Posts made by Ganymede

@lithium

@surreality said in World of Darkness -- Alternative Settings:

@Seraphim73's approach to creating crews for T8S is actually ideal for the pack problem in a MUX setting: establish pre-set, open-to-join packs with territories, a specific scope and theme/focus/founding intent, and you can have the large, sprawling packs described in the books that are factions on the game, but are NPC-led at the alpha level.

I suppose this is a good approach to how to make a Werewolf-centered game, and, maybe one day I might consider adapting what I'm currently doing to that kind of game.

But, to quote Aragorn, today is not that day.

@thenomain said in World of Darkness -- Alternative Settings:

(Asshole.)

I know.

It is an important thing, though.

Players have expectations of their games. It's sort of sucky to play on a vampire game, happily plugging away, and then, blammo, mages are dropped on you, and you're all, like, wtf mate?!?

I like my vampire people. I get along with them well.

Changelings too, but that splat ain't out, so --

@mr-johnson said in Descent Reboot:

It's less "This isn't oWoD" and more "What its doing new just doesn't engage me"

For me, honestly, it's the opposite. I rather despised the old World of Darkness' storyline, especially for vampires.

@thenomain said in World of Darkness -- Alternative Settings:

So yes, you start with one, introduce the others as you feel comfortable.

This is not a bad idea, but this is not what we will be doing. At least, this is not what we (the people working with me and I) intend to do, and we have told one another we won't do it.

Now, if the game passes to someone else, they can do whatever they want with it, but know -- and be comfortable with the fact -- that we do not intend to add anyone else. Ever.

But, things change, sure.

Dork.

@wizz said in World of Darkness -- Alternative Settings:

What would maybe be kind of neat is to have what would basically be two different games share a grid. Two entirely different sets of staff, two different sets of storytellers, with an understanding that there is no expectation of cross-sphere support or "official" storyteller events or bending over backwards to create game system balance through house rules or anything like that.

This is the approach that many multi-sphere games take, and that's fine. I don't mind those games at all. This is not what we intend to do, however, for many reasons other than staff workload.

One such reason is that we intend to lean heavily on the use of status within Covenants and Factions in order to mitigate the temptation to turn the PvP element into a blood bath. When you add in another sphere that is relatively independent from the first sphere, then that check is essentially nullified because, in this case, vampires could hire the werewolves to gack their enemies, and not suffer any status hit for it*. After all, there's plausible deniability: can't really predict what those silver-suckers will do.

So, with apologies to folks that want a wide-range of options and stories via multiple supernatural "races," it's just not going to happen here; however, if someone wants to take what we've made and expand on it, all the more power to you.

@apos said in World of Darkness -- Alternative Settings:

I think that's a good call. I think most people when they hear more spheres think, "Oh, more character options, this means that there will be more characters, and more chances for roleplay." I don't think it works out like that.

Right, and we believe this too. We also decided to lower the number of available Covenants and Mortal Factions to 4 apiece. But then, we decided to limit PCs to Vampires, Ghouls, and Mortals, but then have 21 Bloodlines (split between 7 Clans).

We do believe there will be sufficient variety that there will be many different concepts and ways to play, despite only drawing from one sourcebook (Vampire the Requiem 2E, with a sliver from Thousand Years of Night). The game will use Chronicles of Darkness as its core, with limited material from The Hurt Locker, for its basic system.

We're heavily leaning towards the 1E mechanics for using Blood Sorcery, but with Rituals/Miracles modified to fit the 2E system but not use the system presented in VtR 2E.

@wizz said in World of Darkness -- Alternative Settings:

A Dark Ages CoD game with completely different play styles for two spheres would be really fun, but that's just IMHO.

This may very well be the case. When the end result is reached, we may make our codebase available for others, and they can try to integrate other spheres into it for their own game.

The people I'm currently working with have discussed this, and we simply feel more comfortable narrowing our focus for the sake of parsimony and sanity. We have also agreed that we will not be adding more to it.

@thenomain said in World of Darkness -- Alternative Settings:

What I mean is that while I agree that ther is probably no place for werewolves in the political side of things, ignoring them while trying to control the land probably was quite foolish.

