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[Roleplaying Games] New Year, New Dungeons, Same Ol' Bane

Grunt's GhostsGrunt's Ghosts Registered User regular
edited December 2016 in Critical Failures
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(Most of this OP stolen from Vanguard's Old Roleplaying Thread)


Welcome to the Critical Failure's General Roleplaying Thread. It's where we talk about playing Elves, Wizards, Vampires, Cowboys, and Robots. It's where we come to argue about our favorite games. It's where we try to make a better game, sometimes.

It's a safe place. Except when the Gamemasters here decide it isn't and you forget to check for traps.

It's where we don't talk about Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. They do that over here.

What Is A Roleplaying Game?

A roleplaying game is a more structured version of what you did when you were young. Part improv-theatre, part board game (though usually without the board), it typically involves a group of people taking on the role of one of more characters and acting out their actions in a shared fictional setting. Most games designate one player as the Game Master, who arbitrates the rules, describes the setting, and narrates all of the non-player character's actions. Additionally, most games use a chance-based method to determine the outcome of conflicts and actions, dice being the most common.

Not All Games Are Created Equal

We are truly living in a golden era of roleplaying games. With so many options, it can be hard to know where to start and which game is the right fit for your group. Before going to your friendly, local game store (FLGS) and plunking down on the hot new game of the week, it might be useful to start by sitting down with your group and discussing the kind of game you want to play. Is there a particular setting you want to explore? Genre? How rules-heavy do you want the game to be? All of these are important questions and there are no right answers. Each group is different and you will likely have to experiment before finding what works.

Additionally, this thread is full of people with a wide variety of gaming tastes and tons of experience. Use us a resource! It's more than likely someone in this thread has played whatever game you're interested in and can answer any questions you may have.

Gamer's Dictionary

Below are the definitions for some common and not so common terms you might encounter in this thread.

Chargen: Character generation; the act of making a character for a game
Crunch: Rules, mechanics; the opposite of Fluff
Crunchy: Math and/or rules-intensive; the opposite of Fluffy
GM: Game master; see also Judge, Dungeon Master
Fluff: Setting/ambience; the opposite of Crunch
Fluffy: Relies on fiction for explanation more than numbers; the opposite of Crunchy
IC: In-Character; typically used in PbP games, this designates that a character is acting
Metagaming: When a player makes in-game decisions based on information their character does not have
NPC: Non-player character; everyone who is not controlled by one of the players at the table
OOC: Out-of-Character; typically used in PbP games, this designates table chatter and things not said by the character
OSR: Old School Renaissance; refers to games and/or playstyles that emulate the experience of the early editions of Dungeons & Dragons
PbP: Play-by-Post; games played via message boards
Storygame: A game that has rules to facilitate storytelling
TPK: Total Party Kill; when every single player character is killed during an encounter

Games, Games, and More Games

Key

-: Rules Light
+: Rules Heavy
Ω: d20-based
§: Storygame Elements


Fantasy

13th Age + Ω
In the 13th Age of the world, adventurers seek their fortunes in the Dragon Empire while powerful individuals known as Icons pursue goals that may preserve the empire from chaos, or send it over the edge.

Players decide which Icons their characters ally with, and which ones they oppose. These relationships, along with a personal history and a unique trait chosen during character creation, help define an adventurer’s place in the world of 13th Age and lay the groundwork for epic stories that emerge through play.
There are also fun new rules for hitting orcs and making them go splat.

Burning Wheel + §
Burning Wheel is a fantasy roleplaying game first published in 2002. Since then, the game and its supplements have gone on to win critical notoriety, a handful of awards and respect from the RPG community. In 2011, we published the latest edition, Burning Wheel Gold. There are 3200 copies of the current edition of Burning Wheel in print, but over 12,000 copies of the game overall. There are three supplements for Burning Wheel: the Monster Burner, the Magic Burner and the Adventure Burner. There are also two setting books, Jihad — an homage to Dune — and The Blossoms Are Falling — an historic setting for Heian Era Japan.

Burning Wheel uses a simple D6 die pool system at its core. Grab a handful of dice equal to your skill or stat. Roll the dice. Any 4s, 5s or 6s that result are considered successes. You need a certain number of successes to pass tests. The system builds on that simple core to create deep, dynamic results.

During play, the GM challenges a player’s Beliefs. The player overcomes these challenges and drives the story by testing his character’s abilities. A test can be resolved in a single roll or decided in an extended conflict, social or martial. The GM doles out the consequences for failure based on what the player was trying to accomplish. You want to find a woodsman to guide you through the forest — make a Circles test. If you fail he’s suspicious of thieves so he’s shooting first and asking questions later. You want to get some gear — make a Resources test. If you fail you can’t afford it but your rival comes forward with the offer of a loan and a suppressed smirk. You want to convince your enemy to let your friends go — engage him in a Duel of Wits. Structure your argument well, because if you fail, he might just convince you to take the place of your friends in exchange for their freedom. You want that bastard dead? Draw your sword and take him out in a blow-by-blow melee — Fight! Don’t fail this time, though, because it might be your last. You the player decide how far to take it. You reap the rewards and weather the consequences.

In this game, the consequences for failure lead to the next conflict. There are no dead-ends in Burning Wheel, unless it’s a dead-end alley with your enemies lying in wait. The story told is about the path that gets you to your goals. Whether the game is political, military, or a classic sword and sorcery adventure, you decide. You write your own Beliefs about what you want and Instincts that describe how you react. You advance your skills to help you get there and you earn traits that describe how you come out on the other side. One way or another, when you play Burning Wheel, you’re playing with fire.

DCC RPG + Ω
You’re no hero.

You’re an adventurer: a reaver, a cutpurse, a heathen-slayer, a tight-lipped warlock guarding long-dead secrets. You seek gold and glory, winning it with sword and spell, caked in the blood and filth of the weak, the dark, the demons, and the vanquished. There are treasures to be won deep underneath, and you shall have them.

