Posts made by Misadventure

Is there a Domain handling set of rules? Something where you have things to lose and gain by fortune, skill and politics? Healtherier land, loyal subjects, better markets, higher prestige all that stuff?

@hamstersonpcp At least a large chunk of them don't get the "this character survives and wins in the end" as a reason to follow their lives.

Hopefully, any long-running game keeps all player commentary and uses it as data to see what players perceive to be true. By example, if no one uses a system past some basic point, it is likely either not understood, not valuable, too complicated, or badly/incorrectly documented.

It is always good to remove anything that is blocking the value of a creation from being experienced.

I can never tell if Kickstarters for established product lines are actually looking for new players.

@insomnia No. I did a few judgements and didn't like what my actual action was compared to the brief descriptor given. That was a problem a few times in the game where a choice was very much not what I had thought it would be.

I ruined the Chantry. I ruined the Grey Wardens. The Empire will fall at its next crisis and they don't like me. The Elves are unhappy. I broked Solas's orb. I didn't grab for power, and I didn't become a Believer. I didn't like any of the possible mates save one and I got nothing there.

At least everyone likes mages now.

It does bring up the interesting topic of player agency versus anything that seems to be in the way of successfully expressing that agency, eg

• knowledge of the larger picture (staff knows more than players)
• inflexibility in story (staff can't or won't try to arbitrate results outside a slim range)
• obscured or unstated means (staff know how to do things and how much you need, players don't)
• a desire for a clear outcome (player actions, like RL, will often produce muddled results)
• it is unclear what are acceptable outcomes and tradeoffs for players (would you be willing to have your House destroyed because you didn't commit enough to a goal, or were outmaneuvered, or would you always suspect railroading, favoritism, or players with more time than you, more friends etc)

Just so everyone knows, I am the worst Inquisitor ever.

Time to increase a rating, and time delay after xp spend do not have to be linked.

One could keep track of training time available and then allow it to be spent like a necessary but not sufficient supplementary XP. The time delays seemed to be designed as a catch up for training time, and very specifically for preventing purchases to counter a brand new conflict.

I personally keep track of the things (stats, powers, whatever) that I would double check, and the things I don't much care about (save that everyone get the same level of not caring about those stats applied to them).

@killer-klown said in Respecs.:

Flat costs for everything removes much of the urge to min-max stats at chargen, and makes respecs a legitimate use for changing the direction of the character proper rather than trying to maximise spends.

Is this actually true? To me if you wanted a maxed out stat, getting it through at cgen seems easiest. You may not be saving xp, but you have your focal ability, you are good with it, and you can still pick up little 1s and 2s along the way to fill in empty spots.

I think just saying there is a limited number of skills and stats etc above some rating X is more focused approach. You can build in leeway as desired, but if you start with a limited number of very high ratings, it is specific, easily adjusted if you figure you want to change it, and independent of things that may have different costs per level. And you can do cool things like have a higher limit, or no limit, on things that really aren't important, like a trivia skill, or an advantage you want people to ave lots of (like Contacts, or Lore Each Splatbooks subtopic, cuz yay 65+ lore skills is always fun).

I definitely always support not having things cost differently after character generation. Cgen only things I can see protecting, but even then there may be reasons in a given game that they can be lost or gained, so you have to keep your mind open on that.

What were the problems encountered?

As for characters not being at the caps but spending all their points, do you mean such as a street heroes being broader in ability, but otherwise not a match for PL capped opposition? Sorta being like "don't involve me at PL 10, I'm trying to be in the PL 8 game" issues?

@zombiegenesis You need a sump cooler.

Consider superhero games where you can buy pretty much anything.

So that magical ability could become super skills could become super strength.

Your soul will be crushed when you find out that someone doens't have a little more skill than you, but their total is twice yours.

And to top it off, those systems are usually designed with the idea that point totals ARE supposed to measure overall power to affect the game, and you shouldn't ever lose the points.

@arkandel said in Arkandel's Playlist:
You almost want to not do much. I like it!

To be fair, playing a Sin-Eater means you come with your own private bestest friend to play with. Court and his Geist had an awesome time together, trying to get under each others skin, lying and manipulating one another, you know all the best stuffs.

My general thought is to have a set of things that are volatile, meaning they can be gained, lost, stolen, destroyed, given etc. These tend to be things like status, rank, relationships, gear, investments of time and effort into making something (eg yourwards, a fortress, a company, a conspiracy, a successful band).

Everything else is a lot more static. You can give a budget for actual character growth, but this would be slow.

If someone wants the fun of growing from nothing, they can not spend their starting budget. If you have some sort of non-xp style benefit, you could pair gaining some of that with gaining access to xp at a pace faster than the growth for established characters.

My suggestion, both for normal Chargen and experiences/elite chargen, is mainly make up packages with set values.

EG Skil A & B at 4, skills C D E at 3, and like choose 4of these 6 skills at 2, and contacts at 2 pts, and ....

Why? It shows what the staff expects from an experienced person with a given history. It gives xp value without giving the complete ability to min max for specific builds etc. You can also require either disads or things like a criminal record, etc.

You can also say that certain packages (or their contents) are required to get a high rating in something.

Now I almost wanna try to play the Sin-Eater I had who didn't end up doing much.

I am very fond of "They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met."

Most folks I talked to, as writers or game designers see Superman as super powered first, and his Clark Kent side outside of those who know his secret as a guise, a step down where he hides the scope of his intellect and character as well as his powers. He grew up powered an aware of life outside this solar system. Perhaps its a bit of a vacation as well.

I wore a Canadian Airforce Trenchcoat through high school. It was an intimidating medium blue. So not just adults before the 90s.

People like Anthony Bourdain are heroes to me for making the world bigger but closer. "What makes you happy, what do you enjoy" are great topics.