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fool of sound posted:Ars Magica has a lot of that. Lots of granular but versatile rules for creating characters, spells, items, locations, organizations, and creatures. It's not enev really optimization in a dnd sense, but more about digging through stuff and trying to come up with a way to make a wierd or interesting concept work in a satisfying way. Yeah it’s those kinds of RPGs I enjoy most as a GM.
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Dec 2, 2021 18:53
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Does anyone do print and play card games? I saw a friend of mine struggling to line cards up in easily printable ways so I made a tool that I hope will make this easier for her in the future. It might be useful to other folks as well: https://github.com/Chuntttttt/Cards It's command-line only at the moment and might be easiest to run from source (though there is an exe available for download on the page, it is not code-signed). Basically, it will take a folder of images (with subfolders for front/back) and line them up properly for creating a printable pdf with guidelines for cutting the cards out.
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Dec 2, 2021 19:11
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Arivia posted:Yeah, there’s certainly a subset of GMs (myself included) that greatly enjoy the meta game of prepping situations/adventures/etc and thinking about how the players will interact with them. (Note that this doesn’t necessitate railroading or prescribing player actions, for me it’s often something like “okay, I’m gonna put a switch up high on this ledge that the PCs can use to lower a bridge to cross the chasm, I’m excited to see how they get to it.” When I’ve done this kind of prep before, the players have ignored the switch and just made a rope bridge across the chasm themselves, which is A+. I just want to set up cool things and see people have fun overcoming them.) It's kind of funny because it's when I GM I mostly go the opposite direction - if I make a crazy plan for Warhammer and my opponent disassembles it, I feel a mix of frustration and growth, but when my players completely clown on a hard fight or end-run a plot I feel like I failed them. So I go super improv in TTRPG because watching it all fall apart in a non-antagonistic context is just a bummer. Leperflesh posted:I feel like "building" is a good verb for it. Planning, designing, architecting, generation, also work in some contexts. But it sounds like folks are mostly talking about interacting with explicit game mechanics presented for them to do pre-play construction in a creative way, as one might do in a sandbox, and to me that's building things. Character building, encounter building, setting building, etc. Yeah good call. Tinkering and optimizing and editing are all part of it. I'm hunting less for what the verb is than what the feeling being satisfied is. I want to be able to say "yeah I like this thing because it scratches my itch for x" and for whatever reason my mind wants something that fits that x and communicates it more or less readily.
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Dec 2, 2021 20:08
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Glimm posted:Does anyone do print and play card games? I saw a friend of mine struggling to line cards up in easily printable ways so I made a tool that I hope will make this easier for her in the future. This is cool!
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Dec 2, 2021 20:10
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Had anyone tried the Mechs & Minions LoL game? Is it any good?
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Dec 2, 2021 20:20
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Tulip posted:Yeah good call. Tinkering and optimizing and editing are all part of it. I'm hunting less for what the verb is than what the feeling being satisfied is. I want to be able to say "yeah I like this thing because it scratches my itch for x" and for whatever reason my mind wants something that fits that x and communicates it more or less readily. "This game includes a lot of components usable for building: options and kits for building characters, tables and mechanisms for building encounters; plans and supports for building settings, etc." Nouns include: components, kits, options, modules, choices, pieces. I think the feeling being satisfied is the desire to experiment? I like to tinker with stuff; some stuff you have to crack open, ignore the "No user serviceable parts" sticker, and get out your soldering iron (I'm old enough that that was called "hacking" in my day, before that word was assigned heavily negative connotations by the media during the 1990s) but other things invite you to engage in this mode of play, and are intentionally designed in a modular way that makes experimentation easier and less risky. In theory. Whether they do it well is highly variable. "I like to experiment with my RPGs. I want games that let me tinker without having to hack their systems. I want games that offer a buffet of mix-and-match choices, options, and modular components that let me bring novel builds to the table without violating the game's official rules."
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Dec 2, 2021 20:29
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theironjef posted:Had anyone tried the Mechs & Minions LoL game? Is it any good? I haven't personally tried it but it got pretty rave reviews on launch for both being a good game and incredibly indulgent for the price.
