Introducing Run vs. Colony, a tabletop role playing game designed for playing psychological horror games set on another planet.
Conflict resolution in this game involves rolling percentile dice (d%).
Character features include:
Morality
Skills
and Allegiances
Woo Alien RPG where have you been!
Scrolling down quickly I read that as Woody Allen RPG, and couldn't even begin to wrap my head around such a thing even existing, let alone with a Morality system.
Next week's game session of Agents of STRIKE is going to be the wedding of one of the PCs to a NPC
and one of the PCs was like "...so, we should do a bachelorette party, right?" and the players were like YES
so pretty much next week I'm going to open with a superhero version of The Hungover.
also, dialogue from today's session:
Bob nods, salutes, and moves to leave.
"Oh, Bob"
Bob stops and looks at Clay
Clay asks him "What happened with the Watchdogs?"
Bob shrugs "Oh, I killed all of 'em. Got rid of the bodies, clean op, boss."
Clay stares.
"...it was... an intelligence gathering operation, Childan."
Bob shrugs again "Yeah, well, intel gathered is they dead, boss."
"Don't send a shotgun to paint a house."
"Because it only does one color."
Clay is dumbfounded.
Blake TDo you have enemies then?Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.Registered Userregular
Yeah.
I dunno.
Not all the betrayals are good, and while I like betrayal it also has the issue where depending on where people are with the haunt it can make the haunt ridiculously easy for either the betrayer or the stooges, or even the other way around. I see betrayal as a fun chaos simulator which sometimes is crap and sometimes not and I just think it is too random for it to be a thing where what happens carries over to the next game.
Would they be willing to drop or reduce the haunt count for Legacy? That's the only way I could see it working. Either static or a small pool and, once chosen, the haunt is the same every game (Even if details are maybe different).
At that point does it stay Betrayal?
I like the random house generation, and I like the generational aspect that they mentioned for Betrayal Legacy, but 50 random haunts baked in where one time you fight a vampire and the next is a treasure hunt doesn't seem to jive with Legacy.
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WACriminalDying Is Easy, Young ManLiving Is HarderRegistered Userregular
Would they be willing to drop or reduce the haunt count for Legacy? That's the only way I could see it working. Either static or a small pool and, once chosen, the haunt is the same every game (Even if details are maybe different).
At that point does it stay Betrayal?
I like the random house generation, and I like the generational aspect that they mentioned for Betrayal Legacy, but 50 random haunts baked in where one time you fight a vampire and the next is a treasure hunt doesn't seem to jive with Legacy.
It would be super easy to have envelopes with specific haunts for specific situations, to allow some semblance of balance, AKA no dragons at the front door while everyone is still in the entry hall.
I keep trying to talk to orcs in DnD and I always get told unequivocally that all orcs are evil and they will never want to talk and make friends.
This is one reason i kind of like prebuilt worlds.
What's an elf, how do they work? What's an orc, how do they work? These are important details. Cause a Tolkien Orc is different from a DnD Orc which is different from a Shadow of Mordor Orc, which might be different from your home brew or. And I'd like to know that difference when making a character or interacting with the world.
orcs usually land somewhere between bandits and trolls for me
most of the time you meet a troll they're rarely interested in talking. you're weak and stupid and tiny to them, why bother talking when they can mash you?
bandits are quite likely to be interested in talking if you seem at all challenging. maybe they'll be able to threaten you into giving them money, or maybe if they've bitten off more than they can chew they can talk you into letting them go
for orcs, it's more contextual. grumpy orcs are unlikely to want to talk, but orcs who are just going somewhere or camping or hunting might be interested in seeing what they can get from talking to people, or even merely curious. probably the issue I run into a lot with orcs these days is that I've used them so much in the past for larger campaign things that now they tend to just be supporting characters (and thus not the major part of an encounter, and less interesting to the party) or just a little fight early on in a campaign that are pretty throwaway. guess I'm more interested in using other creatures as more engaging encounters now.
In Exalted I created a Beastman Barbarian tribe that were basically Orcs which were basically inimical to civilization because their culture and psychological made them that way, and kind of put them in there to give the players an idea that yes, as Exalted you can engineer a society of extremely dangerous militant warriors to crush your enemies, but if you then leave them to go do other stuff they'll start attacking people and will eventually probably exterminate some civilization somewhere/get exterminated by someone else.
