|
joylessdivision posted:So I need some help. If anything happens combatwise it should 100% be mortal bullshit. No hunters, no inquisition, no canite plots. Just some normal human mugger with really bad luck. How does the PC handle that without giving away that they're not human anymore? Just contrast the normality of the evening with how odd and out of place the PC should feel in this world.
|
#
?
May 11, 2022 18:58
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 29, 2024 10:06 |
|
|
The date night should be 100% trouble free. Play up how beautiful the night is, how lovely it is to forget that you're a blood sucking leach for just one evening. Ice cream that you can't eat, but the date's face lights up with joy at. Walking through a public garden full of beautiful blooming flowers, but all your vampire senses can smell is rot and fertilizer. Beautiful full moon that just reminds you of what the sun would do you to. One of those guys that walks around taking pictures of couples to sell them a photo; how lovely would that be? A horse and buggy ride? Oh, that would be magical, but the horse won't let you near. The tragedy here is the whole 'trying to hold on to something you can't.' Contrast it to the nights of blood and violence and horror. Leave the dark world completely out of it, don't even hint at it. It will be conspicuous in it's absence, and the player will just get more and more paranoid about the guaranteed twist that, you know, the date gets kidnapped, witnesses a feeding, sees a ghost, whatever. That will never happen. The date will live their life in blissful ignorance, unless the player purposefully draws them into things. And it will be terrible, and drive the player paranoid and crazy. Or tear them apart trying to live between two worlds. Which is the whole point of a game of personal horror.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2022 19:12
|
|
|
TheCenturion posted:The date night should be 100% trouble free. Play up how beautiful the night is, how lovely it is to forget that you're a blood sucking leach for just one evening. Ice cream that you can't eat, but the date's face lights up with joy at. Walking through a public garden full of beautiful blooming flowers, but all your vampire senses can smell is rot and fertilizer. Beautiful full moon that just reminds you of what the sun would do you to. One of those guys that walks around taking pictures of couples to sell them a photo; how lovely would that be? A horse and buggy ride? Oh, that would be magical, but the horse won't let you near. Holy poo poo that is perfect. The PC has been a vampire for about a month and a few weeks in game time at this point, and aside from an off screen "You hung out in your apartment with your cat last night" bit as an explanation of an evenings time gap between the end of a session and where the next picked up, she's had wall to wall Kindred Bullshit™️ going on every session we've played, with the last session involving her breaking into her old office building and a NPC setting the entire floor of the building on fire after finding what they were after. Giving her a quiet break while playing up the things you mentioned definitely gives me a great direction to take things. If all goes well it should make the big blow out nonsense I'm plotting for the Sabbat attack in the session after it hit harder.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2022 19:45
|
|
|
joylessdivision posted:So I need some help. I'd stay on slice of unlife stuff, as others have said above. Pretending to still be alive as a vampire isn't just activate blush and everything is hunky dory. First off, don't prompt anything vis a vis in character stuff, let the player call the shots... they forget to activate blush? The date notices or is weirded out. "You look pale, are you okay?" "Oh my god your hands are freezing!" Etc etc. Do they grab coffee first? Have it come scalding hot. The character notices but would probably still be able to drink it and not really burn their mouth because at this point they've forgotten what the normal temp for food is, again, date might notice. Did they have reservations? Maybe they get bumped and then have to use some vampiric power to try and get a table... are they subtle about it, or did they go full Dominate in front of the date, leaving them to ask wtf just happened and why did the host just suddenly do exactly what you told them to. Blush can only keep food down for so long. When was that coffee? Maybe they need to excuse themselves to go puke up bloody coffee grounds in the bathroom. Was there another mortal in there washing their hands and listening? Do they get concerned and ask if the PC is okay? Maybe they assume the PC is bulemic and needs a heart to heart. More importantly, the PC steps out with blood on their lips and chin, do they freak and try and call 911? Say that situation is defused... what's your PC do about their bloody coffee vomit breath? Did they bring a toothbrush or something? Maybe their gross loving breath will be off-putting to the date when they're in close proximity. Maybe they got a blood stain on their shirt? Little poo poo like that, really focusing heavily on the basic acts of keeping up the facade whilst in prolonged and close proximity to a mortal. Maybe their hunger goes up and gets up past 3, and they walk out of the restaurant as some busboy is dumping some pigs blood and offal on the garbage out back as they're walking by. The date is grossed out while the PC is hungrier. Maybe they come across a mugging victim that was stabbed and the date is trying to coordinate to help while the PC has to struggle with maintaining focus and not licking the blood off their hands. There's a lot of stuff you can do when you zoom in and go granular, and for that specific type of session it's the type of stuff that is relatively low stakes but it keeps the evening engaging. Add a splash of comedy to the whole thing if you don't want it to be this gripping dark night of horror with a monster - think of that Friends episode where Ross has the leather pants, for lack of a better example. Fuzz fucked around with this message at 19:50 on May 11, 2022 |
|
#
?
