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Tailoring challenges to the party makes sense. I figure that the stuff that comes up should be inherently solvable by the party, even if it requires some improvisation, maybe? And the items could be more than just “fill holes in the party”, IMO they should also have significance in the context of the story, setting, etc. - maybe the lens is powered by soul batteries, or maybe it’s biased to see what the ancient race that made it wanted to see, or something.
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Jun 18, 2018 17:08
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In my campaign, I provided my players with a limited-use magic item forge that combined magic items. There were three slots to shove potential items in, and after some experimenting, my players came up with the following combination: a scroll of the spell Danse Macabre, a ring of spell storing with Counterspell stored in it, and a roughly a hundred pixie-stick size magic wands they stole from a magical novelty store. This produced a ring that summoned a skeletal jazz band that could cast Counterspell once per summon and provide bardic inspiration. The very first summon of this was used to Counterspell a Lich's Disintegrate spell, which was roleplayed out as the skeletal trumpet player blasting a note directly in the Lich's face. They did some other stuff with the forge before it burned out, but that was the best combination. I felt the bardic inspiration wasn't going to ruin anyone's day, considering the party has no bard, but it didn't really check a box for "solves Bard problems."
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Jun 18, 2018 17:11
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Malpais Legate posted:but it didn't really check a box for "solves Bard problems."
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Jun 18, 2018 17:21
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I'm trying to come up with different benefits and downsides to the players in my Pulp 1955 campaign setting their base in different nations in the broken-up US, like starting with extra or less money or starting with free equipment. I've decided that the Rocky Mountain State comes with (among other downsides) constant harassment from Mormons.
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Jun 18, 2018 17:40
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What are the nations?
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Jun 18, 2018 18:46
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Keeshhound posted:What are the nations? Quick thing on why the world is how it is: Germany and the Soviet Union both developed atomic weapon programs simultaneously with the United States. The bombing of Hiroshima triggered the nuking of Paris and Berlin, followed by the USSR trying to conquer Europe and the remaining Allies banding together to stop them. World War II actually ended in 1947 with Moscow, San Diego, and Washington DC all destroyed by nukes. The USSR has retreated into a quiet pariah state that doesn't really interact with the world, South America and Africa are in a chaotic non-stop series of civil wars and coups, the United States has broken up, and Europe is the most stable but still dealing with the fallout. The Chinese Civil War is still ongoing. The PCs can choose any starting location except for the Kingdom of Hawaii and Alaska. The New Confederacy: Made up of the former states of Georgia, the Carolinas, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and the far north of Louisiana with the capital in Atlanta. The first states to divide off from the United States to form their own nation once again, the New Confederacy (sometimes called the “Neo-Confederates”) has not yet returned to legal slavery but remains strictly segregated. White men hold the ultimate power and the different states vary in the level of legal protections given to non-whites, from true “separate but equal” treatment to maintaining chain gangs of black prisoners on spurious charges. In keeping with the goals of the original Confederacy, the federal government has relatively minimal power except for maintaining a standing army, supplemented by state militias. The Sunshine State: The state of Florida except for the Florida Keys, with the capital in Orlando. Florida was insufficiently southern to end up in the New Confederacy and instead became an independent state. While not part of the Neo-Confederates, they’re a large consumer of Sunshine’s agriculture. The Conch Republic: The Florida Keys, with the capital in Key West. Due to their geographic separation from the rest of the Sunshine State, the Keys broke off fairly quickly into a micronation. The Conch Republic is a freewheeling paradise that accepts tourists from all over the world, especially from nearby Cuba. It only maintains a nominal navy and air force, as it relies on subsistence farming and tourism and has few economic benefits for any would-be invaders; regardless, fishermen often go out armed in case they run into Caribbean pirates. New France: The southern part of Louisiana, with the capital in New Orleans. Also referred to as Nouvelle Français. While the northern part of the state joined the New Confederacy, the area surrounding New Orleans remained fiercely independent and seceded from the rest of the state in response. The new nation has a distinct French Creole culture and has legalized French as an official language of the government. The swamps surrounding New Orleans are still full of Cajuns, including those who migrated to New France to remain loyal to their heritage. The port of New Orleans is home to some of the biggest drug and weapon smuggling operations in North America. Appalachia: Made up of the former states