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I think the main problem is when the mechanical loops or scales of different splats aren't compatible. Woofs gotta hunt, vampires gotta feed, mages like going and staring at weird things. It would technically be possible to bundle them together but you'd need to do extra work to balance the rhythms involved, which is also why I'm frustrated at the Contagion Chronicle, which seems to have no interest in that at all.
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May 7, 2019 00:29
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Joe Slowboat posted:I think the main problem is when the mechanical loops or scales of different splats aren't compatible. Woofs gotta hunt, vampires gotta feed, mages like going and staring at weird things. It would technically be possible to bundle them together but you'd need to do extra work to balance the rhythms involved, which is also why I'm frustrated at the Contagion Chronicle, which seems to have no interest in that at all.
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May 7, 2019 00:33
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Joe Slowboat posted:I think the main problem is when the mechanical loops or scales of different splats aren't compatible. Woofs gotta hunt, vampires gotta feed, mages like going and staring at weird things. It would technically be possible to bundle them together but you'd need to do extra work to balance the rhythms involved, which is also why I'm frustrated at the Contagion Chronicle, which seems to have no interest in that at all. Really? I thought that was one part is was actually good at. Since the Contagion isn't some lone dungeon far from humanity and involves the kind of investigation and social interaction that allows mages to scrutinize and vampires to feed, while each of the factions (and even without them, providing you're dealing with the Contagion) offers a goal for a sacred hunt, you aren't really cutting anyone out of it. Basically because it's a problem that pops up in 'wherever you're playing' it doesn't keep people from doing their normal things any more than a regular story does. I guess the hardest change would be milestones for Promethean but you're meant to be sort of building those for your game in the first place.
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May 7, 2019 00:39
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nofather posted:Really? I thought that was one part is was actually good at. The Contagion isn't some lone dungeon far from humanity and involves the kind of investigation and social interaction that allows mages to scrutinize and vampires to feed, while each of the factions (and even without them, providing you're dealing with the Contagion) offers a goal for a sacred hunt. I don't mean the antagonists, I mean the actual game-mechanical 'how do you roll a group together that have fundamentally different styles of play.' Sure, you can roll a vampire intriguing until the werewolf runs in on a sacred hunt, but actually coordinating the carrots and sticks of the various lines seems like something that advice would be good for. Explicit, mechanically aware, out-of-character advice would be the ideal. For a really basic example, take Mage Chat. Like, Mage table chatter, as spells get composed and reach is spent. That takes a lot of time and focus, and while it can be really fun, it really only works because every mage in the group does it sometimes. If only one player in a group has that, it's useful to have guidelines to make sure things even out. Or Demons! Demons are paranoid, difficult-to-impossible to trust, and can change their faces easily and often. Having advice on putting a Demon in a woof pack would be really useful. And it seems like the Contagion Chronicle's answer to this is 'the Contagion is an out of context threat that motivates characters to join factions, without regard for their home setting/splat architecture.' That seems like it would almost necessarily dilute the style of the lines, and lead to a bland, kind of janky play loop.
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May 7, 2019 00:45
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I've been running a (truly degenerate) mixed-splat game for a while now, and we're moving through the final act. It's not the dumbest decision I've ever made, but that only speaks to the number of truly terrible decisions I've made in my life. My players are having a great time (at least that's what they report to me), but I really feel like the various components have been short-changed by having to share screen time. This is exacerbated by having a group of adults with jobs and lives - we already don't get much time to work with, and it's being parceled out in too many directions. In the end, the game sort of feels like any other game I'd run - politics and a mystery with a side order of the occult. We've run much the same in many other systems. My players are comfortable with that, and they like their characters, but I'm really chomping at the bit to get to our next planned game, which has a much more limited palette of themes and elements. The most important hurdle Contagion would have to clear to be useful to me would be solid suggestions on how to zero in on the overlaps between your chosen lines/splats and cut or sideline the pieces that don't fit. If you're running Changeling/Vampire, zoom in on the elements of the Kindred condition which work with that - confinement, lingering toxic relationships with one's sire, sure, but also only incorporating bloodlines, etc. which play to those themes.
