Shinobi Killfis

Re: battle Wear vs. Town Wear

Here's an excerpt from 'A Magical Medieval City Guide' a free PDF I found on DriveThruRPG.com that I am finding to be a neat little resource:

Wow I do not like that at all. It seemed basically a list of here are a bunch of ways you can screw over your pcs and pretend you have some kind of logical world justification about it.

Re: battle Wear vs. Town Wear

Before taking away weapons and armor I think paying attention to what other attacks and defenses are available is important.

If magic is relatively common or martial arts are advanced to the degree of a monk in D&D all taking weapons away does is pick on the warrior types. Everyone else is prepared for battle, the thief well he kept his dagger and he really doesn't wear armor and relies upon agility, the mage has spells to protect him, the martial artist has skin like iron and can punch through walls. The fighter type gives up everything, fun for him if shit happens.

And this isn't just a fun for him issue but a world building issue, if you know there are plenty of people who can punch through walls and throw lightning do you really give a crap if some guy carries a sword. And wouldn't the "common" folk be upset that they can't cary a weapon when building destroying mages are walking around with out any limitations

On top of that the "western fantasy" makes a lot of sense in a world where orcs attack, there are goblins, ware-wolves, and slimes in the sewer. There is an organized thieves and assassins guild, towns do get attacked by monsters, there is a necromancer in the graveyard etc.

Of course not all fantasy isn't like that, but I'd say given the dangers of the typical fantasy setting law abiding citizens carrying armor and weapons does not seem outlandish to me.

Re: battle Wear vs. Town Wear

You can take an item away from the players, and give them the opportunity to get it back... Back when I did run D&D, I treated weaponsmiths and armorsmiths as artisans. That means that a specific artisan is not going to be able to make two 'longswords' identical, nor would he want to. This in turn means that there are going to be differences between each 'longsword'. So, a player will have a pretty good chance to recognizing 'his' 'longsword' when he spots it. This of course also had the added bonus of detracting the group rogue from playing switch-a-roo with every flipping item in the game...

 

It is kinda hard for a rogue to explain why his longsword went from matte black, to being highly polished and adorned with runes... Of course said rogue does not need to explain anything, when another group member sticks him in the gut, for denying the fact that he was holding out on them, with his own 'old' sword...

Yeah totally, if it can be reasonably found it is in the same ball park as being able to stop the thief. As a PC I hate off camera or no control events, if I want to hear a story I'll listen to books on tape. I am there to play a game and I expect to be able to have an effect on the outcome of events I am involved in. I never had a problem when a GM came to me and said, you know I didn't realize how powerful FU was, I really shouldn't of put FU in the treasure, do you mind if I have it stolen or destroyed? Also if my family heirloom is stolen as part of the story and my motivation for the adventure at least in part is its recovery, hey that is great you used my story and background. But if you make me put my gear in a certain location and then you steal it not to start an adventure but just because, or it makes it a living world man thieves exist there just like in real life then screw you my sword does not leave my side.

Re: Mass Effect Campaign Setting

Yeah it's true but

multipower get more power to almost zero cost

let me do an example

i state a multipower called Telekinesys. and invest 20 points reserve on it.

Ok fine, need to spend 20 point for it

 

now i buy Throw like an ultra slot; this could be an EB with low damage and high knockback etc etc and after calculation got 12 real cost (speculation, maybe less). this cost 1 point so with 21 point i get the multipower and first power

 

now, i whanna buy Lift too. this could be a flying usable on other usable as attack or a telekynesis "only to lift target" or like; it cost maybe 15 real point.

buying as an ultra cost me just 1 point

 

then, increasing multipower reserve i also increase all my slots

 

buying powers one by one i get

1) every power has lower cost than all powers together; this mean for few powers, buy powers one by one is less expensive (or not so much expensive). I'd like to get few powers for everyone (even in ME1, noone has more than 4 "power"...)

2) i can buy different power at different power level

3) if too much expensive, i can state something like TA Magic, ie power cost is halved or divided by three

 

.

