I think if you're using a GMPC to educate then just like, fully introduce JRPG tutorial scenarios:
Set up a situation where the GMPC eats shit *except* for using a mechanic and then is also narratively out.
god this makes me remember 'Operative One', kickass lady who in retrospect was basicly a JC Denton rip off. Nanite super spy in a friends campaign
Anyway whenever she took emp damage the GM had her keel over like a narcoleptic. Its hilarious in hindsight but at the time we were pissed off because we thought befriending this lady was a win button nd.... no. She's napping now so go do it yourself
I’ve started running Age of Ashes for Pathfinder 2e and last night’s session was a glorious clusterfuck.
So PF2E has a version of lore checks called Recall Knowledge. Basically you ask the GM a question about something, and then they decide what skill makes the most sense to roll, asks the player what their modifier is, and makes the roll for the player in secret. If it’s a success, they get the answer, a failure gets nothing, a critical success means they either get some extra info or get to ask a follow-up question, and a critical failure means the GM acts like they got a success but gives them false information.
So the party is in this old citadel, sent by the nearby town to check on a local peaceful goblin tribe that lives there but has been throwing up smoke signals, and might be in danger. The party eventually finds themselves near the entrance to the citadel courtyard where they can hear a bunch of scared, panicked voices shouting in goblin, along with one other voice speaking threateningly to them in common. But it’s all coming from the battlements above and they can’t actually see what’s going on from where they are. To make matters worse, there is only one way up, and blocking the way standing right there in the middle of the courtyard is some giant lizard-looking monster that has been attracted by all the noise and is currently looking up and roaring at everyone, desperate for a meal.
One of the players tried to recall knowledge on the monster and when I rolled for it, it was a crit fail, so I lied to them and told them it looked like a variant of basilisk that lived in bodies of water and more humid temperatures, that most people called a River Basilisk. It was actually a weird draconic monster that likes to live in water and ambush prey with a gross, diseased breath attack. But the lie convinced them, and because this is a new level one party the idea of fighting a basilisk scared the ever loving shit out of them.
Then one of them was like “well maybe this variant of basilisk doesn’t have a petrifaction gaze” and asked me about it, inviting another recall knowledge check. Which ALSO got a critical failure. So I kept the lie going and said “as far as you know, all basilisks can turn people to stone by looking at them.”
The panic sets in and sets the tone for the next two hours of the session, with the party scrambling to come up with half-baked plans, running around the place trying to find other ways up while accidentally triggering fights with other monsters, arguing with each other on what to do while the situation keeps getting worse. It just got more and more off the rails and they ended up exploring most of the dungeon.
I can’t wait until they fight this thing and nothing happens when it looks at them.
Oooooo, we got a session for our Waterdeep campaign scheduled for this Wednesday, and my group managed to convince our new supervisor to join! He's never played D&D before but I think he'll fit right into it and our group (we've all worked together for years, he's only new to our current shift). I got tasked with rolling up a simple character for him so as not to overwhelm him with stuff so of course I went with human fighter lol. I made his character's personality basically like his own but slightly exaggerated so it'll be easy for him to roleplay. I also have him claiming some long distant dwarven ancestry, and he also claims mastery with all weapons so he's carrying a comical amount (to let him try out what seems coolest). He's gonna be a little short for a human with a trim beard and gloriously bushy mustache, so maybe the dwarf thing is real, who knows? Our group gives out a free feat at level 1 so with that and his extra human feat he's got tough and tavern brawler (from growing up rough and also serving in the city watch). I'm pretty excited about this character and if he decides TTRPGs aren't his thing then I'll keep the character sheet around for a one shot or future campaign or something lol
I’ve started running Age of Ashes for Pathfinder 2e and last night’s session was a glorious clusterfuck.
So PF2E has a version of lore checks called Recall Knowledge. Basically you ask the GM a question about something, and then they decide what skill makes the most sense to roll, asks the player what their modifier is, and makes the roll for the player in secret. If it’s a success, they get the answer, a failure gets nothing, a critical success means they either get some extra info or get to ask a follow-up question, and a critical failure means the GM acts like they got a success but gives them false information.
