|
Are there mechanics for Immune to disguise themselves as Latent? Seems like most campaigns could use a bit subterfuge and paranoia.
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2021 12:23
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 6, 2024 10:32 |
|
|
Night10194 posted:This is Dead Rising 2. Which to be fair is really good zombie satire in its own way. I only ever played the first, which is probably why the joke flew over my head. By popular demand posted:Are there mechanics for Immune to disguise themselves as Latent? Seems like most campaigns could use a bit subterfuge and paranoia. There's no mechanics, but I'm also not sure why you would in the vast majority of groups; Immune is an easy status to hide and Latents are highly persecuted, you'd be losing a ton and gaining very little. SkyeAuroline fucked around with this message at 15:11 on Jan 6, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2021 14:35
|
|
|
I mean it did a great job for DR2, and it would totally fit what Red Markets is going for with the idea of 'economic horror'. A less-funny version of Dead Rising 2, whose plot focuses around how a pharma company is gleefully becoming incredibly rich off the repeated doses of zombrex (the stuff used to keep West from turning in 1) and engineering 'controlled' outbreaks to create new customers and harvest the materials to keep up with demand, ensuring the zombie problem will never be solved and actively stopping permanent cures from being discovered, would work fine for the idea of zombies as a metaphor for short-sighted and rapacious greed that puts you on the front lines of being ground down by such institutions.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2021 15:22
|
|
|
SkyeAuroline posted:I only ever played the first, which is probably why the joke flew over my head. The 'have to go through a place where people would abduct/kill you for profit' is a well established trope. You must pass through a latent colony more considerate of their own needs than a stranger's life is one option. Feds are hunting for the Immune at this area but mostly ignoring Latent zombie hunter squads is another. Also while no one has a problem being close to healthy people everyone gives a wide rear end berth to a latent. By popular demand fucked around with this message at 15:34 on Jan 6, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2021 15:31
|
|
|
No one is going to suspect you're immune unless you're covered in bite marks, actively being bit by a casualty and not going 28 Days Later, or telling people you are. Announcing you're immune is kind of like advertising you have a lot of money or valuables to criminals in a place with few to no laws. Raider types will also jump on harvesting an immune person, some cultists too like Crusaders and Holy Communion, because an intact immune person is a big chunk of the down payment to get to the Recession.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2021 17:34
|
|
|
I'm just saying there are definitely situations where if your choices are a 'walking bag of money' and 'contemptible diseased tramp' you'd choose the latter.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2021 17:37
|
|
|
RocknRollaAyatollah posted:No one is going to suspect you're immune unless you're covered in bite marks, actively being bit by a casualty and not going 28 Days Later, or telling people you are. Announcing you're immune is kind of like advertising you have a lot of money or valuables to criminals in a place with few to no laws. Raider types will also jump on harvesting an immune person, some cultists too like Crusaders and Holy Communion, because an intact immune person is a big chunk of the down payment to get to the Recession. Pretty much, that's why I'm not getting the question very well; if you want to pretend to not be Immune you just... act like a normal person. Do what the non immune members of your party would do in those situations. Don't let StopLoss run a blood test on you no matter what. Also yeah definitely avoid the CHC in particular. Vampire church no thanks.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2021 17:39
|
|
|
Would StopLoss even bother with a Latent? what if you got to escape a bad situation and the nearest place to hide in is among a Latent community?
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2021 17:43
|
|
|
By popular demand posted:Would StopLoss even bother with a Latent? what if you got to escape a bad situation and the nearest place to hide in is among a Latent community? So the first part is something I actually was going to address in the equipment section - StopLoss has two completely opposed depictions between the lore section (they'll help Latents without a premium charge, but they still blood test everyone and disappear the Immunes - natural Latents exist and may be targeted as interesting under that policy, but regardless of disguise you're still getting blood tested and found out) and the actual mechanics of buying StopLoss insurance ("StopLoss mercenaries and combat medics fly in and medevac one Taker, so long as they are not infected, Immune, or Latent", indicating they won't treat Latents at all and you're consequently unlikely to ever meet a needle). Latent infection (and blight in general) is only transmitted through bodily fluids, so... pretty much just practice COVID safety and bring your own water, and you're safe as "normals" in a Latent enclave.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2021 17:53
|
|
|
Should we expect a new thread for the new year, or keep posting in this one?
