TG Chat Thread 2017

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Kwyndig: Sep 23, 2006; Heeeeeey

Splicer posted:

You only get one action in the surprise round, so needing a minor to draw would lead to a lot of "Surprise! I'm holding my dagger!"

If you're ambushing dudes you should already have weapons drawn. If you stumble on your enemy without weapons drawn how is that surprising?

# ? Mar 27, 2017 23:21

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# ? May 15, 2024 13:26

Elector_Nerdlingen: Sep 27, 2004

Kwyndig posted:

If you're ambushing dudes you should already have weapons drawn. If you stumble on your enemy without weapons drawn how is that surprising?

I was walking to my bedroom and this dude leapt out of the linen cupboard while drawing his sword, and all I could think was "well, I'm not surprised".

# ? Mar 27, 2017 23:30

Rockopolis: Dec 21, 2012; I MAKE FUN OF QUEER STORYGAMES BECAUSE I HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH MY LIFE THAN MAKE OTHER PEOPLE CRY

I can't understand these kinds of games, and not getting it bugs me almost as much as me being weird

S.J. posted:

D&D has always been a video game on paper.

So, what are some really Rogue-Like RPGs? Games that have high randomness and permadeath? Playing Traveler and rolling for all or most of the planets and encounters? Having to create fresh characters when the old ones bite it?

# ? Mar 27, 2017 23:50

Cobaltshift: Jul 15, 2013

Kestral posted:

Mouse Guard owns. In fact, it owns so much that I spent an enormous amount of time completing a Fatal & Friends writeup for it waaaaay back in the day, which you can find here. It's a wonderful intro RPG for anyone who is down with being a sword-wielding mouse ranger / FEMA agent in a world where natural disasters include "~~Godzilla~~ a snapping turtle is eating the city" and weasels are an existential threat.

If you have any specific questions, also, feel free to lay 'em on me.

Thanks! It does sound really good. We have a small group of friends who would be interested in it. Maybe a party of 3 and then myself GMing. Would you recommend getting the Box set or just the rule book?

# ? Mar 27, 2017 23:54

Tuxedo Catfish: Mar 17, 2007; You've got guts! Come to my village, I'll buy you lunch.

Rockopolis posted:

So, what are some really Rogue-Like RPGs? Games that have high randomness and permadeath? Playing Traveler and rolling for all or most of the planets and encounters? Having to create fresh characters when the old ones bite it?

I'm told that Gamma World, at least in some editions, is pretty much designed for this. Your characters are super-disposable (and easily/quickly replaced) and at least partly randomly generated.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 00:07

Arivia: Mar 17, 2011

Rockopolis posted:

So, what are some really Rogue-Like RPGs? Games that have high randomness and permadeath? Playing Traveler and rolling for all or most of the planets and encounters? Having to create fresh characters when the old ones bite it?

DCC. Stars Without Numbers. A lot of OSR stuff, basically. Which makes sense since OD&D directly inspired rogue.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 00:06

Kwyndig: Sep 23, 2006; Heeeeeey

Tuxedo Catfish posted:

I'm told that Gamma World, at least in some editions, is pretty much designed for this. Your characters are super-disposable (and easily/quickly replaced) and at least partly randomly generated.

The last GW used card based character generation and is awesome.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 00:17

Cease to Hope: Dec 12, 2011

Rockopolis posted:

So, what are some really Rogue-Like RPGs? Games that have high randomness and permadeath? Playing Traveler and rolling for all or most of the planets and encounters? Having to create fresh characters when the old ones bite it?

OSR is aiming for this, and Torchbearer might be what you're looking for, especially if very fiddly gear management and hand-to-mouth survival are things you enjoy in roguelikes.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 00:27

xiw: Sep 25, 2011; i wake up at night
night action madness nightmares
maybe i am scum
Cpig Haiku contest 2020 winner

Torchbearer's a bad choice if you want sudden OKAY YOU DIED MAKE A NEW CHARACTER, it wants your characters to be alone, afraid, starving, and exhausted in the dark instead of dead. You do sometimes get straight TPKs but that's because you choose whether to go no quarter, fight to the death going into a fight - if your players make that decision and lose, welp.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 00:41

Rockopolis: Dec 21, 2012; I MAKE FUN OF QUEER STORYGAMES BECAUSE I HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH MY LIFE THAN MAKE OTHER PEOPLE CRY

I can't understand these kinds of games, and not getting it bugs me almost as much as me being weird

I keep hearing Gamma World a lot, I should read it after I get through my current backlog.

