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[Roleplaying Games] Schrodinger's NPC

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Posts

  • Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    edited February 2021
    Cybernetic Organism Liaising On New Experimental Lifeforms

    Rhesus Positive on
    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    Fuck, that One Ring kickstarter is adding cloth maps to their add on options. There is too much good stuff in that kickstarter.

    Steam ID: Webguy20
    Origin ID: Discgolfer27
    Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
  • Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    Aaand backed

    Stupid payday extravagance...

    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
  • RingoRingo He/Him a distinct lack of substanceRegistered User regular
    Stuff my players have done in my GURPS campaign;

    Helped their amnesiac client find out who his identity, and then immediately murdered him just in case the client's restored memories of being a psychopath would lead him to try to kill them.
    Launched TWO explosives directly at a line of gangsters disguised as cops (they didn't catch on to the ruse until AFTER they killed them all).
    Buying explosive rounds and nerve gas grenades on the black market.
    Defiled a corpse. (Cut off the head and the hands.)
    Defiled a different corpse. (Dissolved it in acid.)
    Cleared a minefield by just shooting one until it exploded.
    Sniped an alligator with explosive rounds.
    Stole an entire secret stash of cocaine worth $350,000.
    Distracted a club bouncer by dancing with some random patron, then accusing him out of nowhere of touching her inappropriately and then knee-striking him.
    Used a nerve gas grenade by pulling the pin while it was still attached to the player's vest in close quarters combat (all of the players were wearing gas-masks and the enemies weren't).
    Helped some prison breakers escape the city by smuggling out of a swamp in a mini-sub.
    Assassinated a delivery van driver by planting a bomb in the back and detonating it while it was driving on the highway.
    Baited a bunch of chupacabras hiding in the depths of an office building into the maintenance tunnel break room with juicy steaks in bear traps, then blowing it all to hell with C4.
    Set up a hidden camera and an audio bug in a brothel.
    Smuggled guns for a construction worker union, who then rioted and murdered corporate security, strike breakers and a few executives.
    Broke into a car and stole the stereo.
    Broke into a jewellery store and stole merchandise.
    Lost $3,000 playing a few hands of floating back room poker.
    Stole a jet black skull statue drenched in still warm human blood, from the scene of a demon summoning, just after running over the demon until it died.
    Murdered an innocent unarmed mutant clone who surrendered peacefully.

    Best season of Archer yet?

    Sterica wrote: »
    I know my last visit to my grandpa on his deathbed was to find out how the whole Nazi werewolf thing turned out.
    Edcrab's Exigency RPG
  • Grey_ChocolateGrey_Chocolate Registered User regular
    Ringo wrote: »
    Stuff my players have done in my GURPS campaign;

    Helped their amnesiac client find out who his identity, and then immediately murdered him just in case the client's restored memories of being a psychopath would lead him to try to kill them.
    Launched TWO explosives directly at a line of gangsters disguised as cops (they didn't catch on to the ruse until AFTER they killed them all).
    Buying explosive rounds and nerve gas grenades on the black market.
    Defiled a corpse. (Cut off the head and the hands.)
    Defiled a different corpse. (Dissolved it in acid.)
    Cleared a minefield by just shooting one until it exploded.
    Sniped an alligator with explosive rounds.
    Stole an entire secret stash of cocaine worth $350,000.
    Distracted a club bouncer by dancing with some random patron, then accusing him out of nowhere of touching her inappropriately and then knee-striking him.
    Used a nerve gas grenade by pulling the pin while it was still attached to the player's vest in close quarters combat (all of the players were wearing gas-masks and the enemies weren't).
    Helped some prison breakers escape the city by smuggling out of a swamp in a mini-sub.
    Assassinated a delivery van driver by planting a bomb in the back and detonating it while it was driving on the highway.
    Baited a bunch of chupacabras hiding in the depths of an office building into the maintenance tunnel break room with juicy steaks in bear traps, then blowing it all to hell with C4.
    Set up a hidden camera and an audio bug in a brothel.
    Smuggled guns for a construction worker union, who then rioted and murdered corporate security, strike breakers and a few executives.
    Broke into a car and stole the stereo.
    Broke into a jewellery store and stole merchandise.
    Lost $3,000 playing a few hands of floating back room poker.
    Stole a jet black skull statue drenched in still warm human blood, from the scene of a demon summoning, just after running over the demon until it died.
    Murdered an innocent unarmed mutant clone who surrendered peacefully.

    Best season of Archer yet?

    Funny you mention that, as the inspiration for the post was that bit from Episode 1 Season 5, where the ISIS crew confess for immunity and ends on Cyril admits that it sounds kinda bad if you just list everything they did.

    Hitting the broken computer does not fix the broken computer. Fixing the broken computer, fixes the broken computer.
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited March 2021
    After playing with it in multiple settings for a few months, I feel like GURPS has all the things I want in an RPG. But, it's also extremely fiddly and generic (which is the point) and is a bit too realistic. It also places a lot of prep time on the GM and requires them to keep track of a lot. I also think the magic book really breaks down once you get to the tech level that goes from the 1880s to 1940. Taking a second (a turn) to summon a spell and then another second to cast it just hamstrings it too much compared to a gun. I'm looking for something more cinematic in turns of gameplay but also without the feeling of constraint of character development of something like Savage Worlds. Savage Worlds' characters, similar to Dark Heresy characters, once you reach a high enough level start to look very samey.

    I was really thinking of trying out Zweihander but while it looks like a solid system with cool mechanics it also looks kind of constraining in terms of character creation. Also, the other issue is that I am trying to fit a table top roleplaying game system to my Riddle of Flame personal setting which is a victorian tech and historically inspired setting mixed with magitek and dragons and such with DnD-esque features like chi-using monks and such. I also have a future setting in the 1940s equivalent I'm trying to do too set in the same world so I'm already making things hard for myself.

    I'm looking for a game system that can bring parity between melee and guns, that has a good amount of mobility in its combat, and has lots of avenues to grow.