|
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2021 20:48
|
|
|
We could definitely make up the rules to roleplay 2020 but I don't think we'd have enough people who want that. I personally want something from another time, another land.
|
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2021 21:05
|
|
|
Indexed my reviews in a single document as a stopgap until everything (hopefully) gets archived on the site. Would encourage others to do the same with their posts. There's tons of cool stuff in the thread (Silent Legions, Red Markets, A Wizard, that OSR game based on pre-Islamic Arab demonology whose name I forget, to name my personal favorites) that I'd hate to see get lost.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2021 21:20
|
|
|
I've been keeping my drafts separately, but I end up editing every post by the time it arrives here. Guess I'll have to go back and save the real ones now. Joy.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2021 21:28
|
|
|
I have the raw documents, I'll probably just dump them on my blog at some point if they aren't archived here eventually.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2021 21:35
|
|
|
SkyeAuroline posted:I've been keeping my drafts separately, but I end up editing every post by the time it arrives here.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2021 21:45
|
|
|
Night10194 posted:I have the raw documents, I'll probably just dump them on my blog at some point if they aren't archived here eventually. Yeah I've been thinking of doing the same. Even got an old WP blog I could reactivate for that purpose if I so felt inclined as I have everything I've written up saved on gdocs. Good excuse to fix the myriad of grammatical issues on them too for that part. Or I could just throw them on AO3. 
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2021 21:50
|
|
|
Cooked Auto posted:Or I could just throw them on AO3.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2021 22:00
|
|
|
Where is A Wizard? I missed that totally and I've always wanted to know more about that scenario.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2021 12:27
|
|
|
Well you're up for a doozy of a ride.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2021 12:33
|
|
|
Loxbourne posted:Where is A Wizard? I missed that totally and I've always wanted to know more about that scenario. Starts here!
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2021 02:00
|
|
|
 Third, you'll prepare your character with special abilities and equipment. This chapter is the Ability Catalog, where the Roles and Abilities are found. This chapter I'll break into 4 parts, covering 2 Roles each. How Abilities Work By default you choose six abilities from your role at creation. Abilities belong to a linear learning path, and have to be taken in order. Each role also has Legendary Abilities, which have to be learned in-game and not via advancement. Abilities all have a cost in Adventure Points marked out next to them, though some have a cost of 0. You only roll the die for an Ability if it has that as explicit instructions. Some abilities do have "at the table" in their directions, indicating something you should do in real life. These are always optional, and just exist to add some fun or flavor for the ability. I'll be explaining each path but won't cover every ability, only hitting one or two of the most interesting or novel in each. The Fighter  The Fighter represents martial experts of all kinds. They are by far the deadliest Role in straight up combat, but have many Abilities that keep them from being one-note or useless outside of a brawl. The first Fighter path is "Dueling", focused on one-on-one battle. Do more damage and take less, the final and most interesting ability in Dueling is... "Duel"! You compel a nearby creature to fight you in single combat. The physical details of this ability can be a bit tricky online, but are very fun: You write down four of your previous dueling abilities (Basic Attack, Wild Attack, Overpower, Disarm) on index cards, assign them to playing cards, use the purchasable Quest Ability Deck, etc. Choose three and place them face-down on the table. The Guide then has to guess the cards in order. If the Guide guesses correctly, nothing happens. If they guess wrong, you get to instantly use that ability at no AP cost and it auto-succeeds. If the Guide guesses all three correctly they get to attack you, but if they get all three wrong you get to repeat the move for free for three more guesses. If playing via text, you could easily write them down in spoiler text and just trust your Guide not to cheat. The second path is "Tactics", and is all about control and defense. The first ability is "Provoke", a 0 AP cost one that makes a target focus on you for the next minute or until they get hit by someone else. This path lets fighters control the flow of battle and protect other party members from danger, wit the capstone ability being "Whirlwind", a 2 AP ability where you roll to hit every enemy within reach, with failures disarming you as you accidentally spin so fast your weapon flies out of your hand. "Camaraderie" is incredibly cool and is the first that breaks out the Fighter as more than the D&D style melee beatstick. This is in short, the Warlord Path. You can get all sorts of powerful support abilities like "Summon the Blood" where you recite an inspiring