of West Virginia and Kentucky, with the capital in Lexington. Appalachia is a heavy mining state, especially coal mining, and has become one of the first heavy purchasers of helicopters in America to better utilize their mountainous terrain for military purposes. The dark mountain roads of Appalachia are rarely traveled by visitors, and rumors abound of both hidden treasures and violent inbred clans of moonshiners. The Empire State: Made up of the former states of New Jersey, the southern half of New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, with the capital in New York City. The Empire State is a global economic powerhouse, home to the largest and most densely populated city in North America. Despite the fragmentation of the United States, international business and arts remained where they were and kept NYC a major city. This also makes them one of the richest nations in North America with one of the largest military forces. The Mid-Atlantic Coalition: Made up of the former states of Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, with the capital in Baltimore due to the destruction of Washington DC in World War II. The Mid-Atlantic Coalition is a nation on shaky ground, smaller than the Empire State and New Confederacy that border it and constantly at risk of being absorbed into one or the other (or being the site of a major war between the two). Baltimore is an especially valuable port, which makes it a high prize for one of the larger nations looking to take over. Washington DC was heavily nuked during the war and remains an unoccupied pile of rubble and dead plant life. New England: Made up of the former states of Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire, with the capital in Bangor. The nation of New England mostly keeps to itself, maintaining itself through maritime industries such as fishing and ports. Due to sharing a border with Canada, they engage in large scale trade with them and there have been some rumblings of a possible annexation of New England. The Great Lakes Region: Made up of the former states of Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, the northern half of New York, Illinois, and Indiana, with the capital in Chicago. The Great Lakes Region is an industrial powerhouse, home to massive industry and large agribusinesses. Detroit lives in a permanent haze of smog from the sheer output of vehicles and machinery, especially aircraft and tanks. Heartland: Made up of the former states of Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, and the Dakotas, with the capital in Minneapolis. Heartland is the largest nation in the former United States by land area but has the lowest population density, being predominately farmland dotted with small towns and villages. Heartland maintains good relations with almost the entirety of North America, who engage in valuable trade with Heartland’s major agriculture industry. The Republic of Texas: Shortly after the New Confederacy separated, Texas declared its independence and placed its capital in Austin. The Republic of Texas is the largest new nation to be formed from a single state and has a powerful military thanks to its oil fields (in addition to constructing oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico). Texans are known for their independent spirit and conservative values. The Republic of New Mexico: Made up of the former states of New Mexico and Arizona, with the capital in Phoenix. The Republic of New Mexico has recently seen emigration south of the border into Mexico and border conflicts with Texas. Due to the lower population, many Native American tribes from the southwest have moved into the Republic of New Mexico and created a predominately Native American nation. The Rocky Mountain State: Made up of the former states of Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, with the capital in Denver. Primary businesses are mining, agriculture, and timber. The former state of Utah has seen secessionist talk from a growing Mormon contingent to create a theocracy. Mojave: Made up of the former state of Nevada and the eastern half of California, with the capital in Las Vegas. Mojave is home to Hoover Dam, the largest hydroelectric dam in North America, which provides electricity for the region. Las Vegas is a major tourist attraction despite the breakup of the United States, and the Mojave military retains large amounts of pre-breakup ordnance and ownership of the Groom Lake black project testing facility. West California: Made up of the western half of California, with the capital in Los Angeles. West California is a liberal and multicultural community with a large Latino population. The entertainment industry in Hollywood continues to thrive and the ports in San Francisco and Los Angeles are open to international trade, but San Diego is still a radioactive wasteland. West California is also home to a large agriculture business, including wine production. While it maintains a strong economy and military, West California is generally non-aggressive. Pacifica: Made up of the former states of Oregon and Washington, with the capital in Seattle. Pacifica is reliant on the agricultural and timber industry, but maintains good relations and an open border policy with Canada. Pacifica has good relations with West California and the Rocky Mountain State, and the area is generally regarded as peaceful. The Kingdom of Hawaii: After the breakup of the United States, Hawaii took advantage of its distance to declare independence and revert to its pre-colonial royal family. Hawaii is now an insular monarchy that fiercely protects its waters with leftover military equipment at Pearl Harbor. Alaska: Upon the breakup of the United States, Alaska and its small population was annexed by Canada as a new province.
