Tabletop General

Jazaen · Post by **Jazaen** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 7:36 pm #231444

Bottom post of the previous page:

Yeah, WoD is relatively simple, once you get the hang of several basic things.
Also, count me in for WoD, assuming it goes in a similar timeslot as CoC, since it's all night for me anyway.

Anonmare · Post by **Anonmare** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 10:28 pm #231488

Drynwyn wrote:
Anonmare wrote:
Drynwyn wrote:Advance reminder that the Cthulhu Crew will be getting back together this Thursday.

Also, theoretically, if I were to run a World of Darkness game, who would be interested?
I've never played WoD before so I'm not sure if I should start playing a game I'm ultimately gonna be bad at while learning as I go
WoD isn't to hard of a game to learn, and IMO you're better off learning a system in a group with people who know the rules well than with other newbies. That way if you do make mistakes they get immediately noticed.

So what kind of WoD will it be? Vampire? Mage?

Drynwyn · Post by **Drynwyn** » Thu Dec 01, 2016 1:41 am #231536

Anonmare wrote:
Drynwyn wrote:
Anonmare wrote:
Drynwyn wrote:Advance reminder that the Cthulhu Crew will be getting back together this Thursday.

Also, theoretically, if I were to run a World of Darkness game, who would be interested?
I've never played WoD before so I'm not sure if I should start playing a game I'm ultimately gonna be bad at while learning as I go
WoD isn't to hard of a game to learn, and IMO you're better off learning a system in a group with people who know the rules well than with other newbies. That way if you do make mistakes they get immediately noticed.
So what kind of WoD will it be? Vampire? Mage?

Haven't decided yet! (Or, indeed, if I actually have time to run it.) New World of Darkness handles mixed parties reasonably well, so I may run one of those, we'll see. Depends on what players are interested in.

Jazaen · Post by **Jazaen** » Thu Dec 01, 2016 7:57 pm #231738

Drynwyn wrote:
Anonmare wrote:
Drynwyn wrote:
Anonmare wrote:
Drynwyn wrote:Advance reminder that the Cthulhu Crew will be getting back together this Thursday.

Also, theoretically, if I were to run a World of Darkness game, who would be interested?
I've never played WoD before so I'm not sure if I should start playing a game I'm ultimately gonna be bad at while learning as I go
WoD isn't to hard of a game to learn, and IMO you're better off learning a system in a group with people who know the rules well than with other newbies. That way if you do make mistakes they get immediately noticed.
So what kind of WoD will it be? Vampire? Mage?
Haven't decided yet! (Or, indeed, if I actually have time to run it.) New World of Darkness handles mixed parties reasonably well, so I may run one of those, we'll see. Depends on what players are interested in.

If we had a mixed party, I'd go for either Mage or Demon. Demon has a bunch of fun anti-mage stuff (I am not sure, but they MIGHT COUNT AS HUMANS FOR PARADOX, and they certainly can escape detection by spells, plus embeds and exploits work well on normal humans, while mage spells are weaker, and many of them allow you to draw attention to something [like, say, a mage casting a spell. Taste paradox bastard!]), fun lore and stuff with covers, but takes focus away from the party and into the God Machine, which is a jerk and *might* use party to get demon down.
Mages are fun with spellcasting, plus they give you lots of freedom in how you play them (while a demon that eschews secrecy has God Machine send a constant stream of angels it's way. Mages have Exarchs, but they are lazy shits that only communicate with Seers of the Throne). Mage mechanics are also better known, since pretty much no one knows demon.

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Thu Dec 01, 2016 8:02 pm #231739

Based on the staggeringly little information i know about WoD i was always interested in playing a normal human in a party of supers, even if that means i am wildly underpowered and at highest risk of getting gibbed. Sometimes being underestimated is the greatest power

Jazaen · Post by **Jazaen** » Thu Dec 01, 2016 9:17 pm #231773

Funnily enough, that could even work. If you are a normal bean, you get to spend XP on more merits and skill dots than supernaturals - you might not be able to transcend the limit of five, like high level supernaturals can, but you can be a bit stronger than they are at many tasks.

