tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10404008047333610112024-03-05T14:00:48.964+01:00Moni's catboxMonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-66784175207350706462012-12-26T18:37:00.000+01:002012-12-26T18:39:38.070+01:00Holly Daye Special - Actual Play<h2>
Setup</h2>
Gonna try to do this solo play under a format I've used once, but it seemed to help me back then. I'll be writing down things as a mock up dialogue between a GM and the characters, with the PCs being self-aware (kinda as if the characters were playing as themselves in the RPG). I know it's somewhat schizoweirdo and meta... but bear with me.<br />
<br />
The characters are all premade Sentinels but it's assumed they don't know each other yet, though some might have made the news already. Here are the characters used, with a link to their free PDF sheet.<br />
<br />
<br />
* <a href="http://grfiles.game-host.org/3e_files/TheSentinels_Princess.pdf" target="_blank">Princess</a> (checking out shops for gifts to offer, as Jessica)<br />
* <a href="http://grfiles.game-host.org/3e_files/TheSentinels_KidRobot.pdf" target="_blank">Kid Robot</a> (with his guardian, Natalie Hallemier, at a Xmas event)<br />
* <a href="http://grfiles.game-host.org/3e_files/TheSentinels_Rook.pdf" target="_blank">The Rook</a> (keeping an eye out for trouble from the roofs of the city)<br />
<br />
Check the previous post for the villain write-up.<br />
<br />
<br />
GM: The story starts a few days before Christmas proper. It is late evening and, considering the time of year the sky is dark already but the streets are anything but. A myriad of lights, neon signs and shiny things can be found everywhere, along with many people wandering about. There's this indescribable festive feel in the air. It is, definitely, Christmas time!<br />
Princess, you are in your civilian identity, going from shop to shop in the hope of finding something for your friends and family.<br />
<br />
Princess: Gotcha.<br />
<br />
GM: Kid Robot, you are in a big mall where a Christmas event is taking place. Dr Natalie Hallemier is with you. In fact, she was the one who brought you here, you're not exactly sure why. That said, she also insisted on you wearing a rather conceiling jacket with a hoodie.<br />
<br />
Kid: But I'm not cold!<br />
<br />
GM: She says she knows, but it's meant to protect you anyway.<br />
<br />
Kid: Mm'kay. Odd. So where am I at again?<br />
<br />
GM: There are a lot of other kids around, with adults, just like you. Everyone seems to be waiting impatiently for something to happen, though you don't know what. You see what looks like a pile of boxes covered by a large white sheet. All the children seem to be looking very intently at it.<br />
<br />
Kid: Um, I don't understand. What are we waiting for Nat?<br />
<br />
GM: "It's a surprise! You need to be patient and discover it for yourself, it shouldn't be too long now."<br />
<br />
Kid: Guess I'll wait then.<br />
<br />
GM: All right. In the meantime, Rook, I suppose you're observing the city?<br />
<br />
Rook: Of course. I go from roof to roof, looking out for anything suspicious. Not everyone is respectful of these festive times.<br />
<br />
GM: OK. So far, you see nothing strange but you keep going. Princess, in your search, you end up at the mall and there's this big crowd gathered here. Lots of children. It seems like they're going to unveil something very soon.<br />
<br />
Princess: Is this the same mall as Kid?<br />
<br />
GM: Well... not that you'd know, but yeah.<br />
<br />
Princess: Eh, guess I can take a second or two and see what this is all about.<br />
<br />
GM: Rook, something catches your eye. From above, you spot a large black van driving a bit too fast and parking hapharzardly near a large mall. The back doors open and you see a group of men coming out.<br />
<br />
Rook: How many?<br />
<br />
GM: Um... Six of them. What's really strange about them is their getup: they dressed in green with little pointy hats and shoes.<br />
<br />
Rook: Err... like little elves?<br />
<br />
GM: Well, yeah, except they're anything but little. Full human size, some of them possibly even burly. They also seem to be carrying something large... looks like rifles or something.<br />
<br />
Rook: Can I try to get a better look? I do have my Cowl's Extended Vision<br />
<br />
GM: Ah, good point. In that case, you're easily able to tell that they're not rifles, but still look like some type of gun weapon. Not something you've ever seen.<br />
<br />
Rook: OK... I don't like the looks of that. I'm going to glide down to a backstreet as near them as possible.<br />
<br />
GM: You do so and they do not notice you one bit. As you fly by, you notice one more of these men coming out of the driver's side, and a woman, in a similar getup, coming out of the other side.<br />
<br />
Rook: Do I recognize her?<br />
<br />
GM: Um... You do have Well-Informed. What's your Investigation?<br />
<br />
Rook: +6<br />
<br />
<i>Here I'm going to go with a Routine check to simplify things (and avoid too much randomness). We're looking at rumors, so it's a DC 10 Gather Information check using Investigation, according to p.71. He gets a routine 16, so he makes it.</i><br />
<br />
GM: You remember hearing about someone who fits her description. Ever since the beginning of the month there have been a few cases of assault and property damage in and around various shops. A woman dressed as a Santa elf is said to have smashed down Christmas setups and gotten into fights with some fake Santas advertising for products.<br />
<br />
Rook: Were they the same product? Or shops with a specific theme?<br />
<br />
GM: Not that you remember. The one theme they had in common was the Christmas one.<br />
<br />
Rook: All right. In any case, she might be dangerous... and these visibly armed men don't make me think otherwise. I'm jumping down into the alley and will try to catch one of them to know more.<br />
<br />
GM: Mh... OK. The group is heading towards the mall and you're going for a silent grab. Give me an attack check, unless you have something specific for grabbing?<br />
<br />
Rook: Uh... I don't think I do. Just an attack roll then. d20 (8) +15 = 23.<br />
<br />
GM: Yeah... you're pretty good at that kind of stuff aren't you? Let me roll their resistance check. d20 (7) +2 = 9. Yeah, no surprise there, you catch the guy. You beat him by quite more than 5, so that's at least 2 degrees of success. He's utterly bound. What do you do with him?<br />
<br />
Rook: I'll firmly ask him what the hell his litttle group plans on doing here. Intimidation of course.<br />
<br />
<i>Again Routine Check to simplify things. He has +8, so a 18 routine. The thug has no Will bonus, nor the Insight skill, so it's an easy one.</i><br />
<br />
GM: He seems too scared to even thrash about and stutters that they're here to fix Christmas.<br />
<br />
Rook: "Fix" Christmas?... Are you mocking me? I say that with enough anger so that he understands he should not, if he is.<br />
<br />
GM: He shakes his head frantically. "No no no! Too much commercialization! Gifts given to anyone, even the unworthy! It's got to stop!" As for whether he's lying or not... what's your Insight?<br />
<br />
Rook: Um, I don't have Insight... so, Awareness?<br />
<br />
GM: Yes, please.<br />
<br />
Rook: d20 (18) +2 = 20<br />
<br />
GM: Good roll. d20 (19) -1 = 18. You think he's telling the truth, as strange as it might sound.<br />
<br />
Rook: OK... What are you planning to do <i>exactly</i> then? What's this? I point at his weapon-like device.<br />
<br />
GM: Strangely enough, you don't get the answer from him. Instead, a loud noise followed by gasps and some panicked shrieks tell you you might find out yourself. It came from inside the mall. And going back to Kid and Princess. You were waiting for the unveiling when some nice red curtains were pulled apart to reveal none other than... Santa! Well... <i>a</i> Santa at least. The white sheet was pulled up also, revealing a mountain of gift boxes, obviously intended for the gathered kids. How's that, Kid Robot?<br />
<br />
Kid: Uhhh... I'm not sure I understand. Who's the fat man in red?<br />
<br />
GM: Are you asking the doctor?<br />
<br />
Kid: Yeah.<br />
<br />
GM: She has a slight pause, a bit taken aback, but then showing a compassionate smile. "I guess I should have briefed you up a bit, uh?"<br />
<br />
Kid: Is this a mission?<br />
<br />
GM: "Haha, oh dear, no. This -- she point at the man in red -- is Santa Claus. Every year, around this time, he comes to listen to the children's wishes so they may have something they want for the day of Christmas. Do you... understand?"<br />
<br />
Kid: Wishes?<br />
<br />
GM: "Yes, like... maybe you want a firefighter truck, or a toy robo-- err... toys... things to play with and have fun. On Christmas he'll come on his magical sleigh pulled by his faithful reindeers and bring what you wished for under the Christmas tree."<br />
<br />
Kid: Can we ask for anything?<br />
<br />
GM: "Well, uh... it's..."<br />
<br />
Kid: I'm going to see the man in red.<br />
<br />
GM: You tell her that?<br />
<br />
Kid: No, I'm going there.<br />
<br />
GM: Oh... She tries to catch you but you're already out of the crowd and nearing the man sporting a great white beard and a consequent belly.<br />
<br />
Kid: Mister Claus?<br />
<br />
GM: The big man looks down at you with a jolly smile. "Ho ho ho! Good evening to you, child."<br />
<br />
Kid: I was told I should tell you my wish for Christmas.<br />
<br />
GM: He looks a bit embarassed. "Ho ho ho! Well, well, we actually have a pile of gifts for you here." He gestures towards the pile of gift boxes which the other kids are already gathering around and shredding open with squeals of delight. "I'm sure you will find something you'll like in there, go take a look!" He gently pushes you towards it.<br />
<br />
Kid: I look back at the doctor with a confused look but don't resist.<br />
<br />
GM: She kind of gives a shrug with an unsure smile and gestures you to the pile. You see many children opening boxes with many colors and designs and pulling out miniature trains, cars, dolls... one of the items kinda looks like you. There's also a kid trying to reach one of the higher boxes.<br />
<br />
Kid: I look at him and ask him "Do you want the one up there?"<br />
<br />
GM: He looks up at you, a bit unsure at first, but then nods bashfully.<br />
<br />
Kid: "I got it." I fly up there to get the box.<br />
<br />
GM: Oh dear... OK. You activate your force boosters and rise in the air with a woomph, scattering wrappings about and creating a bit of a commotion. Some of the parents are pulling their kids back while others seem to wonder if that's part of the show. When you get back down, the kid who asked for the box is looking at you with wide open eyes and mouth agape. All he manages to say is "Woah..."<br />
<br />
Kid: "Um... there you go." I say as I hand him the box.<br />
<br />
GM: He takes it but still stares at you in awe. You realize your hood has fallen back when you flew and you see Natalie coming to you with a worried look on her face. She's not the only one: other parents now seem to shield their kid and look at you with what you interpret as something from confusion to fear.<br />
<br />
Kid: "I, uh..."<br />
<br />
GM: The kid seems to snap out of it and turns to his mother saying "Mommy, I want this one!!", pointing at you excitedly. Princess, you have followed that scene from afar. What's your take on it so far?<br />
<br />
Princess: Well... I'm still unsure whether it's a skit or something. Christmas robot maybe? People don't seem to be taking it the right way though.<br />
<br />
GM: He did fly in the air...<br />
<br />
Princess: Yeah... that might be a bit too advanced for a skit, eh? I'm on my guards in case I need to intervene.<br />
<br />
GM: Kid, you notice a strange bunch entering the building. They're dressed in strange red and green costumes with pointy hats and jingling bells attached to their tips. The one in front is a woman and the others are men carrying some strange contraption. It makes you think of those strange energy cannons you've seen in the movies the Doctor showed you.<br />
<br />
Kid: Not sure what to make of this. Is this also part of this Christmas thing?<br />
<br />
GM: You don't really know I guess. The doctor comes next to you, puts your hood back on and, an arm around your shoulders, pulls you away. "I... think we're done here. I'm sorry about this... I thought you would... I don't know what I was thinking."<br />
<br />
Kid: Uh? What? What's going on?<br />
<br />
GM: "We should leave..." she tells you. She seems upset, you're not sure why. Before you can think about it too much, you hear a scream. A child is wailing. People turn towards the source of the commotion. Princess, you also see that of course and you notice the bunch that entered the building dressed up as Santa's elves or something, except with big weapon-like contraptions, which is rather jarring.<br />
The wailing comes from a child. It seems like the dressed-up woman has taken his gift box. "Nuh-uh, you have not been nice to your parents this year, no way you're gonna get a gift! That's not how it works!"<br />
From behind, you all can see a few security guards approaching. "Ma'am, you are disturbing the Christmas event, we will ask you to follow us without a fuss now please."<br />
The woman lets out a laugh. "HA! Christmas?! You fools have no idea what Christmas truly is! This is a joke!"<br />
"Ma'am... we're asking nicely..." says one of the guards grabbing her shoulder.<br />
"Unhand me! I'm here to fix Christmas and <i>you</i> won't stop me. Boys!"<br />
Her group reacts to her call, raising their weapons and firing at the guards. Bright blue beams come out of them and hit the guards, covering them in a thick coat of ice. Soon enough they're stuck in place and encased in the frozen matter.<br />
<br />
Time for all of you to roll initiative. You too Rook.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Round 1</h2>
<br />
Princess: d20 (16) +9 = 25<br />
Kid: d20 (1) +8 = 9<br />
Rook: d20 (14) +5 = 19<br />
<br />
GM: Holly: d20 (7) +10 = 17<br />
Not So Little Elves: d20 (9) +1 = 10<br />
<br />
<i>We end up with Princess, Rook, Holly, Elves, Kid</i><br />
<br />
GM: Well, Kid, you seem confused by all this.<br />
<br />
Kid: Right, I thought this might also be part of that Christmas thing. I guess not after all.<br />
<br />
GM: First to act is Princess. What do you do?<br />
<br />
Princess: Well, clearly things have turned sour here. Fixing Christmas eh? Maybe I'll fix her nose for making those poor kids scared and... freezing the guards. But I'm a bit concerned by the ones with those... freezing rays. She seems unarmed so far.<br />
<br />
GM: Actually I forgot to mention, though not exactly a weapon, she <i>is</i> carrying a giant candy cane as tall as she is, even if she's a bit smallish.<br />
<br />
Princess: She's not a kid is she?<br />
<br />
GM: No, no, she's a woman, just smaller than average. And as such much smaller than you.<br />
<br />
Princess: Hm... I'll still focus on the armed goons I think. I run up to the closest and try to knock him out.<br />
<br />
GM: OK, since they are Minions, you can simply do a Routine attack if it's enough to hit. What's your attack bonus?<br />
<br />
Princess: +8. That's 18 routine?<br />
<br />
GM: Mh... Yeah, that would hit.<br />
<i>They have a Parry of 2, thus DC 12</i><br />
So he needs to resist your damage... Your attack has a DC of... 27. Yeah, he has no way of resisting that, so he's down, dropping his weapon in the process.<br />
<br />
Princess: How many are there again?<br />
<br />
GM: Uh... seven, well six now, plus the girl. Rook, you're up.<br />
<br />
Rook: I'm still outside?<br />
<br />
GM: Ah, yes, you still have the guy in your chokehold. You have just heard some commotion in the mall, what are you doing?<br />
<br />
Rook: Can't quite leave him here unattended... and I'm pretty sure he's up to no good. Uh... is there any way for me to knock him out instantly?<br />
<br />
GM: Mhh... your grab put him in a pretty bad situation, let me see... He <i>is</i> Defenseless from your Grab, and obviously at close range, so that's supposedly all you need to make a Finishing Attack. Do you want to roll it to try to get a crit?<br />
<br />
Rook: Let's try that. I want to make sure he's out in one move. d20 (16) +15 = 31.<br />
<br />
GM: Yyyyeah... quite so. Being a crit, this gives you a +5 bonus to your damage DC. Let's see his toughness resistance. d20 (16) +3 = 19 VS DC 18+5... 23. He made a good roll, but that crit definitely helped you. You knock him out. What next?<br />
<br />
Rook: Are there many people from here to the entrance of the mall? Can I use my wings to get there quickly?<br />
<br />
GM: I'm going to say it's clear enough. And the doors are still open from the group entering.<br />
<br />
Rook: OK, I spread my wings and burst forward, zigzagging between people if necessary until I'm inside.<br />
<br />
GM: You get there without too much trouble. You see that the rest of the group is here and they have started using their weapons. You see a few guards encased in ice with looks of surprise on their faces. The woman of the group is near a group of children and she's holding a gift box away from a crying child. She has a giant candy cane in her other hand. I totally forgot about this but I guess you would have seen her take it out of the van earlier, too.<br />
Anyway, that's the end of your turn. Let's get to... ah, that peculiar lady!<br />
<br />
She's seen one of her allies go down, attacked by a tall girl with a pink shirt with "Princess" on it. And she doesn't look too happy. "Agh! Who dares lay a hand on Saint Nick's elves?!" Without any visible means of propulsion she takes to the air and swoops down on you, Princess. She wields her huge candy cane like a bat and swings it at you.<br />
d20 (8) +12 = 20. What's your Parry?<br />
<br />
Princess: Parry is 8<br />
<br />
GM: so DC 18. You take the curved part of the cane in the head. Roll your Toughness save.<br />
<br />
Princess: I do have Impervious Toughness 8. Does this get through it?<br />
<br />
GM: Unfortunately for you, yes. She gave you a pretty strong hit, totally unexpected considering her petite size.<br />
<br />
Princess: Darn. d20 (6) +12 = 18. Is that enough?<br />
<br />
GM: Unfortunately no, you take a -1 penalty.<br />
<br />
Princess: Ouch... but I can take it. I think... I might redirect my attention to that crazy lady next turn...<br />
<br />
GM: Sounds fair. For now, it's the turn of the elves. They all turn to you, raising their weapons and they fire.<br />
