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Messages - MadAlchemist

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16
DFRPG / Re: Canim statting
« on: October 14, 2014, 07:05:30 AM »
I'm hacking together custom Furycrafting powers, and I could post an example of the basic rule structure along with, say, Windcrafting, but, well, they're sort of terrible. And they're absolutely not balanced against all the other Powers, because I built them specifically for a Codex Alera game.

Should I post them?
I think the answer there is: Why not? We are kinda' geeking out about this already. The more ideas we have to look at the better.
No two suggestions so far have been that similar so I'm really curious to see what else could be done to model this stuff. Especially since we seem to have widely divergent ideas about power levels around here. Which is pretty useful.
Ohh, were talking Alera as the base setting so why not have a zero or one point power for Alerans allowing them to do the kind of basic effects a channeler could do without stress in one element? The "Yup, I can Firecraft. See, I can light a torch that's covered in pitch already" effects.
Oh and what about the Marat? Echoes and an inhuman level power? Then you need to use minion rules for the...the is a Marat word and it's escaping me.. animal companion? Or maybe Mimic Ability but that's kind of pointless when you can't trade it out. The science-nerd in me says they should be human-ish. Or at least closely related.   

17
DFRPG / Re: Do you like or dislike the fate system and why?
« on: October 14, 2014, 06:43:47 AM »
I've seen D&D games fail just as badly with a poor DM, so I'm not sure that reflects on the game, specifically.  In fact, I've seen quite a few gaming system die with poor GM's.  Maybe I'm unlucky that way.
Oh no doubt, but hey, if you play enough games you will get some bad ones. They are usually short distractions, even if the are sometimes more common than the good ones. A good tabletop game can keep entertaining you and your friends for months or years.
I just don't think Fate is a good starter game for GMing. It take a particular mindset to run this system that is both awesome and hard for some people to grasp. You can't be playing against your players and make it fun for them. (Your villains can and should.) The Dresden books make the cooperative aspect a big deal but not everyone gets that. I think most people need to run a bad game or two (or more) before they can run a good one. Fate is almost beautifully simple to run for an experienced GM, but that simplicity can bite you in the ass if you don't know what you are doing.   

18
DFRPG / Re: Canim statting
« on: October 13, 2014, 06:11:11 PM »
I did some of the work converting DFRPG to Codex Alera a few years ago. I broke down each of the furycrafting elements into a separate sponsored magic. Since there was no evocation available applying the discount for further elements to any after the first. They all have their own built in limitations and all associated powers would have that limitation applied too.
Probably removing the limitation on refinements to foci and allowing the base  foci slots to be spent on integral refinement. That would allow for your basic Aleran peasant to have furycrafting without a bunch of the associated powers dirt cheap. (In the 2-3 Refresh range, Air and Fire I would only give a +1 for the limitation, the rest at +2)
I don't think I would bother putting Incite Effect and Supernatural Senses on there. Incite is wasted refresh if you have casting abilities and the same would be true of Supernatural Sense. Admittedly all of the cool things people do with furycrafting could be accomplished just with the Ritual and Channeling rules they would get to use. Need super strength? Replace your Might. Blow stuff up with your Fire-Fury? Evocation rules. Making slave collars? Earth-Furycrafting Enchanted Item. Gotta fly somewhere? Resources/Athletics/Drive(???) Replacement with Air-Furies. Sensing a furycrafted sword coming at your back? Just roll Lore, it can do that. Sensing non-Furycrafted swords coming at you? Alertness replacement.     

19
DFRPG / Re: Canim statting
« on: October 13, 2014, 05:32:47 AM »
Nope, I'd give them full Inhuman Strength and probably Inhuman Speed too. Hulking Size is also something I can see them having because they're basically an Irish Wolfhound on its hind legs, with musculature in proportion to their height. Varg, as I recall, is upwards of 8 feet when slouching.
Certainly a fair reading of the rules as written. If we are just statting for the fun of it, I agree with giving Inhuman: Strength, Speed and Toughness to just about every Canim, plus the Canim physiology power too make up for the rest. Still wouldn't give them hulking size, having always envisioned that as being for things that would fill an average sized room. I think they could make some use of human tools too and Hulking Size prevents that. 
As for relative strengths, we don't have any cannon to make use of as a baseline. Do we stat that fury enhanced strength as Inhuman or Supernatural? What about a skill replacement for Might and if so, at what value?
Supernatural Senses might explain the bloodline-scent thing, but do we know if all Canim can do that?
I'd go conservative with the baseline and leave a lot of room to fiddle with individual coolness.     