poem (in real life if possible for extra fun) when you regroup to heal everyone for an extra 3HP. Make a heroic speech with "Valiant Soliloquy" in the middle of combat to give everyone the ability to redo their next roll, regain AP once per session by recounting a past battle with "War Story" and so on. The coolest ability is "Marshal" which lets you organize the entire party to work together on a test of strength: Everyone rolls and as long as the majority succeed you all succeed. This lets you perform feats of strength that a lone person could not, such as bashing down a reinforced door, lifting a wooden beam, or beating a Giant in tug-of-war. "Leadership" is another really useful support path, this time focusing on being a cunning tactician instead of inspirational leader. The first ability "Size Up" is 0 AP and when used lets you evaluate a nearby creature or group of creatures. The Guide will give you information about their abilities, strength, and any vulnerabilities or resistances they may have. This is delivered narratively, but should be accurate and effective if used. The capstone, "Attendent", costs a whopping 7AP but gives you an entire second Fighter to follow you around! They have 10HP and the Counter Attack, Wild Attack, and Provoke abilities, making them effective combatants! This Attendant is controlled by the Guide and will loyally perform any tasks you ask as long as they are not suicidal or morally repugnant. "Body" is a bit of a mixed bag, but mostly focuses on superhuman physique. The classic "Technique" lets your bare hands do damage like a weapon, but the most notably awesome is "Focus". This ability has a list of three options with varying AP costs: For 3 you can enter "Flow", allowing you to make a Basic Attack against every enemy within reach that is automatically successful. For 4 you become immune to basic attacks from Minions until you take damage or they roll a 20 to hit you. For 5 you instantly purge a poison or illness from your body. The Fighter "Legendary" abilities are all amazing. "Champion" has you be recognized as a famous hero who's reputation is greatly known especially among authoritarian minded people who look to strength for leadership, letting you gain both the Recruit and Attendant ability if not already had, with Recruit being free and Attendant costing only 4AP. "Steel Pact" forges a magical bond with a weapon of your choice. You always know where this weapon is, you can reroll any failure you make while using it, and a 20 will automatically kill a minion. "Limit Break" is another multiple choice ability, letting you perform truly superhuman feats. 7AP lets you just instantly rout all nearby minions, killing or frightening them away in a gratuitously awesome display of martial skill. 4AP marks a single enemy, you perform three automatically successful Basic Attacks on them, and you can then just keep rolling Basic Attacks until you roll less than a Success. 3AP let's you perform a single task with superhuman strength or physical ability, like lifting a boulder single-handedly or knocking a giant to the ground. The Invoker  Essentially combining the Paladin and Cleric, they are those who channel greater powers or wield their beliefs to protect their friends and harm their enemies. "Invocation" is all about speaking to a higher power. The most signature ability is "Invoke", where you ritually make contact with the avatar of a higher power you are aligned with and speak to them in a psychic dream-state. You can speak to them for 1 minute (in real life preferred of course) where you can ask them any of a set of five questions (generic but useful things like "Am I on the right path to ____?" and "How can I redeem myself?") that the Guide will answer truthfully as the Avatar. "Inquiries" is all about gathering information via supernatural means. The capstone "Shadowseek" is the most interesting here, where you roll to essentially Scry for a target creature or object. A critical shows you in real time where the target is, what it's doing, and if they're intelligent you can psychically talk to them for a minute. A success merely shows you the targets current location and action for a minute, a tough choice is a brief glimpse, a failure shows nothing but darkness, and a catastrophe reverses it and the target instead sees you. "Verdicts" is best described as mind control, though it's more about emotional control than direct manipulation. This is best typified by "Forgive". You lay your hand on a creature, and essentially grant them divine Forgiveness, instantly absolving them of any feelings of guilt on their conscience. You have to know something they feel guilty for, but otherwise it just works. Commoners and minions become essentially worshipful of you, they are awestruck and will refuse to cause you harm and may even follow you like a prophet. Even bosses will be endeared, acting peaceful until at least your next encounter. "Wrath" is all about messing people up, best represented by "Fiery Avenger" and "Smite". "Fiery Avenger" ignites your weapon in magical flame, allowing it to be bright as a torch and increasing the damage by 1 until you roll a failure or worse with the weapon. "Smite" is classic, choose a nearby creature and it's instantly hit for 10HP as it's engulfed in flame, collapsing into a pile of ash if it's killed. When you use it though, you have to roll: on a 1, the ghost