Posts made by Runescryer

@Misadventure said in POLL: Super Hero MU Gut Check:

Has anyone looked at the later RPGs based on the FASERIP system? I believe there is G-Core and maybe one other. They may have an alternative approach to how to handle/randomize range of power levels for the characters.

Just started looking at G-Core, and they do seem to have a solid take on the character building issue. It's still random rolls for power levels, but each origin has a number of Free Points that can be used to nudge things around. Plus there are Flaws and Weaknesses that can be taken to add overall bonus Ranks to buff/customize the character.

It's only $2.50 on DriveThru RPG, so it's not going to cost a lot to check out.

As for the other FASERIP game descendant...I haven't found another one.

@The-Tree-of-Woe Sure. Although it can be a bit exhausting doing the mental gymnastics needed to figure out how to make all those random rolls work.

@Lithium said in POLL: Super Hero MU Gut Check:

FASERIP is a great system, in tabletop, the biggest problems is that there is not a lot of options for combat. Like, dodging... how do you dodge? Really? Does it take your action? Can you dodge all day and still attack? The system is very rules light because of the chart.

I /love/ FASERIP as a system, I'd love to see it on a MU*, I've even coded it once upon a time back when I made horribad code (well, more horribad than it is now) but the biggest problem... it's got a harsh penalty on experience, and how to gain it.

You'd also have to convert it to a point based system (Not impossible, but there'd be a lot of judgement calls) for there to be any level of balance but then certain FC's would break.

How about this. For CharGen, the system rolls a straight string of 11 d100 rolls (1 for each Attribute, 1 for # of Powers, 1 for # of Talents, #1 for # of Contacts, 1 for Resources adjustment). You can swap any 2 results for free. Then, you can lower a roll to increase another roll, but it's at an increasing cost. Start off on a 2 for 1 exchange (you lower a roll of 55 to 45 in order to increase a roll of 65 to 70). Second time you do it, it's a 3 for 1 exchange rate, and so on. It allows for customization and flexibility, but with diminishing returns, so complete optimization isn't really achievable.

The player also gets to chose Powers & Talents directly, instead of them being randomly chosen. Once powers are selected, dice rolls are generated down the line, with one free swap and a diminishing points trade as with the earlier rolls. Invulnerability Powers are exempt from alteration and point swapping, since they already start off at Class 3000, IIRC.

@Chet said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

Birthright would approach a Civilization/Nation-States MUSH, wouldn't it?

The problem with that would be deciding who gets their own land grab, and who works for the people with the land grab.

Well...let me break it down quickly....

On the main continent, there's 5 'Nations': Anuirean (Britons/Gaulic), Brecht (German/Dutch merchants), Khinasai (Moors), Rjurik (Viking/Celts), Vos (Rus/Hun barbarians). The main area with the political action is the ruins of the Anuirean Empire, which is basically Camelot & England 500 years after Arthur's death. Anuire is divided into 23 Domains, plus an Imperial City that's neutral territory. Each geographic Domain is divided into multiple Provinces, between 1 and 10, with the average being about 4 Provinces/Domain. So right there, that's @92 Provinces, we'll say. Each Province has 4 different types of Holdings that can be controlled and count as your political power/base: Law (courts, magistrates, troops), Guilds (craftsmen and trading), Temples (organized churches), and Source (magical nodes). Depending on the Rating of a Provence, it tells you not only how much power each of the 4 Holding types can go up to, but how many Regents can divide up the ratings in each category. Example: a Rating 4 Province (fairly average), can have a max of 4 Law, 4 Guild, and 4 Temple, Source being a separate, but still connected, rating. A Rating 4 Province also means that up to 2 Regents can split each particular type of Holding. So, 1 Regent could have 3 Law and a second Regent control 1 Law in a Province. So, overall, in just Anuire alone, there's over 350 different points of political control. To me, that seems like a healthy amount for a game.

Also, all the Holdings are already distributed in the campaign book, so someone starting as the Regent of a particular Domain would start with the listed Holdings, some of which are in neighboring Domains. There's multiple Guilds with Holdings all over and multiple Temples, even dedicated to the same God/Goddess.