Little moral lesson there. Anyone like to guess if they took it to heart?
I play mostly Pathfinder, and in that world the only definitely evil race was Drow, so much so that if a regular elf turned evil enough, they'd spontaneously become Drow. But then they ret-conned it, so not even Drow are 100% guaranteed evil anymore.
Sure, most of the evil-themed cultures are still there, but it makes a point that it's the culture that's evil, not the race itself, just like the culture of that one human country that worships the king of hell or the one that is basically Hellraiser Country doesn't mean ever human is evil.
Before following any advice, opinions, or thoughts I may have expressed in the above post, be warned: I found Keven Costners "Waterworld" to be a very entertaining film.
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Zonugal(He/Him) The Holiday ArmadilloI'm Santa's representative for all the southern states. And Mexico!Registered Userregular
I play mostly Pathfinder, and in that world the only definitely evil race was Drow, so much so that if a regular elf turned evil enough, they'd spontaneously become Drow. But then they ret-conned it, so not even Drow are 100% guaranteed evil anymore.
Sure, most of the evil-themed cultures are still there, but it makes a point that it's the culture that's evil, not the race itself, just like the culture of that one human country that worships the king of hell or the one that is basically Hellraiser Country doesn't mean ever human is evil.
But who are we to judge the noble nation of Cheliax???
I play mostly Pathfinder, and in that world the only definitely evil race was Drow, so much so that if a regular elf turned evil enough, they'd spontaneously become Drow. But then they ret-conned it, so not even Drow are 100% guaranteed evil anymore.
Sure, most of the evil-themed cultures are still there, but it makes a point that it's the culture that's evil, not the race itself, just like the culture of that one human country that worships the king of hell or the one that is basically Hellraiser Country doesn't mean ever human is evil.
But who are we to judge the noble nation of Cheliax???
According to my character sheet from the last campaign I finished, I'm the goddamn Hurricane King, Ruler of the Shackles, who sank the last Chelish fleet who dared invade my sovereign waters. That's who!
Before following any advice, opinions, or thoughts I may have expressed in the above post, be warned: I found Keven Costners "Waterworld" to be a very entertaining film.
in our game most orcs are bad because a god screams in their minds every time they go to sleep which is so debilitating to restfulness that many orcs serve him in the hopes that they can make it stop
towards the north orcs co-exist with people but the night screams make them very short-tempered and irritable
the party's half-orc is a monk because he sought out meditation to try and help him cope with it
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Zonugal(He/Him) The Holiday ArmadilloI'm Santa's representative for all the southern states. And Mexico!Registered Userregular
I play mostly Pathfinder, and in that world the only definitely evil race was Drow, so much so that if a regular elf turned evil enough, they'd spontaneously become Drow. But then they ret-conned it, so not even Drow are 100% guaranteed evil anymore.
Sure, most of the evil-themed cultures are still there, but it makes a point that it's the culture that's evil, not the race itself, just like the culture of that one human country that worships the king of hell or the one that is basically Hellraiser Country doesn't mean ever human is evil.
But who are we to judge the noble nation of Cheliax???
According to my character sheet from the last campaign I finished, I'm the goddamn Hurricane King, Ruler of the Shackles, who sank the last Chelish fleet who dared invade my sovereign waters. That's who!
in our game most orcs are bad because a god screams in their minds every time they go to sleep which is so debilitating to restfulness that many orcs serve him in the hopes that they can make it stop
towards the north orcs co-exist with people but the night screams make them very short-tempered and irritable
the party's half-orc is a monk because he sought out meditation to try and help him cope with it
in our game most orcs are bad because a god screams in their minds every time they go to sleep which is so debilitating to restfulness that many orcs serve him in the hopes that they can make it stop
towards the north orcs co-exist with people but the night screams make them very short-tempered and irritable
the party's half-orc is a monk because he sought out meditation to try and help him cope with it
This is the worst possible interpretation of half orcs and I hate it.