    I think I could probably engineer GURPS to be more cinematic and closer to what I want. I already started by trying to replace the maneuver system in combat with a more Zweihander-like 3 Action Point system and adding more abilities one could use other than moving and attacking. Also, the second-per-turn thing has to go and now it's more like each turn is a "moment" that varies between 2-5 seconds without allowing 2-5 seconds of GURPS turns to happen at once.

    I'm also still working on my world and am now in its 3rd redesign. With pharmacy school I have not had time to really work on it and haven't been inspired lately.

    Kadoken on
  • Grey_ChocolateGrey_Chocolate Registered User regular
    Kadoken wrote: »
    I think I could probably engineer GURPS to be more cinematic and closer to what I want. I already started by trying to replace the maneuver system in combat with a more Zweihander-like 3 Action Point system and adding more abilities one could use other than moving and attacking. Also, the second-per-turn thing has to go and now it's more like each turn is a "moment" that varies between 2-5 seconds without allowing 2-5 seconds of GURPS turns to happen at once.

    Well, the gold standard for cinematic GURPS is the Action books series. Those books cover a simplified and streamlined take on GURPS mechanics pretty good. In particular, they make combat less granular.

    Hitting the broken computer does not fix the broken computer. Fixing the broken computer, fixes the broken computer.
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited March 2021
    Kadoken wrote: »
    I think I could probably engineer GURPS to be more cinematic and closer to what I want. I already started by trying to replace the maneuver system in combat with a more Zweihander-like 3 Action Point system and adding more abilities one could use other than moving and attacking. Also, the second-per-turn thing has to go and now it's more like each turn is a "moment" that varies between 2-5 seconds without allowing 2-5 seconds of GURPS turns to happen at once.

    Well, the gold standard for cinematic GURPS is the Action books series. Those books cover a simplified and streamlined take on GURPS mechanics pretty good. In particular, they make combat less granular.

    I think I read those books and the issue with them is that they are often overly-filled with words rather than simple instructions on how to do stuff like a lot of GURPS is. Like doing a "slam" in the system is something like an 8 step process (or maybe that's lancing on horseback) that I simplified in my notes but takes them much longer to say.

    edit: "Overly-filled with words" isn't quite right, more that it takes the authors of the books a paragraph to say things that could be listed in charts or said in fewer sentences.

    Kadoken on
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited April 2021
    I've been weirdly building up a want to play GURPS again. For some reason Hunt: Showdown set this off even though I would not call that videogame simulationist. Also, I really can do anything in GURPS and just add cool features to it versus trying out Zweihander (or Six-Shooter, its Western splat) which looks like it fits a very cool niche very well but also is very limiting.

    edit: I've also wanted to do a Slasher game where the players make lower point schmucks and I stick them in a Slasher movie situation. In the back of my mind, I always thought the 1 second per turn thing of combat would work very well in a chase situation in something like a Halloween-inspired thing where the seconds you spend to try to lock doors or hide matter extremely thanks to GURPS's granularity.

    Kadoken on
  • CheeselikerCheeseliker Registered User regular
    I wonder if people here would want to attempt a Co-op gm-less Ironsworn or Starforged game. Ironsworn is completely free so is probably the better bet...

  • RingoRingo He/Him a distinct lack of substanceRegistered User regular
    Pitch it?

    Sterica wrote: »
    I know my last visit to my grandpa on his deathbed was to find out how the whole Nazi werewolf thing turned out.
    Edcrab's Exigency RPG
  • ZomroZomro Registered User regular
    I've started working on some homebrew stuff for a Genesys campaign I want to run. I want to so a Samurai Western (think Red Steel 2 or Sukiyaki Western Django). I want gunslinging samurai and swordslinging cowboys, and all the cool stuff in between. I will probably start with an adventure inspired by The Quick and the Dead, one of my favorite Westerns (it's corny in the best ways).

    It's going to be very much "rule of cool" so bows and swords and the like can be just as good as revolvers and rifles, that way my players can just come up something they think is cool and roll with it.

    To that end, I'm considering something different for combat skills. In Genesys you have Brawl (unarmed), Melee and Ranged, with Melee and Ranged having Light and Heavy variants depending on setting, in Fantasy settings you have Light and Heavy Melee and there's just a single Ranged skill, and Sci Fi settings are vice versa. But I'm thinking of having custom combat skills based on the type of weapon. I was thinking of having Brawl, for anyone who wants to do a martial artist type, Traditional (placeholder name) for Samurai weapons (katanas, bows, spears, etc) and Modern (another placeholder) for firearms, including in melee (a bayonet or a pistol whip), and other types of "Western" weapons.

    The attribute used for a combat check would be based on the kind of weapon, so a katana would be a Brawn (Traditional) check while a bow would be an Agility (Traditional) check. I think this gives a lot of extra options for characters. Maybe you want to play a character that focuses on sword fighting, but a Samurai would also be trained to use other weapons. Meanwhile, a six shootin' bounty hunter can get up close and personal with a hatchet or knife (or whatnot). And if you want to use a sword and a gun, then you need to invest in two skills, which you'd need to do anyway if I was using normal Melee and Ranged skills.

    Brawl could also be a catch all Martial Arts skill, so that includes weapons like tonfa and nunchaku. Genesys does already include the option for Brawl weapons (like brass knuckles), so adding a few more doesn't seem too bad.

    If feels pretty balanced to me, since basically anyone can get ranged and melee weapons with one skill, and doesn't require any extra investment for other combos than normal. It could be slightly complicated (comparatively speaking) and would require retooling talents that focus on Melee or Ranged. But it seems cool to me overall.

    I have not decided on including magic or other supernatural stuff yet, but I haven't ruled it out yet either.

  • CheeselikerCheeseliker Registered User regular
    webguy20 wrote: »
    Fuck, that One Ring kickstarter is adding cloth maps to their add on options. There is too much good stuff in that kickstarter.

    I'm most excited about the Solo rules.