May 11, 2022 19:46
|
|
|
joylessdivision posted:So I need some help. The PC gets stuck in a situation where they also have to go on a date with someone else on the same night, and they can't let either date know about the other one. Luckily, they were able to get two tables at the same restaurant, but other than that it's up to them to try to figure out how to use their wits, disciplines, and contacts to try to make both dates go smoothly. The rest of the coterie can come help, but obviously there's a masquerade to uphold, so under no circumstances can they just kill everyone and run away. A real answer is, have them bump into a kindred or ghoul that they know (but not well) who tries to get chatty and has a chance to notice that the PC is indulging in an actual mortal attachment and not just entertaining a victim. This can be a pretty minor thing, just a little tension and a chance to make some skill rolls or come up with a clever excuse as well as acutely reminding the PC that just by existing they're a danger to everyone around them. Having other kindred know who your touchstones are is not super great. worm girl fucked around with this message at 20:57 on May 11, 2022 |
|
#
?
May 11, 2022 20:50
|
|
|
worm girl posted:The PC gets stuck in a situation where they also have to go on a date with someone else on the same night, and they can't let either date know about the other one. Luckily, they were able to get two tables at the same restaurant, but other than that it's up to them to try to figure out how to use their wits, disciplines, and contacts to try to make both dates go smoothly. The rest of the coterie can come help, but obviously there's a masquerade to uphold, so under no circumstances can they just kill everyone and run away. I like this too! I know I'm keeping her coterie mates off screen that session (It's myself and one player) although I've had one of them not so subtly hint that romantic relationships with mortals don't usually end well, I'm not going to have either of the coterie mates make a big deal about the whole thing or try to interfere. As for NPC's she knows that are kindred, it's mostly her coterie mates, a few members of the Cam court and the Toreador Primogen who is currently keeping an eye on her while her sire has hosed off to Chicago, and a trio of Tremere she met a couple sessions ago. I'm thinking either one of the other Toreador court members (Keeper of Elysium or Herald, she's met both) or the baby Tremere she met, who would be fun because the Tremere has only been a vampire for maybe a couple months longer than the PC, and could potentially be a new friend. If it ends up being one of the court members, that's going to be info that spreads amongst the other roses fast, although no one would take a direct shot at the fledgling that the Primogen has taken under her wing. Fuzz posted:I'd stay on slice of unlife stuff, as others have said above. Pretending to still be alive as a vampire isn't just activate blush and everything is hunky dory. First off, don't prompt anything vis a vis in character stuff, let the player call the shots... they forget to activate blush? The date notices or is weirded out. "You look pale, are you okay?" "Oh my god your hands are freezing!" Etc etc. Do they grab coffee first? Have it come scalding hot. The character notices but would probably still be able to drink it and not really burn their mouth because at this point they've forgotten what the normal temp for food is, again, date might notice. Did they have reservations? Maybe they get bumped and then have to use some vampiric power to try and get a table... are they subtle about it, or did they go full Dominate in front of the date, leaving them to ask wtf just happened and why did the host just suddenly do exactly what you told them to. This also fantastic, and definitely something I'm going to keep in mind. I'll probably be nice and toss a reminder to her about Blush of Life activation, because we did already cover the "You're dead and therefore very cold" the last time the love interest NPC was around with "The PC is literally dressed as Lara Croft on Halloween in SF, of course she's cold" which then lead to adding BoL to her sheet so she remembers she has it. joylessdivision fucked around with this message at 23:21 on May 11, 2022 |
|
#
?
