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Messages - Cneph

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1
Apocalypse World / Re: Mass Effect: Apocalypse
« on: May 03, 2013, 02:05:02 AM »
Looks cool.  Seems like you've managed a surprisingly good mapping of abilities from the game to, well, this game.  Like you say, the optional battle moves really aren't optional in this hack.

A couple questions spring to mind:
Why do the focused classes get +3 in the primary stat vs the hybrid classes?  Presumably a balance issue?

Is No Shit Pilot a tech or personal move?

Layout thought, on the sheets- as the game doesn't use highlighted stats, is there room to put in the attached basic moves if the highlight box is removed?
The advancement section- as its offset, it could read '...left column before choosing from the right column'?

Some 'balance' thoughts- so take these for what they are worth:
Some racial +1 bonuses will come up much more often, and more importantly can be triggered by player description (e.g Asari) vs say the Quarians, who really don't want to have to use their bonus. :)
Adrenal Rush is way more powerful and flexible than Singularity (not a surprise, as it comes from the slightly powergamey Touchstone) - killing someone disables them for more than one tick.  And yet, the consequences of failure are worse for Singularity.  Maybe consider swapping them?  The Soldier also gets better gear.

Anyway, that's all nitpicking, it looks like a solid hack.

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Thanks.

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Umm, so the link doesn't work anymore?  Are you able to reupload them?  I was reading the interesting current thread (http://www.story-games.com/forums/discussion/18311/apocalypse-world-writing-playbooks) on playbooks on SG and now am compelled to find out which of these describe the hands...

Thanks!

4
Monsterhearts / Re: Meet the Succubus
« on: December 19, 2012, 08:58:14 PM »
... It reminds me a bit of AW's Oftener Right move and I keep thinking a twisted version of that would be cool. Like if someone asks you for advice, you can just tell them whatever. It doesn't have to be good advice or it can be good advice in the eyes of a sex demon. If they follow it they take +1 ongoing towards their goal. If they succeed, you mark XP.

That's almost right...  :D

...With Good Intentions  If someone asks you for advice, you can just tell them whatever. It doesn't have to be good advice or it can be good advice in the eyes of a sex demon. If they follow it they mark XP while you take a String on them.

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So I ran this tonight, excellent fun was had by the Explosive Mage, food cult Nutjob Cleric, Conniving Thief and Twinky Shaman.  They started on the run from the mob/city guard after their last misadventure, escaped (thru fast-talk and fire, a recurring theme) went on a quest for the Ultimate Spell (the Destruction of Magnus Varga), the Last Seed of the Great Oak-en, the Holy Golden Pizza Slice, and stealing said holy item.

In the course of reckless disregard for the safety of themselves and others, and an only partially successful selling out of the party to a Minotaur cultist, they found themselves as sacrificial toppings on the Great Pizza Stone (deep dish) of the heretic sect of food cultists (toppings first, then cheese!)

Things I found tricky, other can coming up with streams of nonsense...
- spouting lore, who says what the lore they are spouting about is? I had the players narrate things, then adjudicated based on the roll.  This may or may not have been correct?
- felt I had to rush in a move to get a clue and just up and told them what the macguffin was (cause the great pizza maker to lose faith). I was running in a just over 2 hour slot, we were failing a lot of rolls, and I wanted to finish up with a win. Or at least a powered up Big Bang that blew everything up.
- I was also trying to fit in as many hearts desires in as possible, which may have been a bit much for a oneshot. But it was a conscious decision, and you do address this in the game text.
- the list of moves are very different from other AW derivatives, much less, well, hard.  I did make people Fall Down where appropriate. I'd need to think about them more, the instincts about which to apply on failed rolls, and when you apply them (a lot of moves specify what happens on failure, do I still remove a clue or whatever?)
- some temptations are easier to invoke than others.  Food and shiny things was easy, The mage self compelled bragging, but Telling Lies?  Less concrete things seemed harder to fit in.