20
DFRPG / Re: Canim statting
« on: October 13, 2014, 03:40:05 AM »
Given the somewhat vague memories I have of Codex Alera I'd go for the sprinter stunt perhaps with an extra +1 and a requirement of empty hands over Inhuman Speed. Maybe just a base Canim power built just for them.
I don't see them with hulking size, they really aren't that much bigger than a Irish Wolfhound. So big, but not so much hulking. I would cobble together the appropriate bits of Echoes and Claws. I'm not even certain I would put full Inhuman Strength in the Template, depending on the refresh level of the game and weather or not any players want to play one. Advantages of mass and such could just be tags or invokes on their high concept. I would certainly put any of the Inhuman building blocks except Recovery as appropriate and available. They do die and wounds linger.

My attempt; Canim Physiology (-2 Refresh)
Requirements: A High Concept that states you are a member of the Canim species.
Beast Senses. Canim have particularly keen senses (Someone who remembers better than I can fill in what senses) Whenever it seems reasonable that you’d have some sort of beast-born advantage of the senses (for example, a keen sense of smell while making an Alertness or
Investigation roll), you get a +1 on the roll.
Quadruped Sprint. Whenever a Canim has both hands free they can sprint on all fours gaining a +2 to their Athletics for that purpose. 
Natural Weapons. You have claws and teeth that do +1 physical stress
on a successful hit. This bonus stacks with any advantages due to Strength abilities or other powers or stunts that boost the damage of a Fists attack.

21
DFRPG / Re: Do you like or dislike the fate system and why?
« on: October 11, 2014, 07:57:24 PM »
I'm a big fan of the Fate system in general. I've played pen and paper RPGs for... Many, may years. The cooperative storytelling aspect fits my style of game well. It's probably second only to Deadlands(Classic) on my list of most loved game systems. I actually shamelessly borrow from the ideas of both of those games when I use either. The Fate chip rewards for Deadlands are a little easier for me to use even in Fate. So when I GM Fate I award fate points less for my compels than for playing your aspects in ways that enhance the stories in addition to the general self-compel type awards.   
That said, with a poor GM it fails fast and hard. If your GM doesn't keep the Fate points rolling you can stagnate quickly.
My worst tabletop game was a Dresden Files game. The rare few compels that were offered were poorly thought out. We started with 8 refresh and my Camp Kaboom Warden got offered one compel in three sessions of play. When we tried skills every single one of our skill tests were put at our rank +1. When we tried to capture a rouge Wizard the GM conceded without giving anything up and auto-escaped. Even our supposedly helpful NPCs, the contacts we made up during city creation, forced us to wade through an actual minefield just to talk. Essentialy making everything that makes Fate a good system pointless and our characters incompetent.
Every system has trouble with bad GMs but the lack of hard and fast rules for everything (Like D&D) magnifies those issues. Kind of reminds me of seafood; Done well delicious. Done poorly terrible.

22
DFRPG / Re: Spells and more spells. Chain Challenge
« on: October 10, 2014, 01:11:54 AM »

Water social defensive maneuver
Replace all of the sounds in your ear with the sound of running water, leaving you blissfully unaware of the annoying person talking at you.
Kemmlerian Necromancy armor style shield.

23
DFRPG / Re: Modular Abilities?
« on: October 07, 2014, 07:02:52 PM »
The way I have interpreted Modular Abilities was a predetermined pool of available powers for that PC. I have allowed discounts for particularly limited versions, for example;
Player Alice wants to make a character that can borrow some animistic traits from the natural world. She does not want this to extend so far as to make the changes visible, so she selects the full physical building block set up to inhuman, Pack Instincts, Echoes of the Beast, Cloak of Shadows and (Super)natural Sense. I drop the surcharge by one for this pool and we have a reasonable power. 
Player Bob wants to make a Physical Adept biomancer in a high Refresh game. Mythic levels in the building blocks are being restricted to Major NPCs and maybe one per PC if they have an appropriate High Concept. So Bob selects the full pool of creature features, Beast Change and physical building blocks up to supernatural. Pays the base two Refresh for this setup.
Either way I, as the GM, know ahead of time what they can take and so do they. If they want to have a catch for available toughness powers that is chosen when they buy Modular Abilities and can apply it to the toughness portion of their pool. I do let them apply Recovery at any time but the Catch still matters, even retroactively. Any custom powers need to be pre-approved before going on the list, updates to the list at milestones. I even allow pre-selected stunts that fit physical alterations.

