I said this week and this week it is. So don't complain I am late in posting Occultum Arcanus.
DT
DT
Action Chatroom Development Thread: Now with only 10% added sugar!
- Thread starter KaiserElectric
- Start date
I may or may not post something no earlier than the evening of the 7th/8th.
Assume, as normal, that it would be more along the dark/psychological/survival elements and mechanics of SaR, though presumably a very different setting/premise.
Assume, as normal, that it would be more along the dark/psychological/survival elements and mechanics of SaR, though presumably a very different setting/premise.
arya126
Squad Leader
10/10 would show interest. Participation would be unlikely to be frequent until last week of May however.
Debating between starting a spiritual or direct successor to SaR soon.
Spiritual is what I'm leaning towards currently. Would still emphasize survival/horror themes, and would still heavily rely on communication and injury mechanics from SaR. It would be easier to fight, though not necessarily any less awful of an idea. Supernatural or not would not be known at game start, but game backstory involves terrorists/cultists and I've been looking at Inuit mythology among others lately. Setting would be more artificial, but not necessarily more urban.
Opinions?
Spiritual is what I'm leaning towards currently. Would still emphasize survival/horror themes, and would still heavily rely on communication and injury mechanics from SaR. It would be easier to fight, though not necessarily any less awful of an idea. Supernatural or not would not be known at game start, but game backstory involves terrorists/cultists and I've been looking at Inuit mythology among others lately. Setting would be more artificial, but not necessarily more urban.
Opinions?
Patchy
Emperor
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GhoStory 1.01 You May /Not/ Return
Its coming. And it will be run under the FATE RPG system, which means I'm gonna have to tutorialize things for you. Here's how we go through the process of character creation.
Spoiler :
So how do you make a character in FATE and what do all those new boxes mean? I'll give you a walkthrough.
The first bit is simple enough.
And so on and so forth, remember to keep age group at sophomore level. Now we get into the actual FATE specific portions of the character creation.
Okay so what does any of this mean? Let's start from the basics: All rolls in FATE are done 4d6 with each side corresponding to either neutral, negative, or positive. Each positive gives you a shift and each negative takes away one while neutrals do not affect anything. Then after rolling and adding your shifts and whatever modifiers you might have you get your end result which is compared to either a DC or opposing roll.
Refresh is the Fate Point pool, you will be restored to this number should you end a mission under it.
Fate Points can be used for many things such as adding a detail to a scene (with GM approval) via declaration. They can be used to save your ass on a bad roll either by rerolling all the dice or adding +2 shifts to your end result; you do this by invoking an aspect (more on this later) that is relevant to the roll. You regain Fate Points in the middle of a mission by accepting compels which are when one of your aspects is used against you to make your life a little more difficult.
The physical and morale boxes are for taking minor damage. If an attack ends up hitting you and is x shifts over your defense you can absorb one shift in the first box, two shifts in the second, and three shifts in the third. The boxes are immediately cleared after the scene ends.
Consequences are representative of much more serious damage, the type that won't go away for a while. Each slot shows the amount of shifts that it absorbs with each increasing level becoming harder to get rid of. Mild can by waiting for time to pass, Moderate with specific management orders and enough time, Severe consequences aren't going anywhere anytime soon so try to avoid getting one. Consequences also add malicious aspects to your character which can be used as a source for compels against you, make certain tasks harder or nearly impossible depending on the severity.
Aspects are used to add noteworthy details to whatever they're attached to, in this case they are details about your character. They cover a wide range of character elements such as personality, beliefs, physical traits, backstory, relationships and anything that would be used to make your character stand out from the extras. When an aspect benefits you, you may invoke it with a fate point as stated earlier before, when it makes your life hard its called a compel and you gain a fate point back.
High Concept is an aspect that describes the archetype of your character while Trouble is an aspect that is specifically about a problem that your character may have.
Character skill shows how adept your character is at a certain task. Each level adds a different amount of shifts to a roll regarding the task. You get one Good skill, two Fair ones, three Average ones, and the rest are considered to be mediocre and do not get extra shifts.
You use skills for four things: Overcoming a DC related to them, creating an Advantage that you can use to give two shifts to a roll meant to overcome a DC, attacking something, and defending from something. Note that not all skills can be used for all of the different options, you cant attack with investigate for example and cannot defend with Provoke.