If there were mages in the party, though, you'd have to be a sleepwalker (muggle that can see or, rather, see and remember magic), since muggles interfere with spells and can invite over some of the horrors beyond reality when they see them.

XSI · Post by **XSI** » Thu Dec 01, 2016 9:35 pm #231779

Wyzack wrote:Based on the staggeringly little information i know about WoD i was always interested in playing a normal human in a party of supers, even if that means i am wildly underpowered and at highest risk of getting gibbed. Sometimes being underestimated is the greatest power

"I cast shotgun"
This kills the unprepared mage

Jazaen · Post by **Jazaen** » Thu Dec 01, 2016 11:21 pm #231804

That's the thing with mages - an unprepared one is worse than a normal mortal of similar expertise.

Drynwyn · Post by **Drynwyn** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 3:20 am #231860

A prepared one, on the other hand, will turn your ass inside out and then transform it into a monster that eats all your friends.

Also, high-power mages get RIDICULOUSLY powerful abilities. Like, there's a spell to be in six places at the same time, doing six different things, you don't share injuries, and there's no "real" you that kills all the others if he dies.

Jazaen · Post by **Jazaen** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 2:51 pm #231946

But if a normal bean sees it, you get fucked in 11 dimensions by Mage's Daemons
EDIT: Also, I think transformong yourself too much does bad things to your wisdom. Or was it Genius the Transgression?

Also, while demons have GM hunting for them, they have NO MORALITY METER. Something to do with never being human, and being Fallen magi-technical constructs of mechanical god, I guess.

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 3:38 pm #231956

So if i go normal human i can fuck over wizards just by looking at them cast spells? Does this put them at greater risk than it does myself, or is it about the same?

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 3:59 pm #231965

Oh boy can I join as a werewolf oWo

Jazaen · Post by **Jazaen** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 6:00 pm #231989

Wyzack wrote:So if i go normal human i can fuck over wizards just by looking at them cast spells? Does this put them at greater risk than it does myself, or is it about the same?

Depends. If that spell is something wizard could feasibly do without magic (most low-experience spells go into this category), then it causes no paradox. If this spell is a vulgar one (powerful enough to always challenge your view of reality), or covert one cast in a way that is obviously magic, then this does happen.
First of all, you don't *remember* magic. The Abyss fills you with nightmares, because you sleeper bastard have some in your soul, and you auto-repress it.

The most common paradox merely means that spell works differently - fireball might fly at ally of mage, or strength spell might work on you instead, but it can just as well mean that fireball, instead of flying at your ally, flies at you. Other paradoxes strike mage - make them get derangements, make them get physical deformations and so on. Other two are, well, bad. One causes reality in an area to go weird, another summons Daemon-eqivalent, an abyssal entity, which can range from mere imp that can do no harm to a pretty powerful being (do not confuse with Demons, fallen angels of the God Machine).

There is also disbelief, which makes sleepers unravel (dispel) vulgar (going against reality) spells. There is a *slight* problem with that. You see, it rolls first turn, and then after each ten minutes, against spell's Potency. Ritualized magic - the one mages can cast when prepared - can amass large ammounts of successes, so dispelling them in a single round would be hard.

The MAIN problem is, you see, that only one paradox makes you theoretically safe from magic, and disbelief doesn't matter that much when there is a rock flying towards you. Plus it is not guaranteed - MAGES roll for it, so if they are lucky, the spell goes through. There are some penalties for targeting sleepers though. Do remember, however, that you don't really realize that what you saw is magic - in 4/5 of cases you forget what exactly happened. And mages with right arcana can fuck you over without you knowing - nothing like a good Matter spell to dissolve your car when you are not looking, or Fate spell to make you really, really, REALLY unlucky.

TLDR: It's good if you can get *someone else* to look at the spell, preferably when you are far away, because if the spell is strong and mage unlucky you can get fucked hard. Imperial Mysteries (Epic handbook equivalent, with rules for 6-9 dot arcana and playing archmages) gives an example of archmage casting a simple covert spell to heat his coffee, but instead liquefying nearby skyscraper thanks to paradox.

