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Ironslave posted:I, too, enjoy being judgemental of the way people I don't know have fun socializing and playing games. As long as everybody is having fun, the game is being run correctly. Too many people believe everyone else should play the game exactly like they do.
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Apr 8, 2018 04:34
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| # ? May 12, 2024 22:26 |
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Got my C20 in the mail. It isn’t as tall as the others, surprisingly.
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Apr 8, 2018 04:38
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Xinder posted:As long as everybody is having fun, the game is being run correctly. Well, like, you could be having fun, but be having more fun if a certain rule was in play or followed. Like, (to use a non-tabletop example) there were people that didn't mind driving the Mako in Mass Effect 1, even enjoyed it, but they thought it as a bit tedious and the whole time they didn't realise it had a powerful cannon as well as a machine gun.
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Apr 8, 2018 11:39
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Xiahou Dun posted:You seem cool and good but are you time-traveling from 1998? no but thank you for complimenting my John Titor cosplay Xiahou Dun posted:Like I reward players for bringing snacks by saying, "O hey Adam I see you made those wonderful ham and cheese croissants , those are always a hit" instead of in-game power upgrades. And then we have a beer. Maybe a hug???? I use this system for this group because they're all new to roleplaying and it fits the chronicle setting. I wouldn't use this if we were running Mage because it would make everyone demigods but we're not running Mage. The characters are all balanced against each other and the world still presents challenges they have to think and work to overcome. If they were invulnerable blood-tanks you'd have a point but the chronicle just needs this kind of power curve. Plus we're only meeting biweekly so it'd take several months of in-game roleplaying to get the XP for something like Path of Conjuring 4, which just enables you to unmake anything from Path of Conjuring 1-3. Thaumaturgy is weird.
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Apr 8, 2018 21:30
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I think his point was that giving out XP for food is weird; you can set the XP threshold wherever you want and not have it be tied to food. You could just double all XP awards. I remember when a LARP I was in offered 1 XP for bringing food. The gifts were so overwhelming that they changed the rule to "only top three people will get food XP" which was the rapid backslide into bribery for XP. TT games are of course different.
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Apr 8, 2018 21:52
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Oh it's absolutely weird, I'm not denying that, but so far it hasn't been as unbalancing as I'd expected. Not all the players have taken advantage of it, and those that have don't go overboard. Because these are new players, I'm using XP as a prompt to think about how they can get more involved in the game. More experienced players with a better idea of character optimizing, yes they'd wring this system for all it's worth, but that hasn't been an issue yet. edit- So, the V20 Black Hand book includes a brief description of a Tal'Mahe'Rah cult known as the "Adoptive Childer of Malakai," referencing a theoretical sister to Malkav, even more insane than her brother. They're a plot point in my game so I designed some Malkavian Thaumaturgy which might be useful in-game. What do y'all think of this one: Ants in your Pants, Bug in your Butt (lv 2 ritual) Favored by insectiphiles and the eternally puerile, Bug in your Butt allows the thaumaturge to develop a nesting cavity within their own bodies for their (hopefully non-human) ghouls. System: Obviously, space constraints are a major consideration here. At the conclusion of the ritual, the ghouls physically chew themselves a nesting space in the body part of their choice, inflicting anywhere from one point of aggravated damage for a swarm of insects, to two points of aggravated for a rat, all the way to a theoretical maximum of 5 points for a wolf or large dog. For a good approximation, each point in the ghoul’s blood pool equates to one level of damage. Exceptionally large characters could theoretically accommodate larger ghouls. Each point of damage inflicted restores one point of the ghoul’s blood pool, bypassing the normal 50% maximum concentration rule. Furthermore, any ghoul resting in its master is immune to negative environmental effects, including supernatural effects like the Shadowlands. Bystanders can attempt a Perception+Alertness (or Awareness, diff 7-damage levels inflicted) roll to discern that something unusual is happening, opposed by Manipulation+Subterfuge, difficulty 5+damage levels inflicted. This ritual can be cast on a restrained, unwilling target, but the target can resist each level of damage by rolling Stamina+Fortitude, opposed by Strength+Brawl. Obviously, use of this ritual on unwilling targets should result in the potential loss of Humanity, barring extremely eventuating circumstances. On the other hand, this ritual is a favorite of Lilin seeking to inform ungrateful men of the myriad sacrifices of motherhood. PHIZ KALIFA fucked around with this message at 22:47 on Apr 8, 2018 |
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Apr 8, 2018 22:05
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Is it just me or are Nameless kinda boned if they're not part of a mystery cult?
