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[Roleplaying Games] Schrodinger's NPC

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Posts

  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited October 2019
    admanb wrote: »
    There aren't many worse feelings than a player just not paying attention. A lot of my players sit on their phones when they aren't active (we play combat-light games with a lot of spotlight switching) which bugs me, but when focus switches to them they react quickly and are usually aware of what's been going on. If that trend shifted we would need to have some talks.

    I have shifted values on passive players over time being on both ends of the screen and playing with two great ones that aren’t uber active but when they are the stuff out their mouth is usually gold.

    Managing multiple people and being in a group with multiple active people is hard sometimes as I, in a DnD game with like 4 high activity to 1 low activity person, have learned. As long as they do pay semi attention, are not disruptive, and do pipe up from time to time and seem to genuinely enjoy hearing from the others passive players are not so bad.

    Then you have the problem player I have spoken of who is (although getting a lot better) somehow high activity, just forgets swathes of things he heard ten minutes ago, and is disruptive at times to the point I muted him when he interrupted me setting a very important scene after asking him not to three times in a row.

    Also very kind of bluntly mechanically minded where after saving the bar from the drukhari worshippers he says, like it’s a transaction, they can make the bar indebted to them for saving them. When everyone takes a pause and says they already like the players and would keep their mouths shut (and I almost piped in with, “and at least one of them wants to bang at least one of you!”).

    The specific problem with this specific veteran player is I put in a lot of input and investment into his stuff and I wasn’t receiving mutual attentiveness or output. Also our history is longer so I expect more.

    Kadoken on
  • Ken OKen O Registered User regular
    After one session I've inherited my wife's Star Wars campaign. She wasn't comfortable running yet and didn't want to disappoint the group she assembled.
    The first thing I've done is move the setting from the first session to a sector of space that I'm creating myself. One of the players is an encyclopedia of Star Wars lore and I didn't want anyone fact checking my usage of planets, creatures, etc..

    So here I am writing a Sector Guide for the players so everyone is on equal footing when it comes to knowledge of the area. The game is set a few years before the Rebels show started. I've got 5 different solar systems in the outer rim to play with. I've created the heavily Imperial planets, the few fringe planets with heavy Rebel leanings, and a extremely independent planet that doesn't want anything to do with either. In addition I've got locations for some pirate bases, the Black Suns main location, the Mining Guild, and numerous ruins of older civilizations (with rumors of lost Jedi temples in the ruins).

    Any suggestions for things I might be missing? Fun stuff to add into Star Wars games? I think I've set up a good sandbox for them to run in whatever direction they want. The group is mixed between the systems but the players who used Edge to create their characters both have expressed interest in the Rebellion.

    http://www.fingmonkey.com/
    Comics, Games, Booze
  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    Ken O wrote: »
    After one session I've inherited my wife's Star Wars campaign. She wasn't comfortable running yet and didn't want to disappoint the group she assembled.
    The first thing I've done is move the setting from the first session to a sector of space that I'm creating myself. One of the players is an encyclopedia of Star Wars lore and I didn't want anyone fact checking my usage of planets, creatures, etc..

    So here I am writing a Sector Guide for the players so everyone is on equal footing when it comes to knowledge of the area. The game is set a few years before the Rebels show started. I've got 5 different solar systems in the outer rim to play with. I've created the heavily Imperial planets, the few fringe planets with heavy Rebel leanings, and a extremely independent planet that doesn't want anything to do with either. In addition I've got locations for some pirate bases, the Black Suns main location, the Mining Guild, and numerous ruins of older civilizations (with rumors of lost Jedi temples in the ruins).

    Any suggestions for things I might be missing? Fun stuff to add into Star Wars games? I think I've set up a good sandbox for them to run in whatever direction they want. The group is mixed between the systems but the players who used Edge to create their characters both have expressed interest in the Rebellion.

