Best posts made by Thenomain

@taika

Have you played 'Vampire: Bloodlines'?

It's done entirely in the theme they build, but there is darkly camp stuff all over it. Especially if you play the Malkavian. Especially then.

Have you played Mass Effect 3 and the Citadel DLC? Almost nothing changes from the rest of the game except the situations they're in are comedic, and Shepherd plays the straight-man (or woman) and there's very light glancing at the fourth wall and it is the best DLC I've ever played because it's hilarious. But it's never not Mass Effect.

I think that a major problem is that most of us who RP are not writers and therefore don't have the talent or practice on doing things that are more subtle than engage whatever whimsy hits their mind at the moment. Many times, we all play whatever theme we want. We can only hope that we all play it close enough to the one established for the game.

Agreed with @tragedyjones. I had a shit-ton of fun with SR 1. My ability to ignore broken or difficult systems is legion when people let it slide and go with the flow.

@tehom said in @Arx: Anonymous Messengers (Answered):

Like a dogpile isn't all that obvious unless you're on the receiving end of it.

A dogpile is super easy to spot if you're not the one piling on. If you are one of the people piling on, taking a step back and paying attention to those around you will also cue you in. I cannot really imagine that 40 people individually decided that Dawn needed reamed. I have no idea how I would break it down, but in my experience it happens in groups that agree with one another and do it to support their colleagues, because they agree or at least have only part of the story.

By the time you have the whole story, congratulations! You're part of the problem!

How many people are willing, at that point, to stop? Let alone to apologize, knowing that even if they are sincere they are inviting retribution. (Especially if that retribution might come from staff.)

Nope, it's far more human at that point to double down and stick to your beliefs, out of fear or out of stubbornness. If you can convince people that you're not wrong, then if you get punished the punisher is acting unethical.

(edit: I've found it likely at this point that both sides believe the other is being unethical, furthering deadlock. yay.)

--

At this point in my staffing career, I would have no problem mailing one-fifth of my game's active population and telling them it's not cool and to cut it the fuck out. I also would remove the code, knowing that even if they did, someone else wouldn't.

This is too bad, because PvP between trusting people is pretty goddamn fun.

--

For the pedantic: I don't know the tools that people can use instead, or whatever, but I do know that if there's a way that something can be done, then there's a thousand ways to end up with the same result. This part isn't up to me, but I can already see the shape of how it might work.

Because making systems is fun.

And I'm insane.

@faraday said:

@Thenomain Fair enough. Setting suspension of disbelief aside though, adding wireless makes the decker/hacker a much more integrated, fun and playable concept. And AR is just neat.

Well of course. Anything to solve the Decker As Solo Character is a good thing, and I'm glad that AR was stolen whole-cloth from Cybergeneration.

@Thisnameistaken said:

The problem is that people don't use it.

This makes any concept difficult to justify putting time into. In fact, if a lot of people don't engage a concept, I would start to question the concept. I'm not a populist, mind you, but when coding for a Mu* you're mainly coding engagement tools. If you think a concept is worth it but it's not being used, find a different way to engage people. i.e., in this case I don't think it's the problem is in the people who don't use it.

---

@TNP said:

@ThatOneDude Though just looking at +where and seeing who's IC can do the same thing. With one caveat: STOP idling in public IC rooms people!

Note to self: Bring over Reach's idle-move code. It will pick on people who are not OOC and not 'home'.

@jibberthehut said in MU Things I Love:

I AM GETTING BAR RP THAT IS NOT ABOUT FACTION HEAD STUFF!

:squeals:

Wow. That's pretty reverse of the usual complaint. Congrats!

Some of the rape dungeon bullshit I've seen wants me to put a kibosh on that kind of bullshit. Because it's bullshit to have to have anything to do with.

@Misadventure said:

Code solves my social problems.

You're using the tool of code in a way that aids you. This is why it's there.

@Arkandel said:

Here's the thing... what we are conceivably trying to do here is have code to protect people from stalkers.

We are?

