As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/

[Roleplaying Games] Thank God I Finally Have A Table For Cannabis Potency.

17172747677101

Posts

  • DenadaDenada Registered User regular
    Denada wrote: »
    I watched my girlfriend take some historical fencing classes so I think I can offer some expert testimony here. *pushes up glasses*

    Although actually yeah, from my extremely limited experience I'd say if they're in melee with swords, they'd only go in for a punch or grapple if their opponent's weapon was bound up. If that's the case, then you can't really parry that because your weapon isn't available. And since grappling rules are always the best rules in any tabletop RPG, I'd take the fight there for sure.

    Now I do not remember what the original question was or what system we're talking about, but I'm sure all of that was helpful.

    Well, I do have some relevant experience: karate & judo for about 10 years and kendo for going on 2 1/2 with some occasional HEMA lessons and an aikido class back in college. Kadoken seems like a guy who appreciates detailed simulation in his game, so that's what Inquisitor and I are providing. Sorry in advance if I misread your tone, but I think based on his response he did find it helpful even if he ultimately decided to go with a different ruling.

    I was just being silly. Looking back I can see how my post might have come off as me trying to make fun of you or be condescending, but that wasn't my intention. I'm sorry about that. I mas intending to poke fun at my own lack of experience and how watching my girlfriend take a few classes (which is true) doesn't really give me a lot to offer to the discussion, which I also only had a loose understanding of.

  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    I took no offense.

  • SleepSleep Registered User regular
    Yeah, strong agree. There's no way I'd want to fight unarmed against someone with a weapon: the unarmed fighter archetype is 100% a conceit of gaming entertainment.

    Generally the first mission while defending one self from an armed attacker is to make them an unarmed attacker. The usual first outcome is grievous injury for the defender.

  • SolarSolar Registered User regular
    There are some very minor situations I think, like if you were both armoured you might argue that being unarmed would be more effective in an enclosed space than fighting with a polearm, but typically yeah the whole point of weapons is they're superior to like, not weapons.

    You can totally parry a punch though. It just doesn't work in the same way. Typically you are pushing the fist aside so it goes somewhere useless, robbing it of power.

  • SleepSleep Registered User regular
    Solar wrote: »
    There are some very minor situations I think, like if you were both armoured you might argue that being unarmed would be more effective in an enclosed space than fighting with a polearm, but typically yeah the whole point of weapons is they're superior to like, not weapons.

    You can totally parry a punch though. It just doesn't work in the same way. Typically you are pushing the fist aside so it goes somewhere useless, robbing it of power.

    The entire 8 point blocking system (super basic self defense stuff) is basically a system of parry's. Almost all hand to hand combat is about either parrying or trapping incoming blows.

  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    In non parry stuff, I have been using a mix of Irish Gaelic, Tolkien Elvish, and the 40k Eldar language wiki page for Eldar characters speaking their native language. I’ve also been using not-Mandarin as a code language between the Fodder’s antagonists as a few key lieutenant types come from a world I made up that is a mix of China and the American West.

    Also had a Heated Gaming Moment where I accidentally called my players “Mon’keigh” when I was trying to act out a harlequin very nicely asking them where his friends’ soul stones were. One of my players had to point out I did it because I was actively trying not to.

    Kadoken on
  • italianranmaitalianranma Registered User regular
    That's awesome. I almost feel obligated to do something like that because of my degree in Linguistics, but the most I've ever managed is cribbing Chinese & Japanese radicals. One of my players is going for a runesmith archetype, and so I've given him a few of these simple characters to mix and match into his runes. Then he counts in German, which still sounds super cool to me since I don't speak it. I bet an actual German speaker would just give us a funny look though.

    All add one last thing to the parry/melee discussion, and that is Roland Warzecha has an excellent youtube channel where he demonstrates Viking Age and Medieval martial arts. I find that watching it has really helped with my descriptions for melee combat in D&D. To be honest, a big reason I took up Kendo was to incorporate more realism into my game design, but I haven't really capitalized on it yet. I keep trying to make interesting choices for players but too often I end up with wasteful complication instead.

    飛べねぇ豚はただの豚だ。
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    Alright, so tell me how this sounds, a puzzle for my genesys game.


    So the players are in a dungeon and are going to encounter four puzzles to get 4 glowing stones, all based on Mirrors. Here are the first two. Thoughts?

    1. An old room with a rotted bed, wardrobe, desk, rugs and an open empty treasure chest along with a decent sized mirror on the wall. Everything is incredibly old and rotten except for the treasure chest and mirror. When the players look in the mirror they see the treasure chest full of treasure. The goal is to have them take the mirror off the wall and mess with it, if they tilt the mirror the treasure will be seen pouring out of the mirror chest and onto the floor of the room they are standing in, and in that treasure is a blue ball. I think that is pretty straight forward. I think I might have the mirror be tilted at first, so if they straighten it they'll hear the treasure clink. I found this puzzle online, certainly not original.

