Would make an awesome D&D / Gamma World campaign setting. IO9 has some neat concept art of the setting on their site.
The setting is Earth of the far-flung future, when all traces of our civilization have long vanished. The catastrophes of distant ages -- natural and man-made -- have passed into legend and mysticism. And yet ... the world is no utopia. Technology is unknown. The animal kingdom as we know it is extinct. Birds, reptiles, mammals -- all lost to endless, unforgiving cycles of planetary death and rebirth.
Humankind has clung stubbornly to existence -- thanks to a perverse turn of Evolution. For as the weary planet became inexorably depleted, our species adapted by growing smaller with every passing eon, until at last we stood in parity with the only other “higher” species to survive -- insects. And just as our current society has domesticated animals to sustain ourselves, the human societies of this future have yoked insects to their service. Food, weapons, clothing, art -- even the most sacred religious beliefs -- are derived from Humankind’s profound intertwining with the once-lowly insect world. In this savage landscape, men cannot hope to dominate. Ceaselessly and viciously, humans are stalked by Night Wasps, Lair Spiders, and Grass Roaches.
And men are still men. Corrupt elites ruthlessly enforce a rigid caste system over a debased and ignorant populace. Duplicitous clergymen and power-mongering Royalty wage pointless wars for their own glory. Fantasies of a better life, a better world, serve only to torment those who dare to dream.
One so cursed is a half-breed slave named Anand, a dung-collector of the midden caste who, against all possibility, rises above hopelessness to lead his people against a genocidal army of men who fight atop fearsome, translucent Ghost Ants. And to his horror, Anand finds that this merciless enemy is led by someone from his own family ... a religious zealot bent on the conversion of all non-believers ... or their extermination.
SkyCaptain on
The RPG Bestiary - Dangerous foes and legendary monsters for D&D 4th Edition
Ok, so for my D&D 4e derivative, I'm changing the way implements work to function more like weapons for spells and am adding traits to them like weapons have, but I'm kind of at a stumbling block when it comes to coming up with something unique for casting spells without an implement and mastercrafted implements.
Well, are you stuck with using stuff from Gamma World or 4e, or are you making shit up? I mean, when you're building a new game off of the base system, I see no reason not to get just a little silly and cut loose.
For Mastercrafted - maybe extend duration of effects? I.e. "Extend the duration of conditions you impose by 1 round." Meaning even after something saves against ongoing damage or slowed or something, they still take the condition at the start of their next turn. Same goes for buffs for allies. It's tough to say how any of that would work with your implement users, since I don't know if you have traditional wizards/arcanists. For example, would that stack with something like Orb of Imposition, if that's a power in your game?
The only problem with that is that your Exceptional items aren't flat "better" than that. +1 to attack and damage does work with every attack power, sure, but for anyone who can or focuses on inflicting conditions reliably, is that as good? Maybe it is, but I dunno. My thing is probably OP. I tend to make stuff a little OP.
For No Implement (and maybe this is a dick move) trait you could try something like...
"Unwieldy: Area and Close attacks do half damage to enemies on an even attack roll and max damage to allies on an odd attack roll."
That might punish party-unfriendly Area attacks a little too much. But it follows the nature of your Unworked implement stuff having effects on Odd attack rolls and it's even worse because you run the risk of murderizing your allies.
These are just sort of what popped into my mind.
Of course, you could also just pick and choose from the various Superior Implement traits and adapt as necessary. Or re-adopt the "Accurate" tag to be an implement that ignores partial cover or partial concealment, for example, if you have those in your game? Then it's situational again, I guess...
I don't know if you've changed something in your system but Blasts are always more of a problem for me with regards to allies being inconveniently placed.
I got rid of blasts cause I was programming it for MapTool and they were a pain in the ass to script. I guess I could put them back in now that this is for my own pbp games and not MapTool.
SkyCaptain on
The RPG Bestiary - Dangerous foes and legendary monsters for D&D 4th Edition
for each roll, you can boost the result of the die roll by +1 (to a max of the highest physical roll) by spending $0.01 USD. maybe to make it so that not all rolls are natural 20s, have a max of +5 per roll.
and later, you can buy combo packs. $10 for 2000 auto boosts (a $20 value!)