SKILL LIST
Spoiler :
And here's a link to the FATE wiki if you want to get more in depth about the system.
The FATE skill list also contains a more in depth description of how skills are used.
Patchy
Emperor
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Changes to Time, Grades, and Management Orders
1.01 Will also feature some major changes to the way out-of-chat game mechanics are handled. Some are changed because using FATE mechanics obsoletes them and some are altered because I believe they aren't engaging for the player.
One of the changes that is less significant for players is that time will be handled in vague segments rather than attempting to keep to an actual calender. It wont affect you much beyond having a GM with a higher level of having his together.
Grades are also being changed to no longer be dependent on constant homework but rather exams that come every 3 management sessions. People with higher Knowledge skill and no consequences that affect them mentally get better grades naturally and you can also spend an order in management sessions studying if you care about that sort of thing.
With the changes to management orders I have been focused on cutting down the number of orders and making it more focused on side character interactions. As for the old things: Write-in orders are still allowed, the Relax option has been kicked out entirely due to replacing a homebrew sanity system with FATE. Homework has been switched to studying that you can do for exams, it should go without saying that studying consistently is more effective than last minute cramming unless you happen to be naturally very smart.
Side character interactions is something new that I'm going to be testing here, I hope that it will serve to help flesh out not only the world but also player's character as it allows for growth outside of the party. You can choose to spend time with side-characters (at first only your classmates) during management orders, by doing so you can gain a single use boost to a skill, advise, or even hints about upcoming events. The way the interaction would generally work is I just write a short snippet about how the two characters interact, so the more information you put in the personality slot the better, and if anyone feels extremely butthurt about how I handle it then you can just keep the boost and ignore the story.
1.01 Will also feature some major changes to the way out-of-chat game mechanics are handled. Some are changed because using FATE mechanics obsoletes them and some are altered because I believe they aren't engaging for the player.
One of the changes that is less significant for players is that time will be handled in vague segments rather than attempting to keep to an actual calender. It wont affect you much beyond having a GM with a higher level of having his together.
Grades are also being changed to no longer be dependent on constant homework but rather exams that come every 3 management sessions. People with higher Knowledge skill and no consequences that affect them mentally get better grades naturally and you can also spend an order in management sessions studying if you care about that sort of thing.
With the changes to management orders I have been focused on cutting down the number of orders and making it more focused on side character interactions. As for the old things: Write-in orders are still allowed, the Relax option has been kicked out entirely due to replacing a homebrew sanity system with FATE. Homework has been switched to studying that you can do for exams, it should go without saying that studying consistently is more effective than last minute cramming unless you happen to be naturally very smart.
Side character interactions is something new that I'm going to be testing here, I hope that it will serve to help flesh out not only the world but also player's character as it allows for growth outside of the party. You can choose to spend time with side-characters (at first only your classmates) during management orders, by doing so you can gain a single use boost to a skill, advise, or even hints about upcoming events. The way the interaction would generally work is I just write a short snippet about how the two characters interact, so the more information you put in the personality slot the better, and if anyone feels extremely butthurt about how I handle it then you can just keep the boost and ignore the story.
KaiserElectric
Total Freakin Besties
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Dear Recipient,
We are pleased to inform you that your application for admission to the Stellaris Officer's Academy Program (SOAP) for the year of 2115 has been approved by our Board of Admissions.
While existing regulations technically prohibit a race whose established planetary government has not fully entered the Republic from serving in an officer's position, special permissions combined with your academic records and recommendations has convinced the Board president to suspend these regulations so that your admission would be accepted.
You are to report to the SRS Cerolia one week from now for further instruction. Note that as the first of your species to enter into this program, your deeds and actions will be representative of your entire species in the eyes of the Republic at large. We hope you will not disappoint.
Good luck, and may fortune find you.
We are pleased to inform you that your application for admission to the Stellaris Officer's Academy Program (SOAP) for the year of 2115 has been approved by our Board of Admissions.
While existing regulations technically prohibit a race whose established planetary government has not fully entered the Republic from serving in an officer's position, special permissions combined with your academic records and recommendations has convinced the Board president to suspend these regulations so that your admission would be accepted.