Oh, then Unfindable is a bullshit nonsense solution. I concede HR's use of it, mind, but it is, again, a tool in your arsenal, not a solution. There is only one solution for stalkers: Banning them from the game.

Man, I was having an entirely different conversation. My face is red.

@Haven

Wizards?

Chapter Four: Shall We Play A Game?

I'm not sure about this decision. The chapter starts by describing Attributes and Skills but saying "for more information read the core book". Then it proceeds to go into great detail for the systems. All the systems. Hey, book, did you want us to read the core book or not? Could you have used this space to, I don't know, give us more Kiths, or an Index? (Yes, I'm capitalizing that word. It's my Victorian Nature, Wot.)

The Hedge: A Hive of Scum and Villainy

Gateways are no longer permanent. Changelings can still create one out of any "closable portal", but we no longer have to fall to the inevitable forgetting or thinking that the Hedge has ten million million doorways in one city alone.

Gateways can also be opened by humans using their Vice. 'Near' a gateway, a human using Vice rolls Wits + Composure. Failure means the Gateway opens and they can walk through if they want, gaining more Willpower and a Beat.

This is fuckin' neat.

More rules that will be forgotten:

A changeling’s player reduces the dice pool for all Clarity attacks by one inside the Hedge unless something within the Hedge itself caused it, such as abrupt scenery shifts or a hobgoblin terrorizing her.

You want to fail, so the Hedge...allows you to be stable? Thenomain, are you going to stand for this when you went all Quasimodo on the Ogre thing?

Well as Arkandel said, "Be more like whatever that chick from Frozen's name is." (I haven't seen it.) The explanation is (paraphrased): The Hedge, like Changelings, are neither Reality nor Arcadia and the Changeling has a lot more control over it, which is calming.

Okay. Sure. It's a nice rules perk.

Because misery loves company, hey @Wretched: Page 160. Wings. Ha-ha.

Trods n' Stuff

I'll start with a quote of another rule that will probably be forgotten, but answers so much about the new Hedge:

Navigation inside the Hedge works just like a chase, using the rules on p. 195. Even if the characters are unopposed, the Hedge itself works as an “opponent,” representing the myriad dangers and temptations that face all travelers there.

First you must have a goal. The chase ends by reaching that goal. Either "go somewhere" or "escape something".

Trods are now specifically maintained paths. (Maintained by whatever Hedge denizen you want to define.) They have dot-ratings and rules. I'm jazzed.

The Thorns are "metaphysical representations of the Hedge’s greed" and don't have to be plants. One example has Detroit's Hedge Thorns looking like people.

Icons: What We Left Behind

Shards of humanity and bits of memory of Changelings from who they were before. They're found in the Thorns. They can raise their owner's Clarity, or be used against them in a minor way.

That's it. Thank god there are no hints that gathering all your Icons can turn you back into a Real Person.

Hedgespinning

It's now about shaping the Hedge. That's all. No magic items here. #sorrynotsorry

(edit: Actually this system is pretty cool. I welcome our Hedge-Combat character concepts.)

Goblin Fruit & Oddments

No change here. The number a Changeling can carry maintain outside the Hedge has grown. I'm going to read that word as: Sure you can keep them at home in the fridge.

.. Next up is pledges. It's still part of Chapter Four, but that's going to be a whole long discussion.

HISE (How It Should Have Ended) quite commonly features the problem of "why doesn't Superman just keep saving the day". Any episode featuring or about the Superhero Cafe (Diner?) is hilarious and you should watch them. It tickles me because my analytical nerd brain can't get over the Superman Paradox, as well as "why doesn't x do y" or "why don't we kill off The Joker" and so on and so forth.

Some RPGs have answered these questions. My favorite comes from Wild Talents: "Because that's boring and athematic and also don't do that." (Wild Talents also has a system for losing faith in yourself, which is the other half of that why-not question.)

Superhero games are for certain mindsets. I hope that "1963" expresses the kind of player they're looking for up front, maybe not by saying if you're x don't come here, but by explaining what the game is meant to be about.

Signed,

• Thenomain
  (Not a Superhero Kind of Person)

@coin said in Staff Needed!:

@arkandel said in Staff Needed!:

If this is off topic please let me know.