May 11, 2022 23:19
|
|
|
worm girl posted:The PC gets stuck in a situation where they also have to go on a date with someone else on the same night, and they can't let either date know about the other one. Luckily, they were able to get two tables at the same restaurant, but other than that it's up to them to try to figure out how to use their wits, disciplines, and contacts to try to make both dates go smoothly. The rest of the coterie can come help, but obviously there's a masquerade to uphold, so under no circumstances can they just kill everyone and run away. Still a great idea, escalating farce is a classic and universal plot for a reason.
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2022 10:31
|
|
|
TheCenturion posted:And it will be terrible, and drive the player paranoid and crazy. ahahaahahahahaha I love this, given the basic instincts of the average player this would drive them totally mad, lol
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2022 15:07
|
|
|
TheCenturion posted:The date night should be 100% trouble free. Play up how beautiful the night is, how lovely it is to forget that you're a blood sucking leach for just one evening. Ice cream that you can't eat, but the date's face lights up with joy at. Walking through a public garden full of beautiful blooming flowers, but all your vampire senses can smell is rot and fertilizer. Beautiful full moon that just reminds you of what the sun would do you to. One of those guys that walks around taking pictures of couples to sell them a photo; how lovely would that be? A horse and buggy ride? Oh, that would be magical, but the horse won't let you near. this is my move, do recommend e: I have done this often enough though that it no longer drives paranoia so much as a kind of quiet sadness and longing
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2022 16:02
|
|
|
Tulip posted:e: I have done this often enough though that it no longer drives paranoia so much as a kind of quiet sadness and longing Quiet sadness and longing is also rad as hell. It's the move.
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2022 16:05
|
|
|
Tulip posted:this is my move, do recommend Exactly. No, you're not a superhero with fangs. You're an undead horror who can't even hold hands with somebody without either a) being reminded that you're not even alive in all the little comments about how cold you are, how you never eat, how you never take a bathroom break, and so on, or b) have had to drain the blood of a human being just to warm up your dead, pale flesh. No, you can't have a picture to remember the evening by, you won't show up on the film. No, you can't go for a romantic carriage ride, the horse will freak out. No, you can't make plans for a trip through the countryside Sunday afternoon; you'd explode. No, you can't spontaneously meet up tonight on short notice for a cool jazz concert; you got caught up in some poo poo last night, and tonight you NEED to feed or you're going to frenzy. You don't even need to set up 'situations' where the PC has to maintain the masquerade. Just play the NPC love interest like a plain old human in a plain old setting with zero vampires, wanting to do plain old standard dating things that the player simply cannot do because, well, they're not human any more. The tragedy comes naturally.
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2022 16:40
|
|
|
TheCenturion posted:Exactly. No, you're not a superhero with fangs. You're an undead horror who can't even hold hands with somebody without either a) being reminded that you're not even alive in all the little comments about how cold you are, how you never eat, how you never take a bathroom break, and so on, or b) have had to drain the blood of a human being just to warm up your dead, pale flesh. Thank you again. This is all fantastic and I'm super excited to start getting my notes actually written for the session and then playing it out. It will be interesting to play a normal rear end mortal for a change lol. I think I'm going to swing the baby Tremere into the session at some point, have her run into the PC and her date and have a little awkward conversation. The PC and the Tremere aren't much different with regard to their embraces (the Tremere is a couple months older) so a bit of "Awkwardly trying to discuss the magic thing the Tremere helped out with a couple sessions ago in a Masquerade friendly way" would be fun and potentially brings the baby Tremere into the PCs circle a bit more as a potential ally.
