Annoying Game Questions You Want Answered

[Prak]

The book is a thinkpiece about millennials run through a lens flare filter and mashed together with an anti-modern, pro-measles vagina egg screed. Ew.

What is this nonsense? The book doesn't side with Wednesday's people over vaccinations and modern conveniences. Did you just read a synopsis or a sample and come to a ridiculous conclusion based on nothing, or?

Yeah, the book has nothing to do with any of that, Star.

American Gods is an immigrant story run through a filter of low urban fantasy. Yes, there is a patina of "old ways vs new" but mostly it doesn't pass much judgement on either. In fact, if you read the book, it turns out that-

Loki and Wednesday are using the new gods to foment a massive battle of gods that will feed both of them as Loki dedicates it to Odin. So the whole game is fucking crooked.

In addition, it's very clear that the new gods are afraid of going the way of the old gods as new gods spring up. If the book is a commentary on anything, it's that Americans don't really have a lot of time for gods, and will move from one belief to another in their forgetfulness of past orthodoxies. Hell, if "The Cult of the New" has currency as an idea anywhere, it's in the world of American Gods.

Now, as to power and mortals for the purposes of a game, yes, Shadow mostly doesn't display a lot of power. He's a guy who can drive and fight and run errands. The snow job is probably mostly Wednesday's doing, aided by Shadow's belief. That said, I think it would be perfectly fine to let players play gods and mythical creatures in a post-novel adventure. I'm going to start reading Anansi Boys and see how that informs things, but I could seriously see a game where the party is Czernabog, Mr. Nancy, and Mad Sweeney going around beating the shit out of Spookshow agents.

I'm actually looking at such a game, except instead of Spookshow Agents, its someone whose using the current climate of America to make mass sacrifices to a sort of old testament Yahweh type, filtered through American hatred. Players get to play gods old or new and mythical creatures. I'm thinking Fate, unless someone can think of a better system.

[OgreBattle]

What kind of adventures and environments (terrestrial and celestial) do people expect from a Star Wars space pulp kind of setting ?

[Mechalich]

What kind of adventures and environments (terrestrial and celestial) do people expect from a Star Wars space pulp kind of setting ?

Hmm...I'm going to summarize the flashpoints (aka dungeons) of TOR, since that seems like a good place to start.

Black Talon: hijack and transport and use it to board an enemy vessel and capture a high profile defector.
Esseles: protect a high-profile ambassador from being seized when your transport gets boarded.
Hammer Station: stop of bunch of fanatical aliens from converting a mining device into a superweapon.
Athas: investigate and stop the emergence of a religious cult powered by a lost legend on a distant unknown world.
Cademimu: stop a crazed planetary governor in charge of a munitions world from selling a giant pile of guns to the highest bidder.
Taral V: infiltrate a base to find the location of a legendary prisoner.
Maelstrom Prison: infiltrate a prison to free said prisoner.
Boarding Party: hijack a ship so you can use it in another mission.
The Foundry: attack and shut down a factory for producing infinite war-bots.
Colicoid War Games: take part in a potentially lethal combat simulation to persuade some aliens to side with you and not the other guys.
Red Reaper: stop a racial supremacist from wreaking havoc by infiltrating his ship and killing him.
Battle of Ilum: fight through an active combat zone to headstrike a megalomaniac's ground forces.
The False Emperor: fight through a superweapon space station during a giant space battle to headstrike the megalomaniac.
Kaon Under Siege: travel to a world under zombie apocalypse to figure out what's going on
Lost Island: kill the scientist behind the zombie apocalypse
Korriban Incursion/Attack on Tython: conduct a raid on a temple for critical information and subsequently, take your temple back from the raiders.
Depths of Manaan: fight through a research lab filled with angry cyborgs.
Legacy of the Rakata: explore a hidden world populated by savage aliens to find out who's using their lost technology to build a cyborg army.
Blood Hunt: fight through a gladatorial arena to gain the aid of a mercenary clan.
Battle of Rishi: fight through a combat zone to access a signal tower and prevent a traitor from destroying your side's fleet.

That's all very action heavy, but you could do similar things using stealth or persuasion as primary means.