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Jun 18, 2018 19:04
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chitoryu12 posted:Alaska: Upon the breakup of the United States, Alaska and its small population was annexed by Canada as a new province. loving finally
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Jun 18, 2018 19:50
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chitoryu12 posted:New England: Made up of the former states of Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire, with the capital in Bangor. The nation of New England mostly keeps to itself, maintaining itself through maritime industries such as fishing and ports. Due to sharing a border with Canada, they engage in large scale trade with them and there have been some rumblings of a possible annexation of New England. .....Bangor? Honestly? Don't you usually look for qualities in a capital that aren't "takes at least an hour to get there from anywhere you might actually want to live"?  (go with Portland, ME, that'd be a more centralized capital with sea access and a really underrated city besides; for bonus points, Boston should be really lovely about the fact that they're the biggest city in New England and they still don't get to be important)
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Jun 18, 2018 20:15
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:.....Bangor? Honestly? Don't you usually look for qualities in a capital that aren't "takes at least an hour to get there from anywhere you might actually want to live"? Fort Kent, shining metropolis and capital of New Maine
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Jun 18, 2018 20:35
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:.....Bangor? Honestly? Don't you usually look for qualities in a capital that aren't "takes at least an hour to get there from anywhere you might actually want to live"? Might be a worthwhile change. I've never actually been further north along the coast than Boston so I'm not really familiar with anything up there.
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Jun 18, 2018 20:40
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I am coming to like magic items that don't have an obvious point or are just an evocative name. I sold my party in my Stone Thief campaign a 'naughty magic rope'. I'm looking forward to finding out what it does.
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Jun 18, 2018 20:46
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that makes me giggle
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Jun 18, 2018 20:47
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the rope knows what it did
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Jun 18, 2018 20:48
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chitoryu12 posted:Might be a worthwhile change. I've never actually been further north along the coast than Boston so I'm not really familiar with anything up there. My aunt used to live in Bangor, it's actually a really nice city, but it's basically in the middle of fuckin' nowhere. Which is a little bit of an exaggeration, but it won't feel like one to all the people in the non-Maine states of New England. Keep in mind that a lot of the northern half of Maine is divided up into what they call "Townships" - big squares of land that are basically arbitrary locations for the sale of logging rights. So what looks like the middle of Maine is actually at the northern edge of the parts of Maine where people actually live. Incidentally, the Bath Iron Works will be one of the larger shipyards left in the US at the point where your history starts diverging; setting New England up as a naval power would be sorta neat. Sort of like the Dutch back in the day, they're tiny and have a small population but their ships go everywhere and trade with everyone, which is why Canada can't just waltz in and annex them. (plus there's the whole 'large portions of New England are going to be inclined to support Quebecois separatists if Canada starts making too much noise' bit...) ....I don't think any of this will probably matter to your campaign, but it's entertaining to me to think about. 
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Jun 18, 2018 20:51
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chitoryu12 posted:Might be a worthwhile change. I've never actually been further north along the coast than Boston so I'm not really familiar with anything up there. The reality is it should be Boston for a variety of technical/organizational reasons, but the story point of Bostonians being salty about it is good. Also for Sunshine, Orlando makes sense as the capital but Miami's place matters a lot. If it's part of the nation, there will be a lot of tension between Miami and everyone else, as is the case in actual history. But Miami as a city-state freeport could be an interesting angle to consider.