You are to report to the SRS Cerolia one week from now for further instruction. Note that as the first of your species to enter into this program, your deeds and actions will be representative of your entire species in the eyes of the Republic at large. We hope you will not disappoint.
Good luck, and may fortune find you.
Patchy
Emperor
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Stunts and You: A Short Guide to Standing Out from the Extras
One key part of the FATE role-playing system not present in GhoStory 1.01 is Stunts, however, now that all y'all are more comfortable with the system we can begin to look into it.
So, what are Stunts?
Stunts are a special trait about your character, it allows them to improve on how a skill works for you and you alone. Each character starts with 3 and can gain an additional one at the cost of one point of Refresh.
Okay, okay, but what is a Stunt really?
Stunts can be used in a variety of different ways, either by expanding the utility of a skill, adding a bonus to it under certain parameters, or adding a narrow exception to the rules. Stunts can build on other Stunts, by stacking bonuses or creating branching effects from the original.
Examples
Skills normally have a set parameter that they can be used in, Stunts can be added to slightly expand those parameters. For example let's create a stunt, Psychological Warfare, with this a character would be able to use Deceive instead of Provoke to make mental attacks on a target so long as they are doing so with a lie. What is key here is the constraints placed on the stunt, only for making mental attacks and only when doing so with a lie, as it would not be allowed to completely replace a skill with a stunt.
Using a Stunt to add a bonus is the simplest kind of Stunt you can have, but still very useful. These Stunts add a bonus to a skill when it is working within a specific part of its normal parameters. For example let's create a stunt, Robin No!, this stunt would give a +2 bonus to Lore (GS version of it) whenever casting a spell that breaks your cover. As you can see it's only activated under specific circumstances, the effects may also be changed from a +2 to an additional 2 shifts after the roll succeeds in order to guarantee a Success with Style (crit).
Narrow exceptions to the rules are arguably the most complicated type of Stunt effects due to having to have a more precise knowledge of the game rules to create them in the first place. We'll use a simple exception for our example, Riposte, which would allow the character to chose to take a two shift hit on the opponent rather than a boost after Succeeding with Style on a Fight defense roll. As you can see, the opportunities to use this are rather limited by its requirement to crit with a specific roll, but the guaranteed damage is still useful.
Stunts can build on other Stunts in two main ways, we will first look at advancing a Stunt. By advancing it you can choose to narrow an expanded skill's parameters and grant it a bonus, give a flat stacking bonus to a skill, or expand a rules exception further. Let's look at the first one for our example, NO ROBIN NO! (requires Robin No!), which would give an additional +2 bonus to Lore whenever casting a spell that breaks your cover. Stacking with the original would mean a +4 bonus to your rolls when making such an action.
Branching Stunt effects basically just add more options on how to use your Stunt. Let's take the base Stunt to be Robin No! which was described above. There are many ways to create branching stunts off of this base:
One key part of the FATE role-playing system not present in GhoStory 1.01 is Stunts, however, now that all y'all are more comfortable with the system we can begin to look into it.
So, what are Stunts?
Stunts are a special trait about your character, it allows them to improve on how a skill works for you and you alone. Each character starts with 3 and can gain an additional one at the cost of one point of Refresh.
Okay, okay, but what is a Stunt really?
Stunts can be used in a variety of different ways, either by expanding the utility of a skill, adding a bonus to it under certain parameters, or adding a narrow exception to the rules. Stunts can build on other Stunts, by stacking bonuses or creating branching effects from the original.
Examples
Skills normally have a set parameter that they can be used in, Stunts can be added to slightly expand those parameters. For example let's create a stunt, Psychological Warfare, with this a character would be able to use Deceive instead of Provoke to make mental attacks on a target so long as they are doing so with a lie. What is key here is the constraints placed on the stunt, only for making mental attacks and only when doing so with a lie, as it would not be allowed to completely replace a skill with a stunt.
Using a Stunt to add a bonus is the simplest kind of Stunt you can have, but still very useful. These Stunts add a bonus to a skill when it is working within a specific part of its normal parameters. For example let's create a stunt, Robin No!, this stunt would give a +2 bonus to Lore (GS version of it) whenever casting a spell that breaks your cover. As you can see it's only activated under specific circumstances, the effects may also be changed from a +2 to an additional 2 shifts after the roll succeeds in order to guarantee a Success with Style (crit).
