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Lightning Lord posted:I don't think anyone actually reads any D&D novels that aren't Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance though, so at least almost nobody cared about Pages of Pain. The Torment novel is atrocious rubbish too. I think they just gave a list of names to the author and the general premise, it's almost entirely different. The best thing that 4E Dark Sun did was to freeze the 2E setting's metaplot right after the assassination of King Kalak and relegate all the Champions / Green Age backstory to a single sidebar in the back of the book. Having one SK bumped off gives the PCs the clue that the Brown Age isn't the end of history and that things can change, and all the Champions stuff isn't what the PCs need to know or care about until maybe epic level if you want Borys to give a monologue or something. I'm still mad that I never got my 4E campaign to Epic Tier so I could have essentially a Regicide Boss Rush- all the Sorcerer Kings were extremely cool and unique boss fights.
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Apr 15, 2017 17:38
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Spiderfist Island posted:
Run Dark Sun again for me.
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Apr 15, 2017 18:19
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Dark Sun seems fine if fantasy apoc is your poo poo (it is my poo poo) like all good ideas though (Mage, Shadowrun) it's a decent to good setting married to mechanics that are absolute dogshit
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Apr 15, 2017 18:53
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Ominous Jazz posted:Run Dark Sun again for me. I should really work out roll20 when I get home from dogsitting, I've got the 4e bug again and Dark Sun is the best.
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Apr 15, 2017 19:04
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So, according to the thread rules this is a place where I can ask a question like this. I've made a Tabletop RPG. It's mechanically completely finished. And the lore is also completely done, but not all written down yet. I've played through two campaigns using the setting and system with my little group. I'm not looking to sell it, at least not right now. I was wondering, what should I do if I wanted to share this game with goons, or maybe get feedback on how to finish it? Is there a thread for that? Thanks in advance for any answers.
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Apr 15, 2017 19:47
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Cartoon Violence posted:So, according to the thread rules this is a place where I can ask a question like this. This thread is as good as any, go for it.
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Apr 15, 2017 19:51
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Cartoon Violence posted:So, according to the thread rules this is a place where I can ask a question like this. This one's good, or there's the game writing workshop.
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Apr 15, 2017 19:54
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Falstaff posted:Are you referring to the Planescape novel trilogy? Those were awful. I couldn't even finish those, at a time when I would read just about anything. Like, I finished the Moonshae and Avatar trilogies, but I just couldn't get through those. I actually never read those. This was in Pages of Pain. I read it probably 15 years ago and only have a dim memory of the plot. A hero with godlike strength and stamina shows up in Sigil with no memory of who he is but with an amphora he is supposed to gift to the Lady of Pain. In trying to get to her he and some hangers on end up mazed. It turns out it was a plot by Poseidon to recapture the Lady who fled an arranged marriage to a godling who just happened to be the amnesiac hero of the story. He was dipped in the River Styx and given an amphora with a net that would magically burst out and capture the Lady if it had been delivered. I honestly don't recall the end, but the majority of the story is the hero slowly being ground down in the Maze where I think he dies eventually. It would actually have been a fine story if the crux of the tale wasn't an explanation of something that should never have been explained. It was also a strange choice of tale for Plansescape since about a third of the story takes place in unremarkable parts of Sigil and the rest takes place in the maze. A good Planescape story should probably make better use of the wondrous vistas the setting has in spades.
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Apr 15, 2017 22:26
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EverettLO posted:It was also a strange choice of tale for Plansescape since about a third of the story takes place in unremarkable parts of Sigil and the rest takes place in the maze. A good Planescape story should probably make better use of the wondrous vistas the setting has in spades. This bugged me about Planescape: Torment, and really the Planescape setting in general with stuff like the Faction War. I think Sigil is interesting enough, but I always assumed it was mostly a staging area for the really wild stuff in the Plane of Fire or Limbo or astral Gith citadels. I don't really want it to be the focus of the game.