    2. Players are in another room, like maybe 40ft square. In the middle of the room is a dais with a strange contraption on it, a hole in the ceiling and a large mirrored surface on the wall across from the dais. In the mirror the contraption is blown up to huge size, with a blue stone in it. The contraption is pictured below.
    fu3bfrnm4dyu.jpg

    So while one of my players is doing this maze, I'm going to have it so when the first time he messes up, the room starts filling up with invisible water (visible in the mirror wall) so they feel their feet getting wet but can't see it directly. As the player keeps messing up it'll alternate from filling to having strange mirror sharks appear, and this will give the folks who aren't doing the puzzle a combat to keep them busy. After a certain amount of sharks the puzzle will "end" and depending on how far the player got (these spheres are numbered for each section) they'll get some prizes, and the final one will be the blue ball. If the player can finish the puzzle it will also end, and they'll get even more treasure and potentially not have to fight as many sharks.

    I figure this will be novel, not take up too much time and be challenging because one player is going to be focused on solving the puzzle while the others fight. (I know which player likes this kind of thing the most and is also the least combat capable character).

    Thoughts?


    webguy20 on
    Steam ID: Webguy20
    Origin ID: Discgolfer27
    Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    I like it. Maybe to clue them further, have a clean outline on a wall with dust that will cause them to think they should turn the mirror and then that gets them to rustle the mirror chest.

    Also do the mirror sharks only show up in the mirror or do they come out of the mirror?

  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    Sleep wrote: »
    Yeah, strong agree. There's no way I'd want to fight unarmed against someone with a weapon: the unarmed fighter archetype is 100% a conceit of gaming entertainment.

    Generally the first mission while defending one self from an armed attacker is to make them an unarmed attacker. The usual first outcome is grievous injury for the defender.

    Yes, then you eat the banana, thus disarming your opponent and rendering him helpless.

  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    Kadoken wrote: »
    I like it. Maybe to clue them further, have a clean outline on a wall with dust that will cause them to think they should turn the mirror and then that gets them to rustle the mirror chest.

    Also do the mirror sharks only show up in the mirror or do they come out of the mirror?

    The sharks will be completely visible in the mirror but be semi transparent shapes in the room. I don't want to make it too difficult for my players. They're still pretty green when it comes to RPGs.

    Steam ID: Webguy20
    Origin ID: Discgolfer27
    Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
  • ArdentArdent Down UpsideRegistered User regular
    The primary purpose of melee weapons are reach and mechanical advantage. If you're in a melee and have a free hand, you're better off holding it against your abdomen so it can't get hit easily. With that said some of the European martial arts involve kicking, punching, and elbows even if you are armed. Instep stomps are pretty comical in modern MMA but if you're doing it to someone trying to carry an extra 40 pounds on their shoulders and swing a fulcrum point away from their body around it can be a pretty smart maneuver to hurt your opponent's balance.

    Ultimately how you fight in a melee is going to depend a lot on what kind of weapon you're using and how comfortable you are with your own body mechanics.

    Steam ID | Origin ID: ArdentX | Uplay ID: theardent | Battle.net: Ardent#11476
  • InquisitorInquisitor Registered User regular
    Ardent wrote: »
    The primary purpose of melee weapons are reach and mechanical advantage. If you're in a melee and have a free hand, you're better off holding it against your abdomen so it can't get hit easily. With that said some of the European martial arts involve kicking, punching, and elbows even if you are armed. Instep stomps are pretty comical in modern MMA but if you're doing it to someone trying to carry an extra 40 pounds on their shoulders and swing a fulcrum point away from their body around it can be a pretty smart maneuver to hurt your opponent's balance.

    Ultimately how you fight in a melee is going to depend a lot on what kind of weapon you're using and how comfortable you are with your own body mechanics.

    That’s far too sweeping of a statement.

    There are historical manuals for certain weapons that advocate keeping your hand as you describe, and others have your free hand play a rather active role. And there are others still that have your hand that was holding your weapon release and become free hand to execute, most typically, grapples.

  • MsAnthropyMsAnthropy The Lady of Pain Breaks the Rhythm, Breaks the Rhythm, Breaks the Rhythm The City of FlowersRegistered User regular
    Inquisitor wrote: »
    Ardent wrote: »
    The primary purpose of melee weapons are reach and mechanical advantage. If you're in a melee and have a free hand, you're better off holding it against your abdomen so it can't get hit easily. With that said some of the European martial arts involve kicking, punching, and elbows even if you are armed. Instep stomps are pretty comical in modern MMA but if you're doing it to someone trying to carry an extra 40 pounds on their shoulders and swing a fulcrum point away from their body around it can be a pretty smart maneuver to hurt your opponent's balance.

    Ultimately how you fight in a melee is going to depend a lot on what kind of weapon you're using and how comfortable you are with your own body mechanics.

    That’s far too sweeping of a statement.

    There are historical manuals for certain weapons that advocate keeping your hand as you describe, and others have your free hand play a rather active role. And there are others still that have your hand that was holding your weapon release and become free hand to execute, most typically, grapples.