Narrow exceptions to the rules are arguably the most complicated type of Stunt effects due to having to have a more precise knowledge of the game rules to create them in the first place. We'll use a simple exception for our example, Riposte, which would allow the character to chose to take a two shift hit on the opponent rather than a boost after Succeeding with Style on a Fight defense roll. As you can see, the opportunities to use this are rather limited by its requirement to crit with a specific roll, but the guaranteed damage is still useful.
Stunts can build on other Stunts in two main ways, we will first look at advancing a Stunt. By advancing it you can choose to narrow an expanded skill's parameters and grant it a bonus, give a flat stacking bonus to a skill, or expand a rules exception further. Let's look at the first one for our example, NO ROBIN NO! (requires Robin No!), which would give an additional +2 bonus to Lore whenever casting a spell that breaks your cover. Stacking with the original would mean a +4 bonus to your rolls when making such an action.
Branching Stunt effects basically just add more options on how to use your Stunt. Let's take the base Stunt to be Robin No! which was described above. There are many ways to create branching stunts off of this base:
- Surprise Attack (requires Robin No!) - When breaking cover to cast an offensive spell and succeeding, you catch everyone off guard and can create a situational Aspect with one free invocation representing that.
- Chaotic Distraction (requires Robin No!) - When breaking cover to cast a spell your sudden presence distracts others from the rest of the party giving them a one turn bonus to any covert actions.
Patchy
Emperor
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Disclaimer: No, this isn't a signal that I'm going to be running a game using these roles. This is just the rough draft of a proof of concept for a multi-crewed mech in an AC that I tossed together during a long car ride. There are still a few issues that I even have with it, such as Pilot being perhaps the least interesting of the options. If I'll ever be running something with this I'll first be doing at least a test of the combat with interested people.
Pilot
The pilot's main role is maneuvering the mech around the battlefield, choosing its stance, covering melee, and rolling to dodge incoming shots. They are absolutely necessary on any mech.
Gunner
The gunner of the mech operates its many different armaments and can even contribute to defense with point defense weapons. They are absolutely necessary on all but the most specialized of mechs.
Engineer
The engineer serves as the support role of the mech, being able to heal damage, put out fires, and provide boosts to certain actions as well as other special moves. While not strictly necessary any mech without an Engineer is fighting at a severe disadvantage.
Psi
Psi is the working name I'm using for the mech's magician, they can add to damage with fireballs, support another crew member, and are in charge of psionic warfare with the other mech should they get close enough. While not necessary, they're a welcome addition for any crew.
Jackalrider
Jackals are small, highly maneuverable vehicles that are used to support larger mechs in battle and rely on moving quickly through the forest to close in on their targets safely. Much like Psi a Jackalrider is nice to have but not ultimately necessary.
Pilot
The pilot's main role is maneuvering the mech around the battlefield, choosing its stance, covering melee, and rolling to dodge incoming shots. They are absolutely necessary on any mech.
Spoiler :
Gunner
The gunner of the mech operates its many different armaments and can even contribute to defense with point defense weapons. They are absolutely necessary on all but the most specialized of mechs.
Spoiler :
Engineer
The engineer serves as the support role of the mech, being able to heal damage, put out fires, and provide boosts to certain actions as well as other special moves. While not strictly necessary any mech without an Engineer is fighting at a severe disadvantage.
Spoiler :
Psi
Psi is the working name I'm using for the mech's magician, they can add to damage with fireballs, support another crew member, and are in charge of psionic warfare with the other mech should they get close enough. While not necessary, they're a welcome addition for any crew.
Spoiler :
Jackalrider
Jackals are small, highly maneuverable vehicles that are used to support larger mechs in battle and rely on moving quickly through the forest to close in on their targets safely. Much like Psi a Jackalrider is nice to have but not ultimately necessary.
Spoiler :
Patchy
Emperor
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Lighthearter
President of the United States
So, here's a bit of a teaser for what I've been cooking over Xmas.
Renegades: The Space AC
The Galaxy is divided between six factions, each one with its own objectives, preferred land and space tactics, ship classes and loadouts, interactable NPCs, and a Heat rating for each character on a scale of one to five. Heat climbs to 5? You've got a swarm of space dreadnoughts bristling with atomic missiles chasing you. Drops to 1? No one in the faction knows your name.