Things I could do better
- I didnt go through guts points thoroughly enough, we missed the use to avoid falling down, which would have made me feel better about that removal of player agency if we'd picked up on it.
-two of the players, one totally new to tabletop rpg btw, wanted to spend more than one guts point at once to boost a roll by 3. In fairness I don't think it says you can't, But I said no.  Also no to the Shaman cursing herself, into a Dragon.  

Things that went perhaps suprisingly well
- no one had seen much, or any, genre anime, and I've only watched a bit, so the alt-sell of silly DND and Diskworld got us through. Though one player had in his head this was a sendup of 12 year olds playing DND, which I guess isn't too far off base.  The character sheets (we only read the phrase out loud, time constraints) moves and flavor text seemed to really get the players into the idea of the characters and genre pretty well, the players enjoyed reading and picking moves.

Things to do again
- prod and poke at the hearts desire until you get something concrete and pursuable.  Then ask more questions.

But, everyone said it was a lot of fun, the players laughed a lot, so I'd like to say thanks for putting this together. A success!

6
Cool, thanks for posting this up!  Looks like you've given some thought to the DM sections and to providing some resources. 

Are you looking for feedback from a read through?  If not, ignore the below. :)
I'm guessing you used a cool font for the headings... Because they don't display in GoodReader on my iPad. E.g. The bit directly under Moves and Dice.
Also, there is a When you actually stop and think, roll 2d6 + Sane move on page 8. Is this space intentionally left blank? ;) That could make some sense...
Could the after 5 advances options maybe be fitted somewhere onto the player reference sheets?  Or on the the generic side?

So really, thats pretty petty stuff.  Nice work.  I'd like to give it a try sometime, if ai can rustle interest in the genre.  Probably should watch some Slayers first, though.

7
So, Randolph the vampire is acting aloof and unobtainable after class, Shutting Down Valerie who is in a roundabout way trying to ask if he's already got a date for the Spring Formal.  He has no Strings on Valerie, Valerie has one on him.  In absence of other modifiers, if Randolph rolls a 7-9, can he choose 'you each lose a String on one another'?  In this case, only Valerie has a String to lose.  Or, does he have to pick that they exchange Conditions, like 'Dateless and Desperate' and 'Smug Prick'?

8
Monsterhearts / Re: Meet the Succubus
« on: June 25, 2012, 04:39:13 PM »
With the Gifts, It feels like there are two skins here, or the Succubus is a specific type of the proto-Dark-power-in-the-flesh one-type-of-Faustian-bargain-offering Demon skin.

The base move of the skin is to be able to offer a Temptation to others, Choose one of Sex, Money, Power, Popularity, Success.  This gives the recipient some advantage in this arena.  People who take up the temptation fall under the Demons power and/or pay a price.  The Sex move is activated when they in some way take advantage of the Temptation- this might be when the price (the Condition) is paid.

But this is probably drifting from your intention and the thread, but I'd be interested in Joes thoughts on a PC mini-Dark-Power.

9
Monsterhearts / Re: Feature-Not-Bug in the Infernals' Unknowable?
« on: June 25, 2012, 03:17:08 PM »
Fair enough. Make the decision to (repeatedly) use violence the hard choice or ugly bargain.

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Monsterhearts / Re: Meet the Succubus
« on: June 25, 2012, 03:15:30 PM »
Hmm, maybe I didn't clearly make my point.  Sure, getting strings on people in return for gifts is a fine representation of gaining power over them.  Mythological demons tempt mortals with various things, vices if you will. Succubi specifically offer sex, and commonly drained or captured something from their victim- life energy and/or/i.e. semen.  If you're adding the faustian ability to grant other gifts, I'd say Infernal Gifts would be the Succubi sex move. Perhaps that's what you are hinting at with 'time and intimacy'.  This is what I meant by a price, I suppose- give yourself to the Succubi in return for... well, usually in the mythology, just the wanton sex.  They are muy sexy, but take something in return for the pleasure.

Succubi seduces you, you have sex.  String gained on you, and the sex makes you feel great.  I could see the partner getting to choose from a list, like lose a condition, heal a harm, get a string on someone else- something to keep them hooked.  But they'd maybe also get a condition like drained or sex addict or similar.  Then maybe the Succubi has additional options to spend a String on people with that Condition.

