tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80144813939657754742024-02-20T06:39:43.554-07:00The Cobalt KoboldMr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.comBlogger194125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-87097887454122028512017-09-17T16:10:00.002-06:002017-09-17T16:10:25.738-06:00New Site, New BlogFor anyone checking this out: I've moved to a new site for my Starfinder campaign and blogging activities. You can find my new blog at <a href="http://www.rpgcampaign.com/blog">http://www.rpgcampaign.com/blog</a>.<br />
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Thanks for stopping by!<br />
<br />Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-50707788500323140492017-08-19T10:54:00.000-06:002017-08-19T10:54:35.826-06:00Starfinder<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--ZZmcCTryTw/WZhrhi2O70I/AAAAAAAABVU/MUMCKOPRUT0wFFb3Yc8gaiocsn5ln3XjwCLcBGAs/s1600/2017-08-08%2B20.33.37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--ZZmcCTryTw/WZhrhi2O70I/AAAAAAAABVU/MUMCKOPRUT0wFFb3Yc8gaiocsn5ln3XjwCLcBGAs/s320/2017-08-08%2B20.33.37.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Got my copy of the new Starfinder Core Rulebook and... I am super excited to play! Trying to find a group of players in Seattle, surely that won't be too hard, right?<br />
<br />
If you have interest in space adventures and think having a bit of meat on your gaming bones is ok, check it out: <a href="http://paizo.com/starfinder/">http://paizo.com/starfinder/</a><br />
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I like the ideas and mechanics evolutions from the prior 3.5 branch. Most of the rules engine is similar; however, there are some great updates - simplified attack of opportunity rules, no more "blender mode" 8-attack rounds where 6 of the attacks have almost no chance of hitting, and a more universal approach to spontaneous spellcasting.<br />
<br />
My approach to the campaign setting will involve downplaying divine themes, making it more of a "Highway to Heaven" nod/grin approach than overt power. I also intend to downplay extraplanar themes. For instance, the "Abyss" in my campaign might be extragalactic space. Devils might be a specific grouping of aliens from a frightening, hellish solar system with an expansive military conquest. So on.<br />
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Overall I'm looking forward to trying this out, and I might even report on it a bit here! Happy gaming everyone!<br />
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<br />Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-67428985038765184032015-03-04T09:58:00.002-07:002015-03-04T10:05:57.976-07:00Space Combat House Rules, v2After playing a little with the <a href="http://blog.cobaltkobold.com/2015/01/star-wars-space-combat-house-rules-and.html">house rules</a> posted previously, there's some problems I want to address. In no particular order:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Consistency & Complexity. Using different mechanics make everything harder to remember.</li>
<li><i>Gain the Advantage</i> is still too slow and cumbersome, and almost no one used it, even my NPCs. RAW is even worse; mathematically it's always better to fire instead.</li>
<li>Faster speed doesn't matter enough. In order for risk/reward to matter in difficult terrain, there must be a definitive benefit to traveling at a higher speed. Otherwise the smart pilot just drops to speed 1 whenever possible.</li>
<li>The following should all matter in space combat: Speed, Handling, Silhouette, and Pilot skill. These are in addition to regular combat properties, like Armor, Defense, etc.</li>
</ul>
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My new idea is to make <i>Evasive Maneuvers</i> and <i>Stay on Target</i> use Handling. Combat checks already include Silhouette, and I'll add a little dash of Speed in there to help cover that.<br />
<br />
Pilot skill is always the hangup, and my solution is to bring <i>Gain the Advantage</i> back to an action, and then juice it up a bit to make it more appealing.<br />
<br />
So, without further blabbery, here's version 2 of my house rules for Star Wars space combat in <i>Edge of the Empire</i> / <i>Age of Rebellion</i>.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Perform a Combat Check</span><br />
<b>Action</b><br />
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As per the core rulebooks, except that relative speed is also taken into account.<br />
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Increase the difficulty once if the target is moving 2 or more faster than the firing vessel. Likewise, decrease the difficulty once if the target is moving 2 or more slower than the firing vessel.<br />
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<i>(Design note: it isn't a huge difference, but everything that helps speed will help make the choice on risk/reward in battlefield terrain more interesting.)</i><br />
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<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-size: large;">Gain the Advantage</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<b>Action</b></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Pilot Only:</b> Yes</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Silhouette:</b> 1-4 <i>(both vessels involved)</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<b>Speed:</b> 3+<br />
<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">This maneuver represents the constant, frantic give and take of a dogfight between small craft. To execute this maneuver, the pilot makes a Piloting check, with a base difficulty set by speed, as indicated in the core rulebooks. This action can only be performed within Short range of the target.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">If successful, the pilot may choose which of the target's defense zones is being targeted with attacks made by his own craft, and all such attacks are upgraded once. Furthermore, the pilot of a vessel with the Advantage can select which arc of the target his vessel is in, for purposes of attacks from that vessel.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br />
The pilot retains the Advantage until one of the following:<br />
<ul>
<li>The crafts are Medium range or farther apart from each other, indicating one or both craft have withdrawn from the fight.</li>
<li>The pilot breaks off, voluntarily relinquishing his Advantage as an incidental.</li>
<li>The target succeeds in a <i>Gain the Advantage</i> check on the pilot's vessel. The target's dice pool is formed normally and then increased in difficulty once. Each time the Advantage changes hands without being broken, the difficulty to perform this check increases once, with no upper limit on the difficulty.</li>
</ul>
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Triumph or 3 advantage on this roll can be used to trigger an automatic weapon hit from one weapon, as if a single success had been rolled on the attack.<br />
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<i>(Design note: ok, so GtA starts back at the RAW with some range clarifications. I've added in a defense feature, determining arc for the enemy, which makes sense in space combat based off of aerial dogfighting. I've also added in an attack component to help mitigate the opportunity cost, using a model similar to the Astromech bonus activities in the new Ace supplement. Also - I will likely rule that Adversary counts against this action.)</i><br />
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<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Evasive Maneuvers</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Maneuver</b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Pilot Only:</b> Yes</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Silhouette:</b> 1-4</span><br />
<span class="s1"><b>Speed:</b> 3+</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Evasive Maneuvers reflects a pilot’s efforts to avoid incoming fire. Executing Evasive Maneuvers adds a number of setback dice to all attacks or <i>Gain the Advantage</i> checks made against the craft equal to the craft’s Handling, with a minimum of 1. </span>This bonus lasts until the end of the pilot’s next turn.</div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">All attacks or <i>Gain the Advantage</i> checks made by a craft performing this maneuver are increased in difficulty once.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br />
<span class="s1"></span>
<i>(Design note: this effectively adds a craft's handling to its defense.)</i></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Stay on Target</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Maneuver</b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Pilot Only:</b> Yes</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Silhouette:</b> 1-4</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<b>Speed:</b> 3+</div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">This reflects a pilot’s concentration and his ability to shut out combat related stresses and distractions to make sure a target is hit. All attacks or <i>Gain the Advantage</i> checks from the pilot's craft gain a number of bonus dice equal to the craft’s Handling, with a minimum of 1. This bonus lasts until the end of the pilot’s next turn.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">All attacks or <i>Gain the Advantage</i> checks made against a craft performing this maneuver are decreased in difficulty once.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<i>(Design note: this effectively adds a craft's handling to its offense.)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
</div>
Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-72454575880794611662015-02-08T09:10:00.001-07:002015-02-08T09:10:42.651-07:00Star Wars: 3D Animation CrawlerI did another Star Wars crawler for our Edge of the Empire game. This time, I took it <i>even further</i> and did some 3-d animation sequencing.<br />
<br />
It was a lot of fun working on this and I have a whole new appreciation for what goes into feature films now. The "fight" sequence, as brief and amateur as it is, took about 1 hour of my time per second of final footage.<br />
<br />
Enjoy!<br />
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<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/118977101" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/118977101">Star Wars: Rogue Giant</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/cobaltkobold">Mr. Blue</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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<br />Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-37286551672999198842015-01-19T16:52:00.002-07:002015-01-19T17:34:54.503-07:00Star Wars: Space Combat House Rules, and a new Scroller<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Within the context of ship-to-ship combat, I want to make the piloting skills more interesting and useful in <i>Star Wars: Edge of the Empire (Age of Rebellion, Force and Destiny, et al)</i>; right now I view them as only useful in asteroid fields or such, and while that’s cool, I want to see them used more in combat. Abstraction is great for this game, but I want the pilot to have a skill-based effect on dogfighting.</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">Additionally, I want to slightly alter how a ship’s Handling and Speed affected ship combat. Flying a more maneuverable ship should be advantageous. However, I do not want to over-complicate things, I want to keep combat resolution fast, and I want to keep the baseline design spirit for the game as much as possible.</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">So, I have sought the smallest set of changes possible for these and other minor design goals, like getting rid of speed prerequisites. Here's the new rules for Gain the Advantage, Evasive Maneuvers, and Stay on Target.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Before that, though, here's my new video star wars scroller for the next adventure, which I once again made with Adobe After Effects.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/116940371" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/116940371">Star Wars: Rogue</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/cobaltkobold">Mr. Blue</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Gain the Advantage</div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Maneuver</b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Pilot Only:</b> Yes</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Silhouette:</b> 1-4 <i>(both vessels involved)</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">This maneuver represents the constant, frantic give and take of a dogfight between small craft. To execute this maneuver, the pilot makes a Piloting check, opposed by the target's Piloting check. Each craft’s Handling is factored in to the roll. If the target’s speed is slower, a bonus die is added for each difference in speed. If the target’s speed is faster, then a setback die is added for each difference in speed.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">If successful, the pilot may choose which of the target's defense zones is being targeted with any attacks made by his own craft. Furthermore, for every two successes beyond the first, attacks made against the target by the pilot's craft are upgraded once. These bonuses last until the end of the pilot’s next turn, unless the target succeeds at a Gain the Advantage maneuver against the originating craft prior to that.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><i>(Design note: higher-level combat can now have higher-level modifications. Making it a maneuver instead of an action allows the pilot to still do something, like fire, in a single-crew craft. Yes, maneuvers generally shouldn't have checks, but they do occur from time to time in other situations.)</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Evasive Maneuvers</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Maneuver</b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Pilot Only:</b> Yes</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Silhouette:</b> 1-4</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Evasive Maneuvers reflects a pilot’s efforts to avoid incoming fire, collision, or other calamity. Executing Evasive Maneuvers adds a number of setback dice to all attacks made against the craft equal to the pilot’s Piloting skill, or the craft’s Handling, as chosen by the pilot. A smaller number can be chosen, if desired. This bonus cannot exceed the craft’s current speed, and lasts until the end of the pilot’s next turn.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">All attacks made by the craft performing Evasive Maneuvers gain a number of setback dice equivalent to the number of defensive setback dice.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><i>(Design note: using setback dice benefits specialists with the ability to eliminate them; also, I don’t believe that flying evasively should increase a gunner’s despair chance.)</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Stay on Target</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Maneuver</b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Pilot Only:</b> Yes</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Silhouette:</b> 1-4</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">This reflects a pilot’s concentration and his ability to shut out combat related stresses and distractions to make sure a target is hit. All weapon checks from the pilot's craft gain a number of bonus dice equal to the pilot’s Piloting skill, or the craft’s Handling, as chosen by the pilot. This bonus cannot exceed the craft’s current speed, and lasts until the end of the pilot’s next turn.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">All attacks made against the craft performing this maneuver are upgraded once, and the attacker may choose the defense zone being targeted.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><i>(Design note: the penalty effectively increases the chance of a critical hit on the straight-flying vessel, which seems appropriate, so I kept the general penalty similar to RAW.)</i></span></div>
Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-13864067496631300022014-09-30T12:30:00.000-06:002014-09-30T12:41:17.565-06:00The Secret of Gand<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yh-uy_W9F58/VB724-iZfhI/AAAAAAAABIY/6HUG8hp-9p0/s1600/phantom%2Binterlude.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yh-uy_W9F58/VB724-iZfhI/AAAAAAAABIY/6HUG8hp-9p0/s1600/phantom%2Binterlude.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
In the last adventure, I made a static image of a <a href="http://blog.cobaltkobold.com/2014/09/phantom-interlude.html">Star Wars crawler</a> (see above). Of course, one of my players who shall remain Anonymous decided to criticize me for not making it animated.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<h4>
Challenge Accepted.</h4>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here's the crawler for my next Edge of the Empire / Age of Rebellion adventure, called "The Secret of Gand".</div>
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/107316699" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/107316699">Star Wars: The Secret of Gand</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/cobaltkobold">Mr. Blue</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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<br />
Yea, I realize that I misspelled one word, but I didn't feel like redoing the render and upload. Let's see who can find it first.<br />
<br />
I did this video with a combination of Adobe Illustrator and Adobe After Effects. Obviously I stole the GHTROC-720 (I have no idea the original source, despite trying to google for it), and anyone that didn't grow up in a barn knows that I stole the audio. Hopefully Disney will overlook it.<br />
<br />
<br />Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-55397159841015652192014-09-21T10:25:00.000-06:002014-09-30T12:30:32.102-06:00Phantom InterludeI only had 3 players this weekend, so I created a side quest for them. Since this is Star Wars: Edge of the Empire, I went ahead and made a crawler image in Adobe Illustrator.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yh-uy_W9F58/VB724-iZfhI/AAAAAAAABIU/tLJgPgyJviE/s1600/phantom%2Binterlude.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yh-uy_W9F58/VB724-iZfhI/AAAAAAAABIU/tLJgPgyJviE/s1600/phantom%2Binterlude.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Of course I had at least one person ask why I didn't animate it. Sigh. MAYBE NEXT TIME I WILL DAMMIT.<br />
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<br />
<a name='more'></a>For the adventure itself I made myself a <a href="https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scapple.php" target="_blank">Scapple</a> flow. Scapple is one of my all time favorite programs for this sort of work because it's super-intuitive and I don't have to worry about the program - just what I'm putting in it.<br />
<br />
Here's the adventure flow.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kFsYAryUjq0/VB73z3RchUI/AAAAAAAABIc/Q6mI1rgZ8AI/s1600/phantom%2Binterlude.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kFsYAryUjq0/VB73z3RchUI/AAAAAAAABIc/Q6mI1rgZ8AI/s1600/phantom%2Binterlude.png" height="280" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
It was a little on the rails but I tried to at least give some options along the way. And the party, of course, made up a couple of new options (like trying to find an armory that had explosives in it) so I let them wander a bit as they desired. I stressed the dangers of wandering around too much on a star destroyer, even with their prototype holo-disguises.<br />
<br />
All the prototypes were prone to fail when despairs were rolled. This really only happened once - the engines on the skiff froze up and they almost rammed the star destoyer at full speed before the party mechanic got it fixed.<br />
<br />
I pre-built some of the encounters most likely to come up and threw the basic notes into a spreadsheet.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-twNpZOBC4qQ/VB763keD-vI/AAAAAAAABIo/hVPdGgsLi54/s1600/Phantom%2BInterlude%2B_encs.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-twNpZOBC4qQ/VB763keD-vI/AAAAAAAABIo/hVPdGgsLi54/s1600/Phantom%2BInterlude%2B_encs.png" height="98" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
All in all we had a fun day, and as a reward IsoTech gave the party an engine upgrade for their regular ship!<br />
<br />
<br />Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-47797520924569311012014-09-05T09:26:00.000-06:002014-09-05T09:26:02.624-06:00Example of One-Check combat resolution<div class="tr_bq">
In between sessions, our group was having so much fun that we ended up continuing the adventure by email. Most of this was discourse, minor actions, exploration, etc. But then the party got to a big battle scene. <i>Star Wars: Edge of the Empire</i> has a mechanic for one-check combat resolution, so I decided to use this mechanic and carry the story forward.</div>
<br />
Spoiler Alert: This is a scene from <i>Beyond the Rim</i> (with some of my own modifications), so if you haven't played that yet and are likely to be a player, you might want to skip this post.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<h3>
The Setup</h3>
<br />
Later, as day turns to orange-brown dusk, Norta fetches the party. "Hey, you ever seen a Jawa trade party? Got a few of their skiffs coming in now. Come on, let’s see what they have to trade! Maybe they’ll have something we can bolt on to that rust bucket you call a ship."<br />
<br />
Over at alcove number two, three repulsor-lift skiffs are float-docked, and a bunch of jawas are frantically waiving everyone over. One skiff is piled with parts and equipment that look to be from starships and vehicles. "Oooh, I hope they have that multi-phase capital transformer I’ve been looking for!" says Norta. The second skiff has all manner of crates, tanks, and other containers; the third has various droid parts.<br />
<br />
Lots of folks are headed over when the wookie catches a smell on the foul wind that raises his hair a bit. <i>Trandoshan</i>. He starts to roar, but it’s too late - Norta is already on a skiff, as one of the jawas pulls out a blaster from his cloak and shoots. Norta’s instincts let him swat at the weapon, but he still goes down. The jawas throw off their cloaks, revealing them to be a variety of shorter aliens - sullustan, mostly. Trandoshans jump out from the crates and junk piles with heavy weapons. One of them croaks out, "Yav sends his best!", as he opens fire.<br />
<br />
Comm links light up as the rest of the base is apparently under attack: it seems like a well coordinated assault.<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Action Declarations</h3>
<br />
I asked each player to declare a primary skill for the battle, and a secondary skill. This is a little more complex than the rules in the book, but I felt it would add welcome complexity to a large scene. Each player also had to explain what they were generally doing with that skill. My examples were:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>"Brawl; I try to punch them in their faces."</li>
<li>"If no one is around to punch, then I'll use athletics to setup improvised defensive points for allies."</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
I have 5 players:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Groz, a wookiee hired gun</li>
<li>Duunrader, a twi'lek soldier/leader</li>
<li>Monty, a human pilot</li>
<li>Feeva, a rodian slicer/mechanic</li>
<li>5-0, a droid bounty hunter</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
The Roll</h3>
<div>
<br />
I rolled checks for each of their declarations. While doing so, I added in boosts and setbacks as appropriate for the situation and their desired activities, difficulties and upgrades for the actions themselves, etc. The key is that each skill check happens only once, and the rest is narrative explanation.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I also made the decision that since the scale of the battle was larger, I would multiply the wounds and strain from failure/threat dice, helping to reinforce the risks in this fight. I also made sure at least one challenge die was present for each roll to represent the overall challenge of this fight, but also because I knew any despair would add good flavor to the results.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When rolling one-check combats in SW: EotE, it is assumed that the party will win. The rolls are to determine how well they won, and who had the greatest impact in the battle. As I went, I took advantages and dealt with them dramatically, frequently converting them to boosts for other party members.<br />
<br />
Here were the results:</div>
<ul>
<li>Duunrader</li>
<ul>
<li>Leadership 6 success, 1 triumph, 1 threat</li>
<li>Ranged Heavy 3 failure, 2 advantage</li>
</ul>
<li>Groz</li>
<ul>
<li>Grenades 2 threat</li>
<li>Vibroknife 5 success, 3 advantage</li>
</ul>
<li>Feeva</li>
<ul>
<li>Computers 2 success, 1 advantage</li>
<li>Mechanics 1 success, 5 advantage</li>
</ul>
<li>Monty</li>
<ul>
<li>Gunnery 1 failure, 1 despair, 8 advantage</li>
</ul>
<li>5-0</li>
<ul>
<li>Ranged Heavy 3 success, 1 threat</li>
<li>Perception 2 failure, 1 triumph, 2 advantage</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
The Result</h3>
<br />
The story these rolls generated:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
The Yiyar clan forces made two key mistakes: they underestimated the IsoTech defenses, and they failed to secure their escape route. And they pissed off the wookie, so that’s four mistakes. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Right as the battle started, Duunrader’s leadership instincts took over. With Norta down, Duunrader was the only command voice, and he helped turn a rout into a powerful slow-retreat defense. The IsoTech folks knew the ins and outs of the base, and Yiyar, being mostly brutes, hadn’t done their homework, counting on the shock of a surprise attack to win. Duunrader made it his purpose to prove them wrong. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
His efforts to inspire were aided by a crazy wookie, who followed his wildly inaccurate grenades in on foot, brandishing nothing but a small vibroknife. He seemed absent any comprehension of mortal danger as he stabbed the jawa-killers over and over. Later, he barely even seemed to remember it all, no doubt due to the adrenalin overdrive. 5-0 swore he saw the wookie foaming at the mouth, but as usual no one believed him. 5-0 also swore that Duunrader hit absolutely nothing with his blaster, and actually, pretty much everyone agreed on that. “Suppressive fire”, he said… sure. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Of course, it also helped motivate everyone when a starfighter came up and starting shooting at the invaders from behind. The first time Monty tried to fire the Z-95’s weapons, a console in the cockpit exploded all over him. The weapons could still fire, but the aiming systems were totally off and he hit a whole lot of nothing. Still, having starfighter lasers blasting from behind are a great way to incentivize troop movements, and he moved a bunch of the clan forces directly into the strongpoint of the hastily formed IsoTech defenses, boosting their efforts significantly. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Where Monty’s attacks couldn’t reach, Feeva’s traps took over. Some hastily erected explosives, falling beams, and tripwires harassed the clan as they tried to follow the organized retreat of the IsoTech forces to their decided defensive points, and that made for easier pickings. She also activated the automated defense turrets outside the base, quickly reconfiguring them for infantry targets, taking out some of the reinforcements before they could enter the various base points. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
5-0 killed quite a few clan forces with his newly acquired IsoTech X14 light assault blaster, although he accidentally set off a few of Feeva’s traps a little early. Easy to go crazy with such awesome firepower. At one point, he completely missed a squad of sullustan sneaking up on him, but they tripped over one of Groz's undetonated grenades (he forgot to pull the pin) and blew themselves up. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Eventually it was clear even to the Yiyar that the IsoTech defense was superior, and they started to retreat. As they fled, with Monty’s lasers and Feeva’s turrets gently yet persuasively encouraging them to move quickly, they ran straight into a <i>real</i> jawa skiff. Now, jawas are normally more flight than fight, but these jawas pulled out blaster pistols and killed <b>every</b> fleeing attacker. A stoic jawa in a jet black cloak stood on the skiff and watched as his brown-robed brethren finished them off. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