United Federation of Asian Republics - UFAR:
Terran Federation(or the United Nations of Europe and North America):
The Bionic Swarm:
The Seraphim:
The Pirates:
The Syndicate:
Systems:
There are a number of systems in the Galaxy, and each one has a different trait. Some are plot-relevant, some are merely useful for discretionary upgrade missions, and some are both...but all are listed here. All HUMAN worlds, that is, at least for the moment - I've got to keep some surprises.
That's all I'll reveal now. I've shared a couple other tidbits on chat too - all I have left to do is finalize the inventory and cybernetics mechanics, and then run some test characters/NPCs through the character creator to check balance. I expect the game MIGHT be up sometime in the next few weeks, but I won't promise anything.
Renegades: The Space AC
Spoiler :
The Galaxy is divided between six factions, each one with its own objectives, preferred land and space tactics, ship classes and loadouts, interactable NPCs, and a Heat rating for each character on a scale of one to five. Heat climbs to 5? You've got a swarm of space dreadnoughts bristling with atomic missiles chasing you. Drops to 1? No one in the faction knows your name.
United Federation of Asian Republics - UFAR:
Spoiler :
Terran Federation(or the United Nations of Europe and North America):
Spoiler :
The Bionic Swarm:
Spoiler :
The Seraphim:
Spoiler :
The Pirates:
Spoiler :
The Syndicate:
Spoiler :
Systems:
There are a number of systems in the Galaxy, and each one has a different trait. Some are plot-relevant, some are merely useful for discretionary upgrade missions, and some are both...but all are listed here. All HUMAN worlds, that is, at least for the moment - I've got to keep some surprises.
Spoiler :
That's all I'll reveal now. I've shared a couple other tidbits on chat too - all I have left to do is finalize the inventory and cybernetics mechanics, and then run some test characters/NPCs through the character creator to check balance. I expect the game MIGHT be up sometime in the next few weeks, but I won't promise anything.
Patchy
Emperor
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Well, with the Laughing Fox's main arc coming to a close I've begun to think of my next project. In keeping with the tradition of using different systems allow me to introduce ADEVA, a RPG adaptation of the Evangelion franchise.
Now I'm aware that most people here haven't actually watched the show that it is based off of, nor have the time or inclination to read through the admittedly hefty rule-book. So I'll be doing the same as I did before with FATE and summarizing everything the player needs to know.
Should you want to read through the rule-book yourself there's a link to download it provided below.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/o69miv64p6ifc0i/Adeptus+Evangelion+Beta+Draft+005.rar
Now I'm aware that most people here haven't actually watched the show that it is based off of, nor have the time or inclination to read through the admittedly hefty rule-book. So I'll be doing the same as I did before with FATE and summarizing everything the player needs to know.
Should you want to read through the rule-book yourself there's a link to download it provided below.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/o69miv64p6ifc0i/Adeptus+Evangelion+Beta+Draft+005.rar
Patchy
Emperor
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The Basics
Setting
ADEVA is a RPG for the franchise of Evangelion, however assming you haven't watched the show I'll be providing a brief breakdown of the world, should you have any questions I encourage you to ask me them.
Evangelion takes place following a hugely destructive event known as the Second Impact (if you are wondering what the first one was that was the creation of earth) that has drastically changed the world as we know it. In the year 2000 a meteorite hit Antarctica and melted the continent causing mass flooding, climate change, and nearly a decade of mass unrest, or so the official story goes. In response many nations, beginning with Western Europe, turned over their armed forces to the UN which began to intervene in the conflicts around the world that had sparked up following the Second Impact. As support for the newly empowered UN began to take hold it gained enough power to diplomatically consolidate much of the developed world's power. This consolidation finally ended on February 14, 2001 six months following the Second Impact, marking an end to many of the hostilities that had defined the post-Impact world.
Our game will be set in the newly reconstructed city of Seattle/Vancouver, where many things have changed following the destruction of the old two cities by flooding following the Impact. Administered jointly by the North American Union, an alliance formed by the United States and Canada, the city was one of the first to be planned out in the massive reconstruction efforts at the beginning of the recovery era and was one of the first major successes of the reconstruction. Presently the city is known for its nearly unceasing rain and for its UN presence in the form of the North American Nerv base.
