@Tyche Firepower? Like, a gun?
In Illinois, we have some pretty whackadoo gun laws. Keeping a gun in your car at all times could create some huge legal issues for me, not to mention is dangerous. I fret enough about carrying my knife, that I don't want to think about having a gun nearby. You get into one little fight and you don't get sent to Bel Air, but jail. 
So, yeah, you do have to do some prep work before you go into a situation you would suspect to be dangerous.
@Alzie What was your point? TJ started this post saying he can't play the way he wants to play in BITN, and while I know he said he can't play a cool vampire, there is also the reality that you can never have the same experience as a player when you are also the head/owner/whatever of a game.
He's asking for other games, and offering suggestions and help getting there.
@Lithium said:
Now I want to make a vampire game where it DOES ward them off.
Perhaps a stuffy Englishman who just cannot stand the stuff? Absolutely detestable!
@Alzie You did see the part where @tragedyjones is making a game, called Bump in the Night (BITN), which is CofD, and will be opening in a week?
@Cobaltasaurus said:
because obviously they aren't real.
Obviously. But in this purely hypothetical situation where I, the modern person, believed in some form of supernatural monster... I'd probably keep a kit in my car, preparing me for what I might imagine as the most common forms of supernatural attacks.
First off, there's general survival gear
Then you move into your more esoteric items
Hypothetically, I'd worry most about the ethereal creatures that I cannot hit with a hatchet, shoot with a gun, or set on fire.
@Lithium said:
@skew said:
Soylent. It's my newest love. For those that don't know, it's a meal replacement in a bottle. Chug one, 400 calories, all sorts of vitamins and stuff, and I'm good for a meal!
So much healthier than the crap I was eating when I was too busy/lazy to make a breakfast or lunch!
Soylent Green is People!
Also: Scientifically proven that our body doesn't respond to liquid calories the same as it does solid calories. Even though all the protein and such might be there it doesn't make us as 'full' as a solid meal does (methinks due to lack of pressure to inside of stomach wall). Just fair warning, it's really really easy to overdo liquid meals because we feel hungry again much sooner.
Warning acknowledge, accepted, and I tell you, Soylent works. I feel like I've eaten after I drink one. I can't explain it, I was so skeptical, because I know that liquids just don't make you feel "full". I was gifted two bottles of this stuff by a friend, and it actually, really, seriously makes you feel like you've consumed food. My cousin just had one today for lunch and reports the same thing. The friend that gave it to me said the same. It's a-maze-ing.
Also, it's a 12oz bottle, so it's a set amount of "food". You take the one and that's that. Obviously if you're still hungry, then, well, gotta find something else... but it's not like I can pour myself just a little more.
After having help set up BITN, I'm here to help. I don't know a ton, but I can handle some things. Configuring your bboard, your com channels, creating a map, all that shiz. Like @tragedyjones and @Thenomain, I'm of the belief that more=better. That if we get more CofD MUs open, players can go where they like to play, and we're all better off.
So, if anyone is interested in starting a new game and would like some consultation and guidance, give me a shout. I do NOT want to help desc your grid! But I can @dig a grid!
@Tyche said:
BTW, we were playing the 2004 1st edition of NWoD. Hunter: The Vigil setting.
That would make a difference for combat, as a whole, but I'm not sure how much of a difference in this given situation. In the CofD rules (ie, 2nd edition) armor is it's own thing, and doesn't add to your defense. I'm sure there are some other differences I'm forgetting.
I'm also sure that you, the ST/players, could figure out what if any bonuses or penalties apply. The system is designed to be used as you need it, after all!
@tragedyjones has the actual answer! He's the resident Rules Lawyer.
Soylent. It's my newest love. For those that don't know, it's a meal replacement in a bottle. Chug one, 400 calories, all sorts of vitamins and stuff, and I'm good for a meal!
So much healthier than the crap I was eating when I was too busy/lazy to make a breakfast or lunch!
@Thenomain said:
Mocking me. Watching me.
Can confirm.
So, back on topic, what is your defense penalized by when you grapple?