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Jun 18, 2018 20:53
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Serf posted:the rope knows what it did 
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Jun 18, 2018 21:06
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Jun 18, 2018 21:08
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chitoryu12 posted:The PCs can choose any starting location except for the Kingdom of Hawaii and Alaska. Without knowing the system, here are some broad ideas: The New Confederacy: Without knowing what how... political you want to get, I'd just go with saying that the lack of serious regulations and abundance of labor means that operational costs (wages, upkeep, etc.) will be lower, but there's also an increased risk of disruption, either from corruption/unscrupulous contractors or populist unrest among the less advantaged. The Sunshine State: A strong agricultural base leads to health and morale benefits (from having greater access to better and more diverse rations) for staff and players, but hiring expenses are higher due to greater labor demands from the farms The Conch Republic: Large morale bonus for living in a tropical paradise, but expansion is considerably more expensive due to land scarcity, and the need to harden structure s against storms. New France: Additional opportunities to acquire rare and exotic materials, but regular markets are less reliable and may experience shortages. Supplies that were purchased for the base may have a habit of disappearing en route, especially if they don't play nice with the smugglers. Appalachia: Mountainous territory makes for considerable benefits when fortifying a location, but also makes it harder to establish the needed logistical chains. The Empire State: A strong economy means wealthier investors, but it also means that they'll need to dedicate more time and resources to "client development" (read: gifts and schmoozing at expensive clubs and classy galleries). The Mid-Atlantic Coalition: Access to double the business opportunities, but also attract more suspicion. Higher operating costs due to needing to check everything for nuclear contamination. New England: Purchase equipment and supplies at a discount, but the viscious winters result in seasonal increases in upkeep and operating costs. The Great Lakes Region: Custom ordered (player) gear is produced quicker and more cheaply, and standard gear can be purchased for pennies, but the pollution has pronounced effects on staff health and morale. Heartland: middle of the road, with no significant positives or negatives, probably. The Republic of Texas: defensive advantage from the presence of a strong military with an opportunity to hire from military retirees (better staff) if on good relations with local government, but start with strained relations to all local factions for being "outsiders," and a higher cost of living due to the strong oil economy. The Republic of New Mexico: Start with a larger base (free upgrade, etc.), but hiring is slower due to the low population. Opportunities to become more strongly tied to the local government, perhaps becoming "Too big to fail." The Rocky Mountain State: Clean living populace is healthier and more dedicated for no extra cost, but their zealousness can alienate potential allies, and they frown on "sinful" pleasures (no booze, no women, no coffee). Mojave: Abundant electricity makes expansion cheaper, and proximity to Las Vegas allows for temporary moral bonuses from vacations/"shore leave", but the lack of a strong agriculture means that food is more expensive, and less satisfying due to a reliance on canned or otherwise preserved foodstuffs (higher food costs and lowered staff morale) West California: Proximity to Hollywood means global name recognition with both benefits and negatives depending on how visible the group wants to be. Opportunities to appear in movies may present themselves if they gain a strong reputation with a target audience. Pacifica: Strong ties with their neighbors provide security and better markets, but land to build on is more expensive due to the interests of the agriculture and lumber industries. Probably has strong cross-pacific cultural ties to China and Japan, as well.
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Jun 18, 2018 21:15
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Keeshhound posted:Without knowing the system, here are some broad ideas: This is some nice stuff! My original list was simpler, like an Appalachian base would let you start with a fleet of 5 helicopters but base additions would be 2x cost due to the mountainous terrain requiring more digging and blasting to clear out space. Another idea I had was for the long term, you'd get more non-risk missions for your NPCs in Sunshine State, Mojave, and West California due to more opportunities for tourist airshows and film industry stuntwork. If the PCs in charge don't want to risk assets on an actually dangerous mission, they can put them on a job doing a mock dogfight for the latest blockbuster or hosting a military parade down the Las Vegas Strip. DivineCoffeeBinge posted:My aunt used to live in Bangor, it's actually a really nice city, but it's basically in the middle of fuckin' nowhere. Which is a little bit of an exaggeration, but it won't feel like one to all the people in the non-Maine states of New England. Keep in mind that a lot of the northern half of Maine is divided up into what they call "Townships" - big squares of land that are basically arbitrary locations for the sale of logging rights. So what looks like the middle of Maine is actually at the northern edge of the parts of Maine where people actually live. Comrade Gorbash posted:Portland is a much better choice for the reasons DCB said, Bangor is definitely going to seem weird to anyone familiar with the region without some further explanation - which really would have to be that it was created as a capital sort of how DC was created as the capital. This is good stuff as well! Thanks! chitoryu12 fucked around with this message at 22:21 on Jun 18, 2018 |
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Jun 18, 2018 22:15
