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virgil
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Post by virgil »

Baseline rules
Checks follow typical [Attribute + Skill] dicepool, TN 5, aim for certain number of hits
Sample Character
Wand Tech
From the PoV of players, you start attuned to a Mark V Universal Wand. It has a battery of 20 sagans, and recharges at the rate of 1 sagan per hour unless plugged into an external generator to recharge faster. There are six different energy fields with the wand, akin to schools of magic, and each has six different "spells". The only limitation on players using one over the other is skills dicating which features they're best at. Ancient History's detailed out 1 so far.
Azathoth Radiation Atomic, space-time warping, energy fields.
If you aren't shooting a beam, then you generate a sphere around the wand with X radius and then modulate the field to generate the effect you want. This field drains sagans each round, and moves in relation to the wand. If two or more fields overlap, all but the strongest are suppressed.
Field Size 1 sagan for 10cm radius. Every sagan multiplies this radius by 10 (2 for 1m radius, 3 for 10m radius, etc). Making the field non-spherical requires a Visualization skill test.
Beam - Disruptor Spend X charges, make a Combatives Test (ranged attack) with a dicepool penalty of X, deal X damage.
Detect Flux Generate a field (see above). Auto detect wands, Azathoth engines, and similar exotic energy fields regardless of intervening matter. If the source is hidden, make a Navigation vs Deception contest. Other than the Maintain action, no sagans are spent each round to keep the field running.
Cloaking Field Generate a field (see above). Characters attempting to detect what's inside the field must make a Navigation vs Deception Contest. Spend the initial sagans spent to generate the field each round to keep it running. Directed energy attacks (beams, lasers, etc) deal half damage to targets in the field.
Warp Shield Generate a field (see above), and spend additional sagans for shield strength. Attacks through the shield have their Target (minimum hits) equal to the number of sagans spent generating the shield that round - which obviously decides how many sagans that spent in maintenance. In addition, directed energy attacks also deal half damage.
The shield cannot be formed inside a solid or liquid, and the shield itself is not solid. Matter will slow down when attempting to pass through (1g per sagan)
Distortion Field Generate a field (see above), and spend additional sagans as desired. Add the sagans spent that round to the Target (number of hits) of any action taken within the field. Living creatures take 1 damage per 5 sagans (or part thereof) spent that round.
Distortion fields do not slow down matter, and may be formed inside living creatures. Like the other field effects, direct energy attacks deal half damage to targets inside the field.
Motion Field As per Warp Shield (above), but sagans spent that round serve as thrust instead - at 1g per sagan. Motion Fields that don't completely contain an object generate shear stresses, dealing 1 damage per 5 sagans (or part thereof) spent on thrust that round.
Additional Energy Types: In Summary Odic Force An energy field that permeates all living things. While rudely linked to health, Odic forces typically act to increase empathy and sympathy between living organisms; in extreme applications the intrinsic Odic field can be stripped from a subject, ceasing life functions. The Odic field is what allows Rangers to synch with their wands, even from a distance.
Cavoritic Fields A form of “anti-gravity” and (at high levels) a source of negative mass, cavoritic fields are one of the simplest of the universal forces to manipulate, but also one of the most dangerous, with many higher-level applications that have difficult-to-realize applications. It is cavoritic fields that allow Space Rangers to fold space.
N-Rays Naturally given off when the Odic field encounters non-living matter, N-rays stimulate dormant and atrophied sensory organs in humans, particularly the pineal gland, and in sufficient concentration and tuning can lead to subtle hallucinations and illusions. Extended use has been linked to permanent hallucinations and brain damage.
Orgone The “anti-entropic force,” orgone is one of the most basic forces, and used in many torches simply to produce heat and light. Researchers, however, believe that orgone is actually one of the more complex forces, energy being filtered into our own space from a higher dimension, and the raw energy given forth has a purpose to it: heat rays and lasers produced by orgone tend to leave distinct patterns, as the matter is not simply burned as reorganized at an atomic level. With sufficient skill, orgone users can partially control this manipulation.
Vril According to the current theory, Vril is the underlying higher-dimensional energy-stuff whose interactions with our universal laws give rise to the cosmic forces; manipulation of Vril is usually handled in conjunction with another of the forces, modulating those energies and improving or disrupting their control, as appropriate.
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Post by Ancient History »

Making the field non-spherical requires a Visualization skill test.
I'm debating changing this, because it feels like too much rolling.
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Post by virgil »

In terms of play - Chennault doesn't even need to make a check to make a complex geometric shape that will penetrate barriers. Aside from that, the latter half of the Azethoth Radiation features don't require a check, as they generate fixed effects and the primary complexity is keeping track of your sagans spent per round. The first three features do have checks associated with them in an opposed roll sense. In terms of complexity, most of Azathoth's seems to come from attempt to estimate volumes for the more complex shapes, which is noted as something to prep for ahead of time. The Motion Field is also a bit wibbly-wobbly with the hint that flight's possible, but the rules are lacking on getting fine-tuned changes in gravity to permit something other than "fall that way for a round."

