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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2012 3:32:49 GMT -8
Hey guys, I would like to second the recommendation of Dragon Age for new players and GMs. The system is very simple, the stunt point mechanic gives it some fun flare, and the setting is interesting, especially if you've played the video game. It's really got an old-school feel to it. First, it comes in a box. With dice. Second, character generation involves rolling up characters. In the first book, the character gen rules say to use the stats in order, too, which is pretty hard core. You can do a point buy instead if you prefer predictability. That's what we did. Third, there are three classes: Mage, Thief, and Fighter. The one complaint I have about it is that I can't figure out how to create a challenging fight. The monsters, as presented in the GM's guide, are too weak, or my players are too strong. Something is wrong. I don't know if it's something I'm doing or a flaw in the system, though, as the section for GMs on creating combat scenarios is rather unhelpful. ("If it's too easy, make it harder!" Gee, thanks, book.) A bit of advice though. If all of the players aren't already familiar with the world, don't use it. Just use the game mechanic in your own setting. If none of them are familiar with it, or all of them, then it's great. Two of my players were familiar with the game. The other two, however, were not and I think they've had less fun because of it. If I could do it over, I would use the system and just create my own fluff around it. Oh, and armor soaks damage. There's a defense score (based on dex) that's the "to hit" number and then armor subtracts from damage. The quick start guide is free, if you're interested in checking it out: grfiles.game-host.org/dragon_age_rpg/DragonAgeRPGQuickstartGuide.pdfSomeday, I'm going to get my act together and run a DA game at the con.
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HyveMynd
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Dirty hippie, PbtA, Fate, & Cortex Prime <3er
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Post by HyveMynd on Jan 24, 2012 23:24:10 GMT -8
Thanks for pointing me to that link megan. I loves me some free stuff. Especially RPG stuff. ;D
I've only skimmed the rules so far, but it looks like a nifty little system that is fairly light on rules. Which makes it worth a closer read in my opinion. I've been leaning more and more towards narrative systems recently, and it looks like Dragon Age could might be a nice example of crunch that is pretty open yet provides a sturdy structure. Like a rules latticework.
I don't know how I feel about the Dragon Die though; it's a bit too random for my tastes; like the Joker in Savage Worlds. The same goes for Stunts and Stunt Points. I don't really like how you can't save Stunt Points from turn to turn, meaning that you can't really plan out what you want to do in advance.
Still, it's worth a closer read in my opinion. Thanks again. I might even get the books.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2012 5:11:34 GMT -8
In re the randomness of the Dragon Die, I like the surprise of it, personally. It gives the player a jolt of excitement when they come up unexpectedly. But you're right that it can also slow things down a bit. We refer to picking stunts as "ordering off the menu." In fact, the second set comes with nice laminated cards with the stunts on them, which just makes it more apt. For me, the stunts are more about adding some color than they are about maximizing effectiveness, so they don't affect the way I plan an action. Anyway, I love the system. I'm happy to hear that you're giving it a closer read.
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HyveMynd
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Dirty hippie, PbtA, Fate, & Cortex Prime <3er
Posts: 2,273
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Currently Running: The Sprawl
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Post by HyveMynd on Jan 28, 2012 1:53:56 GMT -8
So the mechanics in the Quick Start Guide proved interesting enough for me to pick up the Dragon Age RPG Set 1 in pdf form from DriveThruRPG. I hope you get commissions from Green Ronin, megan. I've only started reading through character creation and haven't gotten to the combat chapter, so I don't really have a feel for the "numbers" of the system yet. I'm not a math genius like Tappy, and so can't see how the guts of a system works until I've tried it out a few times. Still, I'll try to give you some ideas on making your encounters more challenging. First, you could simply beef up the monsters your PC are going up against. You could do this quite simply by just raising their stats by a point or two. The guidelines for making more challenging adversaries on page 25 of the Dragon Age Game Master's Guide suggests - giving a +1 bonus to three different abilities, adding two additional focuses, and giving a +5 Health boost to make an 'elite' foe; or
- giving a +2 bonus to two different abilities, a +1 bonus to three other abilities, adding four additional focuses, and giving a +15 Health boost to make a 'heroic' foe.
