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Post by fray on Feb 13, 2012 11:51:33 GMT -8
I'd go with Wild Talents and Hero for the Harry Potter kid game. (I have only played Savage Worlds once so I don't think I can give an opinion about it.)
For WT each spell would be bought as a power. As you learn a new spell you buy it and as you learn it better you add more dice to it and even Wiggle and Hard Dice as that becomes an expert spell. Depending upon the game the XP points would be gained fairly quickly. I think it would be something that the GM would have to be on top of until the flow of XP and spell learning was something that fit the game.
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SirGuido
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Post by SirGuido on Feb 13, 2012 12:08:23 GMT -8
Jared Sorensen's Broomstix (http://www.memento-mori.com/other/games/broomstix.html)
Savage Worlds(http://savagepedia.wikispaces.com/file/view/SavagePotter.pdf/81067297O)
I have run both and they each work well. Though I prefer the SW version, the Broomstix is better for younger kids.
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HyveMynd
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Post by HyveMynd on Feb 14, 2012 2:17:51 GMT -8
LOL. "Savage Potter" makes me think of teenage wizards wearing animal skins and covered in warpaint. And Emma Watson in a fur bikini a la Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C. ;D That sounds like a damn good con game scenario. I call dibs!
Perhaps part of the reason Stork thinks Cosmic Patrol is haunting him is because I keep yelling it in the chatroom every time someone asks for a system recommendation. What JiB is to Savage Worlds and Tappy is to Exalted, I am now for Cosmic Patrol. At last the student has become the master. Heh.
But depending on the age of the kids playing, Cosmic Patrol would be a good choice. No messing about with spell lists or Power Points, the Special Die just becomes the character's Magical Ability. Have the kid yell the faux-Latin-y sounding spell name, say what the effect will be, and roll against a random D20 difficulty number. Bam! Done. The kid narrates the results of the spell on a success; the Lead Narrator on a failure. I'm not a HP fan-boy by any means (though I have read all the books) so maybe I'm wrong here, but it seems like the characters were always making their spells do things that we (the readers) hadn't seen done before. So I don't think not having a set spell list will be a problem. Plus I never saw anyone run out of power, so why worry about Power Points? Yes, you can only cast spells while holding your wand (heh heh heh), but the LN can just make it clear that the Magic Ability die can only be used if you have access to your wand.
A fun fact about St. Valentine's Day in Japan that I'll share with people. February 14th is "Red Day" and girls are expected to give handmade chocolates to boys. Guys don't have to do squat on Red Day, except kick back and wait for the chocolate to pile up. A month later, March 14th is "White Day" when guys are supposed to reciprocate with... well something. No one here can really tell me what the appropriate White Day gift is, though I've heard answers of "cookies" and "marshmallows" most often.
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Post by clockworkmonk on Feb 14, 2012 4:14:11 GMT -8
Hm...
Speak more of this Cosmic Patrol. What're the basic mechanics of the game?
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HyveMynd
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Post by HyveMynd on Feb 14, 2012 6:25:28 GMT -8
I posted about the basic mechanics of Cosmic Patrol here, in the Season 7 Episode 3 thread, clockworkmonk. You can PM me too if you'd like a more detailed breakdown.
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SirGuido
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Post by SirGuido on Feb 14, 2012 7:15:26 GMT -8
I still think that two ACs in a system like Pathfinder would be an easy thing to do. Granted it would take work to convert all armors and weapons over to the two AC system, but once done it wouldn't adversely affect combat I wouldn't think.
You'd have a dodge ac and a damage reduction ac. When an attack is made you make a single d20 roll. Add any modifiers that relate vs dodge ac and compare if the attack succeeds, then you take the same d20 roll and add damage reduction modifiers and compare to that AC. If the attack succeeds, roll damage.
Different weapons are harder to dodge, and others are better vs armor. Say you are shooting an arrow, it would have a high dodge attack mod but a low DR attack mod. Whereas a mace would have a low dodge attack mod but a high DR attack mod. Since Stu's mini-tirade against AC its been something I've thought about a lot.
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Post by jazzisblues on Feb 14, 2012 7:31:22 GMT -8
I still think that two ACs in a system like Pathfinder would be an easy thing to do. Granted it would take work to convert all armors and weapons over to the two AC system, but once done it wouldn't adversely affect combat I wouldn't think. You'd have a dodge ac and a damage reduction ac. When an attack is made you make a single d20 roll. Add any modifiers that relate vs dodge ac and compare if the attack succeeds, then you take the same d20 roll and add damage reduction modifiers and compare to that AC. If the attack succeeds, roll damage. Different weapons are harder to dodge, and others are better vs armor. Say you are shooting an arrow, it would have a high dodge attack mod but a low DR attack mod. Whereas a mace would have a low dodge attack mod but a high DR attack mod. Since Stu's mini-tirade against AC its been something I've thought about a lot. I agree that it could be done, I'm just not sure it's worth the effort. I ran the play test for my Pathfinder game last night (Thank you so much Gina, Clockverk, Molly, CADave, Kurt Hanna and Maire you guys are awesome) and the just the juggling act to convert to using armor as DR and Vigor points was a serious change in thinking for all of us. Having to keep up with and balance two numbers for ac I think would be more work and prone to being breaky. Doable? Yes. Worth it? I'm not sure. Cheers, JiB
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Post by clockworkmonk on Feb 14, 2012 7:40:52 GMT -8
I posted about the basic mechanics of Cosmic Patrol here, in the Season 7 Episode 3 thread, clockworkmonk. You can PM me too if you'd like a more detailed breakdown. Oh, super excellent. Yes, this will do...