  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited June 2021
    Zomro wrote: »
    I've started working on some homebrew stuff for a Genesys campaign I want to run. I want to so a Samurai Western (think Red Steel 2 or Sukiyaki Western Django). I want gunslinging samurai and swordslinging cowboys, and all the cool stuff in between. I will probably start with an adventure inspired by The Quick and the Dead, one of my favorite Westerns (it's corny in the best ways).

    It's going to be very much "rule of cool" so bows and swords and the like can be just as good as revolvers and rifles, that way my players can just come up something they think is cool and roll with it.

    To that end, I'm considering something different for combat skills. In Genesys you have Brawl (unarmed), Melee and Ranged, with Melee and Ranged having Light and Heavy variants depending on setting, in Fantasy settings you have Light and Heavy Melee and there's just a single Ranged skill, and Sci Fi settings are vice versa. But I'm thinking of having custom combat skills based on the type of weapon. I was thinking of having Brawl, for anyone who wants to do a martial artist type, Traditional (placeholder name) for Samurai weapons (katanas, bows, spears, etc) and Modern (another placeholder) for firearms, including in melee (a bayonet or a pistol whip), and other types of "Western" weapons.

    The attribute used for a combat check would be based on the kind of weapon, so a katana would be a Brawn (Traditional) check while a bow would be an Agility (Traditional) check. I think this gives a lot of extra options for characters. Maybe you want to play a character that focuses on sword fighting, but a Samurai would also be trained to use other weapons. Meanwhile, a six shootin' bounty hunter can get up close and personal with a hatchet or knife (or whatnot). And if you want to use a sword and a gun, then you need to invest in two skills, which you'd need to do anyway if I was using normal Melee and Ranged skills.

    Brawl could also be a catch all Martial Arts skill, so that includes weapons like tonfa and nunchaku. Genesys does already include the option for Brawl weapons (like brass knuckles), so adding a few more doesn't seem too bad.

    If feels pretty balanced to me, since basically anyone can get ranged and melee weapons with one skill, and doesn't require any extra investment for other combos than normal. It could be slightly complicated (comparatively speaking) and would require retooling talents that focus on Melee or Ranged. But it seems cool to me overall.

    I have not decided on including magic or other supernatural stuff yet, but I haven't ruled it out yet either.

    This sounds fucking awesome. I'd keep magic/supnat at least an option. Even if it's a rare occurence in your world, it still allows avenues of story telling you might not want to shut off.

    Kadoken on
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited June 2021
    I am making a game in my Industrial Revolution in a High Fantasy world which is essentially a mixture of the Battle of Blair Mountain, Hadestown, and Deadwood. I think I only have two players ready for it but I'm kind of looking forward to being able to focus on less people. My big thing in this campaign is no arbitrary combats; no combats unless they serve the story and multiple factions the players can join if they wish.

    Also no one tell my players (they don't read the forums) but the boss of a company town they're working for is a secret dragon emigre who ran from fantasy!Russia after fantasy!communists took over.

    Kadoken on
  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    Kadoken wrote: »
    Zomro wrote: »
    I've started working on some homebrew stuff for a Genesys campaign I want to run. I want to so a Samurai Western (think Red Steel 2 or Sukiyaki Western Django). I want gunslinging samurai and swordslinging cowboys, and all the cool stuff in between. I will probably start with an adventure inspired by The Quick and the Dead, one of my favorite Westerns (it's corny in the best ways).

    It's going to be very much "rule of cool" so bows and swords and the like can be just as good as revolvers and rifles, that way my players can just come up something they think is cool and roll with it.

    To that end, I'm considering something different for combat skills. In Genesys you have Brawl (unarmed), Melee and Ranged, with Melee and Ranged having Light and Heavy variants depending on setting, in Fantasy settings you have Light and Heavy Melee and there's just a single Ranged skill, and Sci Fi settings are vice versa. But I'm thinking of having custom combat skills based on the type of weapon. I was thinking of having Brawl, for anyone who wants to do a martial artist type, Traditional (placeholder name) for Samurai weapons (katanas, bows, spears, etc) and Modern (another placeholder) for firearms, including in melee (a bayonet or a pistol whip), and other types of "Western" weapons.

    The attribute used for a combat check would be based on the kind of weapon, so a katana would be a Brawn (Traditional) check while a bow would be an Agility (Traditional) check. I think this gives a lot of extra options for characters. Maybe you want to play a character that focuses on sword fighting, but a Samurai would also be trained to use other weapons. Meanwhile, a six shootin' bounty hunter can get up close and personal with a hatchet or knife (or whatnot). And if you want to use a sword and a gun, then you need to invest in two skills, which you'd need to do anyway if I was using normal Melee and Ranged skills.

    Brawl could also be a catch all Martial Arts skill, so that includes weapons like tonfa and nunchaku. Genesys does already include the option for Brawl weapons (like brass knuckles), so adding a few more doesn't seem too bad.

    If feels pretty balanced to me, since basically anyone can get ranged and melee weapons with one skill, and doesn't require any extra investment for other combos than normal. It could be slightly complicated (comparatively speaking) and would require retooling talents that focus on Melee or Ranged. But it seems cool to me overall.

    I have not decided on including magic or other supernatural stuff yet, but I haven't ruled it out yet either.

    This sounds fucking awesome. I'd keep magic/supnat at least an option. Even if it's a rare occurence in your world, it still allows avenues of story telling you might not want to shut off.

    I think you could go a step further and define it by martial arts schools.

    Tiger (katana, unsheath-kill-sheath, sniper rifles, parry and deflect)
    Rattlesnake (six-shooters, bar brawls, kicking sand in their eyes, ricochet tricks, slip away)
    Spider (nunchucks, steel ribbon, contortionists, one hundred backflips, ninja stuff)
    Buffalo (tank a hit, tackle to the ground, heavy artillery, pipe bomb)
    Rooster (all kicks, jump good, improvised weapons, Jackie Chan TM)

  • SleepSleep Registered User regular
    edited June 2021
    Industrial revolution in a fantasy world is just so much fun. I don't think my players even realize that they've started the process of creating a magic punk rail road all on their damn own.