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Dec 2, 2021 20:30
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A friend of mine was looking through his Forgotten Realms stuff and came across this picture. He swears it's from an official book but can't remember where. Does anyone recognize it? The weird thing is there's three signatures on it in different parts. I got closeups of them:    If it helps, this was apparently in a big box of gaming items he picked up from a junk store 15-ish years ago, and he has it in his Spelljammer binder.
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Dec 2, 2021 22:06
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Subjunctive posted:This is cool! Thanks! I wasn't sure how most people do this but it seemed pretty manual, hopefully, other folks find it useful.
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Dec 2, 2021 23:30
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bbcisdabomb posted:A friend of mine was looking through his Forgotten Realms stuff and came across this picture. He swears it's from an official book but can't remember where. Does anyone recognize it? That's a trace from the AD&D fiend folio. edit: https://www.amazon.com/Fiend-Folio-Creatures-Malevolent-Advanced/dp/0935696210 ninjoatse.cx fucked around with this message at 05:33 on Dec 3, 2021 |
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Dec 3, 2021 05:30
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potatocubed posted:I sympathise with this point of view because nothing in the game is real* until it enters the 'shared imagination space', to use a term that makes me cringe. If a thing about your character only exists in your head, then it might as well not exist at all. Like, the purpose of e.g. a dark secret is to be revealed, not to give your character a reason to act in a secretive manner. Well, here's the text from the book: Situational Weapon Use Our basic weapon dice rules support the traditional idea that bigger weapons deal more damage. But we’ve moved away from that a touch with characters like the rogue, and Rob thinks there are other situations when it is fun to go ahead and flip the dice you get from your weapons. When the action in the story backs it up, Rob sometimes flips the dice you can get from a weapon, saying “This is a job for daggers” and letting the character roll the same damage dice as their sword or axe normally uses, while ruling that the axe and sword are too big for the situation and will use smaller dice like those of a dagger. Examples include being grabbed by a monster, or fighting in a tight pit in the darkness, or cutting your way out of a monster’s stomach. In each of these situations, the visuals of the story suggest that the best thing to do would be to draw a dagger or small weapon and fight or cut your way out. It feels cool. It makes sense from the story. And if you use this optional rule in memorable situations, you’ll have players who get interested in having magic daggers available to complement their normal weapons. And magic daggers? They’re quirky little bastards. I never let players get out of a jam this easily. Being forced to use a small-dice weapon every once in a while keeps the brawny barbarian from taking their big axe for granted. We agree that’s it’s a good thing to tell characters they should be using their daggers at times instead of their other weapons. And I see Jonathan’s point, lodged ever so lightly in the players’ backs. Maybe I’ll do it his way sometimes.
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Dec 3, 2021 10:00
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Oh yeah right, so actually... even more the notion that characters should be able to just do "their damage" in any situation and you adapt either the narrative or the mechanics to facilitate that and it's Tweet who's all about "no, weapon type X does X damage, weapon type Y does Y damage" man, like I said though. Would be so much more interesting if it was like "you can use hammers to knock people down. You can use spears to get extra range. You can use katanas to cut down multiple assailants." e: I've been saying since early 4E days that feats and magic weapon properties should occupy the same design space and this seems like a logical extension. instead of like "add 1 square range to melee attacks" being a hokey Distant Fighter feat it's a function of "use a spear". My Lovely Horse fucked around with this message at 10:27 on Dec 3, 2021 |
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Dec 3, 2021 10:22
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My Lovely Horse posted:man, like I said though. Would be so much more interesting if it was like "you can use hammers to knock people down. You can use spears to get extra range. You can use katanas to cut down multiple assailants." Ever since I played Guild Wars 2 I've had that sort of design in mind for crunchy tactical fights -- every weapon has its own range of powers which varies depending on your class, and you can choose between two-handing a weapon and getting access to its top-tier powers or wielding two weapons (or weapon and shield) and getting access to a wider variety of lower-tier powers... It's a lot of work to design though.