Return to the glory days of fantasy with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game. Adventure as 1974 intended you to, with modern rules grounded in the origins of sword & sorcery. Fast play, cryptic secrets, and a mysterious past await you.

Dungeons & Dragons + Ω §
The first Dungeons & Dragons game was played back when Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson chose to personalize the massive battles of their fantasy wargames with the exploits of individual heroes. This inspiration became the first fantasy roleplaying game, in which players are characters in an ongoing fantasy story. This new kind of game has become immensely popular over the years, and D&D has grown to include many new ways to vividly experience worlds of heroic fantasy.

The core of D&D is storytelling. You and your friends tell a story together, guiding your heroes through quests for treasure, battles with deadly foes, daring rescues, courtly intrigue, and much more. You can also explore the world of Dungeons & Dragons through any of the novels written by its fantasy authors, as well as engaging board games and immersive video games. All of these stories are part of D&D.

We have a dedicated thread for Fifth Edition here.

Dungeon World - §
Combining high-action dungeon crawling with cutting-edge rules, Dungeon World is a roleplaying game of fantasy adventure. You and your friends will explore a land of magic and danger in the roles of adventurers searching for fame, gold, and glory.

Dungeon World’s rules are easy to learn and always drive the action forward in unexpected ways. A missed roll is never a dead end—failure introduces new complexities and complications. Life as an adventurer is hard and dangerous but it’s never boring!

Designed to be ready for you to hack, remix, and build new content, Dungeon World includes systems for changing everything to suit your group including creating new races, classes, and monsters.

Iron Kingdoms RPG +
It is a land like no other, a place where steam power and gunpowder meet sword and sorcery.

The Iron Kingdoms possess a rich history—and a tumultuous future—full of unique monsters, deities, heroes, and villains. Immerse yourself in the detailed world of gritty conflict and sorcery with the Iron Kingdoms RPG. Unleash the power of mechanika, the fusion of magic and machine. Take on the persona of unique character classes, like the gun mage who combines powerful magic with a deadly acumen for firearms or the steamjack-commanding warcaster. Travel through a fantastic world that takes classic fantasy concepts and gives them a new twist with a high-octane rush of steam power and industrial engineering.

Prepare yourself for an experience like no other.

The world of the Iron Kingdoms awaits!

Lady Blackbird - §
Lady Blackbird is on the run from an arranged marriage to Count Carlowe. She hired a smuggler skyship, The Owl, to take her from her palace on the Imperial world of Ilysium to the far reaches of the Remnants, so she could be with her once secret lover: the pirate king Uriah Flint.

HOWEVER, just before reaching the halfway point of Haven, The Owl was pursued and captured by the Imperial cruiser Hand of Sorrow, under charges of flying a false flag.

EVEN NOW, Lady Blackbird, her bodyguard, and the crew of The Owl are detained in the brig, while the Imperial commander runs the smuggler ship’s registry over the wireless. It’s only a matter of time before they discover the outstanding warrants and learn that The Owl is owned by none other than the infamous outcast, Cyrus Vance.

How will Lady Blackbird and the others escape the Hand of Sorrow?

What dangers lie in their path?

Will they be able to find the secret lair of the pirate king? if they do, will Uriah Flint accept Lady Blackbird as his bride? By the time they get there, will she want him to?

Go. Play. And find out.

http://www.onesevendesign.com/ladyblackbird/

Pathfinder + Ω
Enter a fantastic world of adventure!

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game puts you in the role of a brave adventurer fighting to survive in a world beset by magic and evil. Will you cut your way through monster-filled ruins and cities rife with political intrigue to emerge as a famous hero laden with fabulous treasure, or will you fall victim to treacherous traps and fiendish monsters in a forgotten dungeon? Your fate is yours to decide with this giant Core Rulebook that provides everything a player needs to set out on a life of adventure and excitement!

This imaginative tabletop game builds upon more than 10 years of system development and an open playtest involving more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.

Torchbearer + §
Adventurer is a dirty word. You’re a scoundrel, a villain, a wastrel, a vagabond, a criminal, a sword-for-hire, cutthroat. Respectable people belong to guilds, the church or are born into nobility. Or barring all that, they’re salt of the earth and till the land for the rest of us. Your problem is that you’re none of that. You’re a third child or worse. You can’t get into a guild—too many apprentices already. You’re sure as hell not nobility—even if you were, your older brothers and sisters have soaked up the inheritance. The churches—they’ll take you, but they have so many acolytes, they hand you kit and a holy sign and send you right out the door again: Get out there and preach the word and find something nice for mother church. And if you ever entertained romantic notions of farming, think again. You’d end up little more than a slave to a wealthy noble.

So there’s naught for us but to make our own way. There’s a certain freedom to it, but it’s a hard life. Cash flows out of our hands as easily as the blood from our wounds. But at least it’s our life. And if we’re lucky, smart and stubborn, we might come out on top. There’s a lot of lost loot out there for the finding. And salvage law is mercifully generous. We find it, it’s ours to spend, sell or keep.

Torchbearer is a riff on the early model of fantasy roleplaying games. In it, you take on the role of an adventurer seeking his or her fortune. To earn that fortune, you must explore fornlorn ruins, brave terrible monsters and retreive forgotten treasures. However, this game is not about being a hero. It is not about fighting for what you believe. This game is about exploration and survival. You may become a hero. You might have to fight for your ideals. But to do either of those things, you must prove yourself in the wilds. Because there are no jobs, no inheritance, no other opportunities for our deadbeat adventurers. This life is their only hope to prosper in this world.

