Tabletop RPG Catch All

Rubb Ed wrote:

I'd love to try Exalted, but I'm also reading Scion right now, which is kind of like Exalted Light, if I'm not mistaken.

Scion is the one about demigods in the modern world, right?

Essentially... kids of the Gods (Scion), followed by Demigod and God in the series. I haven't got the latter two.

My friends and I just started a DragonStar campaign. We shifted the DragonStar galaxy to the unexplored region of the Star Wars galaxy, so we can have fun with the expanded universe that we all know and love.

Another white whale game of mine is Living Steel, an awesome setting.

It's a post-galactic-empire-apocalypse. A few elite power armour/special forces troops reawaken on an unknown world and given the codeword for the "our homeworlds have fallen, try to rebuild our society." There's lots of cool stuff about how your suits work, and the alien invasion that happened on the world you ended up on.

The game itself has over-elaborate rules and a really open setting (I suspect they planned to gradually release supplements filling it in, but only a few of them got made).

(Hmm... after posting that, maybe I could run it with Apocalypse World, customizing the classes for the different types of trooper you can be at the beginning...)

Last night we faced the Big Bad in our Dresden game. It's unclear if he's Denarian; the fact that we fought him and didn't all die suggests he was not.

There's been very little combat in the campaign to this point. Our emissary of power has used his social-based supernatural powers to good effect. So this was our first real knock-down-drag-out brawl. The Big Bad had just killed a warden and then veiled himself making him difficult to target. Our accountant lunged with his saber, failing to penetrate his armor spell. I opened my wizard sight and saw him in all his nastiness but successfully defended the mental "attack" of seeing such horror.

There's no distinct "spells" in Dresden Files, they're built from a series of building blocks consisting of the element (fire, water, earth, air, spirit) and the power you want to feed into it to achieve certain effects. My standard attack spell is a water-based corrosion attack using 5 power for a raw Weapon 5 attack. (It's one of my rotes, so I can cast it without rolling to see if I can control all 5 power, however I still have to roll to see if I hit. However, with rotes you can't change any aspect of the spell. You have to cast it the same way every time.)

But this was the Big Bad so it was time to pull out all the stops. I say I'm going to cast the same attack at level 10, saying too bad I can't turn it up to 11. "But why not 11?!" the other players (and DM) say. "Go for it!"

Okay, why the f*ck not. 11 it is. With my Conviction skill at 5 (superb) and a +1 off power focus item, I can only safely handle 6 power. A power 11 spell means I would take a level 5 Mental stress. My stress boxes only go up to 4 though (and the first one is checked off). To mitigate the stress amount, I take a Mild Consequence of "Oh f*ck my brain hurts"; this is a persistent negative aspect on my character that the GM can compel to put me at a disadvantage in future conflicts. Taking this consequence makes the mental stress only 3. So I tick off that box.

Only half done though. I've gathered all 11 power and now I need to see if I can control it. My discipline is 4 (great) and my staff gives me +1 to control water attacks. This means I'd have to roll +6 on the 4 Fate dice in order to control it all. (Fate dice can only come up as -1, +0, and +1, so +6 on 4 dice is quite impossible.) This doesn't faze me though, because I'm thinking that whatever I can't control I can bleed into the environment for some nasty side effects. I roll and get... -1. Oof, 7 power left uncontrolled.

Then I read that if I unleash the uncontrolled power into the environment, not only is it bad for everyone involved, but that power gets drained from the strength of my spell. Well that won't do because I need all of it to wallop this guy, so I elect to take the 7 as Backlash. This means I take 7 points of stress, either as physical or mental. Considering I need my mental stress boxes in order to keep casting spells, I elect to take it as physical stress. However my physical stress track only has 4 boxes as well. I take a Moderate consequence (negative aspect that lasts longer than a mild one) of "Bruised as sh*t" and this reduces the stress by 4. I tick off my Physical Stress 3 box and describe the spell as so powerful that I get flung back into the giant tree we're trying to protect.

Massive corrosion spell tears through the guy's defenses and the GM rolls poorly for the guy's shield spell (he does so often during this fight, rolling -3 on 3 separate occasions).

Follow this up with a fine saber thrust and some lightning I call down and the Big Bad decides he's had enough, flying away before we can hit him again.

You're going to feel *that* one in the morning.

Funny thing is, I took 12 stress total to throw an attack that probably did a bit less than 10 damage.

But because of the way stress in Fate/DF works, taking that stress in 2 separate chunks makes a huge difference.

If I hit you with a good hit and do say 3 physical stress, you mark off your stress 3 box and you're done. Unless your physical stress track only goes up to 2.

The way stress works is that you mark of the box that corresponds to the amount of stress you have to take. If that box is already checked, you mark the next higher box, etc. If all your higher boxes are checked, then you'll be taken out unless you take a consequence in order to reduce the stress (by 2, 4, 6, or 8). But you only have a limited number of boxes for each level of consequence (normally 1 box of each). And the higher consequences have more lasting effect. An extreme consequence will actually rewrite one of your core character aspects, the damage is so severe and long-lasting.