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Apr 16, 2017 00:19
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Here's a roundup of entries in the 2017 200 word RPG competition I found interesting. I should get the excellent goon entries out of the way first. Flavivirus made a couple of cool ones, 1 flavourful action game and 1 character-driven structured improv   Slap me and kiss me made made a cool game with a really good and evocative resolution system. slap me and kiss me posted:I put together a submission for the 200 Word RPG Contest. Clocking in at 195 words is Might Makes Right: Muscle Marines in Space On the site, I liked RPG Gumbo by M. Krilov & J. England, quote:Get a bunch of players and snacks. Each player must bring three of the crunchiest, dustiest, or hippiest RPG books they own. Make some characters. Shuffle the books and everyone takes one book. You must use physical copies, there should be plenty left. Whenever a rule is needed, all players search their one book for a relevant rule. The first person to find a relevant rule wins narrative control. The rule must be read aloud. You do not need to follow the rule to win. After each rule resolution, shuffle the books so that nobody has the same book twice. Emmet made a 200 character RPG, which is still more mechanical than half the games submitted quote:Write 1 long-term goal (dream), 2 short-term goals (hope), 2 beliefs, and a description. For conflicts, beliefs > hopes > dreams > beliefs. One may be used only once a session. Afterwards, change one. Flesh, and Other Inconvenient Things is a solid zombie push-your-luck game by Nolan Lindberg quote:Survive 30 days until the military arrives. [TECH]: Boldly Go (a Starship Simulator) is a really cool Star Trek game built around blackjack, while still building in technobabble mechanics quote:GM creates narrative and presents challenges. Players overcome challenges and help shape narrative.
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Apr 16, 2017 00:33
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Reene posted:Dark Sun seems fine if fantasy apoc is your poo poo (it is my poo poo)  Honestly even 2e dark sun was easily one of the best settings for the line and had a lot of tweaks to try and make the game fit the themes better. But then the revised box set came out after the horrible horrible novel trilogy. Let's not talk about that.
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Apr 16, 2017 00:45
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Yeah the revised box set was terrible. 4e Dark Sun is killer though, it not only handles the setting with 4e everything's included philosophy in a way that fits the setting it also introduces mechanics that even the 2e Dark Sun needed.
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Apr 16, 2017 00:56
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Not everything in the revised Dark Sun box was terrible. It greatly expanded the world and fleshed out some of the places more.
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Apr 16, 2017 03:33
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Kai Tave posted:This thread is as good as any, go for it. Alrighty, I'll happily use this thread since it seems casual. Shadow's Edge is a Tabletop RPG based in the future of an alternate timeline where a supernatural conspiracy wiped out Earth's governments in the mid 90's. When making the setting I took elements from just about everything nerdy I've enjoyed over the years and did my best to make a consistent, believable setting with futuristic technology and high fantasy concepts. Just about any possible character concept you can think of will likely have lore and mechanics in place to make that character possible. The setting mostly takes itself super seriously, but the players are meant to just enjoy the monsters and cyborgs fighting. I tend not to do much to obfuscate what my inspirations for certain aspects are, but I wanted that to be part of the fun, like a more down-to-earth Dungeons: The Dragoning Characters are high-power and you can expect a Character to grow in influence and strength at about the same pace a 4e D&D character does. I hesitate to call it "rules-light", because even though the combat tries to take strategy into account, I wanted everything to feel easy-to-follow and fun first and foremost. The game features 74 Playable Races / Species and 32 Classes (Probably double that if you count Sub-classes). The base stats system is very very loosely based off of GURPS, but the combat itself is more "everyone takes turns saying how their character finds new and unique ways to kill ridiculous bad guys". GM Fiat plays a large role, but I more want the GM and players to work together to tell a fun story, much like the ___ World games. How should I go about sharing my game? Just post everything I've ever made in a big zip file? Or would that be too TL;DR? Should I just post about the aspects in increments in effortposts with relevant files included? I'm looking for feedback and help "finishing" it, but I also want to just share my creation with you all, especially since I don't ever plan on selling it, but having it completed would mean in the future I could just post it for everyone for free.
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Apr 16, 2017 04:16
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ManMythLegend posted:Not everything in the revised Dark Sun box was terrible. It greatly expanded the world and fleshed out some of the places more. I don't know anything about that box, give us some deets.
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Apr 16, 2017 04:18
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Cartoon Violence posted:Alrighty, I'll happily use this thread since it seems casual. I mean if you feel like sharing the whole thing then setting up a dropbox would be the way to go, if anybody downloads it and gets overwhelmed then hey, that's on them. You can make effortposts too if you want though. This thread or the game design thread are fine for soliciting feedback, either one, and to be honest this thread isn't high traffic enough that you're in any danger of drowning discussions out or anything.
