TheSoundNinja posted:

Covok: Shonen

TheSoundNinja posted:

Perhaps have a mechanic for increasing the difficulty of the subsequent arcs based on the weird power antics of the PCs? I like the concept, the challenge is how to rope in "Shonen Power Creep" to actually be a mechanic.

TheSoundNinja posted:

Yeah. Find the 150 words you feel best sell the game and use them. I do really like that concept though.

TheSoundNinja posted:

I updated the link for you.

gnome7 posted:

The logo game in this thread is extremely strong, dang.

TheSoundNinja posted:

Yet hilarious. Anyone have any suggestions for good tutorial sites?

Antivehicular posted:

I just used Cooltext, but to be fair, mine is not one of the actually good logos in this contest, so y'know.

Agent Rush posted:

Hey Covok, have you found someone to playtest trade with? My group is up for a game this week.

Are you on the Discord? It might be easier to co-ordinate there.

Agent Rush posted:

Cool, I'll start reading over your game now. Thanks!

Agent Rush posted:

Sorry Covok, I probably won't be able to playtest your game until next week. If I can get to it sooner I'll let you know.

Agent Rush posted:

GUNS! Playtest notes 1

We went with hotfixes, and tried out a few different variations of rules as we played. I was the GM and had three other players, a Protagonist and two Supporting Heroes. We did a truncated run of Act 1, with a few combats and ending with a fight with a General.

We liked the collaborative character creation, but found that creating Generals and the Big Bad can cut into the session time. Combat was generally enjoyable, with the players getting into describing how their Facts helped their actions. As a GM it didn't seem like I had much to do beyond informing them of success or failure.

Some of the specific questions we came up against during the session are below.


Player Characters:

Do the Archetypes have to be chosen from a list, or can they be created wholesale?

Enemy Creation:

Are these characters meant to be created before hand, or at the same time as the Shonen Heroes?

The text mentions both Minions and Underlings. Are these the same type of character, or are they supposed to refer to different things?

Tension:

We tried out spending Tension both before and after a roll, which did you plan its use around?

When gaining Tension with a quirk, is the point added before or after the player takes their action?

Complications:

We weren't sure when exactly Complications were supposed to be applied. If a Complication is applied after every action, it seems like there's no point to trying to Maneuver. We had Complications get added when the player rolled no successes on an action. When are they supposed to be applied?

Facts:

Is there a way for a character to use another's facts against them, or are facts only used by the character that has them?

One player tried to make a narrative "attack" against the opponent. Is it possible to learn about an NPC's facts in-character?

Can Arena Facts be invoked by anyone, or only by PCs?

Bursts:

A player suggested using a Burst out of turn. Doing so makes it incredibly powerful, are they meant to be able to interrupt another's turn?

Act 1:

Does the 'boss bonus' apply to a General's power level?

We were planning to meet up again and try another Arc, I'll post notes from that if we have it. Covok, does this help? I'll clarify if you have any questions. TheSoundNinja, is this good for the playtest requirement?

Also, were you able to run Exceed Zeta?

Agent Rush posted:

Using Tension before hand for a big handful of dice seemed to be more in tune with how it should go, given that you have the Gun Trick to allow rerolls. Speaking of Gun Tricks, have you considered either letting it reroll any number of dice or letting players get more than one? It seems a little weak to only be able to reroll one die once per combat.

One thing I missed, do Archetypes count as Facts?

Agent Rush posted:

Agent Rush posted:

GUNS Playtest Notes 2


Hey Covok, we got the chance to play Act 2. I told the players about Archetypes being Facts, that Gun Tricks let them reroll any number of dice, and that Manuevers were immune to Complications. They definitely appreciated that.

Here's some of the questions that came up during the game:

Act 2:

The difficulty for the checks at the end of the scenes seems really high, is the intention that players will only partially meet their goals? We tried it out RAW and all the players failed every check by at least three successes. The math as it stands requires either 100% successes on seven dice, or multiple 10s on four or more dice.

We also tried out setting the difficulty as the number of successes needed by the end of the three scenes, but found that we needed to raise the successes required as they reached the goal by the second scene.

Can you use your Gun Trick during the goal scenes? We tried both being able to once per scene and once per goal (three scenes). The latter seemed to fit better, giving the player a chance to recover without making the scenes trivial.

Can you spend Tension on these rolls?

If the Power Level Increase is supposed to be unlikely to succeed, maybe it shouldn't come right after the boosted General fight.

Misc. Suggestions:

Have you considered a Critical option for attacks, say if one side gets 5 or more successes than the other?

Is there any way for a player to reduce an opposing dice pool, or do players only increase their own?


I don't know if we'll be able to play again, I hope this helps you out. I'll clarify any points if you need me to.

quote:

"Shut up, dad, I'm not like you!" Screamed my whiny voice, "I didn't grow up in a time when killing people was the norm, you sick murderer!"

I slammed the door and sulked on my bed. In reality, I didn't want to hurt his feelings, but, in the moment, I hoped my words hurt like a child. I was mad and lashing out. We learn a lot in school about how the GUNS brought peace to the galaxy, but it can be hard when you get older. My dad doesn't believe in propaganda, when we're old enough, we learn the truth of how things went down during the war.

To think of the smiling face and caring man who raised me as a mass-murdering psychic war machine is sickening. I know he put an end to that cycle, I know I would have turned out the same if he didn't, but it's hard now not to see the blood on his hands when I look at him. He may be a doting father now, but I know that, no matter what, he killed people when the GUNS were still weapons of war, it's hard to reconcile.

Stuff like that comes rushing to my head constantly as I fly in this ship. The Alliance is about peaceful discourse, that's what they fought for. We don't have to fight to make peace anymore, we just debate. That's how it should be, but, as long as the Emperor is gaining ground in the Outer Sectors, how can I stand by?

My father did horrible things to unite the galaxy and allow for peace. Now, these anti-GUNS extremist and their fascist government threaten that. My dad is trying to keep to peace or is at least being held back by Alliance politics, but I can't let that lead to our ruin.

The galaxy is at war, even if no one wants to admit it yet. I may have to kill like my father did and be seen with horror and disgust like my dad was by me.

If that protects what my father sacrificed for and what my kids will inherit, then so be it.

Antivehicular posted:

Yeah, this was amazing. Best of luck to the finalists, and I hope the podcast recording goes well, TSN!

Antivehicular posted:

I'm aware, but good luck to everyone, you know? I'm really looking forward to seeing these games shine.