    Like they had a little meeting worked out a deal on a caravan with a plan to run that caravan regularly training up new guards and creating stopping point settlements along the trail.

    They had the meeting in the house of an ironmonger NPC one of the players had setup in town for his arms trade.

    I didn't realize what they'd done till after they did it.

    Sleep on
  • ZomroZomro Registered User regular
    Kadoken wrote: »
    Zomro wrote: »
    I've started working on some homebrew stuff for a Genesys campaign I want to run. I want to so a Samurai Western (think Red Steel 2 or Sukiyaki Western Django). I want gunslinging samurai and swordslinging cowboys, and all the cool stuff in between. I will probably start with an adventure inspired by The Quick and the Dead, one of my favorite Westerns (it's corny in the best ways).

    It's going to be very much "rule of cool" so bows and swords and the like can be just as good as revolvers and rifles, that way my players can just come up something they think is cool and roll with it.

    To that end, I'm considering something different for combat skills. In Genesys you have Brawl (unarmed), Melee and Ranged, with Melee and Ranged having Light and Heavy variants depending on setting, in Fantasy settings you have Light and Heavy Melee and there's just a single Ranged skill, and Sci Fi settings are vice versa. But I'm thinking of having custom combat skills based on the type of weapon. I was thinking of having Brawl, for anyone who wants to do a martial artist type, Traditional (placeholder name) for Samurai weapons (katanas, bows, spears, etc) and Modern (another placeholder) for firearms, including in melee (a bayonet or a pistol whip), and other types of "Western" weapons.

    The attribute used for a combat check would be based on the kind of weapon, so a katana would be a Brawn (Traditional) check while a bow would be an Agility (Traditional) check. I think this gives a lot of extra options for characters. Maybe you want to play a character that focuses on sword fighting, but a Samurai would also be trained to use other weapons. Meanwhile, a six shootin' bounty hunter can get up close and personal with a hatchet or knife (or whatnot). And if you want to use a sword and a gun, then you need to invest in two skills, which you'd need to do anyway if I was using normal Melee and Ranged skills.

    Brawl could also be a catch all Martial Arts skill, so that includes weapons like tonfa and nunchaku. Genesys does already include the option for Brawl weapons (like brass knuckles), so adding a few more doesn't seem too bad.

    If feels pretty balanced to me, since basically anyone can get ranged and melee weapons with one skill, and doesn't require any extra investment for other combos than normal. It could be slightly complicated (comparatively speaking) and would require retooling talents that focus on Melee or Ranged. But it seems cool to me overall.

    I have not decided on including magic or other supernatural stuff yet, but I haven't ruled it out yet either.

    This sounds fucking awesome. I'd keep magic/supnat at least an option. Even if it's a rare occurence in your world, it still allows avenues of story telling you might not want to shut off.

    I've fleshed out some ideas for the setting. It takes place in the Frontier, a neutral area between a Japanese style Empire and a American-esque Republic. Both the Empire and Republic (placeholder names at the moment) have expanded their territories toward this area, but neither wants to push too far since no one wants a full blown war, as both have recently had civil wars that caused a good amount of damage. So the Frontier is owned by neither the Republic nor Empire, but the area is inhabited by people from both places, so it's become this kind of fusion of the cultures, where the Eastern Western aesthetic is coming from.

    I did decide to include magic options, and supernatural entities might make an appearance in an adventure or two. I have a magic skill based on Onmyodo, Japanese sorcery, and one based on Shinto, and I have included a magic skill for Ki, so there's an option for more mystic martial arts stuff. If a character comes from the Republic instead of the Empire, I'm open to them using one of the core book magic skills instead (for example, Divine magic for a Western preacher).

    I'm pretty excited to get more into it with my players, they've already had some neat ideas for their characters and I can't wait to see what they eventually decide on.

  • ZomroZomro Registered User regular
    I'm still working on my Samurai Western fusion Genesys homebrew. Pretty happy with how it's coming along. Right now, though, I'm working on some mechanics for handling duels, as they are pretty iconic in both Samurai and Western movies. And since my first adventure is going to be inspired by The Quick and the Dead, and will involve a dueling tournament like in that movie, duels are inevitable. And while the regular encounter rules could be used to handle a duel, I wanted to give it some spice since I want them to stand out beyond a regular combat.

    So I currently have a duel set up as two phases, the Standoff and the Showdown! The Standoff is a contested roll where the duelists are trying to gain the upper hand leading up to the Showdown! Cool and Vigilance (the regular initiative skills) can be used, but I will also allow other skills to be used in order to promote creativity. For example, maybe a character might try to blind their opponent with something shiny (a coin, or something on their person), in which case they could use Skullduggery. Or maybe they want to drop a cold, Clint Eastwood-esque glare, to shake their opponent up, in which case they could use Coercion. So the two characters pick their skills, which makes up the contested pool (PC rolls against a difficulty pool made up of the other character's attribute and skill). If the roll yields successes, then they get to act first in the Showdown!, and if the roll has net failures (1 or more), then the other character acts first. If no net successes or failures are rolled, then both characters act simultaneously in the Showdown! Advantages and Triumphs can be used by the roller in the Showdown!, while Disadvantages and Despairs can be used by the other character. For example, a PC is dueling a Bounty Hunter. The PC is going to rely on their ability to keep calm (Cool), while the Bounty Hunter is confident in their reflexes (Vigilance). The PC rolls a contested roll of their Cool, 2 Proficiency Dice (yellow) and 1 Ability Die (green) for their 3 Presence and 2 Cool against a difficulty pool made up of 1 Challenge Die (red) and 1 Difficulty Die (purple) for the Bounty Hunter's 2 Willpower and 1 Vigilance. If the PC rolls at least 1 uncanceled Success, they win the Standoff, and if they roll at least 1 uncanceled Failure, then the Bounty Hunter goes first. If it's a wash (no uncanceled Successes or Failures), then both will handle their Showdown! at the same time.