So the party is in this old citadel, sent by the nearby town to check on a local peaceful goblin tribe that lives there but has been throwing up smoke signals, and might be in danger. The party eventually finds themselves near the entrance to the citadel courtyard where they can hear a bunch of scared, panicked voices shouting in goblin, along with one other voice speaking threateningly to them in common. But it’s all coming from the battlements above and they can’t actually see what’s going on from where they are. To make matters worse, there is only one way up, and blocking the way standing right there in the middle of the courtyard is some giant lizard-looking monster that has been attracted by all the noise and is currently looking up and roaring at everyone, desperate for a meal.
One of the players tried to recall knowledge on the monster and when I rolled for it, it was a crit fail, so I lied to them and told them it looked like a variant of basilisk that lived in bodies of water and more humid temperatures, that most people called a River Basilisk. It was actually a weird draconic monster that likes to live in water and ambush prey with a gross, diseased breath attack. But the lie convinced them, and because this is a new level one party the idea of fighting a basilisk scared the ever loving shit out of them.
Then one of them was like “well maybe this variant of basilisk doesn’t have a petrifaction gaze” and asked me about it, inviting another recall knowledge check. Which ALSO got a critical failure. So I kept the lie going and said “as far as you know, all basilisks can turn people to stone by looking at them.”
The panic sets in and sets the tone for the next two hours of the session, with the party scrambling to come up with half-baked plans, running around the place trying to find other ways up while accidentally triggering fights with other monsters, arguing with each other on what to do while the situation keeps getting worse. It just got more and more off the rails and they ended up exploring most of the dungeon.
I can’t wait until they fight this thing and nothing happens when it looks at them.
oh I know what adventure you're running lol
I've heard GM advice about running that one that you should particularly watch out for
an encounter in the caves at the end of the first book with the character named Ralldar, it's often a real surprise killer fight if run as written, at +3 to party level and resistance 10 to fire and non-magic physical if the party doesn't all have magic weapons yet.
I can’t wait until they fight this thing and nothing happens when it looks at them.
Make sure to have them roll meaningless Fort saves (or equivalent; I forget off the top of my head what PF2E uses).
There’s actually a specific action they can take called Avert Gaze to shield their eyes while they fight so they are going to totally sabotage their action economy doing it.
I’ve started running Age of Ashes for Pathfinder 2e and last night’s session was a glorious clusterfuck.
So PF2E has a version of lore checks called Recall Knowledge. Basically you ask the GM a question about something, and then they decide what skill makes the most sense to roll, asks the player what their modifier is, and makes the roll for the player in secret. If it’s a success, they get the answer, a failure gets nothing, a critical success means they either get some extra info or get to ask a follow-up question, and a critical failure means the GM acts like they got a success but gives them false information.
So the party is in this old citadel, sent by the nearby town to check on a local peaceful goblin tribe that lives there but has been throwing up smoke signals, and might be in danger. The party eventually finds themselves near the entrance to the citadel courtyard where they can hear a bunch of scared, panicked voices shouting in goblin, along with one other voice speaking threateningly to them in common. But it’s all coming from the battlements above and they can’t actually see what’s going on from where they are. To make matters worse, there is only one way up, and blocking the way standing right there in the middle of the courtyard is some giant lizard-looking monster that has been attracted by all the noise and is currently looking up and roaring at everyone, desperate for a meal.
One of the players tried to recall knowledge on the monster and when I rolled for it, it was a crit fail, so I lied to them and told them it looked like a variant of basilisk that lived in bodies of water and more humid temperatures, that most people called a River Basilisk. It was actually a weird draconic monster that likes to live in water and ambush prey with a gross, diseased breath attack. But the lie convinced them, and because this is a new level one party the idea of fighting a basilisk scared the ever loving shit out of them.
Then one of them was like “well maybe this variant of basilisk doesn’t have a petrifaction gaze” and asked me about it, inviting another recall knowledge check. Which ALSO got a critical failure. So I kept the lie going and said “as far as you know, all basilisks can turn people to stone by looking at them.”
The panic sets in and sets the tone for the next two hours of the session, with the party scrambling to come up with half-baked plans, running around the place trying to find other ways up while accidentally triggering fights with other monsters, arguing with each other on what to do while the situation keeps getting worse. It just got more and more off the rails and they ended up exploring most of the dungeon.
I can’t wait until they fight this thing and nothing happens when it looks at them.
oh I know what adventure you're running lol
I've heard GM advice about running that one that you should particularly watch out for
an encounter in the caves at the end of the first book with the character named Ralldar, it's often a real surprise killer fight if run as written, at +3 to party level and resistance 10 to fire and non-magic physical if the party doesn't all have magic weapons yet.