And that's just in 1 nation. For simplicity's sake, I wouldn't think a game would stretch out into the other Nations; that would make things too unwieldy.

Annnnddddd....

I just found out about Marvel 1872

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/1872_Vol_1_1

So, yeah. This is a thing. This is an awesome thing. This is probably an awesome thing that needs to happen.

Thinking about some classic D&D campaign settings...

Dark Sun: Choose a City-State (probably Tyr) to be the setting focus and abolish the Troy Denning books from game lore

Council of Wyrms: Lots of possibilities here; political games played on the Draconic level

Ravenloft: Start out with one Domain, gradually add in others. Play up the character corruption angles, eventually trapping characters in their own domains

Spelljammer: Couple of options here. Set it on the Spelljammer itself, and you have a faction politics game. Set it in a single Sphere, centered around a station/trade hub like the Rock of Braal

Planescape: Plenty of possibilities here, lots of political/faction play

Al Qadim: Not the full Forgotten Realms, just the Al Qadim setting. Exotic enough to generate interest, but also possessing enough familiarity

Birthright: Honestly, this is the one I think would really work the best and am the most excited about (despite Spelljammer being my favorite setting of all time). Use 2e, 5e, or a quick conversion to Pathfinder. Set it in the Anurian region with a meta-plot of the re-unification of the Empire. L&L with occasional dungeon delving and monster hunting. TONS of political and intrigue RP possibilities.

@golgoth said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

@The-Sands The Strange and Numenera are pretty interesting. The Cypher system overall, I guess.

Another system I have been looking at is Degenesis. Not a whole lot has been put out since 2015, but what they do have is pretty nifty.

Degenesis would be awesome.

Another EuroRPG that is nifty and would be a great MU basis is 'Shadows of Esteren' Dark medieval fantasy game with haunted woods and a 'nature magic vs. techno-magic' theme. Most of the websites for it are in French, but it's a very beautiful game world.

@Rook said in Cinematic Unisystem - Dexterity Issue(?):

The problem with defense rolls taking up actions is that - what happens when you run out of actions and are attacked? Are you able to defend? Do you do so at a disadvantage?

One way that HERO system dealt with the issue of 'Active Defense when you're out of actions for the turn' was to penalize you for your next turn. So, with a ticks system, I would say that if you're out of actions and someone targets you with a big attack, you can use an active defense to dodge/parry/block, but, you're spending an action from your next round, with an additional penalty. So, if each action costs you 5 ticks, pre-using an initiative action to actively defend could cost 6 or 7 ticks off your next initiative roll.

@fatefan said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

@Misadventure I know people hate Fate, and this is technically out of the Victorian date range, but: Young Centurions is early 1910s! http://www.evilhat.com/home/young-centurions/

I don't have an issue with Fate as a TT game system. I think that the system itself sort of bogs down with MUs. It makes an already long process (combat) longer, especially for large groups. Same reason that while I love Apocalypse World and AW hacks as a TT system, I don't think they translate over to MU particularly well.

Just found out that there's a new edition of Bloodshadows.

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/193506/Bloodshadows-FantasyNoir-RPG-Third-Edition

Bloodshadows was the fantasy/horror/noir setting for West End Games' Masterbook system, created from the Torg system. Looks like they're not using the cards, but the basic game system was fast and simple to learn, and the Bloodshadows lore itself was fantastic.

@Coin said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

@Runescryer said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

@ZombieGenesis said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

I love the idea of superheroes in an alternate setting. Unfortunately what I read is "Victorian Superheroes" but what I hear is Steampunk Superheroes. I'm a fan of the Victorian era but the internet has killed Steampunk for me. It just seems to come down to weird goggles and obnoxious contraptions. And it seems whenever I see the topic of a Victorian era game come up it invariably transforms into a steampunk game. That said I'd love to see a game set in some alternate era or world (fantasy, dark ages, zombie apocalypse, etc). I'd actually like to see this for WoD or something too. I'd love a good Dark Ages game.