    During the Showdown!, the winner of the Standoff makes an average (2 difficulty dice) combat check with any combat skill / weapon they wish (magic skills can be used for the Attack spell, as well), applying Defense Setbacks or upgrades from Adversary as necessary. At the moment, I specifically allow an attacker to include one maneuver (in order to trigger talents or special abilities), at the cost of 2 Strain (like taking an additional maneuver in a combat encounter), as a duel is a fast paced and stressful affair (movement is assumed to be part of the attack roll when using a melee weapon, so a maneuver does not need to be used to move into Engaged range). As noted in the Standoff, an attacker can apply their Advantages, Triumphs (if the roller), Disadvantages and Despairs (if the contested) to aid their Showdown! Advantages can be spent for the maneuver, or to gain a Boost die or apply a Setback die, while a Triumph can be used to upgrade their attack roll, or even to upgrade the difficulty of their opponent's attack. If successful, damage, crits, traits and talents are resolved as normal. If the duel is to first blood, the duel ends as they drew first and hit their opponent. If the attack is unsuccessful, or the duel is to the death, the loser of the Standoff then makes their attack roll., resolving as normal. As noted, duels to first blood end as soon as one side successfully attacks the other. In the case of both attacking at once, if both sides successfully attack, the duel ends in a draw. In a duel to the death, if neither side is dead or incapacitated from the Showdown!, it then becomes a standard encounter.

    To me, it does make a duel feel unique while, hopefully, not being too complicated. But I'd like some feedback on how the rules read and where they can be improved.

    -The part that could be complicated is the resolution of the Standoff. Adding a third result (the no net Successes or Failures), does make resolving the pool more complicated. However, I wanted to include the chance for both duelists to attack at the same time. In the older editions of the L5R RPG (not sure about the newer FF one), it is possible for duelists to be of such close skill that neither wins initiative and they both attack at once, and I wanted to include the "kharmic strike" in my own rules. I do also feel like it balances out the chances for who goes first in the duel. Let's say that no dice roll any Successes or Failures at all (this happens quite often in the other game I play in), it doesn't automatically give initiative to the opposing character. Granted, I could simplify the process by just making the Standoff a regular initiative roll (Simple roll by each combatant), but still allow the other skills (as noted above), but that does remove the ability to gain Advantage / Triumph to help the Showdown!

    -I chose an Average (2 dice) difficulty for all checks regardless of weapon type as part of balancing melee and ranged weapons. A duel is more than likely being fought within Short range, where a ranged weapon would have a clear advantage with Easy (only 1 difficulty) rolls, while Melee weapons always have Average checks. This also does benefit ranged weapons users since they would not have the increased difficulty of being in Engaged range (in case a melee attacker goes first).

    -I'm trying to think of a way to make a duel potentially more lethal, specifically for duels to the death. Duels in movies do tend to have a sense of finality to them, usually ending in one shot / strike. And if a duel is to the death, the faster it ends means less game time devoted to a combat that only includes two characters. I don't necessarily want to make them super dangerous for my PCs by default, but I want to have the option so that they can potentially take out tougher foes (Rivals, or even Nemeses) in a cinematic way. Perhaps allowing a Story Point to be spent after rolling a successful attack to boost the damage, which also gives me the option of doing the same thing with certain NPCs / villains. Involving Story Points here does also reinforce the narrative aspect of Genesys.

  • StragintStragint Do Not Gift Always DeclinesRegistered User regular
    edited July 2021
    Shadowrun sixth world is kind of weird. I think the beginner box is lacking some stuff.

    No where I've seen so far mentions that a successful roll is a 5 or 6 and doesn't explain what a glitch is.

    I also think one sheet so far has an error. The character has 3 perception and 6 intuition and based on the rolls they would roll 9 dice for perception but the cheat sheet in the back of the portfolio says 8.

    I'm glad I have a rulebook cause it seems like I wouldn't be able to properly run the beginner box scenario without it.

    Is there anything like roll20 for Shadowrun?

    Stragint on
    PSN: Reaper_Stragint, Steam: DoublePitstoChesty
    What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable? ~ Mario Novak

    I never fear death or dyin', I only fear never trying.
  • ReynoldsReynolds Gone Fishin'Registered User regular
    Looks like Roll20 has character sheets set up for most editions of Shadowrun.

    uyvfOQy.png
  • StragintStragint Do Not Gift Always DeclinesRegistered User regular
    Reynolds wrote: »
    Looks like Roll20 has character sheets set up for most editions of Shadowrun.

    Yea? I couldn't find any but I've also never used roll20 to make a campaign, I've only ever been a player.

    I'll keep messing around and work on finding the character sheets and how to make them usable.

    Thank you!

    PSN: Reaper_Stragint, Steam: DoublePitstoChesty
    What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable? ~ Mario Novak

    I never fear death or dyin', I only fear never trying.
  • StragintStragint Do Not Gift Always DeclinesRegistered User regular
    So I've been trying to find clarification and I might just be complicating things needlessly but for anyone who has played Shadowrun sixth world, does perception have a base dice pool for it?

    The character sheets in the beginner box have a spot to assist with what to roll and says perception has a base dice pool of 8 but I cannot find anything at all in the rulebook that says perception has a base pool and says the dice pool will be based on the skill level number plus the stat number for the relevant stat for that skill.

    PSN: Reaper_Stragint, Steam: DoublePitstoChesty
    What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable? ~ Mario Novak

    I never fear death or dyin', I only fear never trying.
  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    I played my first DnD session in my life ever yesterday.

    The social environment and the need for occasional improv are more intimidating (yet hold more value for me) more than the number crunching.

    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
  • AspectVoidAspectVoid Registered User regular
    Cantido wrote: »
    I played my first DnD session in my life ever yesterday.

    The social environment and the need for occasional improv are more intimidating (yet hold more value for me) more than the number crunching.

    There are many different types of players, and the only one that is wrong is the "Goose who is only there to make other players miserable." There is nothing wrong with you being in a campaign as just an excuse to hang out with some people and occasionally role dice when told so long as you find that fun.