Yeah I’ve actually ran the first half of this adventure already so I’m prepared haha.
The first few APs for PF2E have some balance issues sometimes since they were being made at the same time as the rules.
I have never used a GMPC, there's already too many PCs running around
I normally am not a fan, but I only have 3 players and am still trying to recruit a 4th.
And I've done Lancer campaigns with 3 before and IMHO there's some synergy missing without a 4th PC. You also are forced to avoid certain roles because if 1/3 of your party isn't dishing out damage it's a bit more obvious than if 1/4 of the party doesn't dish out damage.
I have also played with 5 though and I don't recommend it.
Also, the GMPC ate shit and died* last night in a heroic attempt to get information to the party. She actually lost two stress and I rolled a 1 and kept failing her Engineering checks to try and keep her mech from melting down (despite having +3 to Eng), so she just ran at the target and gave it a hug. So I didn't have to come up with a contrived way of handling it.
*She didn't die, she's faking her own death so she can investigate on her own, and send messages to the players that will inevitably get them in trouble.
I finally got to run a quick game of Orbital Blues for some of my people! It was really fun.
I made the mistake of not using premade characters, and instead trying to rush through (admittedly simple) character creation, when every experience I've had with this kind of thing tells me one shots go better with premades that the players get to make their own over the course of the night. Either way, fun playing sad, fucked up space cowboys.
Guys I need ideas for more Sidereal Martial Arts, let's play a game
The theme for them is you take a concept and use it as the basis for a deeply mystical way of kicking the shit out of people. These martial arts get very weird and powerful, causing storms of tainted essence, transforming yourself into a proto-titan, hitting people and turning them into a tree, trapping them in mirrors etc is all legit
They all have a naming convention of [colour] [verb or noun] of [concept] and that's key too
So for example you have Charcoal March of Spiders, which is to do with consumption, created as a Sidereal witnessed a pattern spider devour it's own young.
Carrying on you have;
Citrine Poxes of Contagion (disease)
Sapphire Veil of Passion (sex)
Kaleidoscopic Border of Logic (identity)
Quicksilver Hand of Dreams (dreams)
Prismatic Arrangement of Creation (Essence)
Obsidian Shards of Infinity (possibility)
Emerald Gyre of Aeons (time)
Scarlet Pattern of Banners (war)
Albicant Sepulchre of Extinction (oblivion)
Kane Red RobeMaster of MagicArcanusRegistered Userregular
Golden Scales of Justice (law)
Radiant Spear of Light (light/sun)
Azure Shore(s) of Eternity (inevitability) (crash against them and be broken)
Sanguine March of Endings (death)
Argent Lathe of Heaven (chaos)
Guys I need ideas for more Sidereal Martial Arts, let's play a game
The theme for them is you take a concept and use it as the basis for a deeply mystical way of kicking the shit out of people. These martial arts get very weird and powerful, causing storms of tainted essence, transforming yourself into a proto-titan, hitting people and turning them into a tree, trapping them in mirrors etc is all legit
They all have a naming convention of [colour] [verb or noun] of [concept] and that's key too
So for example you have Charcoal March of Spiders, which is to do with consumption, created as a Sidereal witnessed a pattern spider devour it's own young.
Carrying on you have;
Citrine Poxes of Contagion (disease)
Sapphire Veil of Passion (sex)
Kaleidoscopic Border of Logic (identity)
Quicksilver Hand of Dreams (dreams)
Prismatic Arrangement of Creation (Essence)
Obsidian Shards of Infinity (possibility)
Emerald Gyre of Aeons (time)
Scarlet Pattern of Banners (war)
Albicant Sepulchre of Extinction (oblivion)
I need more weird Kung Fu styles!
Avaricious aardvark apocalypse (greed)
+2
Kane Red RobeMaster of MagicArcanusRegistered Userregular
edited September 30
There's a lot of [blank] of [blank] titles out there that you can steal and slap a color on if you're so inclined. Heck, most of Castlevania works.
I made the first half of a couple Sidereal Martial arts once.