I like the multpower for modern and sci-fi setting becausein my heroic games gear is point cost free. In a fantasy game magic is heavily limited and standard gear is like 30APs in attacks. In modern/sci-fi with biotics and espers, it is not nearly as limited making it expensive and the standard weapon can frequently be 80+ APs. Also due to the low limits a biotic multipower would have a high entry cost so even with the ultras(and you could say no ultras in order to double the cost) it still is an expensive proposition. Also ultras will cost 2-5 points I'd guess in my games that will take a couple sessions to earn which seems fine to me. Meanwhile non multipower dude is getting another +1 to hit with his favorite 80AP gun, which probably is better.

Oh and as for weapon damage, I just assume non-armored=dead, but PCs are basically always at least somewhat armored except in plot situations where I want them to feel vulnerable.

Re: Teleportation Gate questions 6E

Thanks for the help. I've posted this in 6e rules?s for an official answer. I am the GM so I can rule what I want, but I like to know what is the official right answer. I find I make better decisions when I know what the rule is supposed to be and especially if I know why.

Re: Mass Effect Campaign Setting

So you thinking about 3 multipower and all powers inside the multipower?

why don't just use talent-like single powers?

 

i'm not thinking about a direct translation of the videogame into the rules, so i don't really care about the cooldown system; i like the idea

biotics get some nice powers like telepathy, telekinesys, barrier (a FF), and like

techs get some nice powers like mind control (synthetics class of mind), Overcharge (AoE energy blast) and of course some cool decryptations talents

weapons get some nice talents like Immunity (damage reduction), and uber cool shooting add (csl, aid weapon damage, whatever you like)

 

for the shield thing, i'd like more like an additional BODY reserve that are hit first, and does'nt get armor protection; also, a regeneration (only to regenerate shields' BODY) and also a nice soldier talent (aid shield regeneration or something similar)

"body reserve" will get the idea of shield who can absorb one or two shot

 

I'd use a multipower since the powers by themselves are too expensive for a heroic level game and multipowers are easier to balance than other systems like Tual Morns magic system for example.

As for shields being extra body, that is effectively what the barrier power does except it also stops stun damage until it is dropped. People don't get stunned out in ME until after there shields drop. The barrier could be something like 5/5 def 10 body non-anchored, mobile, one way transparent all damage, restricted shape(personal FF), no range, only 1 barrier at a time, Trigger creates a new barrier when the existing one drops, extra time 1 turn. It would be around 75 AP, but in a heroic game its just gear and costs X credits. I'd have armor familiarity skills to get the differing level of armors like light, medium, and heavy.

Some people could buy down the extra time advantage and it would be described as tech expertise or something. It could be like a naked advantage in a multipower or in this case a naked disadvantage removal.

Weapons I really don't know what I'd do, but I'm lazy so I'd likely use modern stats but bump the weapons but by a DC or 2. I'd just accept the fact that unarmored targets get wasted really quick by people firing mass accelerator guns.

Under the teleport power it describes making teleport gates. I really like the idea but I am a bit confused by how it works.

1. The AoE used was a radius, so is this a disk like I'd view a gate to be or a full radius effect, or either depending on special effect?

1A, if its the radius does the entire object to be teleported have to fit in at once or as long as 2 dimensions are able to fit it can drive through the gate?

1B if it is the radius, how would you make a disk you stepped through. I'd say AoE surface but I don't want it attached to a surface.

2. Usable by others self and 1 other. So only 2 people can go through the gate in the same phase?

3. Extra Mass is that Mass per phase or per object going through. For example if I have enough mass to transport a car can I line up and drive a bunch of cars through even though 5 of them might pass through the gate in a single phase.