[virgil]

Why do I see many stat writeups of the cone-shaped bodies that are used by the Great Race of Yith? In an RPG, their entire schtick is that they very specifically do not bring their bodies with them, so PCs shouldn't ever interact with them except as possessing spirits. I feel confident in saying that a super-minority of adventures would actually cover PCs moving about in those bodies as victims of their mind-swap. Frankly, the beetle-folk in Earth's future seem about as relevant for giving stat write-ups.

[Username17]

Why do I see many stat writeups of the cone-shaped bodies that are used by the Great Race of Yith? In an RPG, their entire schtick is that they very specifically do not bring their bodies with them, so PCs shouldn't ever interact with them except as possessing spirits. I feel confident in saying that a super-minority of adventures would actually cover PCs moving about in those bodies as victims of their mind-swap. Frankly, the beetle-folk in Earth's future seem about as relevant for giving stat write-ups.

Well one of the things about Call of Cthulhu is that the mechanics are bad and much of it is a cargo cult. But beyond that, the primary way you interact with the Great Race of Yith is by having their time agents body swap someone into the past so that they can have an agent in the present. But that also means that whoever gets bodyswapped is now in the past dealing directly with cone-shaped Yithians.

So it's nowhere near as pointless as statting up Azathoth or something, but of course they get stats not because that is helpful, but because that is what is done. All Call of Cthulhu rules are about the appearance of RPG rules rather than actual playability in the traditional sense.

-Username17

[Ancient History]

Also, they're one of the most distinctive critters, since they got a cover appearance in the pulps.

[OgreBattle]

What kind of adventures and environments (terrestrial and celestial) do people expect from a Star Wars space pulp kind of setting ?

Hmm...I'm going to summarize the flashpoints (aka dungeons) of TOR, since that seems like a good place to start.

Black Talon: hijack and transport and use it to board an enemy vessel and capture a high profile defector.
Esseles: protect a high-profile ambassador from being seized when your transport gets boarded.
Hammer Station: stop of bunch of fanatical aliens from converting a mining device into a superweapon.
Athas: investigate and stop the emergence of a religious cult powered by a lost legend on a distant unknown world.
Cademimu: stop a crazed planetary governor in charge of a munitions world from selling a giant pile of guns to the highest bidder.
Taral V: infiltrate a base to find the location of a legendary prisoner.
Maelstrom Prison: infiltrate a prison to free said prisoner.
Boarding Party: hijack a ship so you can use it in another mission.
The Foundry: attack and shut down a factory for producing infinite war-bots.
Colicoid War Games: take part in a potentially lethal combat simulation to persuade some aliens to side with you and not the other guys.
Red Reaper: stop a racial supremacist from wreaking havoc by infiltrating his ship and killing him.
Battle of Ilum: fight through an active combat zone to headstrike a megalomaniac's ground forces.
The False Emperor: fight through a superweapon space station during a giant space battle to headstrike the megalomaniac.
Kaon Under Siege: travel to a world under zombie apocalypse to figure out what's going on
Lost Island: kill the scientist behind the zombie apocalypse
Korriban Incursion/Attack on Tython: conduct a raid on a temple for critical information and subsequently, take your temple back from the raiders.
Depths of Manaan: fight through a research lab filled with angry cyborgs.
Legacy of the Rakata: explore a hidden world populated by savage aliens to find out who's using their lost technology to build a cyborg army.
Blood Hunt: fight through a gladatorial arena to gain the aid of a mercenary clan.
Battle of Rishi: fight through a combat zone to access a signal tower and prevent a traitor from destroying your side's fleet.

That's all very action heavy, but you could do similar things using stealth or persuasion as primary means.

That's a handy list to pour over, thanks. I also started a reddit thread to get feedback on Edge of the Empire adventures

https://www.reddit.com/r/swrpg/comments ... ?context=3

[Judging__Eagle]

So it's nowhere near as pointless as statting up Azathoth or something, but of course they get stats not because that is helpful, but because that is what is done. All Call of Cthulhu rules are about the appearance of RPG rules rather than actual playability in the traditional sense.