One was Azure Symphonies of Hope, an indirect, Serenity-themed style that, like hope, was all about supporting the fighters around you and crushing the spirit of your enemies - hope doesn't DO a lot by itself, but it can get people to do the impossible and its lack can sink an army. Since sidereal charms are always based on contradictory sutras, the sutra started being about futility and how hope is a lie and then swerved into a reference to Discworld's Death's mention about how things may be lies but believing things that are not true is how they become so.
The other was Emerald Luminaries of Courage, which was a Valor-based style that was meant to be basically Super Robot Protagonist Style (which is why it's green, because as we all know, super robot power is green). It was about letting a Sidereal do the most un-Sidereal thing possible - just go in and slug it out, simply refusing to go down and channeling Valor into power until you win or you die, no retreat and no surrender. All the charms were super robot references - Firmament-Defying Stance, God Or Devil Enlightenment, Flight of a Lightning Bolt, The Palm The Divides Heaven And Earth, so on. Very funny stuff.
I’ve started running Age of Ashes for Pathfinder 2e and last night’s session was a glorious clusterfuck.
So PF2E has a version of lore checks called Recall Knowledge. Basically you ask the GM a question about something, and then they decide what skill makes the most sense to roll, asks the player what their modifier is, and makes the roll for the player in secret. If it’s a success, they get the answer, a failure gets nothing, a critical success means they either get some extra info or get to ask a follow-up question, and a critical failure means the GM acts like they got a success but gives them false information.
So the party is in this old citadel, sent by the nearby town to check on a local peaceful goblin tribe that lives there but has been throwing up smoke signals, and might be in danger. The party eventually finds themselves near the entrance to the citadel courtyard where they can hear a bunch of scared, panicked voices shouting in goblin, along with one other voice speaking threateningly to them in common. But it’s all coming from the battlements above and they can’t actually see what’s going on from where they are. To make matters worse, there is only one way up, and blocking the way standing right there in the middle of the courtyard is some giant lizard-looking monster that has been attracted by all the noise and is currently looking up and roaring at everyone, desperate for a meal.
One of the players tried to recall knowledge on the monster and when I rolled for it, it was a crit fail, so I lied to them and told them it looked like a variant of basilisk that lived in bodies of water and more humid temperatures, that most people called a River Basilisk. It was actually a weird draconic monster that likes to live in water and ambush prey with a gross, diseased breath attack. But the lie convinced them, and because this is a new level one party the idea of fighting a basilisk scared the ever loving shit out of them.
Then one of them was like “well maybe this variant of basilisk doesn’t have a petrifaction gaze” and asked me about it, inviting another recall knowledge check. Which ALSO got a critical failure. So I kept the lie going and said “as far as you know, all basilisks can turn people to stone by looking at them.”
The panic sets in and sets the tone for the next two hours of the session, with the party scrambling to come up with half-baked plans, running around the place trying to find other ways up while accidentally triggering fights with other monsters, arguing with each other on what to do while the situation keeps getting worse. It just got more and more off the rails and they ended up exploring most of the dungeon.
I can’t wait until they fight this thing and nothing happens when it looks at them.
oh I know what adventure you're running lol
I've heard GM advice about running that one that you should particularly watch out for
an encounter in the caves at the end of the first book with the character named Ralldar, it's often a real surprise killer fight if run as written, at +3 to party level and resistance 10 to fire and non-magic physical if the party doesn't all have magic weapons yet.
yeaaaah stuff like that is why one should always take the spells like runic fang/weapon/body for your casters. Level one spells that basically make your natural weapon/unarmed or weapon attacks "magic weapons" +1 to hit and a second damage dice. Even when not dealing with weird resistant fights like that making your burly dude bro barbarian/warrior/ranger have a better chance to hit and throw 2 dice for damage instead of one for a minute is pretty damn efficient.
0
NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
edited September 30
Amaranthine Decree of Divine Imperative
I'm particularly proud of stumbling into the double-meaning of Amaranthine for that one (of a dark reddish purple colour, but also unfading, eternal, immortal, or infinite)
I'm particularly proud of stumbling into the double-meaning of Amaranthine for that one (of a dark reddish purple colour, but also unfading, eternal, immortal, or infinite)
That gives the Amaranthine Prism in Caves of Qud new meaning!