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Apr 9, 2018 08:23
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Terratina posted:Is it just me or are Nameless kinda boned if they're not part of a mystery cult? Depends. Both on what you mean by "boned" and the Nameless in question, because that is an extremely broad term that covers everything from random hermits who don't even know there is a magical society to ancient and powerful atlantean Orders who just refuse to submit to the Pentacle.
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Apr 9, 2018 12:32
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Terratina posted:Is it just me or are Nameless kinda boned if they're not part of a mystery cult? Yes, they are. Amazingly, rejecting or not having the opportunity to be trained by a millenia-old society of your kind, to have access to records of past Obsessions and Mysteries, and to not reinvent the wheel a million times over has consequences. If anything, they're not harsh *enough*. I dictated that Nameless would be playable. I also dictated that there's a reason most mages are in an Order.
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Apr 9, 2018 12:55
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Back in high school (like fifteen years ago) I'd give extra XP to my players for doing my homework and I have no regrets from that methodology.
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Apr 9, 2018 12:57
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While they aren't as hosed as Ghost Wolves, they certainly face harsher penalties than not joining a vampire covenant or being a demon without an Agenda.
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Apr 9, 2018 13:58
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Mors Rattus posted:While they aren't as hosed as Ghost Wolves, they certainly face harsher penalties than not joining a vampire covenant or being a demon without an Agenda. Demon always seems interesting as hell, what's lacking an agenda do?
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Apr 9, 2018 16:53
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xanthan posted:Demon always seems interesting as hell, what's lacking an agenda do? Gives you a less useful "agenda" condition that lets you pick an agenda.
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Apr 9, 2018 17:36
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xanthan posted:Demon always seems interesting as hell, what's lacking an agenda do? Having an agenda gets you a Condition that gives a beat if you do a thing and can be resolved for a (usually quite niche) bonus. Not having one gives you a different Condition that awards xp.under slightly more restrictive conditions and no resolution bonus. Plus not having the narrative advantage of being able to maybe touch base with other like-minded demons. So it's pretty much just worse, but not by a lot.
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Apr 9, 2018 17:41
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I think I’ve solved the party-always-succeeding-every-roll-ever-thanks-to-Fate-magic problem by reminding players that if they never fail, they can never opt for dramatic failures, which are one of the primary drivers of XP. Now I just need to figure out how to put enough plot in front of them that they’ll switch their Aspirations from “see a ghost” and “pick a lock” to more interesting things that have more immediate impact on the plot...
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Apr 9, 2018 18:18
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blastron posted:I think I’ve solved the party-always-succeeding-every-roll-ever-thanks-to-Fate-magic problem by reminding players that if they never fail, they can never opt for dramatic failures, which are one of the primary drivers of XP. Now I just need to figure out how to put enough plot in front of them that they’ll switch their Aspirations from “see a ghost” and “pick a lock” to more interesting things that have more immediate impact on the plot... I would advice against too many Aspirations that tie too directly into the plot. It's boring, and also tends to leave you starved for beats since you're now at the mercy of where the story goes - or, more pertinently, doesn't go. What I've found to work well is more generic character/story beats. "Show restraint", "lash out", "save the day", that kind of thing. It's general enough to slot into most any session while still offering ideas and character development.
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Apr 9, 2018 18:34
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Unless an uratha outranks a spirit, they only do bashing damage with fangs and claws, right? What about in garou form?
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Apr 9, 2018 18:54
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Soonmot posted:Unless an uratha outranks a spirit, they only do bashing damage with fangs and claws, right? What about in garou form? Always Lethal with bite. Bashing with everything else. Once you're two ranks higher, you act as bane, and your natural weapons do Aggravated. That's across the spectrum and forms (you may have a Gift that gives you a special distinction though).
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Apr 9, 2018 19:33
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Does the "Gauru Biting with intent to swallow deals aggravated" thing apply to spirits as well?
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Apr 9, 2018 19:39
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Kurieg posted:Does the "Gauru Biting with intent to swallow deals aggravated" thing apply to spirits as well? Nah only humans (and some human-like things), werewolves, and I think wolves. Spirits aren't as dependent on their physical form and internal systems.