of the creature you killed is now haunting you and can speak into your mind and observe your behavior. "Wards" is more about protection. Magic shields, turning, etc. fall in here, with the most detailed being "Sigil". Draw a magic sigil on an object, and something special happens depending on the sigil. You can only have one active at a time, and it has to have a target: a specific creature or type of creature. The Sigil can have one of four effects: Lure that creature to the sigil, repel creatures that come near, alert you psychically if any of the target creature comes near it, or psychically send a 10 word message to the target when they pass nearby. The Legendary abilities I'll cover in depth just like the Fighter, though these are less "Things to use" and more "Massive story altering events". "Wraith" turns you into something only partially material. Whenever you reach 0HP you can become ethereal, making you immune to all non-magical damage while doubling all magical damage done to you. You can revert at any time during your turn. "Sacrifice" allows you to resurrect a dead creature, even one that died of old age (they receive a new maximum lifespan), but each time you revive something you permanently lose 2 HP and gain a new Flaw. If you reach 0 maximum HP using this ability, you permanently become a Wraith, and another use will kill you. "Prophecy" can be used once a campaign, but is incredibly cool. You choose an NPC and use this to glimpse their fate. You choose one of five fates for that NPC, which the Guide must make come true now. The exact nature of the manifestation is up to the Guide, but it has to happen in line with the Fate. The Fates are, Savior (Die saving someone or something), Betrayer (Betray their allies at a pivotal point), Leader(Gain a meaningful amount of power and authority over a people or place), Disgraced (They will do something morally ruinous that makes them a pariah), and Paragon (Do something so morally good they become a paragon of righteousness). "Eternity Gate" is incredible. You astrally project up to meet God, outside of time and space and all known reality. You can ask a single question of Eternity Itself, which the Guide will answer in detail and in spirit: the Guide has to answer in the spirit of why you're asking not only what you're asking. No weasel words or vagueness allowed, as long as it's a single question you get every detail possible to answer it. The question does have to have a factual true answer though, philosophical questions aren't really valid. The exact outcome depends on a roll though: a 20 gets you a second follow-up question, 11-19 is standard as above, 6-10 gets you the information but you're trapped at the gate for a week which feels like a year to you, 2-5 gains you Flaw as your mind ages by 10 years in that week, and a 1 traps your bind for 10,000 years where you get a new Ideal, Flaw, and Dream because you've just spent an Eon outside of time and space vision questing through impossible dimensions. Next Time: The Ranger and the Naturalist Wapole Languray fucked around with this message at 00:40 on Jan 11, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2021 08:55
|
|
|
D&D: “It’s not that we don’t want to make martial classes interesting outside of combat, it is simply that it’s impossible to think of ways to do so!” Quest: “Hold my beer”
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2021 09:37
|
|
|
Wapole Languray posted:Quest This writeup has been really fun to read. It inspired me to pick up Quest myself, it's a cool system!
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2021 13:49
|
|
|
I have to say, this one post of the writeup took me from 'Quest seems doomed to being a fantasy heartbreaker despite some admirable design goals' to 'I may actually have to play Quest sometime' - I'd been paying half attention but now Quest has my entire interest just from that Duel! power. It combines the streaming-friendly element of Quest with the better-than-D&D adventuring design, I like it.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2021 20:57
|
|
|
When picking your initial 6 abilities, I'm assuming you can go down multiple subclass paths? Otherwise six abilities from one subclass feels like a lot, but maybe I'm missing something.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2021 21:33
|
|
|
BinaryDoubts posted:When picking your initial 6 abilities, I'm assuming you can go down multiple subclass paths? Otherwise six abilities from one subclass feels like a lot, but maybe I'm missing something. Yeah you can go down any number of subclasses. It's still plenty to let you max out one path and dabble in one or two others right off the bat, which is pretty cool.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2021 22:49
|
|
|
I keep accidentally 1 starring this thread when I open it on my phone, then fat finger the button press trying to get back to the main TG index. You're a 5 in my heart, FATAL and Friends 2020.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2021 23:24
|
|
|
mellonbread posted:I keep accidentally 1 starring this thread when I open it on my phone, then fat finger the button press trying to get back to the main TG index. voted 5 just for you
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2021 00:22
|
|
|
Wapole Languray posted:
Not sure I get this, are Recruit and Attendant different abilities on the same path?