The IsoTech forces did suffer numerous casualties, and the party wasn’t exempt from wounds. Duunrader took 6 wounds; Monty took 2 wounds and a crit (avg: Head Ringer); 5-0 took 4 wounds. Duunrader and 5-0 both took 4 strain, and the great and powerful Groz took 8 strain. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
But the joy of victory was undeniable as the IsoTech defenders cheered.</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-6701582866579292052014-08-18T21:45:00.001-06:002014-09-05T09:26:34.000-06:00Star Wars Silhouette GuideWe recently played <a href="http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=232&esem=1" target="_blank">Star Wars: Edge of the Empire</a> for the first time. It was great fun, and the system has a lot of potential for future play.<br />
<br />
I've seen some confusion about silhouettes from some folks. In SW: EotE, the silhouette is the abstracted size of the object/creature in question. It ranges from zero to ten. There is no separate scale for starships versus people; this is an exponential scale.<br />
<br />
Here's a brief description of each silhouette, along with some examples.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<table><tbody>
<tr><td><h3>
Silhouette 0</h3>
<br />
Astromech or smaller, such as Yoda, bogwings, or mouse droids.</td>
<td><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tHkvX34_GDo/U_Ky3VFUDII/AAAAAAAABGA/bl05QXCSlls/s1600/astromech.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tHkvX34_GDo/U_Ky3VFUDII/AAAAAAAABGA/bl05QXCSlls/s1600/astromech.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/donsolo/2679509656/">Ѕolo</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com/">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><h3>
Silhouette 1</h3>
<br />
Human-sized, like most humans. Also rodians, droids, and whatever the hell this thing is supposed to be.</td>
<td><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uf-IIk6G4Us/U_K4FOXkiuI/AAAAAAAABGQ/OQ8Ggdb40FI/s1600/darthvader_hellokitty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uf-IIk6G4Us/U_K4FOXkiuI/AAAAAAAABGQ/OQ8Ggdb40FI/s1600/darthvader_hellokitty.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bopuc/202385684/">Bopuc</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com/">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><h3>
Silhouette 2</h3>
<br />
A vehicle or creature of mountable size, like a speeder bike, swoop, or bantha.</td>
<td><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T8StshbJsxQ/U_K28wQjogI/AAAAAAAABGI/CVarKYKKaXg/s1600/landspeeder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T8StshbJsxQ/U_K28wQjogI/AAAAAAAABGI/CVarKYKKaXg/s1600/landspeeder.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mharrsch/296788306/">mharrsch</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com/">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><h3>
Silhouette 3</h3>
<br />
Starfighters or very large creatures: Scout ships, Rancors, X-wings, Y-wings, Tie Fighters, and AT-STs.</td>
<td><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gZYkKwhjudk/U_LB-20pPLI/AAAAAAAABG0/BGztmCNo-e0/s1600/tie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gZYkKwhjudk/U_LB-20pPLI/AAAAAAAABG0/BGztmCNo-e0/s1600/tie.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikkosaari/8368243764/">msaari</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com/">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><h3>
Silhouette 4</h3>
<br />
Basically anything roughly the size of the Millennium Falcon. Like the Millennium Falcon.</td>
<td><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BTW35TWp7t4/U_K5SBregiI/AAAAAAAABGY/mCln47DzKM0/s1600/millennium%2Bfalcon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BTW35TWp7t4/U_K5SBregiI/AAAAAAAABGY/mCln47DzKM0/s1600/millennium%2Bfalcon.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/51035610542@N01/475904432/">cszar</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com/">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><h3>
Silhouette 5</h3>
<br />
Large transports, or small capital ships - usually corvettes, like the CR-90 series Corellian Corvette pictured here.</td>
<td><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s-ExhhwjoeE/U_LAmatDuuI/AAAAAAAABGs/Ky34HVYnrLY/s1600/corellian%2Bcorvette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s-ExhhwjoeE/U_LAmatDuuI/AAAAAAAABGs/Ky34HVYnrLY/s1600/corellian%2Bcorvette.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/skippy/214525668/">skpy</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com/">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">cc</a></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><h3>
Silhouette 6</h3>
<br />
Mostly light cruisers and frigates, like the Nebulon-B pictured here.</td>
<td><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o-IM_qoYPKE/U_LDgY-GlvI/AAAAAAAABG8/-WXe13J5ylI/s1600/Nebulon-B.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o-IM_qoYPKE/U_LDgY-GlvI/AAAAAAAABG8/-WXe13J5ylI/s1600/Nebulon-B.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><h3>
Silhouette 7</h3>
<br />
Heavy cruisers, like the Battlestar Galactica. No, wait, that's not right.</td>
<td><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PTgK4ar7K58/U_LGAkiQFEI/AAAAAAAABHI/qNOKnUMgCxg/s1600/ImperialDreadnaught-SWR.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PTgK4ar7K58/U_LGAkiQFEI/AAAAAAAABHI/qNOKnUMgCxg/s1600/ImperialDreadnaught-SWR.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><h3>
Silhouette 8</h3>
<br />
Star Destroyers, and other stuff an average pilot hopes to never encounter.</td>
<td><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-31RxfcPdfhI/U_LGkWMLIFI/AAAAAAAABHQ/ixfdpaQSYcU/s1600/star%2Bdestroyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-31RxfcPdfhI/U_LGkWMLIFI/AAAAAAAABHQ/ixfdpaQSYcU/s1600/star%2Bdestroyer.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><h3>
Silhouette 9</h3>
<br />
Unfathomably large battleships, like this super-star destroyer.</td>
<td><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F_oVObfld_8/U_LHuRsK4RI/AAAAAAAABHY/_TN717tl83g/s1600/Super%2BStar%2BDestroyer.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F_oVObfld_8/U_LHuRsK4RI/AAAAAAAABHY/_TN717tl83g/s1600/Super%2BStar%2BDestroyer.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><h3>
Silhouette 10</h3>
<br />
Small moons.</td>
<td><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R183H-nv6UM/U_K9Dnf6gfI/AAAAAAAABGk/kV4Wc5P3kg0/s1600/death%2Bstar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R183H-nv6UM/U_K9Dnf6gfI/AAAAAAAABGk/kV4Wc5P3kg0/s1600/death%2Bstar.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/stickkim/6972285932/">stick_kim</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com/">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/">cc</a></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-2595875105451750672014-06-08T16:14:00.000-06:002014-06-08T16:14:49.911-06:00Post-play thoughts on NumeneraI ran the <i>Beale of Boregal</i>, which is a pre-built adventure in the core <i>Numenera</i> rule book.<br />
<br />
Well, I say that loosely, because I'm pretty much incapable of running a pre-built adventure. So there were some changes. The basic frame was there, but I changed a bit of the flow - and added quite a bit of story with a couple of the minor NPCs. For instance, I had one of them mentally possessed and speaking in "tongues" (actually a forgotten language) - the party figured out some key vocabulary through trial and error and the results helped drive the journey and the eventual conclusion.<br />
<br />
Yea, I just can't leave well enough alone.<br />
<br />
So how about the game itself?<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zJBYKOc_JZg/U40lQkhPSgI/AAAAAAAABC4/h-pYy8s3YYY/s1600/Wave_1_Cover_Core_Final_09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zJBYKOc_JZg/U40lQkhPSgI/AAAAAAAABC4/h-pYy8s3YYY/s1600/Wave_1_Cover_Core_Final_09.jpg" height="400" width="292" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Worth it?</i><br /><b>Spoiler</b>: Yes.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>My favorite part of the game, hands down, is the setting and its associated theme. I love exploring, even in real life, and so a theme centered around exploring lost civilizations and forgotten secrets is inherently appealing. Combat is fun, fast, and definitely secondary to the story.<br />
<br />
Much of the core book is devoting to setting, but not like <i>Forgotten Realms</i> books. It's not heavy on NPCs and Gods and specifics. It's big on hooks and teasing. I like to be teased, and then in turn tease my players. I'm already offering up the Beanstalk as a hook for future adventure, because it fascinates me: basically a gravometric tower with a manufactured ribbon going up to... somewhere? That somewhere is a place called "adventure".<br />
<br />
To some extent, almost any system could be fun within this setting, but there are a few ways in which the rules enhance the feeling.<br />
<br />
First, they are light. This is not a rules-heavy system. If you can roll a d20 and multiply single digit numbers then you pretty much know the rules.<br />
<br />
Second, the Cyphers, Artifacts, and Oddities are unpredictable, weird, and mostly not duplicatable. I can be inspired to created unusual one-off items and not have to care what happens.<br />
<br />
For instance, in this adventure, one player set off a cellular disruption bomb in the middle of a garden to do two things at once: kill baddies, and find the nonorganic plants. Sweet. Sorry about all that food and stuff.<br />
<br />
Third, characters are vaguely defined to some degree, but the process highly encourages background development and connections to both the world and each other. I haven't seen players do such fun backgrounds for quite a while. And I got to play off of them in the adventure.<br />
<br />
GM Intrusions were a bit hard for me. These are events or situations that arise as sudden obstacles to the protagonists.<br />
<br />
It's easy during a fumble because there's always obvious things to work with. Like, when a guy fumbled a lightning bolt and knocked himself back - right off the roof and onto the ground 20 feet below. Take 2 damage and, more importantly, laugh a bit.<br />
<br />
But coming up with XP-granting intrusions was more difficult and something I need to practice. There's a fine line between "normal plot development" and "GM Intrusion" and finding that line is art, not science. Is that bandit popping up part of the plot, or an intrusion? I couldn't say. I gravitated towards intrusions that made use of character backgrounds and motivations, like dramatically appropriate flashbacks at inopportune moments, or offering a new choice that makes someone stop and think about which course they want to take.<br />
<br />
I'll get better the more I practice, no doubt.<br />
<br />
Sure, these rules could be modified for use in any game system, but then - that would sort of make it this system, right?<br />
<br />
Overall, a good system, worth a look if you haven't already. It's easy to pick up and play with little to no player knowledge of the system, and great for a group that wants a lot of story focus in their games.<br />
<br />
<br />Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-73996335109558974952014-06-02T19:47:00.002-06:002014-06-02T20:46:17.339-06:00Pre-play Thoughts on NumeneraBut first, let me take a selfie: My last <i><a href="http://blog.cobaltkobold.com/search/label/stellar">Stellar</a></i> RPG playtest was interesting. There's some good in there, but there's also a little bit of awkwardness in a couple of areas like covering fire that I must find new ways of addressing.<br />
<br />
After a bit of writer's block on that, I decided I needed to play some stock games again to get exposure to new ideas and see if that sparked some extra creativity.<br />
<br />
I've obtained a couple of new tabletop RPGs to try out, and the first is one I'm sure most people (that would read this blog) have heard of by now: Numenera. I've always been a fan of Monte Cook's work, at least since 2e D&D's <i>A Paladin in Hell</i> and speaking of hell who can forget the slaughterfest that was <i>Labyrinth of Madness</i>?? It was the <i>Tomb of Horrors</i> for 2nd edition (not counting the actual 2e <i>Return to Tomb of Horrors</i> which ironically wasn't really the <i>Tomb of Horrors</i> of 2e).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zJBYKOc_JZg/U40lQkhPSgI/AAAAAAAABC0/PTpKxG8YYlo/s1600/Wave_1_Cover_Core_Final_09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zJBYKOc_JZg/U40lQkhPSgI/AAAAAAAABC0/PTpKxG8YYlo/s1600/Wave_1_Cover_Core_Final_09.jpg" height="400" width="292" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Numenera</b>: Less tombs, more horrors.</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a>First, a reinforcing note:<b style="font-style: italic;"> I haven't played it yet.</b> That will come this Saturday. However, I have worked with most of the party (4 out of 5) to create characters, and spent some time preparing and reading.<br />
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Here's what caught my attention so far.<br />
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<b>Character Creation</b><br />
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AKA "<i>I'm a bumbling fool who gamemasters.</i>" I'm an <adjective/descriptor> <noun/type> who <verbs/focus>. This is one of the more prominent unique features of the game, and it does what it means to, and very well. Thanks to the magic of combinatorics, there are a huge number of characters that can be made with the stock material: 12 descriptors x 3 types x 29 foci = 1044 characters. And there's an "options" book that adds a few more descriptors and foci in case players go through all the stock stuff because the GM threw a squad of dread destroyers at them over and over. (<i>They shoot missiles with a 1-mile range, so good luck with those battleaxes, n00bs)</i><br />
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My campaign will start with:<br />
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<ul>
<li>A learned glaive who controls gravity</li>
<li>A clever nano who rides the lightning (<i>GM Note: I had no doubt at least one player would want to "Ride the Lightning"</i>)</li>
<li>A stealthy jack who explores dark places</li>
<li>A strong glaive who works miracles</li>
<li>An anonymous slacker who waits till the last minute</li>
</ul>
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<b>Theme/Setting</b></div>