-Username17

This makes CoC's interactions with monsters make more sense. Either the Investigators are hamburger b/c they're little more than unarmed summer campers facing the narrative equivalent of the Bogeyman/Jason on their favorite killing grounds. Whereas if the Investigators are remotely prepared many mythos monsters can die to mundane weapons. Hunting shotguns are remarkably effective combat boosts the PCs w/o combat skills. Automatic firearms can be brutally OP for those PC that have any combat skills. While even one PC being able to make some sort of firebomb or IED allows the whole party to more safely manage threats without having to approach them directly.

After Sundown, on the other hand makes it much less binary and swingy. PCs don't have to rely on heavy firepower alone to stand up, threaten, and oppose monstrous horrors (the shutdowns and banes can be impressive enough w/o also having dispelling shotshells). While those AS toughs that are targeted by intense firepower are more likely grievously harmed (to recover for later), not arbitrarily declared dead b/c the game is using a damage tracking mechanics based on Battleship.

While a few specific Sorcerys that target Will instead of Strength are the way to drop a Kaiju, even "unarmed" investigators can still shut down lots of monsters via alcohol/sunligh/water. They pose credible combat threat just by brandishing silver/iron/wood implements (even small melee weapons are pretty intimidating if they cause Aggravated damage) even if the bane weapons are used to force a bargaining position. W/o the usual nonsense that happens when resorting to typical CoC combat shenanigans (e.g. "The untrained cycle through their duffelbag full of preloaded shotguns. The combat character use their MGs. The pyrotechnist worries about where they'll place their IEDs. While the mediums pray we don't go insane trying to save our sanity" b/c TheGM/Cthulhu only thinks of RPG experiences as stabbing in the face).

Heck, the mechanics in AS even went the opposite direction of CoC; by incentivizing "Dispelling Shells" over the PCs simply getting autoshotguns b/c of higher damage output.

[rampaging-poet]

I'm building a character for an upcoming Pathfinder campaign, and I'd like a quick sanity check on my plans. I'd like to build a Hunter as an archery specialist with some self-buffs and battlefield control spells for backup. I could be convinced to play a Ranger instead if there's something really good I've missed there, but getting an animal companion early and spike stones later sounds tough to beat.

First, stat distribution. Our games use rolled stats, and I ended up with 17, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8. Dex first is a no-brainer. My current plan is to put the other 17 in Wisdom and sit on 14 strength. One level-up attribute point would go to Wisdom sometime before 16th level, and the rest straight into Dex. The other option would be 17 Str, 14 Wis, and Dex > Str > Wis x2 for level-up attributes. Relative to each other the former provides +1 AC, +1 to-hit, +1 to save DCs, and a bonus 4th-level spell slot. The latter provides +2 to damage per attack, +1 to CMD. I'm pretty sure Wis first is the better option, but maybe the damage is more important than I'm thinking?

Second, archetypes. By default the Hunter gets a few teamwork feats that they can share with their animal companion. However, most of them require me to be in melee alongside my companion. the best I could hope for there is about a consistent +1 to-hit and occasional +4 to hit by 6th level and literally nothing worth taking after 12th. I'm strongly considering the Divine Hunter archetype, which swaps the teamwork stuff for a cleric domain. Are there any must-have domain powers for a build like this? Travel and Trickery both look good, and I have some others in mind for the buff spells they'd add to my list.

Finally, feats. Point Blank Shot / Rapid Shot(b) / Precise Shot (b) / Deadly Aim / ??? / Manyshot / Critical Focus / Bleeding Critical / Improved Critical / Clustered Shots through to 15th. The ??? slot at 5th level is just before all the cool stuff like Clustered Shots and Manyshot comes online. The ranger build I'm adapting this from takes Weapon Focus, but is +1 to-hit really the best I can do? Would Improved Initiative or maybe a metamagic feat be a better deal? Maybe Magical Aptitude so I can cross-class UMD worth a damn? (No traits allowed so no Dangerously Curious). EDIT: I guess Exceptional Pull is non-terrible because it would let me actually use my Strength buffs, but dropping 1000gp on an Adaptive bow sounds like a much better plan than spending a feat on that.