Sci-Fi

3:16 Carnage Amongst the Stars - §
3:16 CARNAGE AMONGST THE STARS is a high-octane Science-Fiction role-playing game for 2 or more players. Your Space Troopers will kill bugs all across the Cosmos. You'll advance in rank, improve your weapons, slay civilization after civilization, and find out who you are through an innovative 'Flashback' mechanic. Terra's plan is to kill every living thing in the Universe to protect the home world. See where your tour of duty in the 3:16th Expeditionary Force takes you and your friends. Revel in the kill-happy machismo and enjoy a campaign of Carnage Amongst the Stars. Featuring a stunning cover by Paul Bourne, and interior art by writer/games designer Gregor Hutton, 3:16 is a bloody triumph of games design.

Eclipse Phase +
Your mind is software. Program it.
Your body is a shell. Change it.
Death is a disease. Cure it.
Extinction is approaching. Fight it.

Eclipse Phase is a game about Transhumanity and the horrors, conspiracies, and hard times that your character lives in. Set in a place where people have abandoned Earth thanks to the nanobots called Titans, you now spend your days living on space stations, colonized planets, and space ships. Usually you are called to help some shadowy organization called Firewall protect the solar system from some terrible threat, but you may also belong to another organization that wants something else. And when you are tasked to do something that may pit you against one organization or another, the game really gets interesting.

You are really made of two parts, one is called your Ego and it's your personality and all the things that make up you. The other part is your Morph, which is your body. In EP, death is not final for your character, however, it isn't without penalty. Anything you have done since your last "save" could be lost, and your character might wake up in a new morph, weeks later, wondering what happen the reason you died and what will happen to you now. The whole group dying is not only enjoyable, but is sometimes the best option for your character.

Shadowrun +
There are cracks in the world. They’re slender, dark, and often cold, but they are the only things that keep you hidden. Keep you alive. They are the shadows of the world, and they are where you live.

You are a shadowrunner, thriving in the margins, doing the jobs no one else can. You have no office, no permanent home, no background to check. You are whatever you make yourself. Will you seek justice? Sow seeds of chaos? Sell out to the highest bidder? It’s up to you, but this much is certain—if you do nothing, the streets will eat you alive.

You can survive—even flourish—as long as you do what it takes. Sacrifice part of your soul for bleeding-edge gear. Push the limits of your will learning new and dangerous magic. Wire yourself into the Matrix, making your mind one with screaming streams of data. It’ll cost you something—everything does—but you can make it worth the price.

Star Wars: Edge of the Empire + §
Participate in grim and gritty adventures in places where morality is gray and nothing is certain. Ply your trade as a smuggler in the Outer Rim, collect bounties on the scum that live in the shadows of Coruscant, or try to establish a new colony on a planet beneath the Empire’s notice.


Grunt's Ghosts on
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Posts

  • Grunt's GhostsGrunt's Ghosts Registered User regular
    Genre-less

    Kingdom - §
    Kingdoms are all around us. They are the communities that unite us.

    Your Kingdom can be any group or organization that interests you. You could play a Wild West frontier town, a colony ship crawling to a distant star, or a sprawling Empire holding conquered peoples beneath its thumb.

    As you play, you'll confront your Kingdom and your characters with Crossroads, critical decisions that may change your community forever. What will your Kingdom do? What will it become? Strive to make your Kingdom live up to your ideals... or watch as it burns.

    The Kingdom is in your hands. The question is: will you change the Kingdom or will the Kingdom change you?

    Includes over twenty sample Kingdoms to get you started quickly, from the mercenaries of the Banner of the Black Serpent, to the galactic weapon-smiths of Starfall, to the wealthy dilettante mystics of the Eye of Osiris, to the devoted doctors of Sawyer Memorial Hospital.

    Kingdom was designed by Ben Robbins, creator of the award-winning role-playing game, Microscope.

    For two to five players. No GM. No prep.
    Fate - §
    Grab your plasma rifles, spell components, and jetpacks! Name your game; Fate Core is the foundation that can make it happen. Fate Core is a flexible system that can support whatever worlds you dream up. Have you always wanted to play a post-apocalyptic spaghetti western with tentacle monsters? Swords and sorcery in space? Wish there was a game based on your favorite series of books, film, or television, but it never happened? Fate Core is your answer.

    Fate Core is a tabletop roleplaying game about proactive, capable people who lead dramatic lives. The type of drama they experience is up to you. But wherever they go, you can expect a fun storytelling experience full of twists…of fate.

    Microscope - §
    Humanity spreads to the stars and forges a galactic civilization...

    Fledgling nations arise from the ruins of the empire...

    An ancient line of dragon-kings dies out as magic fades from the realm...

    These are all examples of Microscope games. Want to explore an epic history of your own creation, hundreds or thousands of years long, all in an afternoon? That's Microscope.

    You won't play the game in chronological order. You can defy the limits of time and space, jumping backward or forward to explore the parts of the history that interest you. Want to leap a thousand years into the future and see how an institution shaped society? Want to jump back to the childhood of the king you just saw assassinated and find out what made him such a hated ruler? That's normal in Microscope.

    You have vast power to create... and to destroy. Build beautiful, tranquil jewels of civilization and then consume them with nuclear fire. Zoom out to watch the majestic tide of history wash across empires, then zoom in and explore the lives of the people who endured it.

    Mock chronological order.
    Defy time and space.
    Build worlds and destroy them.

    Gothic/Horror

    New World of Darkness
    The world is not what you think. Beneath skyscrapers' leering gargoyles, factories belching smoke and streets packed with the human throng lurk things we are not meant to see. Creatures dwell in the shadows and hidden places. They watch you, stalk you and prey upon your body and soul. The life you lead is a lie. Your darkest fears aren't make-believe.
    They're real.

    In the World of Darkness, there are urban legends whispered into the ears of autistic children by invisible spiders.

    What Is The World Of Darkness?