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2022 17:15
|
|
|
joylessdivision posted:
Yeah that's the stuff. The NPC doesn't necessarily need to be antagonistic and maybe nothing ever comes of it even if the PC fails to cover up the situation, it's just a good chance for some social combat and a reminder that the other kindred are not your friends, especially the ones that smile and shake your hand in public.
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2022 17:21
|
|
|
joylessdivision posted:Thank you again. This is all fantastic and I'm super excited to start getting my notes actually written for the session and then playing it out. It will be interesting to play a normal rear end mortal for a change lol. I'd say don't. Keep the two worlds completely separate, and force the player to juggle between them. If, which is to say when, the whole thing comes crashing down, it should be through the player's action or inaction. The player should be stuck between two worlds; one that she can never really be in, but desperately want to, and one that she doesn't want to be in, but can't really ever leave short of staking herself out for the sunrise. The tension and drama comes from the contrast between the two worlds, and her being pulled between them and the vast differences; mashing them together just gets you Lost Girl, and this week's wacky hijink where Bob the Human Love Interest accidently winds up betrothed to an unseelie fae because he innocently offered her a scone, not realizing that by her laws, this is an iron clad proposal, and how will the PC untangle this mess? And oops, the Sabbat pops in to raise some hell! Time for a choreographed fight scene that doesn't even muss up the protagonist's hair, and allows for some quips. Having Baby Tremere (do do do do do do) show up and awkwardly talk around things in a weird roundabout way will most likely come off very contrived and silly, very comic relief, you know? TheCenturion fucked around with this message at 17:38 on May 12, 2022 |
|
#
?
May 12, 2022 17:33
|
|
|
TheCenturion posted:b) have had to drain the blood of a human being just to warm up your dead, pale flesh. Unless you win the coin flip, obviously.
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2022 17:43
|
|
|
Here's a quetion for the V5 heads, and one not meant as an attack or anything. I'm genuinely interested. One of my favourite books for Revised was Archons & Templars. How would you do that kind of game in V5 considering the rules and metaplot change?
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2022 18:06
|
|
|
TheCenturion posted:I'd say don't. Keep the two worlds completely separate, and force the player to juggle between them. honestly this just seems like good campaign premise in total, and seeing as Jitsu Wa was a good manga its not exactly unprecedented each player is x type of super, and they have a totally mortal love interest, and their game-defined goal is to protect their mortal love interest to the best of their ability, keeping in mind that most forms of WOD supernatural will loving wreck a human's brain to encounter it unfiltered
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2022 18:16
|
|
|
TheCenturion posted:I'd say don't. Keep the two worlds completely separate, and force the player to juggle between them. You're absolutely right, the focus should be on the "Yo it loving sucks to be a vampire doesn't it?" aspects of things. I tend to write out a ton of ideas for a session with all kinds of threads that advance various bits of plot or introduce new stuff, then I leave my notes alone for a couple of days and then end up re-writing the whole thing and tightening things up. The baby Tremere (do do do do do) getting worked into the story more in general is an idea I like, but something that can sit for now. What's funny is that a majority of my NPC's (including my main two ST NPC's) are women, and I've had no issue playing them, but I'm a little worried about playing a 20 something mortal woman whose got the feels for the hot Toreador lady she met lol. I think it's mostly because so much of my focus has been on "Kindred poo poo" with regards to NPC's that focusing on a mortal character who is unaware of the supernatural feels more challenging than being an immortal monster.
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2022 18:48
|
|
|
joylessdivision posted:You're absolutely right, the focus should be on the "Yo it loving sucks to be a vampire doesn't it?" aspects of things. My rule of thumb is 'would I see this in a sit com, a rom com, or as a prime example on TV Tropes? Time to either ignore it or subvert it.' quote:The baby Tremere (do do do do do) getting worked into the story more in general is an idea I like, but something that can sit for now. Then you've got Bob the Human Love Interest; 100% free range human, who simply by existing and blissfully living his fully normal, mundane, mortal life, will experience, ignore, and forget wonders that the PC can never ever experience again, but also who by simply existing offers her at least a window into the world she has lost forever. And in the middle, the poor PC, being pulled apart. Delicious.