Elf 1: d20 (12) +1 = 13<br />
Elf 2: d20 (14) +1 = 15<br />
Elf 3: d20 (12) +1 = 13<br />
Elf 4: d20 (8) +1 = 9<br />
Elf 5: d20 (10) +1 = 11<br />
<br />
Your Dodge DC is... 18, so none of them actually manages to hit you. How does that go?<br />
<br />
Princess: I'm just too fast on my legs and too nimble compared to the time it takes for them to aim and shoot these bulky things. They're not sticking me to the floor anytime soon.<br />
<br />
GM: All right! Kid, it's your turn. What do you do? There's quite a battle in progress in front of your eyes and you're <i>pretty</i> sure this is not normal. The face on the good doctor is quite enough to tell you so. She's obviously trying to find a safe way out and still holding you by the shoulders.<br />
<br />
Kid: I drop that silly cloak thing and put my hand on hers, gently removing it from my shoulder. "Do not worry. I'll protect you." I activate my force field. Well, make sure it's active, since I probably have it on most of the time. And I step forward, computing everyone's position and starting the charge of my Force Bolts. Those armed people look dangerous. "Everyone get down!" Aim, shoot! I'm using Multiattack to try to get them all.<br />
<br />
GM: That's five of them, so a -5 penalty. Do your roll.<br />
<br />
Kid: d20 (3) +12 -5 = 10. Err... oops?<br />
<br />
GM: Oops indeed. Your shots are rather wild and end up hitting various walls and decorations instead of your intended targets.<br />
<br />
Kid: Attack result: failure... Increase attack precision for next attempt.<br />
<br />
GM: Sounds like a good idea! You can still move, do you want to?<br />
<br />
Kid: Mhh... I'll fly up, this way they shouldn't hit innocents if they target me. And it'll give me a better view of the situation.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Round 2</h2>
<br />
GM: OK. Next is... Princess!<br />
<br />
Princess: Hm... I think I'm gonna try and grab that candy can off her hands. Who knows, maybe it's the source of her power. It ticks me off anyway.<br />
<br />
GM: Disarming uh? OK, let's see... that's a regular attack but at -2.<br />
<br />
Princess: Here we go. d20 (8) +8-2 = 14<br />
<br />
GM: Not even close. She nimbly moves out of the way keeping that cane out of reach.<br />
<br />
Princess: Urh... Well I keep after her anyway. At worst I'm keeping her busy.<br />
<br />
GM: Works for me. Oh, by the way, can you give me an Investigation roll? or Intelligence if you don't have it.<br />
<br />
Princess: Sure. d20 (13) +2 = 15<br />
<br />
GM: All right. During that fight, you end up realizing how much she looks like that crazy woman who has made the news this month. Just like The Rook you remember how it's happened all around town, in various stores. Santas were often targeted, but also events such as this one.<br />
<br />
Princess: Trying to ruin Christmas for others is she?<br />
<br />
GM: Who knows! Anyway, Rook can act now. What does he do?<br />
<br />
Rook: It seems it's urgent to take care of those armed goons. I don't know who that kid is (... is he made of metal?!) but he's going to destroy the building instead of helping if keep going like this! Anyway, I was thinking of using one of my Flash Bombs but the radius seems to large.<br />
<br />
GM: 30ft radius, yeah... But most people have cleared the area, so I'd say it's possible. Since Princess pursued the crazy lady, she's also moved away. Go ahead with the Flash Bomb if you want.<br />
<br />
Rook: Good, I'll throw one in their midst then. They need to resist a DC 13 with Fortitude.<br />
<br />
GM: Let's see how that goes.<br />
<br />
Goon 1: d20 (9) + 4 = 13<br />
Goon 2: d20 (19) +4 = 23<br />
Goon 3: d20 (6) +4 = 10<br />
Goon 4: d20 (1) +4 = 5<br />
Goon 5: d20 (15) +4 = 19<br />
<br />
<i>In retrospect, I totally missed the fact a Dodge roll should have been made before the Fortitude save. Success would have halved the Affliction effect.</i><br />
<br />
GM: Two of them are affected. One of them has two degrees of failure.<br />
<br />
Rook: Then one is Vision Impaired and the worst one Vision Disabled.<br />
<br />
GM: -2 and -5 on anything requiring vision, got it.<br />
<br />
Rook: I'm also going to take to the air and call that flying kid. "Be careful with those shots! Are you here to help or not?"<br />
<br />
Kid: I... I am! I'm sorry, I'll be careful!<br />
<br />
GM: It's Holly's turn. Yeah, she's called Holly. Can't find a way to give out her name without it being a very corny moment, oh well. She calls out to Princess as she's being pursued: "Why are you interfering? Don't see you what they're doing? They're ruining Christmas! They're ruining Mister Nick's work!" and then she tries to find an opening to make use of her cane. d20 (2) +12 = 14.<br />
<br />
Princess: I got a Dodge DC of ... no wait, Parry DC of 18. She misses! I also reply to her. "The only one I see ruining Christmas here is you! What have those poor kids even done to you?!"<br />
<br />
GM: She frowns, as if it should have been obvious. "Not all of them have been nice. Bad kids do NOT get presents! That's how it's supposed to be!"<br />
<br />
Princess: The hell...<br />
<br />
GM: Also, she takes to the air again, getting out of your reach.<br />
<br />
Princess: Hmm...<br />
<br />
GM: The elves go now. Mhh... They have quite a few possible targets. I think they're going to split -- oh, uh... and I just realized Minions are supposed to take full effect from any attack, so... what's the biggest effect from those Flash Bombs?<br />
<br />
Rook: Vision Unaware?<br />
<br />
GM: OK, well, I guess that makes those two out of the fight since they can't even recover from that without help or some rest. So yeah, each of the three remaining goons is going to fire at each of you guys.<br />
<br />
Goon 1: d20 (1)<br />
Goon 2: d20 (17) +1 = 18<br />
Goon 3: d20 (8) +1 = 9<br />
<br />
Oh, um, I should probably define who's attacking who... Let's go by initiative order: Princess, Rook and Kid, respectively. So Princess is off the hook since her goon auto misses. Rook... What's your Dodge?<br />
<br />
Rook: The DC is 24<br />
<br />
GM: OK, missed. And with a 9 I'm pretty sure Kid's safe.<br />
<br />
Kid: DC 18, yes.<br />
<br />
GM: Those poor goons won't even touch you at all. Well, Kid, it's your turn.<br />
<br />
Kid: I think I'll use my Force Blast, it's the most precise I have for this situation. d20 (1) ... Oh... gaah!<br />
<br />
GM: You are <i>not</i> lucky today.<br />
<br />
Kid: So ah... I just keep floating in the air then I suppose. Or wait, wait, I'm going to use a Hero Point on this.<br />
<br />
GM: OK, go ahead.<br />
<br />
Kid: d20 (13) +10 = 23. Haaha! That's better!<br />
<br />
GM: Quite so! You totally hit one of the goons. Let's see his resistance. d20 (7) +3 = 10... versus DC 25, yeah, he's toast.<br />
<br />
Kid: Whoo! He's pushed in the air and crashes through one of the windows, ending up outside, knocked out.<br />
<br />
GM: Still destroying the place uh?<br />
<br />
Kid: Meh!<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Round 3</h2>
<br />
GM: Princess, Holly is now flying above you, what do you do?<br />
<br />
Princess: Hmm... She seems pretty agile and strong... I'm not even sure I can hit her.<br />
<br />
GM: Mmmm... Are you losing your confidence by any chance?<br />
<br />
Princess: Uh?... Oh...... my Complication eh? I guess I might be. Though maybe not <i>just</i> yet. One more try and then we'll see. For now, I'll leap in the air to reach her and then place a well aimed punched using Accurate Attack at +2.<br />
<br />
GM: Reducing damage effect for accuracy, right. And using your Leaping to get to her. I'm not sure that's exactly how it works, but it sounds fun. Roll it.<br />
<br />
Princess: d20 (16) +8+2 = 26! How's that?<br />
<br />
GM: Hey, whaddya know, you actually manage to hit her! How well is she going to take it? d20 (5) +6 = 11. What's the damage DC for this? Don't forget the -2.<br />
<br />
Princess: Base is 12, so make that 10... and the DC becomes 25.<br />
<br />
GM: Ouch... She's got... three degrees of failure! She gets Staggered and a -1 penalty to toughness. Staggered means Dazed and Hindered, so only one standard action per turn for her, and at half speed (-1 rank). I suppose it applies to ground <i>and</i> flight speed, not that it'll matter too much for her Flight I suppose. Very, very nice hit there Princess. Guess you're not losing confidence any time soon after all.<br />
<br />
Princess: I rock! Eheh!<br />
<br />
GM: I'm even going to say you managed to knock her back down to the ground. She staggers to her feet, visibly shaken by that last hit. Rook, what's your next action?<br />
<br />
Rook: "Hey, um... Princess!" I assume I've heard of her, plus her shirt says that, so... "Try using your mean punch of these guys", pointing at the goons. "We fliers will take care of that annoying imp!" I activate the wings with the anti-grav device to rise up to Kid's and Holly's level.<br />
<br />
GM: Anything else?<br />
<br />
Rook: Gonna use my Taser Talons to hopefully take her out. d20 (18) +13 = 31. Looking good.<br />
<br />
GM: No kidding :). Quite above her Dodge so she's hit. Next step is Fortitude?<br />
<br />
Rook: Yes, against DC 14.<br />
<br />
GM: d20 (18) +6 = 24. She also gets a very good roll and seems surprised but no more affected than before (though she is still dazed).<br />
<br />
Rook: Grr...<br />
<br />
GM: Her time to act. So, she's dazed... and hindered from her Staggered status. Compared to just being Dazed, this will remain until she gets time to recover. She seems confused and unsure of what to do next. "Get them! Freeze them up! We can't let Christmas... be ruined... urh..." She holds her head for a second, visibly in pain, but focuses again on the Rook, flying to you and trying to get you with her blunt weapon of joy.<br />
d20 (17) +12 = 29<br />
<br />
Rook: My Parry DC is 24. I'm hit, right?<br />
<br />
GM: Yup, you need to make a Toughness save against 23.<br />
<br />
Rook: d20 (3) +6 = 9<br />
<br />
GM: Oh my... Wanna use a Hero Point?<br />
<br />
Rook: I think I will. d20 (7) . Thats a 17 + 6 = 23. Just saved this time! Phew.<br />
<br />
GM: Good, you managed to soften the blow by moving with the flow at the last second. A split second later and you know you would have felt it real bad. Onto the elves now. Three of them left, and they know Princess is gonna come for them, so they all aim at her.<br />
<br />
Goon 1: d20 (20) +1 = 21<br />
Goon 2: d20 (14) +1 = 15<br />
Goon 3: d20 (9) +1<br />
<br />
Since Minions can't crit non-minions, that first one just gets an auto-hit.<br />
<br />
Princess: Which would have hit me anyway...<br />
<br />
GM: The two others seem to have missed though. Now to see how well the ray gets you. You resist with Dodge initially, versus DC 13.<br />
<br />
Princess: Doesn't look too bad considering I have 8. d20 (20) +8= 28. As I said...<br />
<br />
GM: Yeah, there was little chance to begin with, not mentioning a natural 20. While you get bathed in the ray a bit, you're moving too fast for it to hold. It feels rather cold though and the parts end up covered in a thin coat of snow. Kid?<br />
<br />
Kid: To that flying elf lady: "I don't really know who you are, but I can't let you do... whatever you're doing." Um... I'll need to work on some catchphrases.<br />
<br />
GM: She replies "I'm Holly Daye! Agent of Saint Nick and savior of the Christmas tradition! You seem like a good kid, so stay out of this!"<br />
<br />
Kid: "Don't think I can ma'am, sorry!" and I blast her with my force. d20 (5) +10 = 15.<br />
<br />
GM: Missed. She's incredibly fast and nimble.<br />
<br />
Kid: Gosh... I might have to use my Force Bolts then... and an Accurate Attack I guess. Maybe next round.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Round 4</h2>
<br />
GM: Princess. Are you going for the goons as The Rook suggested?<br />
<br />
Princess: Myeah. I have a beef with that loony but I'm afraid she's a bit too fast for me. And I can't fly like the others. So yeah, gonna try to clear those guys out. Rush in and knock out! d20 (15) +8 = 23. Ha!<br />
<br />
GM: Actually could have used a Routine check, but yes, it hits! Considering your damage level and the fact they're minions, there's no point in rolling their Toughness. One of them goes down, wham!<br />
<br />
Princess: Cool. I might consider using a Hero Point for Takedown next round.<br />
<br />
GM: Rook, what's your move?<br />
<br />
Rook: I was thinking of using some Affliction-type attacks but I have the strange feeling it won't do much. She's already staggered after all. I think I'll just fly to her and smack her with my fighting staff. d20 (12) +15 = 27.<br />
<br />
GM: Yup, that hits. d20 (2) +6-1 = 7. That's against your staff's DC of 20. Once again, that's a 3rd degree failure for her. Since she already had reached 3rd degree, she's in for the 4th one, that is, Incapacitated! That last hit is just too much for her and she falls to the floor, unconscious. Congrats!<br />
<br />
Rook: A good thing done. I'm going back to the floor, joining with Princess. We still have a couple of mooks to deal with.<br />
<br />
GM: Speaking of which... They seem to switch something on their weapons and attack again. Being the last two, they seem inclined on being a bit more clever. They wait for the right moment and both shoot their beam at the same time! I'll be using a Team Attack.<br />
Goon 1: d20 (14) +1 = 15<br />
Goon 2: d20 (2) +1 = 3<br />
<br />
Nope, none hit DC 18. Team Attack is nice for damage but I forgot their issue was hitting Princess to begin with, eh. That leaves us with Kid for this round.<br />
<br />
Kid: I guess I'm going to use those Force Bolts after all, with Multiattack. d20 (12) +12-2 = 22.<br />
<br />
GM: They're hit. Let's see their resistance.<br />
Goon 1: d20 (18) +3 = 21<br />
Goon 2: d20 (10) +3 = 13<br />
<br />
Nope, none of them makes it. You've cleared the whole group! How do you go about the cleanup?<br />
<br />
Kid: First I'll go back to Natalie and make sure she's okay.<br />
<br />
GM: She looks shocked but she's not hurt. "I... This is not what I wanted this evening to be like Kid, I'm sorry."<br />
<br />
Kid: "I do not believe you are at fault here. I'm just glad you're fine."<br />
<br />
GM: She gives a slight smile and hugs you. You can feel she's still shaking but slowly relaxes.<br />
<br />
Princess: What about the guards who were frozen?<br />
<br />
GM: The ice slowly melts under the many ceiling lights. They're soon freed, but obviously shaken and shaking. It was pretty cold! You do hear the sirens from ambulances and the police in the distance though, so everyone should be taken care of.<br />
<br />
Rook: I suppose that's my cue to leave. I'll give a silent nod of appreciation to Princess and Kid and fly out of here. I'll keep an eye out on the scene from a nearby building to make sure everything's wrapped up properly. Might also want to check up on those two.<br />
<br />
GM: OK. A few minutes later a lot of new cars have arrived. The guards are being sent to the hospital with some cold burns and the goons arrested. Holly Daye is taken into custody by the meta-department. Everything seems to be going back to normal. Well, except for the property damage and the interrupted events. Some of the kids are still there with their parents, obviously upset, what with the pile of gifts still left inside and not all of it in one piece. Though some of them apparently thought that whole fight was just as cool, if not more!<br />
As people are lamenting the destruction, a strange jingling is heard. People notice some strange glittery snow falling over the scene and soon enough bits of glass and debris fly back to their original position, restoring the place as if nothing had happened to it. All the gift boxes are back to normal and even the guards seem to relax, as if warmed up by some strange energy.<br />
One of the kids points in the air excitedly: "Santa! Santa!". A sleigh pulled by reindeers is seen flying above the buildings and a familiar gentle laugh is heard. Holly Daye can be heard gasping admiratively: "Ohh, Saint Nick!"<br />
And that's when a bunch of TV News vans invade the street.<br />
<br />
Princess: Well, time to go!<br />
<br />
Kid: Yeah, I'll grab the doctor by the waist securely, wave at the kids and fly ourselves out of here.<br />
<br />
Princess: I'll just leave the scene. I'm not Princess anymore so it shouldn't be a problem.<br />
<br />
GM: Right, from the moment you stop thinking of yourself as Princess, you're back to being a regular student to everyone. Well, that wraps up this scenario!<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Thoughts</h2>
Overall this was pretty fun, though it took longer than I expected (multiple hours over two days). I even planned a two-part scenario but ended up kind of mixing all the ideas in a one-scene thing once I realized how slowly it was moving. It was, of course, not easy to play every character <i>and</i> the GM, but I'm still glad with the results. Makes for a nice playtest of the rules if anything.<br />
<br />
I really like Holly Daye as a villain, though I wasn't always sure how to play her. She isn't thoroughly evil, just... extreme and "purist" in her ways, so I didn't want her to come off as an utterly horrible woman. That was the intention. In play, I'm not sure I managed to show off her interesting facets that much.<br />
The M&M conversion itself was a first for me when working from something so abstract. I tried to "get" the feel of the character and transcribe it in M&M. And for my own preference, I went with a more agile than strong/tough character. I pictured her flying about like Tinkerbell, very hard to catch. I <i>totally</i> got that feel during the playthrough considering how hard it got to hit her. Of course, once you <i>do</i> hit her, she's rather fragile.<br />
I don't think I got to use all her mechanical aspects either, whether because they did not come up (Instant Up) or because I forgot. It's sad because it seems like I missed most of the interesting bits: her ability to know if you're lying (and how bad it is) as well as her naughty/nice radar for children (well, OK, she did use that last one in her intro).<br />
Also not too sure on making her a PL 10 and maxing out her attack/defense stats. I still have a hard time picturing what PL is really about.<br />
<br />