I made a similar post on RPGnet not too long ago, but whatevs. Solos really need three things to be effective.
1. They need a way to reliably threaten the entire party. A large damaging aura, an area burst or blast with a short recharge timer, minion summoning, whatever. Since there's only one guy on the field, he needs to feel dangerous to everyone all the time and not just whoever is marking them. Orcus hits like a truck, but he only has one close burst power, and while it's a doozy, it's just not enough.
2. They need mobillity. A teleport speed, the ability to shift a large number of squares, a fly speed, an ability that pushes nearby targets away, etc. Otherwise, they just get locked down by the defender and the fight becomes a tank and spank. Orcus has a fly speed (which is nice), but by this time so do most PCs, so again, it isn't enough.
3. They need a way to mitigate status effects without being immune. Since they're the only thing on the field, status effects hurt solos significantly more, especially attack/defense penalties, daze, stun, and dominate. It's a delicate line they have to walk, since it must be worth it for the PCs to go out of their way to inflict these statuses without it them totally crippling the solo. And no, the saving throw bonus they already have is not enough. I've found counting daze as slow, counting stun / dominate as daze, and halving all attack/defense penalties (rounding up) works well as far as making them both still threatening and making those conditions worthwhile to try and inflict.
More than just mobility, most of the solos I build have the ability to inflict a fair amount of forced movement on the party. It seems that unless the monster actively moves the players against their will, the players tend to stand in the same place once they get flanking and the fight becomes really static.
Also my favorite status effect mitigation that I throw on any solos for whom I don't have some other mechanic in mind is just "At the start of this creature's turn, it may take X damage as a free action in order to end any effect on it, where X is the creature's level," although sometimes I give them the ability to expend an encounter or recharge power instead of taking the damage.
It's easy to tack onto any solo you're trying to fix, doesn't take a lot of bookkeeping, and it keeps status effects from turning the solo into a punching bag without making them pointless. I think I may actually have gotten the idea from...Aegeri, I believe, although it's been too long for me to remember well enough to give proper credit, so apologies if it was someone else.
Say I wanted to run a few monsters that have only been published in the original MM (eg Spirit Devourer), is there a quick and easy way to fix their stats to MM3 version maths?
Say I wanted to run a few monsters that have only been published in the original MM (eg Spirit Devourer), is there a quick and easy way to fix their stats to MM3 version maths?
It's a shame they haven't bothered to actually do all those math fixes on the old monsters. For an industry that has a young, obsessive labor pool that would work for very little they don't seem to take advantage of it. Plop some "summer intern" in front of a computer with a database and MM3 and tell 'em to get cracking.
Say I wanted to run a few monsters that have only been published in the original MM (eg Spirit Devourer), is there a quick and easy way to fix their stats to MM3 version maths?
Say I wanted to run a few monsters that have only been published in the original MM (eg Spirit Devourer), is there a quick and easy way to fix their stats to MM3 version maths?
He wants the Maths.
I want the Monster Maths.
The Monster Maths.
It was a graveyard smash...
If you have the old adventure tools / monster builder, you can edit and save them as a custom monster. It should recalculate their math.
SkyCaptain on
The RPG Bestiary - Dangerous foes and legendary monsters for D&D 4th Edition
It's a shame they haven't bothered to actually do all those math fixes on the old monsters. For an industry that has a young, obsessive labor pool that would work for very little they don't seem to take advantage of it. Plop some "summer intern" in front of a computer with a database and MM3 and tell 'em to get cracking.
It's not a lack of dedicated employees that know what they're doing, but corporate oversight and financial fuckwits screwing around with everything and keeping the programmers from doing what they do best.
SkyCaptain on
The RPG Bestiary - Dangerous foes and legendary monsters for D&D 4th Edition
It's a shame they haven't bothered to actually do all those math fixes on the old monsters. For an industry that has a young, obsessive labor pool that would work for very little they don't seem to take advantage of it. Plop some "summer intern" in front of a computer with a database and MM3 and tell 'em to get cracking.
It's not a lack of dedicated employees that know what they're doing, but corporate oversight and financial fuckwits screwing around with everything and keeping the programmers from doing what they do best.
