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Post by ironnikki on Nov 15, 2013 12:46:12 GMT -8
Sorry, real life has once again gotten in between myself my online presence. If real life knew what was good for it, it would think twice before doing that.
Anyway, I'm on board with you, hyve. The Strange kind of feels like the developers basically have made a generic system (i.e: the Cipher system), but they don't want people to realize it, because then they won't pick up their $60 books anymore. After all, if the rules are exactly the same as Numenera, then all The Strange will add is setting. And I don't know about you guys, but I don't typically make a habit of buying $60 setting books.
That being said, I think that the setting is interesting. Is it unique? Maybe not, but I still think it's a cool idea. If this were marketed as an expansion to Numenera, which is basically what it sounds like, and priced as such, I'd be into it.
Anyway, I still haven't gotten around to running a game in Numenera yet, so I'm still not sure how I feel about the system as a whole. I also am not up to date on the podcast, so I'm not certain what the hosts have to say about this yet. I still think that the game sounds interesting, and it sounds like it might be fun, but I just can't tell until I've had the opportunity to really give it a go.
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Post by ironnikki on Nov 7, 2013 10:56:29 GMT -8
As far as linear vs bell curve for me, I want my system to allow a slight chance of failure and success even if the odds are overwhelmingly in favor of the opposite. Even if I'm incredibly skilled at a particular task, I want there to be a slight chance of failure in tasks that have a bearing on the narrative. Simple mistakes happen even to the best of us, so I think that even incredibly skilled characters should fail occasionally (or at least have the chance for it). That being said, a flat 5% chance to fail at any activity you try is too much of a chance of failure for me; I think it should be lower than that. That's one of the main reasons I tend to drift towards systems with a more normal distribution.
Anyway, the more I read the book, the more I realize just how much it really has its roots in d20. It's like the designers were trying really hard to pull away from it, but little hints of it keep showing up. The selection of a d20 for the core mechanic is an obvious one, the inclusion of classes, the more detailed combat rules, etc. I can see Numenera being a good bridge to get d20 players to try a more narrative focused game, but that's not too unique; Dungeon World already accomplishes that pretty cleanly.
I still haven't had the opportunity to try it, and I'm still excited to give it a shot. I worry that the game will struggle to succeed with it's high price point and narrative style; most narrative games on the market are cheaper. I'm curious, Hyve; what are your thoughts on Monte's next project, The Strange? Assuming that it uses the exact same mechanics as Numenera, would the alternate setting be enough to convince you to pick it up?
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Post by ironnikki on Nov 6, 2013 7:12:06 GMT -8
I do agree with you on the lack of elucidation concerning XP awards for non-tactile discoveries, hyve. It's unfortunate that he devotes a sliver of the amount of space to that as he does to awards for discovering artifacts, etc. Some examples would have been nice.
You make several other good points about the narrative/setting of Numenera, that I won't contest because simply... you're right. However, I will mention that as far as cypher limits go, he admits that they're imposed as a necessity of making the game work properly, and that they're not really based on narrative (so even Monte agrees with you on that point!) And I'll also sneak in that they're soft limits; you can carry more cyphers than your limit, but you run the risk of an unstable event occurring.
That being said, I'm starting to reach a similar conclusion: that having not played it yet, it does kind of feel like a mask laid over d20. Which, of course, presents a huge problem for the system: if I want to play d20, I'm going to have a hell of a harder time finding people interested in Numenera than I will Pathfinder. Hopefully it ends up playing differently, because my wallet is still recovering from the massive hemorrhage that occurred when I figured it would be a good idea to pick up a print copy.
As far as my complaint about the d20, I echo everything said above. I like the core mechanic in Numenera better than I do standard d20, because it seems like it will help to eliminate skill power creep, and even seemingly simple tasks will occasionally fail, but it still produces a linear probability curve.
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Post by ironnikki on Nov 5, 2013 14:24:10 GMT -8
I finally manage to eke out some time to return to the HJ forums, and this is what I find? An intentional inflammatory post criticizing a particular game system? ...color me not surprised :-p
Anyway, I've made my way through the Numenera book, and tbough I haven't had a chance to run it yet, I disagree with you so far, hyvemynd. I find the setting quite interesting, really, but that may just be because I'm used to playing in psuedo-european medival-esque settings (read: typical fantasy fare). I really appreciate the definite emphasis on exploration and discovery that's embedded in both the setting and the rules. The games that I've played recently (which are, admittedly, mostly the ones that I run) are so oriented on concrete tasks that discovery and exploration really fall to the wayside. That's likely colored my reaction to Numenera, but I don't think that's a bad thing. As to your point with the Numenera not feeling techy enough, I disagree with you a little there too: much of the artwork, several numenera descriptions, and even narrative advancement suggestions have a techy feel to them, particularly when it comes to implants. I'd argue that you could tune the 'techiness' of your Numenera game by selecting which numenera the characters find.
As to your second point, I do agree that the rules for awarding XP are a little scant. However, they're not quite as slight as you're suggesting: on page (109 print, 111 PDF), there's some more concrete rules for awarding XP. In a nutshell, when they find an artifact, give them a number of XP equal to the level divided among the number of players. When they discover something else interesting, give them each 1 XP. However, he doesn't really touch on XP rewards for less tactile discoveries (i.e: story elements, character background, universal truths, etc).
I'm sorry that you're not too impressed so far. Honestly, after going through the book, I felt inspired to include some of the game's aspects in my own games, but I was a little hesitant to play it myself (d20 core mechanic still gives me the shudders). However, I resolved to give it a shot, and am going to talk my group into running through the scenario in chapter 25. As to when that will actually happen... who knows?