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Apr 16, 2017 04:33
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Dark Sun is hella good no matter the edition, it's just that the Prism Pentad novel series is atrociously bad. Also most of the modules are some of the worst vectors for 90s Disease, with metaplot advancement out the butt and the PCs being water carriers for Signature NPCs™ who can only gaze on in amazement while those NPCs throw down, like a minor DC character gawping at Superman and Mogul fighting in a crossover or somethingOminous Jazz posted:I don't know anything about that box, give us some deets. Most of the metaplot stuff that alters the Tyr Region (beyond just Kalak being dead and Tyr itself being a free city) is bad but from memory, the psionic artifacts, the Jagged Cliffs, the bigass city the thor-kreen (distinct from the thri-kreen btw) are from and the Last Sea are all pretty neato Lightning Lord fucked around with this message at 05:28 on Apr 16, 2017 |
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Apr 16, 2017 05:03
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Ominous Jazz posted:I don't know anything about that box, give us some deets. Cool stuff added in the revised box include: The Dead Lands is a massive plain of mostly blank obsidian. No one really knows where it came from or how long its been there, but it's probably from the Green Age. It's populated by roaming hordes of mindless undead and there are also a couple of cities also populated by mindless undead. There are rumors that there is some sort of alien intelligence controlling all of the undead for some nefarious purpose. Eldaarich is basically "Wizard North Korea". The sorcerer king that runs it is incredibly paranoid about fellow sorcerer kings (and the spirits of the goblins he exterminated) killing him. It's a result of his brain breaking during his transformation into a dragon, but it's spread to his subjects now as well. My favorite is the Crimson Savannah which, despite its name, is a mix of savannah and swamp. It's populated by the Kreen Empire which is a massive series of hives of the various Kreen races (Thri-Kreen being their backwards cousins) who dominate all other life in the area. Until recently the Savannah was isolated from the rest of the Tyr region by massive vertical cliffs but a huge earthquake collapsed a cliff allowing the Empire to start making forays outward. The swamp is also where Rajaat experimented with making life so there are all sorts of weird ruins sunken all over and the descendants of the crazy experiments are still roaming around.
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Apr 16, 2017 05:28
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Unfortunately all that potentially interesting stuff was basically a footnote on the map, and most of the actual revised line spent most of the time on loving space halflings and horrible adventures all done in cheaply-printed books with horrible art and two-inch margins. 
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Apr 16, 2017 08:04
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Spiderfist Island posted:I'm still mad that I never got my 4E campaign to Epic Tier so I could have essentially a Regicide Boss Rush- all the Sorcerer Kings were extremely cool and unique boss fights. I've actually used a couple of them as boss fights in my own campaigns, they are generally kind of easy for epic level bosses unfortunately(this is not uncommon in epic level boss fights in the books) - if you want them to actually be a challenge you'll have to take the general idea and spice it up somehow.
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Apr 16, 2017 09:23
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quote:74 races 32 classes Thats Excessive.
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Apr 16, 2017 10:17
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Rigged Death Trap posted:Thats Well, I've been working on the game since I was a teenager, and like I said, I wanted there to be lore and mechanics to justify almost any RPG archetype you can imagine. So 8 years of me tweaking and adding stuff here and there led to a massive amount of choice for the player. Those numbers would be impossible if I actually planned for them, but that's just what I ended up with after I decided I was finally done adding stuff. Kai Tave posted:I mean if you feel like sharing the whole thing then setting up a dropbox would be the way to go, if anybody downloads it and gets overwhelmed then hey, that's on them. You can make effortposts too if you want though. This thread or the game design thread are fine for soliciting feedback, either one, and to be honest this thread isn't high traffic enough that you're in any danger of drowning discussions out or anything. I might pay the game design thread a visit, too. I'm relieved to hear that I won't be smothering normal conversation. Thanks for the encouragement so far everyone! I've decided to take your advice and put it onto Dropbox. PLEASE NOTE I am aware that there's several instances of me just lifting concepts and names straight from other works of fiction. This is purposeful and not meant to be hidden, it's just meant to be fun for everyone. As I said earlier, it's like a less-parody of Dungeons: The Dragoning. Without further adieu, here's the link to the game so far. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/aq8p6z2val42aj0/AAAU7BLCnCnw05BT3Tiu2tk0a?dl=0 Feedback? Questions, comments, concerns? Also, if you see anything that could be considered insensitive, please let me know. I did everything I could to make sure the game is as inclusive and positive towards all types of players as possible, but if I missed something, I'll happily change it.
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Apr 16, 2017 16:27
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Cartoon Violence posted:I wanted there to be lore and mechanics to justify almost any RPG archetype you can imagine. Cartoon Violence posted:So 8 years of me tweaking and adding stuff here and there led to a massive amount of choice for the player.
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Apr 16, 2017 16:47
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Yeah, haven't read it yet, but my advice is to whack your races and classes with the red pen until you get a reasonable number for a starter set. I'd say no more than ten of each. Feel free to keep all the other material, just move it out of your 'core' book.
