LOLAD2 BESM will differ from standard in some regards.
To whit, character advancement.
AP and SP are given out, as normal.
BUT! It requires 3-5 AP to increase Body, Mind, or Soul and ditto for removing Defects. The latter MUST be RPed as well. Failure to do so leads to the high end of the spectrum, or GM fiat saying: "No, you can't remove that." For stats, you need a 2 (Or more) to justify spending the points to increase the stat. Stats won't be allowed higher than 8, ever. Skills, otoh, can go higher than 6 with GM permission.
Now, I sleep!
Monday, February 26, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
LOLAD 2 Design Notes
Consider a world where weres and vamps DO walk around and live out in the open, no longer hiding. A world where life and death walk among the living and the dead ands gods and magic can be real - for a price. The freedom to be part of the human world again came at a price: fear, mistrust, loathing, desire. The were wanted it, the vamps did not.
Hence the war heating up, over ideology and the end result being that the winner is whoever is left standing. The attrition rate of vampires has risen to staggering levels, weres are kidnapped to be used to find cures for diseases, and the fae - broken and shattered - wander a world of iron and death, without a place to call their own.
It's not a good time to be supernatural. Neither is it a good time to be normal: You're weak, inferior and not believing in the supernatural becomes harder every day as the war encroaches on the mundane world steadily to blood and screams and spells.
This isn't a post-apocalyptic game. The apocalypse happened; the world went on, mostly as normal. Well, for those who value normal. Real magic isn't spells or potions or powers: real magic can nothing on the extent people will go to protect their traditions and illusions. The PCs are living proof this illusion is a lie, and such things aren't liked. Which puts it mildly :)
In the end, the PCs need to find a way to make the world accept them. Killing all the monsters won't do it. Becoming a monster can't. The world keeps changing, and is never want we desire it to be but we still have to find a place to live in it, make a place to call our own. That's the best that can be hoped for, in this life. To dare for more is, of course, what PCs are about...
Hence the war heating up, over ideology and the end result being that the winner is whoever is left standing. The attrition rate of vampires has risen to staggering levels, weres are kidnapped to be used to find cures for diseases, and the fae - broken and shattered - wander a world of iron and death, without a place to call their own.
It's not a good time to be supernatural. Neither is it a good time to be normal: You're weak, inferior and not believing in the supernatural becomes harder every day as the war encroaches on the mundane world steadily to blood and screams and spells.
This isn't a post-apocalyptic game. The apocalypse happened; the world went on, mostly as normal. Well, for those who value normal. Real magic isn't spells or potions or powers: real magic can nothing on the extent people will go to protect their traditions and illusions. The PCs are living proof this illusion is a lie, and such things aren't liked. Which puts it mildly :)
In the end, the PCs need to find a way to make the world accept them. Killing all the monsters won't do it. Becoming a monster can't. The world keeps changing, and is never want we desire it to be but we still have to find a place to live in it, make a place to call our own. That's the best that can be hoped for, in this life. To dare for more is, of course, what PCs are about...
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Some Notes towards LOLAD2
Starting point breakdown (BESM 2):
13 CP for stats.
10 CP for abilities.
30 SP for skills.
No more than 5 points total in defects.
Items of Power and the Magic attribute ARE allowed, within reason. Ditto with Dynamic Sorcery, though to get that you *must* take sixth sense (magic). Additional points (up to 5) can be gained via background stories, in depth backgrounds etc. The additional points CAN violate the above limits for stats and abilities.
Things to keep in mind: The game is set in a city (Location undecided; population ~200,000 people.) The PCs are humans* with a touch of the other who have been recruited - by choice or against their will - by the homeland security neighbourhood watch branch, to try and keep thep the city from being torn apart by the lords of life and death.
You're human - mostly - vastly outlcassed and outnumbered and outgunned. But somehow you have to prevent the city from being destroyed like Trail and Los Vegas and Los Angelas have been so far. You're about the only hope people have, as much as they hate admitting it, and by far the lesser of two evils.
Setting: Post end of the world. The world ended when the Summerland was destroyed in an effort to murder the Adversary. It worked, at the cost of a goddess, much of a town, and an entire were pack. A few survived, some as rumour, other as fact. Details vary, and the truth remains elusive.
Save that the world ended and magic has returned to the one that followed. We're living in the utopia, the post-Ragnarok, the earth after Christ's Second Coming (not only female, but clawed) brought down the Satan of science and ushered in a new era of magic. The world has changed, but many things are the same. A large number of people don't believe the world even ended, no matter if the old dead return and visit them or old gods waken to new power.
It was the end of the world, but somehow life continued on as normal. Bit of a letdown, really. But there is magic, and it's new and wild and the old times of darkness and burning witches have returned as the nights become things to fear again and the cold and bloody war between the were and vamps spills over into the common world of the living and the dead.
The casualties mount. Humanity is no longer fittest, may not survive. Heroes are needed, but this isn't an age of heroes. You've been drafted. Welcome to the world you helped create.
13 CP for stats.
10 CP for abilities.
30 SP for skills.
No more than 5 points total in defects.
Items of Power and the Magic attribute ARE allowed, within reason. Ditto with Dynamic Sorcery, though to get that you *must* take sixth sense (magic). Additional points (up to 5) can be gained via background stories, in depth backgrounds etc. The additional points CAN violate the above limits for stats and abilities.
Things to keep in mind: The game is set in a city (Location undecided; population ~200,000 people.) The PCs are humans* with a touch of the other who have been recruited - by choice or against their will - by the homeland security neighbourhood watch branch, to try and keep thep the city from being torn apart by the lords of life and death.
You're human - mostly - vastly outlcassed and outnumbered and outgunned. But somehow you have to prevent the city from being destroyed like Trail and Los Vegas and Los Angelas have been so far. You're about the only hope people have, as much as they hate admitting it, and by far the lesser of two evils.
Setting: Post end of the world. The world ended when the Summerland was destroyed in an effort to murder the Adversary. It worked, at the cost of a goddess, much of a town, and an entire were pack. A few survived, some as rumour, other as fact. Details vary, and the truth remains elusive.