I understand what you mean now, and I concur with you on principle.

For the sake of keeping the workload of the anticipated small staff down, however, I believe we have to keep werewolves out. Similarly, Beasts are out, Mummies are out, Demons are out, and Mages are (most fucking definitely) out. Having to integrate multiple power sets into what promises to be a complex code request seems like more trouble that it is worth.

@thenomain said in World of Darkness -- Alternative Settings:

My mind went straight to "Upstairs Downstairs".

Or how conquering the dark areas of the world was a drain on everyone.

I'm not following you; explain?

@wizz said in World of Darkness -- Alternative Settings:

Wherewoof?

No. This is a political Dark Ages game. Werewolf just doesn't fit in, other than as NPC antagonists.

Sorry.

@lisse24 said in World of Darkness -- Alternative Settings:

I like it! Will you also be implementing a +clue-like system for plots?

Not really, if you're referring to Arx's clue system. I think it's a little too secretive. I envision plots and tasks working like open +requests, but I haven't mapped out the system. On the other hand, there will be an investigation system that will work similarly to CoD's Clue system, which will be what a player can use to discover the IC extent of another PC's political/economic assets.

Part of what I need to work on:

• Social systems: Per my earlier, several posts on the issue, the social system is opt-out on the part of the target. There will be some outlining of how to handle short-term, quick social rolls (bribing an official for a quick favor), open scene challenges (social combat, as from the Danse Macabre), and long-term influence gaining (convincing someone to vote a certain way on a council on an important issue, using Doors).

• Mental systems: As above, but for mental things: short-term, quick mental rolls (figuring out where a person keeps his alcohol in his office); open mental challenges (mental combat, as from the Danse Macabre), and long-term mental challenges (out-maneuvering an opponent in order to grab one of their assets, or investigating the extent of a PC's or NPC's assets).

Once we get an outline of the bloodlines out of the way, these are the next steps because the Devotions each bloodline will have may have an effect on how these systems work.

So, there's movement here. Honest. I'm working slowly but steadily. What we've got is a Dark Ages Vampire 2E game brewing, with some twists based on the supplements that have been released.

• Not Lords and Ladies: Sorry, but this will be a Dark Ages game. There will be knights and politics, but there will also be monsters and terror. The game will be set around 1250 in Terra Mariana, a.k.a. Livonia.

• Actions: There will be an action system in the game, which will be used to power the political side of things. Characters have a limited number of actions daily, so plan accordingly. With those actions, players can complete tasks and missions to achieve status in factions and covenants.

• Factions: Vying for status in human factions is important, as the ebb and flow of human politics has a substantial effect on vampires. Factions will include: the Holy Roman Empire; the Livonian Order; the Hanseatic League; and the Old Livonia peasantry.

• Covenants: Of course, vying for status in Kindred factions -- the Covenants -- is important, but, in the Dark Ages, over half of the presented Covenants don't exist. On this game, Covenants will include: the Lancea et Sanctum; the Invictus; the Vedmak (local pagans, like Acolytes); and the Legio Mortuum (that's right).

• Clans and Bloodlines: As can be expected, there will be bloodlines for Clans, adapted on our own with inspiration from 1E and other pre-2E sources. I won't go through all of the lines we've got simmering, but the Clans will include the traditional five, plus the Julii and the Pijavica.

So, we're working on things, and I'd expect it would take another couple of months of active work at least before we have our wiki ready for viewing.

Suggestions based on the above are welcome.

@rnmissionrun

I was once a victim of a scam. The caller left a message and claimed to be an officer from the IRS. So, I called them back because, well, that's what I do.