    Maybe a dense, sensor disrupting, nebula hiding an abandoned Clone Wars era super weapon? If you're not feeling the Clone Wars, any earlier era could do. Super weapons are built to last (at least, until the narrative says otherwise). Could be a fun thing to build a campaign around.
    An idea I had posted some time ago had this super weapon being a Homeworld style Mothership developed by the Separatist faction. It had been shut down and hidden away before it could play a part in the war with the plan to wait until the Republic got complacent, reactivate the ship and wreck stuff anew. The players unintentionally restart it by entering the dense nebula at speed to hide from pursuit (in my McGuffin nebula, that caused a wave of ionized space lightning to cascade through the nebula and that rebooted the ship). The weapon starts producing small attack craft and raiding nearby trade lanes to harvest material for larger, more dangerous craft.
    There was a bit about the players being recruited by the Empire to ferry a load of storm troopers on board (they said they wanted to disable it, but...?), as the beat up old freighter the players had just happens to be a model that should be recognized by the Separatist automation as a resupply craft. But I never really developed it beyond that as my group tends to be more D&D or Shadowrun focused.

    Can't go wrong with a swarm of space whales either. The force loves itself some space whales.

    Not saying "Vong", but if you're rimward, an external unknown faction of hostile aliens can be a considerable supply of plot hooks if needed.

  • Super NamicchiSuper Namicchi Orange County, CARegistered User regular
    never forget the chiss are exactly that and way more awesome than the vong

  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    edited October 2019


    Tales From The Loop is free to download just for today!

    DarkPrimus on
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited October 2019
    In Vigilante they won the fight against the heart stealers. Overwatch is nasty stuff which is why I depowered it in the Overhaul but it’s still pretty strong. Right place, right position makes all the difference in the world which isn’t that easy to get every time in DH.

    They outran the cops via smoke grenades and popping their tires, got confronted by a motorcycle cowboy-themed vigilante who was following them for the one they shot, and they met one character’s long lost dad with siblings he never knew he had. The vigilante helping the other had it real easy figuring out who their real personas were since they cannot stop name dropping names only they would know. Then the No-Show showed up to the bar they frequent, ordered a beer, and sat with them in uncomfortable silence. Then asked them to speak privately with her where she called them impulsive amateur jackasses for shooting her during a job. Then they got their punishment.

    Clean her big ass manse in the walled-off rich part of the city. She had to send away her help on vacation so they wouldn’t tell anyone about the giant bullet wound she kept grasping. She has had no help for two weeks. After tending to the above-board bits she talked to them for a bit after they cooked her dinner. Kind of realized I had given her essentially the Matt Murdock background minus the missing mother and her dad still lives. Basically her mom was an orders hospitaller nun that broke her vow of chastity and kept it a secret. Then when she successfully hid it she used her promoted position as essentially the equivalent of a real life canoness (and not 40k’s gun ones) and hospital director to give her daughter everything she could. Her pitfighter of a dad taught her how to fight because she idolized the sisters of battle but couldn’t join them. She was sent off to boarding school to become part of the Administratum and she had a knack for numbers and a productive curiosity which is why she’s basically somewhere between an auditor and an investigator that makes sure businesses pay the tithe correctly. Also she started a fightclub at her school and almost got expelled but her mother stepped in again.

    Then she told them how she got started taking down serial killers she couldn’t touch normally because their aristocrat parents and why all of them including her needed to be more careful in this work. To that point, she led them to a shrine to show them something.

    To input a code that led them to a kinky whip and chain dungeon. To input a code that leads past her false fallback secret to her true secret that was somewhere between the batcave and the white Nolan bunker. She told them to clean her guns, her car, and all of her equipment.

    One of them gets stuck when a carjack fails.

    At the end she sets up their position in a contact network other vigilantes use for assets and materials. Mechanically they can now make requisition tests with their fellowship scores instead of their tiny influence. This whole thing was the extension of an olive branch. To get them to not mess in her work again, but an olive branch nonetheless.

    Also $50 each which in the relative inflation we deal with is closer to about $75-100 for like eight hours work. A bastard sword is $7, a sound cancelling device is $15, go figure.

    Also the goth bf came around and saw the felinid player character who dates him in a maid outfit for being the one that shot her. The BF found it kawaii. So did the player. (That genre doesn’t exist in 40k folks and she did it because she thought it would embarrass him and also help him since that day she was in the bar she saw how the BF looked at him and told the PC, “that’s not hunger. That’s more dangerous.”)