The rise of Seattle/Vancouver from their ruins is a beacon of hope, showing man's ability to bounce back from the destruction caused by the Impact. However, it shall soon be tested as any beacon can attract unwanted attention; a new threat from beyond the stars has emerged, gigantic and otherworldly creatures referred to as Angels have begun to appear on earth and cause massive collateral damage. The only thing standing between the city and destruction is Nerv.
Nerv
Nerv is a paramilitary special agency nominally under the control of the United Nations. Nerv's official purpose is to lead the defense of mankind against the Angels through use of the Evangelions, giant mechas, which they constructed.
Officially, Nerv is a private organization under the direct supervision of the United Nations with limited authority over local administration, and to an extent United Nations military forces. However, Nerv is essentially an independent organization from the United Nations apart from matters of funding. As a result of conventional military forces' inability to defeat Angels, the effort to defeat them is often left at the discretion of Nerv's highest ranking personnel without direct external interference.
Setting
ADEVA is a RPG for the franchise of Evangelion, however assming you haven't watched the show I'll be providing a brief breakdown of the world, should you have any questions I encourage you to ask me them.
Evangelion takes place following a hugely destructive event known as the Second Impact (if you are wondering what the first one was that was the creation of earth) that has drastically changed the world as we know it. In the year 2000 a meteorite hit Antarctica and melted the continent causing mass flooding, climate change, and nearly a decade of mass unrest, or so the official story goes. In response many nations, beginning with Western Europe, turned over their armed forces to the UN which began to intervene in the conflicts around the world that had sparked up following the Second Impact. As support for the newly empowered UN began to take hold it gained enough power to diplomatically consolidate much of the developed world's power. This consolidation finally ended on February 14, 2001 six months following the Second Impact, marking an end to many of the hostilities that had defined the post-Impact world.
Our game will be set in the newly reconstructed city of Seattle/Vancouver, where many things have changed following the destruction of the old two cities by flooding following the Impact. Administered jointly by the North American Union, an alliance formed by the United States and Canada, the city was one of the first to be planned out in the massive reconstruction efforts at the beginning of the recovery era and was one of the first major successes of the reconstruction. Presently the city is known for its nearly unceasing rain and for its UN presence in the form of the North American Nerv base.
The rise of Seattle/Vancouver from their ruins is a beacon of hope, showing man's ability to bounce back from the destruction caused by the Impact. However, it shall soon be tested as any beacon can attract unwanted attention; a new threat from beyond the stars has emerged, gigantic and otherworldly creatures referred to as Angels have begun to appear on earth and cause massive collateral damage. The only thing standing between the city and destruction is Nerv.
Nerv
Nerv is a paramilitary special agency nominally under the control of the United Nations. Nerv's official purpose is to lead the defense of mankind against the Angels through use of the Evangelions, giant mechas, which they constructed.
Officially, Nerv is a private organization under the direct supervision of the United Nations with limited authority over local administration, and to an extent United Nations military forces. However, Nerv is essentially an independent organization from the United Nations apart from matters of funding. As a result of conventional military forces' inability to defeat Angels, the effort to defeat them is often left at the discretion of Nerv's highest ranking personnel without direct external interference.
Patchy
Emperor
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I think everyone has heard of it, but in case someone hasn't I'll be putting ADEVA on the back-burner right now until a new patch for it comes out that streamlines the combat system a bit.
So that leads me to plan B - remaking Resistance
For this system I will be using the FATE system that most of you have had experience using before in one of my games or Red's Star Wars AC. I will be adding two things though, equipment and a magic system.
MAGIC
We will be using The Subtle Art a magic system that is more similar to voodoo than traditional DnD mission. The 30 second version goes as such:
You put at least a rank in a skill called Vodun.
You take half an hour in a room with a target's name and a small effigy of them or some other similar token.
You place a blessing or a curse as an aspect on the target for 3 days, upgrading to a full week if you succeed with style.
The Vodun skill is usually used to create an advantage, assuming you have all the components ready to cast a spell. The base level of casting a spell is +0 if the target of the spell is present or +1 a powerful symbolic tie takes its place (their blood, treasured possession), which is upgraded to +3 should only a name be given. If the target is large, no more than a dozen people or a large building or park, then the difficulty of the spell is increased again by +3.