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Dec 3, 2021 10:38
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It doesn't have to be as intricate as Guild Wars's. D&D already has a bunch of those weapon-specific bonuses in the form of Feats and Combat Styles and subclasses, the core issue is that you only get to pick one and are then forced to stick to it forever.
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Dec 3, 2021 10:47
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Yeah I'd set it up so you get your combat maneuvers from your class and your weapon choice just modifies a stat or adds an extra ability.
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Dec 3, 2021 11:00
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theironjef posted:Had anyone tried the Mechs & Minions LoL game? Is it any good? Yes, it's extremely good. It's one of the rare co-op games that gets around the quarterbacking problem. Feels intense, exciting, and fun. Would hard recommend.
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Dec 3, 2021 11:08
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My Lovely Horse posted:Oh yeah right, so actually... even more the notion that characters should be able to just do "their damage" in any situation and you adapt either the narrative or the mechanics to facilitate that and it's Tweet who's all about "no, weapon type X does X damage, weapon type Y does Y damage" That reminds me a bit of Fragged Kingdom's weapon system, where every weapon has an "Ideal range" measured in squares and they put a fair bit of effort into making different weapons feel mechanically distinct
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Dec 3, 2021 16:34
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KingKalamari posted:That reminds me a bit of Fragged Kingdom's weapon system, where every weapon has an "Ideal range" measured in squares and they put a fair bit of effort into making different weapons feel mechanically distinct It’s also what pathfinder 2e does, with normal weapons having different mechanically distinct options (one set gained at mid levels)
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Dec 3, 2021 18:45
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Sadly they’re not situational enough and so some are just better than others (and some are broken) but still.
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Dec 3, 2021 21:14
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Been thinking about what pre-made campaigns I've ran and want to run eventually. What are everyone's favourite pre-made adventures/campaigns and why?
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Dec 3, 2021 21:40
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MonsieurChoc posted:Been thinking about what pre-made campaigns I've ran and want to run eventually. I haven’t run it yet, but my dream pre made that I would want to run someday with exactly the right group (other people with specifically training in literary criticism) would be the Dracula Dossier for Night’s Black Agents, since we could just geek out on diction and run the campaign as a thorough deconstruction of the novel itself. Other ones I do want to run: -Pathfinder’s Rise of the Runelords and Abomination Vaults -King for a Day -Mothership’s Pound of Flesh -An EXTREME PARANOIA campaign (for XP) -Slumbering Tsar for Pathfinder 1e
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Dec 3, 2021 21:46
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The Glass-Maker's Dragon is probably some kind of all-time great and one day I will meet someone whose group ran it to its full length.
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Dec 3, 2021 21:50
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Arivia posted:-Mothership’s Pound of Flesh I kickstarted Mothership so I'm hype to read that one now. Rand Brittain posted:The Glass-Maker's Dragon is probably some kind of all-time great and one day I will meet someone whose group ran it to its full length. That's a cool name, what is it?
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Dec 3, 2021 21:52
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MonsieurChoc posted:I kickstarted Mothership so I'm hype to read that one now. Chuubo's magnificent wish granting engine. Totally my jam like all Moran games, but only 1 other person in my group likes that flavor of weird. Even Heart and Spire are a bit too much for them when I lean into the magic and oddness of the settings
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Dec 3, 2021 22:04
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Glass Maker’s Dragon is a very cool concept but.. you have to be able to run/play Chuubo’s, which is not easy. And it largely looks cool because of the fun characters, but bear in mind it’s using narrative standards so those characters get put through the grinder by the end. The Pathfinder 1e deluxe campaigns have very good reputations, but having played them there are a few inbuilt problems. If you like mega dungeons, Rappan Athuk I think is still updated and is among the best. It certainly makes World’s Largest Dungeon look like a lifetime supply of uncomfortable toilet paper.
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Dec 3, 2021 22:04
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MonsieurChoc posted:Been thinking about what pre-made campaigns I've ran and want to run eventually. Eyes of the Stone Thief for 13th Age is my all-time favorite. Evocative, easy to run, flexible, easy to slot in your own content, full of useful advice and tools. I'm currently running Pirates of Drinax for Traveller by the same author and it's pretty sweet so far if a little less easy to run.