    We can’t know when humans first started telling stories, or why. But it’s a safe bet that the first tale tellers used their craft to explain the mysteries going on around them. Indeed, some of the most ancient stories that are still told today grapple with the biggest mysteries of all — life, death, creation, redemption and the ongoing struggle of good versus evil. The World Of Darkness is a Storytelling game, because it’s an opportunity for you to participate in the deeply human endeavor of telling stories.

    The stories told in this game are set in the World of Darkness. It’s a place very much like our world, sharing the same history, culture and geography. Superficially, most people in this fictional world live the same lives we do. They eat the same food, wear the same clothes, and waste time watching the same stupid TV shows. And yet, in the World of Darkness, shadows are deeper, nights are darker, fog is thicker. If, in our world, a neighborhood has a rundown house that gives people the creeps, in the World of Darkness, that house emits strange sighs on certain nights of the year, and seems to have a human face when seen from the corner of one’s eye. Or so some neighbors say. In our world, there are urban legends. In the World of Darkness, there are urban legends whispered into the ears of autistic children by invisible spiders.

    Old World of Darkness
    The world is more corrupt, the people are spiritually bankrupt, and escapism often replaces hope.

    Superficially, the World of Darkness is like the “real” world we all inhabit. The same bands are popular, violence still plagues the inner city, graft and corruption infest the same governments, and society still looks to the same cities for its culture. The World of Darkness has a Statue of Liberty, an Eiffel Tower and a CBGB’s. More present than in our world, though, is the undercurrent of horror - our world’s ills are all the more pronounced in the World of Darkness. Our fears are more real. Our governments are more degenerate. Our ecosystem dies a bit more each night. And monsters exist.

    “Gothic-Punk” is perhaps the best way to describe the physical nature of the World of Darkness. The environment is a clashing mixture of styles and influences, and the tension caused by the juxtaposition of ethnicities, social classes and subcultures makes the world a vibrant, albeit dangerous, place.

    The Gothic aspect describes the ambience of the World of Darkness. Buttressed buildings loom overhead, bedecked with classical columns and grimacing gargoyles. Residents are dwarfed by the sheer scale of architecture, lost amid the spires that seem to grope toward Heaven in an effort to escape the physical world. The ranks of the Church swell, as mortals flock to any banner that offers them a hope of something better in the hereafter. Likewise, cults flourish in the underground, promising power and redemption. The institutions that control society are even more staid and conservative than they are in our world, for many in power prefer the evil of the world they know to the chaos engendered by change. It is a divisive world of have and have not, rich and poor, excess and squalor.

    The Punk aspect is the lifestyle that many denizens of the World of Darkness have adopted. In order to give their lives meaning, they rebel, crashing themselves against the crags of power. Gangs prowl the streets and organized crime breeds in the underworld, reactions to the pointlessness of living “by the book.” Music is louder, faster, more violent or hypnotically monotonous, and supported by masses who find salvation in its escape. Speech is coarser, fashion is bolder, art is more shocking, and technology brings it all to everyone at the click of a button. The world is more corrupt, the people are spiritually bankrupt, and escapism often replaces hope.

    Gothic-Punk is a mood and setting conveyed during the course of the game. The greatest share of creating this ambience falls upon the Storyteller, but players should consider their characters’ stake in it as well. The ambience is also a matter of taste. Some troupes may prefer more Gothic than Punk, while others may want equal amounts of both elements, or little of either. In the end, it’s your game, and you are free to make of it what you will. Simply bear in mind that experiencing the world is a shared endeavor, and everything the players and Storyteller do helps make that world more believable. Actions, settings, characters and descriptions all convey the Gothic-Punk aesthetic.

    Vampire: The Requiem
    Since time immemorial, the Kindred - vampires - have stalked their prey, unseen by the mortal masses. Their world is a xenophobic nightmare, populated by tyrannical despots, wildeyed heretics, bloodthirsty rogues and scheming manipulators, all unified by the mysterious curse of vampirism. And you would join them? You would live forever? To play the lusts of mortals like a violinist plays the strings? Then beware, the price is steep to enter the neofeudal hell that the Damned have wrought.

    Welcome to Undeath

    Join the revival of the Storytelling tradition. Vampire: The Requiem invites you to tell your own stories set within the world of the Kindred.

    Werewolf: The Forsaken
    Full Moon Rising

    The world is in shadow. To one side stretches the forest, to the other the city. Your claws are stained with blood. Your senses whisper of prey that runs before you, and of predators who stalk even the likes of you. You hear the howls of your brothers and sisters. Luna rises. Your blood boils. It is time to hunt.

    Wolves at the Door

    Werewolf: The Forsaken - the game of bestial violence and supernatural terror - is the second core setting sourcebook intended for use with White Wolf's new Storytelling System . Werewolves are creatures of original sin, tainted by ancestral crimes and driven to hunt by the shame of being abandoned.

    Mage: The Awakening
    magecover.jpg
    Magic exists. Once upon a time, it was the driving force behind ancient societies, and was wildly practiced in public and secret alike.

    However, something went wrong. A select few aspired for more, and attained powers beyond earthly comprehension. In so doing, they left the mortal planes torn asunder.

    The few who ascended gained godlike powers and rose to the station of The Exarchs. Shortly after ascending, they cast the rest of humanity down into the fallen world. Separating the fallen and the higher realms is a vast maw called The Abyss; where shadows, beasts, and all manner of unclean entities reside.

    Anyone practicing magic in the fallen world without proper regard for the limitations of normalcy and reality can expect to get backhanded by a nasty force from The Abyss known as Paradox.


    This means magic, once widespread amongst all, is now only practiced by a scarce few, and has to be done largely in secret. Worse, the servants of The Exarchs are many, and seek to keep magic away from the common people. These servants, known as the Seers of the Throne, believe common people are sheep and lack both the right and capacity to use magic.

    Player characters take up the role of Pentacle Mages; those who were left behind when The Exarchs ascended, and want magic to be brought back to the common people.

