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I didn't like Gorilla Warfare much, but then, I tend to see the Jammers as someone to shoot the hell out of. Mostly, though, it felt a lot less meaty and like it didn't really add much depth to them, unlike Seal of the Wheel (which is awesome) or Seed of the New Flesh (which is pretty much my favorite supplement for the game). I may not actually like Unknown Armies much, but Greg Stolze will always have my respect as a writer for stuff like Seed of the New Flesh.
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Oct 27, 2013 20:05
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So got my one shot of Baptism of Fire out of the way for the Alpha Playtest, and submitted my suggestions. Besides the ones everyone makes about Big Bruisers and old masters and archetype balance, here's some of the stuff my players talked about: Comments: It's odd to realize that Melodramatic hooks don't really...do much. Other than exist. Working them into something like Fate's aspects, where they can be invoked in play would give them more weight, possibly. Guns really are king when it comes to mooks. One or two schticks in Carnival of carnage means you'll be shooting more and taking more out and acting more than anyone else in the group- as long as you only target mooks. It's still a screentime issue, though, if not quite as egregious as, say, the Champions speed chart. Maybe just get turn the first two ranks of carnival of carnage into 10,000 bullets from Golden Comeback, so then you're not acting more than anyone else, but still taking out more unnamed characters per action? More two-combat skill archetypes need the Ex-Special Forces' ability to switch what skill is 'primary' at character creation. Until I played it by the book I didn't really realize that wasn't the default rule- I'd HR'd it that way so often I thought it was the case.
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Oct 31, 2013 02:18
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WELCOME TO THE BIG TIME
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Nov 1, 2013 14:29
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Oh man! Someone should run some games. I would if I had the time this semester. (I might have to see about making time, once my papers die down.)
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Nov 1, 2013 14:35
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Something I noticed from running a followup game after trying out the "playtest": Never use mooks with an AV higher than 8. They're just frustrating as hell for the players, without being any sort of real threat. (I made the mistake of using a statblock with AV 10 mooks to represent special forces guys; I should've have just gone with a smaller number of named characters sans-shticks.)
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Nov 1, 2013 15:35
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LeSquide posted:Something I noticed from running a followup game after trying out the "playtest": Never use mooks with an AV higher than 8. They're just frustrating as hell for the players, without being any sort of real threat. (I made the mistake of using a statblock with AV 10 mooks to represent special forces guys; I should've have just gone with a smaller number of named characters sans-shticks.) I house ruled this by giving mooks split AVs -- so like 10 offensive, 8 defensive. Easier to hit, still more dangerous on offense.
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Nov 2, 2013 02:54
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I used "group bonuses" mooks combine their efforts into a single attack with a +1 to the AV for every mook after the first. So four AV 8 mooks blasting away at one PC with MAC-10s would be effectively a single AV 11 attack. Best used in relatively small groups.
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Nov 2, 2013 03:04
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Galaga Galaxian posted:So four AV 8 mooks blasting away at one PC with MAC-10s would be effectively a single AV 11 attack. Best used in relatively small groups. Are you kidding? Absolutely best used in ludicrously huge groups, so when fifty nazi zombie soldiers go goose-stepping through the netherworld the players all crouch behind boulders and mutter to each other about how they need to warn the citizens of some time-displaced fortress full of 24th century cyberFrench.
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Nov 2, 2013 03:07
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Well, I meant small groups as in don't get the AV value so high up the Mooks are taking huge chunks out of the PCs reliably. 16 mooks: Two groups of AV 8 Mooks generating two AV 15 attacks? No. Seven groups of AV 8 mooks generating AV 10 attacks? Yes. It can even let you tailor make the groups based on player skill level, if a few of the PCs are AV 16 killer hot poo poo, of course more mooks are going to join the group(s) attacking him as opposed to the AV 13 guy.
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Nov 2, 2013 03:17
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Galaga Galaxian posted:I used "group bonuses" mooks combine their efforts into a single attack with a +1 to the AV for every mook after the first. Holy poo poo why didn't I think of this. This will make taking on platoons of FEMA commandos a lot easier in Fairbanks later. (It's a running joke that FEMA is the elite paramilitary arm of the US Ascended, in my games)
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Nov 2, 2013 22:30
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Night10194 posted:Holy poo poo why didn't I think of this. This will make taking on platoons of FEMA commandos a lot easier in Fairbanks later. (It's a running joke that FEMA is the elite paramilitary arm of the US Ascended, in my games) You're welcome, and a fan of Deus Ex are we?  I've been kind of itching to give Feng Shui another shot, either with my regular weekly IRC group or something else, I just am not sure how well the game would go in IRC format.
