After Sundown

The homebrew forum

Moderator: Moderators

User avatar
angelfromanotherpin
Overlord
Posts: 9745
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by angelfromanotherpin »

There used to be a torrent, but it might be defunct now. I think this link still works.
User avatar
Maxus
Overlord
Posts: 7645
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by Maxus »

Thanks!
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.

--The horror of Mario

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
User avatar
Lokathor
Duke
Posts: 2185
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:10 am
Location: ID
Contact:

Post by Lokathor »

Oh hi.

Please note that the "tablet" version contains organizational changes to it compared to the default version (sections are in a different order)

and also it doesn't include the rule about losing all your PP at the moment of death.
[*]The Ends Of The Matrix: Github and Rendered
[*]After Sundown: Github and Rendered
koz
Duke
Posts: 1585
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2008 2:39 pm
Location: Oz

Post by koz »

Does anyone have access to a copy of this? Lokathor took all his AS stuff down, and I'd really like one.
Everything I learned about DnD, I learned from Frank Trollman.
Kaelik wrote:You are so full of Strawmen that I can only assume you actually shit actual straw.
souran wrote:...uber, nerd-rage-inducing, minutia-devoted, pointless blithering shit.
Schwarzkopf wrote:The Den, your one-stop shop for in-depth analysis of Dungeons & Dragons and distressingly credible threats of oral rape.
DSM wrote:Apparently, The GM's Going To Punch You in Your Goddamned Face edition of D&D is getting more traction than I expected. Well, it beats playing 4th. Probably 5th, too.
Frank Trollman wrote:Giving someone a mouth full of cock is a standard action.
PoliteNewb wrote:If size means anything, it's what position you have to get in to give a BJ.
Image
radthemad4
Duke
Posts: 2073
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2013 8:20 pm

Post by radthemad4 »

Last edited by radthemad4 on Tue Feb 03, 2015 12:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Orion
Prince
Posts: 3756
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by Orion »

Are those versions up to date on all the errata?
radthemad4
Duke
Posts: 2073
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2013 8:20 pm

Post by radthemad4 »

The mediafire one is apparently out of date. Go with the second one.
Lokathor wrote:
To the best of my knowledge

The PDFs I made are based upon the original text of the forum thread (I copied and pasted his BBcode in bulk into files which I then converted into LaTeX code), then Frank released his PDF which contained the small changes you mention and is his latest rendition of the rules as far as I know. However, he mentioned some of the changes that he made between the thread and his PDF, and as many of those as I could I included in my own PDF. Any unknown rule differences between my PDF and his are primarily accidental on my part.

Now, the "normal" PDF I just removed from my website. There, it's gone, don't worry about it. I hadn't updated it in ages compared to occasionally re-wording the other one, so it's "behind" so to speak. Now I'm only managing one version and you have one less version to complain about.

A history of After Sundown PDFs

Originally my standard PDF with all the art and stuff began work before Frank's PDF began work. Folks could see versions as I approached a finished project. As I recall, this was part of what got Frank to move ahead with starting on his own "now make it a PDF" plans.

However, because I was a lazy butt, Frank ended up finishing his PDF before I'd fully finished mine. At this point, his PDF made several changes to the rules that I copied over into my own (the altered damage and wound values you mention). Thusly, Frank was fully aware that his PDF and his forum thread didn't have matching rules any more. Also as far as I know, Frank only released a single version of his PDF, because he released it via a torrent file and that's basically impossible to update.

Then within a few months I fully finished my first PDF (I had been slacking on the city descriptions for ages). The page layout was sized so that you could have potentially sent it over to lulu and had them print physical copies. That never happened, but that was the idea for why I used the original page size that I did. Incidentally, I think that someone did have physical printouts of Franks PDF made a year or two later.

The "Tablet" PDF was because my first PDF showed up kinda poorly on my Nexus 7 (a type of 7 inch tablet). It started as just copying the normal PDF into a new folder and then removing the art and adjusting the page size so that the text showed up better. I made the pages narrower so that they wouldn't have to be zoomed out so far when displaying the whole page. I highlighted all the spots where it states what dice pool to roll in green, so that they jump out a little as you're scanning a paragraph. I also changed the ordering of the sections in the Danger chapter to better match my expectations of how they should be ordered (that is, all the health stuff is now next to itself). It worked wonders and I loved it so I figured others would too. I'm a bit of a "power user" with most things, so I figured that folks could handle having two versions to pick from on my website. That was my error, and I accept that. I should have only presented a single version for people to use.

However, I then compounded my error. As I ran a game with some folks, I would encounter edge cases in the rules that you naturally do with a first edition of a game. I'd ask these questions to Frank and then he would give answers and then I would put those answers into my tablet PDF and then re-compile it and put the new version on my tablet to run the game with. Sometimes I would also update my website with the newer tablet version. This is where a number of potential rules changes between Frank's PDF and my tablet PDF might have gotten into the mix.

