D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on Aug 1, 2013 8:47:08 GMT -8
Just about half way through this one. It really makes me want to play in another 'modern' game. The characters are pretty damn interesting for just a one-shot. Fuckin' Stork is amazing, he really gets to shine in this one playing a 16 year old punk rock trailer gal...I don't think the other APs he's been in have let him be such a BIG presence before. Definitely an entertaining character he created. It also took me a few minutes to realize Hoiserob was playing a 'white' soul man. Because at first I thought..."Oh shit...this is probably not going to be ok." But in the end Dr. Funkenstein didn't disappoint. "Ladies love the Diet Coke..." I like the X-Files conspiracy vibe being created as well as maybe 'zombie apocalypse', maybe 'The Crazies', maybe 'Outbreak ?' shit is falling apart but we just don't know how/why/or what for. Makes for a great AP. The mechanics look/sound fairly simple and seem to quickly get out of the way of the story. I think dice have been rolled 3-4 times in an hour. My question is: Why did you feel compelled to create this game Stu ? GURPS too complex ? Savage Worlds too simplistic ? Anyway going back to painting decks and finishing the AP. I'm sure everyone will be fine at the end. Oh and CADave with the joke grenade win again! "Should I turn off the A.C. ?" CADave, "This game doesn't have AC..." Cheers, Curt J.
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Post by Stu Venable on Aug 1, 2013 9:38:34 GMT -8
There are a couple reasons I'm working on my own system.
I came up with this game idea and intended to run it in CoC. Then they made the Kickstarter dick move, so I won't support them.
I thought about nWoD, which is why I bought it as was reading through it.
I also want to publish adventures and source material (I quite frankly don't care for which system -- except D20. Not D20).
That causes a licensing issue with anything BUT D20.
My intention is to give the game away for free, and I'm seriously considering releasing it under either a Creative Commons license or public domain.
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Post by ayslyn on Aug 1, 2013 13:59:50 GMT -8
Fate is created under the Creative Commons license, so you can write for that now, as well.
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on Aug 1, 2013 19:18:21 GMT -8
Just finished the AP. I like the deadliness of the system. You get shot you most likely will die. You charge armed guards and your a truck driver...etc...bad things might happen. Think of another way. It gets back to the flogged ungulate of character death. So many of these systems we play have all of these buffers protecting our precious characters and their 4 page backstory...and soooo much work went into them...You can't kill them!! God no! That sort of invulnerability leads to a lot of charging armed guards at the front door. If that's the flavor you want fine...but Scully and Mulder didn't do a whole hell of a lot of front door charging.
Keep it deadly I say. With modular components to increase/decrease heroic feel. I also like the idea of the cards for stating intentions for the coming combat round. I actually think old Red Box DnD did something like this. State your intentions, then roll initiative. Having six basic stances/actions might seem too simple to some or more complex (again this could be a modular thing/more tactical/less so) using a pack of 52 cards. Suits could be actions all the way up to each 1-10,J-A having specific action qualifiers. "Running attack, serpentine!, suppressive fire, duck and cover, etc."
Finally, the online component including cards is no sweat as Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds both have inclusive "card" components for games like Savage Worlds.
I wonder how many games have ever been designed this way: Podcast about them, blog about them, playtest, make the play test available online...hmm...who else is trying this, its right at the tip of my thinkin' meats...
Cheers.
Curt J.
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Post by Stu Venable on Aug 1, 2013 22:18:56 GMT -8
Taking into account some of the feedback I've received, there are some pretty radical changes coming to the next revision, and it's going to take me quite a while to get that ready for the next playtest round.
The system will still be deadly. The version you see modified the hit point calculation from the actual play. It was originally Physical Will squared. Dave with is grand "2" in PW gave him 4 HP. The calculation you have now is (IIRC) 6+(2xPW), so it's still deadly -- especially with guns. I want a game where combat is something you want to avoid -- that's something I won't negotiate on. If combat's deadly, it becomes a last resort -- and that's the sort of game I'm looking for.
I disagree regarding PCs and their expend-ability to a certain extent, because player characters *should* be more valuable than everyone else -- they are the protagonists of the story. The cores mechanic was an attempt to "elevate" PCs above NPCs, but quite frankly, it failed miserably -- partially because I tried to make it min-maxer proof.