Save that the world ended and magic has returned to the one that followed. We're living in the utopia, the post-Ragnarok, the earth after Christ's Second Coming (not only female, but clawed) brought down the Satan of science and ushered in a new era of magic. The world has changed, but many things are the same. A large number of people don't believe the world even ended, no matter if the old dead return and visit them or old gods waken to new power.
It was the end of the world, but somehow life continued on as normal. Bit of a letdown, really. But there is magic, and it's new and wild and the old times of darkness and burning witches have returned as the nights become things to fear again and the cold and bloody war between the were and vamps spills over into the common world of the living and the dead.
The casualties mount. Humanity is no longer fittest, may not survive. Heroes are needed, but this isn't an age of heroes. You've been drafted. Welcome to the world you helped create.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
B3SM
Yes! a new game from Chaos`^!
B3SM is based on BESM V3.0, released in January!
B3SM(1) will be based on a space opera setting, your PC has decided to join a group of mercenaries and invest in a space ship together to go out and have some hella fun!
Here is the character creation information, watch the topic in #game1 for a standard character sheet that chaos is designing. For now, I want you to think about what kind of character you want.
Before we begin, let's talk about character points. Your character will start with 230 character points. You may gain 1-5 character points by: writing a background of the character (such as a timeline, background story, etc.) Writing a short story with your character (or another person's character for other players) in it (help ME develop the universe, think of some ideas of things that you want to see, and then get your character involved!) Draw your character, or other characters for other players. Develop a character "Soundtrack" to show the mood and tone of your character's personality. Make a character specific "Fansite" with special stats of the character, such as a short bio, the characters bloodtype, zodiac sign, etc. (note bloodtype is a japanese superstition, check wikipedia.) Websites should be done "In character" so feel free to make a 'futuristic' website. I'm sure all of you have at least ONE of these skill sets to get more character points, plus you can help others by using your skills to further their character concept. But be sure to get the other players permission before making and/or submitting anything about their character. (If you're not quite sure what your character is going to be like until after you've made him, but want the points NOW then feel free to make a commitment to create extra content, but if I don't receive the content by game time the character will be modified by MY discretion.
And above all, you will get extra character points by COLLABORATING with other players! This is a team effort, so talk to other players , tell me how your character relates to other characters, what makes you different, how did you meet, etc. Your skills are not going to be secret to other players unless you buy the unknown ability, then it will be secret to even you! Don't hide your abilities, I want a balanced team so talk to each other!
Please use the board to talk to other players, and feel free to use IRC as well. I will only accept 5 players max, since I can't handle any more than that. Please talk to me about joining.
B3SM is based on BESM V3.0, released in January!
B3SM(1) will be based on a space opera setting, your PC has decided to join a group of mercenaries and invest in a space ship together to go out and have some hella fun!
Here is the character creation information, watch the topic in #game1 for a standard character sheet that chaos is designing. For now, I want you to think about what kind of character you want.
Before we begin, let's talk about character points. Your character will start with 230 character points. You may gain 1-5 character points by: writing a background of the character (such as a timeline, background story, etc.) Writing a short story with your character (or another person's character for other players) in it (help ME develop the universe, think of some ideas of things that you want to see, and then get your character involved!) Draw your character, or other characters for other players. Develop a character "Soundtrack" to show the mood and tone of your character's personality. Make a character specific "Fansite" with special stats of the character, such as a short bio, the characters bloodtype, zodiac sign, etc. (note bloodtype is a japanese superstition, check wikipedia.) Websites should be done "In character" so feel free to make a 'futuristic' website. I'm sure all of you have at least ONE of these skill sets to get more character points, plus you can help others by using your skills to further their character concept. But be sure to get the other players permission before making and/or submitting anything about their character. (If you're not quite sure what your character is going to be like until after you've made him, but want the points NOW then feel free to make a commitment to create extra content, but if I don't receive the content by game time the character will be modified by MY discretion.
And above all, you will get extra character points by COLLABORATING with other players! This is a team effort, so talk to other players , tell me how your character relates to other characters, what makes you different, how did you meet, etc. Your skills are not going to be secret to other players unless you buy the unknown ability, then it will be secret to even you! Don't hide your abilities, I want a balanced team so talk to each other!
Please use the board to talk to other players, and feel free to use IRC as well. I will only accept 5 players max, since I can't handle any more than that. Please talk to me about joining.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
On gaming (or: where Alcar and Uncle Figgy don't see eye to eye)
So, I was re-reading Ucle Figgy today, and got to wondering about the Mad Gamer. It's not that I have a problem with it, per se, only that it helped me to realize some things I found interesting. Others may, or may not, but here goes:
Role playing IN CHARACTER is good. As a GM, I love it when players love a game and do so. But there are limits. As a gamer who GMs far more than I play, I tend to consciously makes PCs in larger games that fit the game as best I can. (I tend to get more experimental in one-shot games :)) I won't go and make a loner or power gamer. I'll play in character, but only to a point.
The point being where the game stops being fun for someone else. Such as killing their PC or doing things just to annoy people. Saying "But it's what my character would do!" only strikes me as an excuse for not really role playing. It's about MORE than just being your character. I'm the player as well, and actions have consequences.
The mad gamer can be fun. I've done it and quite enjoyed it, but - there's always a but. There's a point where anything goes too far, and it's always good - imo - to know where that is, and to reign your character (and yourself) in. Amusingly, I tend to be better at this while playing than GMing {Cf. La Fin 2 and Peter Pan, and the taking of ideas to logical conclusions :p}.
I suspect part of the problem is that I've GMed too often, and not played near as much. For me, it's not a problem. I like GMing. But reading the guide and finding out where I clash with "Figgy" is interesting. I have to wonder if this makes me a better GM than player, that I always keep myself a couple of steps removed from a character and temd to go on what is good for the GM/Game rather than "What is good for my character?" if push comes to shove.
Is it good? I don't know. I like challenging systems, fun games, and challenging a GM (sometimes just to accept the character I made), but there's always a line I try and draw between character and player, between acting in character and screwing other people over.