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2021 00:22
|
|
|
PoontifexMacksimus posted:Not sure I get this, are Recruit and Attendant different abilities on the same path? the Attendant is the npc you get through the Recruit ability.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2021 00:22
|
|
|
PoontifexMacksimus posted:Not sure I get this, are Recruit and Attendant different abilities on the same path? Yeah sorry I realised in hindsight I didn't explain what Recruit does and used the name instead of "Attendent", I've fixed that up. They are both abilities on the same path, yes. Attendent gives you an NPC Fighter companion that's as tough as a PC and has three Fighter abilities (Counter Attack lets them... counter attack enemies on a failed attack, Wild Attack does bonus damage for a bigger downside if you fail your roll, Provoke makes an enemy attack you) so they're super helpful. Attendents cost 7AP to get but stay with you until they die or you do something really lovely to betray them and make them leave. Attendents are your faithful squires, loyal retainers, student learners, etc. Recruit is an earlier ability in the Leadership path, where for 1 AP you can point to a Commoner or Minion (Extras or Minor NPCs) and as long as they're not hostile you can order them around for the next day or until they complete whatever task you gave them. They won't do anything suicidal or stupid but otherwise it's freeform. Making it 0AP for your fans/admirers means that a Champion can do that infinitely, commanding as many NPCs they want without question as long as they think you're cool. This is really awesome because it means if you are a famous figure (Which being a Champion you are) you can basically take command of any situation as long as people have heard of you and don't hate your guts. Fighters really combine "Deadly combatant" with "Leader of Men".
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2021 00:40
|
|
|
Wapole Languray posted:Yeah sorry I realised in hindsight I didn't explain what Recruit does and used the name instead of "Attendent", I've fixed that up. They are both abilities on the same path, yes. Attendent gives you an NPC Fighter companion that's as tough as a PC and has three Fighter abilities (Counter Attack lets them... counter attack enemies on a failed attack, Wild Attack does bonus damage for a bigger downside if you fail your roll, Provoke makes an enemy attack you) so they're super helpful. Attendents cost 7AP to get but stay with you until they die or you do something really lovely to betray them and make them leave. Attendents are your faithful squires, loyal retainers, student learners, etc. It's basically, and I hate using this comparison, the time in Avengers when Captain America starts giving orders.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2021 11:26
|
|
|
Fivemarks posted:It's basically, and I hate using this comparison, the time in Avengers when Captain America starts giving orders. it's ok, you're among friends, we watched the movies, we understand how you feel
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2021 14:45
|
|
|
 and unfortunately while Rifftrax helps they can't turn away the tide of pop culture.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2021 15:39
|
|
|
From The Daily Beast Neo-Nazis vs. Neo-Nazi Satanists Yep. Regular rear end in a top hat Neo-Nazis are in a spat fight with Neo-Nazis Satanic Occultist here in the real world where we all live. If that doesn't spark some ideas for Delta Green or other modern occult-style games, I kind of give the gently caress up.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2021 18:18
|
|
|
Ability Catalogue Part 2: Ranger and Naturalist We're continuing this chapter, covering the two nature-themed Roles. The Ranger  Obviously best compared to the venerable D&D Ranger, Quest's Ranger I feel fixes the biggest issue that D&D's version has: that it's a vague mashup of ranged fighter, Aragorn, and the Beastmaster without any real coherency or theme. The very first ability path for Ranger is one of the coolest and one I've never seen associated with Rangers in any other game: "Story and Song". It only has three abilities, but all three are amazing. The first, "Commune" leverage the fact that as a ranger you wander around and so get familiar with various peoples. You spend 1AP, invent some local colorful local saying or expression to form a kinship with a Commoner NPC and you can then ask them three questions: Is anyone causing trouble? Where can I find the leader? and What are folks talking about lately? In short, this is the Ability to gossip with the locals. "Folk Song" has you sing a song to a crowd (you can make one up, use an existing song, or just describe your performance) and based on the "mood" of the song you can sway the emotions of the group to bright easy happiness, somber reflection and acknowledgement of