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May 7, 2019 01:13
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Inzombiac posted:Hey let's change this awful conversation for a bit: The mages in my game interact a fair amount with changelings, but that's because they're working with some overlapping stuff. It's not all the changelings either, just a few that are either closely involved and a couple further removed. It doesn't hurt that one of the Acanthus' obsessions deals with trying to figure out the whole faerie/Arcadia thing. Powerwise, dealing with contracts and oaths has been interesting. And I've just made up some year and a day stuff with them having messed with a goblin market that is particularly frustrating to the Fate master who can't seem to just magic away an oath (because there's more to the story that he hasn't figured out). But the benefit has been the same character getting better with using fate for things. It would be less interesting if it were a constant mage/changeling game, just due to the social/political being harder to marry in a satisfactory way. But I love it when I can overlap themes and goals. Those shorter stories are great fun. So basically not what contagion chronicles has been described as being. More, there's a ghost problem that has attracted the attention of a Moros, a Geist, and a Vampire (because why not). Then they get down to solving the problem and go back to whatever they do when they're not being the Justice League.
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May 7, 2019 03:40
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I've been sorely tempted to run Wolf and Demon as a kind of "loud / soft" deal, but it's mostly for thematic reasons rather than any expectation that it wouldn't be hell to run. Demon's already probably the second-most-demanding game mechanically, after Mage.
Tuxedo Catfish fucked around with this message at 05:07 on May 7, 2019 |
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May 7, 2019 04:36
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Tuxedo Catfish posted:I've been sorely tempted to run Wolf and Demon as a kind of "loud / soft" deal, but it's mostly for thematic reasons than any expectation that it wouldn't be hell to run. Demon's already probably the second-most-demanding game mechanically, after Mage. You need to find a way to make pacts less of an effort on your end, but the game is so worth it. The blend of paranoia, broken passionate people, and powers is just my favorite pressure cooker of drama in TTRPGs.
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May 7, 2019 05:06
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Tonight's American Dad! is possibly the most perfect episode of any show for Changeling the Lost.
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May 7, 2019 06:47
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Excuse me, but what was the news about Vampire 5th Edition again? I remember they seemed to fire most of the stupid writers, and then they pulled the crappy Camarilla sourcebooks, and they were going to rewrite and release new stuff that hopefully isn't alt-right garbage? I can't remember much else from that. Does anyone know what's coming next for the line? All I recall is the new Chicago By Night edition. TheNamedSavior fucked around with this message at 08:15 on May 7, 2019 |
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May 7, 2019 08:13
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The things that have been announced for V5 are: Chicago by Night V5 The Fall of London - a chronicle about London getting hit by the SI Cults of the Blood Gods - An Onyx Path book about vampire religions and cults Players Guide - Expanded rules for running different genres of games + ??? Starter Kit - ??? Second Inquisition sourcebook - Vague excepting that it will include rules for building PC SI agents
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May 7, 2019 08:38
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CottonWolf posted:The things that have been announced for V5 are: I love when I get into a new franchise at just the right time. "Cults of the Blood Gods" is exactly what I want. I also found this list of Sabbat cults which informed me of this book called "State of Grace" w hich is also exactly what I am most interested in. Nex t month's purchase list is: State of Grace How To Write Vampire Book of the Weaver Guide to the Sabbat And then probably one of the nMage and VTR books that were suggested.(I wrote them down)
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May 7, 2019 19:59
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TheNamedSavior posted:Excuse me, but what was the news about Vampire 5th Edition again? I remember they seemed to fire most of the stupid writers, and then they pulled the crappy Camarilla sourcebooks, and they were going to rewrite and release new stuff that hopefully isn't alt-right garbage? The Cam book had the offending section removed and replaced with additional city writeups and has been released since like January. No one got fired either. WW is not writing anything in house (they moved up the timeline of that, and also mandated that WW wouldn't write the core books, which was the only thing they were going to do in house anyway); they're now wholly controlled within Paradox rather than function as an autonomous subsidiary, and they just handle the brand management, approval of pitches, etc. like that. Dawkins has said the Fall of London book (which he's developing) will have both the chronicle and be a general London sourcebook. Starter Kit is a kit with introductory rules, pregens, a scenario, maps, handouts, booklets, etc. in the vein of the D&D Starter Kit.
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May 8, 2019 01:49
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MoonKnight posted:The Cam book had the offending section removed and replaced with additional city writeups and has been released since like January. You sure about that? I could swear people were complaining about not getting their PDF's over on WW Subreddit mere days ago. It's why I didn't get the book. Well, one reason.