I'm not sure either view is right. Perhaps I'm just confused. Anyone else read it, and any views of their own?
Role playing IN CHARACTER is good. As a GM, I love it when players love a game and do so. But there are limits. As a gamer who GMs far more than I play, I tend to consciously makes PCs in larger games that fit the game as best I can. (I tend to get more experimental in one-shot games :)) I won't go and make a loner or power gamer. I'll play in character, but only to a point.
The point being where the game stops being fun for someone else. Such as killing their PC or doing things just to annoy people. Saying "But it's what my character would do!" only strikes me as an excuse for not really role playing. It's about MORE than just being your character. I'm the player as well, and actions have consequences.
The mad gamer can be fun. I've done it and quite enjoyed it, but - there's always a but. There's a point where anything goes too far, and it's always good - imo - to know where that is, and to reign your character (and yourself) in. Amusingly, I tend to be better at this while playing than GMing {Cf. La Fin 2 and Peter Pan, and the taking of ideas to logical conclusions :p}.
I suspect part of the problem is that I've GMed too often, and not played near as much. For me, it's not a problem. I like GMing. But reading the guide and finding out where I clash with "Figgy" is interesting. I have to wonder if this makes me a better GM than player, that I always keep myself a couple of steps removed from a character and temd to go on what is good for the GM/Game rather than "What is good for my character?" if push comes to shove.
Is it good? I don't know. I like challenging systems, fun games, and challenging a GM (sometimes just to accept the character I made), but there's always a line I try and draw between character and player, between acting in character and screwing other people over.
I'm not sure either view is right. Perhaps I'm just confused. Anyone else read it, and any views of their own?
Monday, February 12, 2007
Character Advancement in Urdu
This is just a note for players as to how advancement shall work.
Each player will get 1 Experience Point per official session they make, IF they make it on time (with up to 1/2 an hour leeway, if the GM feels generous). Said EP will be handed out from now on at the start of the session. Other EP will be added on a case by case basis via msg, and for group if Certain Obstacles/Goals are reached or overcome or created.
How Advancement Works
10 EP = 1 die can be advanced/created.
EP can be spent as 10 EP = 1 increment. This works as: Get a new 1d6 ability or increase an existing one. Existing abilities are XdY (3d6, say) where X is skill,and Y is power. You could increase the 3d6 to 4d6 OR 3d8. I hope this clarifies things.
Additionally, 1-2 EP can be spent to reduce the severity of a wound and/or speed up healing. Alternate uses include increasing willpower to resist become Syble's slave and such :) Shall pretty much be a case by case basis.
NOTE: The automatic 1 EP only applies to official sessions. EP may be handed out for unofficial ones, but may not. It will also be handed out for Cool Stuff, at GMs discretion.
ADVANCEMENT TO DATE: We have had 14 sessions. Since no one really kept track of things, assume each PC has 12 EP to date. I am NOT going to keep strict track of EP for the game, and assume players will be honest.
Each player will get 1 Experience Point per official session they make, IF they make it on time (with up to 1/2 an hour leeway, if the GM feels generous). Said EP will be handed out from now on at the start of the session. Other EP will be added on a case by case basis via msg, and for group if Certain Obstacles/Goals are reached or overcome or created.
How Advancement Works
10 EP = 1 die can be advanced/created.
EP can be spent as 10 EP = 1 increment. This works as: Get a new 1d6 ability or increase an existing one. Existing abilities are XdY (3d6, say) where X is skill,and Y is power. You could increase the 3d6 to 4d6 OR 3d8. I hope this clarifies things.
Additionally, 1-2 EP can be spent to reduce the severity of a wound and/or speed up healing. Alternate uses include increasing willpower to resist become Syble's slave and such :) Shall pretty much be a case by case basis.
NOTE: The automatic 1 EP only applies to official sessions. EP may be handed out for unofficial ones, but may not. It will also be handed out for Cool Stuff, at GMs discretion.
ADVANCEMENT TO DATE: We have had 14 sessions. Since no one really kept track of things, assume each PC has 12 EP to date. I am NOT going to keep strict track of EP for the game, and assume players will be honest.
Friday, February 09, 2007
LestWe Forget (an Urdu post)
Because it seems necessary to state this again:
Barring PCs needing to do obvious things (get stuff, chat with other N/PCs etc.), keep in mind that Urdu is a group game; each PC is part of the whole and you can accomplish a lot more working together than apart. The fact that the PCs abilities are so varied (gifted and otherwise) is the sole reason no PC has died or come close yet :)
So! As a warning: If you miss a session, your PC is assumed to tag along listlessly and/or sleep through it/some other reason not to be there. Ask other players for details on what you miss, if your PC was present. As for the warning part, if your PC decides to wander off in session because the player (or character) are "bored", keep in mind that I have absolutely no qualms about killing the character off or at least seriously maiming them.
As the previous Urdu post stated, "Playing your PC as a loner/prima donna is not advisable and will lead to PC death." Consider this a one-time refresher. If things seem dull for your pc, interact with everyone else. If you wander off, it's your own damn fault and you can have fun making another character if that is your desire. But, on the whole, I'd rather avoid that. You knew what the game was like going in: hold to that.
Barring PCs needing to do obvious things (get stuff, chat with other N/PCs etc.), keep in mind that Urdu is a group game; each PC is part of the whole and you can accomplish a lot more working together than apart. The fact that the PCs abilities are so varied (gifted and otherwise) is the sole reason no PC has died or come close yet :)
So! As a warning: If you miss a session, your PC is assumed to tag along listlessly and/or sleep through it/some other reason not to be there. Ask other players for details on what you miss, if your PC was present. As for the warning part, if your PC decides to wander off in session because the player (or character) are "bored", keep in mind that I have absolutely no qualms about killing the character off or at least seriously maiming them.
As the previous Urdu post stated, "Playing your PC as a loner/prima donna is not advisable and will lead to PC death." Consider this a one-time refresher. If things seem dull for your pc, interact with everyone else. If you wander off, it's your own damn fault and you can have fun making another character if that is your desire. But, on the whole, I'd rather avoid that. You knew what the game was like going in: hold to that.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Low Life Character Creation
So..... it won't be for a bit. But this idea was suggested, so is being incorporated. To whit:
PCs are BESM. This is the (tentative) breakdown of things
Stats: 13 points. No stat can begin higher than 5, including stuff from defects.