Lethality is more down to the GM plotting the adventure rather than inherent in the system, right? I figure that would be part of a Rogue-like RPG, making it real easy to get killed, so you have to replace characters regularly.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 00:41

Reene: Aug 26, 2005

Fuego Fish posted:

Early editions of D&D were basically just like early videogames. You had lives (Bigby, Digby, Rigby) and frequently died to lava or spikes or whatever in a completely arbitrary fashion because the designer had no idea what they were doing in those frontier times.

It was, and I say this without a trace of sarcasm but more than a little appreciation of the irony, a better time and a better, more fun game than 3.5. It was incredibly stupid, but that was part of the fun of it if you went into it with a group that maintained the kind of flippant mindset toward it that makes it fun.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 00:47

Kwyndig: Sep 23, 2006; Heeeeeey

Rockopolis posted:

I keep hearing Gamma World a lot, I should read it after I get through my current backlog.

Lethality is more down to the GM plotting the adventure rather than inherent in the system, right? I figure that would be part of a Rogue-like RPG, making it real easy to get killed, so you have to replace characters regularly.

In Gamma World it's not very lethal by default, but you can adjust encounters to make it lethal, yeah.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 00:48

Countblanc: Apr 20, 2005; _{Help a hero out!}

I feel like lethality in a modern game would need to be on a party level, not a character level. If 1-2 characters die to some bullshit trap on floor 31 in a dungeon but there's another 3 party members ready to keep truckin' your options are to either have the party spontaneously stumble across new party members on floor 32 or to let the other three continue on until they either finish the crawl at floor 50 or meet their own untimely ends. The former feels more like a cooperative board game and the latter seems like it'd be really boring for the people who have to wait around to play again.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 00:57

Fuego Fish: Dec 5, 2004; By tooth and claw!

Reene posted:

It was, and I say this without a trace of sarcasm but more than a little appreciation of the irony, a better time and a better, more fun game than 3.5. It was incredibly stupid, but that was part of the fun of it if you went into it with a group that maintained the kind of flippant mindset toward it that makes it fun.

Having played OD&D myself, I honestly liked it better than 3.x, even though on several occasions a member of our party just instantly up and died, like from-100-to-0% in a single action.

I think I'm too fond of the characters I create to really get into the spirit of the whole "Bob the Fighter is dead, his brother Rob the Fighter arrives" style of play. But I can appreciate it, and I'd rather do that than 3.x any day of the week.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 01:09

Rockopolis: Dec 21, 2012; I MAKE FUN OF QUEER STORYGAMES BECAUSE I HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH MY LIFE THAN MAKE OTHER PEOPLE CRY

I can't understand these kinds of games, and not getting it bugs me almost as much as me being weird

Good point, character replacement reintroduction is always kind of tricky.
Just call the adventure quits and pick it up on the next turn of the Wheel, when we meet again, some sunny day.

I know in Traveler you got more of your advancement through gear and cash than you did through attributes in skills. So losing a character wasn't as big a deal as say, losing a ship or a load of money. You can always interview and hire a replacement goon.
After all, corporations are characters, too. :mitt:

# ? Mar 28, 2017 01:13

Kestral: Nov 24, 2000; Forum Veteran

Cobaltshift posted:

Thanks! It does sound really good. We have a small group of friends who would be interested in it. Maybe a party of 3 and then myself GMing. Would you recommend getting the Box set or just the rule book?

The boxed set is a legitimate value-adder. First and foremost, Mouse Guard uses a conflict resolution system involving each side "scripting" a set of actions for their team, and the cards included in the boxed set make that easier to understand and execute, especially for visual thinkers. You'll be doing this a lot, so having aides for it is helpful. The map is rather nice as well (David Petersen is a hell of an artist), and having it out on the table evokes the Territories the PCs are responsible quite nicely.

Three or four PCs and a GM is the sweet spot for a Mouse Guard game, by the way. More than that and play can bog down, and individual characters don't get enough time in the spotlight. Two players is doable, but it's hard mode: mice are small creatures in a big, unforgiving world, and the rules are meant to make most obstacles fairly difficult to overcome without using the Help mechanics.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 01:26

Pope Guilty: Nov 6, 2006; The human animal is a beautiful and terrible creature, capable of limitless compassion and unfathomable cruelty.