Re: Mass Effect Campaign Setting

Now that mass effect 2 is out(And I think it is another great game even if substantially different) what would people change. For one things biotics use a global cooldown. For example Warp has a cooldown of 6 seconds, and until those 6 seconds are up I can't use other biotics. For singularity at its base level it has a duration of 20 seconds and a cooldown of 4.5 seconds, so while you are locked out of using your other powers it is not for the full duration. I am not sure how to represent that in any of the hero editions I have used. Further more most biotics dont work on armored or shielded targets. I'd probably drop the armored part since wearing a flack jacket shouldn't stop you from being having your mass changed. Telekinesis is probably the easiest way to handle most biotics, but it is not necessarily fitting. And the time limit advantage seems like it would fit for lift/pull(me1/me2), singularity, stasis and the like. Stasis would be hard to replicate perfectly given the total immunity aspect of it. The closest would likely be EDM usable against others, but that is uber cheesy, I'd just go with a barrier with a high def and some body, limited in use so it only can be used to englobe targets or something.

Races Krogan might be the toughest to replicate as a playable race, unless you have really high point totals. They are durable as heck, really strong, regenerate, can survive in many hostile environments. They probably have around a 50 point entry fee on the low end.

Weapons I'd look at modern weapons and up the damage a smidge. In ME2 they actually do use clips, the excuse being the clips aren't bullets but a way to quickly regulate overheating. And that without the clips the wear would damage the gun so you can't just wait for it to cool down. The clips don't cooldown themselves they are an active cooling system.

Modern weapons are damn point heavy so this would make these guns even more point heavy.(Viper should be knocking over military bases for better gear) But with force fields being standard issue with modern armors, the increased damage might still end up being a nerf. If Ablative still existed I'd build the force fields with that, but I guess barrier decent defense, high body is the way to go.

I guess I'd have 3 available multipowers.

Biotic, Tech, and weapons masters/soldier.

Biotic obviously for biotics

Tech handles hacking, mind control vs mechs, shield disruption, and a couple attacks.

weapons mastery/soldier would be mostly naked advantages for guns, with maybe a couple other boosts like self only aids(stim packs for an adrenaline boost), and maybe a couple of things I can't think of.

I was thinking of having just 1 multipower that covered it which would make hybrids more useful(it is a class based game), but it would be absurdly cheap for people to pick up things outside there specialty which makes a focused character seem weak.

Re: Asari's Joining: Mind Link vs Telepathy

I'd go with Telepathy, it fits better from what I've seen in the games and read in the codexes, and its cheaper and easier. My general thought it if you have an easy way to do something and a complicated way, usually pick the easy way unless the complicated way has more explosions.

Re: Moon May Have Formed in Natural Nuclear Explosion

Ah. Kind of like, the creation of the Universe and Life, not to mention intelligent life then? As for the Rube Goldberg Machine. of Course, I to, once stayed in a Holiday Inn Express.

 

Watched Chitty Chitty bang bang there to. Always wanted the breakfast machine. We could all learn a thing or three from Caractacus Potts.

 

~Rex

What is the bizare chain of events that came about to create intelligent life?? I mean everyone knows Santa Claus who always was and always will be was making a bunch of toys with his elves, but they had no one to give them to. Then Blitzen came up with a great idea, make intelligent self replicating toys that like to play with toys. Santa loved the idea and made a man and a woman. And that is how mankind came about.

Re: battle Wear vs. Town Wear

If you want your PCs to go without their main battle gear in town, you need to do a couple of things.

 

FIRST: Establish why people don't wear heavy armor and weapons in town. Several good suggestions have been made for this already.

 

SECOND: Establish that things left stored will not regularly be stolen as soon as the character's back is turned. Once in a while (no more than twice per campaign, total) can be written off to chance. Having it happen every single time just reinforces the 'Must stay with me!' mindset.

 

THIRD: Events that happen in town should be of the type that can be handled with no armor and sidearms, or you again reinforce the 'Must wear armor everywhere!' mindset.

 

Without doing this, your PCs are fully justified in wanting their full kit at all times, for self-preservation if nothing else!