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Here's my current list of starting locations with the advantages and disadvantages. It's a mixture of Kesshhound's excellent ideas and the ones I originally came up with. This is the list that would be shown to potential players, leaving the exact details of the more nebulous traits to be found out during play. The New Confederacy: Begin with $4000 in additional funds due to cheaper land, all monthly costs reduced to 3/4 due to lower regulations. Suffer a -2 Reaction penalty when dealing with minorities or left-wing individuals and x2 Morale penalties at base. The Sunshine State: More opportunities for non-risk airshows and other jobs. Morale penalties reduced by half due to the warm weather and improved rations from agricultural boons. Local soldiers have 1.5x monthly cost due to farm labor demands. The Conch Republic: Begin with 2 Elco PT Boats. Morale penalties reduced by half due to the warm weather and calm atmosphere. Base is limited in size due to the islands. Occasional hurricanes may damage the base. New France: Begin with French translator staff member. Easier access to exotic materials and foreign weapons. Suffer a -2 Reaction penalty when dealing with natives if a non-native. Chance of supplies “disappearing” en route to the base if unwilling to deal with smugglers. Appalachia: Begin with fleet of 5 Sikorsky R-4B helicopters. Construction costs for base additions are 2x cost due to mountainous terrain. All purchases from outside Appalachia are 1.5x cost due to supply line difficulties. The Empire State: Begin with $7000 in additional funds due to wealthy sponsorship. Easier access to exotic materials and foreign weapons. Construction costs for base additions are 1.5x cost due to land value. Greater political interference in jobs. The Mid-Atlantic Coalition: Begin with $7000 in additional funds due to cheaper land. Additional $500 a month per person in medical costs to accommodate living near irradiated land. New England: Begin with 5 free troops armed with Winchester Model G30R rifles. Monthly costs are 3x higher during the heavy winters. The Great Lakes Region: Equipment purchased from Great Lakes manufacturers is half cost. Custom weapons and vehicle modifications are finished in half the time. Suffer x2 Morale penalties due to pollution. Heartland: Begin with 5 free P-26 Peashooter fighters. The Republic of Texas: Begin with $10,000 in additional funds due to oil subsidies. Veteran soldiers are half cost. Equipment purchased from Great Lakes manufacturers is double cost. Suffer a -2 Reaction penalty when dealing with Republic of New Mexico residents and all Texas natives if a non-native. Monthly costs are 2x higher due to high cost of living. The Republic of New Mexico: Begin with 5 free M4A1 Sherman tanks and 1 free base upgrade. Suffer a -2 Reaction penalty when dealing with natives if non-Native American. Fewer local soldiers available due to the low population. The Rocky Mountain State: Begin with 5 free M3 Scout Cars. Local soldiers have double morale as long as the base is kept to their desires. Local soldiers frown on alcohol/drugs, coffee, and women present on base and the base as a whole suffers 2x Morale penalties if caught. Constant harassment by Mormons. Mojave: Equipment purchased from Mojave manufacturers is half cost (or in some cases, available at all). Base upgrades are half cost. More opportunities for non-risk airshows and other jobs for tourists in Las Vegas. Soldiers are double monthly cost due to poor rations. Morale penalties are x2 due to the hot weather and poor food. West California: Equipment purchased from West California manufacturers is half cost. Local soldiers are half cost but lower skill. More opportunities for non-risk airshows and other jobs in the film industry. Must pay $2000 from starting funds to pay for additional land cost. Greater exposure to the world stage (both positive and negative depending on the day). Pacifica: Begin with 5 M6 Gun Motor Carriages. 1.5x Morale boost due to climate and beautiful surroundings. Fewer soldiers available for recruitment. Base upgrades are 1.5x cost due to agriculture and lumber priority. I actually hadn't considered how a Morale system would work. The Reaction penalties are built into the GURPS system so that's not something that needs to be homebrewed. I think how I might do it is a monthly Morale check at the same time that the monthly expenses are taken out of the bank account. The PCs can choose to increase their monthly cost to supply things like alcohol, candy, coffee, and cigarettes to provide a Morale bonus that month and some base upgrades can provide Morale boosts (like a hot bathhouse or a movie theater). Morale can be decreased by the loss of these amenities and treats, the death of soldiers or loss of valuable equipment on missions, or failure to pay the monthly soldier cost resulting in unpaid wages. A unit that goes into battle with improved Morale gets a flat bonus on all rolls while that level is maintained, while a unit that goes off with poor Morale gets a penalty. Severe Morale problems may result in mutinies causing anything from soldiers deserting/committing suicide to equipment being stolen or sabotaged. I'm also going to need to homebrew the system for sending NPCs on missions. I think I'll have it so every weapon, vehicle, and upgrade (like body armor) just provides a bonus like +1 or +4 to the chance of success and then roll contests between the NPC mercs and the enemy force they run into to determine what happens while the PCs are on a special mission. Each soldier can only carry a certain amount of equipment (like one sidearm, one longarm, and one heavy weapon or deployable) and there's an ammo and maintenance cost to add each item to the force so you'll lose money if you just try to throw an unbeatably powerful unit to game the system and automatically beat every contract. Right now what I'm working on is the initial vendor menu for each nation, including overseas ones, to show what weapons and vehicles they have available. They're reflective of the local manufacturers (like the New Confederates get Remington weapons while New England has Winchester) and conditions (the New Confederates make a shortened M1 Carbine with a telescoping stock for jungle warfare, Texas and New Mexico have Central American and South American firearms from over the border, and Mojave has high tech weapons beyond what just about anyone else has), and your base can have advantages or disadvantages in purchasing from different locations depending on your reputation and location. I think I'll make this a forum game where it can get a large contingent of players running multiple sides of things simultaneously, like the CMANO Hired Goons game that expanded to the point where people were messaging actual aircraft manufacturers to get clarification on their fighters' capabilities.