What's City of Shadows planning to do differently than other nWoD MU*? What would you say - in terms of gameplay, features, direction etc - should make someone excited to staff on this game specifically?

Your mom!

No, wait...

I learned it from watching you!

@Lithium

Is that exclusionary? Or is it reasonable theme-enforcement and defending the game so that it can continue to be a game?

I'm not picking on you here, unless you fall into this group, but I'm getting really sick and tired of people in the world who either purposefully find an alarmist term or take an otherwise reasonable term as alarmist when what we really mean is, for example in this case, "this shit won't fly". I don't think anyone should or needs to apologize for being reasonable.

Sorry, rant moment. I'm done.

---

I think the downvotes to the original poster (@Hushicho) come from the idea that it's said to be a perfectly open-minded game about sexuality, but the "traditional" gender normative ("cis") tropes are either secretly or openly shunned.

If this is is the case (IF), then yeah, shame on them.

This is their decision, but like all games, they should be open about the spirit of the game.

@shelbeast

About sex: In the nWoD Werewolf book, there is a note about how werewolves can’t have sex in Crinos because they are raging combat machines and also their pee-pees are very small.

Why did this book bring it up? Because you know it’s going to come up. ... er, so to speak. You know the fans will want to know and be rather vocal about it. And as a literature note, Dracula is very much about sex, and vampire stories are classically about sensuality.

I honestly don’t care if vampires can have sex. The original Vampire RPG was very clear that it’s pale in comparison to feeding. Dracula walks around in daylight too. But this is their game, and if vampires don’t have sex then that’s fine too.

How you’re going to enforce that on a game will be interesting. If 5e is that focused on coterie play, it would be interesting how to Mushify that to begin with.

2E Magic is very simple. Choose an effect, add so many effects and dice that you're rolling at -10, add so many bonuses that you end at +5. It's a min-maxer's wet dream, but it's otherwise straightforward. Kind of.

@admiral

Why can't we remove the stupid humanity bullshit and let people RP what they want to RP?

You can. It’s called Not Playing White Wolf’s Version of Vampire.

It’s an easy game. You might want to try it out.

Overview Continues with Fetches and Other Antagonists

Fetches: Like I Said

Same ol' same ol'. You have a Fetch or you don't, you can kill them or not, but they now have more teeth. They are build like a character with the Fetch supernatural template.

I don't know if they're doing this in other CoD games, but seeing "enemy 'x' is built normally and then you do 'y'" is both nice to see and frustrating. The nice should be obvious: Here's a character with a template. The frustrating is having to build a character. I never have nailed down what makes WoD/CoD characters good, except that the characters listed in the WoD/CoD books are not those built for the very different Mu*es.

Loyalists

Loyalists were introduced in the original Changeling: The Lost, but never really had their day. Here they are much better fleshed out.

• Bridge-Burners: Destroy everything connecting Changelings to Arcadia. Yes, their motivation makes them terrorists. Kudos!

• Privateers: People who work for the sometimes Gentry, sometimes Goblins, but mostly Huntsmen to give them more freedom and so they don't have to worry about being hunted.

• True Loyalists: People who work directly for Arcadia.

Hedge Ghosts

Ghosts born in the Hedge, or of the Hedge. Emotions can become Hedge Ghosts, apparently. Sure, why not! Bits of souls caught on the Thorns, too. They are created like normal ghosts, but with Glamour instead of Essence, Anchors instead of Threads.

A lot isn't said outright about them, bits of information hidden within bits of other information. For instance, under an "Injuries" header we have this important bit of information:

Despite appearing to the naked eye and being solid, a Hedge ghost doesn’t have any internal organs to injure.

The real answer is three sections later, under Manifestation: They're always manifest in the Hedge and they can leave but don't care to. More grumbling about making things easy to learn.

Hobgoblins

The book says outright there is no standard Hobgoblin, and that there is no standard way they're created, thus reversing Equinox Road, which honestly is good to see.