There might be a productive approach in enhancing Turn Someone On as a move, perhaps adding a mechanical incentive to the target to 'give themselves to you' or making it an additional option on a 10+, with incentive for the target (XP?, but you'd need something for NPCs).

Just my thoughts on the skin.

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Monsterhearts / Re: Meet the Succubus
« on: June 25, 2012, 07:16:43 AM »
Some interesting ideas in this skin.  A few name suggestions (from succubi in modern media)- Grace, Morrigan, Catherine.

I'm not familiar with the succubi in teen horror romance media you are trying to reference here and am not quite sure what you are aiming for. I would think the idea would be to keep them coming back, to draw them into your power and to 'corrupt' them? Meaning give them appropriate Conditions I suppose.

Some thoughts- your Gifts as written only work for PCs. (easy fix, NPCs act at advantage).  However, I feel perhaps there should be some price either for the Succubus or the target to pay, or some risk if they renege on the bargain and reject the gift, perhaps. Also, not sure about the auto-success mechanic of the gift. I guess I'd like to see the non- supernatural option. Maybe if the Faustian thing is important, what you can offer as Gifts are Strings and/or Conditions on others?

The Devil is a winner should probably be conditional (see Faerie Contract)- the simple choice being someone who has accepted a gift.



12
Monsterhearts / Feature-Not-Bug in the Infernals' Unknowable?
« on: June 25, 2012, 06:40:05 AM »
Love the game, I am only picking nits because I care.  

The Infernals' Unknowable move adds "they lose 1 String on you" as a 7-9 option on Lash out physically. As I read it, it is an additional option on the list, meaning you don't need to pick one of the three defaults.  In the vast majority of situations, I don't see this as a difficult choice or hard bargain.

Is that intentional, to encourage a bit of the old ultraviolence from the skin? Because as I read it, it means 7-9 has a Yes, and result rather than Yes, but. If I was playing a Werewolf or Chosen with a liking for approaching problem resolution through the application of force, this would be a very tempting other skin move, removing as it does the mechanical downside of a 7-9.  The fictional effects of using violence to solve your problems remain very much intact, obviously, and is that where you see the consequences being?

13
Dungeon World / Re: New Monster Building Guideline Weirdness?
« on: February 28, 2012, 10:57:01 PM »
In the games I ran (pre-Beta, with me scaling monster HP with the 'EL' of the monster) fighting monsters with even 15-20 HP and a couple armour took too long for the players- they felt too many hits were required when the Fighter needed a several good swings to take them down.

I'd third the idea that the bulk of enemies should fall easily before the Paladin's holy wrath, but am also concerned about the upper end HP.

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Dungeon World / Re: Ordering Online
« on: December 19, 2011, 04:49:07 AM »
Is there some way I can order the DW Basic app and/or Powers for Good #0 as a gift for an iPad-owning friend without having to install the iTunes app on my resolutely non-Apple PC?  The fact that I can't see a way to do this usually simple thing on their website feeds my (ir)rational distaste for the way Apple do business and curbs any desire I have to install their bloatware.  Dungeon-world.com links to same the iTunes non-store.

Thanks for any suggestions.

15
Dungeon World / Re: Removing the last unnecessary escalation?
« on: November 08, 2011, 09:08:07 PM »
Rough outline of the Hack, Tiers for PCs and monster guidelines.

How many hits to take out a monster in a tense, exciting fight that doesn't drag?  Maybe for a fighter, up to one lucky shot or two good ones, others characters no more than two to three hits? So,
 
Tier One:
Levels 1-4, One Damage Dice, Monsters 1-10 HP, ~1 Armour
Tier Two:
Levels 5-8, Two Damage Dice, Monsters 11-20 HP, ~2 Armour
Tier Three ":
Levels 9+, Three Damage Dice, Monsters 21-30 HP , ~3 Armour

ToDo:
Cool Tier names
Monster damage to character HP.  Grab the AW concept of 'first bullet is free'?  So characters can take 3-4 hits?  2 seems too few except perhaps for the Wizard.
Effect on spell damage- do they double/triple as well?  Get the bonus die?

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