    Then gave the goth BF a job to basically pick up where they left off for the rest of the week for a decent amount of money. The guy does oddjobs to make ends meet. The felinid PC then turns the situation around on the No-Show in terms of embarrassment when he tells the goth BF about the bdsm dungeon.

    The BF who is rather sensitive starts nervously blubbering and stuttering and his cat ears lay flat on his head as he’s uncomfortable and doesn’t understand exactly what the PC is implying. The PC rather sweetly tells him it was just a joke.

    Oh also the guy asked the PC if their second date could be subway surfing while guided by a teenage vandal that sprayed all the felinids as cats on the bar they’re employed in. Not a hate crime just cheeky. Goth bf after his harrowing experience is willing to take more risks. The other couple is basically going to do the Rocky 1 ice skating scene (- Paulie shittiness) and have a trip to the pet cafe. Where the jokaero will be waiting. Third date with the goth BF the PC will see how deep down the Bohemian hipster rabbit hole goes when they go to his favorite recaf shop to meet his other artist friends. (Also possibly meet a new asset for their vigilante work)

    The felinid PC went home with the rest at the end of the session. Specifically to the hunting lodge his mom owns that he has been distant with for 20 years. He went with essentially a Hunter S. Thompson disguise and won against like 8 scrutiny tests (which were in his favor with a big bonus to deceive) against his mom’s best friend, his dad, the mom herself, and almost got outed by the head bartender of the bar they frequent.

    She took a vacation out there to get away from the city after her trauma from the attack on the bar. Also said she really wanted to get out of her contract to her employer and buy a building in the upper-middle class part of the city that is relatively super cheap but no one wanted it because it was the site of some bad shit two hundred years ago (which involves my felinid alt in my friend’s campaign who works for the inqusition because she saw some bad shit there she really shouldn’t have). Also it would be a good place for secret headquarters in the basement and a possible safehouse for the vigilantes.

    Finally they end the session and witness Dark Eldar making a deal with a sadistic chymist they’ve been chasing for a bit.

    Also the felinid character had the choice to accept being found out by his family (and I have a good chunk of stuff related with that planned) but chose to not do that stuff right now and I used his little sister tripping next to him to lower the the DoS his dad had on him.

    Mm, they also met my converted DnD gnoll monk character. They know she’s a hyena beastman, has a staff that resembles mine in DnD, and has psychic abilities that resemble her powers but I’m not sure if they put it all together. She came around to find the new inquisitor searching for her master’s group to tell him to not stick his nose where it doesn’t belong. She came by in a techpriest disguise that hid her form (which is also a regular thing I do to hide manhounds and beastmen in my games). The Casanova wannabe PC tried to ask her out after failing his stealth test to follow (he doesn’t have stealth) and she scared him off by just showing off her hyena snout.

    I’ve been planning some of this stuff out forever and glad I got to do it.

    Kadoken on
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited October 2019
    When questioned by both the cowboy rider type and the pseudo-Rorscharch one of the players tried to cover herself and said, “I don’t really like guns,” to them asking who shot pseudo-Rorscharch to which both responded sassily, “girl, you have motherfucking gunpowder on your sleeves.” She had just emptied a magazine of her uzi-adjacent gun not five minutes ago from her saying that the first time.

    Kadoken on
  • ArdentArdent Down UpsideRegistered User regular
    Ken O wrote: »
    Any suggestions for things I might be missing? Fun stuff to add into Star Wars games? I think I've set up a good sandbox for them to run in whatever direction they want. The group is mixed between the systems but the players who used Edge to create their characters both have expressed interest in the Rebellion.
    In my experience with Star Wars, and especially with Rebellion campaigns, there's three mainstay stories: battles (usually losing them), heists, and diplomatic. While having a gazetteer is awesome and will help the players sink into the sector, you've got to keep things in mind. Yeah, you've got a mining planet, but is there an isolated ore depot in the system the Rebels might want to hit for supplies? Yeah, Polis Primalis is an Imperial stronghold, but that doesn't necessarily mean the locals are happy about it; is there an underground there they can link up with?