an especially funny one, because if you equip the prism you can't unequip it and it eventually kills you
Also it has to be like, X Y of Z and they all need to be one word really to make it feel right. But lots of interesting ones always fun to see where people's minds go
The one I am thinking of is Turquoise Exuberance of Vitality (emotion), I think it's hard to find one that sounds really really good though
Guys I need ideas for more Sidereal Martial Arts, let's play a game
The theme for them is you take a concept and use it as the basis for a deeply mystical way of kicking the shit out of people. These martial arts get very weird and powerful, causing storms of tainted essence, transforming yourself into a proto-titan, hitting people and turning them into a tree, trapping them in mirrors etc is all legit
They all have a naming convention of [colour] [verb or noun] of [concept] and that's key too
So for example you have Charcoal March of Spiders, which is to do with consumption, created as a Sidereal witnessed a pattern spider devour it's own young.
Carrying on you have;
Citrine Poxes of Contagion (disease)
Sapphire Veil of Passion (sex)
Kaleidoscopic Border of Logic (identity)
Quicksilver Hand of Dreams (dreams)
Prismatic Arrangement of Creation (Essence)
Obsidian Shards of Infinity (possibility)
Emerald Gyre of Aeons (time)
Scarlet Pattern of Banners (war)
Albicant Sepulchre of Extinction (oblivion)
I need more weird Kung Fu styles!
Avaricious aardvark apocalypse (greed)
Going to punch you so hard your financial empire collapses.
Guys I need ideas for more Sidereal Martial Arts, let's play a game
The theme for them is you take a concept and use it as the basis for a deeply mystical way of kicking the shit out of people. These martial arts get very weird and powerful, causing storms of tainted essence, transforming yourself into a proto-titan, hitting people and turning them into a tree, trapping them in mirrors etc is all legit
They all have a naming convention of [colour] [verb or noun] of [concept] and that's key too
So for example you have Charcoal March of Spiders, which is to do with consumption, created as a Sidereal witnessed a pattern spider devour it's own young.
Carrying on you have;
Citrine Poxes of Contagion (disease)
Sapphire Veil of Passion (sex)
Kaleidoscopic Border of Logic (identity)
Quicksilver Hand of Dreams (dreams)
Prismatic Arrangement of Creation (Essence)
Obsidian Shards of Infinity (possibility)
Emerald Gyre of Aeons (time)
Scarlet Pattern of Banners (war)
Albicant Sepulchre of Extinction (oblivion)
I need more weird Kung Fu styles!
Avaricious aardvark apocalypse (greed)
Going to punch you so hard your financial empire collapses.
Guys I need ideas for more Sidereal Martial Arts, let's play a game
The theme for them is you take a concept and use it as the basis for a deeply mystical way of kicking the shit out of people. These martial arts get very weird and powerful, causing storms of tainted essence, transforming yourself into a proto-titan, hitting people and turning them into a tree, trapping them in mirrors etc is all legit
They all have a naming convention of [colour] [verb or noun] of [concept] and that's key too
So for example you have Charcoal March of Spiders, which is to do with consumption, created as a Sidereal witnessed a pattern spider devour it's own young.
Carrying on you have;
Citrine Poxes of Contagion (disease)
Sapphire Veil of Passion (sex)
Kaleidoscopic Border of Logic (identity)
Quicksilver Hand of Dreams (dreams)
Prismatic Arrangement of Creation (Essence)
Obsidian Shards of Infinity (possibility)
Emerald Gyre of Aeons (time)
Scarlet Pattern of Banners (war)
Albicant Sepulchre of Extinction (oblivion)
I need more weird Kung Fu styles!
Avaricious aardvark apocalypse (greed)
Going to punch you so hard your financial empire collapses.
Splendid Kintsugi Paintbrush of Serenity (Resplendent) is a kind of pressure point based martial art that attacks the moral flaws in the opponent and fixes them.
Hit someone so hard in the armpit they stop what they’re doing and become a noodle vendor.
I can’t wait until they fight this thing and nothing happens when it looks at them.
Make sure to have them roll meaningless Fort saves (or equivalent; I forget off the top of my head what PF2E uses).
There’s actually a specific action they can take called Avert Gaze to shield their eyes while they fight so they are going to totally sabotage their action economy doing it.
When they make the fake saving throws, if they roll under a plausible DC, you need to nod and make a mark in your notebook. If they roll really low ("crit fail") make two marks, pehaps giving a little chuckle or a sharp inhalation.
Players love it when there are no immediate consequences but the GM makes notes.