As for her helpers, I didn't expect them to last that long. They might even have lasted longer if I hadn't botched the Rook's flash bomb. Their freezing gun though? Gosh... I wanted it to put the heroes in a bind (more or less literally) and spice things up, but they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with 'em... And when they did, it had no effect. Since I built those, I have the feeling I should have gone more crazy with the numbers. They might have been Minions, but they might have deserved higher stats.<br />
<br />
When it comes to the M&M ruleset itself, all I can say is that I'm satisfied overall. There were a few cases where I thought the characters <i>could</i> do something but the rules, apparently, did not allow it or I couldn't figure out how to do it (I thought of some sort of Interpose with Kid at one point, using his Deflect, but... eh). Most of the time, though, it felt pretty cool. Moving about was barely an issue considering the very short distances in this setup... and flying about was incredibly easy to deal with.<br />
One thing I was disappointed in, but again it might just be my misunderstanding the rules, was how most attempts at Affliction yielded nothing. Maybe I misused the attacks, or misread the rules. But overall it felt somewhat weak and barely worth using up an action to do it. I'm not a power gamer, but I still don't like giving up efficiency.<br />
<br />Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-43683715453128723532012-12-26T18:31:00.003+01:002012-12-26T18:37:27.523+01:00Holly Daye Special - Write-ups The following villain comes from a Capes, Cowls and Villains Foul freebie by Spectrum Games called <a href="http://www.rpgnow.com/product/109089/Christmas-Comes-But-Once-a-Year" target="_blank">Christmas Comes But Once a Year</a>. Given the very free-form nature of CCVF (and the fact I do not have the rules) made it a bit hard to come up with something appropriate. In any case, here's my Mutants & Masterminds 3e version of the villain.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1_dsK1EU-_rNMDdqZBkI5b3SQxYMRGFPk9ComMpoyMzT-f2iGHIVNwUEYUCyMFV-NZO3nwwxD_5ZvBqKIdF8X-90d-yMmiFJBiDYWh1vt45jhs2hEsQ1Tr1ZzuATH5g0xi1QVZ8Y9igVa/s1600/HollyDaye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<br />
<h2>
Holly Daye (PL 10)</h2>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">STR: 6, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">STA: 6, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">AGL:10, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">DEX: 3, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">FGT: 8, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">INT: 2, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">AWE: 2, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">PRE: 4</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Dodge: 14 (+4), Parry: 14 (+4), Will: 4 (+2), Fort: 6, Tough: 6</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Initiative : +10<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1_dsK1EU-_rNMDdqZBkI5b3SQxYMRGFPk9ComMpoyMzT-f2iGHIVNwUEYUCyMFV-NZO3nwwxD_5ZvBqKIdF8X-90d-yMmiFJBiDYWh1vt45jhs2hEsQ1Tr1ZzuATH5g0xi1QVZ8Y9igVa/s1600/HollyDaye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="Holly Daye, Saint Nick's little helper" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1_dsK1EU-_rNMDdqZBkI5b3SQxYMRGFPk9ComMpoyMzT-f2iGHIVNwUEYUCyMFV-NZO3nwwxD_5ZvBqKIdF8X-90d-yMmiFJBiDYWh1vt45jhs2hEsQ1Tr1ZzuATH5g0xi1QVZ8Y9igVa/s1600/HollyDaye.jpg" title="" /></a><b>Offense</b><br />
Candy Cane +12 Dmg 8<br />
Unarmed +10 Dmg 6<br />
Throwing +3 Dmg 6<br />
<br />
Lifting capacity : 3-6 tons (lifting Str of 8)<br />
Land speed : 30ft<br />
Flight speed : 900ft/round, 300m/round, 150ft/s, 50m/s <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Advantages</b><br />
<br />
Close Combat 2<br />
Defensive Attack<br />
Instant Up<br />
Agile Feint (feint using Acrobatics or movement speed)<br />
Attractive<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Skills</b><br />
<br />
Acrobatics +14 (10 +4r)<br />
Athletics +8 (6 +2r)<br />
Close Combat - Candy Cane +14 (8+2 +4r)<br />
Close Combat - Unarmed +12 (8+2 +2r)<br />
Expertise - Legends of Christmas (Limited) +8 (2 +6r)<br />
Insight +8 (2 +6r from power)<br />
Perception (Lies & Naughtiness only) +18 (2 +16r from power)<br />
Persuasion +8 (4 +4r)<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Powers</b><br />
<br />
Naughty / Nice Radar :<br />
Senses 5<br />
Detect Lies, hearing, ranged (+1 rank), acute (+1 rank)<br />
Acute : can tell white lies from rotten lies<br />
Detect Naughtiness, hearing, ranged (+1 rank)<br />
Limited to people before puberty (-1/r)<br />
<br />
Enhanced Insight 6<br />
Enhanced Perception 16, Limited to Detect Lies & Detect Naughtiness<br />
<br />
<br />
Flight 5<br />
<br />
Candy Cane of Joy (Device) :<br />
Strength-based Damage 2<br />
Easily Removable<br />
<br />
Super Strength<br />
Enhanced Strength 2, Limited to Lifting<br />
<br />
Equipment - Pouch full of Coal<br />
Equipment - Satchel full of Goodies<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Summary</b><br />
<br />
Offense : Init +10, Candy Cane +12 (Dmg 8;23), Unarmed +10 (Dmg 6;21), Throwing +3 (Dmg 6;21)<br />
Defense : Dodge 14, Parry 14, Tough 6, Fort 6, Will 4<br />
DC 24 DC 24 DC 16 DC 14<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Complications</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Crazed Imagination</li>
<li>Delusional</li>
<li>Explosive Temper</li>
</ul>
<br />
<i>Note: the candy cane is a personal addition. I liked the visual of her using such a thing as a weapon.</i><br />
<br />
<h2>
Saint Nick's Not So Little Elves (PL 3)</h2>
I thought just having one villain would be a bit sad and too straightforward. So even though the original PDF does not mention her having allies, I figured I'd give her like-minded people as goons. And to make them more than just regular Thugs, I gave them a Freezing Gun. In retrospect, I should have made the Affliction rank much higher... and maybe made the Thugs a bit better at shooting. Oh well...<br />
<br />
Regular Thug template plus...<br />
<br />
Freezing Gun<br />
Ranged Damage 5<br />
Snare (Affliction) (3/r) 3<br />
Effect : vulnerable + hindered, defenseless + immobile<br />
Extra Condition<br />
Ranged<br />
Cumulative<br />
Limited Degree<br />
Alternate Resistance : Resisted by Dodge, then by Damage or Sleight of Hand<br />
<br />
Offense : Init +1, Unarmed +2 (Dmg 2;17), Freezing Gun +1 (Dmg 5;20 or Affliction DC 13)<br />
Defense : Dodge 2, Parry 2, Fort 4, Tough 3/2, Will 0<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Note: the second number for Damage is the actual resistance DC (damage rank+15).</i>Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-23448317702902459672012-08-28T17:45:00.000+02:002012-08-28T17:46:39.437+02:00Seraphine the Night Cat - Mutants & Masterminds 3rd ed.I recently bought <a href="http://mutantsandmasterminds.com/about.php" target="_blank">Mutants & Masterminds 3rd edition</a> (gosh, what a dreary page to introduce this RPG...)<br />
<br />
It's funny in a way because I had peeked at the 2nd ed. PDF a long time ago and was all "bleh, d20". I had a weird relationship to the d20 system back then since I had discovered FATE and other more narrative-based games. Since then, though, after quite a few sessions of Pathfinder with a friend, I've learned to appreciate what d20 offers (more on that later maybe).<br />
<br />
So maybe it's because of this... or because I just found myself in a superheroic mood at the time (was reading <a href="http://www.spinnyverse.com/" target="_blank">Spinerette</a> quite a bit), but looking into the 3rd edition yielded much enthusiasm. I was surprised. It was d20 all right, but it didn't feel like it. It really felt like a cool superhero simulation system. And maybe most important of all, it seemed to get everything right. Utterly customizable powers? Check. In-genre action rules? Check. Lots of freedom and a focus on reproducing the "rules" of superhero stories? Check!<br />
I spent some time reading up reviews online and forum threads as well as listening to an actual play podcast... then grabbed the PDF to confirm my suspicion... and then finally bought the book.<br />
<br />
Admittedly I haven't yet <i>played</i> the game, so I might still be in for a huge disappointment, but I doubt it. There's even some stuff I might bring into Pathfinder, because it fits exactly what I've missed there.<br />
<br />
For now, I have tried to create my very own first superhero character. Nothing too original, but hey :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
SERAPHINE, THE NIGHT CAT</h2>
(Felicie Amise)<br />
<br />
<h3>
BACKGROUND SUMMARY</h3>
(more detailed version follows stats)<br />
<br />
Felicie,
a brilliant but rather unlucky scientist, was working on a molecular
manipulator of her making when her cat, Seraphine, climbed onto the
machine. An accident later, Seraphine is nowhere to be found and Felicie
realizes she's changing day by day, gaining new abilities and... new
feline body parts!<br />
At first distressed by such a development, she
then realizes, during a nocturnal stroll, that she's now skilled enough
to face bandits. Maybe she can help people this way, under the new
identity of...<br />
<br />
... Seraphine, the Night Cat!<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
STATS</h3>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Abilities</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li> Strength : 4</li>
<li> Stamina : 4</li>
<li> Agility : 6/2 (when tail and whiskers are "nullified")</li>
<li> Dexterity : 1</li>
<li> Fighting : 5/3 (when tail and whiskers are "nullified")</li>
<li> Intellect : 5</li>
<li> Awareness : 4/2 (when cat ears are "nullified")</li>
<li> Presence : 1</li>
</ul>
<br />
Cost : 4+4+6+1+5+5+4+1 = 30x2 = 60<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Defenses</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li> Dodge : Agility + 4 = 6 + 4 = 10</li>
<li> Parry : Fighting + 3 = 4 + 3 = 7</li>
<li> Fortitude : Stamina + 0 = 4</li>
<li> Toughness : Stamina + Def Roll = 4 + 4 = 8/4</li>
<li>Will : Awareness + 0 = 4</li>
</ul>
<br />
4+3 = 7<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Other</span><br />
<ul>
<li>Initiative : Agility + Improved Init = 6 + 4 = 10</li>
</ul>
<br />
Offenses :<br />
<ul>
<li> Claws : +11 (FGT+Close Attack+CC Claws = 5+2+4)</li>
<ul>
<li> DC 15+3+4 = 22 (Penetrating 3, Crit 19-20)</li>
</ul>
<li> Unarmed : +10 (FGT+Close Attack + CC Unarmed = 5+2+3)</li>
<ul>
<li> DC 15+4 = 19</li>
</ul>
<li> Melee weapon : +7 (FGT + Close Attack = 5+2)</li>
<ul>
<li> DC 15+4(str)+? = 19 + wpn dmg</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Advantages</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li> Agile Feint</li>
<li> Animal Empathy (Limited to cats -- no buy back possible)</li>
<li> Close Attack - 2</li>
<li> Defensive Roll - 4</li>
<li> Evasion I</li>
<li> Improved Disarm</li>
<li> Improved Initiative - 1</li>
<li> Improved Trip</li>
<li> Instant Up</li>
<li> Luck - 3</li>
<li> Move-by Action</li>
<li> Second Chance - Acrobatics</li>
<li> Skill Mastery - Acrobatics</li>
<li> Uncanny Dodge</li>
</ul>
<br />
1+1+2+4+1+1+1+1+1+3+1+1+1+1 = 20<br />
<br />
Linked to...<br />
Balancing Tail : Defensive Roll, Evasion, Instant Up, Skill Mastery Acrobatics<br />
Whiskers : Defensive Roll, Evasion, Uncanny Dodge<br />
Cat Ears : Uncanny Dodge<br />
<br />
If
one of the parts is "nullified", the corresponding Advantages
disappear, even if another part linked to them is still "active" (this
is meant to simplify things...)<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Skills</span><br />
<ul>
<li> Acrobatics - 6/2 + AGL = 6+6 = 12/8</li>
<li> Athletics - 5 + STR = 5+4 = 9</li>
<li> Close Combat - Claws - 4 + FGT + Close Attack = 4+5+2 = 11</li>
<li>Close Combat - Unarmed - 3 + FGT + Close Attack = 3+5+2 = 10</li>
<li> Expertise - Medecine - 4 + INT = 4+5 = 9</li>
<li> Expertise - Science - 4 + INT = 4+5 = 9</li>
<li> Insight - 2 +AWE = 2+4 = 6</li>
<li> Perception - 6/2 + AWE = 6+4 = 10/6</li>
<li> Persuasion - 2 + PRE = 2+1 = 3</li>
<li> Sleight of Hand - 2 + DEX = 2+1 = 3</li>
<li> Stealth - 6 + AGL = 6+6 = 12</li>
<li> Technology - 2 + INT = 2+5 = 7</li>
</ul>
<br />
6+5+4+3+4+4+2+6+2+2+6+2 = 46/2 = 23<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Powers</span><br />
<br />
Feline Speed: (=4)<br />
Speed 4 (30mph / 64kmh)<br />
<br />
Claws : (=7)<br />
Damage 3, Penetrating 3, Strength-Based, Improved Critical I (3+3+0+1)<br />
<br />
Balancing tail : (=21)<br />
Movement - Safe Fall, Limited to Distance rank 6 (1) (subtle??)<br />
Movement - Sure-Footed 1 (2) (subtle??)<br />
Leaping 5 (5) (subtle??)<br />
Running Long : Rank 4 (125m, 500ft)<br />
Standing Long : Rank 3 (65m, 250ft) (base)<br />
Running High : Rank 2 (30m, 120ft)<br />
Standing High : Rank 1 (15m, 60ft)<br />
<br />
10+3+1+2+5 = 21<br />
<br />
Source of : (ability boosts linked to the body part, becomes penalties if the part is "nullified")<br />
Agility +4<br />
Fighting +1<br />
Acrobatics +4<br />
<br />
Cat ears : (=2)<br />
Senses<br />
Extended Hearing (1) (-1 / 100ft) <br />
Ultra-Hearing (1)<br />
<br />
Source of :<br />
Awareness +2<br />
<br />
Whiskers : (=1)<br />
Senses<br />
Ranged Touch (1) (Accurate and Radius by default) (-1 / 10ft)<br />
Limited to Moving objects displacing air (would give back 1 rank but I have nothing else to use it on)<br />
<br />
Source of :<br />
Fighting +1<br />
<br />
Cat's Eyes : (=2)<br />
Senses<br />
Extended Vision (1)<br />
Low-Light Vision (1)<br />
<br />
Cat Scent : (=3)<br />
Senses<br />
Extended Scent (1) (-1/10ft, considered "close range" for regular smells)<br />
Acute Scent (1) (identifies)<br />
Tracking Scent (1)<br />
<br />
4+7+21+2+1+2+3 = 40<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Equipment</span><br />
<br />
None
for now, but in the future she might acquire/make a special yarn ball, a
set of extremely strong wire to entangle foes and bind them.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Total Cost</span><br />
<br />
Abilities : 60<br />
Defenses : 7<br />
Skills : 23<br />
Advantages : 20<br />
Powers : 40<br />
<br />
Total : 60+7+23+20+40 = 150<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Complications</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>
Power Loss : Seraphine get all her powers only if her cat ears,
whiskers and tail are unimpaired. As such, she is weakened in her civil
status (parts squished in disguise) and if an opponent restrains any of
these parts.</li>
<li> Secret Identity : No one knows Felicie is
Seraphine the Night Cat, nor that she had the accident and the results
it had. Her new feline parts are hard to camouflage and could be
discovered if she's not careful.</li>
<li> Motivation - Doing Good</li>
<li> Quirk : Cat-like behavior</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3>
BACKGROUND</h3>
Felicie is a young
scientist woman working on a machine design capable of changing
molecules, for medical purpose. One day that her female cat, Seraphine,
was around (reason TBD -- she either brought her at work, or she lives
in the lab), she ran a test on the machine and realized the cat was
sitting on the pad, intrigued by the food sample Felicie had put there.
The test procedure is somehow impossible to stop now, so Felicie runs to
the pad to get the cat out of there, but it's too late, and they're
both struck by rays of energy.<br />
<br />
When the young woman wakes up, she
sees no hint of her pet. She looks for her everywhere, in vain. Did she
flee or...? In any case, Felicie is devastated by this loss.<br />
<br />
She's
also worried for herself and what the rays might have done to her body.
Worse! The machine seems to have short-circuited during the test and
will need thorough repais. The exact calibration from the test might be
lost forever.<br />
<br />
In the following days, the young woman slowly
notices changes. She does not need to turn on the lights at night and
her pupils are dilated, her nails have become especially sharp and long
(and soon retractible)... and the worst is when a new pair of feline
ears pop up on her head, as well as a cat tail sprouting from above her
butt. Her perception and agility have reached inhuman levels in a few
days, too, but Felicie is mostly concerned with hiding her unusual
looks.<br />
<br />
To do so, she takes a few days off to adapt. Everyone thinks it's to mourn her cat, whom she loved very much.<br />
<br />
Felicie
gets that something happened the day of the accident. Her molecules, or
her DNA have been modified somehow, and she's turning into a cat
person!<br />
Moreover, she's started dreaming things from a strange point
of view. She *is* Seraphine. She recognizes events she's lived with her,
but sees them as the cat did. Could... Seraphine and herself have...
fused together?<br />
Her mind does seem to be acquiring strange new feline
traits: new food tastes, a need to sleep durnig the day and walk around
at night, being easily distracted by flies and bouncing balls...<br />
<br />
At
first panicked, the young woman ends up convinced that her cat did not
disappear, but lives through... in her. Woman and animal are now one. As
such, her idea to try and reverse the experiment slowly disappears as
she fears she might definitely lose Seraphine this time (and herself
maybe).<br />
<br />
Though this is not easy to live, the scientist accepts
her condition. Taken by this new need for nocturnal strolls, she makes a
simple disguise with hood and a simple mask, just to be on the safe
side, but otherwise relishes at the opportunity to let her cat parts
free. She feels like she's fully herself at these times.<br />
<br />
One
night, she randomly stumbles upon a gangster dealing on the roofs.
Immediately being chased after, she's surprised to not only survive the
ordeal, but end up with a bunch of knocked out bad guys! Looks like she
got some amazing huntress instincts.<br />
<br />
That's when she realizes
that the accident may be a boon. She's always wanted to help people,
which is why she tried to make a machine capable of healing them. But
now she could help people while fulfilling her new instincts. Thus,
inspired by all the superheroes popping up in the news lately, she
decides she'll become one too! And to honor the source of her new
powers, she becomes the nocturnal feline...<br />
<br />
... Seraphine !<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
DESCRIPTION</h3>
<ul>
<li>Her hair slowly took a coloring similar to Seraphine's beige fur, along with cat markings. She hides it under a wig.</li>
<li>She has a cat tail which she twirls around her leg to keep it hidden.</li>
<li> She has cat ears in addition to her regular human ears. She hides them under a hat or head scarf, or simply her wig.</li>
<li>
She has whiskers. This was the most annoying for her to hide.
