Posts made by Runescryer

Didn't see this at all mentioned in the thread, so I have to make my pitch for Astro City, by Kurt Busiek. It's a superhero comic, but as I'm fond of saying, Busiek is one of, if not the best, writers that knows how to emphasize the 'human' in 'superhuman' storytelling. Best of all, the series is done in story arcs that focus on individual character stories, so there's usually no overwhelming continuity that you have to research in order to understand what's going on. Also, the majority of the characters in Astro City are pastiche/homages of other characters, so you get an idea of who's who and what fairly quickly. Astro City is collected in trade paperbacks by story arcs, so it's easy to get into.

@sixregrets said in MUs That We Would Love To Make (But Won't):

I realize this is the pandemic brain talking, but an idea just rattled into my head about an alternate Disneyland MU sort of along the lines of Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom.

Dream Park by Larry Niven & Stephen Barnes. Near future amusement park with a pair of massive, 300+ acre gaming domes that can accommodate multiple terrain types, weather, and story genres. The domes are used for VR-augmented LARPS that are recorded and sold as a new form of media entertainment after Hollywood bites it in the Big Quake. There's 4 books in the series and a multi-genre RPG system by R. Talsorian.

Just my 2 cents...

I think that the issue brought up by the OP, toxic fuckery in WoD games, isn't a matter of lapses or corrections in MU policies, management, or whatever. I've been casually playing WoD since VtM first popped up in stores, and my opinion is that it's the game itself that attracts and encourages players that engage in toxic fuckery; in MU or TT form. This is especially true on the Vampire side of things, where players are encouraged to develop useful relationships with the other PC's in order to exploit for their own benefit at a later time. Yes, this is a gross oversimplification, and not every player does this. But, VtM, and to a lesser extent the rest of the WoD games, is a game where politics and jockeying for personal gain and advantage is highlighted moreso than other RPGs. Sure, you can play an overly-ambitious character looking to climb some form of social ladder and use the other PC's as steps to achieve your goals in any RPG, but those are the exceptions, rather than the rule outside of WoD. WoD has political conflict and social climbing at the expense of others, even the other PC's, as an integral part of the game universe. And this attracts a greater number of the kinds of players that don't play well with others. And that bleeds over to the MU side of things. In my experience, the two most popular spheres in WoD MU's, outside of single sphere dedicated games like Garou MUSH, are Vampire and Mage. Mage is all about the power gaming, Vampire is all about the social politics; neither of which tend to attract the kinds of collaborative players needed for a harmonious community.

To reiterate, any WoD game is going to have a greater amount of toxic fuckery simply because the game itself attracts and encourages toxic fuckery. There's nothing to be done on the policy/Staff side but play Whack-A-Mole with the players that cross the lines of decent behavior. Just in my opinion, YMMV.

@kanye-qwest said in Chet Banned:

@rucket said in Chet Banned:

@ganymede said in Chet Banned:

A MUSH for special education students.

Well, uh, that's not a sentence I ever thought I'd read in any sort of MU pitch/advertisement. Jesus.

technically i'm not sure any of that qualified as a 'sentence'

I think you can count the number of posts where Chet has given something resembling an actual sentence that is understandable on one hand.

@ganymede Just another month or two until the ME Trilogy Remastered for next-gen consoles is released.

@grayson said in A Regency MU (Conceptual):

@runescryer You need an excuse?!

I did specify 'thin'

I'd be interested.

At the very least, it gives me a thin excuse to watch Blackadder the Third again.

Also, @Kireek, you are making the assumption that all BD material in a cyberpunk setting is snuff clips; or at least recordings of illegal/immoral activities. Completely untrue. A good chunk of BD is pornographic or 'extreme sports' in nature. Users wanting to experience what it feels like to have sex with a particular star or as a different gender. Or, users wanting to experience biking down a hill or base jumping or other dangerous but still legal activities that involve a high shot of adrenaline and such.

One aspect that needs to be addressed about BD/BTL is that this technology artificially stimulates powerful neurochemical and hormone production in the user's brain. A chiphead is actually getting jolts of adrenaline, dopamine, endorphins and so on from the recorded experience of the subject. With Better Than Life, the production of these chemicals in the mind are artificially exaggerated to produce an even greater neurostimulant high.

So, beyond the general 'disassociation' in your average Cyberpunk setting, you have the highly addictive nature of such technology in play as well. Think of it as the cyberware equivalent of extreme drugs like Krokodil (WARNING: do not GIS 'Krokodil effects'); addictive highs that have incredible risks, but are still used because of relative availability in the setting as well as progressive 'plateauing' and needing an increasingly more powerful high as the body starts adjusting.

Does 'Not' count as an answer?

@ganymede Remastered Mass Effect Trilogy for newer generation consoles is coming this Spring.

@kumakun Sure thing. PM me anytime. I'm really more of a concept/idea kind of guy who knows fark-all about coding. But whatever help I can be, happy to provide it.

@kumakun said in Interest check, and early discussion: Rifts:

Phase World: The Dimension Book of No You Can't Have.