Splicer posted:

You only get one action in the surprise round, so needing a minor to draw would lead to a lot of "Surprise! I'm holding my dagger!"

Under the right circumstances this sentence can produce some profitable results. Dark alleys, for example, or the throne room of the Red Keep while standing behind Ned Stark.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 01:33

drrockso20: May 6, 2013; Has Not Actually Done Cocaine

Fuego Fish posted:

Having played OD&D myself, I honestly liked it better than 3.x, even though on several occasions a member of our party just instantly up and died, like from-100-to-0% in a single action.

I think I'm too fond of the characters I create to really get into the spirit of the whole "Bob the Fighter is dead, his brother Rob the Fighter arrives" style of play. But I can appreciate it, and I'd rather do that than 3.x any day of the week.

Stuff like that is one of the reasons why I've contemplated just sticking in some sort of respawn mechanics into some of the D&D/OSR settings I've fiddled with over the last couple years(helps that several of them were already borrowing concepts from Bloodborne & Dark Souls so it would be simple to insert), so while there's at least some cost in dying, it's rarely permanent for Player Characters

# ? Mar 28, 2017 01:34

Pope Guilty: Nov 6, 2006; The human animal is a beautiful and terrible creature, capable of limitless compassion and unfathomable cruelty.

I'm on Drive-Thru RPG and I see in the best selling under $5 list, "Play Your Character Like A loving Boss". "Bold title!" I thought, clicked through, and rolled my eyes hard at the description. That would've been the end of it, til I glanced over and saw who wrote this modern masterpiece.

And that's how I learned that Venger Satanis didn't vanish into the ether a decade ago, like I'd always assumed.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 01:41

Serf: May 5, 2011

If you could find your resurrected party members locked away in closets deeper in the dungeon that would be cool.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 01:43

Pope Guilty: Nov 6, 2006; The human animal is a beautiful and terrible creature, capable of limitless compassion and unfathomable cruelty.

Serf posted:

If you could find your resurrected party members locked away in closets deeper in the dungeon that would be cool.

Left 4 Dead-style?

# ? Mar 28, 2017 01:56

drrockso20: May 6, 2013; Has Not Actually Done Cocaine

Pope Guilty posted:

Left 4 Dead-style?

Warhammer Vermintide also does this

# ? Mar 28, 2017 02:14

Pope Guilty: Nov 6, 2006; The human animal is a beautiful and terrible creature, capable of limitless compassion and unfathomable cruelty.

drrockso20 posted:

Warhammer Vermintide also does this

I really wanted to like Vermintide but none of my friends play it and I feel like it wants even more coordination and communication than L4D/L4D2.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 02:21

Reene: Aug 26, 2005

Fuego Fish posted:

Having played OD&D myself, I honestly liked it better than 3.x, even though on several occasions a member of our party just instantly up and died, like from-100-to-0% in a single action.

I think I'm too fond of the characters I create to really get into the spirit of the whole "Bob the Fighter is dead, his brother Rob the Fighter arrives" style of play. But I can appreciate it, and I'd rather do that than 3.x any day of the week.

I don't mind so much as long as I go into them knowing they're disposable. And it gives me the chance to explore some bizarre gimmicks without committing to it for a dozen or more sessions like I would for a more permanent, serious game.

That said, I will forever love the 1st edition wizard I made who was a child goblin witch that "just wanted to make some new friends" i.e. cast Charm Person a lot until she had a small army of followers that included a wandering insane cleric and an orc fighter that liked to muss her hair and call her squirt before punching people to death for her.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 02:31

Fuego Fish: Dec 5, 2004; By tooth and claw!

Reene posted:

I don't mind so much as long as I go into them knowing they're disposable. And it gives me the chance to explore some bizarre gimmicks without committing to it for a dozen or more sessions like I would for a more permanent, serious game.

Yeah, I know that feeling. Sometimes I will experiment with new builds/tactics with videogames, and back when I did 4e I used to dabble in interesting combos. Never really charop stuff, but more just "what if I just threw wolves at people" sort of thing.