game I had a while ago had a Half-Orc who believed this was the case for his birth
over time during the campaign the player changed his mind about that a bit and ended up meeting his Orc uncle, who told him that his parents did actually have a fling rather than the 'usual' origin for a half-orc. his mother just passed away shortly after his birth from illness and his father was killed in battle before he was ever born, so no-one but his uncle knew the truth (and he offered to be put under a spell to prove he wasn't lying)
I was pretty happy with that turnaround; brought some real interesting character development to his character (who previously loathed pure orcs)
In my setting orcs aren't necessarily evil. They usually come from pretty rough locales so are themselves often rough dudes, but there's no like inherent taint of evil. Like everyone in the "civilized" city states think they are inherently evil, but that's cause the city states keep treating them like raiders and invaders because the city states are expansionist assholes that just scoop up land without mind for who's been nomading through the region.
Also that random RPG generator uses bounties as a character aspect and now I'm wondering how that could work mechanically:
The obvious general thing is Bounties are skills but also things the GM could tug on but I feel like it'd be way, way more fun as a dumb push your luck kind of deal.
So you can just declare what bounties you have and where you're wanted for those crimes whenever you want. You then get a vote around the table for your action (including the GM). If you get more votes for yes (or a tie) you get to write that bounty down and your first time using that action goes flawlessly. You are as good as your poster says. With the GM also getting some heat/some way to bring the law down harder on you. If more people say no you fail the action spectacularly as your braggart ways are exposed.
The D&D 5e manual for half-orcs implies an intense physical response to emotions both positive and negative. I can easily see the marauding orc behavior coming from not necessarily being emotionally immature, but that emotional maturity for orcs takes inhuman willpower. Small slights become massive causes for blood grudges, small good fortunate events become the best day of their lives every time. The thrill of battle and conquest is intoxicating and addictive.
something i'm proud about is that the half-orc's player has so bought into the fantasy that he explicitly asked to roll to see how he deals with the screaming god each long rest
he's willingly added a new roll that can only give him stat penalties if he fails because he's into the struggle of his people
The D&D 5e manual for half-orcs implies an intense physical response to emotions both positive and negative. I can easily see the marauding orc behavior coming from not necessarily being emotionally immature, but that emotional maturity for orcs takes inhuman willpower. Small slights become massive causes for blood grudges, small good fortunate events become the best day of their lives every time. The thrill of battle and conquest is intoxicating and addictive.
"This puppy is friends with a Beholder. I CANNOT EVEN! WARRRRGH"
"That bard wrote a song different to a previous song. THIS BETRAYAL WILL NOT STAND AND MUST BE REPAID IN SLAUGHTER"
"This picture of a latté with an owlbear drawn in foam IS THE BEST THING AND HAS WON THE WORLD, BLOOD FOR THE ARTISINAL COFFEE GOD"
Posts
It's the PBRD system--it's like Hellboy but drunk.
http://www.audioentropy.com/
Scrolling down quickly I read that as Woody Allen RPG, and couldn't even begin to wrap my head around such a thing even existing, let alone with a Morality system.
and one of the PCs was like "...so, we should do a bachelorette party, right?" and the players were like YES
so pretty much next week I'm going to open with a superhero version of The Hungover.
also, dialogue from today's session:
"Oh, Bob"
Bob stops and looks at Clay
Clay asks him "What happened with the Watchdogs?"
Bob shrugs "Oh, I killed all of 'em. Got rid of the bodies, clean op, boss."
Clay stares.
"...it was... an intelligence gathering operation, Childan."
Bob shrugs again "Yeah, well, intel gathered is they dead, boss."
"Don't send a shotgun to paint a house."
"Because it only does one color."
Clay is dumbfounded.
Oh no i've thrown myself into a locker! and down some stairs!
Blehhhh
Well a shotgun can do makeup
That's not a bad pun for a random game generator
I dunno.
Not all the betrayals are good, and while I like betrayal it also has the issue where depending on where people are with the haunt it can make the haunt ridiculously easy for either the betrayer or the stooges, or even the other way around. I see betrayal as a fun chaos simulator which sometimes is crap and sometimes not and I just think it is too random for it to be a thing where what happens carries over to the next game.
Satans..... hints.....
At that point does it stay Betrayal?
I like the random house generation, and I like the generational aspect that they mentioned for Betrayal Legacy, but 50 random haunts baked in where one time you fight a vampire and the next is a treasure hunt doesn't seem to jive with Legacy.