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SirGuido
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Post by SirGuido on Feb 14, 2012 7:41:24 GMT -8
Worth it? Well I don't think so because AC doesn't bother me. Its just a number like any other stat in the game really, so its not something I've really paid much attention to until Stu sorta made us ALL think about it.
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Post by clockworkmonk on Feb 14, 2012 8:10:37 GMT -8
Hm. Just to add a little to the discussion, I actually enjoy what Star Wars Saga Edition does regarding AC and damage. They've forgone the traditional AC stat (desspite being a d20 system based largely on 3.5e rules?) and instead have three stats for defense--fortitude, reflex, and will, where reflex practically acts like standard AC. They've also includded talents for having an active roll defense, so instead of trying to beat a static number, you could instead roll with a higher bonus to prevent from being hit.
As far as damage, it's still an attrition-based system, but they also included damage thresholds that basically say how much damage you can take from a single attack before it messes you up. It's pretty neat on paper, but I stiill question its elegance. There's also a lot of stuff to keep track of, so I guess this sort of a system is an at-your-own-risk kind of thing.
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Post by jazzisblues on Feb 14, 2012 11:11:34 GMT -8
Hm. Just to add a little to the discussion, I actually enjoy what Star Wars Saga Edition does regarding AC and damage. They've forgone the traditional AC stat (desspite being a d20 system based largely on 3.5e rules?) and instead have three stats for defense--fortitude, reflex, and will, where reflex practically acts like standard AC. They've also includded talents for having an active roll defense, so instead of trying to beat a static number, you could instead roll with a higher bonus to prevent from being hit. As far as damage, it's still an attrition-based system, but they also included damage thresholds that basically say how much damage you can take from a single attack before it messes you up. It's pretty neat on paper, but I stiill question its elegance. There's also a lot of stuff to keep track of, so I guess this sort of a system is an at-your-own-risk kind of thing. Sounds like they made everything a saving throw and all damage goes to the saving throw system. Interesting idea ... JiB
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HyveMynd
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Post by HyveMynd on Feb 14, 2012 17:08:16 GMT -8
Oh, super excellent. Yes, this will do... Glad I could help. ;D You'd have a dodge ac and a damage reduction ac. When an attack is made you make a single d20 roll. Add any modifiers that relate vs dodge ac and compare if the attack succeeds, then you take the same d20 roll and add damage reduction modifiers and compare to that AC. If the attack succeeds, roll damage. As much as I gripe about Savage Worlds, I *do* like how the attacker's TN is a set number based on some derivative of the defender's skill. I'm not a big fan of dodge rolls, just because of the extra step it creates in the combat turn. I realize making that dodge roll gives some people a feeling of control over their character but my opinion is if you're worried about being hit, use your action to get the hell out of the way. Maybe I misread your post though SirGuido. Do you mean that the defender would have two ACs? A Dodge AC and an Armor AC and that the attacker's roll would be compared to them in order? I really like that idea a lot, and I don't think it would be *that* difficult to juggle. It's been a while since I looked at a 3.x book so maybe I'm not seeing something, but couldn't you just decouple Dex bonus and Armor bonus from the AC number and keep the rules largely intact? In other words, a Thief with Dex 18 (+8) in light armor (+2) would have a Dodge AC of 14 and an Armor AC of 12, while a Fighter with Dex 11 (+0) in heavy armor (+8) would have a Dodge AC of 10 and an Armor AC of 18. If the heavy armor incurs some sort of Dex penalty the Fighter's Dodge AC could be 8 or even 6. Ouch. Hmmm... those numbers look a little low. Character's BABs would most likely have to be adjusted. Maybe even halved.
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Post by SirGuido on Feb 15, 2012 11:31:38 GMT -8
I don't think you'd need to bump BAB's just bump the base ACs. If the math doesn't work out starting them at 10, then bump them to 12... 14... whatever you need as a base. But don't forget about magic items as well.
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Post by jazzisblues on Feb 15, 2012 12:18:51 GMT -8
The variant rules presented in the Ultimate Combat Guide split it into a defense rating and a damage reduction amount. Seems to work pretty well. At the same time you want to switch from hit points to vigor points and wounds. Interestingly the hard part for me is to remember to do it that way rather than just use ac and hp.
P. 181 of the Ultimate Combat Guide
JiB
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