Ragnarok

Re: Cloak of Belief (Faith) LOL. In seriousness, I don't see any advantage in wearing this cloak unless it were to show off your piety. It would make a nice recruitment tool though. "Wanna be a paladin? Wear this for a year."

Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated

Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated Not too long ago Narf the Mouse and Teh Bunneh came up with essentially a 2-page crash course on what HERO rules the players need to know. I feel like that is instrumental in keeping new players' interest, and if you already have a setting in mind, then it's not too difficult to start up a campaign.

Re: Companions of an Uncertain Fate My handle on Hero Central is Kryptik.

Re: Companions of an Uncertain Fate "Could not connect to campaign."

Re: "Leadership" multipower Great concept. I'll be keeping this in mind for my Captain NPC in my next game...

Re: Companions of an Uncertain Fate Not seeing the server on the list.

Re: Companions of an Uncertain Fate Enjoy the family time, James. Lez, I hear you are considering a monsters campaign, yes?

Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated Here's how I understand the differences between HERO and other systems: Many game systems are sort of like a car you can just jump in and start driving. The HERO system is a toolkit that allows you to build a custom-built specialized car once you know what sort of color and handling you want. HERO is less concerned with upholstery and paint schemes and more focused on what goes on behind those things is what you really want. In my opinion, HERO and D&D are not even in the same family of RPGs. Certainly not close enough to warrant the system war that has an annoying tendency to pop up from time to time on these boards. There are good things about both systems. I am currently playing both HERO and Pathfinder. Neither system is less valid than the other, because each speaks to a different taste. Calm down, people.

Re: Campaign Building Blocks: General Musings Nope, PRE. PRE in this game would be....your capacity to handle the spells. You could find a scroll with new spells on it, but you must pass a PRE roll to learn it. So, the more PRE you have, the higher capacity you have to handle the spells. Intelligence doesn't really have much to do with casting at all.

Re: Campaign Building Blocks: General Musings Ok, here's what I've come up with: 1) Campaign Standards and Power Level (This is based closely off of Nolgroth's current game. Credit goes to him) 100 CP/25 Disads CHAR Range: 5-13 (BODY starts at 10 to avoid random fatalities. The cost of PRE is 2 points per 1 PRE) Speed: 2-3 CV: 2-5 DC: 2-9 Def/rDef: 4-8/2-5 Active Points: 10-45 Skill Points: 10-50 Skill Roll: 8-/13- - Luck Chit system, as utilized by Manic Typist in our last DC game, to help survivability. 2) Magic System (Inspired by KillerShrike's Vancian system) -"Sorcery" pools with a predefined amount of active points per pool "level" - Pool brackets must be purchased in progressive order - Number of known spells is determined by [(PRE/5) +4] - Progressively decreasing activation roll that burns END/STUN/BODY in that order by predetermined values (so if the caster had 1 STUN left, and cast a spell, the spell would burn through the rest of his STUN, and then BODY) - New spells require a successful INT roll to learn 3) Character Creation - Four available playable cultures (all Human) 1) Kingdom of Aiur (name's a bit of a recycle here from my last game, but I love it so) 2) Forest Barbarians (based on Roman Era Germanic tribes) 3) Sea Barbarians (based roughly upon the Old Norse, also a bit of a recycle) 4) Desert Nomads (Trying to avoid the stereotypical Arab flavor here) - Cultural package deals (Mostly skills or knowledge based, some physicals) 4) The Plague Symptoms Day 1. Fever, chills, nausea Day 2. General pallor, hardening of features Day 3. Vomiting blood, skin turns a greyish color Day 4. Eyes become a hollow white, respiratory difficulties Day 5. Skin retracts, bones harden Day 6. Death This is still a work in progress, so a lot of the character creation stuff needs more work. I think I'm pretty happy with the power level. Most of what I need help on is writing out the magic system so it makes sense. Most of what I have now is just conceptual, and I'd like to work it out on paper. Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?

Re: Companions of an Uncertain Fate Also, I'm not seeing the server on the list.

Re: Companions of an Uncertain Fate A small revision: Cael's PDF lists Cut as +1 OCV, +2 DCV when it should be +2 OCV, +1 DCV. Not that I mind it the other way, but just thought I'd bring it up for consistency's sake.

Re: Computer in a pair of contacts Quite the expensive contact to lose.

Re: Rapid Clotting

Re: Rapid Clotting

Re: Gladiator Graveyard Unearthed in Northern England Well, the thought is that game events would take place around that time, rather than now.

http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/gladiator-graveyard-unearthed-in-northern-england/19505743 Gladiator zombies? Yes please.

Re: Companions of an Uncertain Fate I would not mind hiding NPC stats. Like other have said, it's what I'm used to.

Re: Companions of an Uncertain Fate What he said. ^^ Detail certainly, and cool factor also. For example, "While running away from the guards, I jump up and grab a tavern sign pole, swinging myself onto the roof" deserves a bonus whereas "I use acrobatics to get on to the roof" does not. The more cinematic it is, the more the players should be rewarded for it (within a reasonable limit.)

Re: Companions of an Uncertain Fate Also, Cael should have the "Cut" martial arts maneuver. (3 points total: +2 OCV, +1 DCV, half-phase weapon strike)

Re: Companions of an Uncertain Fate Great work boss, looking good. Honestly, I think the current skill roll cap is fine in theory. When I roll by hand, I get routinely acceptable results for a 13-. It's just that this dice roller, through whatever evil machinations occur, seems to skew the average results toward the bottom of the scale. I'm not sure what is and isn't possible with fiddling with the code, but maybe a small built-in bonus to skills to try to bring it back into an acceptable range would work. This would also apply to NPCs to make it balanced. Or, one could increase the cap to make successful rolls more plausible. The only problem there is that it would only apply to skills, and attack rolls would still be difficult. Wish I could be more useful, but I'm no MapTools wizard.

Re: Anyone running any online games? Whatever ends up happening, we will make sure Rotman stays safe and out of sight of Vendel bounty hunters. Best of luck to your step-daughter!

Re: Not D&D Just to clarify.... 1) My idea here, though poorly clarified, was that non-deity religions would be more philosophical organizations with supernatural fuel rather than direct reverence. That is to say, one would not worship "the Light" itself. Rather, one would recognize that "the Light" is useful in accomplishing goals A, B, and C, and try to live up to those philosophical values using "the Light" as a tool. For example, let's say the order of "the Light" values healing and creation. Rather than worshiping the essence that brings that about, one commits oneself to healing and creation (the real importance) via use of "the Light." Does that make sense? There are plenty of RL examples. Many churches, mosques, temples, what have you value community service. Money and manpower is used to bring about positive community changes. One does not worship money, rather one values the goal behind the money. 2) It sounds like you're pretty much agreeing with my point, that magic can be a substitute for religion if one so desires. 3) It sounds like you're suggesting that one doesn't need to explain the supernatural at all. Which is valid. But, my #3 said that if one does wish to explain the supernatural, doing so without religion or magic is difficult at best.

Re: Malthesitic Fantasy Universes These are very valid points. I feel that a maltheistic setting would only really work if the deity was weak enough or non-committed enough to the point that the PCs, and at least a good chunk of the populace, felt like it could be eliminated. If the deity is really strong or has the vast majority of society under its thumb, then the PCs have a snowball's chance in hell to actually do anything about it.