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Jun 18, 2018 22:55
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What happened to Idaho?
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Jun 18, 2018 23:44
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echopapa posted:What happened to Idaho? Honestly forgot it existed.
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Jun 19, 2018 00:16
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We don't talk about the potato wars.
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Jun 19, 2018 00:19
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Comrade Gorbash posted:The reality is it should be Boston for a variety of technical/organizational reasons, but the story point of Bostonians being salty about it is good. I suggested Portland mostly because I like the idea of Bostonians being salty, but also you can rationalize it by saying that Boston had suffered war damage (wasn't nuked, but maybe firebombed like Dresden) and was still getting back on its feet; plus, New England's biggest fighting force initially is going to be its Navy (again, see the Bath Iron Works) and setting the capital in Maine would be a nice political sop to them. Incidentally, chitoryu12, I would absolutely play up a one-sided 'rivalry' between New England and the Empire State, because New Englanders have misliked New York since basically forever (it's worth noting that Revolutionary general Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys were one of the most experienced units the states had at the outset of the American Revolution because they had years of experience shooting... New Yorkers, who kept insisting that Vermont was supposed to be part of New York), and the Empire State occupying CT and RI - which are 'traditionally,' if not economically or culturally, considered to be part of New England - will infuriate them. The Empire State probably won't notice.
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Jun 19, 2018 00:21
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If you're in my SotDL campaign, don't read this. So I'm building an undead-themed dungeon that my players have to escape from after a particularly disastrous run-in with a Wight and some dodgy encounter math. The problem is this: the overwhelming majority of low-level undead enemies in SotDL are different flavors of skeleton. Rather than buying more monster books, reskinning, or homebrewing monsters like a sane person, I'm going to lean into this and populate the dungeon entirely with different flavors of skeleton. Here's the one solid idea I've come up with so far to give you an idea of what I'm aiming for: - The kitchen and dining area is staffed entirely by skeletons. When the players enter the room, the skeleton servants all look up, stare at them, and then leap together into a gigantic 3x3 ball of skeletons (using the Mob template as applied to Animated Corpses, with some additional provisos such as "once they start moving in a direction they can't stop until they hit something" and "hitting them causes the ball to roll in the opposite direction.") There is also a conveniently placed 3x3 fireplace, and the tables and counters form 3-wide lanes. I am currently considering a) whether a pair of bumpers would be too much and b) what could plausibly be found in a kitchen or mess hall, that could function as a pair of bumpers. I need more like that. Knowledge of the system and the kinds of RAW monsters that are available is a plus but by no means necessary. Tuxedo Catfish fucked around with this message at 00:58 on Jun 19, 2018 |
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Jun 19, 2018 00:56
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:Incidentally, chitoryu12, I would absolutely play up a one-sided 'rivalry' between New England and the Empire State, because New Englanders have misliked New York since basically forever (it's worth noting that Revolutionary general Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys were one of the most experienced units the states had at the outset of the American Revolution because they had years of experience shooting... New Yorkers, who kept insisting that Vermont was supposed to be part of New York), and the Empire State occupying CT and RI - which are 'traditionally,' if not economically or culturally, considered to be part of New England - will infuriate them. There's a little complication with the traditional view of New York in this alternate 1955, as only the southern part of the state with NYC formed the Empire State. The northern half joined up with the Great Lakes Region. I figured the cultural and economic differences between the NYC area and the more rural upstate would result in their separation along that line. I should draw up a quick map with all the new borders.