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Apr 9, 2018 20:12
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Huh, I thought spirits counted because you were tearing away their essence? I also found out that the way I thought armor worked was partially wrong. I thought that ballistic canceled out only firearms damage, general canceled out everything else. RAW states that ballistic downgrades to bashing. What is also messing me up is that it seems after you downgrade the ballistic, you can apply the general to the rest of the damage. Game example is currently armored form werewolf gets hit with 6 lethal damage from a materialized spirit that had razor blade claws. The woof had 2/2 armor, so he should take 4 damage since it's a melee attack. If he were shot for 6L. Would he take 2B 2L as the ballistic downgrades 2 and the general soaks 2. Or 4L add the ballistic downgrades 2 and the general soaks those 2B since the rest of the lethal is still ballistic?
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Apr 10, 2018 01:28
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General armor soaks more severe damage before less severe, so he would take 2B 2L.
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Apr 10, 2018 01:47
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Soonmot posted:Huh, I thought spirits counted because you were tearing away their essence? Nah, you need a bane for that. It disrupts their ephemera, I think is the explanation. Aggravated damage [i]also[i] destroys Essence, so it pays to have a bane, but it's the result of the Agg damage, as opposed to the reason for it (as far as I know). You might be able to get a special power that does it but it's basically replicating bane damage. quote:I also found out that the way I thought armor worked was partially wrong. I thought that ballistic canceled out only firearms damage, general canceled out everything else. RAW states that ballistic downgrades to bashing. Huh learn something new every day, I obviously haven't played around with armor enough.
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Apr 10, 2018 02:06
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nofather posted:Always Lethal with bite. Bashing with everything else. Is this spelled out somewhere? The "Predator's Jaws" sidebar only notes that the bite counts as a mystical source of harm to foes that "are vulnerable to such sources" (vampires as the obvious example.) As far as I know, manifest spirits only take bashing harm unless hit with their bane, with no exceptions for "mystical" sources?
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Apr 10, 2018 03:53
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Five Eyes posted:Is this spelled out somewhere? The "Predator's Jaws" sidebar only notes that the bite counts as a mystical source of harm to foes that "are vulnerable to such sources" (vampires as the obvious example.) As far as I know, manifest spirits only take bashing harm unless hit with their bane, with no exceptions for "mystical" sources? That was how I read it too, but now I ruled that their teeth always do lethal. It makes sense that all werewolves are at least deadly to a spirit even without possessing their bane, so I'm fine with that ruling. Back to armor though. So general armor will soak bullet damages, a leather jacket with 0 ballistic/1 general will make the 6L gun shot 5L? Or is it only armor that has a ballistic rating that can use general to soak firearm damage?
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Apr 10, 2018 04:18
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Soonmot posted:Back to armor though. So general armor will soak bullet damages, a leather jacket with 0 ballistic/1 general will make the 6L gun shot 5L? Or is it only armor that has a ballistic rating that can use general to soak firearm damage? Ballistic armor reduces points of lethal damage from firearms to bashing. That's all it does. You don't need any ballistic armor to apply general armor against a gunshot.
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Apr 10, 2018 04:35
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So a leather jacket will soak bullet damage? That's what I'm hung up on.
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Apr 10, 2018 04:51
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So the Prime 2 sample rote Words of Truth is basically a "you can trust what I'm saying" spell - you cast the spell on yourself and then you speak, and as long as you speak what you consider to be the objective truth, everyone around you recognises it. I assume that Adepts of Prime and up can cast that on other people, or scale up the effect, too. Doesn't this make Consilium 'court proceedings' and finding out who a hidden mole or criminal is a lot easier? It's a condition of showing up to Consilium that you get Words of Truth cast on you and say "Since I last did this, I haven't, to my knowledge, broken any Consilium laws. I also haven't done any fuckery to get around this statement." Anyone whose words don't 'ring with truth' gets treated as a criminal. Anyone who doesn't show up to a scheduled meeting becomes extremely suspicious.
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Apr 10, 2018 05:02
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bewilderment posted:So the Prime 2 sample rote Words of Truth is basically a "you can trust what I'm saying" spell - you cast the spell on yourself and then you speak, and as long as you speak what you consider to be the objective truth, everyone around you recognises it. It's potent, but A. it's entirely possible to make a fake Words of Truth with higher Prime mastery. B. Plenty of wizards are going to have reason to not want truth spells to be considered acceptable except in extreme situations; for one thing, it's entirely possible any given wizard's broken Consilium rules at least once in the past month or so. A Consilium where most mages expect to never break Consilia rules has really loose rules, tbqh. C. It's most useful to people trying to prove their innocence, and can be disregarded or undermined with other spells as noted. So it's not a sure bet. But yeah, I've been meaningfully concerned that my players were going to explode a tense political game by just standing up and shouting BY THE POWER OF SUPERNAL TRUTH, THAT rear end in a top hat IS STEALING SOULS and let come what may. The big event after that is the Consilium fracturing around people who are more willing to believe Truth was falsified than that their ally steals souls, and around the soul-stealers calling for Nemesis and/or just acting directly, as would their allies. Bringing the revelation down like that absolutely puts things out in the open, and I imagine that leads quickly to magical duels and feuding. It's a great spell, I love it.