Initially she tried cutting them off, but not only do they grow back, it
also makes her feel diminished and dizzy at times. She found a way to
keep them stuck on her face under a layer of skin-like silicone. It's
rather uncomfortable though.</li>
<li> Her pupils strongly dilate at night
and reflect light at some angles. They are also almond shaped, which
Felicie hides with special lenses.</li>
</ul>
<br />
She's otherwise of average height or build, though her new powers (and activities) have made her more fit.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
PERSONALITY</h3>
As
usual for me, this part is the least clear so far. I picture her as
helpful, though probably introvert, maybe a little naive. She definitely
has a heart of gold.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
POWERS & ABILITIES</h3>
<ul>
<li> Sharp and retractable claws (looks like regular nails when retracted)</li>
<li> Night vision (requires a modicum of light)</li>
<li> Great agilty and balance</li>
<li> Super jumps</li>
<li> Almost always falls back on her legs</li>
<li> Improved hearing (wider frequencies and better range)</li>
<li> Air movement detection thanks to her whiskers</li>
<li> Improved sense of smell</li>
<li> Great running speed, usually in sprints</li>
</ul>
<br />Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-9902054227917668882012-08-23T16:11:00.000+02:002012-08-23T16:11:11.828+02:00HeroQuest 2 with momIt has been a while. A long while. But I'm still out there! I just haven't played solo or used Mythic *that* much lately. I have been involved in quite a few RP sessions with a friend though (using Pathfinder mostly), and it might lead to new posts.<br />
<br />
For now, I wanted to mention a new attempt at playing with parents, my mom in this case.<br />
<br />
During my last vacation, I thought it'd be fun trying a game again, and since I don't see my mom often, it's also a way to "have done something together". I had the Mutants & Masterminds 3rd edition with me, as well as HeroQuest 2. Superheroes definitely NOT being her cup of tea, HQ was the only plausible solution... and it's generic enough that I would be able to do mostly anything with it, right? <br />
<br />
So I tried to find something that she could actually enjoy and approve. She does not like violence, nor much of fantastic stuff. The last time I managed to make her play through a pulpish adventure and I'll suppose that's the most she'd accept in that regard (and only if it barely has anything weird and not too much combat, gosh ^^;). After a while of discussing it, I suddenly came up with something: hikers!<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<b>The Hikers</b></h2>
<br />
Simple enough: we would both play as guides for a group of hikers. This definitely makes us PCs, with responsibility and, no doubt, a heap of trouble ahead :). And yes, <b>we</b> would play. That is, I also decided I wanted to play along rather than GM for one person. In retrospect, it might be better to fully GM a game once when one doesn't know the system, but eh ^^;... So this means we used Mythic to ask questions, and a on-the-fly made up system with tables to generate trouble.<br />
<br />
As such, I also hoped she could contribute to the content by providing ideas for the tables. She did, but I realized at that point she had trouble just coming up with things. I insisted a bit and we did manage to fill out tables appropriately. I also decided it would be fun to create two hikers each, in the simplest way possible: an occupation/archetype and two personality traits. Here's what we ended up with.<br />
<br />
The four tourists:<br />
<ul>
<li>Judith, the pessimistic but helpful student</li>
<li>Marianne, the young ecology-oriented idealist</li>
<li>Ronald, the fat and disrespectful American tourist (ahh, clichés...)</li>
<li>Charles-Edouard, the whiny but physically fit bourgeois</li>
</ul>
<br />
They were actually randomly generated out of a list of archetypes and traits we had provided. And yes, the lists were meant to give up trouble-prone people, of course.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
The guides</h3>
<br />
They were created using the on-the-fly method HQ2 provides. It seemed the best option to avoid bogging down things from the start. And I knew mom would have trouble creating a complete character beforehand. Actually, I would have too, since it's not my usual setting.<br />
<br />
Of note for HQ connoisseurs, I mark Masteries as "+" instead of the weird W. That symbol is just something I never managed to grok. I actually dislike the whole "12W2" notation, but eh ^^; <br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Nicolas "Nico" Bourget</h4>
(played by me)<br />
<br />
32yo, short brown hair, not well shaven, wearing sandals and sporting a generally relaxed outfit and attitude.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Hiking guide 13+3 = 16</li>
<li>Diplomacy 17+7 = 4+</li>
<li>Motivation: Regain confidence after "the Incident" 13+5 = 18</li>
<li>First Aid 13+2 = 15</li>
<li>Flaw: Weak against trouble 4+</li>
<li>English Language 13+3 = 16</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
I admit I don't remember if he got any of these along the way or if I just came up with them as we established the first scene (HQ2 on-the-fly mode requires only 2 traits and 1 flaw I believe). Also, English because we were playing French guides.<br />
<br />
Motivation and Flaw explained: Nico was a regular guide until a recent incident where his group got lost and injured in the process of getting back home. This made him lose confidence in his abilities and he had to stop for months. Just now, he's about to go back into the fray with his first group since that Incident. He really wants... needs this to succeed. But as such, he's also afraid something will go wrong and bring the trauma back up.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Ninon "Ninette" Charette </h4>
(played by mom)<br />
<br />
40yo, light brown hair, hiking shoes, shorts, hat, shirt. Definitely a more "pro" look than Nico.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Hiking guide 13+5 = 18</li>
<li>Survival 17+5 = 2+</li>
<li>Flaw: Bad direction sense 2+ (yeah, I know, isn't that great for a guide? XD)</li>
<li>NOT a pushover 13</li>
<li>Cheery 13+5 = 18</li>
</ul>
<br />
I'm pretty sure she had no specific backstory and I was not going to force it on mom, so...<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
The Game</h2>
<br />
Admittedly it's a bit blurry since this took place a few weeks ago, but I'll try to remember and not any HQ-related comments along the way.<br />
<br />
We started with an intro scene which I deemed necessary to bring to life our characters and the hikers. This didn't use any of our tables. I remember we were not terribly inspired and I was already feeling that "blank page" feeling Mythic gives me at times.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Scene 1</h3>
From there, we had planned to have three random scenes before the epilogue and we went and generated the first one: Stream, Fall(ing), Fog. The group had come upon a clearing with a stream gently flowing among the trees. What a quiet little place! Oh but some fog had come up as we went.<br />
I generated who would be "falling" since it was to become the main trouble for the scene. It fell (ha!) to Charles-Edouard to trip on a rock as he crossed the stream. Slip, splash, oh dear. C-E is NOT happy. This is NOT a good hike. We are NOT good guides! Why bring us here? Wasn't there a safer way? Couldn't you warn me about the dangers of this stream?!<br />
<br />
That's when we switched to HQ2 for the first time. HQ works by establishing the scene (done), reaching a conflict (done) and defining goals for each party. Charles-Edouard, our antagonist, is out to discredit the guides to shift the shame off himself. Nicolas wants to keep the fuss to a minimum as not to spoil the mood. We then define the difficulty of this obstacle in a very abstract and narrative fashion: based on previous events and the current "feel" of the story. Since we've just started, we're on neutral ground and pick the average difficulty which is 14.<br />
<br />
Now how this works is that Charles-Edouard, the obstacle, rolls against 14. It is as if he suddenly gained a "Being an Annoying Jerk" ability at that rating, for the purpose of the scene. You could also say The Plot itself gained an "Obstacle" ability at that rating. Again, it's very abstract: the system doesn't care to explain what "14" truly entails, nor whether an opponent is truly skilled or whatever... it's really just "plot power". Moreover, the roll isn't made against Nicolas for now. It's d20 VS 14 (rolling low is better).<br />
<br />
On the other side, Nicolas will be rolling d20 VS his most appropriate ability. I picked Diplomacy. It's at 4+, meaning he's rolling against 4, and will bump the result up later thanks to his Mastery (+). If the opposition rating had had a Mastery, they would have cancelled each other out.<br />
<br />
I don't have the exact rolls but Nico failed the overall conflict. This could, for example, mean he rolled 10, over his 4, making his attempt a success (failure, bumped to success by Mastery) and that The Plot rolled 5, making it a success too. If you compare both results, success VS success has the lowest roll win. The Plot has 5, so it gets the upper hand and earns a Marginal Victory.<br />
<br />
This also means it's a Marginal Defeat for Nico, and it means he gets some lingering penalty. I decided that C-E's rant, while supposedly uncalled for, manages to raise a few good points about the hike so far and cracks the group's confidence overall. Trust in Nico as a guide is weakened and he takes a -3 penalty to any future roll where trust is important.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Scene 2</h3>
After more walking and a slightly heavy mood, we find ourselves stepping careful along a mountain path, next to a dangerous drop. We randomly got "Storm" as color for the scene but forgot to use it, oops. As for our trouble this time, it's "Lost Object", meaning one of the tourists loses something. We randomly generate who, and... it's Charles-Edouard again, joy!<br />
<br />
This time, he managed to have his cellphone fall out of his chest pocket as he was tying up his shoes. And since luck is on our side, it's fallen off the path, down to a flat chunk of rock jutting out from the cliff side below. Once again he gets all pissy and wants to blame us for this. We get into a very similar conflict as before except this time Ninon is getting fed up with his attitude and joins Nico in trying to shut him up. I believe we managed to get a Marginal Victory out of this, finally making a point. As in other systems, I like to treat "near successes" as "yes, but..." situations. For this, I imagined the whiner did not succeed in blaming us for his own carelessness, but managed to have us help him get the cellphone back. We were very insistent that <i>he</i> got down there. We would be holding him with ropes.<br />
<br />
I thought this would make another nice opportunity for trouble and turned it into a challenge. This time, C-E is not our opponent anymore (he <i>wants</i> this to succeed), and so it's The Plot against us, clearly this time :). The Plot wants something bad to happen / us not to get the cellphone back.<br />
<br />
Thankfully, this resulted in a Marginal Victory for us, but since it was a group challenge (Nico & Ninon), we could each get different results. Ninon failed her own roll badly and ended up with a lingering penalty of -3. It was decided that she hurt her arm as she was pulling C-E back up. This would impact any physical actions using that arm.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Scene 3</h3>
Since we had forgotten about the storm, we decided to have it in this scene, saying it had been building up across the previous scene. This time, we find ourselves in a pine forest, following a trail. But... the path is blocked! And... someone's phobia comes into play!<br />
<br />
How we interpreted this is that the storm had gotten quite bad and lightning hit a tree which fell across the path. Also, our (randomly rolled) American friend happens to be scared shitless by storms. Woop!<br />
<br />
At that point we had two separate challenges going: Nico was gonna try to reason with the tourist while Ninon was going to try and find an alternate path for us to keep going. Also, I don't remember when exactly, but I tried to use First Aid to reduce Ninon's hurt arm penalty. I failed thoroughly and <i>added</i> to her penalty. SWEET...<br />
<br />
So, reasoning the tourist does not go well, even using English to reassure him in his native language: he's so scared he does not listen to me (lalalala!) and even reflex-punches me in the face as I try to hold his shoulder. Nico ends up shaken, with a -6 penalty. Things are just going down the pooper too much for him now and he's losing hope fast.<br />
<br />
What about Ninon? Not doing much better! She searches around but rain and lack of light make it very difficult. She ends up giving up and coming back to the group, also starting to lose it (-3 penalty).<br />
<br />
At that point, things are looking pretty grim. Will our guides find a way out? Narratively, HQ2 was doing its job: we started with average difficulty and got failures and successes. Suddenly though, we kept getting bad stuff happening (possibly also because of penalties). HQ2 variable difficulty system meant that at this point, things were going to get easier so we could possibly get out of it, coming out of hell in time for the climax.<br />
<br />
And that's what happened: Ninon tried her hand at cheering up the American and it did work out! Then one of us (can't remember) also managed to find a path we had missed up till now and we were able to lead the group out of the forest.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Epilogue</h3>
Admittedly I don't quite remember what we had for the epilogue. It was getting late and I wanted to stop things at that point I think, so we might have made it very short: we reached the rendez-vous point and left our tourists. Things could have gone better, but we had soldiered through.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
The System</h2>
So, HeroQuest 2 uh? Well, it was... special. I had been eyeing the game for a long while because it looked really original and not bogged down in specific contextual rules àla d20. Also loved what I saw of character creation: absolute freedom. I like absolute freedom. I was a bit scared of the abstract level, though.<br />
<br />
Now that's I've gone through, I can say it's not bad, but I don't know if it's good either. It definitely has flaws. It feels like a very good idea only somewhat well executed. Of course, part of it might come from me not knowing the system, doing mistakes and so on. Since it's such an "alien" among RPGs, I'm pretty sure I missed stuff or misused concepts.<br />
<br />
One big thing I realized as I wrote this is that I don't remember using the penalties that much, even though we had plenty of them. I don't know if lingering penalties are to be used everytime one fails a challenge, or only if "it makes sense". In this game, I had them every time. This does mean our characters were technically bogged down by them. And yet, I have this memory of ignoring most of them because our chances of success were already pretty low. It felt like we were losing more than winning a lot of time. I actually made the "up/down" chart they have in the rules and we went down quite a bit towards the end (scene 3 mostly).<br />
<br />
On the other hand, I appreciate how the system gives you an abstract result (marginal victory, complete defeat, etc...) and lets you interpret the <i>how</i> of it. Penalties are also free form: you decide its representation based on what you failed at and what makes sense... and then you apply them to tasks where it would make sense that they impede your progress. Since you pick things that make sense, it remains logical. And it's also very adaptable to various settings and tones. What makes sense in an epic space opera might not in a gritty noir investigation.<br />
<br />
I did not use the Extended Contest rules here, partly because I wanted things to go quick (it <i>had</i> to be a one-shot) and because the example they give in the book is....... underwhelming. It takes a LOT of time, and yet looks boring as hell. I've read similar opinions on the web, so it seems something might be wrong with these. It's sad too, because it looks like it has potential.<br />
<br />
I believe Augments were used a few times (you make a sub-challenge to help your main ability with another ability). It's an interesting mechanic, but I barely touched it so I don't have strong feelings about it.<br />
<br />
<br />
Overall conclusion then? I don't know if the system is really for me. Parts of it is. The philosophy itself <i>might</i> grow on me, but it's difficulty to get into (I love narrative systems, and yet I keep having simulationist reflexes -- mostly I want things to make sense). While narrative, it still has quite a few rules to keep in mind and, a pet peeve of mine, lots of tables. Thankfully a few of these can be memorized easily.<br />
<br />
I think the biggest issue with HQ2 is that it relies on the GM to know precisely what's best for the game at any time and which sub-systems to use to make the most out of it (simple challenge? group challenge? extended contest?). If the GM makes the wrong choice, I have the feeling it can be catastrophic. It's a system that would deserve a LOT of examples. Long actual play examples with mechanics and choices explained. Though I'm scared the extended contest example is just that... I really hope they failed at it and the system can actually do much better than that.Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-78457573957818922072010-01-15T13:03:00.003+01:002010-01-15T13:32:51.524+01:00Mythic ChartlessI keep mentioning how I don't use Mythic by-the-book and most of my hacks are about adding or removing 10%. So here's an explanation of how I do Mythic rolls.<br /><br />At first, I used the Fate Chart as provided, but it quickly dawned on me that I was annoyed by needing such a thing just to ask Mythic questions. So far, the good points of the chart I see in the long run are:<br /><ul><li>It gives you the extreme results numbers</li><li>It uses a curve that makes wide rank differences less potent</li></ul>But I don't see these as incentive enough to keep using the Chart.<br /><br /><br />How I do it now:<br /><ul><li>I start at 50% (or a 50/50 rank if you will)</li><li>I add or remove 10% per rank difference between a skill and the difficulty (or another skill if it's a resisted question), giving a Target Number</li><li>I roll the d100 and look if I'm below or equal the Target Number (if so, it's a Yes, otherwise No)</li><li>I quickly check if I'm below 10 or above 90 (easily noticeable) and unless the Target Number was quite far from the average 50%, I consider it an Extreme Yes/No</li><li>If the TN is like 80 or 90%, it's a matter of adding +2% for each 10% shift from the average to know if I have an Extreme answer or not. It's not instant, but the case rarely comes up for me anyway... and I'm not too sad if I've missed a few Extreme answers here or there. Most of the time I eyeball it anyway.</li></ul><br />What I like with this method is that as long as I have a d100, I can ask Mythic questions. Here's an example:<br /><br />Does the archer shoot the apple in the tree?<br />We start at 50%<br />It's a small object and a bit of a distance away. Let's remove 20% because of difficulty. We're at 30%.<br />Our archer has the Bow skill at rank 3, which is +30%. We're at 60%.<br />There, we can roll our d100 : 25. Below 60, so it's a Yes, he does hit the apple. Woop!<br /><br />If I had rolled 6, being obviously below 10, I would have known it was an Extreme Yes. Maybe he shoots three apples with that single arrow. If it had been 95, above 90, it would have been an Extreme No, and our archer would not be able to sit for a few days.<br />Finally, if he had been right next to the apple, it might have been a chance rating of 90%, in which case I might have been more careful with rolls below 20 and rolls near 100 (eyeballing it, 98 and above would be an Extreme No in that case?)<br /><br /><br />So there! That's how I do it. I have the nagging feeling I'm missing something cool about the Chart given how everyone seems to love it. If anyone could tell me what it is :)Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-86995198727262979692010-01-03T22:09:00.003+01:002010-01-03T23:10:22.340+01:00GMing with Mythic - Player EmulationToday I tried something new I've been meaning to try for a while: emulating players with Mythic.<br /><br />The concept is rather simple. You act as the GM and you host an adventure for X characters whose decisions won't be made by you, but by Mythic. The good thing is that it allows one to use premade modules, which is a nice change from having to imagine everything based on Mythic's answers. The "bad" thing is that it's just as tiring, if not more (for some reason), and it's a bit sad to see your characters escape your control (after all, you still have to <span style="font-style: italic;">create</span> them, yet not <span style="font-style: italic;">control</span> them).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Systems</span><br /><br />Even worse is that I decided to try yet another system hack. I made a mix of PDQ# and Mythic. PDQ# is great in that a character ends up looking something like this:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gruff, dwarf<br /></span>Past: Senior Mechanics of his clan +2<br />Race: Dwarf +2 (techniques: stone cunning) (note: this is an addition of mine, races as a trait)<br />Motivation: Become a legendary dwarf +2<br />Main Forte: Warrior +4 (techniques: warhammer, brutal, charge, shield, thrown axes)<br />Prosthesis +2<br /><br />Foibles: Overconfident, Mechanical prosthesis<br /><br /><br />Bam, that's it, you're done. No need for detailed equipment (obviously this one has a warhammer, a shield, probably some armor and some mechanical tools...), no need for detailed skills or feats or strengths or whatever (dwarves have darkvision, resist poisons and so on? that's all assumed under the "Dwarf +2" forte)<br />Techniques are (usually) linked to a forte and give a bonus if an action includes them somehow.<br /><br />I've oversimplified things for my own hack, so it ends up going something like this:<br />Base chances are always 50%, modified by task difficulty. Any applicable forte gives a bonus rank (+10%). Any applicable technique also gives a bonus rank.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Mythic note: this is another of my hacks to Mythic. I don't use the Fate Chart. I just add or subtract 10% per rank. I'm pretty sure it messes up stuff here or there, but it's still fun.</span><br /><br />Say Gruff wants to bash a door with his warhammer with brutal strikes. The door is somewhat strong, so I give a penalty of 2 ranks (-20%). He can use his Warrior forte for a bonus of 2 ranks (+20%) (I know, it says +4 but to fit Mythic I had to divide every PDQ value by 2). Since he's using his warhammer, his technique is valid (+10%). He's also doing it like a madman, so <span style="font-style: italic;">brutal </span>goes too (+10%). He ends up at 50(base)-20+20+10+10 = 70% chances of making good damage to the door. With goblins, who are admittedly less sturdy than a door, it's more like 90%... Yeah, Gruff is a basher :)<br /><br />What's great is that it's easy to create characters based on a concept... and it's easy to define bonuses to any action. As PDQ does it, you also get easy bonuses as long as you describe things the right way. The <span style="font-style: italic;">brutal</span> technique will almost always give a bonus here, unless Gruff is trying to bash things silently (*chuckles*). It's not for powergamers, for sure :)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Adventure</span><br /><br />I ran a bit of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeon of Akban</span>, found in the free Quickstart for <span style="font-style: italic;">Sword and Wizardry</span>. If you plan to play this adventure, stop reading now...<br /><br /><br /><br />It was pretty difficult at first to switch from player to GM while still using Mythic. I had to think of what I would describe to these virtual players/characters... or in other words, what the characters themselves would see. Admittedly, this is only difficult because I've never GMed any D&D :).<br />Then, instead of deciding what the characters would do, I had to see what actions they <span style="font-style: italic;">might</span> do and weight them for a question. I used 50/50, 33/33/33 and 25/25/25/25 when there were multiple possibilities. Sometimes, I had 50/40/10 because some options seemed much more logical than others (adventurers explore the room they're in before running to the new doors, right?)<br /><br />The group of four (the dwarven warrior, a human pirate-adventurer, a gnomish alchemist and an elven swamp witch) started by exploring the first room. They happened upon a strange statue with magical flames. Here again, I had to ask if they were intrigued by the statue or not... They were. Were they intrigued by the flames? No... So they looked for some secrets hidden by the statue... and found none (I rolled the dice for them, as a GM would probably ask for rolls to keep some mystery as to wether there *is* something there or not... assuming clearly failed rolls would mean they were none the wiser).<br />At times, I had no idea what they might do, so I used Complex Questions (using a dictionary). It gave me some contradictory actions at times... They seemed uninterested by the flames... and a complex question just led them back to them... oh well! So they examined the flames some more... tried a stick in them... which burned... and then they got bored with it and tried the doors.