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Dec 3, 2021 22:18
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hyphz posted:Glass Maker’s Dragon is a very cool concept but.. you have to be able to run/play Chuubo’s, which is not easy. And it largely looks cool because of the fun characters, but bear in mind it’s using narrative standards so those characters get put through the grinder by the end. Yeah I mentioned Slumbering Tsar which is actually the sequel to Rappan Athuk but will never be updated because it is the turbo monster Pathfinder 1e campaign that eats optimized characters alive using all the fun stuff you can do in 3e/PF that’s not supported in other editions. My favorite example is when the PCs enter the titular Tsar, a walled city, they will immediately start dying. Why? Well, there’s an invisible stalker ranger on the walls that can shoot arrows 2,000 feet away with no penalty and has a quiver of arrows of slaying. That ranger just adds on to whatever other fights the PCs get into from halfway across the city. Now you might think that’s unfair, but that’s kind of the point - everything by this point (13th level) is unfair in PF, and the invisible stalker doesn’t break any of the rules or get any special treatment. Slumbering Tsar’s design is just punching back as hard as the PCs can go, and at 13th level in PF finding an invisible creature hundreds of feet away is a reasonable challenge.
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Dec 3, 2021 22:18
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ninjoatse.cx posted:That's a trace from the AD&D fiend folio. Thanks, I'll let him know. He doesn't think it's a trace because of the three signatures, but people are weird I guess.
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Dec 3, 2021 23:48
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Arivia posted:Yeah I mentioned Slumbering Tsar which is actually the sequel to Rappan Athuk but will never be updated because it is the turbo monster Pathfinder 1e campaign that eats optimized characters alive using all the fun stuff you can do in 3e/PF that’s not supported in other editions. Whoa, those guys have their own OSR system now? Has anyone tried it, or is it Bill Webb? bbcisdabomb posted:Thanks, I'll let him know. He doesn't think it's a trace because of the three signatures, but people are weird I guess. One of those looks like it says "amante de amore" which is a song title and probably wouldn't be a person's name.
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Dec 4, 2021 00:13
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hyphz posted:If you like mega dungeons, Rappan Athuk I think is still updated and is among the best. It certainly makes World’s Largest Dungeon look like a lifetime supply of uncomfortable toilet paper. I ran Rappan Athuk when it first came out for 3.0 back around 2002 or so and it was... an experience. A lot of flavour and cool ideas, a lot of bullshit, and it didn't adapt to the 3.0 power curve very well. I think it would be way better in a more old school system -- or maybe even 5e, now I think about it. As for really good prewritten campaigns, I'll add my voice to The Dracula Dossier and Glass-Maker's Dragon, and I've always had a soft spot for The Night Below. It's got plenty of flaws but I love it anyway. Oh! And Zeitgeist for D&D 4e. Top-notch, that one.
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Dec 4, 2021 00:25
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bbcisdabomb posted:Thanks, I'll let him know. He doesn't think it's a trace because of the three signatures, but people are weird I guess. It's on page 60 of the Fiend Folio (1981). The original artist signed it in the lower right with a chop and I think also the numbers "79", implying the original was from 1979 and that the artist signed with a chop rather than a signature. It is also much higher quality than that sketch.  The poor skill of your friend's sketch, combined with the later date, heavily points toward it being a bad trace or inspired-by reproduction, and the signature doesn't match any of the Fiend Folio's credited artists: Chris Baker Jeff Dee Emmanuel Albie Fiore Alan Hunter Russ Nicholson Erol Otus Jim Roslof David C. Sutherland III Bill Willingham Polly Wilson Tony Yates I will say this: it's not an exact trace, either. The one in Fiend Folio cuts off the lizardman with the shield on the far right, and the rocks at the base of the pillar are different, for example. It's close, and maybe the main elements were traced first. Edit: I believe the original is by "Fangorn" aka Chris Baker, who signed his name with a stylized F (as seen in the much more well-known full-page illustration on Page 98):  (Look on the black cauldron, on the right, and compare his "F" to what I called a "chop" in the above picture). Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 01:13 on Dec 4, 2021 |
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Dec 4, 2021 01:01
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I can't remember the name atm, but there's a very cool Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay adventure that takes place in the Border Princes and involves a four way conflict between four different flavors of unsavory rulers in a conflicted territory. It's pretty great at evoking the general 'everyone is a different flavor of rear end in a top hat' feeling of dark fantasy without feeling the need to go full grimdark. When I ran it, my players came to the conclusion that the ancient mummy king who used to rule the region and would like it back was the most trustworthy option and ended up working for him.