Ex: I roll a grapple "attack" to grab Steve and establish the grapple (which would be str + brawl - Steve's defense, yes?). Assuming, I pass, we will then roll the grapple (str+brawl vs str+brawl) during the next highest init. What if, between my grabbing Steve, and Steve and I rolling our grapple, someone walks up and hits me with me with a bat?
@hedgehog Thank you for asking! And sorry for further derail, but it's mildly on top, right...?
First, there's the tarot card reader type. One player I know has done this a few times, with OOC knowledge of how to actually read tarot cards, and an online draw generator (though others have laid out cards, IRL, and done it). Basically, you just read the fortune in game as you would out of game. This is what the cards have shown. This is what it could mean. There's nothing concrete or precise by the very nature of tarot card readings. From there, it's a matter of what people (players/characters) take from it. It's RP fodder.
The second method, as I mentioned, involves asking OOC questions. As I said, you like it to be a little creative and new, and not just a rehash of what you already know. But a player could ask about current love interests, or about recent activities. Heck, you could even ask about upcoming adventures (and PrPs). The key is to keep things specific to a character so it feels personal, but broad enough that there's room for interpretation. From there, it's up to the player.
Specific example... and I'll try to keep names obscured...!
A soothsayer-type (a changeling) read the fortune of a woman. He asked her a few basic questions, then read her wiki page, and went from there. She had a burgeoning relationship with a werewolf, and so the soothsayer talked (in very round about, mystical language) about a romance with a big black wolf. The woman was positive that it was the werewolf in question, and dove headfirst into the relationship. OOCly, mind, the soothsayer knew nothing of the real situation. Only the little snippets of information. And OOCly, the player was just as much "on the fence" about this romance as the character. It gave OOC and IC reason to pursue something new and exciting.
Of course, after being in the relationship for a bit, she finally saw him shift... and saw that his wolf form was grey and brown. Not the big black wolf. Ogod! Shortly after, the relationship went sour, and the characters were able to point to the fortune as the reason why. Of course, the woman realized a close friend of hers had a "spirit patron" that was a massive black fox. Could be that the soothsayer mistook wolf for fox, because surely he's never seen a massive black fox before!
The trick is to give fodder, and to let players come up with their own stories. Make sure the other players know that you're "cheating" a little, via using OOC information that you might not ICly know. But so long as there is trust and openness there, I think a little "metagaming" can go a long way to making a lot of fun.
It was meeeee that brought up that post @Thenomain was talking about. It was on reddit. I don't know where it went but... The topic was "what type of NPC villain are you sick of seeing?" and the answer was, taking the responses as a whole, "everything". People are sick of NPCs that are obvious, NPCs that trick them, NPCs that are too tough, NPCs that are too weak. Etc etc etc. I then got into a discussion with Thenomain about the nature of characters and concepts in RPGs. Are we, as a community, becoming jaded? Are we sick of seeing the same story told over and over? The conclusion to our discussion was, in brief, that we will never get sick of seeing something well.
It doesn't matter the trope, it doesn't matter the character. If it's played well, it can be fun. Of course, a big part of "played well", in my book, is building a character that well-rounded and whole, or, alternately, a character that is one-dimensional but well used. The getaway driver that @Anonymous wrote could be a very good one-dimensional character, used sparingly, or a character who you think is one dimensional, until you really get to know them.
So, all that said, I think I'll let my bitter realism show, and say the first concept I'd like to see is a well-concept that's actually played well. How about a Invictus Knight that's actually honorable? That actually lives the words he speaks? It still blows me away when I find one of those. Or maybe a tough guy that will actually fight anyone that challenges him (I'm looking at you, Gangrels). Maybe an underling that actually behaves like one, without resorting to being pure furniture? Ghouls, in particular, but also anyone that's new/weak/lowly in an organization falls into this. There is a way you can have a personality and enjoy playing the character without resorting to be mouthy and starting fights all the time.
Less cynically, the soothsayer fortune teller diviner types are always fun for me, especially when they can work their "magic" without actually having to roll dice. I played on one game where a guy would use a power, then ask a few questions OOC, and use it to create a fortune/reading for people. Really awesome, and generated a lot of good RP! This could fit well with @Rick-Sanchez's original suggestion.