    This is no easy feat, of course, since Pentacle Mages not only have to contend with the machinations of the Seers and a magic-ignorant populace, but also the ever-present threat of Paradox, the Abyss, fallen Mages known as Scelesti, and all manner of unknown mystical threats.

    . . .

    Tenra Bansho Zero
    TENRA BANSHO ZERO is a Japanese Storytelling Game of "Hyper-Asian Fantasy", in the author's own words. Conceived, designed and illustrated by famous manga author Junichi Inoue (and featuring gorgeous art from illustrators Hiroyuki Ishida, Rasenjin Hayami and others), Tenra Bansho Zero is one of the most recognized "Made in Japan" tabletop role-playing games.

    On a distant world in the far future, the Sengoku (Feudal/Warring States) period of Japan is happening all over again- But this time with high-tech weapons, magically powered mecha, taoist magic masters and super-powered samurai.

    The focus of the game is on acting out the characters, their backgrounds and, and their destiny in the world of Tenra. The players get bonus points by acting in character and entertaining the other players, which can be spent to boost powers and gain abilities. Creativity, energy, and comraderie is physically rewarded in the game. Spend these gains recklessly, though, and you lose control of your character as they spiral down the Path of the corrupt Asura.

    Finally, TBZ is a fast RPG. It was designed to play out like a theatrical production, complete with Scenes, Acts, Intermissions and Coming Attractions. And like a play or movie, an entire story or campaign can play out in its entirety within one 4-6 hour gaming session.

    TENRA BANSHO ZERO is one of the first fantasy Role-Playing Games to be translated from Japanese and released in English! It was created, designed, written, and largely illustrated by the popular game designer Junichi Inoue and F.E.A.R. It is currently being translated into English and published by Kotodama Heavy Industries, in cooperation with F.E.A.R. Stay tuned to the Blog for updated release information and news.

  • FuselageFuselage Oosik Jumpship LoungeRegistered User regular
    I thought of this while picking up dog poop in the backyard. I'd use this for a fantasy setting.

    What if Elves and Orcs were allergic to each other? Nobody knows if it's a byproduct of millenia of racial war or even led to conflict in the first place. Orc blood in an Elf wound could count as poison, and vice versa.

    Your party is sneaking through the underground ruins of a temple your ancestors may have used to honor their ancestors. So far you haven't found anything more than mundane objects in the rubble, but this hallway is starting to widen.

    DM: Galahadriel, roll a Con check.
    Galahadriel rolls an 11
    DM: Despite your best efforts, you sneeze. Roll a Perception check
    Galahadriel rolls a 16
    DM: You hear three muffled sneezes.
    Galahadriel's Player: Would I know what that means?
    DM: You suspect there may be orcs around this corner.

    o4n72w5h9b5y.png
  • InkhandInkhand Registered User regular
    That's a fun idea. Maybe it was a bid to keep them away from each other? The gods, or some kind of giant magical curse made it so they couldn't be around each other in a bid to stop the constant warring and bloodshed. Fighting somebody sounds even less appealing if getting their blood on you will cause fatal anaphylactic shock.

  • FuselageFuselage Oosik Jumpship LoungeRegistered User regular
    edited April 2016
    Inkhand wrote: »
    That's a fun idea. Maybe it was a bid to keep them away from each other? The gods, or some kind of giant magical curse made it so they couldn't be around each other in a bid to stop the constant warring and bloodshed. Fighting somebody sounds even less appealing if getting their blood on you will cause fatal anaphylactic shock.

    I almost like that even more. I had imagined specialized rangers tipping their arrows in blood and hunting down orcs in their territory, but being cursed sounds cool too.

    Fuselage on
    o4n72w5h9b5y.png
  • BrodyBrody The Watch The First ShoreRegistered User regular
    Fuselage wrote: »
    Inkhand wrote: »
    That's a fun idea. Maybe it was a bid to keep them away from each other? The gods, or some kind of giant magical curse made it so they couldn't be around each other in a bid to stop the constant warring and bloodshed. Fighting somebody sounds even less appealing if getting their blood on you will cause fatal anaphylactic shock.

    I almost like that even more. I had imagined specialized rangers tipping their arrows in blood and hunting down orcs in their territory, but being cursed sounds cool too.

    All the gods got together, worried there would be intermingling. Turns out it didn't work, and now we have humans.

    "I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."

    The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson

    Steam: Korvalain
  • destroyah87destroyah87 They/Them Preferred: She/Her - Please UseRegistered User regular
    Brody wrote: »
    Fuselage wrote: »
    Inkhand wrote: »
    That's a fun idea. Maybe it was a bid to keep them away from each other? The gods, or some kind of giant magical curse made it so they couldn't be around each other in a bid to stop the constant warring and bloodshed. Fighting somebody sounds even less appealing if getting their blood on you will cause fatal anaphylactic shock.

    I almost like that even more. I had imagined specialized rangers tipping their arrows in blood and hunting down orcs in their territory, but being cursed sounds cool too.

    All the gods got together, worried there would be intermingling. Turns out it didn't work, and now we have humans.

    That's the basis of a fun campaign setting.

    It could be taken further, I'm picturing a world with three original races: Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs. Could also add in Dragons and/or Giants and/or Trolls. The gods of each race had a meeting and decided to make all the races allergic to the others, probably as a way to stop any competition for resources or large scale wars or just general intermingling. Even being around areas frequented by another race would be unpleasent, ranging upward to deadly with a long enough exposure.

    But, the plan didn't work. And now there are Humans (Orc-Elf) and Halfling (Elf-Dwarf) and Goblins (Dwarf-Orc.) And maybe even more races starting to enter the world, as the new races breed with the original races and each other, maybe possibly.