24
DFRPG Resource Collection / Re: Custom Power List
« on: October 05, 2014, 06:50:29 PM »
@Hick Jr.
Given access to this power I could completely break the balance of a low power game.  At "up to your waist" starting with 7 refresh you can pull a full extra refinement from the limitation.
If I particularly felt like being mean to my GM I would make a Spirit caster so I never need another element. Get 4 Refinement + Evocation for 6 refresh then only spend one of those refinements on the blank refinement. Double the crack if you are playing a high refresh game. All without giving up anything concrete, I can still do everything base Evocation can do.
I'd say you are better off going with one of the Superior_____ sponsored magics, skipping evocation entirely, with your specializations put into thaumaturgy then Evo-Thauming to blast. No wasted anything.

25
DFRPG / Re: Spells and more spells. Chain Challenge
« on: October 03, 2014, 06:38:17 PM »
Seelie Magic block, applicable to bullets cuz' "a block is a block"

Petal Shield: A radiant sunflower springs from the caster's hand orienting on attacks like a normal flower would orient on the Sun, continuously repairing any damage done to it until it is entirely destroyed (the block is overcome) or the caster ceases to power the effect and it withers away.

Earth Evocation attack with a sci-fi spin.

26
DFRPG / Re: Water Magic like water bending
« on: September 25, 2014, 07:01:00 AM »
It all depends on what your player wants to get out of it. If she just wants to use her environment to add flavor to her effects no mechanics are needed, being a water-mage gives her the capacity to do that without extra problems. If she wants advantages above what the basics of magic do you have options;
Invocation for Effect of her high concept to counter magical effects not normally covered by countermagic would be appropriate. Particularly since it is setting appropriate and used base mechanics.
If she wants to be extra effective at countermagic (and you are ok with stunts affecting magic) She could get a stunt giving +1 power and +1 control when she is countering with actual water at hand. I think that is mechanically sound enough.

27
DFRPG / Re: Spells and more spells. Chain Challenge
« on: September 22, 2014, 05:28:50 PM »
Well considering that foxfire is the phosphorescent light emitted by certain fungi on decaying timber.  How about using water magic to transform their clothing into a carnivorous fungus that glows as it devours their flesh?

Hephaestus Sponsored Attack spell, (must create something mechanical not just fire magic.)

Open a small portal to Hephaestus' realm and ask one of his automatons to punch your opponent for you.

non-lethal fire evocation attack. 
 

28
DFRPG / Re: Spells and more spells. Chain Challenge
« on: September 16, 2014, 09:24:40 PM »
Metal Mental attack: Brittle Mind- Forces your opponent's thoughts to take on the rigidity of iron causing them to ramble off on a pointless tangent or completely shatters their ability to concentrate at all if taken out.

Winter Scene Maneuver

29
DFRPG / Re: Spells and more spells. Chain Challenge
« on: September 16, 2014, 07:21:23 PM »
Everything in the zone gets wet and slippery like a greased pig making it difficult to hold on to anything.


Power 5 zone border: fire

Flames and burning debris whip around the caster in a squat tornado, leaving the eye of the effect in eerie stillness.

Weapon 7 Evo-Thaum attack (Any)

30
DFRPG / Re: Bardic Sponsored Magic
« on: September 06, 2014, 07:33:14 AM »
Spitballing it I might do this
Sponsored Magic: Music of the Skald -4
You have been immersed in the traditions of the Skald, memorizing thousands of songs and poems. Many of which contain kernels of ancient lore. You have been trained integrate complex vocal components into your spellcasting and few could describe your works as anything but enchanting. You are the truest of bards.
Sponsor: None or many
Agenda: The gathering of stories, creation of epic stories, and sharing of knowledge are central to the lifestyle. If you are sponsored by some being that being's agenda. If self sponsored you may take some less practical actions purely because it would make a better story.
Evocations always involve sound of some kind. Most closely mimicking Spirit evocations of the flashy light and sound variety.
Rituals often function like Psychomancy, bolstering allies with songs and tales of great heroism or destroying someones self-confidence with biting satire. Clever bards can recite stories to to piece together historical mysteries or call attention from otherworldy beings by singing of their deeds and glories.
Evothaum: Any effect that can be accomplished with Music of the Skald may be cast with the speed and methods of Evocation.
Extra benefits: Bards can sing or play an instrument as a supplemental action to perform a maneuver applicable to their casting that is also useful in social conflicts.   

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