suffering, or feelings of zealous pride and excitement. The last ability, "Speak Myth" lets you make a commoner do you a favor by reciting a folktale or myth to show why they should help you. There's a list of suggested favors (common things like "Offer you and your allies food and shelter", "deliver a message for you", or "offer the best price in a trade") but you really can ask for anything that isn't overly onerous or cause them harm. The player should actually create the myth right at the table: the obligation the target should fulfill, the moral lesson the myth invokes or teaches, the subject of the myth, and the actual story itself. You don't have to go into full detail, but it basically lets a Ranger player make up stories within the world itself. The next path, "Survivalist" is pretty self explanatory, and is all about wilderness survival. It's got four abilities, two of which are cool but not that deep: "Remedy" lets you make herbal cures for disease or poison, while "Shroud" lets you set up a concealed camp that provides extra healing when resting within it. The two real standouts are "Signal" and "Ritual". "Signal" lets you send out some distress signal, the nature of which is up to you to describe, and the next day you meet a friendly NPC Ranger who temporarily joins your party. "Ritual" lets you find a magical edible which when consumed lets you gain magical insight and gain certain knowledge (Safest or fastest way to get to a destination, where your Nemesis is, whether you're in a real or illusory place, whether an ally is deceiving you). "Pathfinder" is a path all about wilderness navigation, though because quest is cool this manifests in crazy cool nature magic. "Read the Winds" lets you predict the weather for the next few days for free, or dictate the weather for 2AP as long as it's not a natural disaster or impossible in local conditions (no blizzards in the jungle). "Navigate" makes you completely incapable of being lost in the wilderness for free, and lets you automatically navigate to a site of interest nearby for 1AP (An Oasis with nourishment, a Shelter from inclement weather, a minor Ruin, or an animal Nest or lair). "Delve" gives you automapping: you make a magical sound in an underground structure and read the echoes to make a rough map of the next three connected rooms or areas complete with major physical features like buildings or crevasses. "Speak with Trees" is the capstone and is also incredibly rad because you can just talk to trees now to either get them to tell you exactly how to get to any specific item, creature, or location in a forest, or to get the trees to warn you whenever you approach any danger within the woods. "Hunter" is your tracking and ranged weaponry path, as expected of a Ranger. This path is pretty long so I won't detail every ability, but by the end a Ranger can perfectly identify and locate any animal by its tracks, shoot ranged weapons far beyond default range and with devastating accuracy (they get an ability that just lets them auto-crit on ranged attacks), follow creatures without detection, spring ambushes (the enemy skips their first round of turns), and the capstone of "Nemesis". When you get "Nemesis" you choose a specific creature you've met or encountered before (you can change what your Nemesis is if you want). You get a ton of benefits for dealing with your chosen Nemesis: You can track them with "Ritual", you always know when they're nearby or in the scene, they can't ambush you, and invisibility or concealment doesn't work against your attacks. "Friend" is the last path and is your animal companion stuff! Speak with animals, get an animal partner, summon animals to your location, etc. Nothing really surprising, though it's all pretty cool. For animal companions themselves: They can be any animal that's between the size of a mouse and a horse, they have 6 HP and do 2 Damage. A basic companion is 4AP to recruit, but by spending 2AP you can "Pair Bond", allowing you to telepathically communicate with them, sense everything they sense, and even go into a trance to possess and directly control your companion. The Ranger has three Legendary abilities, and as before they're all really cool. "Wild Celebrity" makes you beloved by all wild creatures: Wild animal Commoners and Minions will no longer attack you unless attacked first, "Speak with Animals" and "Speak with Trees" cost no AP to use, and your Animal Companion now has 10HP and can attack twice a turn. That's passively. It also lets you spend 6AP to summon an army of animals. This army of local creatures acts like a single NPC with 20HP that can do 6 Damage split among up to 6 targets, which is terrifying. "Slayer" is a short but sweet one: Spend 4AP and you can, once per scene, just auto-kill half of all nearby minions in the scene. If you're surrounded by a squad of 10 goblins, you spend 4AP and now there's 5. "Friend of