Some spells also have a secondary target, like a spell that enrages one soldier against his captain. The secondary target follows the same rules for increasing the difficulty of the spell as above, +0 if present, +3 if you only have the name, etc. The one difference is that if the secondary target willingly gives you a token they count as being "present" for the rules of the spell.
Aspects created by a spell can usually be invoked by anyone, no target can be the subject of more than one spell at a time. Furthermore I will be imposing a limit on the number of spells that you start out with in your spell book, more can be gained by simply copying off of another mage's spell-book although the secrets are usually jealously guarded.
Starting Spell Options
Magic Stunt Examples
EQUIPMENT
Weapons and Armor will be playing a role in the game, how will this work with FATE rules you ask? Well it's simple enough, armor and weapons are going to have a rating from 1-4 representing increased quality of craftsmanship. Weapons increase your striking value when rolling by simply adding the weapon rating to the roll. Armor meanwhile reduces incoming damage by a shift equal to its rating.
As a general rule weapons are more common place than armor, which requires special tailoring to be properly fitted for its user.
So that leads me to plan B - remaking Resistance
For this system I will be using the FATE system that most of you have had experience using before in one of my games or Red's Star Wars AC. I will be adding two things though, equipment and a magic system.
MAGIC
We will be using The Subtle Art a magic system that is more similar to voodoo than traditional DnD mission. The 30 second version goes as such:
You put at least a rank in a skill called Vodun.
You take half an hour in a room with a target's name and a small effigy of them or some other similar token.
You place a blessing or a curse as an aspect on the target for 3 days, upgrading to a full week if you succeed with style.
The Vodun skill is usually used to create an advantage, assuming you have all the components ready to cast a spell. The base level of casting a spell is +0 if the target of the spell is present or +1 a powerful symbolic tie takes its place (their blood, treasured possession), which is upgraded to +3 should only a name be given. If the target is large, no more than a dozen people or a large building or park, then the difficulty of the spell is increased again by +3.
Some spells also have a secondary target, like a spell that enrages one soldier against his captain. The secondary target follows the same rules for increasing the difficulty of the spell as above, +0 if present, +3 if you only have the name, etc. The one difference is that if the secondary target willingly gives you a token they count as being "present" for the rules of the spell.
Aspects created by a spell can usually be invoked by anyone, no target can be the subject of more than one spell at a time. Furthermore I will be imposing a limit on the number of spells that you start out with in your spell book, more can be gained by simply copying off of another mage's spell-book although the secrets are usually jealously guarded.
Starting Spell Options
Spoiler :
Magic Stunt Examples
Spoiler :
EQUIPMENT
Weapons and Armor will be playing a role in the game, how will this work with FATE rules you ask? Well it's simple enough, armor and weapons are going to have a rating from 1-4 representing increased quality of craftsmanship. Weapons increase your striking value when rolling by simply adding the weapon rating to the roll. Armor meanwhile reduces incoming damage by a shift equal to its rating.
As a general rule weapons are more common place than armor, which requires special tailoring to be properly fitted for its user.
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I started homebrewing an rpg based on pathfinder (and also league of legends) that you won't have to know anything about LoL to play in. Wanted to see if you guys have any pointers for what I have since you lot probably have more tabletop experience than me. Feel free to talk about this. Or don't, but I'd be happier if you did <4
link
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Thoughts on Management Orders
Ive seen management orders done in several ACs now, both well and poorly, and having developed some thoughts on the subject of when and how to do them, I thought Id write them down where people can see them and perhaps save myself from having to explain these concepts every few games.
Function A good set of management orders should serve a purpose; something that cannot be done within the usual chat structure of an AC. This usually represents work relevant to the missions that would be put in between them; such as Ghostorys power exploration mechanics, but it may be as simple as providing additional world building and character development in detail that would take too much time in the missions themselves. What management orders should not be are things that can be done at the beginning of the mission in a couple of words and a roll, or things that can be done by assumption between missions: such as shopping for new standard equipment. If this function is mechanical, it should ideally be tied to the core mechanics of the game rather than tacked on partway through; for example, OAs artifact and potion systems were both designed for management orders, and would not have worked without them.