Off the top of my head I have two major changes in my PDF compared to Frank's PDF:
  • I took out the rule about "at the moment of death you instantly lose all your power points". Frank had it in there to prevent creatures with a Continual power source (or a lunar power source) and the Restoration power from always being able to bring themselves back super easily. However, given that the Restoration power has the special rule about your head and your heart needing to be connected for it to work then it's fine without any special PP loss because you can keep people dead by chopping off their head after you kill them. And that's totally a cool thing to encourage people to do, so there you go.
  • I added a special use for Power Points so that you can use them to help resist incoming magic. By spending 1pp you can give yourself a +2 on any magic resistance test. This is because otherwise it's possible for some character types to have no way at all to use power points, which seemed dumb. Rather than change around power lists, I just gave everyone a new way to spend PP.
In the case of both of these changes I talked the matter over with Frank before putting them in. With the death thing he basically said "oh, Restoration does say that, huh. Okay then." and in the case of the second rule he at another point said that it was good enough to be included in a second edition of the game. So, I feel fully justified in those rules changes.

In the case of the Armor chart, I added Leather Jacket and Plate Mail to the chart without altering any of the existing entries. While this is a change, it's binary compatible with the original rules. People are gonna wear a lot of leather jackets and stuff, so I gave them a point of armor for it. Also, people should occasionally wear plate mail, so I gave it an armor entry.

If you can find any other major differences between Frank's PDF and my tablet PDF that I can't remember right now then I will happily comment on those as well.
Mord
Knight-Baron
Posts: 565
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2014 12:25 am

Post by Mord »

After Sundown tablet version of pdf page 31 wrote:Sometimes players will want to play "monster hunters" rather than supernatural creatures. For an In Media Res story about Van Helsings, Watchers, and Whistlers, it is plausible to begin the story where the characters are not magical creatures and are instead badass human Luminaries fighting against the supernatural monsters of the week. In such a case the characters don’t start with a supernatural type or any disciplines, but they still may well have Resources and Backgrounds dealing with the occult because in an In Media Res story, the hunters have already done this sort of thing at some point in the past. Hunters get an Edge of 4 and an increase of two other Attributes of their choice. However, they have no Potency stat, so their attribute maximums are still 6.
Does anyone know how much this increase to the two other Attributes is supposed to be? My best guess is that it's +1 to each, but it's kind of unclear (to me anyway).
User avatar
malak
Master
Posts: 264
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:10 pm

Post by malak »

How much does it cost to increase an attribute or skill? Just one point, or does raising an attribute from 3 to 4 cost more than raising one from 2 to 3?
Grek
Prince
Posts: 3114
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:37 pm

Post by Grek »

Neither. After Sundown's advancement isn't point buy at all. Karma is used bid on cards which have discrete advancement options on them, like "+1 Strength" or "Learn a Basic or Advanced Orphic Sorcerer"
Chamomile wrote:Grek is a national treasure.
User avatar
malak
Master
Posts: 264
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:10 pm

Post by malak »

But during character creation, I get 5/3/1 points to spend on attributes.

So while your statement is true for in-game advancement, there is a cost to attributes during character creation....
User avatar
Whipstitch
Prince
Posts: 3660
Joined: Fri Apr 29, 2011 10:23 pm

Post by Whipstitch »

Costs are flat. It's like assigning dots in Vampire.
bears fall, everyone dies
User avatar
virgil
King
Posts: 6339
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by virgil »

I'm slowly learning a bit more about design for use with small publishing.

So I'm totally using this for the test copy of the second edition whenever Frank finishes it. Obviously, due to trademarks, I will have to use a different cover/image function for the cover for others to purchase.

Image
Last edited by virgil on Tue Sep 06, 2016 9:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Come see Sprockets & Serials
How do you confuse a barbarian?
Put a greatsword a maul and a greataxe in a room and ask them to take their pick
EXPLOSIVE RUNES!
User avatar
Prak
Serious Badass
Posts: 17340
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by Prak »

If I wanted to work in some iZombie to an After Sundown game, is there any particular reason Revenant couldn't be a playable splat? Maybe replacing Compel Spirits with Thaumaturgical Forensics.
Last edited by Prak on Wed Sep 21, 2016 9:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.

You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
User avatar
Chamomile
Prince
Posts: 4632
Joined: Tue May 03, 2011 10:45 am

Post by Chamomile »

Mostly just that it would mess with the splat symmetry something fierce. That's not a mechanical problem, but it offends my psuedo-OCD.
User avatar
Prak
Serious Badass
Posts: 17340
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by Prak »

For a modified game, they could replace the Reborn.
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.

You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
Omegonthesane
Prince
Posts: 3680
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2009 3:55 pm

Post by Omegonthesane »

The main reason Revenants are not generally considered a playable splat is that they have no masquerade-friendly non-lethal way to regenerate PP. This could be mitigated if they're allowed to eat the brains of the dead as opposed to the brains of the living, because presumably any Troglodytes who stick around for the long haul have solved the problem of disposing of half-eaten bodies so they just need to make sure the autopsy doesn't show "brain eaten".