Instead, there's going to be a strength and weakness mechanic that has a formulaic approach to game mechanics to give players some flexibility in what their characters are good (and bad) at in specific situations.
The biggest challenge I'm having is the tendency to try to make the game min-max/munchkin proof, and I've fallen into that trap more than once.
I remember something Steven S. Long (of HERO) told me. "I don't write games for those people. They don't get it" It was in direct response to a critique I gave him regarding HERO 6th edition. I told him that HERO was a very breakable game. It would be very easy to min-max a HERO character to create a "win button."
He agreed, but didn't consider that when designing 5th and 6th editions. Instead, he made the game for the kind of players he considered to be his audience.
I'm doing the same thing, but with a very different tone than HERO.
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Post by bloodsparrow on Aug 2, 2013 5:19:02 GMT -8
You might want to consider to give the option of an action in combat called "covering fire ". Which would involve a very difficult roll To hit, but provide some kind of defensive bonus for either the shooter or someone else who is moving through an area where they would normally get shot.
I'm not sure if what I listened to was a good example of the system that was created, or just the fact that Stu is a good GM, and he's got a bunch of really entertaining players to run this through his scenario.
But I agree guns should be deadly.
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Post by jazzisblues on Aug 2, 2013 5:37:53 GMT -8
You might want to consider to give the option of an action in combat called "covering fire ". Which would involve a very difficult roll To hit, but provide some kind of defensive bonus for either the shooter or someone else who is moving through an area where they would normally get shot. I'm not sure if what I listened to was a good example of the system that was created, or just the fact that Stu is a good GM, and he's got a bunch of really entertaining players to run this through his scenario. But I agree guns should be deadly. Savage Worlds has a pretty good mechanic for this called "Suppressive Fire." Essentially, on a success, everyone in a medium burst template must make a vigor roll or be shaken. It's a pretty hefty capability as it can totally neutralize a set of extras. JiB
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Post by Stu Venable on Aug 2, 2013 8:59:00 GMT -8
I'll make note of that.
In the latest revision (I think it's new -- the revisions are starting to blur...) there's an option to sacrifice your next move to take a "defensive reaction" (essentially committed defense or dive for cover) when a character announces an attack on you. This gives them dice pool penalties to hit you.
That *kind of* does that. I need to work on the mechanics a bit when firing on multiple targets though.
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Post by Houndin on Aug 2, 2013 9:20:49 GMT -8
Stu, if you haven't yet, take a look at how Fate and especially Accelerated (it's only 48 pages) work. Your "Core" mechanic is very similar to their aspects, and as far as actions, they figured out that with their ability to add aspects to scenes, there are only 4 actions a player can take: Create Advantage, Overcome, Attack, Defend.
To avoid complexity and speed things up, you may want to roll the mentioned covering/suppression fire into an existing thing like the Defensive Reaction or your existing Cover mechanic, to alter the opposition's dice pool as it relates to an ally.
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sbloyd
Supporter
WHAT! A human in a Precursor service vehicle?!
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Post by sbloyd on Aug 3, 2013 5:26:22 GMT -8
I'm almost done with the broadcast now, and haven't read the rules, so take this with a boulder of salt:
Perception seems to get rolled a _lot_, but then again there was a heavy investigative bent to the game. I'd almost say pull perception out and make it a wits plus relevant-skill roll to notice based on circumstances... Wits plus science or medical for noticing the thing with cornfed's arms and legs. That sort of thing.
Another thing that struck me was how some folks had stacked up a stat to apply to fairly narrow character concepts but ended up having gymnastic trailer truck drivers. I don't know whether you've considered it, but maybe giving the option for "specialties" to apply to stats for a bonus? Like maybe have Agility 2, but with "manual dexterity" for +2 for an effective 4 agility without leaping like Batman...
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sbloyd
Supporter
WHAT! A human in a Precursor service vehicle?!
Posts: 2,762
Preferred Game Systems: Storyteller; Dresden; Mage
Favorite Species of Monkey: Goddamnit, Curious George is a CHIMP not a monkey! Stop teaching my daughter improper classification!
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Post by sbloyd on Aug 5, 2013 4:52:23 GMT -8
...and it sounds like you already have a specialties mechanic. My bad.
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