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Nov 3, 2013 06:00
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I've found it works okay in IRC as long as the GM types really fast and the group isn't too large. I tried it with 5 people and it was way too much, but 3 should do fine. Also, yes, I am a pretty big fan of Deus Ex, and the Ascended fit the same bill wonderfully.
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Nov 3, 2013 07:06
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Sadly our group is 5+GM, and the number of players was something I was thinking about as one of the bigger potential hangups. Worse still my group tends to be rather lacking when it comes to being proactive. They always leave me worrying that I'm hogging all the spotlight with my character.
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Nov 3, 2013 07:14
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Night10194 posted:I've found it works okay in IRC as long as the GM types really fast and the group isn't too large. I tried it with 5 people and it was way too much, but 3 should do fine. Have you figured out a way to make it not suck as a PBP? The initiative tick system just means poo poo ends up slogging unbearably, even more than is normal for PBP.
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Nov 3, 2013 18:29
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I've never run a PBP game because I am too impatient for them, sorry. Plus, I think Feng Shui just wouldn't work for one, for the reasons you mentioned.
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Nov 3, 2013 19:28
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Whybird posted:The thing about the Feng Shui combat system is that as much as the game has some genuinely clever innovations (The Map Is Not Your Friend, using minions) the actual dice mechanics still feel like they're getting in the way of the fun. Possibly I'm still on my honeymoon with *world, but I reckon the fail-forward rolls and Conversation structure from that system would be a perfect fit for evoking the kind of action movie feel Feng Shui wants to emulate. There's also the fact that mooks could not hit a PC except on a 8+ on a d6-d6, which meant they were even remotely a threat. You could ignore them completely. That all being said, Feng Shui is still one of my all-time favorite settings. It was the first game I remember seeing whose base philosophy was "You want to include <thing>? Sure, go for it! Have fun!"
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Nov 4, 2013 22:20
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Not only that, but everything in Feng Shui's setting is written to be interacted with. Big faction leaders? They're pretty badass, sure, but they're written for you to fight, fight alongside, do favors for, oppose, whatever. You're supposed to get on their level over the course of the game. Similarly, the factions are all written for you to either fight or join or whatever as you wish, and if you don't like any of them, it's awful convenient that the Dragons just got shot up and really need a new core of awesome asskickers to take up the mantle of heroism and justice, ain't it? I loving love Feng Shui.
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Nov 5, 2013 00:19
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So, I was lucky enough to be in a focus group and a 'playtest' for Feng Shui with Cam Banks (the current line manager) last weekend at Metatopia. He seems very aware of most of these problems with the game, and it was interesting to see some long-time players of Feng Shui there who had internalized fixes to many of the rough spots not realize what they had house ruled. We also fought AV 13 mooks in his adventure to see how exactly badly the mooks break. As I was playing a transformed crab (AV 13) the answer is "very badly."
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Nov 5, 2013 02:32
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Has there been any discussion of whether or not they're changing up the setting? I haven't seen a huge amount about Buro's replacement in the card game but it seems like a kinda boring, standard cyberpunk future compared to the original 2056.
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Nov 6, 2013 01:19
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They haven't really said anything about any changes. I'm guessing that kind of thing is going to be determined by playtest feedback.
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Nov 6, 2013 02:00
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Night10194 posted:Has there been any discussion of whether or not they're changing up the setting? I haven't seen a huge amount about Buro's replacement in the card game but it seems like a kinda boring, standard cyberpunk future compared to the original 2056. The gimmick of the new future is that Buro:Tech+Magi::Syndicate:Tech+Chi. They're also the exact opposite of what the Guiding Hand stands for so they flip poo poo about it.
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Nov 6, 2013 03:07
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Hm. They sound a lot like the chi-driven American future from the Guiding Hand sourcebook.
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Nov 6, 2013 03:11
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But doesn't that have like no technological advancement and constantly battling Chi Warlords like some sort of Wire-Fu Mad Max and blackpowder guns only show up in the 2054 juncture? Or was that the example in the core book? Syndicate Future is a Neuromancer future except killing cyborgs with blind Zen Archery is a much more common skillset.
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Nov 6, 2013 03:25
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So basically, crank up the magic modifier for the juncture and you've got yourself a nice Shadowrun clone?
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Nov 6, 2013 03:49
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Just run Shadowrun in Feng Shui anyway.