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This is the shining star of Numenera from a pre-play perspective: I find the setting stimulating and full of potential. The idea of 8 major epochs rising and falling before this one is fascinating. I described it to my players thusly:</div>
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<b><i>It is the dawn of a new civilization, at the dusk of Earth itself.</i></b></div>
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Some other games have played lip service to the idea that a fantasy game might occur in the distant future, but this one takes it to a whole new level. There is a lot of mystery and history to uncover, which is pretty important, since that represents a major portion of XP the players will gain.</div>
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Yep, no XP for killing monsters. It's mostly earned through discovering things. Game designers and dog owners everywhere like to remind us on the value of positive reinforcement - the act of rewarding desired behavior. In Numenera, the desired behavior is to explore, and everything centers around that.</div>
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<b>Time to Play</b></div>
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I haven't dwelled on the core mechanics here - bracket d20 resolution, Cyphers, and Intrusions - because I want to see those in play before I comment on them.</div>
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Between the setting, theme, and some pretty fun art, I'm jazzed to give it a try. Can't wait until Saturday!</div>
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Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-43873228294180292802014-04-27T09:37:00.002-06:002014-04-27T09:37:28.722-06:00Age of MythologyThis is a little bit of an older game now (which makes me feel even older), but we recently blew the dust off of it. The results were surprisingly fun.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w4zbPZR0tKQ/U10iXc4z72I/AAAAAAAABBY/JgK4TWyoGv0/s1600/AoM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w4zbPZR0tKQ/U10iXc4z72I/AAAAAAAABBY/JgK4TWyoGv0/s1600/AoM.jpg" height="335" width="400" /></a></div>
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The game is based off the (also now old) computer game, <i>Age of Mythology</i>. However, there isn't really any connection beyond the name and some theming elements. While the computer game is in the RTS (real-time strategy) genre, the board game is decisively euro-style resource management.<br />
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Each player has their own board, in which they gather resources and possess terrain. The terrain is generic - mountain, hill, forest - and each tile of terrain comes with a resource type. When collect actions occur, those resource types determine what each player gets.<br />
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Also on each player's board is their city, or buildings, area. Resources can be spent on houses (which enhance production), or defensive buildings, or extra income buildings.<br />
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The overall goal of the game is to collect little red cubes, called victory cubes. This can be done either winning the first battle in a round, or meeting one condition at the end of the game: largest army, most buildings, or built the wonder (a tribute to the wonder victory in the RTS version).<br />
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Yes, an army can be built, but combat is as far away from the RTS version as possible. When attacking another player, a small selection of units are picked secretly from the other combatant, and once revealed, they attack in 1v1 combinations that results, more or less, in an overglorified rock-paper-scissors match. There is a dice pool mechanic here, so that even if player A has a rock and player B has paper, player A still has a chance to win.<br />
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When I first bought the game, I was a little put off at how different it was from the computer version. However, I've come to enjoy it quite a bit in its own right.<br />
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My favorite mechanic is the card deck. Each turn players get to perform three actions. However, their hand has more than 3 cards each turn. At the beginning of each turn, players can select "permanent" actions, such as Build, Recruit, or Explore. These are weak cards, but guarantee the player gets to do something he wants to. After picking those, the rest of the hand is filled out from the random action deck, which is a unique deck to each race in the game (Vikings, Egyptian, and Greek). These cards are all more powerful than the permanent actions, but of course might be drawn at a completely inopportune or non-useful time.<br />
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I really like gambling mechanics, and this one works well. Players inclined to gamble can sometimes execute a powerful win strategy, but of course at times will end up passing or performing a weak action because they can't use their cards effectively.<br />
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Probably the one carryover strategy from the RTS game is early resource production. It pays off to build houses and get terrain tiles as early as possible. The game is limited time (about 10 turns in a 3 player game) so spending the first 2 turns on heavy resource gain is most effective.<br />
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This game won't likely be everyone's go-to game to play, but it has some great positives for anyone that likes resource collection and management games. Anyone looking for the next Axis & Allies is better off looking elsewhere.<br />
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<br />Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-68018423455817738082014-03-29T09:09:00.000-06:002014-03-29T09:09:13.593-06:00Playtesting today...Finally doing another Stellar playtest later today - this one focused on ground assault. I've prepared three characters for the players, as the creation protocols are not yet ready for them.<br />
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Still, while working through the fledgling process, I've already realized there's some things I don't quite like. It was a sort of character creation playtest on my own.<br />
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Mostly, I do like the <a href="http://blog.cobaltkobold.com/2014/03/background-ratings.html" target="_blank">Background Ratings</a> approach, but I think instead of trying to be vague I should just go ahead and specify the background itself. For instance: Academics, Military, Criminal Enterprise, etc. It seems more relatable that way.<br />
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I also need to think more about how characters without the Ground Assault skill will perform in combat. I'm content with a trained military guy being better in general combat, but from a game design perspective, the other characters still need to feel useful, since combat is a reasonably large part of most RPGs. I could come up with alternate approaches for each major grouping (engineers use turrets and droids?), but something tells me that won't work out well in the end and ends up creating massive number of class-equivalent mechanics. Too unwieldy.<br />
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For now, though, I just gave every character some ground assault training, because the point of today's test is to see if the ground assault rules hold up mechanically.<br />
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Meanwhile, here's an inspirational image about the future of space travel.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1faq7S59e3I/UzbhgvMW5xI/AAAAAAAABA0/SH7jdMwKJDk/s1600/spacegirl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1faq7S59e3I/UzbhgvMW5xI/AAAAAAAABA0/SH7jdMwKJDk/s1600/spacegirl.jpg" height="640" width="451" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildtexas/4061903846/">AGeekMom</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com/">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a></i></td></tr>
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<br />Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-69588412817578817612014-03-18T21:47:00.002-06:002014-03-18T21:47:36.248-06:00Combat for Modern and Future RPGsGround combat - or any person-to-person level combat, wherever it occurs - has been quite the puzzle for me in Stellar.<br />
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The main problem with existing system approaches is that they are primarily fantasy driven in their mechanics, even if they are labeled with science fiction titles.<br />
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Hitting people with swords/axes/lightsabers is all very similar, and the mechanics of combat in most tabletop RPGs reflect that. Each character goes in some deterministic order, and their action(s) can be spent with an attack, or a heal, or a (de)buff, or using some item, and then the next character goes. Some games allow for "interrupts", which is an action taken on another character's turn.<br />
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I like those games and have played them for years. For Stellar, I am demanding something else, though. I want it to <i>feel</i> like a modern combat. So what is modern combat?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u3cMrrEiSbE/UykKHpz7izI/AAAAAAAABAc/Fo7BsvSxYZA/s1600/fireteam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u3cMrrEiSbE/UykKHpz7izI/AAAAAAAABAc/Fo7BsvSxYZA/s1600/fireteam.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oops, my finger slipped.<br />
<i>photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dvids/3717410292/">DVIDSHUB</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com/">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a></i></td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: large;">Ranged Weapons</span><br />
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First and foremost, modern and future settings should primarily feature (and focus on) ranged weaponry. Lightsabers are fun, I get it, but they only work because of magic (the "force"). Since I want Stellar to be less about fantasy and more about technical sci-fi, a dude with a glowbat is going to look pretty silly and die pretty fast, no matter what his religious beliefs about midichlorians are.<br />
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Also, most weapons should be fully automatic, or at least capable of that if sufficiently powered.<br />
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And also, there are more indirect fire weapons in modern combat than in historic combat. Virtually every squad in the US Army has at least one grenade launcher attachment for their rifle.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Cover</span><br />
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Simply put, only an idiot fights a modern combat without cover. The battlefields need cover, and the characters need to use it.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Fire Team Movement</span><br />
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Next, basic fire team movement should be a viable and sensible tactic.<br />
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For those without military experience, fire team movement is the process by which a fire team (small group of soldiers) moves forward or laterally on a battlefield. It works like this: one or more combatants lays down suppressive fire, discouraging and/or distracting enemies, while the remainder of the fire team sprints towards the nearest point of cover. That group then lays down their own suppressive fire, allowing the first folks to join them (or preferably pass them, in a sort of leapfrog fashion). In this manner, the fire team can move from cover to cover, with the lowest possible risk for an admittedly lethal situation.<br />
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Try doing this in a game like D&D, and it doesn't work, in any edition. An archer, even if given the perfect position, is incapable of laying down suppressive fire that allows allies movement at a reduced risk.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lethality & Teamwork</span><br />
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I believe this is due to two reasons. First, the damage that archer does is not very lethal on its own, especially at higher levels. Second, despite being on the same team, characters don't really work "together" in any meaningful mechanical way. Sure, I can give someone a buff, or heal them, or ask the GM if I can help lift them up a tall tree, but we feel a lot more like a bunch of individuals instead of a team. In a team, our actions directly affect the success of our mates' actions.<br />
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So, I need to make Stellar weapons more lethal and I need to make players feel more like a football team instead of a golf team.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Some Ideas</span><br />
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These haven't been meaningfully playtested yet, although BabyBat and I have dorked around a bit with them.<br />
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First, <b>HP will be low</b>, on the order of 5 or less per character.<br />
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Second, to provide dynamic padding and fun utility, I'm introducing <b>Powered Armor</b> for ground combat. This can provide a portable power source for shielding and toys, which will have downstream design impact. For instance, a jet pack could use some of the armor's power for enhanced movement. The armor will have limited power for use in each combat, but much like the space fighter combat I've previously discussed, having the ability to regenerate shielding during combat will effectively provide dynamic HP totals. Smart or creative or timely use of power will give players extra tactical options.<br />
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Third, <b>cover is assumed</b>. Out in the open? Then opponents get a bonus to hit you. This flips the normal cover mechanic (take a penalty if target is in cover) and flips it around. It reinforces that you get hit harder and die faster if you walk around casually like an idiot while people try to kill you. Which is true in almost every game, but not as inherently obvious, nor as important with swords as it is with automatic laser rifles.<br />