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 6:05 pm #231991

So i could not feasibly play a character who weaponizes his status as a sleeper to fuck with mages because he cannot remember/comprehend the magic being used without going insane?

I am tentatively interested in this game so i will do a bit of my own research. If anyone has a torrent link for the books i would be greatly appreciative. It really depends on the timeslot of the game though

Jazaen · Post by **Jazaen** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 6:41 pm #231999

Well, you technically *could*. When sleeper sees magic that screams *MAGIC* (as I wrote before, there are spells that, if cast in a right way (("Oh, I punched the door in just the right way to break the lock!", or anything else than can be feasibly explained. Sleepers latch onto explainations quite quickly, provided they make some sense. If you punched every door this way, it would break their suspension of disbelief and bad stuff would happen)), don't invoke paradox), on roll of 1/2, he forgets everything. 3/8 lefts him feeling unease, and 9/10 means he remembers everything.

Stuff hunting mages - other mages that went a bit insane (but not the Mad, they are REALLY insane) during their awakening and try to eradicate magic from the world, members of ancient mage conspiracy of quasi-gods that ascended to the Supernal Realms and fucked everyone left on the ground, but failed to keep 5 altantean heirs out of supernal, who then beat them, went into hiding and constructed watchtowers... Among them, there ARE just normal humans, but for that don't really go for normal human bean, just read Hunter (splatbook for supernatural hunters). Also, you could take a merit that would let you sense magic, I guess. It's there somewhere in the corebook. probably.

Normal beans are quite good, but a determined supernatural can always fuck you over. Vampires, werewolves and Prometheans are strong, and have many abilities. Mummies GET BACK UP WHEN KILLED (though it's easy to avoid them, just don't mess with their relics). Changelings get abilities, and could feasibly just escape into a side-dimension. Or try to lure you into becoming True Fae-chow in their place, I suppose. Mages and Fan-game Geniuses (seriously, Genius the Transgression is awesome) are just normal humans with abilities, but if prepared they can and will make you regret ever coming after them, with either rituals or mad science inventions. Demons register as humans on EVERY "detect" ability, have a bunch of nifty stuff for messing with normal beans, and can just *replace* your loved ones, if they pact with them. And if they wanted to take you down with them they could just burn their cover away, attracting the attention of the almost-omnipotent machine that is quite probably behind the general shittiness and grimdark of the World of Darkness.
Oh, Geists and Beasts could probably do... Something.

In other words, much stuff in WoD will shred you if you don't know how to go about dealing with them. Superior firepower and suprise (hard to pull off in some cases though, especially when Mages, Geniuses, some Demons and others can just Sans away). But with merits and experience in right places, you have a *chance*, though defeating supernatural PC would be HARD, since they know what to expect.

Also, I'm currently looking for that file I had with Demon, Hunter core, all of Mage, Genius (fanmade) and Core.

Super Aggro Crag · Fri Dec 02, 2016 7:10 pm

What about hunchback of notre dam. What's he do

XSI · Post by **XSI** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 7:20 pm #232006

What about cats

I heard a story about WoD vamps getting shredded by cats, wonder if that is a thing or just really bad rolls on their part

Jazaen · Post by **Jazaen** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 7:34 pm #232007

There you go:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5harts1rfi9an ... s.zip?dl=0

Jazaen · Post by **Jazaen** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 10:41 pm #232044

Also, mandatory reminder, that with forces 5 mages can create miniature suns. No, they don't do burn damage... But they count as sunlight, and standing in spell radius gives vamps 3 AGGRAVATED DAMAGE per turn. And one aggravated in double radius.

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 10:47 pm #232049

So the core book has a massive fucking chunk of flavor and in-lore text, and while fascinating i really do not think i can be assed to read it all right now. Is there a place i can find an easier to digest primer on the setting?

Drynwyn · Post by **Drynwyn** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 5:51 am #232112

Timbrewolf wrote:Oh boy can I join as a werewolf oWo

yeah sure

This definitely WON'T start until some time after the 13th, when my finals finish up. I'm probably not going to be using Genius: The Transgression, simply because I'm utterly unfamiliar with it. Other than that, everything is in play.