They use a full character sheet too, but with far more lax creation rules and in some cases far more powerful: A Wyrd 3 Hobgoblin can have 7-dot traits. Their creation is very solidly "whatever makes sense", but with a foundation of understanding their limits and abilities.

Hobgoblin Deals are detailed deeper here, too; more than Goblin Contracts raise your "Goblin Debt" stat. Humans can gain this debt, but at 10 dots they are so indebted they become a Hobgoblin themselves. Spooky.

Liza Cantwell,
Age 9, Goblin Queen
“Kneel before the queen!” [dissolves into giggles]

Huntsmen

Here's the completely new element. 100% Pure New.

The Gentry, instead of splitting off an aspect of themselves to pull back Changelings, now put an aspect of their will in another creature and send it out.

The Huntsman, leader of a Wild Hunt.

But here's the twist, because I honestly believe this game is trying to make their enemies compelling or at least make some kind of sense:

Huntsmen were Arcadia's original inhabitants.

No music sting needed here; the Huntsmen were going to be this game's Big Bad Antagonist, their Strix or Idigam. Only here's what I think happened: So much else balanced that the Huntsmen are now just an antagonist. They can certainly be a Big Bad, and probably the worst of the bunch, but a lot more is going on in this Changeling.

This is good; one of the largest criticisms of CtL1e it wasn't clear what there was to do. If you don't get that sense from this edition then you and I are reading different books.

I was kind of hoping they would make a big analogy between Firbolg and Fae in this, but they have left it a mystery: The Huntsmen were natives whose big goals were things like "lasso the moon" or "conquer all lands where". Impossible dreams. (Human dreams, is how I'm reading it.)

I don't know why the Gentry need to do this, though there are the occasional hints that the Huntsmen are better with the Hedge than even the Gentry. The take-aways are that Huntsmen's personalities are almost completely subsumed by the Gentry, which is I think a large part of why. The fiction reads better this way. A Huntsman has (rare, dangerous) occasions they can be talked down. They make mistakes. This tells a better story.

Huntsmen are created when a Gentry decides it's time. They use the same Huntsman every time until someone kills it or frees it (also very dangerous), then a new, unknown Huntsman is made.

Bringing a Huntsman into a game for a PC is a game-changer. It would be a Chronicle in its own right, for the same reason that Terminator 2 didn't have a whole lot of downtime.

True Fae

A Gentry consists of two parts: A Name, and up to five Titles, including zero.

One of those Titles was a Keeper.

Oh, and there's Gentry chargen. I'm going to ping @Ganymede here because I know she's going to groan, wanting Gentry to be truly alien.

Well here's why: One Title is one Contract category. Sword, Crown, etc. That Title can use every Contract from it.

To kill a Title, you must either trick it into an Oath that it breaks (because it swears the Oath on itself) or destroy that symbol in its Arcadian realm. This means any Gentry must be killed up to six times: Once per Title, then kill its Name.

There are other ways, but read the book and let the ideas spark in your head.

---

The End

That's it. That's my Changeling Overview.

Wait, what? There are more sections?

There's "Other Courts of the World"? There's "Fae-Touched"?!

Chapter Six is about other courts, and it's a good summary. If you don't want to use Seasonal Courts, then don't. Making your own Court Contracts will be a bit challenging to balance, but it's a lot easier than it used to be.

Maybe I'll go into Fae-Touched next post, but they're in an appendix, and that's absolutely where they should be.

All in all, Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition is worth the read and maybe even worth the play. Complexities from the 1st Edition have been streamlined, gaps have been filled, and the reason to play Changeling has been injected with a big syringe filled with plot ideas.

It suffers the same things that Onyx Path has always had problems with; being reliable teachers. I'm also disappointed in the overall vagueness of the Pledges and I'm not sure how to feel about Contracts.

All in all, though, I'm willing to give this a try, and I'm glad that when they removed something (pledges) they gave more back in its place (dreamwalking). If my favorite character concept is now an Ogre then eh, so be it. I don't feel dictated, and can see paths of stories waiting to be told.

@skew

... Goddammit, do I have to do everything around here?