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Fourth, <b>party initiative</b>. How's that for OSR? It's important, though, because to feel like a team, the team needs to act together. This reinforces that concept and underscores the theme. For initiative, every team member on the same side rolls their ground assault check, and everyone on the team adds their results together. Whichever team has the highest score moves first.<br />
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When a team's turn comes up, they are considered the "offense". Each member can take one <i>action</i>, like automatic weapons firing, or movement. They can declare these in the preferred order as a team.<br />
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One of the actions an attacker can take is "suppressive fire". They declare the area affected by that fire, creating a sort of special zone. This is important because the other team, the "defense", can each perform one <i>reaction</i>. A reaction is a quicker, smaller type of action. Reactions can't ordinarily be used to move, but they can be used to fire a quick shot or drop to the ground (like behind cover). Trick is, if an enemy in a suppressive fire zone uses a reaction that exposes them to the suppressive fire attacker, then the defender is attacked by that suppressive fire. Since lethality is higher, that can be a big risk.<br />
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When the offense is done, then the defense becomes the offense (and vice versa) and it all starts over.<br />
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We'll see how this works in an actual playtest, just as soon as I can get some players together for it.Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-82786746302505515792014-03-09T11:06:00.001-06:002014-03-09T11:06:36.570-06:00Background RatingsI've been toying around with the player-character aspect of Stellar, which up until now is really only a tactical space fighter game.<br />
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<a href="http://blog.cobaltkobold.com/2014/03/classless-systems.html">As mentioned previously</a>, I do not believe class vs classless really affects player creativity. However, I also don't feel constrained to rely on a class system.<br />
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Setting that aside for a moment, I have also spent time contemplating possible attribute models. I found a <a href="http://www.fudgery.net/omnium-gatherum/lag.html" target="_blank">great list of attributes used in various games</a> on Fudgery.net.<br />
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It's like a miniature thesaurus! Except it only has synonyms for Strength, Agility, Hardiness, Intelligence, .... you get the idea. The synonym chosen reflects the flavor of the game. For instance, InvaderZ uses "Meat" and "Brain Meat" as attributes. That tells me quite a lot about the game, at least in theory (I've never played it). Additionally, some games use frequency of attribute type to illustrate desired gameplay. So, if a game has 6 different physical attributes and then one attribute called "Mind and stuff", it is safe to assume physical activities are more prevalent and/or important.<br />
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I confess to being somewhat bored by the prospect of making yet another game that uses these approaches.<br />
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As mentioned in the link at Fudgery, we as gamers usually associate "attribute" with "inherent" or "born with it". In every attribute-based game, eventually someone asks a question like, "If I'm Strength 14, why can't I work out more and get Strength 15?" or "Why can't I study more to get smarter?"<br />
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Good questions.<br />
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Game systems overcome this sort of probing in one of two fashions: either completely ignoring it, or by letting characters improve attributes somehow. Improvement can come over time/experience, or through magic items (which generally just support ignoring the basic question).<br />
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So I asked myself, are attributes inherent to RPGs?<br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: large;">The Meaning of Attributes</span><br />
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I think so, but I believe there is a lot of unexplored variance. Of course no idea is really new, so apologies to whoever has already thought about this, but mechanically attributes serve one primary purpose: to form the character's general concept in our imaginations.<br />
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For instance, STR 17 DEX 6 CON 15 INT 10 WIS 10 CHA 10 immediately indicates to our minds a strong, hardy fighter that probably relies on heavy armor for defense and spends a lot of time trying not to trip on small plants.<br />
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If that character choose Wizard as a class, then whoa - mind blown. Warmage, perhaps?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DfNaZ7hx8bk/UxybqK-Fk9I/AAAAAAAABAE/ZHBlKsNBl8Q/s1600/cybermage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DfNaZ7hx8bk/UxybqK-Fk9I/AAAAAAAABAE/ZHBlKsNBl8Q/s1600/cybermage.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cybernetically Enhanced, of course<br />
<i>photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27594459@N04/4981052667/">Anna Fischer</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com/">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a></i></td></tr>
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So, are there other ways to achieve the basic purpose of attributes, to form a general character concept, but with a different mechanical feel?<br />
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Even excluding pure descriptive formats, I believe so. Oh, and I'm sure a pure classless skill system would claim it does this, but I want to reserve skills for future design use.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">BR (Background Ratings)</span><br />
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I'm going to experiment with this idea: A<i> basic character concept can be expressed by their background experience</i>.<br />
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If I spent 20 years in the Marines, does that tell you something about me?<br />
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What if I spent 10 years in prison?<br />
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Ok, so it is a different mindset, but let's try it out. I've come up with the following list for Stellar:<br />
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<ul>
<li><b>Academics</b> (<b>AC</b>), or the pursuit of knowledge through schooling or independent study.</li>
<li><b>Combat Training</b> (<b>CT</b>), or learning how to kill others, frequently as a result of military or paramilitary training, but not always.</li>
<li><b>Command Experience</b> (<b>CE</b>), or time spent leading others, whether in a military, business, or other concept.</li>
<li><b>Criminal Behavior</b> (<b>CB</b>), which can indicate time spent committing crimes, time spent catching folks that commit crimes, or borderline activities such as espionage.</li>
<li><b>Social Interactions</b> (<b>SI</b>), or time spent networking, partying with the elite, being an actress, or any other involvement with celebrities or the social elite.</li>
<li><b>Luck</b> (<b>LK</b>), which illustrates a background that would have been much less interesting if not for spectacular timing or improbable occurrences.</li>
</ul>
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If I let players put points into each of these, can we describe a wide variety of archtypes?<br />
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<ul>
<li>Mad Scientists: High AC, High CB</li>
<li>Han Solo: Some CT, Some CB, High LK</li>
<li>Judge Dredd: High CT, High CB</li>
<li>Ender: Some CT, Some CE, Some CB</li>
<li>Average Fortune 20 CEO: Some AC, Some CE, Some SI, and a crapload of CB (well this is my interpretation anyways)</li>
</ul>
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Seems reasonable so far. If faced with a High CT, High CB character I can immediately envision either a mob hit man or the policeman that eventually captures him, or a number of other possibilities, but I won't be thinking of a mad scientist. So I am slightly reliant on a brief description but it doesn't need much.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Contacts</span><br />
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One enjoyable side effect of using BRs is that they lend themselves to a quick and easy system of generating contacts. If a PC is in a situation where it sure would be nice if they "knew someone", like say needing to know an expert in Cybernetics, they could roll against the associated BR (Academics in this case). A successful check - however that is defined - would indicate that the PC does, in fact, know the Professor of Cybernetics at the Jupiter Institute of Biotechnology. Open hailing frequencies...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Skills</span><br />
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For me, skills represent actual expertise in a specific field. I have a list of about 20 for Stellar, and these are not low-granularity like Jump and Climb and StandOnMyTippyToes. They are larger granularity, for instance:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Life Sciences</li>
<li>Physical Sciences</li>
<li>Engineering/Salvage</li>
<li>Linguistics</li>
<li>Starship Operations</li>
<li>Business/Economics</li>
<li>Ground Assault</li>
</ul>
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These skills are associated with one or more BR. Having a higher BR in, say, AC, means that more Academic skill ratings can be bought during character creation, like in Life Sciences or Physical Sciences.<br />
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This is all a loose concept right now but feels worth some pursuit, testing, and refinement, so we'll see where the rabbit hole leads.<br />
<br />Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-18706266523228070682014-03-05T10:46:00.000-07:002014-03-05T10:46:36.632-07:00Classless SystemsEvery so often - say every 12 minutes or thereabouts - I see an RPG bragging about their classless system. Standard text follows:<br />
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"It's better than classes because YOU CAN PLAY ANYTHING YOU WANT!"</div>
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"It's like other RPGs except YOU CAN PLAY ANYTHING YOU WANT!"</div>
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"It uses skills which are way better than classes because YOU CAN PLAY ANYTHING YOU WANT!"</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kz4QxwCMy7U/Uxdb0xYq46I/AAAAAAAAA_0/yFuYDqs6ugw/s1600/many+eyes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kz4QxwCMy7U/Uxdb0xYq46I/AAAAAAAAA_0/yFuYDqs6ugw/s1600/many+eyes.jpg" height="320" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I want to play a beholder. What skills for that?<br />
<i>photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/estherase/317660299/">estherase</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com/">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>This reasoning is a bit silly to me. I can play an OD&D fighter and play something no one at the table has ever seen before. Or I can play GURPS 4e and be a completely boring dwarf fighter clone.<br />
<br />
Not that there's anything wrong with that. I have lots of friends that are dwarf fighters. We all do. But admit it, there's a little bit of a yawn-factor there. Unless maybe the dwarf has four extra eyes because he was cursed by the gods for falling asleep on watch when his cavern got overrun by orcs. Oh and he is partially insane from never being able to sleep again. Also hallucinations. Yep.<br />
<br />
See, being able to play what I want, and do it well, is a player skill unrelated to the system. I could play the above dwarf with only cosmetic variations and no mechanical changes.<br />
<br />
Of course, the GM has to be willing to help out at times for the greatest effect. I wonder if the underlying cause for the (Classes == Restricted Gameplay) theory is really just GMs or DMs that don't relax enough and let people explore wacky ideas. I mean, it's their game, so they can restrict gameplay as much as they want, presuming players still want to play in their campaign. But being a rules nazi is unfortunate from my perspective.<br />
<br />
In other words: If a GM plays too strict and no one is around to play it, are they really a GM?<br />
<br />
Remember <a href="http://blog.cobaltkobold.com/2012/02/1-rule-of-game-design.html">Rule #1</a>: <b>The game must be fun.</b><br />
<br />
There are design pros and cons to classes, and also to skill driven systems. Skill systems tend to be a lot easier to min-max, for instance, which might be a pro or a con depending on your preference.<br />
<br />
So, the moral of this story is to relax, enjoy playing, and be creative in methods of expressing creativity. And for the love of all that is good and holy in the multiverse, please stop blaming classes for a lack of creativity at the game table.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-78504726302064491992014-03-04T14:44:00.000-07:002014-03-04T14:44:55.432-07:00Gremlin with a CrazyFor those of you not following <a href="https://twitter.com/GremlinWidCrazy" target="_blank">@GremlinWidCrazy</a>, you really should. Also don't forget me, <a href="https://twitter.com/CobaltKobold" target="_blank">@CobaltKobold</a>, which is not nearly as funny, although I did post a picture of <a href="https://twitter.com/CobaltKobold/status/440218175787900929" target="_blank">Butt Stallion</a> recently.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X0tx4PsAJ8g/UxZI_XZxciI/AAAAAAAAA_k/NNvcmnZdM6A/s1600/gremlinwidcrazy.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X0tx4PsAJ8g/UxZI_XZxciI/AAAAAAAAA_k/NNvcmnZdM6A/s1600/gremlinwidcrazy.jpeg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
There once was a gremlin from Mars
Who kept all his toeses in jars
A banana a day
Kept the earwig away
Oh look! Earth has rawrs... Yup<br />
— Gremlin With A Crazy (@GremlinWidCrazy) <a href="https://twitter.com/GremlinWidCrazy/statuses/440869191491411968">March 4, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Spider in the dust
Ivy up my nose
Who can say where mouse is?