    You may want to identify a Shadowport they can use when the heat's on, and even get some repairs and modifications done on their ship. I'm fond of the Shadowport-in-a-port move; where suddenly their exploits get them access to a part of a port they use regularly they didn't know existed. But there's a lot to be said for "why is there a repair facility on this remote and otherwise uninhabited planet?"

    Steam ID | Origin ID: ArdentX | Uplay ID: theardent | Battle.net: Ardent#11476
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited October 2019
    I think I accidentally stumbled onto a Persona-like split of gameplay between doing vigilante stuff and the social aspects of the PCs lives. Which is great since my favorite parts of the comics I'm kind of drawing from and what I am finding the players are really enjoying is the drama of how people like these live normally with; which just feeds the tension and narrative necessity of going out at night to protect those lives.

    Kadoken on
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited October 2019
    It occurred to me that me and my friend unintentionally made the only resources for 40K RPGs that would be specifically interesting to furries with my homebrew Beastman acolytes for Dark Heresy 2E and his homebrew Beastman auxilia regiment for Only War (we like animals)

    And that mechanically and narratively we have made it clear that in-game you would be treated worse as one of those characters; that is baked into our rules and the lore around them both canon and non canon.

    Kadoken on
  • MrVyngaardMrVyngaard Live From New Etoile Straight Outta SosariaRegistered User regular
    edited October 2019
    I'll point out that PDFs of Monster of the Week and some other PbtA games are on sale over at itch.io, in a Halloween bundle.

    MrVyngaard on
    "now I've got this mental image of caucuses as cafeteria tables in prison, and new congressmen having to beat someone up on inauguration day." - Raiden333
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  • DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    MrVyngaard wrote: »
    I'll point out that PDFs of Monster of the Week and some other PbtA games are on sale over at itch.io, in a Halloween bundle.

    I don't think any of the other games there are actually PbtA games. Dresden and the Fate book are definitely not. They're pretty good despite that through so don't count it against them.

    Nod. Get treat. PSN: Quippish
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    The game has escalated in the Vigilante campaign. They killed a higher-up in the planet's grand conspiracy (and know the boss's true name and his best friend's name), which led to the boss of it hitting the nuclear button and getting some very resourceful but dangerous Chaos cultists involved to deal with them. So my DnD party has finally been introduced as the mini-bosses. They have met my character along with seeing the converted cleric and bard.

    They left the session being run down by the equivalent of a SWAT helicopter team in a valkyrie.

  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    Also the OW Beastman auxilia game's adventure finale went well. We expertly assaulted a rebel base that had twice our number. My Red Pandawoman Rambo'd the fuck out of the watchmen in a single burst of her heavy machine gun then jammed two shots later. After being placed in a perfect spot to mow down a fourth of the defenders. She was out of the battle having retreated behind a shed to unjam her gun. Everyone did extremely well controlling not only their characters but a double-up of other squad members.

    Also, the dogman, who is subbing as the squad leader since my Hyenaman almost died and had to recover, attempted to inspire everyone. He howled into the air. No one else knew what that meant and he was embarrassed and got back into cover. When my Redpandawoman finally got back into the fight she asked him if he howled and he poorly lied that he so did not.

    She called him adorable and set back up.

    Later she was taken aside to stop calling him cute in the middle of the fighting and she did apologize and promised not to do it anymore. She explained it was her way of maintaining her cool in the dangerous situations they were in but did understand the needed to stop to keep cohesion and discipline.

    She also said that it wasn't all teasing. To which he panicked and ran away from her.

  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited October 2019
    The player who is playing a komodo dragonman also headbutt my hyenaman character when he recovered to show he trusted him after the hyenaman's doubts about his leadership. The hyenaman had not been able to save a squaddie he was directly trying to protect. She covered him physically to save him from frag shrapnel the same way he covered her to save her from the impact of a train wreck.

    The hyenaman was confused about the headbutt because his catman squaddie said that meant you claimed ownership over something.