The real complexity is going to be from the 30+ spells, all lacking standardized notation, that players are going to have plopped in their laps at the word "Go." An advanced player can certainly juggle that, but starting players generally cap out at 5-6 "spells" in their repertoire at the start of a campaign; and it's pretty far along when their option list has grown that far.
Last edited by virgil on Thu Jul 20, 2017 7:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Ancient History »

Yeah, debating how to standardize things more.
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Post by virgil »

A .1m radius sphere is sufficient volume to make a box that is 6m square and .01cm thick - acting as a more explicit 'shield' in whatever direction you create it. This kind of 'cheat' works great for everything but Motion Field and Cloaking Field. It could even work well for a Detect Flux field, where you rotate the wand and 'sweep' the area.
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Post by Ancient History »

Fiddling with nomenclature/format. Considering something like:
Name (Action)
Test
Range
Area of Effect
Effect
Cost
So the Beam would be:
Disruptor Beam (Shoot)
Test: Combatives (X) Contest; see Combat Difficulties Table.
Range: Line of Sight
Area of Effect: Line
Commonly called “Disruptor beams” or “disruptor blasts,” this burst of Azathoth radiation creates an extremely concentrated, powerful distortion field—at a frequency and amplitude strong enough to tear apart molecular bonds and distort nearby space; physical matter in the path of the disruptor beam tears itself apart, physical or liquid matter sublimating into gas or plasma.
Effect: If test succeeds, target takes 1 damage per sagan expended.
Cost: 1+ sagans
Also think I'm going to rework the volume stuff to be less math-intensive.
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Post by virgil »

So I was thinking two different emblems, one would be a modification of the classic Elder Sign
Image
The 'spine' is a wand, and the 'branches' are various planets sweeping out from the wand.

The other option is the modern elder sign, the center of which is common depiction of an atom.
Image
Last edited by virgil on Wed Jul 26, 2017 6:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Ancient History »

Link to working document for anybody that doesn't have it: https://docs.google.com/document/d/184P ... sp=sharing

Key pages are 99-103. Following the basic principle of "simplify and add lightness," the Azathoth radiation entries have been formalized, shortened, and simplified. Less math, less redundant language, less confusing mechanics (hopefully).

I think this works better and provides a better format for going forward and hopefully working toward finishing this verdamnt thing...
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Post by virgil »

Do the Azathoth fields no longer cost sagans to maintain each round? I presume for the Warp Shield/Distortion Field, the increase in Target numbers is equal to X and not (X + 1 + Field Size Cost), implicitly making the bigger fields more distorting?
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Post by Ancient History »

I edited the field description; each field costs the same each round to maintain. Think it needs a separate Maintain Cost entry?
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virgil
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Post by virgil »

Ancient History wrote:I edited the field description; each field costs the same each round to maintain. Think it needs a separate Maintain Cost entry?
If it's not going to vary from entry to entry, then it can stay as either a property of Fields or in the Effect description, I would think.
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Post by Whiysper »

..Is it just me, or is the Ranger's Guidebook a nod to the Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer?

That said, this looks pretty solid throughout, and I would like to echo the admiration of actually following through on an internet bet like this!

Only odd thing that leapt at me - combat group tests? Not sure if that's weird or elegant or both.. :).
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Post by Ancient History »

I need to finish the mechanics on this; life keeps getting in the way.
..Is it just me, or is the Ranger's Guidebook a nod to the Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer?
It's not just you. Space Marines/Green Lantern Corps/Lensmen are strong influences.
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Post by Ancient History »

Added the first two Odic Force wand functions, a couple new Certs. I'm going to finish this, just have too many projects to focus on.
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Post by Ancient History »

Meditating on this cert:
Jack of All Trades (All Attributes 4+)
If the character has a 0 rating in any skill, they gain a rating of 1 in that skill. The skill may then be improved normally.
Thoughts?
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Post by Ancient History »

Okay, finished Odic Force wand functions. Which ended up coming out a little differently than I originally outlined, and I had to go back and re-work some of the wand terminology to be more accessible. 47.7k.

Four more sets of wand functions to finish...
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Post by Ancient History »

I am a miserable and worthless excuse for a human being, but I have the beam effect for Cavoritic rays down, and hope to get the other functions sorted this week.
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virgil
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Post by virgil »

I disagree. The quality and volume of your production on this is both humbling and inspiring.
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Post by Judging__Eagle »

The feelings are fairly typical among creative individuals. You won't make your best work unless you hate yourself a bit.
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Post by Ancient History »

Trying to get back into the swing of things; the physics of wandtech is proving more fiddly than I'd like, but Cavoritic Rays (i.e. Fucking With Gravity For Lulz and Justice) are almost finished. Draft is currently clocking in at ~50k, which was the initial planned wordcount for this project, but we're not done yet, so maybe ~60k...provided I don't get too wordy. Might need some playtesting on this one.
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virgil
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Post by virgil »

I should be able to scrounge up some players to help me playtest.
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Post by Ancient History »

Cavoritic Rays are done, on to N-Rays...
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Post by Ancient History »

Ghost I'm so far behind... first N-Rays power is up.
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Post by Ancient History »

Level 2 N-ray function is up, and implemented the Free Will Rule.
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Post by Zaranthan »

Still following this. Don't think I'll ever convince anyone to play it with me, but it's real fuckin Nito.
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