    Not to mention a ‘free’ hand can also be used in halbschwert for leverage or thrusting. Lots of options there.

    Luscious Sounds Spotify Playlist

    "The only real politics I knew was that if a guy liked Hitler, I’d beat the stuffing out of him and that would be it." -- Jack Kirby
  • discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    webguy20 wrote: »
    Alright, so tell me how this sounds, a puzzle for my genesys game.


    So the players are in a dungeon and are going to encounter four puzzles to get 4 glowing stones, all based on Mirrors. Here are the first two. Thoughts?

    1. An old room with a rotted bed, wardrobe, desk, rugs and an open empty treasure chest along with a decent sized mirror on the wall. Everything is incredibly old and rotten except for the treasure chest and mirror. When the players look in the mirror they see the treasure chest full of treasure. The goal is to have them take the mirror off the wall and mess with it, if they tilt the mirror the treasure will be seen pouring out of the mirror chest and onto the floor of the room they are standing in, and in that treasure is a blue ball. I think that is pretty straight forward. I think I might have the mirror be tilted at first, so if they straighten it they'll hear the treasure clink. I found this puzzle online, certainly not original.

    2. Players are in another room, like maybe 40ft square. In the middle of the room is a dais with a strange contraption on it, a hole in the ceiling and a large mirrored surface on the wall across from the dais. In the mirror the contraption is blown up to huge size, with a blue stone in it. The contraption is pictured below.
    fu3bfrnm4dyu.jpg

    So while one of my players is doing this maze, I'm going to have it so when the first time he messes up, the room starts filling up with invisible water (visible in the mirror wall) so they feel their feet getting wet but can't see it directly. As the player keeps messing up it'll alternate from filling to having strange mirror sharks appear, and this will give the folks who aren't doing the puzzle a combat to keep them busy. After a certain amount of sharks the puzzle will "end" and depending on how far the player got (these spheres are numbered for each section) they'll get some prizes, and the final one will be the blue ball. If the player can finish the puzzle it will also end, and they'll get even more treasure and potentially not have to fight as many sharks.

    I figure this will be novel, not take up too much time and be challenging because one player is going to be focused on solving the puzzle while the others fight. (I know which player likes this kind of thing the most and is also the least combat capable character).

    Thoughts?

    Are your players bad at ball mazes?
    Or is one player going to be sitting there, not stuffing up, whilst everyone else sits around bored?

    discrider on
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    discrider wrote: »
    webguy20 wrote: »
    Alright, so tell me how this sounds, a puzzle for my genesys game.


    So the players are in a dungeon and are going to encounter four puzzles to get 4 glowing stones, all based on Mirrors. Here are the first two. Thoughts?

    1. An old room with a rotted bed, wardrobe, desk, rugs and an open empty treasure chest along with a decent sized mirror on the wall. Everything is incredibly old and rotten except for the treasure chest and mirror. When the players look in the mirror they see the treasure chest full of treasure. The goal is to have them take the mirror off the wall and mess with it, if they tilt the mirror the treasure will be seen pouring out of the mirror chest and onto the floor of the room they are standing in, and in that treasure is a blue ball. I think that is pretty straight forward. I think I might have the mirror be tilted at first, so if they straighten it they'll hear the treasure clink. I found this puzzle online, certainly not original.

    2. Players are in another room, like maybe 40ft square. In the middle of the room is a dais with a strange contraption on it, a hole in the ceiling and a large mirrored surface on the wall across from the dais. In the mirror the contraption is blown up to huge size, with a blue stone in it. The contraption is pictured below.
    fu3bfrnm4dyu.jpg

    So while one of my players is doing this maze, I'm going to have it so when the first time he messes up, the room starts filling up with invisible water (visible in the mirror wall) so they feel their feet getting wet but can't see it directly. As the player keeps messing up it'll alternate from filling to having strange mirror sharks appear, and this will give the folks who aren't doing the puzzle a combat to keep them busy. After a certain amount of sharks the puzzle will "end" and depending on how far the player got (these spheres are numbered for each section) they'll get some prizes, and the final one will be the blue ball. If the player can finish the puzzle it will also end, and they'll get even more treasure and potentially not have to fight as many sharks.

    I figure this will be novel, not take up too much time and be challenging because one player is going to be focused on solving the puzzle while the others fight. (I know which player likes this kind of thing the most and is also the least combat capable character).

    Thoughts?

    Are your players bad at ball mazes?
    Or is one player going to be sitting there, not stuffing up, whilst everyone else sits around bored?

    The other players will be in combat protecting the one player from sharks that appear every time he fucks up. The win conditions are either he finishes the maze or they finish off ever increasingly difficult sharks.

    That is the easy maze, so it only takes a couple minutes to do a perfect run, I wouldn't get one that would take like 10 minutes or anything. Knowing my players if he does do a perfect run they will be pretty invested during the effort.

