|
“He felt in his heart cruelty and cowardice,” White writes, “the things which made him brave and kind.”
|
# ? Dec 20, 2017 23:58 |
|
|
# ? Jun 10, 2024 12:07 |
|
Tuxedo Catfish posted:The best way to characterize Strike! in a nutshell is that there's a Necromancer class and they have a bunch of neat internal synergy with forced movement fear effects, corpse explosions, allied and enemy reanimation and so on, basically everything keys off of "use the death of your enemies to fuel your powers" and then the game looks you in the eye with a straight face and tells you that you could definitely reskin this class as some kind of space psychic. Thats really only a sin of the necromancer class. I’ve seen everything else reflavored without issue. On the whole though ya I would recommend Strike if you want easy to run tactical combat to be the major draw. The other systems are functional but nothing special. fool of sound fucked around with this message at 00:12 on Dec 21, 2017 |
# ? Dec 21, 2017 00:08 |
|
fool_of_sound posted:Thats really only a sin of the necromancer class. I’ve seen everything else reflavored without issue. The thing is, that strong connection between mechanics and flavor is actually a good thing. I'm not taking the Necromancer to task, the Necromancer is great. It's the context around it that's the problem.
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 00:16 |
|
in my star wars game the necromancer player flavored their powers as being the result of weird, experimental nanotech stuff. in my second game the necromancer was a psychic. i almost ran a modern-day metal gear solid-esque superspies setting with the system and i again had a player interested in the necromancer who made not-psycho mantis. it's a versatile class once you get into it
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 00:32 |
|
Tuxedo Catfish posted:The thing is, that strong connection between mechanics and flavor is actually a good thing. I guess? Imo generic systems are a good thing because there are tons of cool, well written settings attached to mediocre to garbage systems. Like, when the two coincide that’s great, but they usually don’t.
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 00:41 |
|
Tuxedo Catfish posted:The best way to characterize Strike! in a nutshell is that there's a Necromancer class and they have a bunch of neat internal synergy with forced movement fear effects, corpse explosions, allied and enemy reanimation and so on, basically everything keys off of "use the death of your enemies to fuel your powers" and then the game looks you in the eye with a straight face and tells you that you could definitely reskin this class as some kind of space psychic. You could skin it as a hacker who sticks nano mines to override robots, a voodoo dude with mind control poison darts, a wasp man who lays eggs that burst out of people's corpses, you can ignore the raising completely and have a psychic eating people's brains to grow stronger. I agree that strike is in a weird middleground between "here's a game to play" and "here's a toolkit to play with" and it doesn't always hit the mark, but there aren't many games that are so open to that kind of tinkering. It's cool that all the systems and abilities are splayed out so you can easily tweak them both mechanically and fictionally. Unbound is similar, in that it requires, instead of just encouraging, you to skin abilities appropriately, but it's going for a much looser storygame feel.
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 00:43 |
|
Splicer posted:God no. It's just an idea I had - it's only been through two other people before I put it before the thread, so I recognize that it's still very much a work in progress. I definitely appreciate the feedback, though. Yes, "the game" is 5e, which I rarely play anyways, but I wanted to try to explore another way to handle social skills by creating a relatively level playing field for all classes. The overall intent of the houserule is to: -Give alignment at least some mechanical consequence aside from encouraging people to act like moronic dickbags/pompous asshats - I'm more than happy to dispose of it especially since it can make the math real janky. Without alignment I'd be searching for something else to give bonuses/penalties to the roll, so in that scenario how well/convincingly the player pulls off the interaction like you recommend should have that effect instead. -Give classes mechanical weight. I want players/DMs to have a tool to encourage other players/classes to step up in social interactions. Give the ones you want to step up a reward (advantage) and those who step all over the rest of the party to dominate conversations a penalty (disadvantage). There's nothing saying you can't adjudicate this on the fly, but I wanted to tie it to something concrete like classes so the DM has something to point to that feels impartial. -Nerf the overall effectiveness of charm spells and limit access to them. I like the idea of Charm-type spells getting you the result you want but at a cost. They'll obviate the need to carry out the interaction/make the roll, but they're never going to be as effective as taking the time to interact with the NPC. Also, any time I can take something from Wizards I feel like I'm giving an angel its wings. -Destroy Charisma. I think there are a whole host of benefits to doing this, especially with regards to disrupting min-max math by removing everyone's favorite dump stat. But it also levels the playing field, so to speak, when it comes to social interactions. -Destroy social skills. Similar to getting rid of Charisma, the intent is to level the playing field for all classes/players and removing a 'trap skill' for a new player from the game. With regards to your method: In terms of stats - what's the point of obliterating Charisma if you're just going to use other statistics (Str+Con) in its place? Although Strength is a dump stat for certain classes, Constitution is far from a dump stat for any class. High Con already carries a whole host of benefits with it. More than that though, using statistics still favors certain classes over others - you'll get into weird situations where the dwarf fighter is the best negotiator and some of your Wizards are surprisingly swole. Not to say that there's anything wrong with muscle wizards... That being said, I do like the simplicity of adjusting the roll based on stats/skills and giving proficiency. I can't say too much bad about tying seemingly useless skills (professions) into social interactions/roleplaying, and overall I like the idea of giving rewards instead of penalties.