[Mask_De_H]

What level are you starting?

The first stat distribution is better, you want Clustered Shots online faster than 15th, the Critical feats are pretty garbage and you want Broken Wing + Wounded Paw Gambit to share with your AC. If they hit an opponent and the opponent attacks back, you can shoot as an immediate action. Snap Shot allows your bow to threaten 5ft and not provoke on AoOs, so you can also get a shot in under pressure or with Broken Wing.

So you want something like PBS/Precise/Focus/RS/Deadly Aim/Snap Shot/Many Shot/Clustered Shots/Pinpoint Targeting or IPS or something, who cares.

[rampaging-poet]

Ah, thanks! I missed the part of Snap Shot where you didn't provoke attacks of opportunity in melee with it. I thought I needed Point Blank Master for that, which is literally impossible for a Hunter to obtain. Definitely ditching the crit feats for that then (though I need Weapon Focus for it to work). That makes the teamwork feats way more useful too.

Also, starting at level 1. I'll have some time to decide between teamwork feats and getting a domain + celestial animal companion.

[Ice9]

There is a somewhat cheesy Teamwork trick you can pull with an animal companion that shares your square (either because you ride it or it's tiny). Escape Route lets you completely avoid AoOs for moving.

Great for familiars with the Valet archetype.

[Orca]

If you go with divine hunter travel is good for you but trickery isn't so much. You'll probably want to use full round actions to attack with rapid shot or at least use your move action to move. Which means the copycat power isn't one you'll use a lot.

The water/flotsam subdomain is fun for getting whatever potion you might want. Magic/divine lets you throw a bunch of bonuses around. Protection lets you get something other than the standard cloak of resistance in your shoulders slot.[/url]

[deaddmwalking]

A character that will certainly die is a staple of fiction - perhaps poison (Hamlet, Buliwyf from 13th Warrior) or grievous injury, but they get a few moments of dialogue before death strikes - enough to reveal a clue about their killer or make a dramatic statement (Sean Connery in Untouchables). Magical healing already complicates 'mortal wounds', but even if magical healing weren't an option, I don't think there are any games that have 'dying characters' that can contribute to the story.

Am I wrong? Do any games do this? Do they differentiate between PCs and NPCs?

If I wanted to implement this, any suggestions for mechanics assuming a 3.x framework?

[Blade]

If possible magical healing is a problem, you can have the character be already dead but be able to communicate a few words through some kind of spell meant for that purpose...

... or writing on the wall with blood.

[Mord]

A character that will certainly die is a staple of fiction - perhaps poison (Hamlet, Buliwyf from 13th Warrior) or grievous injury, but they get a few moments of dialogue before death strikes - enough to reveal a clue about their killer or make a dramatic statement (Sean Connery in Untouchables). Magical healing already complicates 'mortal wounds', but even if magical healing weren't an option, I don't think there are any games that have 'dying characters' that can contribute to the story.

Am I wrong? Do any games do this? Do they differentiate between PCs and NPCs?

If I wanted to implement this, any suggestions for mechanics assuming a 3.x framework?

I think all it would take would be the elimination or modification of the "Stabilize" effect. If characters with negative HP (or perhaps negative HP below a certain threshold) cannot be stabilized, then death becomes inevitable, but they still have a few rounds to hold the walkie-talkie over the detonator Miles Dyson style.

[virgil]

Would you rule that something like an Eberron changeling, or any number of other shapechangers, would have no bonus to escape static bindings like manacles or rope?

[rampaging-poet]

I'm not familiar with Eberron changelings, but I'd definitely give at least a +2 circumstance bonus for shapeshifting out of rope. If they can change size categories I'd even let them automatically escape by shrinking or make a second Strength check to break the bonds at a larger size by trying to grow. If they fail though the standard retry delays for Escape Artist would apply from there. However, I probably wouldn't allow it if they're trying to conceal their shapeshifting at the same time.

Relevant old comic page:

Source

[Josh_Kablack]

. Magical healing already complicates 'mortal wounds', but even if magical healing weren't an option, I don't think there are any games that have 'dying characters' that can contribute to the story.