Eh. I don't think anybody has been impressed by the programming acumen on display from Wizards.
From back in the RPGA days I have talked to a variety of the designers who worked there and the biggest issue was nobody had any patience for scut work. They complained about making a fucking index for books.
Now, really, I can understand the actual designers not wanting to do these things....so "interns". The lack of that is a business decision.
Looks like I need to start slaying more dragons in the dungeons to justify the 10 bucks a month.
Why'd you subscribe? Seems like you rolled damage before you even knew if it was a hit.
EDIT: And why, oh why did you post this...I'm now looking at my yearly subscription, which is up this summer...and thinking about how important it is...the Compendium is damn useful for PBP games, but that's about all I use...
Looks like I need to start slaying more dragons in the dungeons to justify the 10 bucks a month.
Why'd you subscribe? Seems like you rolled damage before you even knew if it was a hit.
EDIT: And why, oh why did you post this...I'm now looking at my yearly subscription, which is up this summer...and thinking about how important it is...the Compendium is damn useful for PBP games, but that's about all I use...
I applied for a game here, and was informed of another that should be going in a couple weeks. Trust me, I didn't just say "Oh, I need to spend ten more bucks every months!"
Durr... shows how long it's been since I took that Microsoft Word class lol. And yeah, I took a class that taught how to use Excel, Access (limited amounts), and Word heh. Waste of money though.
SkyCaptain on
The RPG Bestiary - Dangerous foes and legendary monsters for D&D 4th Edition
Back to my Spirit Devourers, because trapping PCs as tiny dolls in ribcages is cool. Their aforementioned trapping attack is against Fort and effectively removes the PC from the battle until they save, along with a bit of ongoing damage. Is that a bit much or am I just not used to entering the realm of Paragon level nasties?
Sounds fairly legit, though I'm unfamiliar with fight balance in D&D as a whole. I guess people that get trapped should hope for not shitty saving throws?
If the party is in Paragon, they've probably got a Leader who can grant saving throws and/or bonuses to saving throws. Whichever party member is in there might not be for too long.
It's basically the same condition as Stunned (Save Ends), though, with Ongoing Damage. I'd be more inclined to go with Weakened (Save Ends), and the afflicted player only has line of sight and effect to the Spirit Devourer. With this setup, the doll'd player can still take actions and struggle against his captivity whilst trying to escape it and his allies can still throw him heals and/or saving throws (since the spirit doll is visible in the creature's ribcage).
Alternately, dealing sufficient damage will allow the player to break out of the creature. For Paragon, assuming the player is weakened (save ends) something like 30 damage should be about right.
EDIT: Basically, anything that makes the fight more like Men in Black.
Posts
Would make an awesome D&D / Gamma World campaign setting. IO9 has some neat concept art of the setting on their site.
GM: Rusty Chains (DH Ongoing)
http://soulforge.wikidot.com/equipment
My wiki has all the current traits and information regarding them. ANyone have any suggestions on something I could crib from 4e or Gamma World maybe?
For Mastercrafted - maybe extend duration of effects? I.e. "Extend the duration of conditions you impose by 1 round." Meaning even after something saves against ongoing damage or slowed or something, they still take the condition at the start of their next turn. Same goes for buffs for allies. It's tough to say how any of that would work with your implement users, since I don't know if you have traditional wizards/arcanists. For example, would that stack with something like Orb of Imposition, if that's a power in your game?
The only problem with that is that your Exceptional items aren't flat "better" than that. +1 to attack and damage does work with every attack power, sure, but for anyone who can or focuses on inflicting conditions reliably, is that as good? Maybe it is, but I dunno. My thing is probably OP. I tend to make stuff a little OP.
For No Implement (and maybe this is a dick move) trait you could try something like...
"Unwieldy: Area and Close attacks do half damage to enemies on an even attack roll and max damage to allies on an odd attack roll."
That might punish party-unfriendly Area attacks a little too much. But it follows the nature of your Unworked implement stuff having effects on Odd attack rolls and it's even worse because you run the risk of murderizing your allies.
These are just sort of what popped into my mind.
Of course, you could also just pick and choose from the various Superior Implement traits and adapt as necessary. Or re-adopt the "Accurate" tag to be an implement that ignores partial cover or partial concealment, for example, if you have those in your game? Then it's situational again, I guess...