Ask Bat, I think he knows... Yup<br />
— Gremlin With A Crazy (@GremlinWidCrazy) <a href="https://twitter.com/GremlinWidCrazy/statuses/439488339214090240">February 28, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Once upon a melon
My foot was really smellin'
I took my sock
And checked the clock
Hoo Boy! There's just no tellin' ... Yup<br />
— Gremlin With A Crazy (@GremlinWidCrazy) <a href="https://twitter.com/GremlinWidCrazy/statuses/438187895564677120">February 25, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-268012140905751992014-03-02T20:25:00.000-07:002014-03-02T20:25:13.235-07:00Stellar Space Fighter ConstructionI decided that I needed to start letting players in my playtests make some creation choices. Since all I have in <i>Stellar</i> so far is the space fighter combat, it made sense to start with space fighter construction.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6wo6MDRVqvg/UxPoN-QP9GI/AAAAAAAAA_U/lcncgsBcZ3g/s1600/spaceship+construction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6wo6MDRVqvg/UxPoN-QP9GI/AAAAAAAAA_U/lcncgsBcZ3g/s1600/spaceship+construction.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonaparty/5727205086/">Louis K.</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com/">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">cc</a></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Other systems vary widely in their approaches, but appear to fall into two general approaches:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Buffet</b>: "Pick from a series of menus"</li>
<li><b>Scientific</b>: "Get a fancy calculator"</li>
</ul>
<br />
<i>AeroTech</i>, for example, was scientific. It started with tonnage and ends with equations like 10 (2AF + 1.5SI) - 20Cn - 10Cy - 5(HP - HC) .... well you get the idea. Some of us have fond memories of making spreadsheets or even custom apps to make our <i>AeroTech</i> or <i>BattleTech</i> pieces. Pretty much only crazy people did it by hand. Some of those crazy people may have gone on to make LARPs.<br />
<br />
Since that violates the more abstracted spirit of <i>Stellar</i>, I'm heading more down the Buffet route. However, it is still a roleplaying game, and to me that fundamentally must include killing stuff and upgrading stuff.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">EQ (Equipment)</span><br />
<br />
Part of a ship's form factor is how much equipment it can mount. This will be represented by an EQ rating.<br />
<br />
EQ isn't used in combat; it is used when configuring a space fighter. Maybe the players will have a bay full of weapons at some point, but only be able to mount 2 or 3 for a specific mission. That approach starts to bring out the RPG a bit more.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Starting Space Fighter</span><br />
<br />
A starting space fighter has a basic form factor that includes:<br />
<ul>
<li>Space & Life Support for the Pilot</li>
<li>HP 5</li>
<li>Basic Fusion Drive: MV 4/7, SH 1/1, PP 1, EQ 4</li>
</ul>
<br />
And then can choose one of the following secondary bays:
<br />
<ul>
<li>Small Cargo Bay: Carry a small amount of cargo</li>
<li>Co-Pilot (space/life support): May access all systems unless Primary Pilot overrides them</li>
</ul>
<br />
Then they can choose a single power systems modification from the following basics (a power system can only have 1 mod, but they become more powerful and/or interesting at higher levels):<br />
<div class="p1">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Basic Shield Capacitor: SH +1/+0</li>
<li>Basic Thrust Enhancer: MV +1/+1</li>
<li>Basic Equipment Reserve: EQ +1</li>
<li>Basic Secondary Generator: PP +1</li>
</ul>
<br />
Then, EQ can be spent on the starting weaponry choices:<br />
<div class="p1">
</div>
<ul>
<li>EQ 1: Mk-1 Particle Cannon: WP 1F5</li>
<li>EQ 2: Mk-1 Laser Cannon; WP 2F5</li>
<li>EQ 2: Mk-1 Phase Cannon; WP 3sF5</li>
<li>EQ 2: Mk-1 Rail Gun; WP 2hF8</li>
<li>EQ 2: Mk-1 Energizing Beam Array; WP 2+sF3</li>
<li>EQ 4: Mk-1 Large Laser Cannon; WP 4F6</li>
</ul>
<br />
For now, turret weapons cost 50% more EQ (rounded down), and changing to a rear arc reduces range to 50% (round down).
<br />
Recall that WP 1F5 means that the weapon does 1 die of damage, Forward Arc, and Range 5. The new nomenclature (s, h, and +s) represents another detail of the weapon.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>s</b>: The weapon only damages shields, and is ineffective against ships without shields (or whose shields are already down).</li>
<li><b>h</b>: The weapon only damages hulls, and is ineffective against ships with shields up.</li>
<li><b>+s</b>: The weapon is designed to charge a target's shield capacitors, basically "healing" the shields by an amount equal to the hits rolled in the attack.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Character Sheet</span><br />
<br />
The character sheet now has all of this on it:<br />
<ul>
<li>Name: Jan Duo</li>
<li>Space Fighter Combat Skill +2</li>
<li>Fighter, "The Centurion Hawk":</li>
<ul>
<li>Basic Form Factor: 1 pilot, 1 cargo</li>
<li>HP 5</li>
<li>Basic Fusion Engine</li>
<ul>
<li>Mod: Basic Shield Capacitor</li>
<li>EQ 4</li>
<li>MV 4/7</li>
<li>SH 2/1</li>
<li>PP 1</li>
</ul>
<li>WP</li>
<ul>
<li>1F5 Mk-1 Particle Cannon (EQ 1)</li>
<li>2hT8 Mk-1 Rail Gun (EQ 3)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
And, of course, I had another playtest, this one a 3-player test, and it is coming along nicely. One of the players was new to the game and picked it up right away, playing in the first 5 minutes. However, I can tell that learning the ins and outs of tactics in this ruleset will take some time. Controlling several enemy fighters as the GM, and trying to gang up on individual player targets, proved challenging.<br />
<br />
I like that.<br />
<br />
Sometimes I would dare the players to get closer so that my turreted shield ship could have more impact. Sometimes I would scatter in different directions to make them choose who to go after. It's a form of emergent complexity, and I consider it a good sign of things to come.<br />
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<br />Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-57340453581002273342014-02-26T18:32:00.000-07:002014-02-26T18:32:43.755-07:00M3 LarpOK, I know, Larps and stuff.<br />
<br />
But our distant cousins who refuse to accept the righteousness of tabletop gaming deserve love, too. Well, every once in a while.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>I know the folks making <a href="http://www.m3larp.com/blog/" target="_blank">M3 Larp</a>. I made them a logo which they are now using, so go check out their site if you want to see what a new Larp looks like.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YuV6VS-FBps/Uw6T8yoSacI/AAAAAAAAA_E/ebkOKtrYM0U/s1600/M3+Logo+_L+_G+_T-26.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YuV6VS-FBps/Uw6T8yoSacI/AAAAAAAAA_E/ebkOKtrYM0U/s1600/M3+Logo+_L+_G+_T-26.png" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
After I made the logo, I promptly blew it into pieces with Adobe After Effects. Because EXPLOOOOOSIOOONS?!<br />
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<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="500" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/87725691" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe>
<br />
Direct Vimeo Link: <a href="http://vimeo.com/87725691">M3 Larp (Animated Logo)</a><br />
<i>Sound Effects from: <a href="http://www.freesfx.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.freesfx.co.uk</a></i><br />
<br />
<br />
Enjoy!<br />
<br />
<br />Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-90281330083844592372014-02-18T19:47:00.000-07:002014-02-18T19:47:56.555-07:00Stellar Animated BadgeI decided to play around with Adobe After Effects and animate the Stellar Badge.<br />
<br />
Here it is.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="275" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/86943556" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<br />
Direct Vimeo Link: <a href="http://vimeo.com/86943556">Animated Stellar Badge</a><br />
<i>Sound Effects from: <a href="http://www.freesfx.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.freesfx.co.uk</a></i><br />
<br />
It's my first foray into AE, so be gentle!<br />
<br />
<br />Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-59646825740906495462014-02-17T10:28:00.001-07:002014-02-17T10:28:27.031-07:00Stellar Space Fighter Combat, Part 2Last time I talked about <a href="http://blog.cobaltkobold.com/2014/02/stellar-space-fighter-combat-part-1.html">the basic goals and the Initiative Phase</a> of space combat in <i>Stellar</i>. This time, I'll talk about the Movement phases. I've done multiple playtests to arrive at this version of the rules: some on my own, some with 1 other player, and some with 2 other players.<br />
<br />
Thanks go out to PintoBean and BabyBat for playing!<br />
<br />
To recap, Initiative was the first phase, and the design is to have a Movement Phase and a Weapons Phase after that. This structure allows me to have players more frequently active/involved, and make initiative dynamic yet simple by not having to know everyone's roll before the action starts.<br />
<br />
In play, this structure also aids the "feel" of space combat.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jahWz3dYdC0/UwI54K8WqPI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/ctmSatHAS3Q/s1600/playtest+2v6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jahWz3dYdC0/UwI54K8WqPI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/ctmSatHAS3Q/s1600/playtest+2v6.jpg" height="238" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two players vs. six goons, and a whole lotta d12s</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Movement Phase</span><br />
<br />
I'll argue that the biggest difference in feel between a ground combat game and a flying combat game is in movement rules. While ground combat is generally better if there is some dynamism to positioning, it frequently involves finding a good position and then staying there.<br />
<br />
On the contrary, flying combat (jets, space fighters, dragons) is better when in constant motion. Dogfighting jets are great fun to watch, or else <i>Top Gun</i> would have completely failed. Name one good hovering helicopter dogfight. The famous space battles - <i>Star Wars</i>, <i>Star Trek</i>, <i>Babylon 5</i>, <i>Battlestar Galactica</i>, even <i>Starship Troopers</i> - all involve rapid motion through an ever-evolving explosive environment.<br />