@Arkandel To add to what @tragedyjones just said above...
We've set BITN in Southern Maryland, and not in DC or Baltimore, which are just a stone throws away. The fight in those cities would be something entirely different, and likely make your career far more brief.
We're also looking at "monsters" from a lot of different angles. Yeah, maybe you burnt out a vampire nest, but what about the reports of a rabid crocodile in the swamps? What about that new werewolf pack? What about that autopsy that found cockroaches inside a man's skull?
@Misadventure @Botulism is running a came called Horror Stories (I think) that is based on a rotating theme (including scifi and other worlds and stuff). Our goal for BITN will be a bit more like X-Files or Supernatural. We're aiming for many small plots that "monster of the week" format, with underlying themes and story that tie things together and point at something Bigger. We are also putting in some policies to encourage turnover of characters, but with a continuous story.
And back on topic!
@Thenomain: I have to agree with the "fixed" part. But then, I loved V:tR 2E, and W:tF 2E, so it could by the fanboy side coming out, that all CofD stuff is BETTER.
@Pyrephox said:
sadface You hurt my heart.
It hurts me to write it. But it's realistic, and it is, imo, the way we ought to look at stories. They have beginnings and they have ends. I believe 18 months is enough time to tell a good story, to have fun, then to look for something new. As @Coin said, it doesn't need to be that BITN closes. It could be that in 18 months we pause BITN for a bit (or go soft RP) and regroup, and come up with a new setting. I've played on games where "let's pause and come back 2 years after, after the <big event> has settled" and they've been very successful. Likewise, I've watched as a new cohort of staffers have came in and breathed life into a game in this manner. The story will end, but the game need not necessarily.
And, of course, it's impossible to predict where we might be 3, 6, 12 months from now, both in real life and in the game setting. I'll be revisiting long-term plans every so often.
@Arkandel I played on a non-MU RP game where we had high character turnover and it worked well. Obviously it's not entirely applicable, but it did keep things fresh and lively, and those character that lasted a long time started to feel old. The key, I found, is to have a good story in place that can explain where/why a person is gone, and allow ends to be tied up neatly. Death is an obvious choice, but in those games, we also had the option to "sail back to the mainland". I think we can achieve similar in a WoD MU.
@Ganymede said:
No one ever likes my ideas.
That's true.
@tragedyjones & @Pyrephox: I think I might set a goal for 18 months out to get a C:tL game going. Depending, of course, on how long BITN lasts. I don't think the story needs to go more than 18 months, in truth.
Issue is, my read of the entire C:tL story seems at odds with a lot of other peoples. I like my "waking" life to be an underground resistance spy thriller, not unlike D:tD or The Matrix or some such. I like my Hedge to be fantastical and whimsical, yet wholly deadly. I believe part of the fun of playing Changeling is the balance between those two worlds. The juxtaposition of gritty, realpolitik against a dire battle for your life against dragons. I love the idea that, by day, I might play a garage mechanic who is also serving as a dead drop for a team battling against the loyalists that occupy a city, and by night, I put on a suit of armor and charge into a sea of hobs to slaughter them and defend a village.
I kind of lost my point. But that's what I want!
@ThatGuyThere I don't think the above post mentions any changes to the earlier seeming post.
That said, I really do like a lot of the things in this system, and feel it creates a better theme. From what I've seen so far, this is a game I'd enjoy playing much more, by way of how the mechanics support the theme.
I don't see any post about it, so I figured I'd make one!
The guys over at OnyxPath have released a bunch of new big giant chunks of the C:TL 2E/CofD book. Figured all the 'Ling players might wanna have a go at it!
http://theonyxpath.com/changeling-the-lost-tinkering-and-toying/
One of the big changes... Contracts system is changed. They are no longer series, but instead purchased ala carte at 1xp per dot. Some contracts range, and grant different abilities/bonuses as you invest more in the contract. Some are just whatever dot value. Contracts are also the same cost for all Seemings, and instead, certain contracts grant additional abilities/bonuses to certain Seemings. Neat!
And the grid is built!
Huge thanks to @Bobotron for showing off MUSHroom. That seriously made things go faaaast.