    PSN|AspectVoid
  • SageinaRageSageinaRage Registered User regular
    There's a humble bundle for 13th Age books up right now. People really liked that game, right?

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  • admanbadmanb unionize your workplace Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    If you've ever thought to yourself "D&D could be better if it was less burdened by its history" it's at least worth looking at 13th Age.

  • DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    admanb wrote: »
    If you've ever thought to yourself "D&D could be better if it was less burdened by its history" it's at least worth looking at 13th Age.

    Do you want a D&D with actual narrative mechanics? There ya go. Some of them are clunky/weird as hell but some of them are pretty good and they're pretty thoroughly in there top to bottom.. (No, Inspiration does not count 5e.)

    Nod. Get treat. PSN: Quippish
  • WhelkWhelk Registered User regular
    edited July 2021
    Looks like the Lancer guys have put out a fantasy game called ICONS. It looks like it's a combination of Lancer and Blades in the Dark. They've got a playtest pdf out, and I'm enjoying reading through it.

    Edit: Thought I was saying something new, but they're already a page into talking about it in the SE++ thread.

    Whelk on
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    Whelk wrote: »
    Looks like the Lancer guys have put out a fantasy game called ICONS. It looks like it's a combination of Lancer and Blades in the Dark. They've got a playtest pdf out, and I'm enjoying reading through it.

    Edit: Thought I was saying something new, but they're already a page into talking about it in the SE++ thread.

    Not everyone reads both threads, you're good!

    Steam ID: Webguy20
    Origin ID: Discgolfer27
    Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
  • ZomroZomro Registered User regular
    I've noticed a funny coincidence when I make rolls in my current Genesys campaign. My minotaur warrior who prides himself as a guardian and actively dislikes violence will routinely fail combat checks even though his 4 Brawn and training in Brawl and Heavy Melee weapons makes him well suited to it. In a previous session, we were ambushed by some weird creature that, by virtue of a couple of Triumphs, ripped one of my horns right out and tried to run off with it. In the short combat that followed, he could not hit the creature as hard as he tried, the dice just would not have it.

    But fast forward to our last session, a stand off between us a group of, I guess, cultists with glowing eyes. They weren't actively hostile, but were giving us an ultimatum to leave the area or they'd attack. My minotaur drops a Coercion check, basically demanding their word that they would not harm his companions or shit would get real. Bam! Multiple successes and triumph. Later in the session we're being chased by a creature similar to the one that attacked before, and we know that there are more of them somewhere. We're running to the most secure location in the abandoned town we're investigating, the old book repository. I've got the gnome alchemist and the halfling mage on my shoulders, carrying them to safety. A couple rounds of Athletics checks to see our position in relation to each other and the monster chasing us. First one is success with a ton of advantages, second is success with triumph. I get the two party members to (relative) safety fast and then immediately book it back to help the rest of the crew.

    I'm just enjoying how my rolls turn out in a narrative sense. When I roll to do something for the character, it more often than not fails. But as soon as I'm rolling for character to help or protect one of his allies, it's usually a pretty big success. It's very satisfying to see.

    We got left on a cliffhanger with our human martial artist face to face with the monster about to attack, and my minotaur about to head back out into the dark, abandoned town to look for him, as he's the last one who hasn't arrived yet. If my rolls keep up as they have been, it should be one hell of a save.

  • ZomroZomro Registered User regular
    So it wasn't as cinematic a save as I'd hoped, but I did get to hit two combat checks against the monster attacking our martial artist (which is way more hits than I've gotten before). But where we left off, the martial artist has exceeded his strain threshold and, for the first time this campaign, has activated his Shapeshifter talent. So the martial artist is now buffed physically but has lowered Intellect and Willpower. But it differs a little from the RAW talent because he has to fight to keep in control, as it's like there's another entity inside of him that's been wanting to come out and wreak havoc. But, as a plus, his Agility when shapeshifted is a Super stat, so if he rolls a Triumph on an Agility roll he can roll another Skill Die (yellow) die. So it's a nice tradeoff. And since he's built into Agility for Brawl checks (including a homebrew talent that lets him use Agility for damage, too), he's dangerous.

    And he failed his Discipline check so he views both the monster and my minotaur as "food", this entity is apparently hungry. And the monster is down, so when we next play I'm going to have to try and subdue him while he's trying to take me out. I just gotta get his strain threshold exceeded to knock him out before he causes me too much damage. It should be super fun.

  • Dizzy DDizzy D NetherlandsRegistered User regular
    I'm organizing a second Paranoia one-shot for a group of friends/co-workers and I'm working on the main plot now.

    Now most of them (I have one new player, one player from the last session 2 years ago I lost contact with so he won't return) have played the game before, I've given them more freedom with creating their characters. They now get to pick their own secret society and specials skills.
    Mutant Powers are still semi-randomized.
    Mandatory Bonus Duties (their role within the team), they get to apply for whatever role he or she wants and I'll try to make things work for them. NPC will take the final duty that nobody wants.

    Main Plot (still working out the details):
    Our Troubleshooters are now more experienced; having survived multiple missions without losing a clone. Each of them are the sole survivor of their last missions, so they are now also more suspect. So they all get sent out on a good ol' suicide mission.

    The problem: Some sectors in Beta Complex (last session was in Alpha Complex, just changed the Complex so I'm not bound to any rules or decisions I've made up last time) are going dark. Not such a big deal, with this many crazy scientists, bureaucratic nightmare and trigger-happy security guards, a section or two exploding is common place, but this seems to be more structured. A squad of expendable experienced Troubleshooters are send in to investigate after previous attempts have all failed.

    The plan: The Team will make use of the newly designed Advanced Nuclear Trench-digger (The M.O.L.E.; in-joke is going to be that none of the acronyms will not make sense) to dig to the centre of the Earth and then up into the darkened sectors, the last place they are going to expect an attack from.
    Before the team is send off, the commanding officer will get a message that during a test the M.O.L.E. has melted, so new plan (working title "Dig Up Stupid") one Secret Society is working on a giant drill-bot (Secret Society in question depends on which Secret Society each of my player will join. Sierra Club is the default one for now). Infiltrate their base, hijack the Digger and make your way to the surface. From the surface, find hatch 47 and descend into the darkened sectors.