Attributes: 2 points.
Skills: 25 points. This includes PC hobbies etc. May use Teen Romance for theme, dunno yet though.
Powers: Option A) You pick one power, the GM randomly rolls the other power. It counts as 6 points, even if it goes over. Depending on how far over, the GM may add a defect.
Option B) GM roll entirely, player (and pc) have no idea. Counts as 6, even if goes over. No defects added, unless the player wants them.
Defects: 2 points. Defects CANNOT add to powers, point wise.
Caveat: Once you pick a method, you are stuck with it. Also, the list of powers the Gm rolls from won't include a) point amplifying abilities (magic, DS, items of power, mechas etc.) and b) crap (c.f. Extra Energy). Lastly, abilities WILL be concealable and your PC can get by as a normal human living a normal life.
Also, the character should be built around being a normal person. At least the first session (possibly more) will be dealing with a normal life, normal things and the like. Then the game is pretty much about what your PCs, average people that they are, do - if anything - with the gifts they end up with.
EDIT: Sparkie is now set up to roll abilities beyond the norm. I will do the roll, in secret, ensuring PCs don't overlap, and all powers begin at level 1 (unless the PC ends up with 2 really low level powers, in which case 1 (or both) could be level 2 - or even 3!) The PC - and player - will be unaware of the power. Once it manifests, the player is free to add special stuff to it (forcefields changed etc.) if they wish.
Initially, abilities are going to be unreliable and the strength (and duration) of them vary, for reasons ofperversity narration, and to keep PCs on their toes. There are plot reasons as well, but that's the biggy.
PCs are BESM. This is the (tentative) breakdown of things
Stats: 13 points. No stat can begin higher than 5, including stuff from defects.
Attributes: 2 points.
Skills: 25 points. This includes PC hobbies etc. May use Teen Romance for theme, dunno yet though.
Powers: Option A) You pick one power, the GM randomly rolls the other power. It counts as 6 points, even if it goes over. Depending on how far over, the GM may add a defect.
Option B) GM roll entirely, player (and pc) have no idea. Counts as 6, even if goes over. No defects added, unless the player wants them.
Defects: 2 points. Defects CANNOT add to powers, point wise.
Caveat: Once you pick a method, you are stuck with it. Also, the list of powers the Gm rolls from won't include a) point amplifying abilities (magic, DS, items of power, mechas etc.) and b) crap (c.f. Extra Energy). Lastly, abilities WILL be concealable and your PC can get by as a normal human living a normal life.
Also, the character should be built around being a normal person. At least the first session (possibly more) will be dealing with a normal life, normal things and the like. Then the game is pretty much about what your PCs, average people that they are, do - if anything - with the gifts they end up with.
EDIT: Sparkie is now set up to roll abilities beyond the norm. I will do the roll, in secret, ensuring PCs don't overlap, and all powers begin at level 1 (unless the PC ends up with 2 really low level powers, in which case 1 (or both) could be level 2 - or even 3!) The PC - and player - will be unaware of the power. Once it manifests, the player is free to add special stuff to it (forcefields changed etc.) if they wish.
Initially, abilities are going to be unreliable and the strength (and duration) of them vary, for reasons of
Monday, December 04, 2006
Some stuff for Urdu...
Group Cohesion
This game is intended to be a Group game. The PCs as a whole are all necessary for The Prophecy (perhaps just in terms of numbers, perhaps individually) and various threats - such as the Hands of Bremen who a) hunt down gifted and b) are immune TO gifts - necessitate working together. There may also be Politics. Playing your PC as a loner/prima donna is not advisable and will lead to PC death.
Dice Rolling, Combat, and Crunchy Bits
While the use of Inappropriate Cliche is, technically, not allowed, it does count as surprising your opponent, and works in that regard. Surprise != stupid in this regard. Having someone grossly underestimate you doesn't count, unless your PC is, say, acting and such. There is a quasi healthy system, based on "okay, you lost, he hit you. A few hits, and you go down," modified to situation and such. The ideal method is for you, the player, to have some idea how much damage your PC could take and RP the results without being msged with: "You are scratched. Wounded. Incapacitated. Inebriated. Dead." etc.
Keep in mind that the game is anime-style, at least in the Gm's head. While there are no healing magics, Gifts are strong and the gifted tend to take a bit more punishment than the average person and heal quicker. (This is mostly because Rping lying in a bed is boring; in general, if a PC gets the snot kicked out of them, expect them up and about in 1-2 days unless it's really bad.
Money
I'm not going to worry about this. I will add a section on currency to the World part of the site eventually. but in general people use gold coins (often called stones, but seldom in Estavia) and bits, which are broken pieces of coins. 4 bits make one coin, one bit = 1 meal, one coin = 1-2 nights of lodgings. Actual rubies, gems etc. count as larger coins, and silver and iron as currencies also exist, though are often only half the worth of gold. Larger coins exist for larger transactions (generally work 5, 10, and 20 coins each), and for anything larger credit sticks bought from bankers and the like apply.
Most of the PCs are fairly wealthy, so I don't think the lack of funds will be a problem. (The kids can either sponge off of the others or procure money through other means.) In general, PCs can afford their living expenses + bribes etc. without any trouble. If they want to buy a home or expensive services like an alchemist they'll need to pool resources.
Hands
The Hands are, essentially, the nightmares of the gifted. While wizards have their own fears based on power and the forces they often are obliged to bargain with, the gifted have more obvious ones. The Hands have been around for a good 700 years, though stories of them exist from further back, mostly as tales of some forgotten time. The kingdom of Bremen either found out how to make them again or learned on its own.
In appearance, they tend to be thin and wasted looking but inhumanly strong with sharp fingers and teeth, scuttling about quickly more like spiders than humans. Sometimes they are armed, sometimes now. A full Hand is, of course, five of them, though they can be found in as small a group as two from time to time. No gifts work on them, at all.