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2022 19:30
|
|
|
MonsieurChoc posted:Here's a question for the V5 heads, and one not meant as an attack or anything. I'm genuinely interested. One of my favourite books for Revised was Archons & Templars. How would you do that kind of game in V5 considering the rules and metaplot change? I haven't read that book in particular, but if I were doing an Archon campaign in V5, I'd probably blue-sky it as something like this:
I'm not sure how'd I'd tackle Templars, considering the current state of the Sabbat. I haven't read any of the player-facing fan supplements for V5 Sabbat, but I'd be very surprised if none of them had ways to facilitate Templar play.
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2022 20:44
|
|
|
Free Cog posted:I haven't read that book in particular, but if I were doing an Archon campaign in V5, I'd probably blue-sky it as something like this: Thanks! That does sound like a lot of fun yeah. Especially as new Archons to the Justicar of Outsiders. Not sure if the Beckoning should come into play since Archons are usually Ancillas and the Beckoning targets Elders. Edit: Speaking of the Beckoning, this must have caused hell on the Ashirra.
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2022 21:14
|
|
|
Thought exercise: what's the tankiest of the main 5 splats in CoD (vamp, woof, geist, mage, changling) using only their base book and RAW character creation? Let's also ignore garou form in woofs, but not their normal regeneration ability. Is it still the werewolves?
|
|
#
?
May 13, 2022 19:31
|
|
|
Soonmot posted:Thought exercise: what's the tankiest of the main 5 splats in CoD (vamp, woof, geist, mage, changling) using only their base book and RAW character creation? Let's also ignore garou form in woofs, but not their normal regeneration ability. But Mages probably have general versatility-of-defenses down with the various mage armor bennies, including the use-better-of-Wits/Dex-for-defense animal-defenses that werewolves can get. If you can figure out what page actually lists what you get out of it, I imagine 2e Geists can be pretty tanky as well; I do know their only meaningful offensive gimmick is built around insane melee attack pools, so I would assume they can get some decent defenses mustered while they're at it (and 300 pages away from the rules of what it actually means).
|
|
#
?
May 13, 2022 19:55
|
|
|
Soonmot posted:Thought exercise: what's the tankiest of the main 5 splats in CoD (vamp, woof, geist, mage, changling) using only their base book and RAW character creation? Let's also ignore garou form in woofs, but not their normal regeneration ability. Ghouls are surprisingly durable because they don't drop into torpor like vampires, they stay on their feet until they die. A ghoul with 5 fortitude (unlikely obviously, but for the sake of math) and maxed health dots is just walking around with effectively 30 HP and they have no special weaknesses other than standard mortal stuff. They can't heal very quickly but it's fun getting your head blown open by a sniper rifle and being effectively fine. I guess that might get ruled as agg damage but Fortitude can step that down to lethal IIRC. I guess it might be worth asking what you mean by durable. Stepping on a land mine is different from surviving a swordfight in this system. worm girl fucked around with this message at 20:10 on May 13, 2022 |
|
#
?
May 13, 2022 19:55
|
|
|
Soonmot posted:Thought exercise: what's the tankiest of the main 5 splats in CoD (vamp, woof, geist, mage, changling) using only their base book and RAW character creation? Let's also ignore garou form in woofs, but not their normal regeneration ability. Yeah, I don't think you can reach the same sort of regen with base creation in any of the other splats. Mage gives some really good options for minimizing damage, but you can't combine and control spells effectively enough yet to hit that same sort of level as basic woofs. I haven't screwed around with 2e Geist enough, but 1e you could do some terribly broken things to put you on that top tier. Vampire gives up being able to act to heal, and you're going to run out of vitae quickly. It would take some ST help to get your changeling some type of hedgespun item to get you there in Lost too. In all the white room conversations I've had/seen it's always been Woofs are ahead when they're created, and then Mages can catch up fairly quickly and can even outpace them if that's their focus. They're just creatures of destruction, werewolves.
|
|
#
?