    Edit: I might make it that the trap springs as soon as they start, so no matter what there is a combat. I'll have to think on it.

    webguy20 on
    Steam ID: Webguy20
    Origin ID: Discgolfer27
    Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    Just got the ball puzzle and played with it a bit. Pretty quick but could be one shotted. I think when whatever player starts it, the room will start filling with water and I'll have the sharks on a timer, independent of the ball. Finishing the puzzle will end the combat faster than slogging through it.

    Steam ID: Webguy20
    Origin ID: Discgolfer27
    Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    TONIGHT
    a reckoning

    Edit: man fuck these guys I will never think with balance in mind for them again. Just stunned the plague marine for five turns. I had this shit planned out for months and now it feels like a farce. He didn't even get anything past a suppressing fire attack off because I forgot a righteous fury knocked his gun away and forgot to pick it up when he had some really good rolls and made it a lethal fight by hurting them a little bit. Didn't get even a scratch on them. Had even a contingency plan where if they got TPK'd there was a second team they could play as to avoid the Bastilla of Pus map I would make if they got knocked out and taken away.

    Edit 2: I am upsetty spaghetti right now but I will get over it.

    Edit 3: It's the end and all the energy has been taken out of me. I kind of don't want to introduce some of these characters I made to get them out of a jam now. They're clearly high up that they need to be facing squads of space marines, xenos, or daemons. I have made some villains and found some NPC types which aren't just brute forceable (and not through methods like the regen thing) so I can work around their power level now. Man. What a disappointment for this thing I had been waiting months for.

    Edit4: There is one silver lining. I made a series of encounters to roll for on a table for travelling through the underhive. They landed on the one they can’t just go around and could be really tough for them depending on how they play it. An abandoned mining complex with a possessed mirror. It will cause them to be intoxicated with vanity, pride, ego, etc. Then force them to attack each other out of jealousy. If they play it wrong and stare into the thing after noticing the mounds of bones around it and the cloth laying on top of it. Plus the mine has some spots where they can plunge down holes if they’re not careful. They also have corrosive factory runoff basically pumped where they’re driving in a rain so they’ll have to take shelter.

    Edit 5: I mean the fight wasn’t a total wash. It was still kind of up in the air and the players did put a lot of thought into it. They didn’t just walk through and kill him easily. I do really need to stop moving enemies into engaging the pcs with the plan of striking them the next turn because if the PCs hit first they’ll win. Especially with the shocking stun of the maul one of them has and the powerfist. The marine did survive the damage but the stun meant the fight was over. I should have just kept him safe and thrown the krak and frag grenades he had because they kept shooting him with guns that were getting very few wounds. Also maybe getting the boltgun back, that would have helped a lot had I not forgotten. I also gave them an artillery signal device which they used weakened the marine’s allies, but that made sense to me because they were using it beforehand to blow up groups and weapons off the walls and it was to signal a single mortar. That thing barely hurt the marine, but definitely the muties and the psyker felt it. They’re getting that guncutter now too. Luckily a lot of the modules I planned do take place inside so they’ll be able to use it but not trivialize all fights.

    I did decide to not make a big mook show in the tower thing, but just because I was drained of my spirit. I do not feel bad now about the two beasts of nurgle and the tough psyker boss fight I have planned for the climax. I’m also really going to send waves of dudes after them if they get caught sneaking through the last encounter to soften them up.

    Edit 6: I needed to fight smarter. I might also need to rethink the modules coming up for them since they might just be above them in terms of experience and equipment. I can hand the ones I planned to the less experienced cannon fodder group and get them to what is basically the late stage of the things I planned: a series of searches across different planets for stuff that will lead them to the end of this overall campaign. I will see depending on how the rest of this adventure goes.

    Edit 7: had a slep. They killed a space marine totally fair and square. They got really good rolls. That’s just what happens sometimes. E8: they have been hurt by basic mooks before with their current equipment so I don’t gotta go back to my “How do I murder these guys!?” phase. I might still get them through the next two adventures I had planned, but not have them do the nurgle cult infesting the hive. Mainly because the pacing didn’t really make sense to take their attention away from the main bad guy group I made. Also until you get to the daemons the cultist profiles are very mid to low level. So the not-Punisher stuff with the cult is going to go to the cannon fodder group instead and they’ll investigate that while my veteran henchmen group investigates the group I made which will suit them better. E9: they never did ask what was up with the exiled priest, so I’m just going to get rid of anything to do with the corrupt bishop of the hive since he would lead them onto it and then help them take that guy down.E10: all my major humanoid boss characters get stimm. No more stuns.

    Kadoken on
  • ArdentArdent Down UpsideRegistered User regular
    Inquisitor wrote: »
    Ardent wrote: »
    The primary purpose of melee weapons are reach and mechanical advantage. If you're in a melee and have a free hand, you're better off holding it against your abdomen so it can't get hit easily. With that said some of the European martial arts involve kicking, punching, and elbows even if you are armed. Instep stomps are pretty comical in modern MMA but if you're doing it to someone trying to carry an extra 40 pounds on their shoulders and swing a fulcrum point away from their body around it can be a pretty smart maneuver to hurt your opponent's balance.