Using a gift to harm them, vis a vis using earth to open up the earth under them in a pit, almost always fails: they seem to have a sixth sense about such things and are astonishingly resistant to any harm caused by gifts. Powerful enough gifts CAN kill one, but the remaining members of the Hand get strong as each part dies.
No one is certain as to Bremen's goals in making them; they've been sent after expatriates with the command Gift as well, after all. However, 50 years ago the Nakai Empire independently developed Hands of it's own. The major difference between them is that the Nakai ones don't function as well as cohesive unit though there are a lot more of them.
Hands also display some resistance to other magia and can sense the use of powerful gifts, honing in on them. There is seldom more than 1 hand within a 3 day range, however, and most families tend to learn other skills besides gifts, since swords kill the Hands as easily as other men.
This game is intended to be a Group game. The PCs as a whole are all necessary for The Prophecy (perhaps just in terms of numbers, perhaps individually) and various threats - such as the Hands of Bremen who a) hunt down gifted and b) are immune TO gifts - necessitate working together. There may also be Politics. Playing your PC as a loner/prima donna is not advisable and will lead to PC death.
Dice Rolling, Combat, and Crunchy Bits
While the use of Inappropriate Cliche is, technically, not allowed, it does count as surprising your opponent, and works in that regard. Surprise != stupid in this regard. Having someone grossly underestimate you doesn't count, unless your PC is, say, acting and such. There is a quasi healthy system, based on "okay, you lost, he hit you. A few hits, and you go down," modified to situation and such. The ideal method is for you, the player, to have some idea how much damage your PC could take and RP the results without being msged with: "You are scratched. Wounded. Incapacitated. Inebriated. Dead." etc.
Keep in mind that the game is anime-style, at least in the Gm's head. While there are no healing magics, Gifts are strong and the gifted tend to take a bit more punishment than the average person and heal quicker. (This is mostly because Rping lying in a bed is boring; in general, if a PC gets the snot kicked out of them, expect them up and about in 1-2 days unless it's really bad.
Money
I'm not going to worry about this. I will add a section on currency to the World part of the site eventually. but in general people use gold coins (often called stones, but seldom in Estavia) and bits, which are broken pieces of coins. 4 bits make one coin, one bit = 1 meal, one coin = 1-2 nights of lodgings. Actual rubies, gems etc. count as larger coins, and silver and iron as currencies also exist, though are often only half the worth of gold. Larger coins exist for larger transactions (generally work 5, 10, and 20 coins each), and for anything larger credit sticks bought from bankers and the like apply.
Most of the PCs are fairly wealthy, so I don't think the lack of funds will be a problem. (The kids can either sponge off of the others or procure money through other means.) In general, PCs can afford their living expenses + bribes etc. without any trouble. If they want to buy a home or expensive services like an alchemist they'll need to pool resources.
Hands
The Hands are, essentially, the nightmares of the gifted. While wizards have their own fears based on power and the forces they often are obliged to bargain with, the gifted have more obvious ones. The Hands have been around for a good 700 years, though stories of them exist from further back, mostly as tales of some forgotten time. The kingdom of Bremen either found out how to make them again or learned on its own.
In appearance, they tend to be thin and wasted looking but inhumanly strong with sharp fingers and teeth, scuttling about quickly more like spiders than humans. Sometimes they are armed, sometimes now. A full Hand is, of course, five of them, though they can be found in as small a group as two from time to time. No gifts work on them, at all.
Using a gift to harm them, vis a vis using earth to open up the earth under them in a pit, almost always fails: they seem to have a sixth sense about such things and are astonishingly resistant to any harm caused by gifts. Powerful enough gifts CAN kill one, but the remaining members of the Hand get strong as each part dies.
No one is certain as to Bremen's goals in making them; they've been sent after expatriates with the command Gift as well, after all. However, 50 years ago the Nakai Empire independently developed Hands of it's own. The major difference between them is that the Nakai ones don't function as well as cohesive unit though there are a lot more of them.
Hands also display some resistance to other magia and can sense the use of powerful gifts, honing in on them. There is seldom more than 1 hand within a 3 day range, however, and most families tend to learn other skills besides gifts, since swords kill the Hands as easily as other men.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Question for Urdu Players...
More, a series. Please answer, via file or msg, before the end of the weekend preferably.
1) Is your PC from Estavia? If not, do you know anyone there? Would anyone have followed you from home (for good or ill)?
2) Many Gifted families are wealthy; that doesn't mean your branch of the family is. How does your character support themself?
3) What is your characters REAL reason for being here? What is your character running from - or to?
4) How easily does your PC harm others? Kill them? Does it bother you one way or another?
5) Does your PC think they are better than other people?
6) Everyone has a price. What's your characters?
7) Would your character rather be the change they want to see in the world or the trouble they want to see in it?
8) What would your character die for? And, conversely, what do they live for?
9) If you had to choose between betraying your country* and your friend, which would you pick, an why?
*country can be substituted with: Family, Ideals, Honour etc. as suits the PC.
Be as brief or wordy as you like :) Keep in mind that none of this is carved in stone; if you RP the character differently, well, people change and such. It'sm ostly to give me (and hopefully you) some insight into what makes your character tick - or tock.
1) Is your PC from Estavia? If not, do you know anyone there? Would anyone have followed you from home (for good or ill)?
2) Many Gifted families are wealthy; that doesn't mean your branch of the family is. How does your character support themself?
3) What is your characters REAL reason for being here? What is your character running from - or to?
4) How easily does your PC harm others? Kill them? Does it bother you one way or another?
5) Does your PC think they are better than other people?
6) Everyone has a price. What's your characters?
7) Would your character rather be the change they want to see in the world or the trouble they want to see in it?
8) What would your character die for? And, conversely, what do they live for?
9) If you had to choose between betraying your country* and your friend, which would you pick, an why?
*country can be substituted with: Family, Ideals, Honour etc. as suits the PC.
Be as brief or wordy as you like :) Keep in mind that none of this is carved in stone; if you RP the character differently, well, people change and such. It'sm ostly to give me (and hopefully you) some insight into what makes your character tick - or tock.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Are you ready for the Reckoning?