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 01:37 |
|
Moriatti posted:I've got one of these kicking around in my head. How in-depth would you want it? Just write it. I have no immediate plans for that. My most immediate Strike! plans are to get the big supplement out with the classes that have been in playtest for the year (If I had known that loving cancer would mean that I would get zero work on it done this year instead of the "not as much work" that I expected, then I would have been releasing the classes one by one as mini-expansions instead.) And after that I've got a lot of notes on an X-COM like setting which would have all-new and remixed classes and roles would be replaced by another thing entirely. So no, this thing you're thinking of is nothing like what I've got planned and you should write yours. ImpactVector posted:-The Kits system is optional but kind of all over the place, and should not be used unless you've tried the system without it and think people need another axis for character customization (hint: they probably don't). My other big regret is that I don't have good adventure writing skills (yet). I'm with Gradenko in saying that someone should write a great Strike! adventure! I'm so bad at putting down the right amount of rails because it's so opposite to how I run games, but a published adventure needs so much more structure than the improvised glorious messes that my best IRL games became. Also nice maps - and I can't draw nice maps, and a mini-expansion won't have the art budget to afford nice maps. I would need to make a proper mid-sized adventure to be able to afford that kind of art. If any of you goons have RPG mapping skills (for making combat grid maps, not overworld maps), let me know and I might pay you to make me maps when I do decide to do that in the future. fool_of_sound posted:Thats really only a sin of the necromancer class. Ive seen everything else reflavored without issue. So yeah, the Necromancer is one of the harder classes to reskin, but the psychic reskin really does work well and is broadly applicable to other settings, and Serf's post has some more. With the right power choices, it's also perfect for making a vampire (or a space vampire like in Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun and Book of the Short Sun series, which are not quite as good as Book of the New Sun, but still really great and everyone into space fantasy should read them) or any other life-leeching person/monster. I'm a bit confused by the lack of love for Chase - it's like my favourite thing in the whole game. Maybe I just have some weird blinders about it, but I find that as a very short and sweet prediction minigame, it's perfect for car chases and foot chases. It takes like 2 minutes and is more evocative than a simple roll.
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 01:39 |
|
Aren't there like a zillion MOBA characters that have some vague justification for getting stronger when they kill and draining health in order to heal? It can't be that hard.
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 02:01 |
|
Halloween Jack posted:Aren't there like a zillion MOBA characters that have some vague justification for getting stronger when they kill and draining health in order to heal? It can't be that hard. Some people have a hard time being creative, especially off the cuff. My 4e GM is a literal rules encyclopedia and does a good job running games, but he has a rough time coming up with spontaneous things either as a GM or a player. Even without a scifi or fantasy setting, the Necromancer class can just represent someone who beats the snot out of someone so resoundingly and impressively when they offer them their hand to get back up, they immediately side with them. Think of it as MGSV without the fulton.
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 02:29 |
|
The necromancer class is the best Batman in an RPG yet.
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 02:46 |
|
Hostile V posted:If you're not a fan of NBA's supernatural angle there's always vanilla Gumshoe. Yeah, that might be a bit far afield, but I only know it by reputation so I’ll check it out. No F&F, boo. On further investigation, Spycraft is a little detail-heavy for me to want to run.
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 03:09 |
|
Heads up folks, this year's resolution thread is live!
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 03:12 |
|
Subjunctive posted:Thinking about : Spycraft 2.0? I think Fragged Empire might be too far afield, BitD is close to fantasy, Night’s Black Agents has a horror angle I don’t think we want. I can’t find any prewritten adventures for Spycraft 2, which would be nice, but I’ll keep looking. Night's Black Agents has support for dropping the supernatural aspect and playing it like a "normal" spy-vs-spy game between humans. hyphz posted:I half-jokingly started writing up the Strike! rules as if they were a 5e supplement a while back, would that kind of thing actually be valuable? http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/edit/ByzsvcYrHb (I'm pretty sure it's nowhere near complete enough to be a copyright problem, it only has the dice tables and one class) This would kick all sorts of rear end if you finished. I already like what you've written up.