Them: Our records show that you owe over $5,000 in back taxes. A lawsuit has been filed against you.
Me: Really? When was the complaint served? I haven't received my certified mail.
Them: pause The complaint was mailed to you.
Me: Was it certified mail? Because, if not, the complaint does not comply with Rule 4.
Them: You have been served, sir.
Me: No, I haven't.
Them: You still owe the money.
Me: Let me speak to Jim Keegan.
Them: What?
Me: Jim Keegan? He's your regional chief compliance officer.
Them: No, he's not.
Me: Yes, he is. I spoke with them four days ago in a separate case, where I represent a receivership.
Them: What?
Me: A receivership. May I speak to Agent Keegan?
Them: There's no Jim Keegan here.
Me: Then you're not the IRS, I have your phone number, and I am a prosecutor. What's your name?
Them: click

@arkandel

It could also be that you're a lazy, slow soccer player too.

I mean, just saying, bruh.

@jaded

Watch this.

And this.

And if you're kind of bored, they have this full-length movie too.

It's not the best game I picked up in 2016, but it was pretty damn solid. You can easily sink 60+ hours in your first run-through, and there are some parts you can't do unless you go through a second run-though, so you've got 120+ hours of gameplay.

On a completely different topic, I have to conclude that Final Fantasy XV was very enjoyable.

JRPG narratives hurt me on the inside. I grew up playing JRPGs, but the past 20 years or so of these games have been painful to get through. The Valkyria Chronicles were hampered by its narrative, and it's about the only thing I don't like about Persona 5. I just can't get my head into that sort of logic-jumping, deus-ex-machine writing style.

That said, there was something compelling about Final Fantasy XV. It is bittersweet, melancholy, and sad, but there was also en effervescent joie de vivre most of the time that made it a pleasure to play. Its soundtrack is sublime, and I loved Florence + The Machine's cover of "Stand by Me," which serves as the game's opening track. Still, the narrative's dialogue sacked any character depth or connection for me, which is sad.

Also, cooking and camping? Surprisingly fun as hell, and the graphics are so realistic that I started to get hungry myself (dammit).

The game itself is beautiful, and the play control (once you get used to it) is innovative and fun. The magic system is very shallow, but the game seems calculated to be more of a 3PS adventure (like Horizon Zero Dawn or The Witcher III), where magic is mostly subordinate to play.

You should give it a whirl if you can. That you can get the soundtracks for the other FF games is a charming, added bonus.

@surreality

I love you very much, but this is me laughing so hard at your misfortunate with dogs that I fell out of my chair and am preparing a workers' comp claim.

@griatch said in Charging for MU* Code?:

I can tell this is not unusual outside of software projects either; I've had more complex art/design commissions go down similar routes. With art you usually specify how many 'revisions' your contract allows, just for this reason. Without that, the client would nitpick details forever.

And this is why I charge by the hour, a fact that I remind my oft-calling clients when they want to chat for an hour about why they don't like life.

@faraday said in Charging for MU* Code?:

Yes I understand that concept. What I'm saying is that it's a well-demonstrated fact that software projects don't work that way.

I also accept this premise, which is why I charge on an hourly basis. Still, it's up to the professional to figure out what he or she will or will not do, so I'm not going to second guess Theno-pricing. He's a big boy; he can charge whatever the market will bear.

@tinuviel said in Charging for MU* Code?:

I want a WoD splat that isn't full of fluff and has dice rolls described for every possible permeation of action. That's all I want.

It's almost like you want a rule book. Imagine that.

I've worked on adaptations of nWoD incarnations, and if I can wedge 15 bloodlines into under 40 pages of text, I know I don't need a 100+ page book describing a dozen of them.

@faraday said in Charging for MU* Code?:

Uh, you kinda replied to a post about "contracts and crap" with comments about commissions, so yeah - that's what we're talking about.

I look at the offer here like an offer to handle a legal matter for a flat fee.

No sane lawyer promises an outcome, but a lawyer should know what his or her client's interests are. They have a better idea than the average person as to how long it takes to get to the desired result, presuming that they can get there. So, when they set the flat fee, they do so knowing what compensation they expect for their work, regardless of how long it takes or what the ultimate result is.

The client has every right to remind the lawyer what their interests are, and can ask to change those interests mid-way. If they do that, though, the lawyer has the right to demand more money because the client is changing the scope of the work to be done.

I see the same premise here. I can tell Thenomain what I'd like to see, and he can charge what he feels is reasonable.