<br />
My approach to movement must involve constant movement, so I make a rules mandate: all fighters must move their entire speed each round. Speed of 5? Go on and move 5. Speed of 12? Get down with your bad self and move that phat 12. Some of that speed can be spent on facing changes, if desired.<br />
<br />
Flying a space fighter is pretty much strapping a pilot to a rocket and hitting “go”. Though designed to be as maneuverable as possible, flying a space fighter is not the same as driving a car. These rockets are designed for a specific speed rating (through solid frame design), and their precise engineering makes that speed very reliable. If it didn't work that way, then ships would fly out of control, too fast to have the reliable maneuvering capability needed for combat. (Note: <i>A good game designer can explain anything - it might be a little weak science-wise but it is plausible enough to move on.</i>)<br />
<br />
<b>Constant motion.</b> Some readers might feel apprehensive about any forcing action, but having played this several times now on a board, it works out great and the players agreed this feels like space combat without having a lot of extra accounting.<br />
<br />
I didn't start here, but I've ended up here. I tried several variations of movement first, most notably including inertial movement that makes space feel more "realistic". Dangerous word, that. Sure, having a facing quaternion that varies from a motion vector is "real". But it is hard to track, and hard for players to think about unless they actually fly space shuttles for a living. And if that's your gaming group, you are AWESOME and you can leave my site now.<br />
<br />
So, each craft has what I now call a MV (Maneuverability) rating, which is a number like 5, that represents its normal speed. Facing changes (60 degrees) cost 1 MV, as does moving forward 1 hex.<br />
<br />
I want flexibility in a pilot's control, to aid in creating unpredictability of play, so I also have a PP (power points) rating, which is also a number, like 3, that represents discretionary power a pilot can use. In the picture at the top of this post, there are two green poker chips. Those represent the discretionary power that each player has (1 each in this test).<br />
<br />
Every round during initiative, PP is restored to its maximum. Use it or lose it.<br />
<br />
One of the things that PP can be used for is modifying MV. Each PP spent can adjust MV either up or down - so spending 1 PP on a MV of 5 might adjust the MV up to 6, or down to 4, just for this turn.<br />
<br />
I use poker chips for PP, so that players can move chips from the pile once it has been spent. Each round during initiative, they just dump it all back into one pile. Things move fast here, there's no time for penciling and erasing. PP can also be used for enhancing other equipment, like weapons and shields, but I'll get to that later.<br />
<br />
There might be a time, especially plot-related, for turning off the main engines. So, I will have some rules for that, which involve using PP to accelerate, decelerate, and turn, without the main engines being on. Might be useful to avoid sensor detection at times.<br />
<br />
Even though this is space, and therefore extremely high speeds should be obtainable, it simply isn't feasible to continue accelerating up to speeds of 20 or 30 hexes (or faster) per round and still use game boards. I must impose some sort of limit on speeds to keep the rules coherent. Therefore, I give each fighter an Overdrive value.<br />
<br />
A ship's MV rating might look like:<br />
<br />
MV 5/10<br />
<br />
This means that its normal speed is 5 (unless modified by PP), and its Overdrive rating is 10. If more than 5 PP is spent on MV, or if some other circumstance accelerates a craft past 10, then its safety limit is exceeded. The pilot has to make a skill check or lose control, spinning in random directions until they can regain control. I did it this way so that a pilot can choose to take the risk, but it carries clear danger.<br />
<br />
As discussed in initiative, the losing rolls (Success Segment 0) go first in this phase. That's contrary to normal initiative rules, but key here, due largely to the constant motion rule. If a pilot wins initiative, they now get to see where everyone else moves to before they move. In other words, winning initiative means that the pilot more accurately predicted their opponent's movement for the round.<br />
<br />
Losers can try to predict, too, but won't be as successful. So winning initiative means a pilot is more likely to get their enemies targeted with weapons.<br />
<br />
So far my character sheet might look like:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Space Fighter Combat Skill +2</li>
<li>Fighter:</li>
<ul>
<li>MV 5/10</li>
<li>PP 1</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
Next in this series, it will be time to bring weapons and shields online and start blowing stuff up!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-20625331883494172802014-02-16T12:44:00.000-07:002014-02-16T15:30:22.725-07:00Stellar BadgeFelt like drawing today, so I made a badge for Stellar in Adobe Illustrator. I wouldn't go as far as to call it a logo, but maybe. Mostly I wanted some sort of identity look for now.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R29q1_sitos/UwEOAZcJqoI/AAAAAAAAA9o/838pv1BrKnU/s1600/stellar+logo+_M-03.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R29q1_sitos/UwEOAZcJqoI/AAAAAAAAA9o/838pv1BrKnU/s1600/stellar+logo+_M-03.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>© 2014 Cobalt Kobold Publishing</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There are 4 components here, layered from back to front. I started with an empty 200pt x 100pt artboard.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
First is a big black rectangle that covers the artboard.<br />
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Second is a grunge vector pattern (all the little white dots), fully opaque.<br />
<br />
Third is a lens flare, but with no rays and no path, and then I cmd-selected and deleted part of the central object so that only a 75pt "core" was left. Then I made that 25% opaque to fade it out.<br />
<br />
Fourth is the text, which is 36pt <a href="http://openfontlibrary.org/en/font/xolonium" target="_blank">Xolonium</a>, yellow, 60% opaque, and has a radial 25pt zoom blur applied.<br />
<br />
I messed around a lot making this and it still only took an hour or so. Except that Illustrator crashed, and Illustrator has no auto-save, so I ended up making it twice...<br />
<br />
Oh well :)<br />
<br />
EDIT: After my original post, I made some changes (which is now on the left hand side of the website). I basically made the text completely opaque and made it a different shade of yellow.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-54972147843015429262014-02-15T13:05:00.000-07:002014-02-17T12:25:16.007-07:00Stellar Space Fighter Combat, Part 1One of my big issues with a lot of sci-fi tabletop RPGs is that the space combat seems to be an afterthought. Frequently, the rules either exactly match the ground combat, or they seem to be a minor optional ruleset.<br />
<br />
For me, a sci-fi game must include fun space battles.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g_Cn2RztT1c/Uv-yoAoZ_iI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/SPohURDQrjg/s1600/fighters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g_Cn2RztT1c/Uv-yoAoZ_iI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/SPohURDQrjg/s1600/fighters.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Once upon a time, this was sci-fi.<br />
<i>photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdevers/5777541180/">Chris Devers</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com/">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
So, I'll focus on Space Fighter Combat rules first for <i>Stellar</i>. In this, I won't concern myself at all with how the rules might transpose to either of the two other combat scenarios: Ground Combat, and Capital Ship Combat. That will come later.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Overall Goals</span><br />
<br />
What do I want this system to feel like?<br />
<br />
I'll take some of my biggest gripes and turn that frown upside down. Or, in plain english, I'll take the things that annoy me the most about some other systems and assume the opposite of those things is what I want the most.<br />
<br />
First, I don't like slow combats. Slow as in real-time. 3e D&D was notorious for hours-long combats that felt like they dragged on forever. I used to have players that timed their downtime between actions. Sometimes it exceeded 30 minutes. OUCH!<br />
<br />
Sure, that's partly the players' fault. But not entirely.<br />
<br />
Second, I don't like lots of accounting. Tracking lots of numbers is painful. This could happen when lots of modifiers to rolls happen - add +2, subtract -4, add +1, subtract 3, take half damage, <i>wait who am I attacking again?</i> - or when there are hit locations with different HP totals, or even ammo tracking. Ugh.<br />
<br />
Third, and space-specific, I don't like it when space combat feels like ground combat. This applies to how the theme has to feed into the mechanics.<br />
<br />
So my top goals are:<br />
<ul>
<li>Fast turn rotations</li>
<li>Low accounting requirements</li>
<li>Must feel like space fighters</li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Parts of Combat</span><br />
<br />
Fundamentally, any combat system must address these basic aspects:<br />
<ul>
<li>Initiative, or order of play</li>
<li>Movement, or how to position on the battlefield</li>
<li>Attacks, or how to hurt enemies</li>
<li>Defenses, or how not to be hurt</li>
<li>Distinctiveness, or how everyone doesn't feel the same</li>
</ul>
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<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Initiative</span></div>
<br />
Here's a topic with widely varying opinions. For me, an initiative mechanic must match the desired tone of the game. <i>OD&D</i> used very simple party initiative. Later editions used individual d20 rolls. I've used cards for <i>Phoenix</i> (as have some other games). Some games just dictate, or even go around the table. Monte Cook even <a href="http://www.montecook.com/celebrating-40-years-of-dd/" target="_blank">recently posted</a> that he did a rule where people sit around the table in their initiative order.