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Jun 19, 2018 01:01
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Tuxedo Catfish posted:If you're in my SotDL campaign, don't read this. Try giving the kitchen some wiiiiide saloon doors that're somewhat broken in the middle. Also remember to give it like an angle or something.
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Jun 19, 2018 01:06
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Appalachia should get a bonus to snipers and/or rangers.
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Jun 19, 2018 01:07
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chitoryu12 posted:I think I'll make this a forum game where it can get a large contingent of players running multiple sides of things simultaneously, like the CMANO Hired Goons game that expanded to the point where people were messaging actual aircraft manufacturers to get clarification on their fighters' capabilities. If you're planning on having lots of people play, you might want to simplify your deployments even further. An idea I had was that you could divide deployments into regular skill checks (maybe one per "day") and then let players expend a resource or utilize base upgrades to learn what some of the checks will be before they choose who to send. Then use either an average or a soldier chosen at random to roll against the check. Make the checks appropriate to the type of mission (so combat focused missions have mostly str checks, dex for sneaky missions and int for "public" jobs) with some diversity to try to avoid people stacking a specific stat. Then tally the successes and failures to decide what happened on the deployment.
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Jun 19, 2018 01:09
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chitoryu12 posted:There's a little complication with the traditional view of New York in this alternate 1955, as only the southern part of the state with NYC formed the Empire State. The northern half joined up with the Great Lakes Region. I figured the cultural and economic differences between the NYC area and the more rural upstate would result in their separation along that line. EDIT: To whit, Bostonians and New Englanders ignore upstate New York even more than NYC does, except for when remembering them can score rhetorical points. The same is also true of Rhode Island.
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Jun 19, 2018 01:28
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Keeshhound posted:If you're planning on having lots of people play, you might want to simplify your deployments even further. An idea I had was that you could divide deployments into regular skill checks (maybe one per "day") and then let players expend a resource or utilize base upgrades to learn what some of the checks will be before they choose who to send. Then use either an average or a soldier chosen at random to roll against the check. My one concern is that simplifying every mission might defeat the purpose of having more elaborate roleplayed missions. I think what might be worth trying is a sort of hybrid system with a divide between special ops and regular day-to-day work. The main thread has all of the high level decisions that the PCs as "Chairmen of the Board" make. New purchases, choosing which regular contracts to take, and which NPC units to deploy on these missions. PCs who aren't participating in special ops can volunteer to go on the regular contracts, which provide a bonus to the contract's chance of success depending on their stats and equipment. If they successfully make it back from a mission, they earn 1 Character Point to level up. Like the CMANO game, OOC talk as if it's just a game is perfectly allowed but PCs are encouraged to roleplay scenes at the base to develop their characters and other moments. At the same time, there's always a single special op going on, either in another thread or on something like Discord or Maptools. PCs volunteer for the mission if they feel that their special skills (like piloting, social skills, or sniping) are up for it. This mission is conducted as a standard tabletop RPG quest with full roleplaying and turn-based combat. It goes on simultaneously with the non-roleplayed missions and purchase decisions. Once they've returned and the money and equipment earned is tallied, there's a short breather period before the next special op comes up. It's a bit of a weird experiment, but it might help strike a balance between complex roleplayed quests and a large number of PCs with regular contracts going on every week. People who aren't familiar with the system can learn the ropes by watching other people roleplay the special ops (maybe only require them to make a very basic character sheet when first joining up and they don't need to have one finished until they volunteer for a special op?) and players who aren't available for a long special op can simply stay at the base debating purchases and letting their characters go on missions without them.
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Jun 19, 2018 02:04
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Tuxedo Catfish posted:If you're in my SotDL campaign, don't read this. For the mess hall you could include a couch or two. So the officers can eat with the men without having to sit at the same tables and such. Or there are banners on the wall that just happen to be the right size for this sort of thing. It only bounces the ball once, but what were you expecting out of some old war trophy/priceless tapestry/barracks art?
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Jun 19, 2018 10:30
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Tuxedo Catfish posted:If you're in my SotDL campaign, don't read this.
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Jun 19, 2018 10:43
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Tuxedo Catfish posted:If you're in my SotDL campaign, don't read this. The dining area is currently configured such that the side tables are on enchanted frictionless casters, but the casters on one leg per table have lost their enchantment, so pushing the tables causes them to pivot along that leg. The design was originally intended to allow quick and easy reconfiguration of the dining area to seat more or fewer guests as an occasion might demand, but as it stands now they make great flippers.