Another thing to do that won't break the math of the game is to increase the numbers of enemies your PCs have to fight at once. Take an encounter that your PCs got through easily and add +50% to the number of monsters present the next time they run into a similar encounter. Or create the encounter in such a way so that a new group of foes appears just as the PCs have finished dispatching the first group. For example, have a second patrol of Hurloks hear the noise of battle and attack the PCs from behind just as the first patrol gets wiped out. If you do this though, I would make sure that the arrival of the new group makes sense for the given situation. In other words, make sure the PCs know that there are frequent Hurlok patrols in this area; it's really cheesy when a combat happens for no reason. Another thing to do to make encounters more difficult is to take away the PC's stuff. And this doesn't have to be in the actual physical sense. The goal here is to make things difficult and challenging for the PCs without making the players feel as if you robbed or cheated them out of their abilities, which can be a really tough thing to do. Having a second (or even a third) group of enemies attack the PCs in rapid succession is a form of taking away their stuff. In effect, you're denying the PCs resources that they would have gotten under normal circumstances. With no time to rest and recuperate between encounters, the PCs don't get to take a breather and so won't recover the usual 5 + Constitution + Level in Health. Mages also won't get back their mana points, making them less able to cast spells. Anther thing you can "take away" from the PCs is the initiative. In other words, drop a surprise round on them. Turn the environment against them. Create situations where otherwise easy foes become really dangerous. Think of that scene in the Fellowship of the Ring where the heroes are running from the Balrog and trying to navigate the crumbling arches of Khazad-dum while dodging goblin arrows. Ordinarily, those goblin archers would be a mild annoyance at best, but in that situation they're downright deadly. If the arrows don't kill you, they could throw you off balance, and down you go into the bottomless chasm. Stu described a similar situation in his fantasy game on the podcast. The PCs were trying to rescue an important NPC, and the area he was being held in had a raised balcony that was bristling with crossbowmen. While those crossbowmen would have been easy if the PCs could get to them, their superior position made them much more dangerous. I think Stu said that several PCs had their HP dropped to zero or lower in that encounter. Lastly, you could make the encounters matter. This could be pretty difficult depending on how much your players are invested in their characters and the story. For example, rescuing a nameless NPC villager from a lair of bandits is exciting, but will the PCs (and players) care if the villager dies in the attempt? Eh, maybe. But if the person they have to rescue is the relative of a major NPC that the characters have built up a relationship with over a number of sessions, then the encounter becomes more meaningful. Failure will have meaningful consequences for the story, and the potential loss of a friend. Alright. I'm going to stop now, because I'm probably coming off as a pompous douche bag. Anyway, thanks again for pointing me towards Dragon Age. Cheers.
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HyveMynd
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Dirty hippie, PbtA, Fate, & Cortex Prime <3er
Posts: 2,273
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Currently Playing: Monsterhearts 2
Currently Running: The Sprawl
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Post by HyveMynd on Feb 21, 2012 17:47:00 GMT -8
<voice= "Dr. Orpheus">Behold my awesome powers of necromancy as I reach through the veil between worlds to rouse this thread from the peaceful slumber of oblivion and return it to a state of unnatural activity! May the Laws of Nature have mercy on me.</voice> So I bought a secondhand copy of the game Descent: Journeys in the Dark, which is not an RPG but a fantasy dungeon-crawl board game. It's got specially designed dice with symbols for how much damage you do with a hit, the distance of your ranged of attacks, and so on. On a roll you also count up the number of "Power Surges" you get and can spend them to have your hero gain various effects like extra damage, extra spaces of range, knock back, etc. This reminded me a little of Stunts and the Dragon Die mechanic in Dragon Age. I still haven't gotten a chance to actually play Dragon Age, but I remember that my knee-jerk reaction was to poo-poo the Stunt mechanic because "you couldn't plan out what your hero will do". It seemed to rely on luck too much for my tastes. But now after seeing something similar in action it looks like it would be fun. As megan said, it adds a bit of excitement and suspense as you can't really be sure what will happen on a roll.
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