    Also, the komodo dragonman was very happy to get a pig for a regiment mascot. To the consternation of boarmen, possibly.

    Kadoken on
  • Ken OKen O Registered User regular
    edited October 2019
    Ran the first session of my Star Wars game this weekend. It was more discussion than playing. We set base level on what changed since I took over. We had one player drop due to RL getting too busy and another join. But after that I came up with an idea that makes me giddy. There is going to be a pirate Holonet channel. At first it will only be broadcasting to their planet but later they will have the option to help it expand through the sector. Basically I'm posting it in between sessions to talk about things they just did and to plant seeds for other things going on around them.

    Unbeknownst to them, the station is run from an old Starspeeder 1000 by a re-purposed pilot droid. Considering all the players either live in or have lived in Orlando, I figured the nod to Star Tours would be appreciated. I've also named the droid 4C-AT to see if one of the players gets the 3 Dog reference. That one might be pushing it though.

    Ken O on
    http://www.fingmonkey.com/
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  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited October 2019
    So I thought of a mundane, kind of simple, yet possibly very dangerous enemy for my Vigilante players: evil firemen.

    These are professional killers called the Axe Men that disguise themselves as firemen and EMTs and take out hits and clean up bodies. They're kind of influenced by the cleaners from Max Payne 2 along with 1984's firemen.

    They have vehicle-based and man-portable water cannons to stun and knockback enemies. They're also loaded with gas masks to hide their identities and use them in conjunction with gas grenades. They also have a version of those thrown fire extinguishing canisters which are actually snaring devices to tie down targets while they close with big-ass great axes. They're able to go into a place and take out filled body bags with no one the wiser. They're also able to get close to targets in their disguises by claiming there was a call.

    Kadoken on
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    The techpriest in the DH game I play in has a nauseous reaction to old-style lanterns due to a phobia.

    He turned off his eyes and my felinid character had to give him some words of encouragement. She's used to taking care of people due to experience with her younger sister and her being orphaned at a young age.

    Then we got him an emotional support toaster.

  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited November 2019
    We were readying for a party with nobles and the person hosting us looked at my character and said she would love to gussy her up if she would take her hood off.

    I asked her if she was sure she wanted me to do it and asked the players out of game if they were okay with me doing it.

    So I take down the hood and my ears come out and first she’s horrified and she says, “you’re a mutant!” Then she realizes I’m an abhuman which is a tolerated strain and she goes into deep contemplation but walks away.

    I asked her reluctantly what she had in mind and she said she wanted to give me some fashion that would accentuate my exotic features; essentially, I would make a big splash at the party (and get us closer to our target). She asked if I had any features other than the slitted eyes and cat ears.

    Without a word, my tail snakes out from being wrapped around my waist and she squeals in delight.

    Kadoken on
  • [Expletive deleted][Expletive deleted] The mediocre doctor NorwayRegistered User regular
    I'm doing a full but very late spring cleaning of my apartment, and came across my old periphernalia for a now-defunct pathfinder campaign.

    I played Sofie, a tiefling sorcerer. My preferred method of accomplishing anything was to present myself as someone who was supposed to be there (e.g., an exterminator in a rat-infested dungeon or a cop at the scene of a crime (that I committed)) and prestigitate up a business card to back up my claim.

    I had actually made a bunch of physical cards I would present to the GM at such occassions. I had completely forgotten about them until now, when I found them with some other junk. They are in the format "Name + Title: Job. Slogan", with a logo (always a fireball, which was the backup plan if talking failed).

    Some of the better ones:
    • Sofe the Gentle: Midwife. Delivery while you wait.
    • "Honest" Sofie: Used horse saleswoman. "Only one previous owner."
    • Sofie the Angler: Fisherwoman. "It was this big!"
    • Sofie the Great and Powerful: Bounty hunter. You do need that scum.
    • Lady Sofie: Ambassador. Diplomatic immunity, bitches!
    • Sofie, Esq.: Attorney-at-law. Works on Commision No Money Down
    • Sofie the Swift: Getaway horse driver. She may not look like much, but she'll make point five past lightspeed.