Eh, maybe the Prometheans/Phase Adepts can be iffy, but I don't think they're more or less powerful than a dragon hatchling. And the concept of a Wulfen Quatoria chasing a criminal through a portal to Rifts Earth isn't that out of bounds or even overpowered. The issue is, again, how often such characters should appear in a given setting.

I was honestly going to back through the main book again, and see what was spotlit and choose from there. It's been years since I've cracked open any of Rifts books TBH.

I'm a little more recent, having played in a couple online games this years and rebuilding my Palladium library. Lazlo is on/near the ruins of Toronto and New Lazlo is near the ruins of Detroit. You've got the whole Magic Zone as well as Chi-Town and Free Quebec within a few days travel by horse. So, there's multiple 'factions' that can come into play, depending on the year of the setting. Post-Seige of Tolkein, you'd have Lazlo/New Lazlo, Chi-Town/CS, Free Quebec, Federation of Magic, and the Michigan Upper Peninsula with Northern Gun/Ishpeming & the Mantsanique Imperium/Wellington Industries. Technically, you could also include Psyscape and the Shemarian Nation within that range as well. That's a good spread of diversity in character & adventure options right there.

Are you interested?
Yes, very much so

What sort of Rifts game would you like to see? What power level?
My personal favorite area is the New West/Colorado Baronies. But, the Lazlo WorldBook is currently in production (RAW manuscripts available at Palladium Books), and I think that might make a better setting. You get nice mix of potential hostiles (CS, Federation of Magic, Free Quebec, Wilderness) and a solid centralized City.

As for power level, I'd say anything besides the CosmoKnight/Godling level of power. Just as long as the people running scenes have a firm understanding of the setting & character capabilities and can adjust to challenges.

Palladium or SavageWorlds?
Palladium

How would you handle the sheer enormity of the Rifts ecosystem? Ultimate data entry?
I'd suggest a Tiered character system, based on rarity for the specific game location rather than 'power'. Another option would be to say anything from the Rifts Corebook/RUE and the book(s) most appropriate to the setting are allowed, with characters from books outside the setting subject to a more stricter review process and possible restrictions (basically, if you want to be from another book, you'd better have a solid BG written up that explains what you're doing in this part of the Megaverse away from 'home')

@theznar said in Interest check: Early Rebellion SW game:

@runescryer said in Interest check: Early Rebellion SW game:

@theznar said in Interest check: Early Rebellion SW game:

The Force really probably isn't going to happen. Unless it's dealing with some NPC for a bit. I'm open to evolving as time goes on, but I'm really not a huge fan of one or two people getting to play an awesome role with very limited slots.

You can always go the route Star Wars Galaxies started on: make players have to work to become Jedi, instead of automatically starting as one. The setting you're works well for that.

Primarily, because I'm a dinosaur that thinks FS characters became way too common in the franchise, and just aren't all that interesting.

Secondarily, because whenever I saw that 'work for it criteria' on a game...the perception was that slots just went to staffers and their buds. Not that I believe I'd do that, nor do I have many buds in the hobby after a fairly long time away...but it's just not a look that I love.

All good points. I was just pointing out an option between 'all' and 'none'. And I think that Galaxies had the right idea when it started, given the near complete purge that had just happened. There weren't any Jedi for the first 2 years of the game, and there were no instructions on how to unlock the class. It was all exploration of the galaxy and experimentation with character builds and crafting; and I think the game was better for it.

Anyways, just my 2 cr.

@theznar said in Interest check: Early Rebellion SW game:

The Force really probably isn't going to happen. Unless it's dealing with some NPC for a bit. I'm open to evolving as time goes on, but I'm really not a huge fan of one or two people getting to play an awesome role with very limited slots.

You can always go the route Star Wars Galaxies started on: make players have to work to become Jedi, instead of automatically starting as one. The setting you're works well for that.

@ZombieGenesis said in TTRPG's You've Wanted to MU* (But Probably Won't):

The good thing about the Palladium RPG is that it's not WoD. The mechanics are all kind of uniform giving bonuses or penalties to stats that all characters have. One character won't have Gifts that operate one way while another has Disciplines that operate a different way. I don't think there would be as big a disconnect between a character playing an RCC from book C and a character playing an OOC from book D as compared to something like WoD.

90% of the time, that's true. And there is a great deal of balance between character classes. But, there are some exceptions that make certain concepts hard to integrate into a 'normal' group. Examples include the aforementioned Cosmo-Knights and Bhlaze. Another example I ran into as a GM was converting the Chi & Zenjorki abilities from Ninjas & Superspies into Rifts, where there wasn't anything to really counter those abilities. And there are subtle issues, like the Psi-Slinger (one of my favorite OCCs); they automatically convert incoming energy MegaDamage into SDC damage. No ISP or other cost, no roll, it's completely automatic. A GM needs to be aware and consciously prepare encounters to be able to provide challenges to such a character.

@MiserEnoch Yeah, there's really just Lost Dominion. I'd love for there to be an active RIFTS game, but I realize that there's a lot more than the usual problems of porting a TT RPG to this prospect.

+1 vote