Stark-White Rolling Bones of Fortune (Possibly), renowned for the attack Consult Expansive Chart to Determine Result and wielders the Book Backed Long Ago (Finally Arrived).
Posts
Set up a situation where the GMPC eats shit *except* for using a mechanic and then is also narratively out.
I’m on a treadmill right now but just imagine I drew Jagen from Fire Emblem squaring off against a HORUS Manticore or something.
god this makes me remember 'Operative One', kickass lady who in retrospect was basicly a JC Denton rip off. Nanite super spy in a friends campaign
Anyway whenever she took emp damage the GM had her keel over like a narcoleptic. Its hilarious in hindsight but at the time we were pissed off because we thought befriending this lady was a win button nd.... no. She's napping now so go do it yourself
I mean, that is literally what I've done.
So PF2E has a version of lore checks called Recall Knowledge. Basically you ask the GM a question about something, and then they decide what skill makes the most sense to roll, asks the player what their modifier is, and makes the roll for the player in secret. If it’s a success, they get the answer, a failure gets nothing, a critical success means they either get some extra info or get to ask a follow-up question, and a critical failure means the GM acts like they got a success but gives them false information.
So the party is in this old citadel, sent by the nearby town to check on a local peaceful goblin tribe that lives there but has been throwing up smoke signals, and might be in danger. The party eventually finds themselves near the entrance to the citadel courtyard where they can hear a bunch of scared, panicked voices shouting in goblin, along with one other voice speaking threateningly to them in common. But it’s all coming from the battlements above and they can’t actually see what’s going on from where they are. To make matters worse, there is only one way up, and blocking the way standing right there in the middle of the courtyard is some giant lizard-looking monster that has been attracted by all the noise and is currently looking up and roaring at everyone, desperate for a meal.
One of the players tried to recall knowledge on the monster and when I rolled for it, it was a crit fail, so I lied to them and told them it looked like a variant of basilisk that lived in bodies of water and more humid temperatures, that most people called a River Basilisk. It was actually a weird draconic monster that likes to live in water and ambush prey with a gross, diseased breath attack. But the lie convinced them, and because this is a new level one party the idea of fighting a basilisk scared the ever loving shit out of them.
Then one of them was like “well maybe this variant of basilisk doesn’t have a petrifaction gaze” and asked me about it, inviting another recall knowledge check. Which ALSO got a critical failure. So I kept the lie going and said “as far as you know, all basilisks can turn people to stone by looking at them.”
The panic sets in and sets the tone for the next two hours of the session, with the party scrambling to come up with half-baked plans, running around the place trying to find other ways up while accidentally triggering fights with other monsters, arguing with each other on what to do while the situation keeps getting worse. It just got more and more off the rails and they ended up exploring most of the dungeon.
I can’t wait until they fight this thing and nothing happens when it looks at them.
My Let's Play Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UC2go70QLfwGq-hW4nvUqmog
Make sure to have them roll meaningless Fort saves (or equivalent; I forget off the top of my head what PF2E uses).
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
oh I know what adventure you're running lol
I've heard GM advice about running that one that you should particularly watch out for
There’s actually a specific action they can take called Avert Gaze to shield their eyes while they fight so they are going to totally sabotage their action economy doing it.
My Let's Play Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UC2go70QLfwGq-hW4nvUqmog
Yeah I’ve actually ran the first half of this adventure already so I’m prepared haha.
The first few APs for PF2E have some balance issues sometimes since they were being made at the same time as the rules.
Luckily it’s pretty easy to adjust things.
My Let's Play Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UC2go70QLfwGq-hW4nvUqmog
I totally get what you mean but i read this in the way of 'dang it so many PCs.. I must kill some of them off'
They then start making them all kiss
I normally am not a fan, but I only have 3 players and am still trying to recruit a 4th.
And I've done Lancer campaigns with 3 before and IMHO there's some synergy missing without a 4th PC. You also are forced to avoid certain roles because if 1/3 of your party isn't dishing out damage it's a bit more obvious than if 1/4 of the party doesn't dish out damage.
I have also played with 5 though and I don't recommend it.
Also, the GMPC ate shit and died* last night in a heroic attempt to get information to the party. She actually lost two stress and I rolled a 1 and kept failing her Engineering checks to try and keep her mech from melting down (despite having +3 to Eng), so she just ran at the target and gave it a hug. So I didn't have to come up with a contrived way of handling it.