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  • FuselageFuselage Oosik Jumpship LoungeRegistered User regular
    Brody wrote: »
    Fuselage wrote: »
    Inkhand wrote: »
    That's a fun idea. Maybe it was a bid to keep them away from each other? The gods, or some kind of giant magical curse made it so they couldn't be around each other in a bid to stop the constant warring and bloodshed. Fighting somebody sounds even less appealing if getting their blood on you will cause fatal anaphylactic shock.

    I almost like that even more. I had imagined specialized rangers tipping their arrows in blood and hunting down orcs in their territory, but being cursed sounds cool too.

    All the gods got together, worried there would be intermingling. Turns out it didn't work, and now we have humans.

    That's the basis of a fun campaign setting.

    It could be taken further, I'm picturing a world with three original races: Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs. Could also add in Dragons and/or Giants and/or Trolls. The gods of each race had a meeting and decided to make all the races allergic to the others, probably as a way to stop any competition for resources or large scale wars or just general intermingling. Even being around areas frequented by another race would be unpleasent, ranging upward to deadly with a long enough exposure.

    But, the plan didn't work. And now there are Humans (Orc-Elf) and Halfling (Elf-Dwarf) and Goblins (Dwarf-Orc.) And maybe even more races starting to enter the world, as the new races breed with the original races and each other, maybe possibly.

    I've always wanted to make every race connected, way back when at our old house I had every race interconnected. Greenskins, Elves/Dwarves, Humans, etc. I think Gnomes were Dwarf/Elf and Halflings were Elf/Gnome or Human/Gnome or something. Orcs were Ogre/Human and Goblins were Orc/Halfling or something. Basically every Subtype had an original race. Dragons, Goblinoid, Fey, etc.

    o4n72w5h9b5y.png
  • DaMoonRulzDaMoonRulz Mare ImbriumRegistered User regular
    Brody wrote: »
    Fuselage wrote: »
    Inkhand wrote: »
    That's a fun idea. Maybe it was a bid to keep them away from each other? The gods, or some kind of giant magical curse made it so they couldn't be around each other in a bid to stop the constant warring and bloodshed. Fighting somebody sounds even less appealing if getting their blood on you will cause fatal anaphylactic shock.

    I almost like that even more. I had imagined specialized rangers tipping their arrows in blood and hunting down orcs in their territory, but being cursed sounds cool too.

    All the gods got together, worried there would be intermingling. Turns out it didn't work, and now we have humans.

    Prophecy tells of he who shall unite the realms: Ben Adryl

    3basnids3lf9.jpg




  • crimsoncoyotecrimsoncoyote Registered User regular
    DaMoonRulz wrote: »
    Brody wrote: »
    Fuselage wrote: »
    Inkhand wrote: »
    That's a fun idea. Maybe it was a bid to keep them away from each other? The gods, or some kind of giant magical curse made it so they couldn't be around each other in a bid to stop the constant warring and bloodshed. Fighting somebody sounds even less appealing if getting their blood on you will cause fatal anaphylactic shock.

    I almost like that even more. I had imagined specialized rangers tipping their arrows in blood and hunting down orcs in their territory, but being cursed sounds cool too.

    All the gods got together, worried there would be intermingling. Turns out it didn't work, and now we have humans.

    Prophecy tells of he who shall unite the realms: Ben Adryl

    No, Ben Adryl is the false prophet who claims he can cure the land. But everyone becomes enchanted with a sleeping curse.

    It'll be up to the likes of Ser Tec and Flo Naas and Clara Tin to give long lasting relief without the drowsiness...
    ill stop...

  • DaMoonRulzDaMoonRulz Mare ImbriumRegistered User regular
    Man, medicines make for great Fantasy names.

    Dont mess with the Wizard who makes snakes rigid and uses them as weapons. No, not Thulsa Doom.

    I'm talking about Cialis Levitra.

    3basnids3lf9.jpg




  • Hahnsoo1Hahnsoo1 Make Ready. We Hunt.Registered User regular
    edited April 2016
    I was patiently waiting in the other Roleplaying Games thread, after pledging my money on its Kickstarter. It was delayed by 1 page, but at least they delivered a product!

    It's more than I can say for other RPG Kickstarters...

    Hahnsoo1 on
    8i1dt37buh2m.png
  • Hahnsoo1Hahnsoo1 Make Ready. We Hunt.Registered User regular
    DaMoonRulz wrote: »
    Man, medicines make for great Fantasy names.

    Dont mess with the Wizard who makes snakes rigid and uses them as weapons. No, not Thulsa Doom.

    I'm talking about Cialis Levitra.
    I mean, you don't have to look far, either. I'm almost certain that there's a Decadron (possibly from one of the Lawful Neutral planes?) out there. Not to mention Questran (that sounds BUILT for an RPG) or Crestor (the Magnificent).

    8i1dt37buh2m.png
  • Grunt's GhostsGrunt's Ghosts Registered User regular
    Dungeons and Rx Drugs?

    This is why we can't have nice things.

  • ThomamelasThomamelas Only one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me! Registered User regular
    Hahnsoo1 wrote: »
    I was patiently waiting in the other Roleplaying Games thread, after pledging my money on its Kickstarter. It was delayed by 1 page, but at least they delivered a product!

    It's more than I can say for other RPG Kickstarters...

    Hey man, GMS says Far West will be out soon. Really soon!

    Honestly, my track record with RPG kickstarters has been pretty good. So far most of them have delivered. If not on time then within a reasonable period of time.

  • OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    I don't think I've ever not received my stuffs from an RPG kickstarter.

    Strike had some issues with pdf delivery, but we worked that out.

    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
  • DaMoonRulzDaMoonRulz Mare ImbriumRegistered User regular
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pvOCssMpeE

    Strix and Emily play "Our Radios Are Dying", a freeform RPG by Catilynn Belle, that's available for free in that link. Inspired somewhat by Sally Ride's secret relationship with a female Cosmonaut.