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May 8, 2019 01:59
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NikkolasKing posted:You sure about that? I could swear people were complaining about not getting their PDF's over on WW Subreddit mere days ago. The physical copy has been released and been shipping. I got my PDFs without issue after showing Modiphius my preorder proof, and have gotten my physical books a while ago. And many game stores have reported having them. Unlike CofD stuff, Modiphius and WW did a traditional print run on these books so it's not like it's just a PDF release. Apparently after they started shipping WW started enforcing the 'don't sell the PDF' mandate. I couldn't say why they also stopped Modiphius from giving people the PDFs from their phsyical books. Either way it doesn't matter at this point; they've stated that the PDFs will be available in the next couple of weeks in emails to multiple of us who have asked about them. Both sales of the PDFs and the the PDF redemptions. So at least they got WW to pull back ont he mandate. EDIT 5/8/29: They're now on sale and up for redemption on Modiphius' site. MoonKnight fucked around with this message at 23:45 on May 8, 2019 |
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May 8, 2019 02:03
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I'm really digging Geist 2e, but man the combination of the splats being overly florid even by Darkness standards and the way all CoD core books are presented now made the start of this book a bit of a struggle. As each line comes out I hate the "put all the splats at the front with no context" more and more. It's really bad for someone who's not coming at this stuff from 1e.
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May 8, 2019 03:21
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That Old Tree posted:I'm really digging Geist 2e, but man the combination of the splats being overly florid even by Darkness standards and the way all CoD core books are presented now made the start of this book a bit of a struggle. As each line comes out I hate the "put all the splats at the front with no context" more and more. It's really bad for someone who's not coming at this stuff from 1e. It’s bad generally, but supposedly it’s a mandate from the top.
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May 8, 2019 15:07
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Rand Brittain posted:It’s bad generally, but supposedly it’s a mandate from the top. Which top? Rich Thomas? Swedracula? Paradox? Jimmie with the bigger, blacker dick?
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May 8, 2019 15:31
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Arivia posted:Which top? Rich Thomas? Swedracula? Paradox? Jimmie with the bigger, blacker dick? Rich Thomas, although I’m not clear whether it’s supposed to be because he really likes the format or if he’s determined to be consistent across the line.
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May 8, 2019 15:34
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So is it just a horrible holdover from VtR second edition originally being a supplement for 1e?
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May 8, 2019 15:49
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xanthan posted:So is it just a horrible holdover from VtR second edition originally being a supplement for 1e? Pretty sure it's this but no one wants to admit otherwise now that there's commitment.
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May 8, 2019 16:02
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xanthan posted:So is it just a horrible holdover from VtR second edition originally being a supplement for 1e? I vaguely recall it was originally Rose Bailey's idea to put the clans up front to make them look like something you'd see in a lifestyle magazine. I don't remember the exact quote. I think it works great for games with more recognizable character types like Vampires and Mages, but not so much for more esoteric splats. I wasn't really into requiem 1e, but seeing the vampire clans in Blood and Smoke blew me away and made me want to start making a character immediately Edit: I wish more of the games kept the "why you want to be us" formatting.
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May 8, 2019 19:44
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I don't think it really works for anybody but vampires, because. Requiem vampires are close enough to the movie model that basic pop culture knowledge will carry you through. That isn't true of Uratha, Awakened, the Lost, the Bound, the Deathless, or the Unchained.
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May 8, 2019 19:48
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Vampires also benefit from the 'why you want to be us' format the most, because one of the key elements of vampirism in fiction is the overt appeal of the condition and its seedy underlying reality. You also can't 'choose' to be a mage, a werewolf, or really any other thing in the setting. Vampires work especially well as the morally damned, monstrous, and appealing splat because you can choose vampirism. Not that you necessarily got to, but that idea of choice versus inherent nature is important to their deal.
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May 8, 2019 19:58
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When starting a new game, how often do you have a session zero to play out each PC's embrace? Of all the camp games I've run, I cared out three-hour individual sessions in the month leading up to session one. Usually I'll also have them make a personal reason why they (and the whole team) are in X location or working at Y place. I've yet to play one where everyone is starting as a 70 year old vamp or whatever.
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May 8, 2019 20:09
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Inzombiac posted:When starting a new game, how often do you have a session zero to play out each PC's embrace? ...I want to play a 70 year old vamp. Not a person who’s been a vamp for 70 years, a 70 year old lady who got embraced yesterday.