the Land" lets you choose a specific wilderness region where you become it's magical guardian and lord. You get a huge number of abilities usable with no AP cost in that land, the local animals build you a wilderness fort of appropriate theming (A giant anthill, a beaver-dam hall, etc.) which is a fully equipped fortress with all amenities and a full-time honor guard of animal sentries and a staff of animal volunteers that keep it stocked with fresh natural food from the area. Yes, this lets you create Beorn's Hall from The Hobbit. The Naturalist  Naturalists are obviously the Quest version of Druids, though without the ahistorical name. They get mostly what you'd imagine, with some fun twists. "Shapeshifter" is the path of... well shapeshifting. Animal Form lets you turn into any animal between a mouse and horse in size, with 6HP and 2 damage. You get to do everything the animal can do, but lose all other abilities, items, and the ability to speak while transformed. The capstone is "Shapeshift" which upgrades your ability to transform into an animal: You get 10 HP, can be anything from the size of a fly to an elephant, do 3 damage, and can speak telepathically to party members.The other abilities of shapeshifter are more... interesting. You can give other creatures gills, transform metal objects into living plants, petrify a target, and grow chitinous armor. "Summoner" is... hard to define, but it's general "nature magic". "Thorn" is a basic ranged magical attack that on a crit gives your target an allergy attack, swelling their skin so they cannot see or speak until the end of their next turn. "Wild Font" turns a container of food, water, or oil into a cornucopia that overspills its contents constantly for one minute. "Evening Star" creates a magical light that turns a huge area as bright as daylight around you for one hour. "Aurora" summons an aurora borealis into the sky which covers a kilometer and dazzles and stuns those who see it for 10 minutes. The final ability "Echoes of Creation" summons magical wisps that heal all creatures and revive all plants in the scene for the next minute, stunning every creature with awe until they vanish. "Elementalist" is general elemental abilities: Cold, heat, lightening blasts, and the classic "Fireball" which explodes a massive area for huge damage (but could blow up in your face). Not going into too much detail because it mostly works as you'd expect, though Shock's 8 damage+2 if they're wearing anything metal for 4AP is notable for being a terrifying damage spell. "Stormcaller" lets you manipulate the weather, creating fog, whirlpools, wind gales, floods, and at the capstone summoning thunderstorms. "Riverfury" is notable for just letting you recreate the river scene from Fellowship of the Ring. "Spiritcaller" is a mix of channeling animal powers and supernatural senses. "Wild Aspect" can give you the eyesight of an eagle, you and nearby creatures the nightvision of a cat, and the entire group the ability to outrun any other creatures on foot with the endurance of a wolf. "Prey Sense" gives you basically spidersense: you gain in instinctual signal when you're in danger, preventing ambush and sneak attacks. "Nature's Watch" let's you choose two vision effects to have for an hour: Aurasight (Detect magic), Infrasight (See heat, even through walls), Darksight, Mirrorsight (You can see around corners and bends), and Realsight (detect illusions). "Ecologist" is the final path, and a major highlight of cool abilities. "Command Nature" lets you magically cause plants to grow to your command. You can use it as an attack, make fruit grow and fall, vines expand, a tree grow in the shape you want, etc. "Memories of Stone" lets you touch a stone item or formation and access its ancient memories, learning the location of subterranean ruins and lost artifacts. "Shift Season" is the capstone, letting you change the season in your area and dictate the weather inside a zone of 1 kilometer, if you roll well. If you don't the season is random and you end up causing unnatural storms or natural disasters. The Naturalists Legendary abilities give us some new interesting abilities we haven't had equivalents of, including our first suicidal ability. "Natures Wrath" creates a storm, one so vicious you lose 1HP for every turn you keep it going, though you can generate a safe "eye" at a location you wish. When you cast the spell, you get to choose a natural disaster that happens within it: Lightening constantly striking every NPC for 2HP per turn, Blizzard blinding and freezing all NPCs for 1HP a turn, or a Hurricane tearing apart building and uprooting trees to smash NPCs for 4HP a turn. The indiscriminate nature of the ability is why you have a choice: Lightening does more damage, but Blizzard blinds as well, and while Hurricane immobilizes and damages more than either, it also basically levels the area of effect. "Wild