    You and one other person play as female astronauts; one from Venus and one from Mars, who are in a secret relationship. Your two planets are currently at odds, and you've had to keep this a secret for fear of the consequences. For some reason you two have been sent flying from your ship with no hope of surviving. There's only an hour of oxygen left in both of your space suits. You have an hour to say your final words to each other.

    The actual "gameplay" starts at 48:30 with a minute of just looking at each other, and then the timer starts as their oxygen is slowly used up.

    @Fuselage Watch this with Mrs. Fuselage

    3basnids3lf9.jpg




  • ArdentArdent Down UpsideRegistered User regular
    OptimusZed wrote: »
    I don't think I've ever not received my stuffs from an RPG kickstarter.

    Strike had some issues with pdf delivery, but we worked that out.
    There are some dodgy operators who've been stringing folks along for...I think one of them is something like 3 years overdue?

    Haha, you thought I was griping about Exalted. But I'm not. (But also I am.)

    Steam ID | Origin ID: ArdentX | Uplay ID: theardent | Battle.net: Ardent#11476
  • FuselageFuselage Oosik Jumpship LoungeRegistered User regular
    iubqcw6ue2w1.jpg
    I already pestered @DaMoonRulz with this but I'm celebrating having photoshop back on the computer.

    d20.jpg 58.4K
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  • ArdentArdent Down UpsideRegistered User regular
    I need to go to bed, but I am watching Rich Thomas get absolutely wrecked by the Exalted community for not firing Holden and Morke.

    I'm not even sure what this is, but it's richly deserved.

    Steam ID | Origin ID: ArdentX | Uplay ID: theardent | Battle.net: Ardent#11476
  • BursarBursar Hee Noooo! PDX areaRegistered User regular
    If you need a quick way to generate one-shots on the fly, I highly recommend "It's Not My Fault," which is essentially a way to quickly whip up situations and characters for a short FATE game. I've played using it twice so far, and it's been a lot of fun both times.

    GNU Terry Pratchett
    PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
    Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
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  • gaming_librariangaming_librarian Turn your face to the sun... Registered User regular
    I finally got to GM a game of Edge of the Empire with some family and friends. This was a fairly rare in-person meet-up game, since we don't all live close by; however, I think it was a great way to kick off a campaign, and we ran a slightly modified version of the beginner set adventure to kick things off. This was truly a great way to teach the system, as a few of us have had some D20 experience but were new to the FFG system, while I had one player totally new to rpgs. We had already met up in a Google hangout session a couple weeks prior to make characters, so we were good to go. Everyone was excited based on the narrative dice system when I explained it to them, but also a bit unsure how it'd play. My brother, who was the "brand new to rpgs" player, wound up absolutely taking the session over with his personal story and embraced the role playing right out of the gate. I'm sharing this because it's largely due to the system's outright emphasis on the mechanical effects of obligations and narration, and I wanted to give it a plug for those still on the fence about it. This is really something we should be doing in most rpgs we play, but my group so far is just eating up the obligations, motivations, etc. I think the way those mechanics are presented in the book really drive it home for my players, and the constant reminder of their obligations and goals to get away from those really provides boundaries for them to keep them in line when they aren't sure what to do. It sounds so simple, but it just feels different in this game for some reason.
    The narrative dice have been great to push my players to really describe what happens. This is huge because these are players who, in other games, have perhaps gotten lazy with that aspect of gaming and we'd all sort of fallen into "I rolled a 16 is it dead?" type responses when gaming, and that's truly all on us. From the first encounter on, it was great to be like "I don't know, what do 2 successes with a threat mean for you when you tried to deceive that guy?" type stuff. It's been a blast so far, and we'll be continuing on Roll20 going forward.

  • gaming_librariangaming_librarian Turn your face to the sun... Registered User regular
    Oh, also, have to share. I won't really spoil anything for those who haven't played the beginner game, but the opening cantina scene has it's standard dancing Twi'lek on a stage; you know, pretty Star Wars-y, whatever. This npc is pretty throw-away in terms of what's in the adventure; however, my brother's character is a doctor, pretty fresh out of med-school. His was the only non-shady background, as he went with a bit of a family/vow customized obligation. His guy is basically Simon Tam, as he went with "rich family, given everything due to his family's money/name" but is a legitimately smart and good guy who wants desperately to prove to himself and his folks/whoever that he is where he is due to his own work ethic and intelligence. So, the players have to hide from some gamorreans pretty quickly. The rest of the party does their thing, and he decides he goes up to sit at the stage to pretend he's just watching the Twi'lek, but he randomly throws out to us that he thinks he recognizes the dancer from med school. I go with it, and long-story short, we wound up going off the rails with a ryll spice addiction plot going on in the poor areas of town, perpetrated by a med school rival jealous of his silver spoon upbringing. It also made it real to everyone else that, yes, I'm tracking your obligations and you'll have to deal with it; you took on an extra ten obligation for 2500 credits to buy stuff with? Great...no way it'll come back on ya! I love rpgs.

  • InkhandInkhand Registered User regular
    I always love it when players give me ways to take the game in some direction I haven't planned. A bit more off the cuff work for me, but it makes for some more enjoyable stories.

  • DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    Inkhand wrote: »
    I always love it when players give me ways to take the game in some direction I haven't planned. A bit more off the cuff work for me, but it makes for some more enjoyable stories.

    I can not help but think about our last session in @Jdarksun game.

    Nod. Get treat. PSN: Quippish
  • OatsOats Registered User regular
    You mean he didn't plan to have our campaign involve political intrigue, mining rights, bulk insect transport (twice!), and an examination of military industrial complexes?

    Also a preponderance of stun hobos.

  • Grunt's GhostsGrunt's Ghosts Registered User regular
    And blackmail.

  • DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    Oats wrote: »
    You mean he didn't plan to have our campaign involve political intrigue, mining rights, bulk insect transport (twice!), and an examination of military industrial complexes?