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May 8, 2019 20:32
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jakodee posted:...I want to play a 70 year old vamp. Not a person who’s been a vamp for 70 years, a 70 year old lady who got embraced yesterday. Better get Potence and beat on the young'ns with a walking stick.
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May 8, 2019 20:53
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Inzombiac posted:When starting a new game, how often do you have a session zero to play out each PC's embrace? I've never done full-on preludes like that, but as often as I can and it suits the game I like to get everyone together just to bullshit about why everyone's together and what the starting situation and meta-narrative goals are for the game.
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May 8, 2019 21:04
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jakodee posted:...I want to play a 70 year old vamp. Not a person who’s been a vamp for 70 years, a 70 year old lady who got embraced yesterday. Actually, a bunch of retiree vampires in a nursing home would be really hard to detect.
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May 8, 2019 21:36
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CottonWolf posted:Better get Potence and beat on the young'ns with a walking stick. I will make my kids call me more. With MENTAL DOMINATION.
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May 8, 2019 22:37
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jakodee posted:...I want to play a 70 year old vamp. Not a person who’s been a vamp for 70 years, a 70 year old lady who got embraced yesterday. One of my favorite players insisted on being an elderly Nosferatu bound to an electric scooter. Her deformity was that she was constantly shedding dead skin and dandruff. Like a walking snowstorm. Looooong story short but they threw a country BBQ as a peace offering to a local werewolf tribe. They had a footrace contest that this lady insisted on participating. They all had a friendly launch because of the scooter but the "starting" pistol fired and she left everyone in the dust. Not only were the other runners blinded from the gale of dead skin flakes, the Nos had secretly been taking ranks in Celerity. The scooter was a ruse. I miss playing this game. It's been two years since I ran anything.
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May 8, 2019 22:47
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jakodee posted:...I want to play a 70 year old vamp. Not a person who’s been a vamp for 70 years, a 70 year old lady who got embraced yesterday. One of the templates in the back of the Giovanni clanbook is one. And she is loving pissed that it took her uncle so long to get around to it.
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May 9, 2019 02:05
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citybeatnik posted:One of the templates in the back of the Giovanni clanbook is one. One of the entertaining Lasombra templates was a successful mass Embraced old housewife with empty nest.
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May 9, 2019 02:42
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jakodee posted:...I want to play a 70 year old vamp. Not a person who’s been a vamp for 70 years, a 70 year old lady who got embraced yesterday. I did that once. Started as a ghouls who was amazing at his job but also a brutal pederast and child-murderer. When he was up for the embrace his sire decided to take some of the wind out of his sails by locking him up until all the vitae was out of his system and he'd aged up to his biological age of 80 before he got the embrace. Probably the absolute nastiest character I ever played.
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May 9, 2019 02:53
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My personal book layout pet peeve, which they thankfully seemed to have moved away from around the 2E mark of nWoD, is having the first chapter being a "history" chapter. I'm playing a Circle of Crone character, and so I bought the Circle of Crone book to better understand their philosophy and get new rules for dope blood sorcery, but first I MUST know about what the Circle of Crone was doing in Bohemia in the 1630s. I want to play an rear end in a top hat wizard politician who uses wizard rhetoric only to advance his own power, but to understand that character I really must know about how the Silver Ladder controlled the Eastern Roman Emperor between 1262 and 1310. It's obviously a relic of the oWoD and it's secret history vibe, and they've almost entirely course corrected, but it still really loving bugs me.
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May 9, 2019 03:59
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Yeah, it's a big problem and not just for WoD. Exalted 2e was really bad about this. My personal layout peeve is when people indent the first paragraph after a heading. This drives me crazy. It's so ugly. Why do you do this?
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May 9, 2019 04:03
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MoonKnight posted:The Cam book had the offending section removed and replaced with additional city writeups and has been released since like January.
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May 9, 2019 05:10
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TheNamedSavior posted:Really? I swore I read something about swedracula or whatever his loving dumb face was, getting fired. Did I misinterpret something?
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May 9, 2019 05:27
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So I'm getting back into WoD after years away and I just found out about Beast. Pity me. This looks like a wild ride.
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May 9, 2019 06:19
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Zeroisanumber posted:So I'm getting back into WoD after years away and I just found out about Beast.
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May 9, 2019 08:54
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