It would be super easy to have envelopes with specific haunts for specific situations, to allow some semblance of balance, AKA no dragons at the front door while everyone is still in the entry hall.
This is one reason i kind of like prebuilt worlds.
What's an elf, how do they work? What's an orc, how do they work? These are important details. Cause a Tolkien Orc is different from a DnD Orc which is different from a Shadow of Mordor Orc, which might be different from your home brew or. And I'd like to know that difference when making a character or interacting with the world.
Uhhh, yeah.... "Friendly."
most of the time you meet a troll they're rarely interested in talking. you're weak and stupid and tiny to them, why bother talking when they can mash you?
bandits are quite likely to be interested in talking if you seem at all challenging. maybe they'll be able to threaten you into giving them money, or maybe if they've bitten off more than they can chew they can talk you into letting them go
for orcs, it's more contextual. grumpy orcs are unlikely to want to talk, but orcs who are just going somewhere or camping or hunting might be interested in seeing what they can get from talking to people, or even merely curious. probably the issue I run into a lot with orcs these days is that I've used them so much in the past for larger campaign things that now they tend to just be supporting characters (and thus not the major part of an encounter, and less interesting to the party) or just a little fight early on in a campaign that are pretty throwaway. guess I'm more interested in using other creatures as more engaging encounters now.
In Exalted I created a Beastman Barbarian tribe that were basically Orcs which were basically inimical to civilization because their culture and psychological made them that way, and kind of put them in there to give the players an idea that yes, as Exalted you can engineer a society of extremely dangerous militant warriors to crush your enemies, but if you then leave them to go do other stuff they'll start attacking people and will eventually probably exterminate some civilization somewhere/get exterminated by someone else.
Little moral lesson there. Anyone like to guess if they took it to heart?
Sure, most of the evil-themed cultures are still there, but it makes a point that it's the culture that's evil, not the race itself, just like the culture of that one human country that worships the king of hell or the one that is basically Hellraiser Country doesn't mean ever human is evil.
But who are we to judge the noble nation of Cheliax???
According to my character sheet from the last campaign I finished, I'm the goddamn Hurricane King, Ruler of the Shackles, who sank the last Chelish fleet who dared invade my sovereign waters. That's who!
towards the north orcs co-exist with people but the night screams make them very short-tempered and irritable
the party's half-orc is a monk because he sought out meditation to try and help him cope with it
So be it.
This is the worst possible interpretation of half orcs and I hate it.
epic quest: stop the screaming god
Pass; the rewards can't be equipped by my class.
game I had a while ago had a Half-Orc who believed this was the case for his birth
over time during the campaign the player changed his mind about that a bit and ended up meeting his Orc uncle, who told him that his parents did actually have a fling rather than the 'usual' origin for a half-orc. his mother just passed away shortly after his birth from illness and his father was killed in battle before he was ever born, so no-one but his uncle knew the truth (and he offered to be put under a spell to prove he wasn't lying)
I was pretty happy with that turnaround; brought some real interesting character development to his character (who previously loathed pure orcs)
This is also why I usually ban half-orcs from my game, or just say that they are orcs instead.
The obvious general thing is Bounties are skills but also things the GM could tug on but I feel like it'd be way, way more fun as a dumb push your luck kind of deal.
So you can just declare what bounties you have and where you're wanted for those crimes whenever you want. You then get a vote around the table for your action (including the GM). If you get more votes for yes (or a tie) you get to write that bounty down and your first time using that action goes flawlessly. You are as good as your poster says. With the GM also getting some heat/some way to bring the law down harder on you. If more people say no you fail the action spectacularly as your braggart ways are exposed.
he's willingly added a new roll that can only give him stat penalties if he fails because he's into the struggle of his people
"This puppy is friends with a Beholder. I CANNOT EVEN! WARRRRGH"
"That bard wrote a song different to a previous song. THIS BETRAYAL WILL NOT STAND AND MUST BE REPAID IN SLAUGHTER"
"This picture of a latté with an owlbear drawn in foam IS THE BEST THING AND HAS WON THE WORLD, BLOOD FOR THE ARTISINAL COFFEE GOD"