*She didn't die, she's faking her own death so she can investigate on her own, and send messages to the players that will inevitably get them in trouble.
I made the mistake of not using premade characters, and instead trying to rush through (admittedly simple) character creation, when every experience I've had with this kind of thing tells me one shots go better with premades that the players get to make their own over the course of the night. Either way, fun playing sad, fucked up space cowboys.
Great game.
The theme for them is you take a concept and use it as the basis for a deeply mystical way of kicking the shit out of people. These martial arts get very weird and powerful, causing storms of tainted essence, transforming yourself into a proto-titan, hitting people and turning them into a tree, trapping them in mirrors etc is all legit
They all have a naming convention of [colour] [verb or noun] of [concept] and that's key too
So for example you have Charcoal March of Spiders, which is to do with consumption, created as a Sidereal witnessed a pattern spider devour it's own young.
Carrying on you have;
Citrine Poxes of Contagion (disease)
Sapphire Veil of Passion (sex)
Kaleidoscopic Border of Logic (identity)
Quicksilver Hand of Dreams (dreams)
Prismatic Arrangement of Creation (Essence)
Obsidian Shards of Infinity (possibility)
Emerald Gyre of Aeons (time)
Scarlet Pattern of Banners (war)
Albicant Sepulchre of Extinction (oblivion)
I need more weird Kung Fu styles!
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
Radiant Spear of Light (light/sun)
Azure Shore(s) of Eternity (inevitability) (crash against them and be broken)
Sanguine March of Endings (death)
Argent Lathe of Heaven (chaos)
Avaricious aardvark apocalypse (greed)
Silvered Aria of Sorrow &c.
…is what you say when you’re genuinely just a fate scholar that doesn’t know kung fu, but you’re hoping to bluff the intruder.
Red Antique Vase Caught in Time (Exasperated) if you’re a time scholar that is named Jackie.
Guess these work better as single moves now I look at it.
One was Azure Symphonies of Hope, an indirect, Serenity-themed style that, like hope, was all about supporting the fighters around you and crushing the spirit of your enemies - hope doesn't DO a lot by itself, but it can get people to do the impossible and its lack can sink an army. Since sidereal charms are always based on contradictory sutras, the sutra started being about futility and how hope is a lie and then swerved into a reference to Discworld's Death's mention about how things may be lies but believing things that are not true is how they become so.
The other was Emerald Luminaries of Courage, which was a Valor-based style that was meant to be basically Super Robot Protagonist Style (which is why it's green, because as we all know, super robot power is green). It was about letting a Sidereal do the most un-Sidereal thing possible - just go in and slug it out, simply refusing to go down and channeling Valor into power until you win or you die, no retreat and no surrender. All the charms were super robot references - Firmament-Defying Stance, God Or Devil Enlightenment, Flight of a Lightning Bolt, The Palm The Divides Heaven And Earth, so on. Very funny stuff.
I'm particularly proud of stumbling into the double-meaning of Amaranthine for that one (of a dark reddish purple colour, but also unfading, eternal, immortal, or infinite)
That gives the Amaranthine Prism in Caves of Qud new meaning!
The one I am thinking of is Turquoise Exuberance of Vitality (emotion), I think it's hard to find one that sounds really really good though
Going to punch you so hard your financial empire collapses.
Isn't this the plot of Fight Club?
And can lick anybody in a fight!
Hit someone so hard in the armpit they stop what they’re doing and become a noodle vendor.
When they make the fake saving throws, if they roll under a plausible DC, you need to nod and make a mark in your notebook. If they roll really low ("crit fail") make two marks, pehaps giving a little chuckle or a sharp inhalation.
Players love it when there are no immediate consequences but the GM makes notes.
Love.
It.
Stark-White Rolling Bones of Fortune (Possibly), renowned for the attack Consult Expansive Chart to Determine Result and wielders the Book Backed Long Ago (Finally Arrived).
Amber Smoke of Hours (preservation)
You've largely used gems & minerals as your colors, so sticking with that theme also nets
Multicolor: Opalescent
Black: Ebon
Grey: Shale, Slate
White: Ivory
Red: Ruby
Orange: Copper
Yellow: Sulphur
Green: Jade
Blue: Aqua(marine), Turquoise
Purple: Amethyst