For the second point even once may be too much if it is to steal valuable gear. I am not talking legendary whatever, but in a D&D game if you take my +2sword and +3 armor and I'm left with a broadsword and chainmail I buy at the blacksmith I wont trust the GM again. I just lost a good 20-30% of my power and it was lost to a thief. And not just a thief, but an off camera thief. If you stumble into the thief during the act and you have the opportunity to stop the theft and fail that is one thing. You come back to an empty room and that is another.

Also in somewhat magic heavy campaigns unless magic has to be channeld trough a big obvious focus that everyone knows about and is similarly forced to be kept in the inn all these restrictions do is nudge people away form playing the character they want, to playing magic guy all the time. Now if they wanted to play magic guy in the first place great for them, but some of my players have no desire to play a mage of any type. In my game they could replace any stolen gear in less than a minute so this isn't much of a worry. But in a more traditional fantasy game where you have magical swords and armor which you can't just pick up at the quickie mart it becomes a pain.

Re: Mass Effect Biotics

In the setting basic equipment defended against it. Armor came with Biotic Resistance as a stat. In the next game that is coming out, powers reduce your defenses and once they are breached they can actually to the lifting and throwing and stuff. In the d20 system that would likely be modeled with the HP/VT system. Once they are out of HP, your powers hit for full effect. I guess in Hero, that would be ablative defenses on your force field.(standard in body armor). So maybe all or nothing AVLD, but all force fields on armors are ablative. Once the defense fails you can hit the with the AVLD. I'm not sure if that would work.

Re: Mass Effect Biotics

I always dug the lore about the biotics, so I am keeping the types of biotic amps in.

One thing for the lift style powers, I guess my issue is being strong doesn't help you resist in the game. It is almost like a gravity effect, its not really grabbing you. Being heavy would help I think, and they had biotic resistance(power defense?). Is there a way to use TK but have it not be resisted with strength, ego maybe though that doesn't fit perfectly either.

Re: Star Wars Weather

Apparently San Francisco is like Naboo. Well we do have a lot of people who are about as annoying as gungans.

Re: Terran Empire changes

I prefer hi tech projectile weapons over energy weapons, also I'd like more details on psionics and how that jives with the magic being at its lowest which is why there aren't supers thing. But I only have the main Terran Empire book so who knows these may explained in other books.

Re: If you Had to Pick, ONE (already) Setting, to Run in, What is it?

My top 3 in order would be.

1. Mass Effect I realy dig the "science" and the psionic(biotics), the story was cool and the lore was fairly deep. There is enough to give me a good starting point without really putting any contraints on making it my own.

2. Farscape

3. Firefly

How would you handle Biotics from Mass Effect. The video here gives an example of them in action in the new ME 2 game coming out soon.

http://masseffect.bioware.com/universe/classes/adept/

Telekinesis seems the easy way, but it always looks more floating like than a physical force grabbing them to me. So I was thinking of flight usable against other, but it seems kind of cheesy since I don't see a defense other than being heavy. How would you do it if you were designing them and what are the drawbacks of either route that you have experienced.

Re: "wearable mecha" writeup question

It occurs to me that one other approach would be to write it up as a Focus or Alternate ID' date=' with the Conforming Barrier w/Feedback protecting the passengers, and a limitation or physical complication reflecting the limits of the character's ability to use their other abilities while inside it.[/quote']

 

I was having a similar issue and I hate using Vehicles for many campaigns. Mainly I hate how defense works in a vehicle. If I give it appropriate armor, for example at least tank level armor on a mech its basically indestructible in most campaigns since vehicles generally don't take stun. Vehicles work great in campaigns where vehicle combat is assumed, a star hero campaign with fighters with vehicle level weapons, a modern combat campaign with tanks and characters gaining access to anti-tank weapons. In a supers campaign the level of defense on a vehicle out paces the damage most supers can do.