Wednesday nights, ~10pm EST.
Site: Oh, here is good. (NO, it's not finished yet.)
Game begins Wed, Nov. 29th. Finished PCs only (yes, this includes backgrounds).
Currently there are 3 prospective players (and 2 finished characters!). Five will be the maximum, first come first serve basis. See previous post and site link for more information. If a player can't make it, we can establish a waiting list thingy.
This has been a public service announcement. Regular floggings will resume shortly.
Site: Oh, here is good. (NO, it's not finished yet.)
Game begins Wed, Nov. 29th. Finished PCs only (yes, this includes backgrounds).
Currently there are 3 prospective players (and 2 finished characters!). Five will be the maximum, first come first serve basis. See previous post and site link for more information. If a player can't make it, we can establish a waiting list thingy.
This has been a public service announcement. Regular floggings will resume shortly.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
RECKONINGS: an RPG campaign
The world of Urdu is old, the oldest thing in this incarnation of the universe, the point from which all else came into being. For billions of years people have lived and fought and died on it. Mighty empires have rose, fallen, rebuilt themselves, been ground into ashes by those who came after them Over all of this the gods have watched, sometimes playing games, sometimes now, feared and worshipped, they were pieces of the universe given form, powers beyond human ken who built their cities in the heavens from which to watch all that passed below them.
Until the Cataclysm. Until the terrible event over 300 winters ago when the heavens themselves fell down, destroying the entire southern continent, obliterating tracts of land and reshaping the world in a fury of fire and the death screams of the gods. Those who could Channel their power did so, in one last moment as the gods tried to halt their demise and failed. The ancient wizards, whose bargains with Mors and Arth'Ba'Toch failed as Death and Time died, passed on, and most magic in the world was lost or shattered by the loss of the gods.
The world has never recovered, though nothing has risen to replace them, no terrible Power come to claim the world as its own. There is only the loss, and the building of the new world from those terrible moments and the ashes of all that had come before.
Into these times come your characters, drawn to the city of Estavia (one of the few to have grown in strength when all the empires were shattered), a haven of modern alchemy trying to find new ways to do for people what the gods always did. You are, each, the relics of an old age, one of the families of those Gifted with magic who remain in the present age and have not been destroyed by the Hands from Bremen or died out due to inbreeding. Almost the last of those gifted, a three hundred year program to make Gifts strong enough to face down the remaining Wizards, but no one living knows why the Gifted families went this far, nor what was intended....
most believe it is the salvation of the world and the restoration of the gods.
Player info:
I plan to run this game very much in anime style. There should be lots of interpersonal conflicts, there'll be lost of conflict of other types, and PCs should get to do Cool Things.
Risus system, 12 dice. Each PC can have 4 dice (max.) in any cliche. Cliches can be increased from d6 to d8 or d10 via an extra die (said extra die does NOT count towards total dice in cliche). There must be at least 2 dice in a cliche to do this), so a PC could have Singing Gift (3d6), swordsmanship (3d8), Acrobatics (3d6) and Gambling (2d6) as cliches as an example.
A Gift is, basically, a single kind of magic. Fire, Water, Swordsmanship. That sort of thing. The Gifted families (one family, one gift) have been around for a long time, though no one knows how they came about. When a family dies out, their Gift is gone forever. A Gift is kept within a family, so inbreeding among cousins and siblings is the norm, since breeding with outsiders only leads to children with weak (or no) gifts.
Once the gods died, and terrible things like plagues and birth defects came into the world, the gifted have been fighting a long, losing battle. Few of any generation are whole in body and mind; fewer still have powerful gifts. Of your generation, you are one of at best five of your Family with a powerful gift, and have been sent to the city of Estavia and the Inn of the Lost Rainbow because of an agreement so old no one remembers it.
If one player takes a gift, no one else can. All PCs come from different Families. if you wish to play something other than a Gifted (or a Gifted Channeller/Wizard/Alchemist), talk to me. The following Gifts are not available for PCs: Shadow, Death, and Fire.
Other notes: magic can't be used to change people, save for alchemy (and even then, it is very limited in usefulness). There are no transformation gifts, no healing gifts and such. No Wizard spells for such either.
CRUNCHY BITS:
- You CAN adds hooks (2 max; 2 free dice maxiumum). (In fact, the GM encourages it.) A Hook, in this instance, counts as a character flaw (sworn vow, crippling thing etc.) (you get 1 die for every hook you have, 2 if it's a really severe hook.) You CAN get tails, via the risus rules, but only by supplying pic/drawing PC and more background than usual. (Normally, I'd except 1 pqage including bacckground, family the PC left, PCs family life -- did the famiytl breeding for gifts put engenics to shame? etc. -- and anything on PC personality. More would be, well, history of parents, some family lore/secrets or whatever.)
- PCs are human; there's no elves, sentient dogs etc. on this world.
- Think Cliche. That's how Risus works. More dice in a cliche is skill; increasing dicepool size is power. (This is a general rule, not specific)
- Keep in mind that there are items of magic etc. out there to increase power and the like available. PCs tend to be exceptions to rules. (For example, somerone with 2 gifts could be possible.) Invent cool Tricks for the pc.
Until the Cataclysm. Until the terrible event over 300 winters ago when the heavens themselves fell down, destroying the entire southern continent, obliterating tracts of land and reshaping the world in a fury of fire and the death screams of the gods. Those who could Channel their power did so, in one last moment as the gods tried to halt their demise and failed. The ancient wizards, whose bargains with Mors and Arth'Ba'Toch failed as Death and Time died, passed on, and most magic in the world was lost or shattered by the loss of the gods.
The world has never recovered, though nothing has risen to replace them, no terrible Power come to claim the world as its own. There is only the loss, and the building of the new world from those terrible moments and the ashes of all that had come before.