As for setting, I'm considering running a classic game, but I reserve the right to something strange with the setting.

And do remember that knowing what the precise abilities of a Mage/Demon/Genius/whatever are out of character is not the same as knowing them in character. If you want to know how supernatural threats work, invest in the lore skill.

XSI · Post by **XSI** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 6:33 am #232120

Can I be this guy?

Spoiler:

Except more sane
Basically asking if I can mage with guns

Jazaen · Post by **Jazaen** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 6:57 am #232122

Rules-wise - yes, and with Matter arcana you can blend stuff together. Rulebook gives as an example shotgun majicked together with a nailgun, resulting in a shotgun that can be loaded with nails. Just don't let sleepers disassemble it! Mages are just humans with DEEPER UNDERSTANDING (and awakend soul, I guess), so if you are willing to spend points on it mage can do almost anything sleeping bean can.

As for the primer, look around the web, I guess. There should be some quick-start notes inside the main rulebook and GM chronicle. You still need to look at it, since it lists merits and skills, pretty much all of which are shared between almost every splat.

dezzmont · Post by **dezzmont** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 9:35 am #232129

Fate, time, matter, force, and space all play very well with firearms. The fact that Fate and Time are on the Acanthus path, combined with the fact that Acanthus don't really have anything that plays nice with close quarters fighting nor gross attack spells for the most part, means that most Acanthus mage know their way around a handgun.

Also new world of darkness update handles crossovers pretty darn well, though you still need to put XP gates on some archtypes because some benefit far more from rushing certain aspects of their PC than others. Though it did a fantastic job of buffing Vampires and especially getting Werewolves out of the gutter and making them actually fun and interesting on a level beyond 'good at fighting.'

Consider me interested if you would have me.

Screemonster · Sat Dec 03, 2016 9:57 am

I remember the time in my old mage game when the Correspondence mage made a pocket dimension with an infinite loop portal in a vacuum, and teleported a penny into it and left it running for a week. Why yes he did get slapped with paradox when he moved the top portal out of the bubble.

By comparison my SoE's efforts to use matter to create optically perfect lensing elements for a giant fuckin' laser were fairly tame. Making cesium shotgun shells was fun though. I assume that's still a thing in new-mage.

Jazaen · Post by **Jazaen** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 12:44 pm #232146

Word of note, there is second edition of Mage: The Awakening, but first one is better known. Just putting this out here.

Drynwyn · Post by **Drynwyn** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 11:48 pm #232220

The second edition of Mage: The Awakening is for Chronicles of Darkness, which I do not like and will not be running. I like the Beat system, since it puts the responsibility of progression in the hands of players, similar to Burning Wheel's Test system, but I dislike just about everything else. Too many useful rules got stripped out.

ShadowDimentio · Mon Jan 09, 2017 3:00 am

>Be playing 5e Open Hand Monk
>Have the last save or die in the book
>Team accidentally awakens a colossus
>Thing is immune to magic and has a ton of health and hits like a truck... but doesn't want to fight us
>Am basically the only one dealing damage, with my BARE HANDS
>It's walking away
>Team is ready to let it go
>OH NO YOU DON'T
>Am the only one still trying to fight it
>Am invisible thanks to monk being godlike, it can't hit me
>Don't want to waste ages punching a giant statue to death, GM agrees
>As a final parting gift I spend the last of my ki to activate my save or die
>It fucking F A I L S
>Colossus clutches its chest, reels back, explodes into dust
>Sadly not an EXP game, I would have instantly leveled to max if it was
>Monk is anything but the best class

Good times

DemonFiren · Post by **DemonFiren** » Mon Jan 09, 2017 6:50 am #242175

>murderboning
you deserve not half an xp for that

Anonmare · Post by **Anonmare** » Wed Jan 11, 2017 10:52 pm #243089

That colossus dindu nuffin, he was a good rock who wuz gon' go to college and shiet.

ShadowDimentio · Thu Jan 12, 2017 5:47 pm

He squished me as I try to ride his head, he deserved to get dunked.

