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Ragnarok

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Posts posted by Ragnarok

  1. Cloak of Belief (Faith)

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: Cloak of Belief (Faith)

     

    Tie-dye?

     

    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."

  2. The Hero System is bland and over complicated

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated

     

    I know a lot of people who feel this way' date=' but I have to wonder how many would actually use the settings? Going back to highschool, I have never played in any game that used the systems setting as is. I have never played a D&D world that was not home made. I have never played a "Champions" game or "Greyhawk" game or a "Star Frontiers" game. I have played a lot of different systems with a lot of different people but never played the given setting they had. Is this uncommon?[/quote']

     

    I think only once did I play a D&D game via the canon setting, and that was Eberron. In my experience, GMs have basically taken the rules and the stats from the book and made their own plotlines.

  9. The Hero System is bland and over complicated

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    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.

  10. Campaign Building Blocks: General Musings

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: Campaign Building Blocks: General Musings

     

    - Number of known spells is determined by [(PRE/5) +4]

     

    Should that be INT not PRE?

     

    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.

  11. Campaign Building Blocks: General Musings

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    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?

  15. Rapid Clotting

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: Rapid Clotting

     

    IMO it's an absolute solution' date=' with no finer grained control. I suppose you could use an Activation Roll, but otherwise any tuning is just going to have to be gut feel rather than being systematic. However, it does provide a good guideline for the maximum cost such an ability should reach before becoming ridiculous.[/quote']

     

    I understand what you're getting at. Though when you think about it, a clotting ability is pretty absolute. Since it's an "automated" bodily function, there really is no player control.

  20. Companions of an Uncertain Fate

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: Companions of an Uncertain Fate

     

    I like the lower Skills, it will make those few skills that do eventually go higher seem to be worth much more, and if each Character spreads that out across different skills you'll truly see Niche Shine - the guy who is uber-stealthy will be so without needing an insane roll.

     

    If you do want more success, I suggest a more liberal approach to positive modifiers. Here's one idea: the more specific a character is when making a Skill Roll, the more bonus they can get. Especially 'soft' skills like Interaction and Intellect; as example "I'm going to talk my way past the guards" vs "I'm going to chat up the guards about local events, to gain their confidence, and see if they're the type to take a bribe" -- both could be Beaurocratics or Charm Rolls; but the second could get bonuses, and possibly a Synergy from Bribery based on the players description.

     

     

    Not saying the Player needs to go into detail - after all sometimes we want to play the smooth-talking rogue when we can barely type our own names - which is why we buy the Skills, but reward players for clever ideas more often. Sometimes even behind the scenes (after the roll and the player sees a failure that might actually be a success).

     

    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.)

  22. Companions of an Uncertain Fate

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    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.

  24. Not D&D

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: Not D&D

     

    I don't know if I completely agree with the tone of those three points.

     

    1) Religious orders that revered concepts like "the Light," or "the Force," or somesuch would still be "false gods" to someone who was RL religious. Easier to drop the religious overtones entirely, which means dropping reverence as a facet of the campaign. So long as the abstract concept is given the attributes of a god (i.e., created the world, judges people, provides absolution, etc.) then it's a "false god."

    2) Magic is a perfectly valid substitute. Reading The Wheel of Time series, although they have the religion of "the Light," the way some of the characters treat "the One Power" makes it seem quasi-religious in theme, but nonreligious enough to make a decent substitute.

    3) Explaining the supernatural without magic or religion is unnecessary. Look at a series like The Lost Room or Warehouse 13 or whatever. There's no satisfactory explanation given. There doesn't have to be -- as long as something preternatural works in a certain fashion, people will (by their very nature) attempt to exploit that Item or Process for personal gain.

     

    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.

  25. Malthesitic Fantasy Universes

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: Malthesitic Fantasy Universes

     

     

    The problem is that you need to have a game-world reason for characters to hope and believe things can get better. In effect, you are casting the heros as nihilistic god-slaying revolutionaries fighting against everything. The entire priestly caste and nobility, having got into their privileged class by buying into the powers the gods pass on to those who feed them pain and blood, are going to fight to the death to prevent their own extinction, the more so if it's a one god, one city-state set-up (which is what I was working from).

     

    When every man's (and god's) hand is going to be turned against them, the PCs are going to powerful evidence that things could be different and better (and that's better in the felicitous sense, not just the peaceful nonexistence offered by nirvana or some similar end to identity and sensation). I found it all too easy to reach a condition where the player would find it challenging to care at all about what happened in the world, beyond simple destruction on as large a scale as could be arranged. And if the players aren't going to care, then it's a lousy world to play in.

     

    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.

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