    Ultimately how you fight in a melee is going to depend a lot on what kind of weapon you're using and how comfortable you are with your own body mechanics.

    That’s far too sweeping of a statement.

    There are historical manuals for certain weapons that advocate keeping your hand as you describe, and others have your free hand play a rather active role. And there are others still that have your hand that was holding your weapon release and become free hand to execute, most typically, grapples.
    Talking about an actual free hand. Not applicable when you're using a hand-and-a-half sword or another weapon with a longer hilt.

    Anything that is away from your body without reason is needless risk in a melee. Not a duel. Not a two-on-one fight. A melee.

    Steam ID | Origin ID: ArdentX | Uplay ID: theardent | Battle.net: Ardent#11476
  • InquisitorInquisitor Registered User regular
    Ardent wrote: »
    Inquisitor wrote: »
    Ardent wrote: »
    The primary purpose of melee weapons are reach and mechanical advantage. If you're in a melee and have a free hand, you're better off holding it against your abdomen so it can't get hit easily. With that said some of the European martial arts involve kicking, punching, and elbows even if you are armed. Instep stomps are pretty comical in modern MMA but if you're doing it to someone trying to carry an extra 40 pounds on their shoulders and swing a fulcrum point away from their body around it can be a pretty smart maneuver to hurt your opponent's balance.

    Ultimately how you fight in a melee is going to depend a lot on what kind of weapon you're using and how comfortable you are with your own body mechanics.

    That’s far too sweeping of a statement.

    There are historical manuals for certain weapons that advocate keeping your hand as you describe, and others have your free hand play a rather active role. And there are others still that have your hand that was holding your weapon release and become free hand to execute, most typically, grapples.
    Talking about an actual free hand. Not applicable when you're using a hand-and-a-half sword or another weapon with a longer hilt.

    Anything that is away from your body without reason is needless risk in a melee. Not a duel. Not a two-on-one fight. A melee.

    If you are in a swirling melee and have a free hand you already fucked up, let’s be real here.

  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    Inquisitor wrote: »
    Ardent wrote: »
    Inquisitor wrote: »
    Ardent wrote: »
    The primary purpose of melee weapons are reach and mechanical advantage. If you're in a melee and have a free hand, you're better off holding it against your abdomen so it can't get hit easily. With that said some of the European martial arts involve kicking, punching, and elbows even if you are armed. Instep stomps are pretty comical in modern MMA but if you're doing it to someone trying to carry an extra 40 pounds on their shoulders and swing a fulcrum point away from their body around it can be a pretty smart maneuver to hurt your opponent's balance.

    Ultimately how you fight in a melee is going to depend a lot on what kind of weapon you're using and how comfortable you are with your own body mechanics.

    That’s far too sweeping of a statement.

    There are historical manuals for certain weapons that advocate keeping your hand as you describe, and others have your free hand play a rather active role. And there are others still that have your hand that was holding your weapon release and become free hand to execute, most typically, grapples.
    Talking about an actual free hand. Not applicable when you're using a hand-and-a-half sword or another weapon with a longer hilt.

    Anything that is away from your body without reason is needless risk in a melee. Not a duel. Not a two-on-one fight. A melee.

    If you are in a swirling melee and have a free hand you already fucked up, let’s be real here.

    Unless you're a monk, then your free hands are the swirling melee.

  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    So I need some plausible motiviation for an NPC and I need the threads help.

    My pirate crew captured an Indiana Jones type archaeologist character on her way to a new potential relic (A whale with an island on its back with a temple). They were able to get her onto their ship with the promise of an interesting relic they already had (it really was a relic, but just a piece of fluff they found the last game, I was quite proud of them thinking to use it). While she was over there with her guard they were able to knock her out and in the combat that ensued the entire other ship was killed, and that ship sunk. Now she was sent on an elvish royal ship to secure any artifacts at this location, so that poses a problem when she wakes up and finds out everything that went down.

    Now I would like her to lead them to this place, and I would prefer that she want to still go and work with my players as well. I'm torn between the two motivations below.

    1. She is just way more mercenary than the stories about her let on, which is totally plausible in a never meet your heroes sort of way, somewhat like Belloq in Raiders of the Lost ark.

    2. I could have her actually be relieved, because on a previous adventure she brought a relic back to the Elvish Queen that was actually cursed, and now the royalty has been corrupted and my archaeologist keeps getting sent out to gather these relics of power to empower the throne, and the players actually freed her from this without realizing it.

    I'm leaning towards the 2nd one because she could be a reoccurring NPC that drops tantalizing plot hooks. The first works too, but the 2nd is more sympathetic and could lead into a bigger set of stories.

    What do ya'll think? Do you have other motivations that would also work? She currently has the skillset of a rogue/scholar. Handy with a book or a knife, knows her way around traps, and regardless of how her personality ends up, knowledgeable and charismatic.