ThanatosRa · Post by **ThanatosRa** » Thu Jan 12, 2017 10:56 pm #243415

some friends of mine are doing a superhero type game based on one of the Mutants & Mastermind variants. I think the DC Universe one.
Not much to say yet, but I decided I wanted to be a dick and play a duplicator guy that I named Mob Mentality. and in he can create temporary clones of himself.

I admit his superhero costume might end up being a grey flightsuit-like jumpsuit with yellow gloves.

DemonFiren · Post by **DemonFiren** » Fri Jan 13, 2017 12:40 am #243446

With or without the kind of face-covering breath mask commonly worn by pilots?

You could really use a mask. "Faceless mob" and that stuff.

Super Aggro Crag · Fri Jan 13, 2017 1:32 am

ThanatosRa wrote:some friends of mine are doing a superhero type game based on one of the Mutants & Mastermind variants. I think the DC Universe one.
Not much to say yet, but I decided I wanted to be a dick and play a duplicator guy that I named Mob Mentality. and in he can create temporary clones of himself.

I admit his superhero costume might end up being a grey flightsuit-like jumpsuit with yellow gloves.

I want to play a superhero too

ThanatosRa · Post by **ThanatosRa** » Fri Jan 13, 2017 1:37 am #243457

the only thing i think stopping me from playing him as a silent grey tide is that he's supposed to be heroic.

ShadowDimentio · Fri Jan 13, 2017 2:54 am

The greytide is heroic. They save the day by beating people to death, occasionally including antags.

Drynwyn · Post by **Drynwyn** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 7:56 pm #249688

Who would be interested in playing in something using the Burning Wheel system?

I suddenly have a number of spare timeslots that used to be filled by IRL games, because one of my IRL friends who was in a bunch of my games had a nervous breakdown and is taking a leave of absence from school.

ShadowDimentio · Mon Jan 30, 2017 11:42 pm

Meanwhile in DnD, tank cleric me and DPS fighter other guy finally 1V1'd to see who would win.

I could have won the fight pretty much instantly by giving him a disgusting status effect but I missed, so I fought him normally and won anyways. The key to my success was the synergy between my displacer cloak giving him disadvantage and my shield that dealt damage every time someone missed me by more than 4. He dealt ~20 damage every time he hit me, a huge chunk of my 75 total HP, but my ability to heal myself, damage over time, his inability to hit me most turns and armor allowed me to win.

Defense > Offense

Drynwyn · Post by **Drynwyn** » Tue Jan 31, 2017 1:03 am #249772

Yeah, D&D 5e, IMO, has gone too far away from 3.5's rocket tag. Bladesingers for example are pretty ridiculous in 1v1's- like in that scenario the move would have been "stand back, enjoy your stupid high armor class, fling Magic Missile like it's going out of style and use Shield to NOPE anything that should hit you."

In general proactive combat styles are disincentivized in 5e IMO.

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Tue Jan 31, 2017 1:09 am #249774

I am a level 10 (i think) battlemaster fighter and it really feels like the class has peaked. None of the abilities i stand to gain all the way up to level twenty really seem exciting, and my inability to deal any sort of magical damage has been a massive fucking handicap for most of the latter part of the campaign

ShadowDimentio · Tue Jan 31, 2017 1:12 am

>No magic damage at all

Get a magic weapon you dummy, you're supposed to be swinging a sword not casting spells.

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Tue Jan 31, 2017 1:14 am #249777

The campaign is curse of stradh, so there is not too much magic to go around. The one magic weapon we have found was an enchanted woodcutting axe, but it is a strength based weapon and it stabs thorns in your hands if you are not good (one piercing damage every time you attack with it). Did i mention i fucking despise DnD's nine point alignment system?