    Sic transit gloria mundi.
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited November 2019
    The very beginning of that mixed car vs aerial swat team chase: The valkyrie lines up for a barrage of heavy bolter rounds to destroy the car the vigilantes are in. The pilot rolls the highest on initiative. The odds are gigantically in the valkyrie’s favor.

    The heavy bolter jams. First turn.

    I bust out laughing.

    Kadoken on
  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    Man, someone really pissed off the machine spirit.

  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited November 2019
    Elvenshae wrote: »
    Man, someone really pissed off the machine spirit.

    Funnily enough, a new player came in who was a mechanicus noviciate looking for revenge because the bbeg killed their remote shrine’s population for not helping them.

    Kadoken on
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    Crossposting from SE++

    Hey so I need some help.

    I'm buying RPG books (classic and otherwise) for my D&D table for christmas. I got my DM a AD&D 2nd ed DM's Guide and the original dungeons and dragons rules (pre Advanced).

    I'm going to get one friend Ars Magica, as they love making super smart magic types, but I need help finding the right books for a couple other folks. I was hoping the thread could help me out.

    1. I want a game that does weird west well, think the Gunslinger from the dark tower series, as that's this players favorite book series.

    2. A game for a min-maxer. I was thinking GURPS had a fantasy/Conan/pre-history game that fit this bill, but I cant remember what it's called, or even if it's in GURPS at all.

    Steam ID: Webguy20
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  • SteelhawkSteelhawk Registered User regular
    Deadlands for weird west lover immediately springs to mind.

  • DenadaDenada Registered User regular
    Deadlands for weird west, Rifts for min-maxing?

  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    How does Deadlands deal with Native Americans? If it's bad can someone just ignore that section of the book?

    Steam ID: Webguy20
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  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited November 2019
    webguy20 wrote: »
    How does Deadlands deal with Native Americans? If it's bad can someone just ignore that section of the book?

    From what I am reading it does not treat them as outright evil savages or anything like that. It was a native that caused both the good and bad supernatural stuff (with the intent being the bad stuff) to destroy white men encroaching on the West. However, it seems they're shown as a lot more gray from the surface stuff I've seen. I would say technically if you engage with the "metaplot" you cannot ignore that section but if you're going for more personalized stories that avoid saving the world stuff then probably, yeah.

    Also apparently women have higher social statuses during this time due to the increased casualties during the Civil War and the Confederacy, which still exists during the time of the game and prolonged the war, freed the slaves to give them manpower.

    edit: The CSA has apparently been retconned to be destroyed literally this year by the dev team.

    Kadoken on
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited November 2019
    I ran into the problem of making cool NPC vigilante ideas to use in the future as people that could provide plot hooks and realized that except for the converted DnD party, my number of named unique enemies was kind of low. I want to use the vigilantes as villains but not have them turn bad out of nowhere. Except for the asshole not-Punisher who mentored them and will turn on them for a big payout and the ability to leave the planet to wherever he wants to go.

    So I thought a neat idea for a villain group called Silhouette. Started with a heretek fleeing from the Mechanicus and setting up shop using a heavily modified and heretical brainwipe device, Silhouette is a multi-service mercenary company that offers mooks' for hire but also provides body enhancement and indoctrination services. Essentially they're like a mix of the Hob Goblin and Taskmaster from Marvel that uses chemicals, neural imprinting, and body modification services to have the ability and training of another fighter in a fraction of the time. Including the vigilantes around the planet. Not only that, but they can also replicate their equipment and costumes to sneak up on other vigilantes and take their place for a time. Their really expensive services will go beyond that and give their buyers unnatural traits and advantages.

    I can literally copy the vigilante npcs for the PCs to fight. That I name with dumb anti-names like Spidercide to Spiderman. So a duo (who is mother and son) called the Sunshine Ranger and the Midnight Rider's Silhouettes are Dawnbreaker and the Night Thief. One Silhouette is called the Death of Sound for a vigilante called the Sound of Silence. The No-Show's is Fadeout.