May 13, 2022 20:00
|
|
|
Starting woof beats starting vamp. Experienced vamp beats experienced woof. Lasombra Hentai Death Machine beats everything. That said: http://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/...rrior-the-setup You have to follow through a bunch of threads for the goings on, but there's the conclusion: http://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/...ts-and-analysis
|
|
#
?
May 13, 2022 20:15
|
|
|
TheCenturion posted:Starting woof beats starting vamp. Experienced vamp beats experienced woof. That appears to be WoD not CoD though.
|
|
#
?
May 13, 2022 20:42
|
|
|
Soonmot posted:Thought exercise: what's the tankiest of the main 5 splats in CoD (vamp, woof, geist, mage, changling) using only their base book and RAW character creation? Let's also ignore garou form in woofs, but not their normal regeneration ability. Demons can become virtually immune to damage even before you consider Going Loud, just off stacking damage reduction Demonic Form traits + appropriate powers. If something actually manages to hurt them through that they don't bounce back quite as easily as woofs do, though. And both narrative and mechanics are weighted against Demons ever showing their full hand or working together, while Forsaken are incentivized to do both.
|
|
#
?
May 13, 2022 21:14
|
|
|
worm girl posted:Ghouls are surprisingly durable because they don't drop into torpor like vampires, they stay on their feet until they die. A ghoul with 5 fortitude (unlikely obviously, but for the sake of math) and maxed health dots is just walking around with effectively 30 HP and they have no special weaknesses other than standard mortal stuff. They can't heal very quickly but it's fun getting your head blown open by a sniper rifle and being effectively fine. I guess that might get ruled as agg damage but Fortitude can step that down to lethal IIRC. Are you sure about this? Maybe I'm looking at an outdated .pdf but I just see that ghouls don't fall unconscious when their health track's full of bashing.
|
|
#
?
May 13, 2022 21:24
|
|
|
Ferrinus posted:Are you sure about this? Maybe I'm looking at an outdated .pdf but I just see that ghouls don't fall unconscious when their health track's full of bashing. I don't know if i've house ruled it or not, but I thought that was only for NPCs? A single dot of fortitude stops that too. Ghouls still take full lethal from weapons though, unlike vamps, which only take half. I also didn't remember fae cunning! But okay, let's put some rules down: Chronicles of Darkness, Vampire, werewolf, Geist, Mage, or Changeling. 7/5/3 att, 13/9/5 skills (I still use wod 2.0 creation rules, sue me) 2 dots in their power stat, and splat appropriate starting powers and bonuses. Up against a guy with a hand gun and a guy with a gun, both have a die pool of 6 and damage 2
|
|
#
?
May 13, 2022 21:53
|
|
|
Statistically those guys are gonna need to bump their attack pools into the double digits before they don't just end up shooting themselves in the head with extra steps while a changeling does a giddy little fey dance in front of them
|
|
#
?
May 13, 2022 22:41
|
|
|
Chernobyl Peace Prize posted:Statistically those guys are gonna need to bump their attack pools into the double digits before they don't just end up shooting themselves in the head with extra steps while a changeling does a giddy little fey dance in front of them Yeah, any base character from the 5 major splats is going to be able to make those mortal characters wish they hadn’t gotten out of bed today. It’ll be a bunch of different solutions, but nothing that won’t ruin the mortal’s night.
|
|
#
?
May 13, 2022 22:53
|
|
|
just make it a 10 die pool? edit: so that makes me think, without bringing in specific weaknesses, how tough does a mortal need to be to pose a threat to a creation level PC?
|
|
#
?
May 13, 2022 23:06
|
|
|
Soonmot posted:just make it a 10 die pool? I think it's often more a matter of circumstance: crowded area, mortal witnesses, surprise, and purpose. I know when I want to make things a lot harder, these are the things I add. Knowledge of what's about to be happening is a very big part of the mortals having an advantage. White room just doesn't cut it unless you add a bunch of extra rules to restrict the super-splat side of things.
|
|
#
?