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Apr 16, 2017 17:38
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Yawgmoth posted:Don't do that, it's awful. Pare it down to like, 10 races at the most and then give general guidelines for race design. I really doubt that there's enough variety there to justify that many anything. I'd probably cut the class list in half as well. Weird, I guess we're just the opposites then. Growing up, and even getting into my adult years with RPG's, I always saw more choice as better. Well, at least as long as the creator put effort into the choices. Obviously, I wouldn't accept a tabletop game equivalent to Action 52. But, I put a lot of thought into each playable Race and Class, it's not like there's a bunch of useless garbage thrown in just for giggles or gloating purposes. I suppose you're right that that amount of information can seem overwhelming to a newcomer. Correct me if I'm wrong, though, but doesn't 3.5e have more Races and Classes than that, even if you only use official books? And the Race list does have general guidelines for each listed species. Assuming you mean lore, appearance, attributes, and Race-specific abilities? Kwyndig posted:Yeah, haven't read it yet, but my advice is to whack your races and classes with the red pen until you get a reasonable number for a starter set. Since I'm not actually actively compiling the game into a sell-able book or trying to market it as anything other than "Here's a game I made out of stuff I love", does it really matter if I have everything put into one huge list(s)? If I was planning on selling it or making some official release, I'd follow your advice guaranteed. Cartoon Violence fucked around with this message at 17:47 on Apr 16, 2017 |
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Apr 16, 2017 17:44
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Here's one of the most important questions to ask when you're designing an RPG: how many games that aren't D&D have you read, and how many of those have you played to the point where you're capable of understanding why they were designed the way they were designed?
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Apr 16, 2017 17:51
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Not sure if you care, but pretty sure you left some minor identifying information in there (a reminder to yourself?)
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Apr 16, 2017 18:11
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Even if you're not selling a project you want to keep these kind of things in mind. If you want people to actually play your game then layout is important, as you need the text to be legible. Cutting down on initial options helps people read your game, especially if it's mechanically dense. The less they have to read the easier it is to understand, usually. If you're absolutely married to the idea of almost a hundred races and over two dozen classes then you need to really work on your presentation so that each one is concise and easy to read, mechanically. I'm talking like Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition level breakdowns with keywords, technical writing, the whole nine yards.
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Apr 16, 2017 18:13
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one of my first dnd games was a dark sun game so that whole idea of getting to whack the sorcerer kings or die trying is right up my alley. i love everything i know of (which is still fairly limited as i haven had a chance to revisit it in years)
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Apr 16, 2017 18:14
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72 Races and 36 Classes is cool to me. I like esoteric variety 
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Apr 16, 2017 18:14
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Cartoon Violence posted:Since I'm not actually actively compiling the game into a sell-able book or trying to market it as anything other than "Here's a game I made out of stuff I love", does it really matter if I have everything put into one huge list(s)? If I was planning on selling it or making some official release, I'd follow your advice guaranteed. My only question is who is the target audience and crux of the game. The reason I ask is because thats a ton of setup material that needs to be sorted through, and any group playing it wont probably use all or even most of it and if theyre new theyll be flummoxed by choices long before they can kick off playing. Like I enjoy a good pile of options, but thats a daunting amount of chocies for someone new to the genre or someone who doesnt already intuit how your game will be played.
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Apr 16, 2017 18:16
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"Dryman were once known to live solely to reproduce, eat, and kill, though perceptions have changed during the 2060ǯs and 2070ǯs. They are not evil, though they are often extremely aggressive due to mental and physical anguish being part of their daily lives, and higher forces often use them as minions, such as how the Grey Lords once used Human slaves as pawns of war amongst themselves. " What separates the Dry man from the Dry boys?
