:I've just finished the latest draft for Friendship, Effort, Victory. I'm not sure about Temper's name, since it seems more about aggressive idealism to me. On the other hand, a friend of mine thought the name was pretty appropriate and made a decent case for it. I like the way Battle A Mob is implemented. I assume it's because Ties are a new mechanic, but I feel like there should be a playbook that uses them more heavily, to indicate the kind of character who maybe doesn't bring much to a fight but brings everyone together around them. (This is the female lead depressingly often, but not always!) Have you seen Luckyman? Because it's really hard for me to read this without thinking about it in terms of that series. (The lead characters are Luckyman, Friendlyman, Effortman, and Victoryman - it's a very self-aware shounen battle manga parody.)
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Feb 14, 2016 09:21
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I did have an idea for a playbook called the "Best Friend" for the Krillin and Manta from Shaman King kind of characters. That'd probably use ties heavily. I don't know if I want to bring in a PC playbook like that. Though, that can be me being lazy. I'll think about it. I don't remeber why I called it temper, but it's probably due to the hot-blooded nature of shonen characters and how they also shout out their beliefs with boiling determination. I have never heard of luckyman. Is being compared to it a good thing?
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Feb 14, 2016 09:31
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Covok posted:I have never heard of luckyman. Is being compared to it a good thing? Luckyman is frigging excellent but also has no readily available English translation, I got to see it through circumstances that are unfortunately not really replicable. It was very popular and surprisingly influential in Japan, and is a visibly massive influence on Onepunch Man in particular recently. The creator is generally believed to be the pseudonymous writer of the team that created Death Note and Bakuman, and the uncle in Bakuman who had one comedy-superhero hit and worked himself to death seems extremely closely modeled on his Luckyman work. 
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Feb 14, 2016 09:39
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Benly posted:Luckyman is frigging excellent but also has no readily available English translation, I got to see it through circumstances that are unfortunately not really replicable. It was very popular and surprisingly influential in Japan, and is a visibly massive influence on Onepunch Man in particular recently. The creator is generally believed to be the pseudonymous writer of the team that created Death Note and Bakuman, and the uncle in Bakuman who had one comedy-superhero hit and worked himself to death seems extremely closely modeled on his Luckyman work. I'm going to take it as a "yes" that it's good my work reminds you of that series. Also, that does sound pretty rad all around.
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Feb 14, 2016 09:46
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Nifara posted:I'm having a read, and there's some interesting stuff here. I like the dice mechanic a lot, and I think it shows promise. "Dungeoneering" feels like a weird addition in that list though - it really stands out. This isn't negative at all, it's exactly what I asked for! A lot of what you say is exactly spot on, and the issue I'm having with the design. Even as a board game, there's very little choices being made, where I want each dice to be a choice. The Expedition side is designed to be a kind of resource gathering exercise, with adventurers being a kind of resource you 'spend' to get other kinds of resources that let you upgrade your town. The Players' characters aren't adventurers, they're members of the Town council, deciding where and how to spend resources, and dealing with internal conflicts and external threats. Any roleplaying would be done as the town leaders, living their lives in a ramshackle town built on corrupted land. Since I'm still writing the roleplaying side of things, and half of that writing is in a physical notebook, all of your feedback on the information given is totally valid. I'm working on having the game be GMless, and so scenarios and challenges would be represented by cards.
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Feb 14, 2016 12:23
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Nifara posted:The great tension in the Dragon Blooded, as far as I see them, is service vs ambition. It took me a while to respond to this because I was chewing it over. I don't think you're wrong about this being a major tension in the Dragon-Blooded, but it's fundamentally different from the other tensions I mentioned. In this case, it's two distinct drives pulling them in separate directions, while the others are all two faces of the same thing. A Solar the glory of her First Age self is by necessity embracing its failings. Likewise for a Lunar's totem and its base instincts or an Abyssal's granted power and binding chains. So yeah, that's a tension that's there, but it's not quite what I need. A central conceit for Exalted World is that, for the Exalted, to be great is to be flawed by the very nature of their power. The Great Curse isn't an external problem, it's inherent to the way the kinds of Exalted work. (The Sidereal tension, for this purpose, is that to stand above fate is to stand outside of it - inherently, the more they become able to see and manipulate the strands of history, the less they ultimately matter because they're not part of the story they're reading and telling. This happens to not be well-suited to PC use, unfortunately.)
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Feb 14, 2016 14:33
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Maybe you could play with the idea that Dragon-Blooded generally (with the exception of the Empress maybe) only can achieve great things by working as part of a group - so, like, they can get lots of strength in unity but to do that have to give up their own goals and individuality? Really that's a rephrasing of the service/ambition dichotomy, but it might be easier to work with that way? Maybe give the Dragon-Blooded playbooks opportunities to do the same big things other playbooks can, but have it at the cost of taking on obligations or having the greater organisation take some control of the outcome.
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Feb 14, 2016 18:55
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| # ? May 14, 2024 04:47 |
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Flavivirus posted:Maybe you could play with the idea that Dragon-Blooded generally (with the exception of the Empress maybe) only can achieve great things by working as part of a group - so, like, they can get lots of strength in unity but to do that have to give up their own goals and individuality? Really that's a rephrasing of the service/ambition dichotomy, but it might be easier to work with that way? Maybe give the Dragon-Blooded playbooks opportunities to do the same big things other playbooks can, but have it at the cost of taking on obligations or having the greater organisation take some control of the outcome. So, "Dragon-Blooded playbooks" aren't exactly a thing in my hack. I have five playbooks, and exaltation type is more analogous to MH Darkest Self - it's one move that you can invoke to automatically 7-9 when you embrace your particular destiny, at the cost of embracing your Great Curse along with it. (The hack in question, which I haven't been reposting since I don't want to feel like I'm aggressively flogging it. On the other hand at this point the conversation is probably getting confusing without a link.) So for this purpose it would be something like "You are born to greatness and made to serve, one of a thousand scales that make the great dragon. Your Purpose is (blank) and your Obligation is (blank). Exercise Excellency when you draw on society or the elements around you to pursue your Purpose, but you are bound by Obligation until you sacrifice something you desire to it." Which frames the DB as struggling to achieve the kind of destiny that the other Exalts are trying to avoid being torn apart by, which in turn is a potentially interesting direction to go in.
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Feb 14, 2016 22:57
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