XSI · Post by **XSI** » Tue Jan 31, 2017 1:35 am #249782

Alignment is a pretty shit thing for DnD and derivatives, seems to be a really strict way of defining morality while morality as a whole isn't that strict

I dislike the system as a whole, but PF at least seems to be okay at most of it in terms of not being totally shit

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Tue Jan 31, 2017 1:40 am #249789

The character is a bandit who is doing mercenary work for the church as a way to try and redeem himself after he accidentally killed a woman and her child while trying to rob a carriage. He is a little calloused and has no qualms about taking life when it is warranted, but tries to help people and do the right thing. He mostly acts good, but not always. He has little regard for the law, especially since in the setting a good chunk of the rulers are at least slightly tyrannical. Does not really fit neatly into any of the nine boxes, so i picked chaotic neutral but said he was attempting to be chaotic good

ShadowDimentio · Tue Jan 31, 2017 1:40 am

>Alignment
>Actually mattering

Nice memes. The closest I've played with alignment is my tank cleric who's neutral good, and I've played him as being someone who tries to do good whenever he can but doesn't force the party to, instead just constantly advocating it and guilting them into doing the right thing. Which is good because the other partymembers are a murderous drunk (DPS), a thieving rogue (skills) and a blood mage assassin (buffs) and if the cleric wasn't there as the voice of reason they'd have turned into a band of cutthroats a long time ago.

Wyzack wrote:The character is a bandit who is doing mercenary work for the church as a way to try and redeem himself after he accidentally killed a woman and her child while trying to rob a carriage. He is a little calloused and has no qualms about taking life when it is warranted, but tries to help people and do the right thing. He mostly acts good, but not always. He has little regard for the law, especially since in the setting a good chunk of the rulers are at least slightly tyrannical. Does not really fit neatly into any of the nine boxes, so i picked chaotic neutral but said he was attempting to be chaotic good

You're literally one page away from my cleric and the Darkest Dungeon highwayman. Cleric man didn't have a guilt episode after doing a bad thing or anything, he was just the town doctor when a plague swept through that was above his power to cure. In desperation to save the town he prayed for help, and the god he follows now answered and saved the town in exchange for cleric man's service as a cleric of his.

Super Aggro Crag · Sat Feb 04, 2017 3:15 pm

Roberto Guillemanto is coming back. WHERES KHAN

BRING BACK JAGGETTY KHAN

ThanatosRa · Post by **ThanatosRa** » Tue Feb 07, 2017 10:51 pm #252944

What about Corax. Or Dorn.
Let Rogal and Perterabo have their final super babby mad hate duel.

ShadowDimentio · Mon Feb 13, 2017 3:17 am

Meanwhile in high level 5E God Killer Monkman was sent to hell court for killing a god. I was fully prepared to Phoenix Wright bullshit my way out of judgement by claiming extraterritoriality because the god statue was on the third level while the court was on the fourth, so they had no jurisdiction over me.

Turns out the prosecution had a garbage case and their only evidence were the statue guards that we killed as witnesses who couldn't possibly have seen the crime because they were dead so I got off scot free.

Best part: Monkman stole a piece of the statue as a trophy of his badassery, and only shortly earlier gave it to the patented legendary hell blacksmith (we're on the fire level so obviously there is one) to make into a sick fist weapon and he ended up covering for me because he cared more about making a badass weapon than me getting fucked by justice.

Monkman: 2
God Statue: 0

Drynwyn · Post by **Drynwyn** » Wed Feb 15, 2017 11:09 pm #256094

I'm thinking about GM'ing a game of 7th Sea. It is a game of HIGH ADVENTURE, PANACHE, and SWASHBUCKLING.

It's basically Errol Flynn: The Tabletop RPG. Who'd be interested in buckling swash?

Alipheese · Post by **Alipheese** » Thu Mar 02, 2017 4:39 pm #262664

Recently been GM'ing a sci-fi campaign for my group of friends online since one of them decided not to gm for some reason after the first session. This is like the fourth 6 hour long session and i've used Delta station as the map in which they're supposed to go in and steal the singularity engine by containing it in a black hole container and gtfo. Ideas on things to throw their way as so far security has been shiturity.

DemonFiren · Post by **DemonFiren** » Thu Mar 02, 2017 4:59 pm #262669

There's a lot of fun (read: sadism) to be had with playing your players.
If you have synths in the group make one get emagged while no one's looking.
If you have nonhumans in the group gradually increase stationwide racial tension until pogroms happen, then see if the players stick together or fend for themselves.
Could also make one of the NPCs they trust (>implying) end up being a tater or ling using the group to get to his own objectives if you'd rather not PVP.