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Dec 4, 2021 01:01
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fool of sound posted:I can't remember the name atm, but there's a very cool Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay adventure that takes place in the Border Princes and involves a four way conflict between four different flavors of unsavory rulers in a conflicted territory. It's pretty great at evoking the general 'everyone is a different flavor of rear end in a top hat' feeling of dark fantasy without feeling the need to go full grimdark. When I ran it, my players came to the conclusion that the ancient mummy king who used to rule the region and would like it back was the most trustworthy option and ended up working for him.
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Dec 4, 2021 01:20
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hyphz posted:Whoa, those guys have their own OSR system now? Has anyone tried it, or is it Bill Webb? Do you mean Swords and Wizardry? It’s been around for ages and is Matt Finch’s baby. I like it a lot.
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Dec 4, 2021 01:38
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Hostile V posted:Lure of the Liche Lord? https://writeups.letsyouandhimfight.com/night10194/warhammer-fantasy-roleplay-2e-lure-of-the-liche-lord/ Yep, that's definitely Lure of the Liche Lord, which is quite fun.
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Dec 4, 2021 03:06
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Arivia posted:I haven’t run it yet, but my dream pre made that I would want to run someday with exactly the right group (other people with specifically training in literary criticism) would be the Dracula Dossier for Night’s Black Agents, since we could just geek out on diction and run the campaign as a thorough deconstruction of the novel itself. I have sat in on two different attempts by geopolitics wonks to run Dracula Dossier and seen them both admit defeat. Perhaps one day there will be a third. Conversely, I have tried and failed to run Chuubo’s and admitted defeat, let alone Glass-Maker’s Dragon (and I’ve run Nobilis and WTF). I’ll likely try again someday.
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Dec 4, 2021 03:12
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Parkreiner posted:I have sat in on two different attempts by geopolitics wonks to run Dracula Dossier and seen them both admit defeat. Perhaps one day there will be a third. In case it wasn’t clear i meant people with English literature degrees and related disciplines, not geopolitics (not sure how that would help???)
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Dec 4, 2021 03:15
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Night10194 posted:Yep, that's definitely Lure of the Liche Lord, which is quite fun. I’ll check that one out. Hows the 4e big campaigns? Or 3e?
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Dec 4, 2021 03:20
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Arivia posted:In case it wasn’t clear i meant people with English literature degrees and related disciplines, not geopolitics (not sure how that would help???) You were clear, I was kinda-sorta free-associating. And sure, you can take a textual analysis lens to DracDoc, but the spycraft/technothriller angle is just as baked in.
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Dec 4, 2021 03:29
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MonsieurChoc posted:I’ll check that one out. The best big campaign for 4e is Zeitgeist by ENWorld. For 3e the really notable campaigns are by Paizo and were basically ancestors of Pathfinder: Shackled City, Age of Worms, and Savage Tide. Shackled City has a hardcover compilation, but the other two are only available in issues of Dungeon. I can’t think of any great 3e third party campaigns that haven’t been updated to Pathfinder 1e or 5e. 3.0 had a 1 to I think 16? line of adventures produced by WotC, most of which are forgettable - the two good ones, Sunless Citadel and Forge of Fury, are updated for 5e in Tales from the Yawning Portal. I think Forge of Fury would lose something in the transition but it’s still probably really fun.
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Dec 4, 2021 03:31
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