Am I wrong? Do any games do this? Do they differentiate between PCs and NPCs?

?

Feng Shui did this:

When a named character has suffered 35 or more Wound Point, he is in danger of dying. To avoid doing so, he must make a special Constitution check called a death check
.....<snip>....
An Outcome of -14 or less means immediate and instantaneous death -- well, instantaneous as the end of the fight, anyway. Any dying Feng Shui character should live long enough to deliver a properly melodramatic speech and see his fellow characters weep and wail over him.

These rules don't quite support the "cryptic clue to my killer" trope and they use Feng Shui's named / unnamed character distinction rather than a PC / NPC distinction.

But they do illustrate how simple it is to implement. Rather than having a character below -9hp just fade from unconscious to dead, such a character gets the ability to speak briefly.

[OgreBattle]

A character that will certainly die is a staple of fiction - perhaps poison (Hamlet, Buliwyf from 13th Warrior) or grievous injury, but they get a few moments of dialogue before death strikes - enough to reveal a clue about their killer or make a dramatic statement (Sean Connery in Untouchables). Magical healing already complicates 'mortal wounds', but even if magical healing weren't an option, I don't think there are any games that have 'dying characters' that can contribute to the story.

Am I wrong? Do any games do this? Do they differentiate between PCs and NPCs?

If I wanted to implement this, any suggestions for mechanics assuming a 3.x framework?

In Tenra Bansho Zero your characters don't die but get knocked out of narrative shaping when reaching 0 health and so on. But you can raise a 'death flag' that dramatically increases your power, but also means death at 0 health.

[Omegonthesane]

My first thought on seeing the thread was the Blaze of Glory mechanic occasionally seen in Dark Heresy engine games, where you can burn (usually your last) Fate Point not to cheat death, but to become ridiculously overpowered for the remainder of your final scene followed by dying irreversibly. Which isn't really the same thing due to the genre but could be houseruled to follow with Dramatic Last Words depending on what kind of a blaze of glory.

[Schleiermacher]

A friend of mine pointed out something today that's not occured to me before.

I knew Interposing Hand was overvalued as a 5th level spell, but on closer reading... what does it actually do that Shield (the 1st level spell) doesn't? In fact it seems worse. All the stuff about the hand's HP and AC only matters because it can actually be destroyed, unlike a Shield, and it even has a shorter duration.

Is it supposed to halve the speed of the creature it's targeting? Because that sentence is really unclear, and seems to me like legacy cruft from past editions.

[Prak]

It reads like it only halves the speed if the target tries to get around or push past it? It's a super-poorly worded spell, and really needs to be fixed, because it's not even clear how the hand actually acts.

[tussock]

Bigby's Interposing Hand, as per 1st edition AD&D.

10'/level range, 1 round/level duration.

It is cast next to the target, and always stays between the target and the caster, with hit points equal to the caster's, and also slows the movement of the target toward the caster by half. Basically, dude can't attack you, because the Hand, it Interposes. It has your current HPs.

Bigby's Interposing Hand, as per 2nd edition AD&D.

10'/level range, 1 round/level duration.

Hand hovers near caster, between caster and target, acting as cover for caster against that target, or successive targets as the caster chooses. It has AC 0 and your max HPs. Cover in 2nd edition gives your attackers -10 to hit and you gain Improved Evasion. It still slows opponents who try to get around, but that no longer does anything because the spell doesn't leave your side any more.

Same deal in 3.5, only cover is now just +4 AC. Basically, they nerfed a great spell going into 2e, then blindly converted the mechanics to the even more nerfed cover of 3e, and never bothered fixing it because no one uses it since it stopped being good in 1989. Yes, it's worse than a 1st level spell with a shorter duration, well spotted.

Edit: Checked 3.0, still had +10 cover to AC there. So I guess, just someone not using Improved Cover in the 3.5 changeover.

[Judging__Eagle]

Why do people still think that [Tome] conent is "Broken Homebrew"; or that the Dungeonomicon Monk are "OP" or "Broken"?

Is being able to deal Con damage the most "overpowered" Vampire ability?

I was on an RPG Discord server where people were absolutely convinced of that today.