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<br />
I like individual initiative. It makes combat more dynamic. My problem with most individual-initiative dice systems is not the dice rolling. It's that then everyone has to figure out what that means for actual order: <i>I go first, no wait you rolled higher, no wait I have a better initiative modifier, no wait I didn't see her roll, oh crap we had a tie</i>...<br />
<br />
I demand faster.<br />
<br />
I demand this even though I want to use dice, and have individual initiative.<br />
<br />
In <i>Phoenix</i>, I used cards, because no ties, and I designed them with large print so everyone could see easily. But I want to keep my <a href="http://blog.cobaltkobold.com/2014/02/stellar-mechanics.html">core mechanic</a> intact for <i>Stellar</i>. That's a d12 dice pool with double digits (10-12) counting as successes.<br />
<br />
So, I first make an assumption that characters/pilots will have some sort of skill rating in Space Combat Fighting. This skill will be rated in a "number of dice" used in the dice pool, so a larger number means a higher chance of more successes.<br />
<br />
A skilled jet fighter pilot for the US Navy has a better chance of getting initiative than some crappy 3rd world pilot. So the skill roll must be the initiative roll. Also, Top Guns will say that winning initiative in a jet fight is immensely important, so the result can have profound impact and still feel right.<br />
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More successes on the pool means winning initiative. But in a given combat with some 2d bad guys and 4d good guys, there's going to be a LOT of ties. 0 and 1 are by far the most common number of successes. There is no tiebreak die mechanic that makes sense here.<br />
<br />
So, first I generalize some rules. Party initiative for one or both sides (using that side's best roll) can be called for by the GM, mostly to reduce NPC rolls but also to cover cases where each side is outside gun range and only movement will occur. Doesn't really solve a problem but gives a simplification where initiative is less important. Then I pause for a moment to think about my combat round's structure.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Combat Round Structure</span><br />
<br />
The number of successes on the initiative roll puts characters into "segments". 0 successes segment, 1 success segment, and so on. I make the decision to handle combat in a phased fashion; Initiative, Movement, Weapons. I'll handle ties (pilots on the same segment) within each Phase, the goal being to get out of Initiative Phase ASAP. Honestly, I don't even want to know the results of everyone's initiative roll yet. Another advantage to phased combat is that there is less downtime between each player getting to perform an action.<br />
<br />
For the Movement phase, I'll count segments UP as the GM, so I'll say "0 segment move now". Anyone that rolled 0 successes (the losers) moves. Minor characters and goons will always move before BBEGs on the same segment, who will always move before PCs. PCs can go in whatever order they damned well please. After everyone on 0 has gone, then Segment 1 can go.<br />
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Moving last in aerospace combat is an advantage. Moving last means a pilot already knows where everyone else has moved to, and they can precisely position themselves in the most optimal fashion for the round.<br />
<br />
This has another benefit: noone has to care who got what on the initiative roll. Starting at 0 and heading towards the open-end of "unknown X successes" means that when the last character moves, suddenly everyone knows what the highest number of successes was. So no accounting after the initiative roll, before actions can take place.<br />
<br />
On Weapons Phase, initiative works in reverse. Now that everyone knows the highest number of successes, that segment goes first. In Weapons Phase, all actions on the same segment are simultaneous. So it doesn't matter who within the segment fires first. I'll probably just do the NPCs first. Or not. Doesn't matter. At the end of the segment, damage takes effect and any destroyed ships are eliminated. I'll have to deal with how this works (without accounting excessiveness) when I get to that part of the rules.<br />
<br />
After Segment 0 is done, the round is over, and everyone rolls initiative again.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Next Steps</span><br />
<br />
Now I've got a tentative model for initiative. <a href="http://blog.cobaltkobold.com/2014/02/stellar-space-fighter-combat-part-2.html">Next time</a>, I'll delve into Movement and Attack/Defense, so that I can fill out the other phases of basic space fighter combat.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-50108315461004457852014-02-13T07:52:00.001-07:002014-02-13T08:09:10.270-07:00Graphic Design BooksTim Shorts over at the <a href="http://gothridgemanor.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Valentine Manor</a> asked about books for graphic design and layout. Here's some of my favorites.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mVf9-YNQFj8/UvzXVRDbnyI/AAAAAAAAA8w/diCiOKexCvE/s1600/book_gder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mVf9-YNQFj8/UvzXVRDbnyI/AAAAAAAAA8w/diCiOKexCvE/s1600/book_gder.jpg" height="200" width="163" /></a></div>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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First and foremost, the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Designers-Essential-Reference-Techniques/dp/159253743X" target="_blank"><i>Graphic Designer's Essential Reference</i></a>. This book is creativity put in a box and gift wrapped. Every page contains bunches of ideas for various design & layout elements. One spread has 32 different Initial-Cap treatments (like drop caps). Another has 32 different ways of doing paragraph breaks. Bet most people can't think of that many on their own; I know I certainly couldn't. Basically, whenever I'm trying to come up with a new element, I start here to get the brainstorming going. It also has some "completed" page layout examples, although I find those a little less useful.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ou0amCHruv0/UvzYre2Sd_I/AAAAAAAAA88/hn38XLI2SI8/s1600/book_cmam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ou0amCHruv0/UvzYre2Sd_I/AAAAAAAAA88/hn38XLI2SI8/s1600/book_cmam.jpg" height="181" width="200" /></a></div>
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Next is any color book from PANTONE. I personally enjoy <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Color-Messages-Meanings-PANTONE-Resource/dp/0971401063" target="_blank">Color: Messages and Meanings</a></i>, but there are plenty of others to choose from. Heck, get three or four. There are three main color models to know about in design. First is RGB (Red Green Blue), which is the additive color model used by most computer screens. Second is CMYK (Cyan Magenta Yellow Black), which is the subtractive color model used by most professional printers. Third is PANTONE, which works nothing at all like the others, is proprietary, and isn't even a color model (it is a color space). Products like Adobe support all three of these approaches. Personally, I don't use the PANTONE models in Adobe, but I love their books because they talk about what colors go together. And they have a handy CMYK conversion chart, so I can use my CMYK model.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z7chs9a9a0I/UvzagYVsvBI/AAAAAAAAA9I/2_6_XRvM0R8/s1600/book_wsinye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z7chs9a9a0I/UvzagYVsvBI/AAAAAAAAA9I/2_6_XRvM0R8/s1600/book_wsinye.jpg" height="200" width="164" /></a></div>
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Rounding out the top three (at least the top three I thought of first) is <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/White-Space-Your-Enemy-Communicating-ebook/dp/B009OYZ8CS" target="_blank">White Space is Not Your Enemy</a></i>. It has some good beginner tips and things that made me think critically about lots of things. It covers research principles, a basic "works every time" layout, common amateur errors that I see all the time, elements of design (space, line, shape, size, etc.), grids, organization, typography, color, storyboarding... just all sorts of goodies.<br />
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One last link is <a href="http://www.lynda.com/" target="_blank">lynda.com</a>. This site is full of instructional videos on the technical aspects of using products like InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and many more (not just graphic design). I've had a subscription off and on over the last few years and I highly recommend it for learning the technical skills that allow implementation of a desired expression.<br />
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Enjoy! If you have any of your own recommendations, feel free to leave them in the comments below.<br />
<br />Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014481393965775474.post-35365114353298712852014-02-11T14:12:00.000-07:002014-02-11T14:12:50.416-07:00Stellar Mechanics<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tHdv78KuaD4/UvqDcLkRGRI/AAAAAAAAA8Q/ltXSC7MSroA/s1600/dice_set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tHdv78KuaD4/UvqDcLkRGRI/AAAAAAAAA8Q/ltXSC7MSroA/s1600/dice_set.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mag3737/6266477735/">mag3737</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com/">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
One of the lessons I've learned in the past few years is that I needed to figure out mechanics <i>after</i> I figure out the outcomes.<br />
<br />
For <i>Stellar</i>, I need to get a core mechanic going so that I can explore the rest of the rules. But in the classic chicken vs egg fashion, I need some idea of the rules before I can select a trial mechanic.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">d%? Not this time.</span><br />
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<a href="http://blog.cobaltkobold.com/2014/02/backstreets-back-in-black.html">I mentioned before</a> that I started with percentile dice. That proved unsatisfying.<br />
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When players roll most attacks/checks, my personal philosophy is they should end up succeeding more often than not. This sidesteps a common cause of frustration and helps avoid battles that go on too long.<br />
<br />
To do that with percentile dice, I basically had to up the odds quite a bit, which produced two cascading issues of note:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Not much space for bonuses or level improvements, unless I apply a lot of compensating penalties at higher levels, which I don't care for. Subtraction slows down play enough with a d20, now put a d100 in that mix.</li>
<li>I tend to prefer single-roll resolutions. It's one of the things I really liked with Phoenix. Sure, there are games that play tricks with d% rolls. For instance, the tens digit might mean damage, the ones digit is location. Stuff like that. And that's ok, but doesn't feel as streamlined as I want.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Figuring out the Odds</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
After realizing I was heading down the wrong path (again?), I stopped and took a step back. I always had this idea of d% being the "perfect sci-fi" roll, but it clearly didn't line up with my expectations.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So I got pencil and paper and doodled a bit.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In the midst of the completely non-artistic scribbles, I drew two probability curves. One represented the odds of a PC hitting a generic bad guy, and another of the generic bad guy hitting the PC.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Others may support different philosophies (about many things), but for me, there's no problem with bad guys having different chances than PCs. Part of the cinematic fun in <i>Stellar</i> will be letting the PCs obliterate 20 enemies, instead of always feeling threatened by equal numbers. How many cylons could a main-character's viper take out? Yea. Like that.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OYOg1kK3nOM/UvqNoDXKTkI/AAAAAAAAA8g/Rh9kmR3j-Zs/s1600/hit+odds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OYOg1kK3nOM/UvqNoDXKTkI/AAAAAAAAA8g/Rh9kmR3j-Zs/s1600/hit+odds.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yep. That drawing class is really paying off.<br />
<i>Translation to "human" follows below.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
My curves for bad guys hitting PCs came out something like:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Hits PC around 40% of the time</li>
<li>Crits PC around 5% of the time</li>
<li>Misses about 60% of the time</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And for PCs hitting bad guys:</div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Hits bad guy around 70% of the time</li>
<li>Crits bad guy around 10% of the time</li>
<li>Misses bad guy around 30% of the time</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
They don't add up to 100% because Crits are also Hits. What does a Crit mean? No idea yet, but usually it involves either extra damage, or disabling part of the opponent.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">AnyDice</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As many of you have no doubt noticed, I really love this tool. With it, I can quickly explore large variations in base mechanics and find what fits my desired outcomes.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here's the link to what I came up with: <a href="http://anydice.com/program/3462" target="_blank">http://anydice.com/program/3462</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Or basically,</div>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">output 2d[count {10..12} in d12]</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">output 4d[count {10..12} in d12]</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Which is AnyDice speak for using d12 dice pools, and counting successes for each die that comes up as 10, 11, or 12.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
With a bad guy using 2d, and a PC using 4d, it pretty much exactly fits the curve I was looking for (if you assume that "one success" is a hit, and "multiple successes" is a crit).<br />
<br />
Immediately, story ideas form in my head to support this approach. For instance, it seems very plausible to me that the average X-wing is a little more badass than the average tie-fighter, both in pilot skill and in weaponry.<br />
<br />
The overachiever math students out there probably notice that 10-12 on a d12 is the same as 4 on a d4. So why a d12? Simple: granularity. I want room to play with bonuses. I can give a small bonus like 9's count as successes for a certain roll, whereas on a d4 making 3's count is a huge bonus.<br />
<br />
Also, d12s are more fun to roll and have caused fewer unarmored foot injuries over the years.<br />
<br />
I'm not thoroughly attached to this mechanic yet. Now that I have a working theory, I'll apply it to some rules in the setting and see what happens when I play it out.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Mr. Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07027893907355004146noreply@blogger.com3