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Apr 10, 2018 05:15
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Five Eyes posted:Is this spelled out somewhere? The "Predator's Jaws" sidebar only notes that the bite counts as a mystical source of harm to foes that "are vulnerable to such sources" (vampires as the obvious example.) As far as I know, manifest spirits only take bashing harm unless hit with their bane, with no exceptions for "mystical" sources? It's not, but discussion with devs on the OPP forums has confirmed that the intention is that if it's Soonmot posted:So a leather jacket will soak bullet damage? That's what I'm hung up on. WoD is not a simulationist game, and its combat rules are particularly nonsensical. Other highlights include: in a fight between an unarmed person and a person with a spear, the unarmed person is more likely to get the first hit; trying to wrestle the knife from an assailant is almost completely safe; chainsaws are effective melee weapons; stab wounds heal in a matter of days without medical intervention.
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Apr 10, 2018 08:48
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Terrorforge posted:WoD is not a simulationist game, and its combat rules are particularly nonsensical. Other highlights include: in a fight between an unarmed person and a person with a spear, the unarmed person is more likely to get the first hit; trying to wrestle the knife from an assailant is almost completely safe; chainsaws are effective melee weapons; stab wounds heal in a matter of days without medical intervention. I'd always ruled that general armour didn't protect against firearms unless it's mystical. I had zero idea this wasn't correct.
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Apr 10, 2018 09:01
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Here's the relevant passage from the Chronicles 2e rulebook:Chronicles of Darkness Rulebook, p. 94 "Armor" posted:Ballistic armor applies to incoming firearms attacks. Each point of ballistic armor downgrades one point of damage from lethal to bashing. A heavy leather jacket would probably be reinforced clothing, which gives 1 general armor. Firearms weapons almost always have at least a +1 weapon rating, meaning if you get shot and the leather jacket is your only protection, you're still guaranteed to take at least one point of lethal damage, because the attack will deal at least the attacker's successes +1 in lethal damage. Still not realistic, no, but if you're trying to wrap your head around what that represents narratively, it slowed the impact slightly but you're still bleeding, or the bible in your shoulder pocket partially stopped the blow or something, or the shot gave you a grazing cut and tore your jacket sleeve. I Am Just a Box fucked around with this message at 09:25 on Apr 10, 2018 |
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Apr 10, 2018 09:17
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I Am Just a Box posted:Here's the relevant passage from the Chronicles 2e rulebook: Does NWoD in general move away from the OWoD "firearms are a solution to most non-ephemeral supernatural problems" a lot? This really stood out to me with Scion 2E's wound conditions, and I'm not sure if this is leading the zeitgeist or trailing the genre.
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Apr 10, 2018 10:06
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Nessus posted:"Good thing I had all these copies of Shonen Jump stuffed into my jacket." Not really? Guns are less effective against many gribblies than against humans obviously, but so are all weapons and guns are generally the most powerful weapons available. But of course it's not in the nature or interest of most monsters to challenge commando squads to open battle, nor is a crateful of assault rifles something the average PC can just buy on vampire eBay.
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Apr 10, 2018 11:02
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what can one buy on vampire ebay
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Apr 10, 2018 11:23
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Tollymain posted:what can one buy on vampire ebay
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Apr 10, 2018 11:25
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Tickets for baby vs dog.
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Apr 10, 2018 11:31
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My new character, the BvD ticket scalper.
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Apr 10, 2018 12:52
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Nessus posted:Lilith's tampons. Authentic Noddist scriptures. Idiosyncratic Malkavian black and white films. The severed ghouled head of Keith Moon. My next character concept is literally just “a Ventrue who owns Airwolf” now.
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Apr 10, 2018 14:14
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| # ? May 12, 2024 22:26 |
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Thanks for the advice, everyone!
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Apr 10, 2018 14:44
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