    I could do this for the PCs, too. Blue Wing's could be Broken Bird, Death Rattle's could be Cyanide, Dr. Mercy's could be Malpractice, and so on.

    Kadoken on
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    edited November 2019
    Kadoken wrote: »
    webguy20 wrote: »
    How does Deadlands deal with Native Americans? If it's bad can someone just ignore that section of the book?

    From what I am reading it does not treat them as outright evil savages or anything like that. It was a native that caused both the good and bad supernatural stuff (with the intent being the bad stuff) to destroy white men encroaching on the West. However, it seems they're shown as a lot more gray from the surface stuff I've seen. I would say technically if you engage with the "metaplot" you cannot ignore that section but if you're going for more personalized stories that avoid saving the world stuff then probably, yeah.

    Also apparently women have higher social statuses during this time due to the increased casualties during the Civil War and the Confederacy, which still exists during the time of the game and prolonged the war, freed the slaves to give them manpower.

    edit: The CSA has apparently been retconned to be destroyed literally this year by the dev team.

    Yea thats probably for the best. A CSA that survives is a pretty hard thing to ignore culturally in your game, except as like explicitly the bad guys.

    webguy20 on
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  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    webguy20 wrote: »
    Kadoken wrote: »
    webguy20 wrote: »
    How does Deadlands deal with Native Americans? If it's bad can someone just ignore that section of the book?

    From what I am reading it does not treat them as outright evil savages or anything like that. It was a native that caused both the good and bad supernatural stuff (with the intent being the bad stuff) to destroy white men encroaching on the West. However, it seems they're shown as a lot more gray from the surface stuff I've seen. I would say technically if you engage with the "metaplot" you cannot ignore that section but if you're going for more personalized stories that avoid saving the world stuff then probably, yeah.

    Also apparently women have higher social statuses during this time due to the increased casualties during the Civil War and the Confederacy, which still exists during the time of the game and prolonged the war, freed the slaves to give them manpower.

    edit: The CSA has apparently been retconned to be destroyed literally this year by the dev team.

    Yea thats probably for the best. A CSA that survives is a pretty hard thing to ignore culturally in your game, except as like explicitly the bad guys.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldMb_TZtq0c

    P much.

  • Ken OKen O Registered User regular
    CSA in Deadlands was a very different thing. In fact the Deadlands timeline is way different. 1863 Magic returns, 1864 slavery is abolished in the US and CSA. 68 is the Great Quake and the discover of Ghost Rock. 71 starts the Rail Wars. And in 77 California becomes an independent nation.

    I get why they are making the change. I always thought the different factions in Deadlands were interesting. I'll have to read their new timeline when I get a chance.

    I've played Deadlands off and on since the classic version was first published. If your friend likes Weird West it is a must read.

    http://www.fingmonkey.com/
    Comics, Games, Booze
  • admanbadmanb unionize your workplace Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited November 2019
    I think I'd be okay with having the CSA continue to exist in that timeline... it would just be a cartoonishly incompetent failed nation that anyone sane was trying to get out of as quick as possible. Like North Korea but 100 years earlier.

    Could make for an interesting timeline where Mexico gets fat and turns into a first-world power by annexing all of the south before the oil boom.

    Now, the idea of a slaveless CSA as a successful nation is laughable to the point of being propaganda.

    admanb on
  • Ken OKen O Registered User regular
    I wouldn't call any nation in Deadlands successful. That's why California goes independent. That's why Utah becomes the nation of Deseret. Same with the Sioux Nation and Coyote Confederation. They are all being kept in a state of warfare by the Reckoners so they can continue to feed on the fear, grief, etc...

    It's a fun setting. Usually when I've run it I tend to take the pieces of the plot I wanted to work with and left the rest alone.

    http://www.fingmonkey.com/
    Comics, Games, Booze
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited November 2019
    Two of my PCs faced their greatest challenge yet
    dealing with being told, "I love you."