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 03:40 |
Fuego Fish posted:That Paladin is a joyless shitpail who is out to spoil everyone's fun by "but it's my characterrrrr"-ing their way through every interaction, be it social, combat, or even just setting up camp. I'm pretty sure you can't do it too badly by accident, but just in case here's a few tips from someone who used to read a lot of Liesmith's posts on the subject, and who's played as/with a few top-notch paladins. This is a really good post that makes me both want to play a paladin in a game again, and also try and hunt for some of the old Liesmith effort posts about Arthurian knights.
|
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 06:32 |
|
My favorite knight/paladin/etc related character concept actually comes from what 4E (and then 5E, IIRC) did by making it so that once divine characters were invested with powers, the god couldn't just take them away. That means that gods/preisthoods actually have to be super careful about whom they allow to undergo the investiture ritual. The screening has to be super rigorous, and nobody's ever sure that their god will go for them. Because if you're a good, conscientious deity, you can't just pick someone who's a decent person now. You have to be sure that someone you're giving divine power to swing around, someone who's gonna carry your holy symbol and do your work in the world, isn't just a good person who represents your ideals now, but will continue to be a good person five years down the road, or ten, or twenty. That they won't buy into some heretical teaching and turn your church against itself; that they won't fall into evil and use their powers for ill; that they'll be a good person no matter what happens to them--even if their family dies prematurely, or their lover leaves them for their enemy, or someone tortures them, or if they see the horrors of war for years on end, or if they get things handed to them on a silver platter for years and lose touch with the common man, or anything else. So think about a person who wanted to be a paladin, got top marks in their class, was entirely dedicated--and then during the investiture ritual, nothing happened. The god turned them down. So you're left with a character who knows that their deity decided that they were fundamentally flawed in some way, but doesn't know how--that maybe not right now, but in five years, or in ten, or if they gain power, or if they're put in the wrong situation, they will do something that makes giving them divine powers Not Worht It. And they have to live and constantly watch themselves for signs of this imagined flaw and wonder if any given thing they're doing that they know isn't 100% cool is The Reason They Didn't Get Chosen. There's an interesting Lawful Good knight right there.
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 07:27 |
|
I'm sure every young paladin gets a lecture at some point about how if you're an rear end in a top hat to everyone in the name of good, all that tells people is that being good means being an rear end in a top hat, and nobody likes an rear end in a top hat. So yes, Ray, I'm ordering you in the name of the Light to have a nice time at this party and try to chill the gently caress out. Wine pong?
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 07:29 |
|
the best paladin is Zote the Mighty
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 08:37 |
|
https://twitter.com/open_sketchbook/status/943779946249506816
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 11:18 |
|
Freudian posted:So I'm joining my friends' Dungeon World campaign as a Paladin in the new year, with the basic character concept of Sailorc Moon. Any tips on how not to be That Paladin? sailor moon is a whiny spoilt crybaby with a heart of gold who is destined to become a terrifying immortal godqueen
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 11:25 |
|
Is the thread title a Megatokyo reference?
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 14:24 |
|
gradenko_2000 posted:Night's Black Agents has support for dropping the supernatural aspect and playing it like a "normal" spy-vs-spy game between humans. That's right! I'll look into that.
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 14:33 |
|
This is pretty great and I think I'll have to run it sometime. Is there an IRC/Discord server for Apocalypse World? The AW thread here has one for IRC listed, but it looks like it's been abandoned.
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 14:37 |
|
SirPhoebos posted:Is the thread title a Megatokyo reference?
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 14:52 |
|
noted 70s action actors Dwayne Johnson, Keanu Reeves and Will Smith
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 15:33 |
|
"from the 70s to today" but it threw me off at first too.
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 15:39 |
|
is there a homebrew game thread? I started converting shadowrun into a houserule'd quasi-medieval setting and went way too far and now it's a 20 page document. Is there a good thread to post some rules snippits so grogs can really tear into me and tell me why I'm wrong?