Alternately you could just decide that your local conspiracy of evil is willing to accommodate and cover for Revenants in contrast to the canon solution where they'd really rather Resurrect or murder you stat.
Last edited by Omegonthesane on Thu Sep 22, 2016 7:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Kaelik wrote:Because powerful men get away with terrible shit, and even the public domain ones get ignored, and then, when the floodgates open, it turns out there was a goddam flood behind it.

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath, Justin Bieber, shitmuffin
Grek
Prince
Posts: 3114
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:37 pm

Post by Grek »

Revenants actually do have a masquerade-friendly way to get PP: It's called vampire blood. So that isn't itself a problem. The actual problem is that they all have Master Passion Hunger, carry the Z-Virus and can't end their Hunger frenzies without murdering several people. Which, of course, raises those people up as uncontrolled Shamblers. The net result is that a Revenant is compelled by their hunger to start up a zombie uprising multiple times per year. And THAT is what is unacceptable.

A Revenant can be playable, but only if they've been Mind Rooted.
Chamomile wrote:Grek is a national treasure.
User avatar
Prak
Serious Badass
Posts: 17340
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by Prak »

Interesting. Following the inspiration, it means that Revenants either need to find a day job which supplies them with brains (medical examiner, hit man) or be supported by a business which provides them brains. It gets into a question of how literally we're supposed to take the monster description when it conflicts or limits the description of a feeding schedule.

If we go by the Feeding power schedule description, a Revenant can go eat a cow's brain for their power points. Actually, if we go by the description, it's not even just brains. But that way lies vampires who eat people rather than drinking blood.
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.

You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
Omegonthesane
Prince
Posts: 3680
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2009 3:55 pm

Post by Omegonthesane »

Grek wrote:Revenants actually do have a masquerade-friendly way to get PP: It's called vampire blood. So that isn't itself a problem. The actual problem is that they all have Master Passion Hunger, carry the Z-Virus and can't end their Hunger frenzies without murdering several people. Which, of course, raises those people up as uncontrolled Shamblers. The net result is that a Revenant is compelled by their hunger to start up a zombie uprising multiple times per year. And THAT is what is unacceptable.

A Revenant can be playable, but only if they've been Mind Rooted.
This assumes that Mind Root even helps. Given that I've had it clarified (by you, natch) that it doesn't provide any kind of actual control, if "get out of Frenzy forever" was that easy you'd have everyone who knew a local Dryad queueing up and no Dryad would frenzy ever because presumably you can root yourself.
Kaelik wrote:Because powerful men get away with terrible shit, and even the public domain ones get ignored, and then, when the floodgates open, it turns out there was a goddam flood behind it.

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath, Justin Bieber, shitmuffin
Grek
Prince
Posts: 3114
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:37 pm

Post by Grek »

Well, there's the obvious downside of never feeling any emotion or passion ever again.
Chamomile wrote:Grek is a national treasure.
User avatar
OgreBattle
King
Posts: 6820
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2011 9:33 am

Post by OgreBattle »

Grek wrote:Well, there's the obvious downside of never feeling any emotion or passion ever again.
If you are incapable of feeling down about it then it's not really a downside for you. Sure it'll lead to trouble for your loved/hated ones but you don't care anymore.
Starmaker
Duke
Posts: 2402
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm
Location: Redmonton
Contact:

Post by Starmaker »

OgreBattle wrote:
Grek wrote:Well, there's the obvious downside of never feeling any emotion or passion ever again.
If you are incapable of feeling down about it then it's not really a downside for you. Sure it'll lead to trouble for your loved/hated ones but you don't care anymore.
If you'll be incapable of expressing preferences, including for your own continued survival, you won't consider it as an acceptable solution in the first place.
Omegonthesane
Prince
Posts: 3680
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2009 3:55 pm

Post by Omegonthesane »

Starmaker wrote:
OgreBattle wrote:
Grek wrote:Well, there's the obvious downside of never feeling any emotion or passion ever again.
If you are incapable of feeling down about it then it's not really a downside for you. Sure it'll lead to trouble for your loved/hated ones but you don't care anymore.
If you'll be incapable of expressing preferences, including for your own continued survival, you won't consider it as an acceptable solution in the first place.
While I have vague, possibly confabulated memories of some experiment which convinced neuroscientists or possibly psychologists that humans are unable to have a preference for their own survival if literally all their emotions are turned off - this is a horror game. There is a demand for horror stories with emotionless villains, and indeed Evil Plants are explicitly "completely emotionless" while also being villains with agendas and somewhat thematically linked to Dryads. So, clearly in After Sundown it is possible to be completely emotionless and yet still retain a set of goals and preferences.
Kaelik wrote:Because powerful men get away with terrible shit, and even the public domain ones get ignored, and then, when the floodgates open, it turns out there was a goddam flood behind it.

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath, Justin Bieber, shitmuffin
User avatar
Chamomile
Prince
Posts: 4632
Joined: Tue May 03, 2011 10:45 am

Post by Chamomile »

I think it's fair to say that "emotionless" in this context refers more to a depressed fatigue that makes everything feel numb and wearying as opposed to literal emotionlessness.
Post Reply