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Nov 6, 2013 03:52
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Mr. Maltose posted:But doesn't that have like no technological advancement and constantly battling Chi Warlords like some sort of Wire-Fu Mad Max and blackpowder guns only show up in the 2054 juncture? Or was that the example in the core book? No that was one of the other "Guiding Hand win" critical shift examples, there were a few from the book IIRC.
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Nov 6, 2013 04:00
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Yeah, there were three. The one where the Guiding Hand actually succeed in their aims, the one with kung fu warlords, and then Chimerica. Chimerica is aa psuedo-Confucian America run by corporations using chi-technology to control America and power its anti-nuke shield, hiding behind the name Grandfather, a beloved Big Brother-type figure who is long dead.
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Nov 6, 2013 04:16
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Oh man, that's great. I've never owned the Guided Hand sourcebook and it's been a while since you've gone over that stuff, Mors. Imagine Chimerica with less Confucian facism and more space satellites. It really owes a lot to Neuromancer, which is cool because despite being one of the books most associated with Cyberpunk the actual details Shadowhand emphasized were the stuff that didn't become cliche.
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Nov 6, 2013 04:22
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Yeah, I love the Syndicate stuff just because it also implies that there's heavy investment in orbital stuff and inner-system colonization. So you could run into some dude who's attuned to the alien Feng Shui of the Face on Mars, or whatever, with whatever esoteric benefits that might bring.
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Nov 6, 2013 12:33
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Space Stations are just like ocean liners, cool jets, beautiful buildings, and fantastic bridges. Just another awesome setpiece to have blow up. 
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Nov 6, 2013 18:13
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Mr. Maltose posted:Just run Shadowrun in Feng Shui anyway. This seems to become dangerously risky. You might actually make Shadowrun fun.
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Nov 7, 2013 06:59
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Has anyone been crazy enough to use the book with damage values for every mundane item to run a Dead Rising game?
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Nov 9, 2013 06:52
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What book? And is Frank West an Everyman who took journalism as a skill purchase, or a Journalist who talked his GM into switching the unique schtick with the everyman's? 
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Nov 9, 2013 06:54
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Iron and Silk, I think, is the one with damage for everything from a detached leg to a roller coaster (moving and thrown separately.)
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Nov 9, 2013 07:01
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Count Chocula posted:Has anyone been crazy enough to use the book with damage values for every mundane item to run a Dead Rising game? I wasn't until you said that. Now I'll have to work in some zombie virus gone wrong poo poo that my Ascended team has to clean up later. Especially the Consumer on the Brink mistaken for a Pledged Agent. She knows her way around improvised weapons, because she used to sign the papers that told people to oversee the robots that make sure people are running the machines that manufacture crowbars. Practically an expert already.
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Nov 9, 2013 08:21
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Night10194 posted:I wasn't until you said that. Now I'll have to work in some zombie virus gone wrong poo poo that my Ascended team has to clean up later. Classic Western Zombies should be easily doable if you're using Buro as an excuse. That or the Lotus (or maybe other magicians from the ancient past).
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Nov 9, 2013 08:36
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I never heard of this game style until just a few days ago. It can really create some funny moments in play. If you'd like to hear an example of the game played I highly suggest One Shot's rendition of Feng Shui by James D'Amato. Episode one, two, three, and four. This was a run by a DM with 10 years of experience and works with an improve comedy group and this run through was smooth as butter even when they were improvising most of it. It's a very slick production and I only wish it would be half as smooth when I pick up the game. One Shot is a Podcast which picks up a different rule set for each month and plays a game. I highly suggest it!
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Nov 10, 2013 06:54
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So what's the deal with this Homo Omega guy they mention like, once in the Jammer book as Battlechimp Potemkin's 'greatest foe'? He and the Seed of the New Flesh aren't actually in Seed of the New Flesh and I'm thinking he's probably a legacy mention from Shadowfist or something.
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Nov 11, 2013 20:30
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Night10194 posted:So what's the deal with this Homo Omega guy they mention like, once in the Jammer book as Battlechimp Potemkin's 'greatest foe'? He and the Seed of the New Flesh aren't actually in Seed of the New Flesh and I'm thinking he's probably a legacy mention from Shadowfist or something. He's just a big tough cyborg with guns for hands who shoots people as part of a eugenics plan. Shadowfist, yeah.
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Nov 11, 2013 20:34
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He is an ugly mother fucker too.
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Nov 11, 2013 20:39
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