May 13, 2022 23:25
|
|
|
Chernobyl Peace Prize posted:That appears to be WoD not CoD though. Oh poo poo you’re right he specified CoD. Carry on.
|
|
#
?
May 13, 2022 23:55
|
|
|
Soonmot posted:just make it a 10 die pool? This kind of question is not terribly meaningful in nWoD in general. Abilities are so freeform and most supers have ways to mess them up that don't require stats.
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2022 00:03
|
|
|
Soonmot posted:Thought exercise: what's the tankiest of the main 5 splats in CoD (vamp, woof, geist, mage, changling) using only their base book and RAW character creation? Let's also ignore garou form in woofs, but not their normal regeneration ability. Only reason Prometheans aren't everyone's answer is cause you didn't include them.
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2022 00:10
|
|
|
Moderately relevant re: regeneration, a long time ago when I was getting into CoD I figured up mage super-healing and I'm pretty sure it's still correct:That Old Tree posted:More specifically, you can't really without a very generous interpretation of conjunctional Time effects*, or just getting some crazy Artifact since they're allowed to do whatever the ST wants them to do. In general it's pretty hard for a given splat to replicate the stuff another one does really well.
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2022 00:10
|
|
|
That Old Tree posted:Moderately relevant re: regeneration, a long time ago when I was getting into CoD I figured up mage super-healing and I'm pretty sure it's still correct: Once you’re putting Mastery level spells into the mix, it’s more often a question of “how do I” than “can I”. There are some definite arch mastery only things, but let’s be honest. If you have arcanum mastery a mortal with a gun isn’t going to pose any threat for more than a round. It’s still quite difficult to replicate werewolf regeneration or even come close, and completely impossible to do so with the rules of this question. But when you can transmute your clothes into harder than bullet material, open a sinkhole in the floor, or suddenly the gun stop’s working, the question gets screwed up on account of being touched by a mage.
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2022 00:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 29, 2024 10:06 |
|
|
If we ignore context-shaping "nyah nyah I'm floating out of reach or perhaps across the Gauntlet" tricks, Maximized Mage 2E combat durability is going to come out of, in no particular order: 1) Arbitrary protection spells that just automatically neutralize specific threats if those threats are normal, and provoke a clash of wills if those threats are supernatural. Said clash can have as much as an ad hoc +4 bonus if you reach for advanced potency and max out the nominal duration, but after [potency] clashes the shield will break win or lose. Also such spells probably need to be pretty specific, protecting you from "gunshots" or "fire" rather than "damage". 2) Mage armor, which broadly is gonna be good for +Arcana Defense or Armor but might work differently. 3) Stat buffs which increase your Defense or Health by boosting the relevant attributes or skills. 4) "Layer 2" stat buffs that increase your Armor by raising the stats of your equipment and/or giving you functional equipment. 5) Actual armor that you wear (and idk, relevant combat merits and other mundane countermeasures to attack) Since your baby mage is only going to have 3/2/1 Arcana, you need to pick and choose which of these you can actually do. So like a Forces 2/Life 3/Spirit 1 Thyrsus could enjoy: 1) Some kind of Shielding of Forces that specifically stops stabs, or bullets, or slashes, or whatever else he specifically wants to survive 2) +2 Def/+2 Armor from Mage Armor being active, as well as the ability to use higher or Dex and Wits to calculate Def 3) A standing Life spell that ratchets his Dex higher for more Defense 4) A standing Life spell that hardens his skin and flesh to grant an armor bonus 5) A flak jacket or whatever the good armor from the equipment list is, I forget this one Now, the actual Potency and therefore bonus granted by #3 and #4 (and also the number of supernaturally-powered hits #1 can try to absorb) is a little random and will depend on how high he can push casting dicepools, how much paradox he's willing to risk, etc. It's technically uncapped, though, so this guy CAN be walking around with Defense 18 and Armor 12 or similar.
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2022 01:59
|
|