Instead I took 1 mild, 1 moderate, and 3 mental stress + 3 physical stress. And those will go away after not too long.

If I'd got hit with a straight 12 stress, I'd have to use consequences to reduce it to 4 or less, since I only have 4 stress boxes for each track. That means a severe consequence (-6) plus a mild one (-2) or one extreme consequence (-8) which would be a huge trauma to the character, permanently.

Anyone else a big Savage World fans? It's become my go to system of choice now for any setting. I recently just picked up the Hellfrost campaign setting which is a nordic fantasy setting, it's really cool.

Very cool. I love how The Dresden Files RPG actually captures the favor of the books, allowing you to try to pull off a Big Damn Hero moment but paying for it in other ways that will crop up as the story continues and you don't get some downtime or rest.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Instead I took 1 mild, 1 moderate, and 3 mental stress + 3 physical stress. And those will go away after not too long.

That being said, that's a huge whammy from a single spell. It looks to me that your character would still be able to function adequately but would be running on fumes; one more solid hit would put him down. But if this is at the end of the story, then it wouldn't be a problem

Rubb Ed wrote:
BadMojo wrote:

I have lots of non-D&D RPGs that I have collected. Exalted, Heavy Gear, Gurps, etc. I often would love to run them, but few people seem to really get into the setting as much as D&D.

I'd love to try Exalted, but I'm also reading Scion right now, which is kind of like Exalted Light, if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah, pretty much. We call it Exalted Modern, which isn't really accurate, but that's the feel.

Playing Exalted is like living in a house designed by a sculptor. It's beautiful and full of creative ideas, but occasionally the plumbing is on the outside and half the doors open down to show transcendence. I'm running pbp games now and have played in many in the past. It requires a fair bit of GM fiat to make things go, and sometimes you just have to look at the rules and say, 'No.' Squirt bottles of water to the writers are optional.

GURPS is pretty much the exact opposite. It works. You want to build eighteenth century robber barons in a psionic game? The mechanics will work. The details might not be as glorious, nor mechanics as clever as Exalted. They will function, however, and you'll probably never find a situation where the whole system goes to pot for statistical reasons. If you judiciously control how much optional detail you allow, it runs quick too.

If anyone's in the DC/NOVA area, I'm looking for a new gaming group and those seem to be my goto systems.

Life goal: Play or run a game of Amber diceless. Dresden Files sounds amazing, though. I could almost definitely hook my wife into playing - I just need a couple more mooks

Ulairi wrote:

Anyone else a big Savage World fans? It's become my go to system of choice now for any setting. I recently just picked up the Hellfrost campaign setting which is a nordic fantasy setting, it's really cool.

I love me some Savage Worlds. I was in a Savage Worlds Fallout game for a little while, but had to bow out because work got too hectic.

Lately I've been reading Realms of Cthulhu, which is basically a Call of Cthulhu port to SW. It's pretty neat because it gives you a toolkit to bascially dial in the lethality of your game. You can set it anywhere from Indana Jones pulpyness to "OMFG WE'RE ALL DEAD AND CRAZY." I'm thinking RoC would go really well with Delta Green, considering SW handles combat and guns way better than plain old CoC.

Falchion wrote:

Very cool. I love how The Dresden Files RPG actually captures the favor of the books, allowing you to try to pull off a Big Damn Hero moment but paying for it in other ways that will crop up as the story continues and you don't get some downtime or rest.

Yeah, reading Quintin's description, I could almost picture Harry trying to unleash a spell and getting all kinds of effed up in the process. It seems every book he gets zero sleep and gets the crap kicked out of him.

Falchion wrote:

Very cool. I love how The Dresden Files RPG actually captures the favor of the books, allowing you to try to pull off a Big Damn Hero moment but paying for it in other ways that will crop up as the story continues and you don't get some downtime or rest.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Instead I took 1 mild, 1 moderate, and 3 mental stress + 3 physical stress. And those will go away after not too long.

That being said, that's a huge whammy from a single spell. It looks to me that your character would still be able to function adequately but would be running on fumes; one more solid hit would put him down. But if this is at the end of the story, then it wouldn't be a problem

My high Conviction (5) gives me 4 mental stress boxes and an additional box for mild mental consequences. In the course of the scene, I cast 1 veil (1 stress), the entropy blast (3 stress), a moderate lightning blast (1 stress), and then wrapped up with a ritual after the combat was over (1 stress). So yeah, my mental stress track was completely full by the end of the scene, with a mild & moderate consequence. However, physically, I was in good shape. I only had a single physical stress box checked (level 3). The big bad's only attack against me was a fireball which I dodged. If push came to shove, I still had boxes open for 1 mild, 1 severe, and of course 1 extreme consequence.