Reene posted:

That said, I will forever love the 1st edition wizard I made who was a child goblin witch that "just wanted to make some new friends" i.e. cast Charm Person a lot until she had a small army of followers that included a wandering insane cleric and an orc fighter that liked to muss her hair and call her squirt before punching people to death for her.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 02:36

Cobaltshift: Jul 15, 2013

Kestral posted:

The boxed set is a legitimate value-adder. First and foremost, Mouse Guard uses a conflict resolution system involving each side "scripting" a set of actions for their team, and the cards included in the boxed set make that easier to understand and execute, especially for visual thinkers. You'll be doing this a lot, so having aides for it is helpful. The map is rather nice as well (David Petersen is a hell of an artist), and having it out on the table evokes the Territories the PCs are responsible quite nicely.

Three or four PCs and a GM is the sweet spot for a Mouse Guard game, by the way. More than that and play can bog down, and individual characters don't get enough time in the spotlight. Two players is doable, but it's hard mode: mice are small creatures in a big, unforgiving world, and the rules are meant to make most obstacles fairly difficult to overcome without using the Help mechanics.

Thanks for the advice, and amazing job on that article! Answered all my questions! Was an fun read and I decided to go out and buy the second edition box set. I'm looking forwarded to trying it after I familiarize myself with it a bit more.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 02:58

P.d0t: Dec 27, 2007; I released my finger from the trigger, and then it was over...

Serf posted:

If you could find your resurrected party members locked away in closets deeper in the dungeon that would be cool.

This sounds like something that'd happen in Until Dawn (IMHO that game was pretty rad, to a point.)

# ? Mar 28, 2017 07:21

Serf: May 5, 2011

Pope Guilty posted:

Left 4 Dead-style?

Exactly. Have the players be captured by some kind of Beyonder style villain who sticks them in an infinite dungeon for their own amusement, from which even death is not an escape.

# ? Mar 28, 2017 11:09

Rockopolis: Dec 21, 2012; I MAKE FUN OF QUEER STORYGAMES BECAUSE I HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH MY LIFE THAN MAKE OTHER PEOPLE CRY

I can't understand these kinds of games, and not getting it bugs me almost as much as me being weird

Hey, if we do the reincarnation thing as new adventurers, would you do a side-quest where you have to check if a bunch of babies can identify the deceased adventurer's equipment, Dalai-Lama style?

# ? Mar 28, 2017 12:32

Kwyndig: Sep 23, 2006; Heeeeeey

Rockopolis posted:

Hey, if we do the reincarnation thing as new adventurers, would you do a side-quest where you have to check if a bunch of babies can identify the deceased adventurer's equipment, Dalai-Lama style?

Is it really a good idea to put babies near tomes of eldritch power or very sharp weapons?

# ? Mar 28, 2017 12:35

Rockopolis: Dec 21, 2012; I MAKE FUN OF QUEER STORYGAMES BECAUSE I HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH MY LIFE THAN MAKE OTHER PEOPLE CRY

I can't understand these kinds of games, and not getting it bugs me almost as much as me being weird

Kwyndig posted:

Is it really a good idea to put babies near tomes of eldritch power or very sharp weapons?

Well, how else are you going to find the best adventurers?

# ? Mar 28, 2017 12:39

My Lovely Horse: Aug 21, 2010

# ? Mar 28, 2017 12:44

Alien Rope Burn: Dec 5, 2004; _{I wanna be a saikyo HERO!}

Kwyndig posted:

Is it really a good idea to put babies near tomes of eldritch power or very sharp weapons?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGItefWwA5s

# ? Mar 28, 2017 13:02

Hypnobeard: Sep 15, 2004; Obey the Beard

Obligatory:

:nws:

Definitely not safe for work
:nws:

# ? Mar 28, 2017 13:03

Plutonis: Mar 25, 2011

http://kissmanga.com/Manga/Shadowrun

Oh nice this got scanlated

# ? Mar 28, 2017 19:08

The Lemondrop Dandy: Jun 7, 2007; If my memory serves me correctly...; Wedge Regret

Hypnobeard posted:

Obligatory:

Definitely not safe for work

If reading for the first time, make sure to hit the 'next page' button to see how things turn out!

# ? Mar 29, 2017 05:28

Covok: May 27, 2013; Yet where is that woman now? Tell me, in what heave does she reside? None of them. Because no God bothered to listen or care. If that is what you think it means to be a God, then you and all your teachings are welcome to do as that poor women did. And vanish from these realms forever.