    Also a preponderance of stun hobos.

    I think three out of the five were meant to come up. Our predilection for bulk insect transport and our use of it to complete our mission was probably not.

    Also something about open sourcing lightsaber design to the holo-net that I'm sure will in no way be something we come to regret.

    Nod. Get treat. PSN: Quippish
  • OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    The information just wanted to be free, man.

    Who are we to stop it.

    Definitely not Jedi Knights. That's for damn sure.

    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
  • ArdentArdent Down UpsideRegistered User regular
    Oats wrote: »
    You mean he didn't plan to have our campaign involve political intrigue, mining rights, bulk insect transport (twice!), and an examination of military industrial complexes?

    Also a preponderance of stun hobos.
    It is weirdly serendipitous we ended up with not one but three characters who are suited to bulk insect transportation. If jdarksun were a suspicious man, he might realize that this was our plan all along.

    But political intrigue, mining rights disputes, and an examination of the dangers of a military-industrial complex is what Star Wars is all about. According to George Lucas.

    Steam ID | Origin ID: ArdentX | Uplay ID: theardent | Battle.net: Ardent#11476
  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    I’ve gotta think up a legal system and precedents and stuff now. Great.

  • Captain CarrotCaptain Carrot Alexandria, VARegistered User regular
    Ardent wrote: »
    Oats wrote: »
    You mean he didn't plan to have our campaign involve political intrigue, mining rights, bulk insect transport (twice!), and an examination of military industrial complexes?

    Also a preponderance of stun hobos.
    It is weirdly serendipitous we ended up with not one but three characters who are suited to bulk insect transportation. If jdarksun were a suspicious man, he might realize that this was our plan all along.

    But political intrigue, mining rights disputes, and an examination of the dangers of a military-industrial complex is what Star Wars is all about. According to George Lucas.

    How do you get a Death Star without a solid MIC?

  • ArdentArdent Down UpsideRegistered User regular
    Ardent wrote: »
    Oats wrote: »
    You mean he didn't plan to have our campaign involve political intrigue, mining rights, bulk insect transport (twice!), and an examination of military industrial complexes?

    Also a preponderance of stun hobos.
    It is weirdly serendipitous we ended up with not one but three characters who are suited to bulk insect transportation. If jdarksun were a suspicious man, he might realize that this was our plan all along.

    But political intrigue, mining rights disputes, and an examination of the dangers of a military-industrial complex is what Star Wars is all about. According to George Lucas.

    How do you get a Death Star without a solid MIC?
    Command economy?

    *muffled giggles*

    Steam ID | Origin ID: ArdentX | Uplay ID: theardent | Battle.net: Ardent#11476
  • ThomamelasThomamelas Only one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me! Registered User regular
    So our Star Wars group is setting up a prison break. We've taken out the defenses on the prison planet's moon. We find our selves at the entrance to the prison. Big massive blast door. Blast resistant windows. You know Imperial overbuild. A challenge for the group to figure out how to get past.

    The solution was walk up to the door, press the intercom and ask nicely. For certain values of asking nicely.
    Rolling 1P and 1A against 4D. 1 Success, 2 Threat, 1 Triumph. Faced so hard.

  • Ken OKen O Registered User regular
    So while waiting for our Mage game to start up we've been playing Kobolds Ate My Baby. We're 3 sessions in and somehow no one has died.
    We've managed to sow complete and utter destruction everywhere we go and it's been crazy fun though. My cutpurse has stolen from party members, locked them in a burning chicken coop, hit another kobold in the head with a rock, and generally avoids the bigger combats so he can steal more things (and look for the quest items of course).

    http://www.fingmonkey.com/
    Comics, Games, Booze
  • Grunt's GhostsGrunt's Ghosts Registered User regular
    edited April 2016
    So while looking to see if Owlbears are intelligence creatures I came across something that has made me cream myself.:

    https://twitter.com/CampaignCoins/status/722587607922712577

    https://twitter.com/CampaignCoins/status/722262543960449025

    They haven't released them yet, they are working on a Dwarven Tower coins but they are suppose to be doing a Kickstarter soon for it. I'm so backing this once I can as they will be great for my 13th Age Icon Relationship token system I use!

    Grunt's Ghosts on
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    Heh, I thought it was weird someone else besides me would use the Reign of the Exarchs art in a Mage write-up, I approve the usage. :P

    From the last thread, I saw these at Mandarake Shibuya:

    CgAJzKvXIAE0XwJ.jpg
    A series of tabletop RPG books based on SMT. There's one for Nocturne, original Megami Tensei, and one for Devil Summoner. I didn't buy them since I can barely speak the language much less read it, but I was wondering if anyone happens to be familiar with them, or maybe know of an English equivalent or translations?

    Failing that, I guess you could homebrew up an equivalent using WoD or something.

    wVEsyIc.png
  • FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    Several players of mine subscribe to the philosophy of meaningful names.

    To mess with them I created the 40k character Colonel Brutus Judas Quisling (of the Ordo Tempestus). He's completely loyal.

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
  • ArdentArdent Down UpsideRegistered User regular
    Several players of mine subscribe to the philosophy of meaningful names.

    To mess with them I created the 40k character Colonel Brutus Judas Quisling (of the Ordo Tempestus). He's completely loyal.
    I'm not sure I would be able to resist the constant "Et tu, Brute?" opportunities.

    Steam ID | Origin ID: ArdentX | Uplay ID: theardent | Battle.net: Ardent#11476
  • FuselageFuselage Oosik Jumpship LoungeRegistered User regular
  • Albino BunnyAlbino Bunny Jackie Registered User regular
    So out of interest if I were to host a Fragged Empire PbP on here would there be any interest? My group I'm trying to organise in real life are a little... flakey right now but I still really want to explore the setting.

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