 

Th 3 methods I came up with though option 1 does not work well for you is

 

1. Summon +1 amicable +1/4 limited class Mechs. (I can make them have weaker defense even though its weird I have paper mechs, but they are effectively disposable)

 

2. Size Categories, with barrier power for passengers Focus giant mech

 

3. multiform, with barrier power for passengers. Focus giant mech

We have been playing Battletech the last few weeks which got me to think about a new character. I was thinking of a Science based character that piloted a variety of Mecha for a champions game. I was thinking of using multiform but I am not sure on how to build the larger ones. The largish battlesuit style I can figure out but how would you build for example a Macross/Robotech style transforming jet mecha, which is like 20+ feet tall?

1. Largish Mecha

2. The classic ridiculous amounts of missiles barrage.

3. Transforming mecha, when the basis is already a multiform. (I was thinking of multipower with each meccha being a slot, and the transforming mecha puts 10 points into additional forms)

4. Is there a way to give them a vehicle feel without using the vehicle rules?

Re: Followers/Summon is now a lot more expensive

I did not like having to take all the disadvantages for a summon in many cases. Though most GMs let it slide to some degree.

I was playing a animal summoner and by the "rules" by Tiger was a diseased gimpy tiger since a lot of animals got "animal XP", and I had to make up that XP with disads. Again, most GM's including me waived the restriction, having people only take the disads that made sense.

Re: Get away from me.

I'm not getting the same results as you. 10D6 Blast, Double Knockback (+1/2) is 75 AP,

 

Ah, In 6e the advantage is +1/2. It used to be +3/4. I had not noticed the change to +1/2. So yes, in 6e you are right.

Re: Another view of Damage Negation (6e)

None by the book. However, Dark Champions also has rules for specialty ammo to make guns even nastier.

 

"Reverse Ogive" comes to mind. It is supposed to have specifically engineered curved edges to cut through armor and mushroom inside. The game effect? +2 Damage classes, AP, and +1 ISM. Takes a 7.62 NATO up to .50 BMG level damage... plus AP to boot.

 

Gruesome, isn't it

Heck I'm pretty sure even 5eR has some nasty guns in it that cost well over a 100AP. Now a lot of that might come from non damage increasing parts, but they still can jack up armored supers plenty more than the source material would imply.

I remember coming across this when I had an idea for a multipower that was a weapon pool. And I found out a lot of normal guns out gunned my super guns by a large margin. And since my idea was enchanted normal arms it looked weird that my enchanted weapons were frequently weaker than the original non-enchanted piece. It did not matter much since we weren't really fighting people with assault rifles and macnine guns in order to compare them, but it was odd.

Re: And 6e print books start to arrive

Come on Gator, give me a call....

Re: Get away from me.

I may be way out of line here, but what is wrong with simply building it as an attack using, you know, 'Blast', or TK? They are both specifically powers that allow you to move someone through impact or the application of force.

 

I mean, the concept is a shock wave. Why make it more complicated? I appreciate that 'Does KB' exists in the system, but surely we start with the concept and get the best fit for that, rather than simply approaching it from the standpoint of what the most combat efficient build is then retrofitting it to the concept? Touch flash and SPD suppress and such are not screaming 'shock wave' to me: why should people go numb (and not, for instance, deaf?)? Why should they slow down? What is the actual mechanism at work here? Why use a concept you are going to have to house rule around to make it fit?

Two reasons

1. He asked for no damage attacks, just knock-back.

2. I've always found double knockback poorly priced for most attacks. Lets take a 10d6 EB double knockback AP 87.5, Average knock-back 20". If that was just a EB with no advantages it would be a 17.5D6 EB. You only lose 3" of knockback and you lose a whole heck of a lot of damage. At lower levels its even worse. If you have lets say a 65 point multipower in order to fit a 7d6 double knockback attack you gain a whopping 1" in knock-back. If you price the multipower so it fits the double knock back exactly you gain 2". If it not only did double knock-back but also reduced knock-back resistance it might feel worth it to me. And so I try to come up with powers that cost less than 5 per d6 of damage in order to get more knock-back, especially considering odds are the EB won't penetrate there defenses much if at all anyways.