Inclusiveness To continue the example of OA, the management orders there were designed on a mechanic that not all players made use of, and therefore some players ended up not getting as much out of the orders. Ideally, every player should have enough options when writing orders that they are forced to pick and choose what they prioritize, but this is less important than ensuring that nobody is left out. Exactly how these options are presented depends on the way orders are being handled, but in my experience they should encourage a certain amount of inventiveness, even if only in flavour. There may be only a fixed benefit for talking to an NPC for instance, but if you and the player set up different kinds of interactions, you can both enjoy the character development aspects at the same time as covering the mechanical benefits.
Scale This ideal of flavouring a management order requires a certain amount of bulk to an order to get across, and management orders should be done to a certain scale. As I said above, if an order can be resolved in only a few lines, it can be resolved in the chatroom itself before a mission. For management orders to add a significant amount to a game and its atmosphere, they need to convey a certain amount of detail. Whilst this doesnt mean writing pages upon pages, I would recommend that a good order should receive a response of at least a paragraph in order to be properly resolved. Of course some players will give in bad orders that can be resolved in much less time and space, but ideally this should occur as little as possible.
Cost Management orders of the scale suggested above are a fairly major investment of time and effort for a GM, especially if you have a large number of players. It can be minimized slightly by limited pools of actions, or not having them occur every mission, but as a GM you need to be aware of your own limitations insofar as management orders go. In some games, management orders simply wont add enough to the experience to be worth the effort, and if youre uncertain about whether or not to include them it is always best to err on the side of minimalism, simply for the sake of your own sanity.
I might have missed a few things, but hopefully this will save me a few rants in the long term, we all know what Im like after all.
DT
Laying Down the Wisdom
Ive seen management orders done in several ACs now, both well and poorly, and having developed some thoughts on the subject of when and how to do them, I thought Id write them down where people can see them and perhaps save myself from having to explain these concepts every few games.
Function A good set of management orders should serve a purpose; something that cannot be done within the usual chat structure of an AC. This usually represents work relevant to the missions that would be put in between them; such as Ghostorys power exploration mechanics, but it may be as simple as providing additional world building and character development in detail that would take too much time in the missions themselves. What management orders should not be are things that can be done at the beginning of the mission in a couple of words and a roll, or things that can be done by assumption between missions: such as shopping for new standard equipment. If this function is mechanical, it should ideally be tied to the core mechanics of the game rather than tacked on partway through; for example, OAs artifact and potion systems were both designed for management orders, and would not have worked without them.
Inclusiveness To continue the example of OA, the management orders there were designed on a mechanic that not all players made use of, and therefore some players ended up not getting as much out of the orders. Ideally, every player should have enough options when writing orders that they are forced to pick and choose what they prioritize, but this is less important than ensuring that nobody is left out. Exactly how these options are presented depends on the way orders are being handled, but in my experience they should encourage a certain amount of inventiveness, even if only in flavour. There may be only a fixed benefit for talking to an NPC for instance, but if you and the player set up different kinds of interactions, you can both enjoy the character development aspects at the same time as covering the mechanical benefits.
Scale This ideal of flavouring a management order requires a certain amount of bulk to an order to get across, and management orders should be done to a certain scale. As I said above, if an order can be resolved in only a few lines, it can be resolved in the chatroom itself before a mission. For management orders to add a significant amount to a game and its atmosphere, they need to convey a certain amount of detail. Whilst this doesnt mean writing pages upon pages, I would recommend that a good order should receive a response of at least a paragraph in order to be properly resolved. Of course some players will give in bad orders that can be resolved in much less time and space, but ideally this should occur as little as possible.
Cost Management orders of the scale suggested above are a fairly major investment of time and effort for a GM, especially if you have a large number of players. It can be minimized slightly by limited pools of actions, or not having them occur every mission, but as a GM you need to be aware of your own limitations insofar as management orders go. In some games, management orders simply wont add enough to the experience to be worth the effort, and if youre uncertain about whether or not to include them it is always best to err on the side of minimalism, simply for the sake of your own sanity.
I might have missed a few things, but hopefully this will save me a few rants in the long term, we all know what Im like after all.
DT
Laying Down the Wisdom
I am contractually obligated to remind you that I probably won't run Cloudchaser, to which this post does not link.
So update the front page Lec.
DT
So update the front page Lec.
DT