Into these times come your characters, drawn to the city of Estavia (one of the few to have grown in strength when all the empires were shattered), a haven of modern alchemy trying to find new ways to do for people what the gods always did. You are, each, the relics of an old age, one of the families of those Gifted with magic who remain in the present age and have not been destroyed by the Hands from Bremen or died out due to inbreeding. Almost the last of those gifted, a three hundred year program to make Gifts strong enough to face down the remaining Wizards, but no one living knows why the Gifted families went this far, nor what was intended....
most believe it is the salvation of the world and the restoration of the gods.
Player info:
I plan to run this game very much in anime style. There should be lots of interpersonal conflicts, there'll be lost of conflict of other types, and PCs should get to do Cool Things.
Risus system, 12 dice. Each PC can have 4 dice (max.) in any cliche. Cliches can be increased from d6 to d8 or d10 via an extra die (said extra die does NOT count towards total dice in cliche). There must be at least 2 dice in a cliche to do this), so a PC could have Singing Gift (3d6), swordsmanship (3d8), Acrobatics (3d6) and Gambling (2d6) as cliches as an example.
A Gift is, basically, a single kind of magic. Fire, Water, Swordsmanship. That sort of thing. The Gifted families (one family, one gift) have been around for a long time, though no one knows how they came about. When a family dies out, their Gift is gone forever. A Gift is kept within a family, so inbreeding among cousins and siblings is the norm, since breeding with outsiders only leads to children with weak (or no) gifts.
Once the gods died, and terrible things like plagues and birth defects came into the world, the gifted have been fighting a long, losing battle. Few of any generation are whole in body and mind; fewer still have powerful gifts. Of your generation, you are one of at best five of your Family with a powerful gift, and have been sent to the city of Estavia and the Inn of the Lost Rainbow because of an agreement so old no one remembers it.
If one player takes a gift, no one else can. All PCs come from different Families. if you wish to play something other than a Gifted (or a Gifted Channeller/Wizard/Alchemist), talk to me. The following Gifts are not available for PCs: Shadow, Death, and Fire.
Other notes: magic can't be used to change people, save for alchemy (and even then, it is very limited in usefulness). There are no transformation gifts, no healing gifts and such. No Wizard spells for such either.
CRUNCHY BITS:
- You CAN adds hooks (2 max; 2 free dice maxiumum). (In fact, the GM encourages it.) A Hook, in this instance, counts as a character flaw (sworn vow, crippling thing etc.) (you get 1 die for every hook you have, 2 if it's a really severe hook.) You CAN get tails, via the risus rules, but only by supplying pic/drawing PC and more background than usual. (Normally, I'd except 1 pqage including bacckground, family the PC left, PCs family life -- did the famiytl breeding for gifts put engenics to shame? etc. -- and anything on PC personality. More would be, well, history of parents, some family lore/secrets or whatever.)
- PCs are human; there's no elves, sentient dogs etc. on this world.
- Think Cliche. That's how Risus works. More dice in a cliche is skill; increasing dicepool size is power. (This is a general rule, not specific)
- Keep in mind that there are items of magic etc. out there to increase power and the like available. PCs tend to be exceptions to rules. (For example, somerone with 2 gifts could be possible.) Invent cool Tricks for the pc.
Monday, November 13, 2006
New Game, Near Future, Nearly Soon
I have expressed interest in running a game of Lacuna. If you're interested in knowing about this, and want to know more about it I have the pdf of the small game book and will be happy to share it with you.
The basic premise behind it is, you're a "Mystery Agent" who goes into the dreamworld, hereafter referred to as the Blue City, where people go when they're sleeping. You are the disinfectent of society and erase the bad thoughts and urges that serial killers and rapists have when they're awake and killing/hurting people.
There are dangers to your job, such as an unwanted meeting with the Spidermen. Tall lumbering humanoid spider creatures that wear a Blok-style garment (think Russian army WWII era). Or going insane or even dying due to a heart attack.
For more, and how to create a character, contact me! You know the channel, I'll be the time!
The basic premise behind it is, you're a "Mystery Agent" who goes into the dreamworld, hereafter referred to as the Blue City, where people go when they're sleeping. You are the disinfectent of society and erase the bad thoughts and urges that serial killers and rapists have when they're awake and killing/hurting people.
There are dangers to your job, such as an unwanted meeting with the Spidermen. Tall lumbering humanoid spider creatures that wear a Blok-style garment (think Russian army WWII era). Or going insane or even dying due to a heart attack.
For more, and how to create a character, contact me! You know the channel, I'll be the time!
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
The Day of Discordant Discombobulations Wherein We See Ourselves For The First Time And Steal A Boat From Some Old Man By The Sea
[A short story, written especially for Kentari]
She crested slowly, rhythmic sensuous curves undulating in the azure world, pale as sky me the verdant, broad and sprawling ocean and as the earth nestled with the heavens, suspended between substrates as water funnelled from fish and we froze, Japanese tourists with camera faces staring, the world turned to paparazzi flashes.
Then we came down, like a zipper creasing into folds, stick and moving, the spears of our destiny stabbing into flesh and blubber and the whale died, reminding each of us in one poignant yet somehow meaninglessly shallow empty moment of our in-laws and gaping maws and poetry disguised as prose but why, for what -- no one knew. Knows.
We killed her quickly, her children watching, frozen, blood curses in whale song a sound that still haunts my dreams, sounding like child molesters, in the shower, singing as they are shivved; the tourists never stopped clicking, prisoner to their terrible plan, sucking away our souls by pieces -- but we had paid them away long ago.
Under other stars and distant suns seen once and never again under eyelids we sold ourselves, our souls, our lives, for just the pursuit of happiness and never its possession -- and so, waving, we carried the whale home soulless, feeding our families in bleak homes for another year, another turning of seasons and the relentless pitter-patter of time
falling down the stairs.
"Honey," he said, his voice breaking the silence like cheap dinner plate therapy on a basement wall, "why do I call you that?" in a quizzical, confused tone that implied in an implicitly explicit manner akin to the exoteric esoteric way of spouses something his darling wife entirely failed to notice.
"Call me what?" she asked languorously in a voice like rough sandpaper scraping over an open wound, her eyes the colour of limpid swamp water with a body that had not tasted solid food in a week of desperate dieting to fit into a reunion dress for someone six inches shorter that lay, moth eaten, in an upstairs wooden trunk filled with her lost hopes and a small, lonely tic tac.