    Kadoken on
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    They took it really well. One of my longstanding players has really grown as a roleplayer in this campaign after playing mainly standoffish reserved jerks. Fun jerks, but he seems to really be into this character and fleshing them out. He might also break up with his ingame boyfriend because even after both of them trying (mainly in text 1v1’s I’ve been doing for most of the players as we had to stop for three weeks) they feel a little incompatible but it makes sense and would be satisfying.

    They have a vigilante lair now built out of a century-abandoned inquisition base underneath a bar. They pooled their money to move their confidants and friends out of the slums to the upper-middle class part of town where they should be more safe. They pulled off a heist on one of the richer members of the BBEG conspiracy and now have a lot of spending money when they’ve been scrambling by for basically 2/3rds of play now. Their personas are now graffiti’d all over the city with their bounties and that’s invited newer players into town.

    Also the bf met the PC’s dad he never knew. So that will be a topic of conversation as I have some vigilante stuff to do in the countryside that conveniently takes them near or around the hunting lodge and the farm his parents own.

  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited November 2019
    Also, if you remember that dogman that was intimidated by my red pandawoman admitting she was flirting with him, he got a talk from my recovering hyenaman about how A) She can't be messing with cohesion and discipline by teasing a superior officer in the middle of combat and she is going to get latrine duty for a month and a strict talking to by him, the usual Seargent B) If he is okay with her as the dogman confided in him, why is he frightened and why not try. They are mutants, even if abhumans, in the most dangerous job in the galaxy that don't get a lot of chances to try to make connections like that (especially his lost chance with the comrade that sacrificed herself for him). The dogman panicked and ran away from that thought. Then a couple of weeks after the big raid she and him met each other and talk. He gets more comfortable.

    (Btw, hyenaman was not being an intentional wingman in-game or metawise. He just wants his squad safe and well off.)

    Later, the auxilia regiment gets put on a dreary, depressing, and possibly ethereal ship headed towards the shittenest planet (that our ongoing DH game has been to and is going to crossover with the OW game near). She goes and talks to him again and being in a horrible place they just talk and distract each other and find out they like each other past physical appearances. They essentially say they want to be a couple and embrace after an emotional outpouring between them. Then she asks if he wants to go into a storage closet. His tail wags. End scene.

    Also the commissar interrupted. Twice.

    Kadoken on
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    I got a cool gun by talking to a dude obsessed with guns in DH. A bolt pistol that is straight up better than my last. Pretty much because I was polite to him at a party and my other gun of four was out because I’m supposed to be a bodyguard. He went and showed me his favorite gun and I got to fire it. Gun.

    Also hit it off with the stag at the noble party, and got her to talk to folk and boost her confidence. Then revealed my mutation in a play to have her talk to the recruiter of her cult to, “save my soul.” Think it worked. The player pretending to be a noble got us a meeting with the higher ups and we might see their thetan measurers. I mean psychic measurers.

    This published adventure basically is a big rip on Scientology. Which is funny since there are multiple Lord Xenu types in 40k.

  • Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    Xenu scum

    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited November 2019
    So I watched a thing. A video about wild west games.

    So that means I get an itching to make an enemy or something out of it.

    Cyborg Cowboys.

    I made a homebrew planet in Dark Heresy that is a Firefly-esque mix of aesthetic and theming: Chinese and American Wild West including the former's influence on the latter along with modern and historic fixtures (along with superficial ones like all the cities being named after Romance characters). From this planet, a band of badland mercenaries made a deal with an isolated heretek hiding on this frontier world to buff them up with cybernetics and weaponry in exchange for protection and travel. So he builds them up like tanks, fits them with big guns, and they do their job well getting them around. He had a little extra thing put in. Explosives put on both a detonator he controls with his bionics and a dead's man switch. Now as a heavily bionicized being he'll be around for a while. So will they, now, and they can have their fun but always remember he owns them. They happen to be on planet at time when the bounties go up. Why not?

    So the Steel Desperadoes ride forth. (Also somehow I didn't mean to make a music reference and made a music reference again).

    Also, these guys are possibly the strongest group these guys will face in terms of pure firepower (but they're slow as shit and can't dodge) so they only get to be put in groups of 4 against the 6 member party and to be honest, that may be the best way to balance them.

    Kadoken on
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