Evolution" is an upgrade to your shapeshifting. You pick a single animal which is a permanent special form. You can turn into this animal for free, in that form you maintain your HP but do 3 Damage now, can cast spells and use abilities, and speak telepathically to your allies. Your "Shapeshift" and "Animal Form" abilities work as normal still. "To Dust" lets you touch any crafted object that can fit in a 10x10 meter cube, and turn it permanently into dust. It's just 3AP, no other requirements: if it's less than 10 x 10 meters and isn't naturally occuring, you can just permanently destroy it. "World Wish" is the first suicidal ability. Yes, this ability functionally removes you from play when you use it: Your life is permanently consumed in exchange for permanently and unstoppably rejuvenating the natural world in a wave of lifegiving magic. The entire planet you are on is affected: First a life-sustaining atmosphere is generated or created, then the entire surface is covered in flora. Then oceans and rivers are carved and filled, and if you chose all artifical structures are gently disintegrated. This is literally the Genesis Device, but it explicitly does not kill or harm any living thing, and cannot be stopped, reversed, or interrupted by any means. Next Time: The Doctor and The Spy
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2021 00:51
|
|
|
Rpg product micro review: Dice Drop Fantasy Settlement From Keith Outcelt https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/336676/Dice-Drop-Fantasy-Settlement?term=dice+drop quote:
That's the entire product page and that's fine by me, at a suggested price(PWYW) of 50 cents this is just a bit of fun and I'm totally stealing the idea for other settings so I payed my dues. The instructions call for 'about 10' dice I used two sets of DnD dice and I also decided that the higher the die roll the more exotic and strange the outcome.  some dice fell out of range, which I decided to reroll.  Powerful wizard in charge 19/D20 Strange runes everywhere 1/D6 Built with crystal 7/D10 No humans 1/D10 Everything is expensive 1/D4 Tent city 9/D10 Religious sect 1/D4 Military outpost 7/D10 Trading center 4/D20 In the trees 4/D8 Overgrown with plants 9/D10 Roadside shrines 4/D8 Tavern and travel 10/D12 Good clothing selection 11/D12 Barding and armour 3/D6 Accomodations (dead center) no dice- poor so we have quite the city there built of otherworldly crystal and overgrown by plants and ruled by one of the most powerful wisards in the world. I decide that we have a Might and Magic multiverse style thing here: The wizard is a high powered technomagical construct like Corak who grew the city out of the remaines of his crystal spaceship some time recently (explaining the lack of humans around). The crystal speeds up plant growth which encouraged some nature minded folk to build treehouses, but most new residents live in tents for the moments as the city is absolutely packed. the sudden appearance also caused a small religious revival of local nature cults who built and maintain the roadside shrines The military outpost is operated by minor technomagical constructs who act as the loccal militia. lastely while the trade routes are very well mapped and maintained the sudden influx of settlers and pilgrims makes shopping and just finding a place to sleep a somewhat chaotic experience. By popular demand fucked around with this message at 10:28 on Jan 13, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2021 10:25
|
|
|
Wapole Languray posted:
"Story and Song" is an amazing path. I love the implication of rangers being walking libraries of folk fables, songs and lore. The opportunity to invent sayings and old wives' tales as an integrated part of the character really nails what this game is all about. "Commune" puzzles me a bit though. The list of questions seem like the things a GM might drop first-off when the party arrives at a new place. It might the intention the ability works for when the villagers don't want outsiders to know these things. But again, that seems something the party is meant to find out regardless in order to get a plot moving...
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2021 12:13
|
|
|
Wapole Languray posted:The entire planet you are on is affected: First a life-sustaining atmosphere is generated or created, then the entire surface is covered in flora. Then oceans and rivers are carved and filled, and if you chose all artifical structures are gently disintegrated.   I guess that's one way to make use of useless moons that fantasy worlds have multiples of
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2021 16:35
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 6, 2024 10:32 |
|
|
JcDent posted:
A Legendary Naturalist comes to Star Wars. "That's no moon! Oh, wait. Yes, it is. It looks really pretty, too."
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2021 20:41
|
|