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Apr 16, 2017 18:20
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Lol can you do guts magic if yore a haruspex because if yes this is the coolest game on earth
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Apr 16, 2017 18:24
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Plutonis posted:Lol can you do guts magic if yore a haruspex because if yes this is the coolest game on earth Why do you have to go and spoil all the cool stuff? Also I totally want to F&F this, but only if CV is okay with that. Rigged Death Trap posted:Thats 
Anniversary fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Apr 16, 2017 |
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Apr 16, 2017 18:25
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Lemon-Lime posted:Here's one of the most important questions to ask when you're designing an RPG: how many games that aren't D&D have you read, and how many of those have you played to the point where you're capable of understanding why they were designed the way they were designed? Phew, that's quite a challenging question. I'll readily admit that I'm not the most experienced gamer, I've read probably about 9 or 10 games outside of D&D and only played 3 or 4 of them. Heck, the reason I started making this game in the first place when I was 14 was because I wanted to play a game with my friends that had Werewolves, Vampires, Humans, and Fae, and I somehow didn't know that World of Darkness existed. I'm guilty of making something for my friend group first, which I'll admit does make it seem impenetrable to others. About a year ago, I went through the entire thing document-by-document and rewrote everything to make it more accessible to people who weren't familiar with me. Anniversary posted:Not sure if you care, but pretty sure you left some minor identifying information in there (a reminder to yourself?) Oh yeah, I forgot about that! It's no big deal, my real first name is already used in the LP I'm running elsewhere on these forums. Thanks for the heads up, though! Kwyndig posted:you need to really work on your presentation so that each one is concise and easy to read, mechanically. I'm talking like Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition level breakdowns with keywords, technical writing, the whole nine yards. Now this, I completely agree with. My formatting is awful and the Race list is probably the worst of it. Formatting is something I want to work on and fix now that I'm done adding stuff / changing major things in the game. Plutonis posted:72 Races and 36 Classes is cool to me. I like esoteric variety Well, at least I'm not alone in my fascination with large amounts of choice! I'm sorry that everything is hard to read for a lot of you, I do want to do better. But I'm so glad at least one person is liking what plopped out of my head.  The Dry Babies only eat pre-packaged beef jerky, the Dry Boys hang their toilet paper under and eat ketchup with their steak, the Dry Man enjoys only the finest elixir with his rare cow flesh. Holy poo poo, I don't know how I didn't think of that! I might add a single ability that lets them do that, it only seems fair. Anniversary posted:Why do you have to go and spoil all the cool stuff? I've lurked on this subforum for a while, but I don't think I've come across that acronym. What does F&F mean? I'd probably encourage it, but I want to know what I'm getting into.  EDIT: Wait, I just realized you meant the Fatal & Friends thread! Holy moly, I never expected anyone to be interested enough to do something like that for something I made, but if you'd like to then I heartily endorse it and encourage it!
Cartoon Violence fucked around with this message at 18:54 on Apr 16, 2017 |
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Apr 16, 2017 18:52
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Cartoon Violence posted:I've lurked on this subforum for a while, but I don't think I've come across that acronym. What does F&F mean? I'd probably encourage it, but I want to know what I'm getting into. Fatal and Friends is a type of review that grew out of a thread in trag gam- Alpha Complex. To me it means 'do you mind if I do a super sloppy review / overview of this.' e: *Cackles like a Beheeree*
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Apr 16, 2017 18:55
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Basically a summary bashed into a review. Read the Fatal & Friends thread. Its real good.
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Apr 16, 2017 19:07
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Anniversary posted:Fatal and Friends is a type of review that grew out of a thread in trag gam- Alpha Complex. To me it means 'do you mind if I do a super sloppy review / overview of this.' I definitely approve! It gives me a chance to see it broken down and looked at from a new perspective. Plus it'll be fun to see what you think of the various insanities I hid in there. And it provides good valuable feedback on a more specific level! So yes, give it a shot, I'd love to see what you come up with! Rigged Death Trap posted:Basically a summary bashed into a review. Sounds like a good idea! I'll look through it right now!
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Apr 16, 2017 19:09
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Cartoon Violence posted:I definitely approve! It gives me a chance to see it broken down and looked at from a new perspective. Plus it'll be fun to see what you think of the various insanities I hid in there. And it provides good valuable feedback on a more specific level! So yes, give it a shot, I'd love to see what you come up with! Awesome, my current plan is probably to post it here because this seems the most relevant place and I don't think what I'll be able to write is worthy of the F&F thread. Also just to be perfectly honest, a lot of my interpretation is probably marred by speed reading and not getting all of the nuance that's there and also mostly looking for stuff that amuses me. So I may totally misinterpret tone / context and that is my fault, not CV's. Also I may be reading everything with the most gonzo interpretation in mind. Like, by my reading, this is a game that has a race that's description goes from describing how genociding magically apt individuals can result in artificial ley lines as an explanation for how "Beyonders are the amusement park rides turned into people." Also it has sentient diseases as a playable race and, come on, what kind of sick person doesn't want to play as that?!
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Apr 16, 2017 19:22
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Anniversary posted:Awesome, my current plan is probably to post it here because this seems the most relevant place and I don't think what I'll be able to write is worthy of the F&F thread. Wow, that sounds like a really, really awesome plan! I totally understand what you mean, and I wouldn't worry about it, interpret everything how you see fit, I'd love to see what you think of some of the crazier stuff I hid in there. Have fun with it, I know I look forward to it! The Beheeree were definitely something I loved from the moment I started making them, I'm glad you like the concept!
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Apr 16, 2017 19:39
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