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Jun 19, 2018 10:47
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chitoryu12 posted:Divided States of America Have you plundered any of the Crimson Skies setting for ideas out of curiosity? It has a similar divided USA landmap. And I still have a copy of the map from the incomplete LP of it, in case you want to steal that: 
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Jun 19, 2018 15:33
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Anybody have any recommendations for chill background music for a nice wholesome adventure? Gimme your Dragon Quest and Studio Ghibli soundin' tunes. Bonus points if they're already on fanburst for roll20!
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Jun 19, 2018 15:46
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RedMagus posted:Have you plundered any of the Crimson Skies setting for ideas out of curiosity? It has a similar divided USA landmap. And I still have a copy of the map from the incomplete LP of it, in case you want to steal that: I used it as reference with changes to reflect a few more divides that I figured would happen (like eastern and western California not getting along, Florida not really being Southern enough to join a new Confederacy, and the Conch Republic joke turned into reality). Here's my current map without labels added:  I left the state lines in the New Confederacy to reflect that they follow the Confederate goal of a relatively weak federal government and lots of power given to the states. Like in real life, the huge nations are predominately empty land and agriculture so land size doesn't necessarily reflect military or economic strength. My inspiration was part Crimson Skies, part playing a lot of War Thunder and thinking it would be cool to have an RP with the weird match-ups you'd see (like an XP-55 and a Zero fighting a squadron of P-47s in German livery while Japanese tanks roll through the snow), part recycling a 1930s pulp game that I wanted to do but never really worked on. chitoryu12 fucked around with this message at 15:51 on Jun 19, 2018 |
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Jun 19, 2018 15:48
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I'm about to run the most complicated session of my life. The players are entering a small temple. Inside the temple is a villain one of my players has been searching for, it's the cornerstone of his backstory. The players have to solve four small trials to open the door to the villain, and each time they do they will have a vision of the past of the player and this villain. Each vision has several decision points where the player will have to tell me how his character acted. When they finally confront the villain it will be clear he has been led astray by a cursed sword he stole. This encounter will vary wildly based on how my player interacted with this villain in the past. To make things even more complicated, one of my other players is harboring the soul of a powerful witch that has been waiting for an opportunity to strike. He made a deal with her, but then did a bunch of dumb stuff that wasn't part of the deal that made her much more powerful. He has to either pass a DC 18 charisma save or be compelled to try and take the sword himself. This was originally DC 10, no problem for a level 8 character, but he has repeatedly chosen to empower the witch, granting himself more powers in the process. If he takes the sword, this may end with the party murdering him, something they've wanted to do for a while since he made the deal with the witch. To make things even more complicated, they have an orb that lets them turn back time by one minute if they crush it, so if that player does succumb and take up the cursed sword, they may just go back in time and stop him I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN WHY DID I WRITE IT LIKE THIS HEEEEEEELLLLPPPPP
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Jun 19, 2018 22:30
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CubeTheory posted:I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN
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Jun 19, 2018 22:48
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I finished the second of two (three?) articles about PC death on my blog: https://www.laserbooks.net/single-post/2018/06/17/Game-Masters-Degree-Death-Meddle-Part-Two I had to break the topic up into at least two pieces because god drat. The first article was about accidental PC death and how/why to roll with it. This one is about deliberately killing PCs for the god of the game. The attached anecdote is a rehash of a story I told a while back in the cat piss thread, since it changed my mind about the necessary evil of PKing in RPGs. EthanSteele posted:Anybody have any recommendations for chill background music for a nice wholesome adventure? Gimme your Dragon Quest and Studio Ghibli soundin' tunes. Bonus points if they're already on fanburst for roll20! I loved mixing the Arcanum soundtrack in with some classical selections when I was running historical games, especially 7th Sea. Arcanum is a lot of moody strings, and it's chill as heck. Also, at the risk of sounding like a goony goon, the FFIX soundtrack is nice, chill, and upbeat for high fantasy. It's a lot of woodwinds and strings. It's like an antidote to the overwrought, bombastic drums and brass of Hans Zimmer and John Williams and those sorts of folks.
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Jun 19, 2018 23:27
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