<br /><br />The door was chosen randomly, of course... Further directions too. They ended up in a room with giant ants which had digged tunnels from below. That's where Mythic did interesting things. As player, coming face to face with three giant ants, I might have not insisted much... or just attacked with simple tactics.<br />I asked if the group fleed, waited or attacked. They waited. They saw the ants didn't seem to mind them from where they were, but they had been clearly spotted. I asked if they fleed or attacked and, despite a low chance, they decided to attack. But next, the group closed the door (one of these contradictory Complex Questions). I asked if they now went back or had an attack plan instead, since they *were* about to attack... They had a plan indeed. But what?<br />I supposed they were going to boost themselves before the attack (among other things)... and asked which of the alchemist or the witch would do something. The alchemist apparently had an idea. Since I didn't describe any equipment linked to her skill (I went for a very freeform game àla FATE v3) she could come up with anything from acids to sleepy pills. Another Complex Question later, I had the answer: she would try to recreate the chemical scents used by ants to recognize each other, danger zones and such... Wow!<br /><br />I assume most GMs, especially in a <span style="font-style: italic;">regular</span> D&D game would just say "no way!". But hey, it seemed fun. I made the roll difficult but it succeeded anyway... and our gnome ended up with a vial of ant scent which everyone promptly spread on their bodies. I decided, as the GM, that it would only make the ants neutral.<br />The group went back in, searched the room without being bothered by the ants and ended up with gold pieces and a magic scroll (generated by my newly acquired D&D DM Guide :D). Lucky! I asked what they did then. I assumed players would usually be intrigued by the tunnels, so I included this in the possibilities. They were indeed... but thankfully not too much (I might have rigged that :P... didn't want to stray too far from the module... eh, railroading virtual players).<br /><br />But what happened next was yet another surprise: apparently, they were not finished with chemicals. The gnome wanted to perfect her scent to make the ants friendly! I made it way more difficult but she still succeeded (really lucky roll...) so... she ended up with two friendly giant ant workers as bodyguards. I limited it by saying it was only for her, and would only last 6 minutes (1d10 mins). But wow...<br /><br />The adventure went on with the discovery of a room full of goblins, their easy dispatching by the dwarf and the human pirate (no ants were used because of a very narrow corridor). Admittedly, it was 1) too easy, 2) rather boring because of this, 3) I had issues with my hack and went back to something closer to Mythic for the combat... which made this part quite frustrating. I was also getting quite tired by that point, which didn't help...<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Conclusion</span><br /><br />It was an interesting experience. I don't know if I really want to resume it later or if I will go back to what I did for Hollow's Last Hope. I mean, it's *really* fun to come up with strange plans thanks to Mythic inspiration, and it does feel like you have players with crazy ideas, but it's definitely not as fun as being <span style="font-style: italic;">in there</span> and discovering things as you go or, at least, reacting to some rare Mythic surprises when playing through a premade module.Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-61193348877670820362010-01-03T21:52:00.002+01:002012-08-23T16:12:13.943+02:00RP with Parents - UP, Part 2Contrary to my belief, we did end up playing the second session. Sadly, my mom was actually pretty tired and she had trouble focusing. She was also trying to think up a follow-up to the story bit she made up during the first session and, I think, lost a lot of energy/concentration on this. Once I knew, I told her she didn't *have* to... Mythic would help us build upon her seed. She just felt obliged to finish what she had started alone :|<br />
<br />
Note: I haven't given details on what has actually happened in the story so far (nor even who the characters are), to avoid spoiling the movie "UP". I'll continue this way for now, but I might make a summary of the whole adventure in a clearly spoiler-marked post.<br />
<br />
After some random obstacle from Mythic, the heroes actually reached their destination! And yet, things didn't seem finished. A bit of thinking revealed a new goal for my mom's character... but my dad's was pretty much done with his adventure and I was scared he would have nothing to do for the rest of the session.<br />
Thankfully, that's when Mythic threw us a bone to gnaw at: a new character! It ended up being mine, meaning I would finally leave my GM seat for a player seat, leaving the obstacles fully to Mythic. My character gave an opportunity for my mom's to reach his goal... but they would have to stick together first. We used the occasion to bring my dad's character back in, too, and the adventure went on.<br />
<br />
Not that much happened after that and we didn't have much time left. Obviously, we wouldn't be able to finish the new goals in a single session, so we just stopped at a quiet point. I seriously doubt we will ever finish this adventure either (it's hard to resume months after...) but it was quite fun while it lasted.<br />
<br />
I also notice it's near impossible to describe anything interesting without giving details, so... I'll make a spoilery post later where I explain exactly what happened during the adventure.Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-85032570024312012262009-12-29T11:22:00.005+01:002012-08-23T16:11:55.212+02:00RP with Parents - UPAs my parents were here for the holidays, I couldn't help but get them into another roleplay session. At first we were going to continue the pulp adventures started during our last vacation, but then we watched UP, by Disney/Pixar. What happened is that we didn't like the movie that much... but we liked its beginning very much. After discussing this, I suddenly exclaimed: "I know! We should reset their story to when we stopped liking it and do our own version by playing the characters, and use Mythic to guide us." And that's what we did yesterday night.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Technicals</span><br />
<br />
I didn't want to bog down enthusiasm with rules like the FATE ones we used last time, and since I've been into the Mythic rules lately, I went with a variation of these. The result was a mix of FATE, Mythic, Risus and recently discovered Lady Blackbird.<br />
The characters were described through two attributes: Body and Mind, 0 being average, 1 above average, -1 below average, etc... These work like Mythic attributes. Then, I went "Risus"/"FATE v3" and simply described the characters with little sentences such as "Wannabe Explorer" and "Fan of that Cool Explorer Guy". It was pretty easy to find four or five short phrases describing each main character.<br />
At first, I gave these ratings (1, 2, ...) but then I discovered Lady Blackbird that very day and used their system: if one of the phrases fits the situation, add a bonus rank to your roll (+10% with Mythic). If you're trying to calm down a wild animal and you have "Best Friend of all Animals" as a description of your character, you'll start with your Mind attribute and add a rank. If you have "Explorer of the Wild", you'll add another rank because, well, it's a wild animal.<br />
Of note: I picked something from FATE v3 in that some of the phrases were goals and motivations rather than skills, just like Aspects might be. This would yield bonus ranks if your action happened to follow one of these goals directly.<br />
<br />
Apart from game mechanics, Mythic was used to generate obstacles and the scene system was used with its characters and threads lists.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">How it went</span><br />
<br />
Pretty good! It seemed like everyone actually enjoyed the session more genuinely than it might have been last time. The "describing phrases" system was grasped very quickly and dice rolls were easy to prepare: pick Body or Mind depending on wether it was a physical or intellectual challenge, then go through the character description and add a rank for each fitting phrase. This would give us xx% chances of success, followed by the d100 roll of course.<br />
I also kept Mythic's "Extreme Yes/No" rolls which gave us some interesting surprises.<br />
<br />
Mythic's GM emulator was mostly used by myself, since I didn't have any character to play at first (I was waiting for a new NPC to appear and take its role). I asked questions that I hoped would yield some obstacles or fun situations. Following my lead, my parents soon started asking questions of their own. Furthermore, my mother came up with a story of her own at some point and I let her explain it. I only stopped her after some good exposition to keep her surprised by having Mythic decide a few of the finishing touches.<br />
From that point on, though, Mythic took a nap because everyone was getting a good idea of where things were going. I tried to push Mythic forward once or twice to avoid having a single player tell the whole story, but it felt forced. I did use it still to settle some little disputes ("The next room is bigger" "Uhh, I'd have thought it would be smaller" -> "Is the room bigger? *roll*")<br />
<br />
The GM emulator helped us a few times with its random events. Once it got us out of a rather uneventful situation and later it created tension where a character had to hide from a threat. The characters list was also used for these events. The threads list was updated with mysteries encountered during the story but didn't come up through events so far.<br />
<br />
Considering how things went once everyone was comfortable with the story and mechanics, I think my parents would actually work better with a story-game. Probably not one with systems that push players to create stories within a framework (FATE Aspects were, I think, too restricting and meta), but one that allows everyone to chip in with bits of story. Heck, they might enjoy not *being* the characters but controlling them all "from above", so to speak. Collaborative storytelling... I know I found a game that used chips that players would use to introduce facts in a story and that could be payed off by others if they didn't like it... I bet this would work well for them.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">The future</span><br />
<br />
We're supposed to resume this game this afternoon but I don't know if it will be possible. My parents are leaving tomorrow and they're already tensed up (one day of car trip). If it keeps up like this, they won't be in the right mood for it and prone to bickering. We'll see...<br />
<br />
In any case, I'll study the simplified system we used as I might enjoy it for my own games. It's easy to describe characters and very easy to find out bonuses.Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-41012874175462281532009-11-25T12:58:00.003+01:002009-11-25T13:34:09.138+01:00Using Mythic with a moduleGod I'm slow... Anyway, here's the first part of how I tried using a published adventure with Mythic and... got some issues at some point.<br /><br />The adventure is the freely available (PDF) <a href="http://paizo.com/store/paizoExclusives/v5748btpy82qz">Hollow's Last Hope</a> from <a href="http://paizo.com/paizo">Paizo</a>. It's meant for D&D 3.5 with about four level 1 characters. I'll be <span style="font-weight: bold;">spoiling</span> things, obviously, so if you plan to play the adventure at some point and want all the surprises, you might not want to read this... I will try to keep to generalities most of the time, though, just because someone might want to try and solo it too.<br /><br />I played with the four premade characters of the module, which I adapted to the FATE system (I hadn't bought the Mythic RPG rules back then). There's Valeros the fighter, Kyra the cleric, Seoni the sorceress and Merisiel the rogue.<br /><br />The game starts with the PCs entering the town of Falcon's Hollow.<br />My group came in with a merchant whom they escorted. They got their salary and went on their merry way. I followed the module suggestion of linking at least a PC to someone from the town. Valeros thus knew a friend who he hadn't seen for years. Since this was not detailed in the module, Mythic was a good aid and my imagination was free to roam.<br /><br />The friend's house hadn't changed and Valeros knocked. Follows the introduction of said friend's spunky young daughter, the bad surprise that said friend has caught a bad sickness and the whole town is actually touched. The local priests can't seem to do anything about it but the local herborist provides some potions to soothe the pain. It doesn't cure anything though.<br /><br />All this previous part was made up as I went, and since I was writing on the computer for notes, I actually started writing a dialogue for all the characters and it was quite fun. It allowed me to develop personalities too. Mythic wasn't used here, but the game system was a few times.<br /><br />Mythic interrupt! Yeah, we love these :P Absolutely outside of the original module boundaries, I came up with a bounty hunter stopping the group because he recognizes his quarry among them. Except he's wrong. Mythic was used here to define the bounty hounter (gender, minions, ...) and his actions. Random event! ... which I interpret as him suddenly getting the hots for one of the group ladies (I mean, "Create / Love"... c'mon!) and totally losing his cool. Some stuttering later, he's gone, but not before promising to return.<br />He was obviously added to the NPC list but hasn't popped up ever since. Which is sad.<br /><br /><br />This is where things went wrong. I tried to continue the adventure later, and wanted to try recording it as audio instead of typing (I don't even know why...) I was also tired, which didn't help with my patience and imagination.<br />Sadly, in a fit of exasperation, I deleted the recordings, so I have only my vague memories as proof of what went wrong. I remember having the group try to go to the herborist to learn more about the plague, but then fail somehow... and look elsewhere. This is where I went off the road of the module and tried to have Mythic help me. The biggest problem was that I still tried to keep to what the module explained about the town and the people in there, particularly the fact that there is a church with a main priestess and her acolytes. All I remember is that I was lost as to what to ask Mythic... I spent way too long reading the module to pick up details on the priestess (not much) and... I just gave up.<br /><br />It gave me a cold shower at the time and I stayed cleared of the module for a long while. But it's obvious the context and I were at fault, not Mythic.<br /><br />Thankfully, I ended up wanting to try again, forgetting about the mishap and starting over from when they tried to reach Laurel. By then, I had an eye condition that prevented me from looking at a computer screen for more than a few minutes in the bad days... so I wasn't going to type things... and I had to go audio once more. I was *very* wary of this, but it ended up going much better than I expected.<br /><br />One thing I did was pull up the Neverwinter Nights game editor and select some audio background (music and ambient). It helped tremendously to set the mood and actually forced me to imagine the scenes to select the most appropriate sounds. I also tried to steer the story according to the module rather than push it offroad (I'm pretty sure that's what happened with the priestess part...) What I also did was switch to Mythic RPG. I converted the characters and used these rules for the rest of the game.<br /><br />I'll listen to my recordings and make other posts sometime... soon... hopefully. But to sum it up: it went very well, with very cool surprises overall.Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-23587454792183856792009-10-26T09:25:00.001+01:002009-10-26T09:25:49.273+01:00Summary of past weeksAgain, it's been a long while... but I actually have lots to say about various things! I realize I should get started on them before I get overwhelm and post nothing at all ^^;<br /><br />I'll have something to say about Mythic since I finally went back to trying premade modules played through Mythic. My first attempt had not been utterly satisfying but this new one went wayyy better. I don't think I have used any particularly clever trick to make it work, but I will describe things nonetheless, just in case. I keep screaming about lack of examples, so I better provide one ;)<br /><br />I've also started a lunch-pause solo game at work and was surprised at what Mythic threw at me. I'll probably say a word about this one too soon.<br /><br />Lately I've been reading through Planescape setting material as I took a new slap by Planescape Torment (which I've yet to finish!). The setting is just soooo different than the usual without being *totally* something else... Hopefully, I'll launch myself into a solo game of it soon, too.<br /><br />And finally, I've gone back to Neverwinter Nights. Following my current obsession, I looked for Planescape modules. The first one was a big disappointment, but I still have another one to try. The other thing is that I suddenly wanted to play a Tiefling... and a properly stated one! I used LETO, character editor, to do it, adding custom items to simulate things the game wouldn't do on its own (racial resistances and powers). So far, so good :D... I'm actually going through the Original Campaign (/w Aribeth), which I found very boring the first time around (stopped at Chapter 2), and am now enjoying quite a bit. I'm roleplaying the character in my head (more or less) and try to do clever stuff with my familiar (oh yeah, she's a Sorcerer-Rogue tiefling) and... I can't explain why exactly, but I'm getting a very good vibe from the game.<br /><br /><br />I'll go into the Mythic games next time!Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-73723605962561116662009-09-15T19:45:00.002+02:002009-09-15T20:21:39.666+02:00In the meantime...Wow, uh... it's been a while!<br /><br />No, the blog isn't utterly dead, but I have not found interest nor courage to post about new things in detail. So here's a summary post instead!<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tired</span><br /><br />First thing of note : I've been veeeery tired lately. Might be my allergy, a lack of vitamin or something else. In any case, it definitely affects my output.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DBZ game + Mythic<br /><br /></span>It's a strange thing but I have been having fun with it! I picked up <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Ball_Z:_Budokai_Tenkaichi_%28series%29">Dragon Ball Z - Budokai Tenkaichi 2</a>, a fighting game on PS2 which I've played quite enough to be almost bored with (I know the story from the manga, the anime and playing the game multiple times).<br />And then it occured to me I could use Mythic to create a whole new story. Instead of using a RPG ruleset, I'd push the story towards brawls and use the game (which is customizable to an extent) to play through the fights.<br /><br />It worked rather well, providing a pace very similar to the source, with surprisingly lots of talking and searching around and not that many fights (in spite of my pushing!). What I really liked in the end was how it breathed life into a game I barely played anymore (a few fights once every two months) and how losing a fight is actually a possibility with an impact on the story (the provided story mode, of course, has you retry until you succeed... even when the characters are supposed to lose in the story).<br /><br />I might apply this to other games in the future.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planescape:_Torment"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Planescape Torment</span></a><br /><br />Got back into it after a lot of thinking back to how fun it was but how I never finished it. I had a renewed blast dicovering Sigil and its incredible setting and meeting so many interesting characters. Sadly, after some time, the game seems to throw a lot more dungeons at you than story and it's already making me less motivated :/. Hopefully I can muster enough motivation to go through them to grab at the better bits.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Planescape</span><br /><br />Following my new Torment craze, I gave a more extended look at the original <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planescape">Planescape setting</a> (AD&D 2e). I'd really like to get the original box and/or the book about Sigil but man have these gone rare and pricey (double and more the original price for new or almost new quality).<br />I hate this rarity thing :|...<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Random dungeons</span><br /><br />It seems I have finally found the game to play when I'm too tired for the rest! I went with something strongly inspired by <a href="http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/raiders-of-the-ruins-of-kanthe">Raiders of the Ruins of Kanthe</a>, removed things, added new ones and ended up with something fun (for me at least).<br />RotRoK (grrmf) goes with a simple idea : create your own random tables ahead of the game (10 monsters, 10 room features, 10 types of traps, ...) and roll on them to generate your dungeon content.<br /><br />Where Kanthe pre-generated the dungeon layout, I do room by room generation. Where Kanthe uses a pool matching system, I use a "dungeon skill" one (dungeon has Treasure +2, roll dice + 2 and try to beat a medium number; success means there's a treasure here). But the rest is pretty much all Kanthe and I'm probably going to grab a few more things from it like item generation.<br /><br />The great thing about the core concept is that even though you're the one writing the tables, you have no idea when or IF something will appear during your crawl. And you don't know in what context. The mix of room types, monsters, their power, the treasures you might find, wether doors are trapped or locked, and so on and so on, makes for actual surprises, and yet does not have to feel terribly vanilla. The dungeon is what you make of it: good tables should end up giving good adventures.<br /><br />Also, to avoid too much randomness and add a bit of logic in there, I associate features and other things with dungeon skill bonuses. You're more likely to find a treasure in a chest for example, so the Treasure roll is boosted for that feature. You are more likely to encounter opposition if you hear strange noises coming from the next rooms, so the Opposition roll is boosted.<br /><br />The mapping is still rather random and it's certainly not worth a Mythic-run session, but it lets my brain rest by giving me clear cut answers to "what's in there?" and yet pleasing me, since I devised the answers beforehand.<br /><br />My most lucky rolling so far was a dark room where I managed to sneak through, avoiding four goblin archers who could have had an easy shot at me through a metal portcullis.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gutter Skypes</span><br /><br />I have also gone back to my pre-sleep half hour of listening to the <a href="http://www.anim5.com/IDDFOS/TGS/index.html">Gutter Skypes</a> podcast. I'm very bad at going to sleep on time when I have nothing specific to do when nearing midnight, and the podcast gives me that clear cut "half an hour of fun before sleeping" (note: I split the session in half-hour parts myself; the actual stuff is usually two and a half hour long)<br /><br />Oh and it IS fun. A loads of it! The Skypers have gone through games of Spirit of the Century, Starblazer, Hollow Earth Expedition, Cartoon Action Hour and Swashbucklers of the Seven Skies. The guys are hilarious, both with their asides and with their (good!) roleplaying. One of the listeners said it was "like being at the table with a group of friends" and it is utterly true. I highly recommend it!Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-54864352480209479232009-08-04T16:32:00.000+02:002009-08-04T16:34:12.290+02:00Mythic - Location GeneratorI've been meaning to make posts about what I've added to the Mythic system for my personal use. After some more tests, I think I'm ready to show what I have come up with.<br /><br />It is by no means final, but my current tests were satisfying. Also, it's nothing big: I'm just reusing what Mythic taught me and presenting a new tool among the Mythic tools. Finally, I can vouch it works for me, but not that it will work for everyone :). This said, I still hope it will be of some use to others, if at least as a springboard to yet other tools for Mythic.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Quick Mythic summary</span> - People in the know, skip to the next paragraph!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Mythic is a system for roleplaying games (primarily) that allows you to determine things out of your control through Yes/No questions and a roll of dice. It offers additional tools tailored to specific situations such as Complex Questions, Scene Management and such... It is very useful to play a tabletop RPG on your own or with an all-player team (no Game Master), and can be used for wargaming too. I find it's an interesting tool for writing inspiration too.