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 18:58 |
|
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 18:59 |
|
Meyers-Briggs Testicle posted:is there a homebrew game thread? I started converting shadowrun into a houserule'd quasi-medieval setting and went way too far and now it's a 20 page document. Is there a good thread to post some rules snippits so grogs can really tear into me and tell me why I'm wrong? As one of the local grogs you’re wrong. no honestly that sounds pretty cool I agree with
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 19:04 |
|
There's also the oft-forgotten The Game Writing Workshop: Let's make (and finish) our game projects! thread
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 19:04 |
|
Meyers-Briggs Testicle posted:is there a homebrew game thread? I started converting shadowrun into a houserule'd quasi-medieval setting and went way too far and now it's a 20 page document. Is there a good thread to post some rules snippits so grogs can really tear into me and tell me why I'm wrong? You could always post it in the game writing workshop thread. It's not always the most active, though. e: f, b
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 19:06 |
|
Gotta be faster than that if you hope to beat the master of "working from home."
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 19:10 |
|
Yawgmoth posted:Yes. Abandon all hope ye who enter here
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 19:11 |
|
gradenko_2000 posted:This would kick all sorts of rear end if you finished. I already like what you've written up. Problem is, I think if it was finished it’d break both Jim’s copyright and Hasbro’s trade dress..
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 19:18 |
|
https://twitter.com/willsommer/status/943900981863112704
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 19:23 |
|
Oh boy, it's like two horrible things mixed together to make something even worse, like getting plutonium in raw sewage.
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 19:26 |
|
As much I know and dread your answer, what does this pertain to Traditional Games? e: Ah, Starfinder. Truly fitting, carry on.
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 19:27 |
|
multiclassing into the Incel prestige class to own the libs
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 19:31 |
|
fool_of_sound posted:Thats really only a sin of the necromancer class. I’ve seen everything else reflavored without issue. Tuxedo Catfish posted:The thing is, that strong connection between mechanics and flavor is actually a good thing. I'm not taking the Necromancer to task, the Necromancer is great. It's the context around it that's the problem. I encountered the same problem with the previous game I wrote, where it was somewhere between "too much of a toolkit for people to get any creative inspiration from" and "tonally clashing anytime more than 1 human was in a room, putting fluff to a character." That's one of the reasons that for The Next Project, I went with more easily-identifiable D&D-ish classes (aside from, just personally actually liking that style of fantasy.) hyphz posted:That looks good, but I’m not sure how any 4e like system can work without a grid. Movement is, like, a core part of tactical combat. There's been a handful of "4e, but..." games, over the years. It always boils down to taste, and what the author decided to leave in or keep out. Like, my experience with D&D is 97% of the time using a grid, but I noticed the party largely ended up just crowding into the biggest open space on the map (with the enemies.) So between that, and 5e doing such a poor job of being gridless, I decided I wanted to actually build something from the ground-up that didn't require it. It's also something that reduces DM overhead, if you can get it right. It actually takes a bit of design work (anyone who was in my first playtest can attest to the early flaws I hit) but you can have movement and tactical considerations within a more relative/abstract positional structure. Honestly, I've found a lot of it has more to do with action economy, i.e. shifting away from the melee as a minor action or as part of an attack is a lot more valuable than the universal "5ft step" that anyone can do, but at the cost of their whole movement.
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 19:33 |
|
|
# ? Jun 10, 2024 12:07 |
|
This isn't the 'post lovely fiction' thread so I won't bore you with backstory, but it's a Dark Sun/Dying Earth type of setting except not as messed up and has more tech. The crux of the system is essentially shadowrun. (3 + modifier)d6, count up 5's and 6's and compare the number of successes with a check (the base check being 2) Unlike Shadowrun, I added in 4e Powers. The system is classless, so as long as you meet the level requirement, you can learn the power on your next level up. You're limited to 5 powers per encounter, and if you run out you'll be back to basic attacks. All damage is flat plus a modifier. This is done to speed up the game a bit when you aren't having to roll for damage. Technically your hit roll decides damage, as 1 success is a 50% damage glancing blow and 2x the required successes is a crit Powers can be divided into two groups - Base and Interrupts. Yes interrupts like MTG. You can play interrupts on anyone's turn, even in response to your action. They still require modifier rolls. Examples of interrupts: quote:Ranged Block quote:Guard quote:Cancel: quote:Guardian Angel: There are also perks. There are also skills. There are also some generic enemies I made. This is an extreme WIP. This is probably not good. But it's something I'm proud I at least tried to do. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1geFy7FjnpkemufXZ8tZ4DucwvyEIFvvaq39oEwkraGU/edit#slide=id.g24389df7fb_0_42
|
# ? Dec 21, 2017 19:43 |