    Steam ID: Webguy20
    Origin ID: Discgolfer27
    Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    I like 2. All other scenarios I (as an NPC) would want your characters dead or steal from them and leave.

    E: I’m upping those two beasts of nurgle to three.

    Kadoken on
  • Mostlyjoe13Mostlyjoe13 Evil, Evil, Jump for joy! Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    Mmmm. Did a little digging of my player pool. I'm getting more traction with the Shadowrun-inspired Starfinder game. I want to tinker with Genesys but I may have to put my Persona game idea on the backburner (giving me time to cook up npc monsters, etc) until I can get a group interested in it.

    Mostlyjoe13 on
    PSN ID - Mostlyjoe Steam ID -TheNotoriusRNG
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    Kadoken wrote: »
    I like 2. All other scenarios I (as an NPC) would want your characters dead or steal from them and leave.

    Good call. I'm certainly going to make sure she calls the players out on their pirating ways though. She knows that what they did wasn't out of any sense of obligation or good will. A lesser of two evils that might pay off in the end.

    My end goal is to shape my players into heroic assholes, they are pirates after all.

    Steam ID: Webguy20
    Origin ID: Discgolfer27
    Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    I will never engage my vet PCs in melee combat willingly again. Unless the NPC is really good at dodging like (dark) eldar. Or they’re specifically a berserker type. Or they’re mooks or some kind of distraction so dudes with hot-shots, explosives, melta, or whatever can shoot them while they’re distracted. Or daemons.

    Luckily I designed my major villains to be either flighty or at the very least be aloof, have mooks to spare, and know when to quit. Also three of the four are really powerful fighters, psykers, and/or have some special abilities. Then there’s just like a guy whose just a good general.

    I’mma need that helkite. Maybe a brass thief (which I totally found in the Tome of Blood splat [I think]).

    E: although I think like this, then the very next fight with some punk with a revolver they get messed up. Which is poetic in its mundanity of way to go, but reminds me sometimes the dice be like that.

    They didn’t, they’re still about to do my narcissus mirror thing, but I can totally see it happening.

    Kadoken on
  • FuselageFuselage Oosik Jumpship LoungeRegistered User regular
    edited May 2018
    First time running or playing PbtA and we did session zero to set up the galaxy last night.

    Races
    Humans: They are the scrubs of the galaxy and remain the most wide-spread once The Interface allowed them off their rock. Races use them as pets, breeding stock, experiments, or labor. It's often thought by other races that a planet colonized by humans is either entertaining to behold, or a lost cause. In this way, humans have been used aggressively by factions, races, or clans as buffers against each other.

    The Interface: Absolute/Dominant symbiotic AI that evolved from humanity's first crude attempts at creation. As far as sci-fi references go, they're somewhere between the Star League, TechnoCore, and Citadel in terms of attitude and function. While their true existence isn't widely known or understood, their shadow government uses untold numbers of hosts from the other races to make the galaxy work toward their goals. They generally keep the peace, as well as enough outlets for violence between factions or races that it's never turned toward the masters. Synthetics rule the galaxy, whether anyone knows it or not. The Sphere is the name of their government, and the seat of their power - at the center of the galaxy a massive Dyson Sphere operates as their own citadel and boasts a population of every species the size of several planets. The three Interface factions split along their lines when it came to decide their next move after leaving humans on their home-rock for several generations. The Sphere maintains order and chaos within tolerances across the galaxy, as well as the major jump points. The Stack is a mythical anti-organic faction that are only told as boogeymen, not as a real threat, and The Unbound exist in the very edges of the galaxy masquerading as humans or Dranesh exploring the unknown.

    Dranesh: Evolved Weightless/Zero-G living, pheremone using humanoids. Bald and tattooed mystics and space wanderers and philosophers. They're the most likely to use space magic, but even that is rare and mostly a myth thought up by ignorant humans. They speak to each other using subtle body language and pheremones but have to temporarily disable that bodily function when dealing with the other races. Only the Kraki are able to understand the pheremones without reciprocating with muddied and overwhelming signals themselves. The body odor from Vortai or Humans may as well be yelling gibberish at the Dranesh. They organize themselves in three factions; those violent revolutionaries that want to take back their home world, the majority that live in huge flotillas that slowly explore the galaxy, and a small sect of cultists that spread the word of an unknown star god.

    Vortai: Evolved Giant Peter Dinklage Space Dwarves. They're massive, patriarchal (usually taken to toxic extremes), and organize themselves in squabbling clans that at least sometimes listen to the most powerful clan in a time of need. Instead of ships they more often mine out asteroids and use them for clanholds and transportation. It's better for everyone to keep Vortai separate. Before any contests of strength get out of hand.

    Syrynns: Beautiful unisex androgynous and bio-luminescent humanoids. They use DNA borrowed from skin contact made with the other races to fertilize the eggs they've previously laid. Originally they came from one planet and the lack of genetic diversity led to them basically cloning themselves - so they had to reach the stars, and quickly. As a result, most Syrynns still look very similar. They are the most successful politicians and leaders, and use that role to ensure enough peace in the galaxy to allow for easier access to genetic material. Second most populace after Humans.