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Generating locations</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The main system<br /><br /></span>I use a system initially created to generate dungeon themes (abandoned haunted mine, forest vine labyrinth, ...), now adapted to more generic locations and certainly adaptable to other things.<br /><br />My problem: while Mythic answers Yes/No and Complex questions, I quickly realized it didn't really work for me when I was trying to come up with places, rooms and dungeons. Say you're walking through a forest. You ask "do I find something peculiar while I walk?" YES. Okay... but what? If you want to be surprised and have that peculiar something be something wholly new, where do you start? What kind of questions can you ask? There are so many possibilities that I found it mind-boggling myself, and I was rather scared I would keep coming up with the same questions, hence getting dull discoveries.<br /><br />My solution: simplify the process by letting chance choose what to ask about. Then keep using Mythic as usual.<br /><br />The issue : it uses random tables. If anyone can think of a solution that works similarly but without random tables... please share :)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Location types</span><br /><br />I tried to come with things that would define a location quickly, yet leave an open field of possibilities. For this, I use an initial roll on the Location Types table which follows:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br />Portal<br />Lone dwelling<br />Dwellings<br />Camp<br />Utility building<br />Structure<br />Plane<br />Water source<br />Obstacle<br />Difficult terrain<br />Particularity<br /><br />I know I can make this table better, but for now it will do. The main idea is that types are vague enough, yet not *too* vague that there would be a thousand questions left. "Water source" is currently the type I'm less fond of as it's already a bit too precise.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Attributes</span><br /><br />Once the type is defined, I roll three times on the Location Attributes table:<br /><br />Hot/Cold<br />Surface/Underground<br />Structured/Chaotic<br />Light/Dark<br />Solid/Unstable<br />Toxic/Pure<br />Natural/Urban<br />Clean/Dirty<br />Damp/Dry<br />Mechanical/Mystical<br />Divine/Demonic<br />New/Old<br />Visible/Hidden<br />Easy/Hard to access<br />Populated/Deserted<br />Decorated/Sober<br />Good/Bad shape<br />Big/Small<br /><br />This table is also a work in progress and some entries might be left out depending on the setting, or taken at metaphorical value. You will notice each attribute is actually a "something or something" entry. Each entry is meant to be a Mythic question and can get YES, NO but also ABSOLUTELY and NOT AT ALL answers. This gives more variety than the usual tables where you'll see "Populated" and "Deserted" as separate entries.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Function or Fact</span><br /><br />Tests showed that even with types and attributes, I was often left wondering about what location I had really encountered. This is where I'll use a single Complex Question and either get the Function of a building or structure, or ask for a Fact about the location (it can be something the location does to people or what people do to the location... it's very context sensitive).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Examples</span><br /><br />All the tools lay bare... time to use them!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A)</span><br /><br />Context : A lone adventurer explores a cave. Medieval Fantasy.<br /><br /><br />I roll for Type : Utility building (this is meant to be any building with a function and since we're in a cave, I'd be tempted to say it extends to any sort of "construction")<br /><br />Populated/Deserted : (98 vs 50) Not at all -> There's not a single soul here, nor has there been for a long time.<br />Visible/Hidden : (98 vs 50) Not at all -> I'd fathom it's actually invisible!<br />Lit/Dark : (9 vs 50) Absolument -> And yet it's emitting a large amount of light? I admit this is peculiar.<br /><br />Given how mysterious this all is, I go on and ask for the function of this strange building :<br />Oppress / Riches.<br /><br />Lacking context, it's a bit hard, but since I'm thinking of some medieval fantasy setting, with bits of steampunk, I imagine this to be a very well camouflaged building. It's not lit right away, but if you happen to pass in front of it while carrying riches (gold, or maybe anything metalic), it lights up and sounds an alarm.<br /><br />I admit, I have no idea what this would be doing in a cave... but it's hard without context. As is, this is not my best example to date but I really wanted to do it on the fly... and 'lo! I stumble upon a case where the results are not good. The thing with Mythic and sub-tools though, is that I never know if Mythic is to blame... or my lack of imagination at the time. So, any person out there saw something else in these attributes?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">B)</span><br /><br />Same context, to see what else we can get... hopefully better.<br /><br />Type : Difficult Terrain<br /><br />Natural/Civilized : (17 vs 50) Yes -> Natural, it was not created by anyone.<br />Mechanical/Mystical : (49 vs 50) Yes -> Mechanical, since it was not created by anyone, it will just mean that it's not magical and is based on simple physics.<br />Decorated/Sober : (20 vs 50) Yes -> Decorated. Again, since it was not created, I will say that the terrain has some visual appeal.<br /><br />Fact : Oppose / Pain<br />(here I picked a fact because a natural occuring is not meant to have a function... it just is)<br /><br />Admittedly, this one is also very difficult for me but I have come up with something, although a bit far-fetched compared to the results : the adventurer enters a large room filled with stalagtites and stalagmites. It's a very beautiful sight as the natural formations glisten like precious stones. But the room is dangerous! Not only is it difficult to walk through (many pikes on the ground), but any loud sound will shatter the fragile structure, making for a deadly trap to the unwary.<br /><br />The "fact" is the one giving me the most problems. I pushed it towards "the terrain refuses to be hurt", and that's when I thought "if anyone breaks one of the spikes, the sound makes everything crumble". Now, though, the fact could be something very indirect : the minerals of which the rock formations are made is used in alchemical potions to help ease the pain (oppose pain). Will adventurers be bold enough to pull out tools and carve bits out of it? Tink tink tink CRASH! Risky endeavour.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">C)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Now here's one of my early tests. Context : a fairytale-like setting where violent conflicts are reduced to a minimum. It focuses on the employees of a magical shop, one of which, Framboise, gathers ingredients in various locations.</span><br /><br />Type : Difficult terrain<br /><br />Good/Bad shape : (17 vs 50) Yes -> Good shape<br />Surface/Underground : (33 vs 50) Yes (*double*) -> Surface (since these are Mythic questions, there *can* be random events on a double -- we'll get to it after the attributes)<br />Solid/Unstable : (28 vs 50) Yes -> Solid/Stable<br /><br />The random event : PC Positive (there's only Framboise here), Expose/Enemies<br /><br />Fact : Carelessness / Fear -> The terrain makes you scared to be careless, because of the consequences.<br /><br />From this, I came up with a stream running through the forest, with a slightly strong current. A large log lays across, allowing passage. According to the attributes, it's good wood, solid and stable: it won't break nor roll out of the way easily. Admittedly, not much of a dangerous terrain. But the random event made this fun:<br /><br />Here I used FATE to know if Framboise crossed it: yes (it was an easy roll, really, even though Framboise is all but athletic). But there goes the random event : the terrain "exposes an enemy", which is a good thing for Framboise.<br />Said enemy is visibly clumsy as it falls down the log into the stream, revealing its presence.<br /><br />Who is it? Why was Framboise followed? Will she help this stalker out of the waters?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Conclusion</span><br /><br />Most of my early tests were more positive than A and B. C is where it's at most of the time. That said, there are clearly still issues. I'll work on them, but I'd be glad to hear some opinions in the meantime :)Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-37611696943319327032009-08-03T22:53:00.001+02:002012-08-23T16:12:38.889+02:00Spirit of the Century with my parents - Part 2<span style="font-style: italic;">Report of the second session of roleplaying with my parents, using Spirit of the Century, with a Savage Worlds scenario.</span><br />
<br />
We left our heroes on a trip to North Africa, Tobrouk. There they were supposed to meet a local guide who accompanied the Hunter Museum agent and would lead them to where he was seen last.<br />
<br />
Upon arriving though, the only welcome they get is from a young taxi. The heroes don't believe he can drive his nice Peugeot and get suspicious, asking for proof. The boy does know the established password though. Thus, Alband takes the wheel and the group drives to the guide's location.<br />
<br />
Or at least tries! Soon enough, two white cars appear, and one shot breaks the rear window. This is a pursuit!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgexDT1VxYP9qvW8fO59L88r6yV-a4V95GEERPZhJzR2_ZgVbszZCafBH8cwMQNNKcKTOgdwtzy6VLNzbt2j62G41tH8f_hsJzWzZLONmekMlGHEYetkhNWCKOxS_TgYo6WnJs6ceQInr5v/s1600-h/IndyCarChase.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365843161390186706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgexDT1VxYP9qvW8fO59L88r6yV-a4V95GEERPZhJzR2_ZgVbszZCafBH8cwMQNNKcKTOgdwtzy6VLNzbt2j62G41tH8f_hsJzWzZLONmekMlGHEYetkhNWCKOxS_TgYo6WnJs6ceQInr5v/s320/IndyCarChase.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 216px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Here I wanted to try the chase rules from Spirit of the Century. Their originality is that they put the driver in the... front seat, so to speak, and have every other ally act only as a helper: the driver picks the best roll among the PCs'.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Two things were awkward here :</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />My dad kept describing a bit too much compared to the rules. He would keep saying his action defeated the pursuing car, but the rolls showed only some damage was done. I can't blame him one bit though. First, it was still a "first time" with roleplaying games, and we all know one of the early mistakes as a player is to try to control too much of what happens. Second, he was just enjoying the game! The results he described simply made sense based on the action he attempted (and yes, he did succeed, just didn't do enough damage).</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">For this, I have to say I felt bad for even trying to explain why it didn't work. I prided myself in focusing on what my parents would find fun, but there I failed, sticking a bit too close to the rules. My parents just wanted a fun story, and if "easier/quicker" means "funnier", then that's what I should have gone with.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />The other thing was the rules themselves. I was not entirely satisfied with how it went. While the driver was put forward, Alband, my dad's character, was not *that* great at driving (+2 bonus where +4 or +5 would have been the very good value). He did have an ally (Aqua) with a gun and some wit, and he could also have had another ally in the form of the young taxi, but things went well enough that I didn't feel forced to use him.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">I had difficulties with how the rounds went. The driver has to decide on a driving feat to try for the round, and assign a difficulty (this was very hard for my father to do, and I tried to suggest things as much as possible). It's a game of gamble where you bet you'll do better than the pursuer (who had +0 for driving). We kept having +1 or +2 as a difficulty which was fair given Alband's skill.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">What went wrong is that my dad couldn't come up with anything interesting after two rounds. He seemed really lost and I think he was getting frustrated that the run was still on. I'm still amazed at how much imagination they displayed these two evenings, but I can understand the well runs dry at some point, especially if the context doesn't change much. Help came from Aqua: as the "helper", she tried other things to slow the pursuers. She shot a jar of olive oil to make a slippy road, shot some tires and... oh yeah, predicted some road hazard (she has visions). According to the rules, though, I don't think the helpers are meant to create trouble for the driver, but it's what we did here, so my dad's roll would mean something. Jars of oil? Even though it was meant for the pursuers, the shot is too early and Alband has to avoid the oil too. The predicted road hazard also affects Alband. </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">While it worked, it felt weird and I don't think that's what the rules intended. I don't remember the rules mentioning maneuvers from helpers either, even though it makes sense that one would drive, and another would place a "slippy street" aspect on the scene for example.<br /><br />In the end, I think it would have been easier to do it as a regular battle, everyone helping everyone. I would have allowed extra actions such as shooting while driving if needed, and I would have put forward any cool driving action to make this a focus on Alband.</span><br />
<br />
Finally, the two white cars have taken enough bumps from walls of market stands that they stop. The scenario suggested explosions but I wanted to keep it family friendly. It also suggested the players would go look at the wreckage... not my parents ^^;. So I had to put up a police barrage a bit further to put them back on the rails (ohhh bad, I know, but I'm a beginner too...) The point was not to have them look at the cars, but to have them arrested so the local guide (a man with relations) can get them out of jail.<br />
<br />
I changed two things so far to tailor the scenario to my group: the taxi boy was supposed to be the driver in the chase, leaving others time to shoot and stuff. Since Alband said he wouldn't let the kid drive and I did want to have him at the center of the chase, I just went with this happily. Then, I had them arrested for all the ruckus (market day, quite a bit of damage, though not all their fault of course). But Alband, another one to have relations, didn't stay put in the cell and had a phone call to one important local guy. Of course they would be free anyway, but since he went through this trouble, I included this in the following scene where the guide only "made things a bit quicker". I hope it was enough to not steal their thunder.<br />
<br />
Follows a long explanation of what happened with the museum agent, where he went, how they had troubles from the get-go and how he foolishly went into the desert once he got information on the whereabouts of the Lost Army (the Mc Guffin of the scenario). Of course, our heroes were not to be so hasty and needed preparations.<br />
I first planned to stop there, but it seemed we could push a bit further, reaching a nice cliffhanger to end the session, and since everyone was go, that's what we did.<br />
<br />
FATE not being too big on precise inventory, I just asked what kind of rather unique items they might bring with them. Alband hired a bunch of extra armed aides, bought weapons for them, and some for himself. Not sure what Aqua got anymore...<br />
<br />
Here, the scenario has you go through the desert to reach a hidden temple. It contains the famed whereabouts of the Lost Army, key to finding our lost agent. But we didn't go there right away! My mom, during the first session, helped me find an incentive for her character's presence in this mission (she's an artist, not *really* an adventurer, even though adventure follows her): she would be looking for a rare pigment in a rocky region of the desert. So that's where we went first. I didn't want to drag things too much though, so the pigment was found and gathered easily enough. I think I had them do an Endurance roll for colors ("the sun is starting to get to you and you sweat much more than you can bear").<br />
<br />
Finally, they reached the temple where a well was uncovered: it was the alternate entrance to the ruined temple. They went down with a rope, found a tunnel halfway down and started exploring. Lit only with a petrol lantern, they looked around old halls of stone, walls covered in hieroglyphs (which they couldn't read... oh well, just some background story missed). Once they reached a circular room, a slithering noise came from the walls: snakes! Why does it always have to be snakes?!<br />
<br />
And that's where we stopped the session. I don't know when we will be able to continue, considering the vacation is over (it's been a week), but who knows... maybe next holidays :)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">Lessons learned</span><br />
<br />
Keep It Simple! Simple is fun. Still too many rules or too complex ones. Fights might not even be a good idea anymore: just roll some skills, freestyle.<br />
<br />
Try to give some more narrating powers to my parents next time. More than once, I've seen them step forward far enough to start stepping on my GM toes. I could tell them "no" and explain how it's the GM's role and stuff, but I think it will be easier and funnier to just say "okay, tell me what happens then" and roll with it, possibly with a skill roll if it seems a bit too farfetched or controling.<br />
<br />
Going even further than this, I'm tempted to try using Mythic to let us all play together as PCs. It might be a bit scary to them (and me), but at least it would allow us to have a truely tailored scenario. It's even more important given that the current scenario goes on in a very Mummy-esque way, with too much fantasy stuff for their taste... so Mythic would help veer this elsewhere without me having to come up with a whole new scenario on my own.Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-74541640723158953572009-07-22T10:30:00.006+02:002009-07-23T14:52:48.615+02:00Murder in a Wheel<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH9r8HuyGinEJdw95nlmNkaiAvE0zXaIObrSHpitkoSf6h4RCq8NrMrZF0yLlbGLBb7AxihQdOGsJMk9vKyno2dn5CbbNnXBPzDQArDkvLo5gQL7jl8ABzTP8SW6ODOodtwbT-RzJ_YV4N/s1600-h/MiaW_en_Screen02_L.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH9r8HuyGinEJdw95nlmNkaiAvE0zXaIObrSHpitkoSf6h4RCq8NrMrZF0yLlbGLBb7AxihQdOGsJMk9vKyno2dn5CbbNnXBPzDQArDkvLo5gQL7jl8ABzTP8SW6ODOodtwbT-RzJ_YV4N/s320/MiaW_en_Screen02_L.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361206435915294898" border="0" /></a><br />Still going through my backlog of adventure games...<br /><br />One of my latest tries was <a href="http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=941">Murder in a Wheel</a>. The title made me think of something very strange at first ("<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planescape">Planescape</a>" came to mind). But it's a lot more down to earth than that. Here, let me steal the tiny introduction from the game's very page:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A Locked Room Mystery </span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Story: Roderick, Lady Blackwin's beloved Hamster, was murdered. It is up to you to solve the crime and find the killer.</span><br /><br />It's as simple as that. Or is it?<br /><br />The game looks very much like the LucasArts games I loved (Monkey / Indy / Tentacles), if not even better when it comes to backgrounds (they did something with colors and lighting that I like very much). The intro splash screen was enough to grab my heart and send me back 15 years. It plays like you'd expect it too: a bunch of classic verbs, an inventory, items to use and misuse and characters to talk to. The only differences come from the investigative genre: giving items to people is more about "what can you tell me about this?" than actually giving the item.<br /><br />The game is not too difficult. I had to resort to a walkthrough only once, and only because I didn't do something more or less obvious with an item. Oh, there's one instance where you have to do something with no clear goal in view, but at least what you have to do is nonetheless obvious given what you know and the items you have. The game plays well, is very polished and very amusing too. Despite the contemporary and rather realistic setting, it does have a few fourth-wall jokes here and there but I didn't mind them as the laughs they gave were enough compensation for slightly breaking the illusion.<br /><br />I have tried a few other indie adventure games after this one, and none managed to grab me as this one did. You can guess it's a <span style="font-weight: bold;">highly recommended</span> game from me :)<br /><br />(also, I just noticed the title ends up as "MiaW", which is clever)Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-34812158084375181502009-07-17T11:29:00.005+02:002012-08-23T16:13:08.637+02:00Playing Spirit of the Century with my parents<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFtuPPa_EAJPHrMWjGDucb_iVlCde0_Ph-7KipPZYUwz2skGFTx0j4T4O8RKZVgQCYbTRJncUQIjXe6nIV9Dp473buXjFN3YGvD5cKZaSqvjgLHy1zr92eX73AAap90qlJ1e6swQwWPa3/s1600-h/NCWA_00064.preview.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359367668520053826" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFtuPPa_EAJPHrMWjGDucb_iVlCde0_Ph-7KipPZYUwz2skGFTx0j4T4O8RKZVgQCYbTRJncUQIjXe6nIV9Dp473buXjFN3YGvD5cKZaSqvjgLHy1zr92eX73AAap90qlJ1e6swQwWPa3/s320/NCWA_00064.preview.jpeg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 227px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
Yesterday, I launched a new rpg adventure of <a href="http://www.evilhat.com/home/sotc/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Spirit of the Century</span></a> (SotC)... with my parents.<br />
<br />
We had already tried a game back in April, when they visited, as a way of showing them what roleplaying games are like, and because I felt like DMing a tabletop game, which I hadn't done in quite a while. Back then, sadly, my father was not really into it because he had something to do early in the next morning and it kept him preoccupied. But at my big surprise, my mother said she thought it was enjoyable, and not how she envisioned it. Of course, I made sure to cater to their preferences, avoiding big supernatural happenings, monsters or even combat. Even more surprising was when my mother asked, mid-game, if her character could use telekinesis. Accommodating, and happy to see such an unexpected thing, I agreed and we added this to the character: a toned down telekinesis power.<br />
<br />
Back to now. I'm on vacation at my parents' and I brought my roleplaying materials, having asked beforehand if they were interested in a more complete rpg experience. And so we got to it last night. It started on a sour note as my dad was once again distracted by a coming storm (we're in the country and storms need to be prepared for). Thankfully, the storm was quiet enough and we got a whole evening of gaming.<br />
<br />
I wanted to try an actual <span style="font-weight: bold;">character creation</span> (last time we just picked a few skills, vague character types and went on with it) and we spent about 2 hours on it. I limited it to three phases : youth, first adventure and common adventure. I introduced <span style="font-weight: bold;">Aspects</span>, but it was obviously a bit too complex so early on, so we worked together to work out what happened in each phase and I tried to come up with interesting Aspects from what had been said. We ended up with a famous french artist with mystic powers (mainly sixth sense and premonitions, but occasionally other things like telekinesis, by paying a Fate Point) and a bit of an investigative streak, and a son of a rich entrepreneur, all about charming and charging head on, not caring much about wasting money, but very attached to his own properties.<br />
<br />
Once the characters were done, there was still some time, and I knew we could get the very first part of the adventure done... And I thought it was necessary to avoid the feeling that this session was "wasted" (apparently it really didn't feel like actual playing, and I can understand that).<br />
The first part has the PCs called by a museum manager for a mission, but before anything is told, <span style="font-weight: bold;">African tribal warriors</span> crash into the room, looking for revenge upon the manager (who visibly stole some artifact from them). Combat ensues...<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgakciPraJ98x_xLxm14pevYLt4NjhWjt3uoZ4NM9P6J_03qFMiVBHrVhKgqBlWS4jo_ckzbVaN1-JL5UjB5Bd77E7wvqo6yFdhZ0wrO_eLPgMaicIvWQn8CkBBn7Svw1GYZqrK9q74Du7F/s1600-h/zoulou.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359367966807234898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgakciPraJ98x_xLxm14pevYLt4NjhWjt3uoZ4NM9P6J_03qFMiVBHrVhKgqBlWS4jo_ckzbVaN1-JL5UjB5Bd77E7wvqo6yFdhZ0wrO_eLPgMaicIvWQn8CkBBn7Svw1GYZqrK9q74Du7F/s320/zoulou.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 267px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 179px;" /></a><br />