"Honey," he said imperatively with the slight, hesitant whine like the drone of a biplane, the voice of all men ho are right but not in the eyes of their wives (a voice Hitler used, asking about the Jews, saying they might not be good people but at least they kept to themselves to a wife who was tired of hearing how they threw the best bar parties for children), and he beheld at her and froze, not unlike a bowling ball floating in the water.
"Yes?" she snapped snappishly, her voice skeletonizing his ego like a piranha, a whiplash of failed memories and corroded vows skittering over his flesh like hungry ghosts.
"The word. Honey. It - doesn't suit you," he noted miserably, his voice fluttering between notes, a song in need of a singer to free it from the entrails of time and the broad expanse of the gulf that nestled between them like the deep ends of the couch.
"How now? How not?" she exclaimed, correcting herself with a moment of mental whiplash, her eyes, steely-eyed like ball bearings, dared him to comment from their dead, cold, desiccated and mysterious depths that he had yet to grasp the courage to plummet and swan dive - or, perhaps, belly flop - into the abyssal abyssness of night and - oh! - her abs, that glistened with years of work like oil-stained rags.
"You aren't a bear," he smiled, the expression a fractional upturning of lips falling into the Shrodinger laugh that was not funny or morbid yet until a reply is made from the box of anothers being; neither living nor dead, trapped between reply and answer as unto a butterfly hovering above a jar of ether.
"You begin to bore me," she flounced, her voice slate-pale-grey-green as she turned and appraised him, hands on hips like the wife of some mighty Ice Giant of halcyon days of yore waiting for an explanation for the party that kept him up, not buying Ragnarok as an excuse again.
"I am sorry," he whipped in whispered words warbling whitely.
"Good."
She crested slowly, rhythmic sensuous curves undulating in the azure world, pale as sky me the verdant, broad and sprawling ocean and as the earth nestled with the heavens, suspended between substrates as water funnelled from fish and we froze, Japanese tourists with camera faces staring, the world turned to paparazzi flashes.
Then we came down, like a zipper creasing into folds, stick and moving, the spears of our destiny stabbing into flesh and blubber and the whale died, reminding each of us in one poignant yet somehow meaninglessly shallow empty moment of our in-laws and gaping maws and poetry disguised as prose but why, for what -- no one knew. Knows.
We killed her quickly, her children watching, frozen, blood curses in whale song a sound that still haunts my dreams, sounding like child molesters, in the shower, singing as they are shivved; the tourists never stopped clicking, prisoner to their terrible plan, sucking away our souls by pieces -- but we had paid them away long ago.
Under other stars and distant suns seen once and never again under eyelids we sold ourselves, our souls, our lives, for just the pursuit of happiness and never its possession -- and so, waving, we carried the whale home soulless, feeding our families in bleak homes for another year, another turning of seasons and the relentless pitter-patter of time
falling down the stairs.
"Honey," he said, his voice breaking the silence like cheap dinner plate therapy on a basement wall, "why do I call you that?" in a quizzical, confused tone that implied in an implicitly explicit manner akin to the exoteric esoteric way of spouses something his darling wife entirely failed to notice.
"Call me what?" she asked languorously in a voice like rough sandpaper scraping over an open wound, her eyes the colour of limpid swamp water with a body that had not tasted solid food in a week of desperate dieting to fit into a reunion dress for someone six inches shorter that lay, moth eaten, in an upstairs wooden trunk filled with her lost hopes and a small, lonely tic tac.
"Honey," he said imperatively with the slight, hesitant whine like the drone of a biplane, the voice of all men ho are right but not in the eyes of their wives (a voice Hitler used, asking about the Jews, saying they might not be good people but at least they kept to themselves to a wife who was tired of hearing how they threw the best bar parties for children), and he beheld at her and froze, not unlike a bowling ball floating in the water.
"Yes?" she snapped snappishly, her voice skeletonizing his ego like a piranha, a whiplash of failed memories and corroded vows skittering over his flesh like hungry ghosts.
"The word. Honey. It - doesn't suit you," he noted miserably, his voice fluttering between notes, a song in need of a singer to free it from the entrails of time and the broad expanse of the gulf that nestled between them like the deep ends of the couch.
"How now? How not?" she exclaimed, correcting herself with a moment of mental whiplash, her eyes, steely-eyed like ball bearings, dared him to comment from their dead, cold, desiccated and mysterious depths that he had yet to grasp the courage to plummet and swan dive - or, perhaps, belly flop - into the abyssal abyssness of night and - oh! - her abs, that glistened with years of work like oil-stained rags.
"You aren't a bear," he smiled, the expression a fractional upturning of lips falling into the Shrodinger laugh that was not funny or morbid yet until a reply is made from the box of anothers being; neither living nor dead, trapped between reply and answer as unto a butterfly hovering above a jar of ether.
"You begin to bore me," she flounced, her voice slate-pale-grey-green as she turned and appraised him, hands on hips like the wife of some mighty Ice Giant of halcyon days of yore waiting for an explanation for the party that kept him up, not buying Ragnarok as an excuse again.
"I am sorry," he whipped in whispered words warbling whitely.
"Good."
Friday, October 13, 2006
November Note
I won't be online much at all during the first week, and likely not during the second either (the first is guests, the second is NaNoWriMo :)). After that, should be on and will likely begin Low Life towards the end of month/beginning of December.
Low Life is going to run Day X (undetermined, as yet) Time Y (ditto) once a week. For this game, there shall be NO side sessions. For a change, basically :)
The game will likely run 3 months or so, and LOLAD 2 run after it. After THAT, I may run Haunted and/or UA, players willing. No plans for whatever follows.
Low Life is going to run Day X (undetermined, as yet) Time Y (ditto) once a week. For this game, there shall be NO side sessions. For a change, basically :)
The game will likely run 3 months or so, and LOLAD 2 run after it. After THAT, I may run Haunted and/or UA, players willing. No plans for whatever follows.
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