    The Surface: I'm stealing from Philip K. Dick here: Nobody has been to the surface in ages. Once there, there has been no nuclear war; the lower classes were driven underground with tales of impending nuclear war, while on the surface the rich live in giant mansions and off the productivity of the underground Complexes. The team ends up on a Golf Course, will track through a forest (encountering strange giant rats (deer) etc.) to hatch 47.

    The Darkened Sectors: Once inside the darkened sectors, everything looks like the regular Complex, but things are ... off. Welcome to Gamma Complex, the result of a High Programmer's meddling with a Backup&Restore Test of the Computer itself. Both Gamma and Beta think they are the original and are constantly expanding into each others territory. The team will run into a Troubleshooting squad based on their former characters and hopefully confronting the rogue High Programmer.

    So those are the main set pieces, I still need to work out some of the details.


    Steam/Origin: davydizzy
  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    My very dear friend is getting the Dune RPG book for their birthday.

    They don't even have to play it. They will love the encyclopedic content and artwork inside.

    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
  • JacobyJacoby OHHHHH IT’S A SNAKE Creature - SnakeRegistered User regular
    I have been eyeing the Avatar Legends kickstarter for a few days now. I don't know when I'll find a group that wants to play it, but the "Fight Fire Nation supremacists in early Republic City" idea in my head is so beautiful...

    GameCenter: ROldford
    Switch: nin.codes/roldford
  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    edited August 2021
    Jacoby wrote: »
    I have been eyeing the Avatar Legends kickstarter for a few days now. I don't know when I'll find a group that wants to play it, but the "Fight Fire Nation supremacists in early Republic City" idea in my head is so beautiful...

    If Korra’s era was basically the 1920’s, would that make it like, 1890?

    Here’s what the Qing Dynasty looked like between 1880 to 1900 so google tells me.

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    Endless_Serpents on
  • Grey_ChocolateGrey_Chocolate Registered User regular
    Last night, we finished the last session of my GURPS campaign. The players won as they wiped out the alchemist cult and took over the city.

    Highlights of the grand finale; 2 drones dropped satchel charges onto the cult compound, the sniper followed up by sniping the 4 machine gun nests defending the place as the assault force cars drive towards the giant one in the wall, the super mutant elite guard tried to meet the assault but got cut to ribbons by 15 cars of gunmen blazing away with Browning Stinger LMGs, the final boss mutant colossus made a great entrance ala El Gigante from RE4...only to be slaughtered immediately by the gang's PC gunslinger and her rifle loaded with explosive rounds, the leader of the cult was still at his underground operating theater/experimental lab when the gang came in and the PC ripped an entire magazine into his back as he brewed an elixir.

    Hitting the broken computer does not fix the broken computer. Fixing the broken computer, fixes the broken computer.
  • BrainleechBrainleech 機知に富んだコメントはここにあります Registered User regular
    I saw listings for Gi Joe-Transformers-Power Rangers rpg rule books by renegade
    Never heard of this company so I have no idea what the rule set might be like?

  • Dizzy DDizzy D NetherlandsRegistered User regular
    Dizzy D wrote: »
    I'm organizing a second Paranoia one-shot for a group of friends/co-workers and I'm working on the main plot now.

    Now most of them (I have one new player, one player from the last session 2 years ago I lost contact with so he won't return) have played the game before, I've given them more freedom with creating their characters. They now get to pick their own secret society and specials skills.
    Mutant Powers are still semi-randomized.
    Mandatory Bonus Duties (their role within the team), they get to apply for whatever role he or she wants and I'll try to make things work for them. NPC will take the final duty that nobody wants.

    Main Plot (still working out the details):
    Our Troubleshooters are now more experienced; having survived multiple missions without losing a clone. Each of them are the sole survivor of their last missions, so they are now also more suspect. So they all get sent out on a good ol' suicide mission.

    The problem: Some sectors in Beta Complex (last session was in Alpha Complex, just changed the Complex so I'm not bound to any rules or decisions I've made up last time) are going dark. Not such a big deal, with this many crazy scientists, bureaucratic nightmare and trigger-happy security guards, a section or two exploding is common place, but this seems to be more structured. A squad of expendable experienced Troubleshooters are send in to investigate after previous attempts have all failed.

    The plan: The Team will make use of the newly designed Advanced Nuclear Trench-digger (The M.O.L.E.; in-joke is going to be that none of the acronyms will not make sense) to dig to the centre of the Earth and then up into the darkened sectors, the last place they are going to expect an attack from.
    Before the team is send off, the commanding officer will get a message that during a test the M.O.L.E. has melted, so new plan (working title "Dig Up Stupid") one Secret Society is working on a giant drill-bot (Secret Society in question depends on which Secret Society each of my player will join. Sierra Club is the default one for now). Infiltrate their base, hijack the Digger and make your way to the surface. From the surface, find hatch 47 and descend into the darkened sectors.

    The Surface: I'm stealing from Philip K. Dick here: Nobody has been to the surface in ages. Once there, there has been no nuclear war; the lower classes were driven underground with tales of impending nuclear war, while on the surface the rich live in giant mansions and off the productivity of the underground Complexes. The team ends up on a Golf Course, will track through a forest (encountering strange giant rats (deer) etc.) to hatch 47.

    The Darkened Sectors: Once inside the darkened sectors, everything looks like the regular Complex, but things are ... off. Welcome to Gamma Complex, the result of a High Programmer's meddling with a Backup&Restore Test of the Computer itself. Both Gamma and Beta think they are the original and are constantly expanding into each others territory. The team will run into a Troubleshooting squad based on their former characters and hopefully confronting the rogue High Programmer.

    So those are the main set pieces, I still need to work out some of the details.