This was yet another new thing : battles. I knew my parents wouldn't be too much into such things, based on what they tend to like, and how they react to games I show to them, but I wanted to try it at least once. It went pretty quickly, with only 4 minions to beat up. Surprisingly, to me, my parents didn't hesitate using their firearms to get rid of the enemies. To keep things "clean", though, I always described things as non mortal wounds and without any gorey effects (I don't care much for them in a pulp setting, and I know it might have put them off). I tried to explain Maneuvers at that point, too, but it was too much, so we just ignored it.<br />
In the end, two warriors were scared away as the mystical artist managed to tap into her telekinetic powers to crash a book shelf near them (she made incantation-like moves, pretending to be a sorceress of sorts), and the two others were taken care of by the rich son's rifle-cane. Very pulpy :)<br />
<br />
The museum manager then explained the mission he had for them, and we just brushed over some preparations for the trip (we still had a few minutes and I thought it would allow us to jump straight into the action for the next session).<br />
<br />
Overall, I'm very happy with this session! My father, in particular, who didn't seem into it at first, ended up with a well developed character and apparently had fun doing this. But really, even my mom seemed to get into it as I suggested possibilities for her powers and such (she doesn't like "weird stuff", but I guess some of it is fine).<br />
I don't know how much the battle was enjoyed, if any. I'll have to ask. At least, it didn't seem to annoy at the time.<br />
<br />
Next session will start with a <span style="font-weight: bold;">car chase in the middle of a north african market</span>, which should be quite involving since my dad's character has Drive as a skill :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">Addendum</span><br />
<br />
The scenario played is "<span style="font-weight: bold;">L'Armée Perdue</span>", a french scenario for Savage Worlds.<br />
<br />
The characters novels were :<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Aqua Martre and the Phantom of the Louvre:</span> about the theft of many paintings, then returned... but as fakes! Aqua reveals they're fake and goes after the Phantom, but he eludes her, and one painting is still missing.</li>
<li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Alband Duchiron in The Theft of the Trophy:</span> where Alband's well deserved golf trophy is stolen as he is about to receive it. It is retrieved after a thrilling car chase and Alband discovers the trophy was actually an ancient artifact disguised by a coat of fake gold.</li>
<li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Aqua Martre and Alband Duchiron against the Pacific Pirates:</span> where both heroes meet for the first time, battling against modern pirates as they were sailing towards New York. Alband shows he doesn't care for mysticism and Aqua makes use of her innocent looks to deceive the pirates.</li>
</ul>
Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-28330583690650064432009-07-07T19:41:00.006+02:002009-07-07T22:13:31.268+02:00Fate Heroes - Part 2 - GnomesFollow up to <a href="http://monicatbox.blogspot.com/2009/07/fate-heroes-part-1-bank-robbery.html">Part 1</a>. We left our hero, Minuteman, victorious over a group of disorganized bank robbers and running to the rescue of Man-o-War, one of his Freedom Force buddies.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Intent : Go to the St Johns church and investigate<br />d10 (6) : no change (I assume a permanent Chaos Factor of 5 by the way)<br /><br />For the ones who don't know Mythic, the above is where you declare what the next scene should logically be, then roll a dice which result tells you if it happens as is, or with a twist (scenes can be Altered or Interrupted).<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span></span>Minuteman reaches the church after a few minutes spent crossing the town.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Are there signs of conflict? No -> The church and surroundings look undisturbed.<br />Are there people near the church? No -> No one is explicitely at the church... just passersby.</span><br /><br />"Odd, it is as if nothing happened!" says Minuteman with suspicion.<br /><br />He tries to contact Mentor through their telepathic link.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Setting note : Mentor is an alien with mental powers (duh, uh? :p), co-creator of Freedom Force and provider of many technological wonders. For more : <a href="http://www.giantbomb.com/mentor/94-1212/">http://www.giantbomb.com/mentor/94-1212/</a><br /><br />Does he reply? (very likely) Not at all</span><br /><br />"Mentor? Mentor?! I... I don't feel the telepathic link at all anymore! What is going on?"<br />Minuteman is getting worried but decides to at least take a look inside the church before going back to the Freedom Fortress.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Is there something unusual inside the church? Yes<br />What exactly? (here I tried a random event to get an answer but it wasn't inspiring so I went back to questions)<br />Is the inside destroyed? Yes -> It didn't look like it from outside but the church is in a bad shape.<br />Does it look like the results of an explosion or hand-made destruction? No -> Furniture and statues have taken visible hits.<br />Is there someone visible in there? Absolutely -> There's more than one person!<br />Are they familiar? No<br />Do they look responsible for the damage? Yes -> They're still wrecking what's left standing.<br /><br />What do they look like? (I tried picking a random word from the dictionary but, again, wasn't inspired, so I switched to a set of D&D monster types tables I adapted)<br />Came up with "Swarm Fey" -> It's a group of small humanoid creatures similar to lawn gnomes in size and garbs. They are crawling over statues, running around, smashing things and cackling. It's quite the chaotic vision!<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span></span>They look busy enough and Minuteman would rather take them by surprise: he tries to sneak on the side, behind some intact benches.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Stealth vs Alertness : -1 vs 1. Not good for Minuteman!<br /><br />FATE allows paying Fate Points in these cases and get either a +2 or a reroll. Problem is : you need to tag an appropriate Aspect (either of your character, of the scene or of another character). So at that point, I wanted to know more about the evil gnomes, in a slightly pushy way I admit:<br /><br />Do the gnomes have an Aspect defining a focus on destruction such as "Destroy! Destroy!!!" (that could be tagged to mean they're not paying attention)? Not at all -> Obviously, it backfired ;)<br />Instead, they get an aspect for their "sensitive hearing". I also note to give them a few points in Alertness when I start defining their stats. In any case, Minuteman is not making this roll any better...<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span></span>The steps of Minuteman echo through the church and the gnomes all turn their head at the same time, looking to the source of this noise.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Have they seen him?<br />Stealth vs Investigation : 1 vs 2</span><br /><br />Yes, the gnomes have spotted Minuteman.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Do they attack? (very likely) -> Yes!<br />Are they 1 or 2 zones away? No -> They're near the altar while our hero is near the entrance, slightly to the side. That's 2 zones away.<br /><br />Main skill of the gnomes : Melee or Athletics? No -> Athletics<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Evil gnomes</span><br /><br />Fair (+2) : Athletics<br />Average (+1) : Melee, Alertness<br /><br />Aspects :<br />Sensitive hearing (invoke to notice sounds, can be tagged to confuse them with loud noises)<br />Creepy little brats (invoke for small size and persistence)<br /><br />How many are there? 5+d6 (3) = 8 -> Two groups of 4 gnomes (+2 group bonus for each on all actions)<br /><br />I don't want to go into too much detail for the actual fight, so I'll keep to the highlights. Mythic didn't have any role here, but FATE was there to provide some narrative incentive instead.<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span></span><span>It starts with Minuteman lifting the bench he was trying to hide behind and waiting for the gnomes to come closer (2 zones is a bit far to throw items with FATE... not very superheroesy, but I'm planning to fiddle with this rule later). The gnomes all run towards our hero but (failing their Athletics checks) stumble over each other and fail to progress much.<br /><br />Now that they're closer, Minuteman throws the bench on the bunch (huhu). He barely fails his roll </span><span>though</span><span> (gets a total of 0 which isn't enough to deal damage) and has to invoke "Might makes right!" to get some damage done, killing two gnomes (they're groups of minions so attacks "go through").<br />In their counterattack, none of the groups manages to get anything done to Minuteman. Worse! They fail so much that he gets spin... twice! (it's a +1 on your next attack or defense). Even though no actual damage was done on the gnomes as a result, I described it as them being roughed around, thrown against walls or crushed under boots. Just enough to keep them at bay :)<br /><br />Next round, Minuteman kills two gnomes again, but has to resort to invoking "For Freedom!" (saving Man-o-War being, in a way, For Freedom... Force!) to get a +2.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Mythic was used here to know if the gnomes were artificial or organic : mechanical lawn gnomes or actual gremlin-like horrors? They turned out to be organic, so more "splortch" than "crack".<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span></span>Once again, none of the gnomes manages to land a hit. Since they're minions, they can't use Fate Points until they get one through the tagging of one of their Aspects... which never happened, so... no FPs for the gnomeys.<br /><br />Since the fight was getting a bit long, I really wanted to finish this quickly and used yet another Fate Point (I kept getting 0's for some reason, thanks dice!). This time, two gnomes go flying through the church, landing behind the altar.<br />Finally, one of the remaining gnomes clings to Minuteman's leg and gets a bite.<br /><br />But it's their last action as they end up crushed in the ground the next round.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I tried to make the fight as cinematic as possible in my head, acting out status quo and even failures of the dice as positive actions anyway, just not terribly effective ones (and definitely mechanically neutral ones). I've found that doing this helps staying focused on fights (especially long ones) and gives some ideas on how to use Aspects or what kind of Maneuvers to attempts. I haven't used Maneuvers so far, but they're basically the alternative to attacks that allow you to place a new Aspect and invoke it for free once if the roll succeeds. It's especially powerful with a team of PCs.<br /><br />This said, this is where I stopped so far, a few inches from the end of Scene 2. Next scene should have Minuteman going back to the Freedom Fortress... if Mythic is willing :). I might continue this during my two weeks vacation starting next week, depending on mood and other occupations.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></span>Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-64352139336071024362009-07-05T16:18:00.007+02:002009-07-23T14:53:17.910+02:00Spooks & NanobotsAfter playing so much Dwarf Fortress, I obviously ended up slightly fed up with it (I just can't take things in moderation and that's how it usually ends up... thankfully I don't drink alcohol!).<br /><br />Last time my friend came and made me want to try out Dragon's Lair again, he brought Still Life 2, an adventure game, to show it to me. I showed him one of the indie adventure games I discovered during the last years: Spooks. And yesterday, I felt like playing it again, knowing it wasn't extremely long. Once done, I remembered reading the author had made another game: Nanobots, and I went on to try this one too.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Spooks</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6Mg1-JaC54WvtEYZI9Bg4IuBO1zk-TnDfMwTYvc1jMzdy6a8N7t6gVqHmlRB8G8uOxSockDbWOBlhTcDAyZVS1PDJAEtTkZkL_oxPNkPr-J41VR0S-x4h43AfE3qyOMiOrnsdcDMpbtw/s1600-h/spooks_bigshot3.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6Mg1-JaC54WvtEYZI9Bg4IuBO1zk-TnDfMwTYvc1jMzdy6a8N7t6gVqHmlRB8G8uOxSockDbWOBlhTcDAyZVS1PDJAEtTkZkL_oxPNkPr-J41VR0S-x4h43AfE3qyOMiOrnsdcDMpbtw/s320/spooks_bigshot3.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354990818210662162" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.livelyivy.com/?page_id=58">Download link</a><br /></div><br />The game was made with <a href="http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/">Adventure Game Studio</a> (AGS) by <a href="http://www.livelyivy.com/">Erin Robinson, aka "The Ivy"</a> and is about a young ghoul named Mortia visiting the Carnage Val in the Land of the Dead. It's gray all around and looks like lots of fun! Well... okay, no, actually Mortia is quite bored there, and her cynical take on things is not helping, though it's the source of many laughs.<br /><br />Soon enough, Mortia is coerced into playing a seemingly harmless game of darts. What she does win is beyond all imagination : a fish... that is "alive"! Why isn't the fish gray like everything else? What does "alive" mean? Why are these strange authority officers looking for it? This is just too mysterious for Mortia to ignore and she decides she will help the little fish get out of there. But first, she must find out more about the word "alive".<br /><br />Spooks grabbed me way back then because it looked so much like the adventure games of my teen years. It's full of pixelly goodness and of rather good quality. What it might lack in graphical polish, it makes up for with its style (it has a somewhat Tim Burton feel, for lack of a better comparison). And of course, it has funny dialogues, unique characters to meet, and puzzles!<br /><br />The puzzles are not terribly hard but not incredibly easy either! It's just the right dosage to get your brains running without frying them up in frustration. The game is not very long (a few hours) and considering I'm an adult with a job, it's something I appreciate now. I'd say it's possible to finish in one sitting but it might take two if you get stuck.<br /><br />Overall, it's a very good mix of all its parts, making a very nice adventure game. Apparently there's a even a sequel in the making!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Nanobots<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh66dUFxPW-9VEvaG-R2McEeRc4XoKMQmDLHtNa6_YUB5td9M3kpge9qlS3UOxik3WTRF3F2sB6YYYkfGtxHAdg4UWB68CE8iBRMqLvW6K2qmX9grjysA_2CE5rADwvVnQ_75e2yowViZ1V/s1600-h/nanobots2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh66dUFxPW-9VEvaG-R2McEeRc4XoKMQmDLHtNa6_YUB5td9M3kpge9qlS3UOxik3WTRF3F2sB6YYYkfGtxHAdg4UWB68CE8iBRMqLvW6K2qmX9grjysA_2CE5rADwvVnQ_75e2yowViZ1V/s320/nanobots2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354990821207340210" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.livelyivy.com/?page_id=73">Download link</a><br /></div><br />Nanobots is also made with AGS and, as I said, by the same author. It's not always obvious wether an author can follow a good game by another good game, but I'm glad to say Erin has been on a roll, and hopefully will continue to be :)<br /><br />This time, the story takes place in a dorm where Groovy Greg, a hippie student, is trying to finish his project: build robots that can love. What he ends up with are the Nanobots, a group of specialized tiny bots with an attitude. So much attitude that they keep bickering instead of working together. Greg is desperate as it means he will fail his grade, which his thesis professor, Mr Killfun, is quick to remind him. He is also quick to reveal a nefarious plan as soon as Greg leaves to get some rest: the professor plans to crush the Nanobots so that *he* can reveal his own LoveBot to the world! Muahaha--*ding!* Oh, coffee, I'll be back in a minute.<br /><br />A good thing for the Nanobots that the professor is so unfocused as it gives them the time to hopefully make an escape! Except... they're on a desk, very far from the ground, and with no obvious way down. And they're still bickering. But it's time for them to unite their strengths to get out of this in one piece!<br /><br />The games I was reminded of by Nanobots is the Goblins series because of how each character has a specialty and must work as a team to get through trouble. It's not *just* like Goblins though, as there's no "timed coordinated sequences" at all, and there are way more characters in the team AND they're really specialized. I thought it was interesting because it challenged you to think a bit differently.<br /><br />One other difference is that each bot can only carry one item and can't drop them. They need to exchange with another bot if they need something else. This particular aspect was not my favorite as it got frustrating after a while. I suppose one important thing in adventure games is to make sure the player is not slowed down by the interface as he's already busy trying to solve puzzles. It still worked, but it could have been better. The only good side of it I found is that it created some (possibly) emergent puzzles of the "how the hell do I pick that up when my hands are full and no other bot can pick what I'm carrying?" variety. But really, even though I'm mentioning it, it's definitely a *cough* nano-problem compared to the whole thing :)<br /><br />As with Spooks, most of the fun is in the dialogues, unique characters and cute graphics. Oh, there's even a "hidden" hint system in there ;). It helped me quite a bit.<br /><br />The game is moderately difficult. I got really stuck twice and had to resort to a walkthrough. One of these I could have found by myself but my brain got stuck in one way of thinking that just prevented it. The other, I didn't regret, because I just wouldn't have figured it out. But every puzzle is logical so I don't think the game is at fault here.<br /><br />Again, another very good adventure game, although it needs a bit of interface polish to remove some unneeded frustration here and there. I strongly recommend playing the tutorial by the way, as it teaches you the concept through an amusing scene.Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-83947165388563714782009-07-02T19:44:00.005+02:002009-07-02T22:39:14.094+02:00Fate Heroes - Part 1 - Bank RobberyThe adventure proper! All mechanics will be in italics. Descriptions/narration will be in regular text.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">To start this adventure, I wanted a quick set up to immediately get into something fun. Mythic (and even Fate actually) works with </span>Scenes<span style="font-style: italic;">. Since I had an idea for how it would start, I just established it and went with it :</span><br /><br />Freedom Force (the team of superheroes of this setting) has detected a bank robbery in progress downtown. Minuteman has been sent to deal with it.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">That's it. That's my input. From now on, I use Mythic to know what happens. So I start with a bunch of questions to get an idea of the surroundings. How do Mythic questions work? You ask a yes/no question and establish a probability (Likely, No way!, etc...) Then you roll a d100 and look up the results on the Fate Chart (not related to the Fate v3 system). If the number falls under the middle point, it's a Yes. Over it's a No. And to spice things up, extreme results (very close to 0 or 100) get you an Absolutely! and a Not at all!<br />Let's see how it goes.<br /><br />Are the bandits already leaving? (50/50) No -> They're still in the building<br />Is the Police here? (likely) No (double) -> The Police is not here yet!<br /><br />Here I get a double (rolled 88). Usually you'd compare 8 to a "Chaos Factor" but I don't use it. For me, double = random event, always. Random events are rolled on specific tables. They give you the type and then they give you very vague words that you interpret given the context.<br /><br />Random event : PC Positive, Be careful / Enemies -> The bandits haven't heard any sirens yet, so they are focusing on gathering money and not looking outside at all. They don't notice Minuteman one bit.<br /><br />Are the glass doors tinted? (not sure of the word here : I mean hard to see through glass) Not at all -> got an extreme result here. The glass is crystal clear and one can perfectly see what's going on inside.<br /><br />Are there many bandits in there? Yes. I roll a 2d6 and get 5, 1 = 6 bandits inside.<br /><br />Do they have an apparent leader? Not at all! -> another extreme result I take as the bandits being terribly disorganized. Some of them might be tempted to turn on their pals if need be.<br /><br />I get another double (99) on this question which means another random event!<br /><br />Random event : Remote event, Betray / Investment -> One of the clerks, noticing how disorganized they are, tries to trick them with fake paper money.<br /><br />(note : I didn't use "Remove event" properly here, as it's supposed to be something taking place quite elsewhere.... but hey, when it fires up your imagination, I call it fair game)<br /><br />Do the bandits notice this? Absolutely! (double) -> Nearby bandits immediately notice it.<br /><br />Random event : Ambiguous event, Create / Notoriety -> ambiguous events are meant to be "something rather irrelevant". Also, here I decided to pick a random word from a dictionary (some Mythic players use an encyclopedia or thesaurus) to get an idea about what it was. I ended up with "tour"<br />-> Out of nowhere, an advertisement van drives past the bank, with a booming announcement of some music band's next tour in town.<br /><br />Not sure how the bandits might react to this, I ask a Mythic complex question (the Verb/Subject type you've seen for most random events so far) :<br />How do the bandits react? Oppress / Dreams -> The loud noise makes them jump and puts them on edge. Turning back to the clerk who tried to trick them, they get very threatening.<br /><br />And that's my cue to act...<br /><br /></span>Minuteman, seeing things are getting ugly, decides to intervene, and quick! He will try to get the effect of surprise by charging through the glass doors.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Are the doors reinforced? (somewhat likely) Yes -> I use this to decide the glass Quality is not Poor (-1) but Mediocre (0)<br /><br />Here I finally use FATE to roll skills and such. Crashing through glass doors will be Might (+3) vs Door Quality (0). I roll a +2 (FATE uses Fudge dice and you roll four of them, which gets you a result like so : + . . +, a plus, nothing, nothing, a plus = two plusses). This makes Minuteman's Might at +5 for this roll, against the Mediocre 0... It's a clear success and I even get spin (+3 shifts or higher over the target). Spin means it was a frank success!<br /><br /></span>Minuteman jumps through the doors bursting into many pieces, with a loud crash. He ends up in the middle of the room, met by a shocked silence. The bandits are so stunned they don't even react.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Minuteman gets a free surprise round thanks to his great roll (my decision).</span><br /><br />He charges the thug nearest to the threatened clerk and smacks him with his staff, the Patriot.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Melee (+4) vs Thug's Quality (0) : roll -1 +4 = +3 vs 0<br /><br />(note : I decided the thugs were just Mediocre, having 0 at all their stats for now)<br /><br /></span>The thug has no time to react one bit and is struck by the staff, sent rolling over the counter, on the clerk's side, knocked out. The five remaining bandits are finally getting out of their stupor.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">(note : I also decided thugs would be Minions, which means they have no stress track ; one hit and they're gone)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Do some of the thugs have machineguns? Not at all! -> Actually, two of them only have knives. The others have regular guns.<br />Note : I decided guns would be "on par" with superheroes, while machineguns would start giving bonuses. A human with a knife, though, would get a damage malus.<br /><br />So that makes one group of 2 thugs with knives and one group of 3 thugs with guns.<br /><br />I roll init and get this order : Minuteman, Knives, Guns<br /><br />Is one group at a distance? Yes -> random choice : the gun guys are further away<br /><br /></span><br />Minuteman runs towards the gun-equipped thugs, judging them more threatening for the citizens in the room.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Melee (+4) -1 (I moved to their zone) VS thug's quality (0) +1 (group bonus) : I get 4 vs -2, which gives 6 shifts for me, which is a spin (and even a double spin!).<br /><br /></span>The protector of the country moves lightning fast, no giving the thugs any time to defend. The strikes are overwhelming and three bodies drop to the ground, grunting in pain.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Note : when such weak Minions are grouped together, each stress you inflict takes one of them out. With 6 shifts, I could have beaten them up twice :)<br /><br />Do the remaining thugs insist on taking on Minuteman? No</span><br /><br />They look at each other... look at their pitiful blades... and decide a bunch of fresh air would suit them well.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">End of fight.<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Has the Police arrived since then? (Likely) No</span></span><br /><br />But the Police isn't there yet and Minuteman can't just let these criminals run away : he goes after them immediately.