    Kraki: Xeno Space Fireflies. They can survive in space, use antennae to broadcast, and can perceive other bands visually (or electrically). Their society is a meritocracy that eschews family bonds in favor of intellect, productivity, and benefit to society.

    Yeerk: Ascendant Symbiotes ripped from Animorphs. The Interface use them as a prison sentence; instead of incarceration or death, prisoners become unwilling hosts and live out the rest of their days helpless while the Yeerk use their bodies for the betterment of society.


    Factions
    The Cloaked Hand: Degenerate Merchant Coalition. Everything is for sale, including slaves. Everything is a commodity when demand and price meet.

    Outercores: Brave Rebel Coalition. Technophobic bands of organics rebelling against The Interface and automated technology that can think. Space ships are still usable, but manually. AI and Robots are controlling our minds, man!

    Sateenvarjo: Wealthy Scientific Society. All must be examined, even life itself... (In their yearbook, they're listed under 'Most likely to have secret ethics violations')

    The Triad: Sinister Criminal Network. Galaxy-spanning secret criminal underground that focus on personal relationships and loyalty while engaging in ritual tattooing and body modifications. They have their thumb on the pulse of anything unsavory or illegal. Gun running, human trafficking, any smuggling, gambling, or money laundering.

    The Characters
    HMMR (Hybrid Munitions Military Robot): Mercenary Warbot. Scarred and sturdy warframe, cold AI. Regimented, Military, Scoundrel.

    Yeerk (Kedo): Brain Slug controlling a Vortai war criminal. Grimy, Massive, Orderly. Programmed, Industrial, Military.

    Susan Black: The Doctor. Serious, Rugged, Detached. Colonist Academic Industrial. (She's a She-Krieger, approach at own risk)

    Ace Kyllian: Rogue Pilot. Dapper, Restless, Vulgar. Impovershed Starfarer Scoundrel.

    Yeerk's medevac shuttle "The Bug-Out" and Ace's speeder "The Red Herring" are parked conveniently in their Class 2 Starship's launchpad. The ship boasts a manufactory, advanced med bay, an armored hull, and enough weapon hard points to get themselves to the next jump point.

    Fuselage on
    o4n72w5h9b5y.png
  • admanbadmanb unionize your workplace Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    What PbtA are you playing?

  • FuselageFuselage Oosik Jumpship LoungeRegistered User regular
    admanb wrote: »
    What PbtA are you playing?

    Uncharted Worlds.

    o4n72w5h9b5y.png
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    This might be like esoteric and minor. I have made a villain with a kind of showman vibe and he has a Gambit-like psyker ability where he makes stuff like dice, marbles, cards, and such explode. Would it be fair to allow them to count as a psy focus (giving a bonus to the willpower test for the power to work)? My idea is that the stuff he carries with him he personally marks with his blood in a ritual to bind them to him psychically. It would basically be a flashy way to do the inferno pyromancy power in the core rulebook. I also like the idea of him setting up his tools around potential battlefields since he's been sent to hunt down the veteran group (he was designed way before the CSM thing). He still has to pass his willpower test to explode them.

  • admanbadmanb unionize your workplace Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Kadoken wrote: »
    This might be like esoteric and minor. I have made a villain with a kind of showman vibe and he has a Gambit-like psyker ability where he makes stuff like dice, marbles, cards, and such explode. Would it be fair to allow them to count as a psy focus (giving a bonus to the willpower test for the power to work)? My idea is that the stuff he carries with him he personally marks with his blood in a ritual to bind them to him psychically. It would basically be a flashy way to do the inferno pyromancy power in the core rulebook. I also like the idea of him setting up his tools around potential battlefields since he's been sent to hunt down the veteran group (he was designed way before the CSM thing). He still has to pass his willpower test to explode them.

    you're the GM so you can do whatever the hell you want

  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    I agree, but just like the last two questions, I like to know if something sounds fair and if I should rethink it.

  • admanbadmanb unionize your workplace Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Kadoken wrote: »
    I agree, but just like the last two questions, I like to know if something sounds fair and if I should rethink it.

    But in this case you're just taking an existing mechanic and applying it to flavor that doesn't quite fit the world as they know it, right? That shouldn't cause any problems.

  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    That's fair. I mean it kind of fits? Psychic focuses like staffs, skulls, and whatevs do exist and are in the book. I don't know if anyone has tried to throw them and then use them from far away to make them easier to use. I know in the Ravenor books a character uses little daggers with her psychic powers to make them fly around. That's basically an advanced version of telekinetic control and assail.

    Oh I guess they totally have, thinking a bit after that last paragraph. Eisenhorn basically used the same thing with a telepathic body double to asplode someone a building away.

  • SteelhawkSteelhawk Registered User regular
    Those were good books...

