Hello,
So I found out I have 15 views from France and Russia... Hi, hope you like it.
This blog was really intended as a dump-space for my RPG stuff, but I'm okay with having visitors. Go ahead and leave a comment, I don't bite.
... Except in-game.
November 11, 2012
November 7, 2012
On player death
It would be all too easy to just let players be conveniently invincible. But then it's not really a challenge- it's sightseeing. Don't get me wrong, I like sightseeing, but there needs to be an element of challenge and fear involved. If you really mess up, you will die. Your resources, including your HP, will be fatigued and exhausted. But that's not fun!
My policy (both for RPs and RPGs) was that no one will die... permanently. It served its purpose nicely, but there was still no viscerality to it. I could make a convincing firefight, but eventually someone will realize- there never was any real danger. There never will be. We can do what we want, and the GM will have to go with it. I'm invincible!
So, I'm putting up new ground rules. This is still a loose guideline, and heavily ties into the "you're special" intro to every campaign evar.
In Sunburn, they'll have defib shockers which bring them up to 1 HP. I'll even make them roll dice for it. Certain negative HPs have harder and harder DCs to beat.
(Medicine) + (Ability Dice, D8 for humans) vs Second Wind DC
My policy (both for RPs and RPGs) was that no one will die... permanently. It served its purpose nicely, but there was still no viscerality to it. I could make a convincing firefight, but eventually someone will realize- there never was any real danger. There never will be. We can do what we want, and the GM will have to go with it. I'm invincible!
So, I'm putting up new ground rules. This is still a loose guideline, and heavily ties into the "you're special" intro to every campaign evar.
- Players get a "warning shot." Unless if it very obviously should kill them (detonating a nuke), my dice will conveniently miss them. Hopefully they'll get the idea and scramble for meds.
- Anyone who dies will get to go out in the most spectacular way possible. No boring deaths. If they're going to die, then dammit! I'll give them an exit they'll remember for quite a while.
- Resurrect: The character comes back to life, but at a cost. Either XP, or something nasty comes with them.
- Reincarnate: Make a new character with roughly the same XP. I don't want death to be a character replacement mechanic, but at the same time, I'm not going to punish them too thoroughly for dying. The dice are trying to kill me.
In Sunburn, they'll have defib shockers which bring them up to 1 HP. I'll even make them roll dice for it. Certain negative HPs have harder and harder DCs to beat.
(Medicine) + (Ability Dice, D8 for humans) vs Second Wind DC
- 0-10 : DC 4
- 11-20: DC 6
- 31-50: DC 9
- 51-100: DC 12
November 4, 2012
AP
Obviously, a work in progress. For the time being, a "turn" is about 5 seconds. Everyone's turns should, supposedly, happen all at the same time. But that sounds like a terrible way to spend an evening. So, here are the basics, building off of what happened last post:
- Guns have a maximum number of shots/turn. It is still 5 seconds, and even the most coordinated shooter will be held back by his equipment. Say we have a 25 AP character with a 10 AP gun: Carry two of them. 10 AP to shoot the first one, 5 AP to switch, then 10 AP to shoot the second one. It's almost like dual-wielding. Far from perfect, but it's what I got.
- Walking has a maximum distance. How much of their turn is dedicated to movement I leave to them. I'm thinking 1AP/square, and sprinting takes 1AP/2 squares. But, they can't do anything while sprinting.
- Stealth rules need to be ironed out, but here's the 'rough: -0 while staying put, doing nothing. No penalty for making another stealth check (think of it as digging in further). -4 while walking. -7 while sprinting. -12 while discharging a firearm (grenades don't count). Effects stack. Any character who is "in stealth," successfully, cannot be targeted.
- Any character who attacks from stealth gets an automatic critical- the equivalent of maximum accuracy roll. For players, this is an 8.
- Carry weight is 2x strength + 1x concentration + 5x carry weight + 40, max is 200.
- Oh derp.
November 1, 2012
On the nature of RPGs
So I was reading Grognardia the other day. He had some good points about story, and the "essense" of 1e. But, most importantly, he directed me to a page about Gygax: Story is more important than gameplay.
In this day of high-fidelity video games, the mechanics of any tabletop game are sorely outdated. It's easier to make a "game" for pen and dice, but there's only so much complexity. Doing Fallout-style accuracy predictions would be a pain in the ass.
So, what does that leave us with? Story. Narrative. Characterization. The players, with a focus on the GM, make the game come alive for everyone. It's a truly immersive experience, only limited by your imagination. And even then, the average group is ~6 people. That's a lot of imagination.
Without story, it would be a grind. I'm thinking of my first "official" 4e (don't laugh, I had no idea) adventure, and how bland it would be without characterization. You might as well just play chess.
The players make the game come alive, and nestle it into their minds. That immersion- that raw emotional power- will never be emulated completely by a computer. I have no doubt it will come close, but a GM will always be able to make a more convincing cast of characters, and environment.
"Pen-and-paper role-playing is live theater and computer games are television. People want the convenience and instant gratification of turning on the TV rather than getting dressed up and going out to see a live play. In the same way, the computer is a more immediately accessible way to play games."
-Gary Gygax, via Wikiquote
I'm not saying anything bad about video games- I think they're very fun, and I routinely play them instead of working on Project Sunburn.
... Now who's immersed in what?
But, it's all pre-packaged. Without the guiding hand of a human GM, it's all so samey. It's not personal at all. You're just receiving what everyone else does. But, honestly? That's okay. Some days I'd rather kick back and turn on the TV.
In this day of high-fidelity video games, the mechanics of any tabletop game are sorely outdated. It's easier to make a "game" for pen and dice, but there's only so much complexity. Doing Fallout-style accuracy predictions would be a pain in the ass.
So, what does that leave us with? Story. Narrative. Characterization. The players, with a focus on the GM, make the game come alive for everyone. It's a truly immersive experience, only limited by your imagination. And even then, the average group is ~6 people. That's a lot of imagination.
Without story, it would be a grind. I'm thinking of my first "official" 4e (don't laugh, I had no idea) adventure, and how bland it would be without characterization. You might as well just play chess.
The players make the game come alive, and nestle it into their minds. That immersion- that raw emotional power- will never be emulated completely by a computer. I have no doubt it will come close, but a GM will always be able to make a more convincing cast of characters, and environment.
"Pen-and-paper role-playing is live theater and computer games are television. People want the convenience and instant gratification of turning on the TV rather than getting dressed up and going out to see a live play. In the same way, the computer is a more immediately accessible way to play games."
-Gary Gygax, via Wikiquote
I'm not saying anything bad about video games- I think they're very fun, and I routinely play them instead of working on Project Sunburn.
... Now who's immersed in what?
But, it's all pre-packaged. Without the guiding hand of a human GM, it's all so samey. It's not personal at all. You're just receiving what everyone else does. But, honestly? That's okay. Some days I'd rather kick back and turn on the TV.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)