At one point, I was thinking about a TT campaign using Vampire, Werewolf, Sorcerer, and Changeling, but setting it in a full-on fantasy world. Mage would have been too powerful, I think. Basically World of Dark Dungeons & Dragons.

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

Once upon a time I was told by some friends that they didn't really think they would like Changeling very much (each for their own reasons) and that I should pick something else to run. Keep in mind they barely knew anything about Changeling at all. I didn't even get into the Hedge, or how any of it worked.

So I was said "sure" and picked Dungeons & Dragons.

And I was like, "and you can be anything in this setting. I will allow elementals, and ogres, and orcs, and anything you want, basically, we just need to work it out..."

And they got really excited.

And they were all in a kingdom ruled over by a strange, esoteric sorcerer, and some of them were his servants, and some of them were his pets, and one of them was his Deadly Enemy (TM).

So anyway, I gave them all reasons to work together.

And about six sessions into a ten session campaign I started sprinkling in weird visions and stuff. Strange oracles and prophets saying shit like, 'your past is not your past' and shit like that.

And they finally run completely afoul of the ruler of the kingdom (in the ninth session) and the only way they can escape is by crossing a dense forest that limits his kingdom.

So in the tenth session they run. And they push through it. And their skin gets flayed by thorns and bramble and as they go, I start describing memories. I pulled each of them aside and made them "remember" a past beyond their fantasy homeland--before it, when they were people. In a world like ours.

They popped out of the hedge, and I informed them they were Changelings and asked if they wanted to play it.

Ten sessions later they're waist deep in Lost politics, too many Pledges, starting wars with other Gentry... and then one of the couples in the group breaks up and the ensuing drama (which I veered sharply away from) ruined the campaign.

But yeah, that's my story about how I tricked my playgroup into playing Changeling because fuck what they want, apparently, I know best.

Like Zeus, but without the raping and killing.

So, one of the other games I mentioned earlier, Underground, has you playing heavily armed ex-military superhumans with various psychological issues in a dystopian America. So, in game lore, it turns out that the human mind can't adapt to suddenly being able to toss cars and bounce bullets off your body, so all the earliest enhanced soldiers went insane. The solution was to immerse a person into a months-long VR simulation where they live out a comic-book superhero life, gaining powers and such, while being enhanced. By the time the enhancement process is complete, the soldier has already lived a complete heroic life and more easily accepts the effects of having powers, with treatable mental illnesses instead of full on Reaver psychosis. Since Underground uses a modified version of the DC Heroes game (both published by Mayfair), I had an idea to start off a DC Heroes game, then suddenly have the characters wake up and the game switches over, and they're just getting back after their 5-year tour of service.

Of course, that would be the equivalent of taking a character that's a good and noble hero, then shipping them straight off to Vietnam with massive guns and telling them, 'Kill everyone that your computer identifies as a foe'. The evil bastard in me really liked that idea.

@ZombieGenesis said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

I love the idea of superheroes in an alternate setting. Unfortunately what I read is "Victorian Superheroes" but what I hear is Steampunk Superheroes. I'm a fan of the Victorian era but the internet has killed Steampunk for me. It just seems to come down to weird goggles and obnoxious contraptions. And it seems whenever I see the topic of a Victorian era game come up it invariably transforms into a steampunk game. That said I'd love to see a game set in some alternate era or world (fantasy, dark ages, zombie apocalypse, etc). I'd actually like to see this for WoD or something too. I'd love a good Dark Ages game.

At one point, I was thinking about a TT campaign using Vampire, Werewolf, Sorcerer, and Changeling, but setting it in a full-on fantasy world. Mage would have been too powerful, I think. Basically World of Dark Dungeons & Dragons.

Another idea: Victorian era/esque Superhero game. Yes, I know there's a bajillion supers games right now, but I think the alternate setting would be a fun draw.

@Coin
Hit me up for the Scion or Aberrant game once you and @tragedyjones start working on it. I'd love to be involved with that.

@Lotherio said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

@Runescryer deja vu

Okay, how did I manage that? Fixed