  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    I agree. Although I was terribly bored of the second act of the very last Ravenor book. Dan Abnett, in my opinion, also has a problem where basically he keeps having something like two climaxes to his stories where they kind of suck out of the air of the other. Then again I realized a while ago that I also made two climaxes and could not write around it without being very lazy so it's a problem I have too.

    edit: oh I just thought of something messed up I could do to the players. They now have a manhound, a dog mutated to stand and fight as a bodyguard, that they found in the underhive and now are keeping. They seem to like it from their prior interactions. I can push them to go to places by having the manhound run off in search of something. It also already "died" (burned her only fate point) once and they seem to be protective of it since they left it out of the fort siege and CSM battle. Anyway,

    So rather than them thinking they can hide from the rain at the lip of the mine complex and just wait for it to subside, she can run in search of a sweet smell that leads them to the possessed mirror and an aetheroscope behind it for their trouble. They don't have a psyker so it would help them investigate psyker stuff which is going to be a big facet of their upcoming adventures.
    Edit 2: I feel cruel writing that dog stuff now. Brighter news, I have a way for them to interact with that priest character. They need a navigator to get them back to the mainhive from the underhive, and he has been travelling around the underhive for years after being exiled. Perfect fit, and if they don't feel interested in pursuing the corrupt bishop hook, then I'll at least have it be so he could die during their travels and final climax (not forced, but in combat) or finds a way to get revenge on his own away from them.
    Edit 3: I think I might be able to have the guy combine telekinetic control with the items long with inferno. That would allow him to blow people up around corners, have his items moves farther than his throwing range, and be a coward and hide (like I need him to be to survive).

    Kadoken on
  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    Heaven help me, I'm back on my bullshit and I just might finally be able to play the Star Wars character I've had a concept for years.

    Edge of the Empire character, a Toydarian Marshal. They're a by-the-book sort of guy, but the book they use was written by a Hutt, so there's a lot of loopholes, see? He'll take a bribe, but you have to fill out the proper bribe-giving paperwork.

  • SteelhawkSteelhawk Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    I'm playing EotE again next month sometime when my core IRL group finally meets back up. And I am hyped for it

    If you'll recall the story, our the first session we had may moons ago consisted of the GM being mostly infatuated with the funny dice and just making up narrative results based on success vs. failure. We didn't take any damage, or use strain. At all. Every time we shot someone (in a combat light story) I'm pretty sure they died based on whimsy and we took zero damage. It because our GM didn't bother to learn the rules beyond what the symbols on the dice meant were called. We did however have a ton of fun despite that. A few of us were frustrated through because we actually want to learn the system. Especially me, since I have a homebrew in mind my group is hyped for that I want to run using Genesys. I want to see how the interplay of this system works at the table and not just by PbP.

    The same few of us who where frustrated are also the ones who dived the deepest into our characters. So we've banded together, not to dogpile on the guy, but to impress upon him that we would very much like to learn the rules FFG's Star War's and not just be party to "Bill's Whimsy Driven Story Time". The GM has said that he'll do his homework and figure some things out. Recent email conversations between the group has not led to me being hopeful, but there is still time.

    And, to be clear, fun will be had by all regardless. I would just prefer it if we were to actually use the rules of the game we're playing.

    Steelhawk on
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    Steelhawk wrote: »
    I'm playing EotE again next month sometime when my core IRL group finally meets back up. And I am hyped for it

    If you'll recall the story, our the first session we had may moons ago consisted of the GM being mostly infatuated with the funny dice and just making up narrative results based on success vs. failure. We didn't take any damage, or use strain. At all. Every time we shot someone (in a combat light story) I'm pretty sure they died based on whimsy and we took zero damage. It because our GM didn't bother to learn the rules beyond what the symbols on the dice meant. We did however have a ton of fun despite that. A few of us were frustrated through because we actually want to learn the system. Especially me, since I have a homebrew in mind my group is hyped for that I want to run using Genesys. I want to see how the interplay of this system works at the table and not just by PbP.

    The same few of us who where frustrated are also the ones who dived the deepest into our characters. So we've banded together, not to dogpile on the guy, but to impress upon him that we would very much like to learn the rules FFG's Star War's and not just be party to "Bill's Whimsy Driven Story Time". The GM has said that he'll do his homework and figure some things out. Recent email conversations between the group has not led to me being hopeful, but there is still time.

    And, to be clear, fun will be had by all regardless. I would just prefer it if we were to actually use the rules of the game we're playing.

    I've ran 5 Genesys sessions so far and it really starts clicking after the first few. The hardest part was not trying to play it like D&D.

    Funnily enough now when I play D&D I wish we had the narrative dice from Genesys.

    Steam ID: Webguy20
    Origin ID: Discgolfer27
    Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
  • SteelhawkSteelhawk Registered User regular
    I hear very good things and I look forwards to playing with Genesys! My main hang-up now is that I don't want to do the grunt work required to stat up different races and monsters (or refluff from Star Wars) from my D&D/Eberron inspired setting idea into playable Genesys stats.

Sign In or Register to comment.