    So yesterday we played the above scenario, a couple of changes made from above
    - I let them all apply to the mandatory bonus duty they wanted: 3 of the 4 players wanted to be the Equipment guy. After a few minutes of thinking about, the conclusion was "this is perfect". So of our team we have 3 equipment guys (on the day itself, one cancelled though), 1 happiness officer (new player) and 2 NPCs (loyalty officer+hygiene officer).

    Dramatis Personae
    - Alan (equipment guy, trucker, needs to push every button he sees, Doom Magnet. Member of Death Leopards with a secret mission to destroy things on the surface, get others to destroy things on the Surface and take pictures of the destruction).
    - G.I. Dough (equipment guy, baker, very shy around people with rank blue, Pyrokinetic. Frankenstein Destroyer with the mission to destroy Probe Droids on the Surface).
    - Bert (equipment guy (cancelled due to ilness), also a trucker. Death Simulation. Member of the Illuminati. Tasked to retrieve a black box from one of the probe droids and also to discredit any reports of his fellow teammembers during briefing concerning the Surface).
    - Virdinant (happiness officer, media person. Talks to the (non-existent) camera. Bouncy mutant powers. Member of the Mystics and tasked to grab some unknown mushrooms on the Surface.)
    - Timmy (NPC, hygiene officer. Energy absorbent. Obsessed with cleanliness and wants to get the Annihilation Grenade to really clean things. Designed to be completely useless, but also handy tool for a GM to get things back on track). Timmy's tic is that he ignores everybody that asks him a question, but he does obey when he's ordered to do something.
    - Richmond (NPC, only one Rank Orange. Loyalty Officer. Got an experimental treatment that makes it impossible for him to commit treason. So far has died already 3 times just getting from the Conditioning Lab to the Briefing Room. point being: the Complex rules are so contradictory that it's impossible not to commit treason. He won't be here for long. (The loyalty officer is always basically the worst person in any Paranoia game, so I try to make them NPCs if I don't have enough players and kill them off quickly).

    Briefing and Gearing Up:
    - During the meeting we also get a few changes to the regular game: as the team will be leaving Beta Complex, they will no longer have the regular Computer-guided maps and location system. So last night, in their sleep, all of them got their eyes replaced with a Primary Linear Objective Trajectory- Device (aka The C.O.M.P.A.S.S., projects a red arrow at their current objective. I can recommend them to any GM). They also will be accompanied by 4 invisible clone-droids that uncloak, drop a clone and cloak again whenever one of them dies.
    - At R&D they got 5 grenades to test: 3 foam grenades (technically non-lethal, but encapsulates somebody in a sphere of gell where they probably will slowly suffocate), 1 positive charge grenade (makes somebody captured in the blast just feel jazzed about everything), 1 annihilation grenade (absolutely destroys anything in its radius, not even that nasty radiation or shockwave that a regular anti-matter grenade leaves. Downside is that the blast range is about 6 inches). Bouncing Betty (explosive, has a dial going from 1-10. Number determines how many bounces before it explodes), Gravity Grenade (it's a Katamari). They also get some Lead-pills (pills turn you into lead to protect you from radiation on the surface. Don't protect you from lead-poisoning.), a White Box from a High Programmer (to be taken to their target coordinates in the middle of the Blacked-Out sectors) and a Geiger Counter (actually functional, except it is cumulative, so it just counts out loud and continues from when it was activated the last time).
    - Just outside R&D they find a black market where they can buy replicas of surface guns (R&D only got names and pictures and tried to recreate the guns as well as possible). Their options: a musket (fires blood-draining mosquito bullets), a six-shooter (fights six bullets in different directions at once, but takes some time to auto-reload), a Colt (fires a cold-ray), a Mauser (fires mice), a Enfield (the most expensive, fires an N-field: a field of nano-droids that disintegrate the target), a Bren gun (has a decent chance to burn the target but also catching fire when being fired) and finally a Kalashnikov (sucker trap. pick this one and get executed as a communist). They picked a six-shooter, a Bren and the happiness officer was happy with his laser-gun.

    Infiltrating Sierra Club's Compound and stealing the DigDug:
    - Not much infiltration, they just immediately try to bullshit their way in. Fail, try to complain to the computer but get put through to HR and some ticket is filed so a security team will check things out in 48 hours. By now Richmond has lost his final clone and Alan has lost his first clone when he tried out the button on one of the Foam grenades. The team gets into a shoot-out with the security system (the bren catches fire but takes out half the security droids). The six-shooters work remarkably well, cause even some of the random direction bullets manage to hit something. A few clones are lost during the fire fight but nothing too worrying.
    -
    The team gets into the DigDug and finds a giant console filled with buttons, levers and switches. Alan tries several buttons, but the first button he hits is the light switch (I had a list of 20 options ranging from starting the machine to turning on the radio to activating the ejector seats). A couple of tries and the machine starts (which draws attention from the Sierra Club, but the device is pretty bullet-proof.
    Looking inside they find some Hazmat suits (and most of them chose those over the lead-pills). They find a pic-a-nic basket with some jam-sandwiches. They also find the manual for the DigDug (as usual in paranoia, the manual is the worst thing ever written. I've made a list of made-up words and by rolling their vehicle or mechanics check and seeing by how much they exceed or fall short of the goal I determine how many of the words they don't know in that paragraph.) The manual is studied for a bit, but randomly pushing buttons is the wiser cause of action. At this point Timmy does what I needed a NPC to do. He pushes a button to get them off-course. By now they have decided not to touch any buttons as they are moving in roughly the right direction.

    (To be continued, we finished the game, but it's getting late here to type all of this up. So far the group has been rather kind to each other with few backstabbing and accusations of treason.)

    Steam/Origin: davydizzy
  • admanbadmanb unionize your workplace Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Brainleech wrote: »
    I saw listings for Gi Joe-Transformers-Power Rangers rpg rule books by renegade
    Never heard of this company so I have no idea what the rule set might be like?

    Renegade is a legit publisher but there's no mention of the game mechanics anywhere. The designers look like they've largely floated around the D&D/Pathfinder spheres.

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