I definitely don't want to do anything like causing damage to allies. That instantly makes it an option no one would take.
The Exceptional / Superior implements and weapons are meant for pure striker roles. Their duty is to deal death and deal it well.
Friendly: This weapon only causes half damage with attacks that damage an ally.
That wouldn't be bad as a Wizard. Probably wouldn't be close to balanced if you used the defiling mechanic though.
Tiers obviously mimic the 4e tiers of Heroic, Paragon, and Epic.
If you were an uscrupulous bastard you could probably make some stupid money on micropayments.
I am reminded of -
and later, you can buy combo packs. $10 for 2000 auto boosts (a $20 value!)
More than just mobility, most of the solos I build have the ability to inflict a fair amount of forced movement on the party. It seems that unless the monster actively moves the players against their will, the players tend to stand in the same place once they get flanking and the fight becomes really static.
Also my favorite status effect mitigation that I throw on any solos for whom I don't have some other mechanic in mind is just "At the start of this creature's turn, it may take X damage as a free action in order to end any effect on it, where X is the creature's level," although sometimes I give them the ability to expend an encounter or recharge power instead of taking the damage.
It's easy to tack onto any solo you're trying to fix, doesn't take a lot of bookkeeping, and it keeps status effects from turning the solo into a punching bag without making them pointless. I think I may actually have gotten the idea from...Aegeri, I believe, although it's been too long for me to remember well enough to give proper credit, so apologies if it was someone else.
I want the Monster Maths.
The Monster Maths.
It was a graveyard smash...
:^:
It's a shame they haven't bothered to actually do all those math fixes on the old monsters. For an industry that has a young, obsessive labor pool that would work for very little they don't seem to take advantage of it. Plop some "summer intern" in front of a computer with a database and MM3 and tell 'em to get cracking.
Anyways, a quick google found this.
this owns
also, this owns: http://blogofholding.com/?p=512
If you have the old adventure tools / monster builder, you can edit and save them as a custom monster. It should recalculate their math.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-discussion/285294-doing-monster-math-original-monster-manual.html
And that I am far from the first person to make that joke.
It's not a lack of dedicated employees that know what they're doing, but corporate oversight and financial fuckwits screwing around with everything and keeping the programmers from doing what they do best.
Eh. I don't think anybody has been impressed by the programming acumen on display from Wizards.
From back in the RPGA days I have talked to a variety of the designers who worked there and the biggest issue was nobody had any patience for scut work. They complained about making a fucking index for books.
Now, really, I can understand the actual designers not wanting to do these things....so "interns". The lack of that is a business decision.
Looks like I need to start slaying more dragons in the dungeons to justify the 10 bucks a month.
Why'd you subscribe? Seems like you rolled damage before you even knew if it was a hit.
EDIT: And why, oh why did you post this...I'm now looking at my yearly subscription, which is up this summer...and thinking about how important it is...the Compendium is damn useful for PBP games, but that's about all I use...
I applied for a game here, and was informed of another that should be going in a couple weeks. Trust me, I didn't just say "Oh, I need to spend ten more bucks every months!"
As long as you think you're getting at least 10 dollars' worth of fun out of it every month, more power to you.
Ha ha haha.
Durr... shows how long it's been since I took that Microsoft Word class lol. And yeah, I took a class that taught how to use Excel, Access (limited amounts), and Word heh. Waste of money though.
(Did I use "saving throws" correctly?)
Edit: The restrained effect even gets to add some "He's sucking your soul!" drama!
GM: Rusty Chains (DH Ongoing)
If the party is in Paragon, they've probably got a Leader who can grant saving throws and/or bonuses to saving throws. Whichever party member is in there might not be for too long.
It's basically the same condition as Stunned (Save Ends), though, with Ongoing Damage. I'd be more inclined to go with Weakened (Save Ends), and the afflicted player only has line of sight and effect to the Spirit Devourer. With this setup, the doll'd player can still take actions and struggle against his captivity whilst trying to escape it and his allies can still throw him heals and/or saving throws (since the spirit doll is visible in the creature's ribcage).
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
EDIT: Basically, anything that makes the fight more like Men in Black.