Radical Ans wrote:

Yeah, reading Quintin's description, I could almost picture Harry trying to unleash a spell and getting all kinds of effed up in the process. It seems every book he gets zero sleep and gets the crap kicked out of him.

Yeah, I think they did a pretty good job of modeling the way magic is used in the books.

Has anyone here played the 3rd edition of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay?
What are your observations about the big changes to the WFRP line?

I own it myself and up until now only managed to run it twice with partly mixed results. I haven't had a chance to run it a few more times with the same group, so both times we had to struggle a bit through the rules.

I noticed a few pages back there was some interest in Mouse Guard? Are you guys still around and still interested? Was wondering about trying to pull something off online.

fogrob wrote:

I noticed a few pages back there was some interest in Mouse Guard? Are you guys still around and still interested? Was wondering about trying to pull something off online.

I'd be interested, maybe as a one-off. I don't have a whole lot of spare time, but curious about the system.

I'd love to at least take a peek into it. I have to box sitting on my desk for the last two weeks and the book is burning a hole through it since I stopped reading it half a week ago. <.<
To many interesting systems and not enough time to learn and play them. D:

Well that's two so far at least. I'm still on my 2nd read through and trying to get my head around it. Not sure if I'd be able to run it, but I am really hyped about it.

I've had some experience running Mouse Guard (a few one-offs) and found it fairly simple to run.

I'd advise sticking to the simplest take on the rules and wait a bit before getting into the detailed fight/argument/etc mechanics. Just resolve things via simple tests, until you all feel happy enough to get into a full fight.

And you can just play one of the missions that are provided to start off, no need to write your own.

An early Halloween treat for you Dresden Files and Fiasco lovers out there: Hocus Focus. A Fiasco playset in the Dresden-verse.

Trachalio wrote:

An early Halloween treat for you Dresden Files and Fiasco lovers out there: Hocus Focus. A Fiasco playset in the Dresden-verse.

That is awesome!

fogrob wrote:

I noticed a few pages back there was some interest in Mouse Guard? Are you guys still around and still interested? Was wondering about trying to pull something off online.

Put me down as an interested party. I picked up the pdf a while back, but havent had a chance to try it.

I have had Dresden Files since it came out(I preordered) but have no one to play with near me:(

Radical Ans wrote:

Put me down as an interested party. I picked up the pdf a while back, but havent had a chance to try it.

That's four of us now. Pretty good for just a few days. Should we move this to a new forum or to google+ or something?

Doing the Savage Worlds Fringeworthy beta test, it's... interesting.

Had to laugh at the Amber comment (in sympathy), it is one of the games that I've wanted to play the most for over two freaking a decades. I know that someone hit me with an Amberite death curse because I've had probably five or six attempts to play in a campaign die somewhere between session zero and one. Half tempted to say the heck with it and run a Wushu Open game in the Amber setting and see if that dodges the bullet since playing is not an apparently viable option.
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TAZ

zircher wrote:

Doing the Savage Worlds Fringeworthy beta test, it's... interesting.

Had to laugh at the Amber comment (in sympathy), it is one of the games that I've wanted to play the most for over two freaking a decades. I know that someone hit me with an Amberite death curse because I've had probably five or six attempts to play in a campaign die somewhere between session zero and one. Half tempted to say the heck with it and run a Wushu Open game in the Amber setting and see if that dodges the bullet since playing is not an apparently viable option.
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TAZ

There's something to be said for the diceless format working well with online video chat

Aye, my gaming venue is predominately Skype these days. Toss in shared web pages like the Catch Your Hare dice roller, Dabbleboard, and Corkboard.me and you don't have to bother with the group installing dedicated VTT software.
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TAZ

So last night we couldn't continue our 4E campaign and had to pick something else. Settled on Buffy, running on Smallville rules. I have not seen any Smallville nor did I know there's an RPG about it, but the character creation rules (aka "Mind map: The RPG") rocked so much, the three hours of chargen felt like a session of play.

I've previously played Buffy once using the Buffy RPG rules, which was fine, but I get the feeling that this could be great.

We're playing it in TV show format, complete with a meta layer: prior to every episode there's a "producer meeting" where the "show's" ratings and current predicaments are considered - in effect, the GM can add requirements and challenges to the night's play. "This episode needs more romance!" We're starting with an "unaired pilot" meant to test the waters and make any changes required before the campaign proper. Sounds so good, I can't contain my enthusiasm.

jlaakso wrote:

So last night we couldn't continue our 4E campaign and had to pick something else.

In my mind, I see some horrible accident that caused all the 4E books to explode and everyone's characters burn up.

jlaakso wrote:

Settled on Buffy, running on Smallville rules. I have not seen any Smallville nor did I know there's an RPG about it, but the character creation rules (aka "Mind map: The RPG") rocked so much, the three hours of chargen felt like a session of play.

Buffy is fun. More so if people are into the setting.