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Post by ironnikki on Aug 13, 2013 10:15:54 GMT -8
Congratulations!
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Post by ironnikki on Aug 13, 2013 10:14:25 GMT -8
Unfortunately, I'm stuck on 2.3.5 (Thanks Motorola for forgetting about us... still bitter) so I can't give you personal experiences. General sentiment across the internet seems to indicate that 4.3 is still currently unstable, although fixes are being worked on. If you're looking to upgrade right now, I'd say stick with 4.1.2, and keep an eye on reports to see when the newer version is 100%.
Assuming that you're planning on rooting and installing a custom ROM, congratulations and good luck! I did it and had almost no issues with my old phone, but didn't root this one. Now Moto has locked the bootloader and developer interest is basically gone, so I will have to wait until I get a new phone. I may end up with an S3 as well, so let me know how the process goes for you!
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Post by ironnikki on Aug 9, 2013 11:54:07 GMT -8
I got my first taste of DnD with Baldur's Gate 2, which I played quite a bit of (but yet never managed to finish the whole storyline... huh...). During that time, a FLGS had just opened up in my home town and was being run by a guy that I went to high school with and his parents. I went there pretty frequently to play Magic and just shoot the shit.
One day, I walked into the store and one of my friend's older brother had everyone gathered around one of the tables. Everyone amounted to five or six people, which probably played a large role in why the store is now a martial arts gym. I asked what they were doing, he invited me to sit and play, and the rest is history.
By the time I had picked up my own books, 3e had just hit the shelves, so that's what I sharpened my teeth on. My other friends at that table had enjoyed themselves, but none of them had the drive to actually learn the rules themselves, so I took it upon myself to save up, buy the books, and read them cover to cover. Even now, when I go back home to visit friends and family, I make sure to save some time to get the old group back together and relive some memories.
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Post by ironnikki on Aug 9, 2013 10:28:05 GMT -8
Congrats, HJ crew! This data is pretty interesting to look at, though I would echo the above: this survey only sheds light on the small subset of the population of gamers that both listen to podcasts who participated, AND chose to respond. Drawing conclusions on the populations of gamers at large from this data might be a bit misguided.
Also, the map isn't showing me either!
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Post by ironnikki on Aug 7, 2013 12:16:16 GMT -8
I've been wondering how this game would turn out for a while. I didn't get in on the Kickstarter, nor did I pre-order it, but I was really interested to see how it worked things out. Thanks for writing that up, olshanski! I typically won't buy physical books for a game that I've never played before unless it's pretty cheap, but the art that I've seen so far for this makes me think that perhaps I can afford to splurge this time.
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 24, 2013 11:35:02 GMT -8
Another vote for OneNote. I don't know how it compares to Evernote or Google Drive, as I haven't used either of those for game prep. One thing that I really like is to find or make images and save them to a particular page of my notebook. Then I can pull that page up on my tablet and pass it around to the players. It's great for when I want to show an image, but not the surrounding text. Finally put an end to my days of juggling a Bestiary/MM trying to cover up stat blocks while still showcasing the picture!
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 16, 2013 9:48:45 GMT -8
I generally listen while biking to work or while doing work that doesn't require me to focus. Car trips are another time that I like to listen to podcasts, but usually my girlfriend nixes the idea. When she's asleep, however...
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 16, 2013 7:13:15 GMT -8
I really like the dice pool mechanic of WoD, but I can see how it's not for everyone. If the setting is the bit that you like, then just extract the setting from Mage and inject it into another system. Preserving the magic mechanics while eliminating the core mechanics will be a bit trickier, though.
If you want more predictable rolls, GURPS and Fate seem to do that well. I would not recommend Savage Worlds, as it's just as swingy, if not more so, than WoD. In GURPS, I might consider establishing each Arcana as a separate skill, and have them roll against that when they're casting a relevant spell. For Fate, maybe have them cast from the same skill, but have them take a stunt that gives a bonus to casting from their chosen schools. I'm not particularly skilled in either system either, but that's a place to start.
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 11, 2013 7:12:57 GMT -8
Nice! I've had my eye on Monster of the Week and How We Came to Live Here for a while now. Thanks for posting this!
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 11, 2013 7:11:45 GMT -8
Here's an interesting idea: a book full of lists. Granted, I'm sure that most of the people reading this have enough of an imagination that maybe they don't need something like this, but with the stretch goals, they're currently at 60 lists and 4 locations designed to be dropped into any ongoing game. $10 for an electronic copy, $15 for a physical. It looks like the project info is a little sparse with just what lists this will include, although it does mention the inclusion of monsters, encounters, traps, treasure, and others that you might in core books. With some cool ideas popping out of the comments, this could be pretty interesting! www.kickstarter.com/projects/1103019158/1d100-a-book-of-lists/comments
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 11, 2013 7:02:45 GMT -8
Here is a Grooveshark collection of playlists that I either found here or on the RPG subreddit. I have yet to use any of it, but at first glance, it's pretty comprehensive: there are separate playlists for setting and mood. The nice thing about these is that you could conceivably just pick a playlist that fits the setting and mood you're trying to set, hit repeat and shuffle and be good to go. Again, I haven't actually used this yet, so I don't know how good it is. Cool resource, UTM! I'll have to check that out! I've always liked the idea of using music at the table, particularly in spooky settings. One of my favorite artists for this releases his music for free: Disparition. Another artist that does great spooky background music is Nox Arcana, although their stuff is not free (though you might be able to find it on Spotify or Grooveshark).
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