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Since I had double spin on my last action and it couldn't be used in combat, I use it here to say Minuteman is already close on their heels before I even roll for pursuit.<br /><br />Athletics (+3) vs Athletics (0) : 0 vs 0</span><br /><br />The bandits run as if it was their last day on Earth... so much that even Minuteman can only keep up with them. Of course, Minuteman could hold this speed for quite a long time and wait until they tire, but there's no sense in wasting time this way. He raises his staff and energy crackles at the tip. In a wide sway, he launches the projectile, an energy eagle, towards the fleeing criminals.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Minute Missile power (+2) vs Athletics (0) : 4 vs 2 -> 2 shifts<br />Amusingly, the Minute Missile attack in Freedom Force is a chain one, and so it perfectly makes sense I would get two knock outs from this attack (they're Minions and even though it's not a proper battle, we can consider them grouped, thus damage "goes through" the whole group).</span><br /><br />The eagle speeds through the air, smacking the first thug in the head before ricocheting to the second one. Both stumble from the shock and roll to the ground, out. Minuteman unhurriedly catches up and brings them back to the bank after taking off their weapons.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">How much time does the Police take to come? I use a base of 1 minute and use the absolute value of 4 Fudge dice (they can yield -4 to +4, so 0 to 4 with the absolute value, with 4 being very rare). I get +3, which means 3 shifts on the <a href="http://www.faterpg.com/dl/sotc-srd.html#time">time ladder</a>, which gives half an hour.</span><br /><br />Since the Police has not yet arrived after five minutes, Minuteman asks the bank employees for help in tying up the bad guys. It's only half an hour later that the first Police car makes an appearance.<br /><br />"Glad to see you officer! But if you don't mind my asking... what took you so long?"<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Complex question : Emprison / Freedom</span><br /><br />"We would have been here earlier if we hadn't had to deal with yet another lunatic! One of your teammates got captured as he was fighting him off!"<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I asked "is it a man or woman" to know if I should type "him" or "her". Also, I must note here that I first interpreted the complex question differently, thinking "some villain put most of the town cops in their own cells" or something. And then I noticed how "Freedom" could just be "Freedom Force", the team of superheroes... and it seemed much more interesting ;)</span><br /><br />"One of my teammates? Who?!"<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Here I made a list of heroes from Freedom Force and randomly picked one : Man-o-War. He's a gruff ex-sailor who got super powers as he was dealing with a stowaway on his fishboat, the Man-o-War. Both him and the stowaway, a young girl, got hit by Energy X and gained powers from it (which saved them from a large wave in a timely manner, of course). In the game, he has a Sean Connery like voice.</span><br /><br />"It's the old man, err... Mano... Manu...?" replies the officer, unsure<br />"Man-o-War! I must help him at once! Where did this happen?" asks Minuteman, alarmed.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Complex question : Create / Love</span><br /><br />"In front of the St Johns church!"<br /><br />And so, Minuteman runs to the church, hopping from building to building, after leaving the bank robbers to the care of the Police. Man-o-War captured?! And who is this new villain? All will be revealed... in the next episode!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">That's where I decide to end the first scene of the game. And thus, that's when I need to note down a list of open threads and NPCs. The lists are used by Mythic to define who or what is involved in some random events.<br /><br />Threads : Investigate at St Johns church, Save Man-o-War!, Discover who the new villain is<br />NPCs : The Police force, Man-o-War, the new villain, the bank robbers<br /><br />And that's where I'll stop for this post. I'll write up the second scene sometime soon!<br /></span>Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-64014156605511633152009-07-02T19:09:00.004+02:002009-07-02T19:42:48.047+02:00Fate Heroes - Part 0b - MinutemanThat's it! I'm finally ready to tackle my Fate Heroes report!<br /><br />Read <a href="http://monicatbox.blogspot.com/2009/06/fate-heroes-part-0.html">this</a> if you don't know what I'm talking about. To sum it up, I will be solo-roleplaying a superhero adventure, playing <a href="http://www.giantbomb.com/minuteman/94-2263/">Minuteman</a>, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Force_%28computer_game%29">Freedom Force</a> character, using the <a href="http://www.faterpg.com/dl/sotc-srd.html">Fate v3 system</a> and <a href="http://www.mythic.wordpr.com/">Mythic</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Minuteman</span><br /><br />Here are the stats for Minuteman. I use the regular <a href="http://www.faterpg.com/dl/sotc-srd.html#the-ladder">Fate ladder</a> that goes from Mediocre (0) to Superb (+5).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Skills</span><br /><br />Superb (+5) : Resolve<br />Great (+4) : Leadership, Melee<br />Good (+3) : Might, Athletics, Powers (10 pts)<br />Fair (+2) : Endurance, Alertness, Science, ?<br />Average (+1) : Ranged, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?<br /><br />Everything else being at Mediocre (0).<br /><ul><li>Powers is a skill I use to represent how super powered an individual is. It's specific to my Fate Heroes variation.</li><li>The interrogation marks are skills I haven't decided upon yet. If during the adventure I see I don't have a skill I need to roll for and that Minuteman would likely be at least somewhat good at, I'll add it in these slots.<br /></li></ul>Health : ooooo oo OOO<br />Composure : ooooo ooooo OOO<br /><br />I get into a bit more details about the Health and Composure track below but it's not mandatory read to follow the adventure, so feel free to skip if you don't like crunch ;)<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The little circles (usually boxes but it's easier to type) represent </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">stress</span><span style="font-style: italic;">. Each time you get physically diminished, you tick the box corresponding to the level of stress taken. If you take 1 stress you tick the first box. If you take 3 stress, you tick the third box (and only the third one!). If a box you should tick is already ticked, you "roll up", ticking the next free one.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Finally, when no more boxes are left, you get into </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Consequences</span><span style="font-style: italic;">, the big circles here. Whenever stress rolls up over your stress boxes, you tick the next Consequence box. While stress boxes merely represent fatigue or little nicks, consequences get more and more serious. You might be out of breath, then have a wide bleeding wound and finally broken legs.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">If you still get stress past that point, you're Taken Out. Doesn't have to mean death, but you're still out of the picture.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">For the composure track, it's exactly the same but with the mental (fear, keeping your wits about, etc...)</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>Powers (10 pts to distribute)</span><br /><br />Hyper leap (+3) : regular characters use Athletics to run and jump like most people would. The Hyper leap power allows incredible jumps like hopping up to a roof and down from there, or crossing large distances with a single leap (possibly avoiding many land obstacles).<br />National Guard (+3) : not yet well define. My idea is that it puts a "Protected from bullets" aspect on Minuteman<br />Minute Missile (+2) : not yet sure either. For now, it's an alternative to the Ranged skill that can be used to damage or to place a "Dizzied" aspect on someone (the Minute Missile is an energy bold in the shape of an eagle that stuns people)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Aspects</span><br /><ul><li>For Freedom!</li><li>I must take care of Liberty Lad</li><li>The Reds must be stopped!</li><li>Might makes right</li><li>Protecting the people of Earth</li><li>The Patriot (his staff)</li><li>Used to conceive H-bombs</li><li>No one left behind</li><li>"I'm tired of these antics!"</li><li>Eternal Vigilance (tag to protect from bullets)</li></ul><br />I won't go into too much details as these might change and because you need to know a few things from the Freedom Force game to get some of them. I'll try to explain them when I use them. But as for what Aspects are to begin with, well... here's the official description. To sum it up, it's a descriptor of the character's behavior, beliefs, and things important to him. In game, when a die roll is low, you can pay a Fate Point, invoke an appropriate Aspect and you'll get either a +2 to the roll or get to reroll it. It's a story tool that says "my character should do well on this task because..." the same way movie characters do. For now, let's just say it's one of the best parts of the Fate system as it makes non statistical elements have an effect on the game ;)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fate Points</span><br /><br />They allow me to invoke/tag/compel Aspects (Minuteman's but also others!) to get +2 to a roll, reroll or even force someone to act in a certain way. I get 1 point per defined Aspect (10 aspects maximum), which makes it <span style="font-weight: bold;">10 Fate Points</span>.<br /><br /><br />There! I think I have it all. That's who I'll be playing through the adventure. Next post, the adventure itself! (never thought it'd take so long to get there)Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-91439195552465785042009-06-28T15:24:00.007+02:002009-07-23T14:53:58.519+02:00The heat, the dragon and the dwarves<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >The Heat</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Imagine here an illustration of someone sweating or a picture of a blazing sun*</span><br /><br />It has been rather hot in the part where I live lately and it's making my brain work rather slowly. I barely write anything and I tend not to touch anything too brainy. Sorry to the people I usually interact with! Hopefully I'll get over it... or you'll see me again in September :|<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">* I was going to have a public domain picture of it here but it's apparently hard to find. I might start drawing quick doodles to illustrate my posts when the Internet fails me so.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >The Dragon</span><br /><br />In the mean time, I have gone back to the Dragon's Lair series after an old friend of mine came for a visit and we shared a few bits about the game. I've first played the series on the Amiga adaptation and it was quite something at the time, seeing what looked like an interactive cartoon on "just" a computer. And I've learned now that it was indeed quite the technical feat too.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSE5LFdOtQI&feature=related">Dragon's Lair Amiga version</a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHhYyFlL3Al1nxFG3Q_NlpshwW06W5LY2XpN-v-AtwBJsPE_7mZMQkQV8Vd-QeE4MLfYKKNUmEf0A2WBRwv-Sq8Chc5nzUz8-Jn62cEP8Ro3kMyP1d29XZOm9tmTG6WQg-_RRlIdC1LQOm/s1600-h/865433-dragons_lair_bridge.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHhYyFlL3Al1nxFG3Q_NlpshwW06W5LY2XpN-v-AtwBJsPE_7mZMQkQV8Vd-QeE4MLfYKKNUmEf0A2WBRwv-Sq8Chc5nzUz8-Jn62cEP8Ro3kMyP1d29XZOm9tmTG6WQg-_RRlIdC1LQOm/s320/865433-dragons_lair_bridge.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352440799539008834" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Far from perfect, but incredible considering the 64 colors, slow processor and floppy format</span></span><br /></div><br />I also played the sequel, "Dragon's Lair: Escape from Singe's Castle" (funny title considering "singe" means monkey in French :p -- it's actually the dragon's name I think?), "Space Ace" (similar concept but in space), and "Dragon's Lair 3". I missed "Dragon's Lair 2", I'm not sure why... Given the room on the floppies of then, each of the original arcade games had to be split into two games, hence the four Dragon's Lair games on Amiga in the end.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Edit note : having watched a video of DL1 just now, I come up with two things to say : "oh the bastards!" and "still, good job". "Oh the bastards!" because the game cost about $150 at the time, and lasted about 7 minutes (loading times excluded, on a perfect run) and, the worst part maybe, doubled *every* scene except the finale. How cheap is that? ^^;... "Still, good job" because I'm still amazed this ran on an Amiga and how accurate they made it on some scenes (thankfully, the most important ones)</span><br /><br />But originally, there were two DL games and one Space Ace game, which I only discovered years later through their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD-i">CD-I</a> versions, which, thanks to the Digital Video component of the console, were actually the same as the original arcade (at least in relative video quality).<br /><br />So how did the arcade look and how did the games play? Well the following video will explain it better :<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TAgJf1FEerk&hl=fr&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TAgJf1FEerk&hl=fr&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Edit note : unless I'm mistaken, the moves they give are total nonsense most of the time. Was it to explain how it work without actually giving the solution? Who knows... They also show the end of the game, which is... well... would be a spoiler if the game itself wasn't so cliché to begin with. In any case, I'm pretty sure the only ones actually interested in playing the game already did uh? (somewhat invalidating my post too, yay!)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Also, "proper" TV hosts in costume playing Dragon's Lair is..... mildly amusing *giggles*.</span><br /><br />Do note how it came out not long after Space Invaders and Pacman. Gosh, what a shock it must have been at the time! That's quite the technical prowess! It even took years before the CD support took hold of the game genre and before we got games using full video such as Phantasmagoria (at least it's one of the first games I remember going for the movie feel, but my memories might be hazy on that one).<br /><br />To sum it up : incredible visual quality, but a definitely awkward game system... if you even want to call it a "game". The closest game I can think of in recent times might be... Dance Dance Revolution. Really, Dragon's Lair was more of a "step in time with the music" kind of game, except the music was video on screen and you had to guess the right move yourself.<br />Oh, and of course, QTEs! They've popped up in games these last years, like in Shenmue and Indigo Prophecy or God of War : press the button on screen while your character does the cool stuff. It seems almost no one likes these and I'll admit I'm not *that* fond of them either. I think it's a matter of context : a game made of QTE can be all right, but QTE in an otherwise regular game is annoying. Go figure :)<br /><br />Final thing on this topic : I have also read up on DL and discovered the initial plans for the game were much more complex with actual interactivity instead of the rather linear thing it is today : you were supposed to be able to choose your path, have alternatives here and there, etc... But even without this, I've realized the arcade version (compared to the CD-I version) was actually harder in some places, requiring logical timing : push towards a rope only when the rope comes into your reach, press sword only when the enemy is about to strike at you so you deflect it, etc... If you press the right move too soon, it's taken into account... but in a negative way! On CD-I, you can keep pressing the right move way ahead of time and it'll register all right. Funny.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.digitalleisure.com/contents/HDDVDVideo_games.htm">Dragon's Lair at Digital Leisure</a><br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/O1WHGJhC8xc&hl=fr&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/O1WHGJhC8xc&hl=fr&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />I might make other posts for Dragon's Lair II and Space Ace. If only to post videos... I like posting videos >.>...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >The Dwarves</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBOLH5hyN4e4KKWrUj0bXRiG1R-Z04lA7BK-qaoIzdx1MJNWpJ1H2YQYog_NouKi-flyNX2gh8dmpUa0nmwMokq5J2EedNpnalmxLHuRsPxl0olmCE9BemQj2ZtAXBHiQW6PVOEo_GBh4Z/s1600-h/df_meeting_hall.PNG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBOLH5hyN4e4KKWrUj0bXRiG1R-Z04lA7BK-qaoIzdx1MJNWpJ1H2YQYog_NouKi-flyNX2gh8dmpUa0nmwMokq5J2EedNpnalmxLHuRsPxl0olmCE9BemQj2ZtAXBHiQW6PVOEo_GBh4Z/s320/df_meeting_hall.PNG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352371792512516306" border="0" /></a><br />Hmm, I'll have to be short on this as heat + typing = headache. Meh!<br /><br />Simply put, here's another game I keep coming back to year after year. Not often and never for long, but still, it says something about its quality.<br /><br />Dwarf Fortress is about.... managing a dwarven fortress. Yup. It's all in ASCII (look at the screenshot), though more graphical tilesets now exist, and it's all about simulation depth. At first you're just trying to survive winter by building workshops, bedrooms and dining rooms... hunting, fishing, crafting goods, etc... It's very similar to the Settlers I think. But the more time goes, the more things pile up. After a while you get nobles and special dwarves who can manage the fortress, set export bans, make foolish demands, etc... You also have to deal with enemy invasions (goblins, humans, others...), floods, magma and other things I probably don't even know about. It just changes scope as the population grows. No more micro-managing, no more truly caring about those seven initial dwarves when you have more than 50 roaming around the halls.<br /><br />I keep coming back to it because it's a quiet game, where many things can happen and it keeps evolving (I just discovered how much it stores about the world it generates the first time... so many details!) And I tend to give it up because it still has a rather obscure interface (only helped by the <a href="http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/">Wiki</a>) and it's still a sandbox game with not a *lot* of room for mistakes (it plays like a roguelike, so when you're screwed, you're screwed).<br /><br />Anyway, if you don't mind the graphics and think it sounds at least a bit fun, try it! It's free.<br /><br />Oh and if there's one thing you should read, it's the Boatmurdered "Let's Play" of the game : <a href="http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/Boatmurdered/intro.html">http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/Boatmurdered/intro.html</a><br />It definitely shows how hilariously crazy things can get :)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/">Dwarf Fortress (by Bay12games)</a>Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-12381582503181739232009-06-24T09:39:00.004+02:002009-06-24T10:00:16.596+02:00On the fly roleplayI did something a bit strange today. That is, stranger than roleplaying solo :P<br /><br />I have this commute time in the morning (and evening, really) of about 40 minutes. I'll usually either vegetate when I'm too tired / still waking up or read some roleplay material on my Nintendo DS, or play a game on it, but it's become quite rare these days.<br /><br />I have been eating tons of superhero rpg material lately and I guess it's slowly boring me now (the reading of rules and setting I mean! I want to play now!) And today I tried something new : using Mythic on the fly during the commute.<br /><br />The only thing I need is a little imagination and a random d100 generator (since rolling dice while standing on a sidewalk is not practical). Solution? Reading numbers on car ID plates :D. And so this morning I was an elven ranger who got robbed by bandits and went to get his revenge in the nearby forest where they set camp. Worked like a charm!Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-37891480942418639562009-06-18T19:09:00.008+02:002009-07-02T19:05:58.539+02:00Fate Heroes - Part 0<img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwf5SBXmlkrfXMnap5apbRXzqaAfg8v3NfQ0Jp4REk9cH8yX_K76TEn-_FuUSut6zEpdzjPwUlhPZsr7X6NSi5O8ERLehyxTitwgKpl2ZrBrwQa7kwa0nKmVOkBoBWzxvQ5lyOD7DngDEV/" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348718159774329794" border="0" /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Last time on Moni's Catbox...<br /><br /></span><span>I finished <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Force_%28computer_game%29">Freedom Force</a> some time ago and started the second opus a few days later, just giving myself some pause to avoid getting sick of it (I tend to consume media as one would consume his favorite meal). But was it really a pause? I ended up picking up my solo roleplaying and what else but a superhero setting could I choose? :)<br /><br />I have been spending weeks on reading <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Super_Heroes_Role-Playing_Game">Marvel Superheroes RPG</a> material and with Freedom Force on top of this, let's just say I'm very much "Supers!" minded these days. I almost went with a custom character but then realized it would be simpler to pick a character I just learned a great deal about : <a href="http://www.giantbomb.com/minuteman/94-2263/">Minuteman</a>, the main hero of Freedom Force.<br /><br />This first post, titled "part 0", will explain the RPG systems I use to play, without going into details too much. Next post will be the actual adventure.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">How I do it</span></span><br /><br />First, I should explain what I use for my solo roleplaying.<br /><br />My RPG system of choice is <a href="http://www.evilhat.com/home/sotc/">Spirit of the Century, by Evil Hat Productions</a>, a pulp pick-up game based upon the FATE v3 system (itself based on Fudge!). I allow myself to sprinkle it with bits of<a href="http://www.cubicle-7.com/starblazer.htm"> Starblazer Adventures, by Cubicle 7</a>, the space-opera counterpart to SotC. And last but not least, I apply my own variations (which I call Fate Fantasy but it's nothing official) whenever I feel the rules are lacking something or are not to my taste (if there's something I've learned from RPGs, it's the "customize at will" advice!). For this particular superhero adventure, I have started a new set of variants I call Fate Heroes, which follows advice from <a href="http://rpg.brouhaha.us/?p=277">Marvelous Fate</a>, a Fate adaptation of the Marvel Superheroes rules.<br /><br />Yes, it's fair to say it's a big mix of ideas, but overall, it's just FATE v3, adapted to a particular setting.<br /><br />Last but not least, I use the <a href="http://www.mythic.wordpr.com/index.html">Mythic GM Emulator from Word Mill Games</a>. I know, I know, a GM emulator? Pfah! But you'd be wrong thinking that. It's actually a very simple but incredibly effective mini-system that allows a GM or players without a GM to come up with what happens in an adventure AND still get surprises out of it. While it does have a few tables for random picks, they don't provide anything set in stone and setting specific and rely on one's imagination and interpretation instead, not unlike tarot reading. The main part of the system, though, is based on asking questions (Magic 8 Ball like) and having the dice answer for you.<br />I won't get into it more than this as it will be more easily explained during the actual adventure write-up.<br /><br />Well I guess that's it! All I can add is that I currently play by writing what happens in a notepad-like program to keep track of everything.<br /><br />See you next post!<br /></span>Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-2407223979789663032009-06-07T20:09:00.002+02:002009-06-07T20:50:20.525+02:00Freedom Force review<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXNCT-dni3gfLWr5YqSEtLmlqi91KIHCDvwdRvEKfOVx_e3STkov1WMyU0bcvpICr0UWtLqvFa2mE39uq5S6xd5l6KfzYiQyP26t-dz0e1fxjTv-h095VLQGgdeEeHJZGo4NjZ5Ll80E8P/s1600-h/ff01.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344606980362702642" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXNCT-dni3gfLWr5YqSEtLmlqi91KIHCDvwdRvEKfOVx_e3STkov1WMyU0bcvpICr0UWtLqvFa2mE39uq5S6xd5l6KfzYiQyP26t-dz0e1fxjTv-h095VLQGgdeEeHJZGo4NjZ5Ll80E8P/s320/ff01.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 241px;" border="0" /></a><br />Here is what I have been playing for about a week. It's, simply put, a superhero realtime tactical game with a coat of RPG.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mkDPEilHvWw&hl=fr&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mkDPEilHvWw&hl=fr&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /></div><br />I heard about the game for the first time when they released its sequel, "Freedom Force VS the 3rd Reich" and I tried the demo. I remember not being thrilled by it as it felt clunky and difficult, in spite of a bunch of charismatic characters and a nice superheroic homage feel. I know I wasn't much into superheroes back then either, which probably didn't help.<br /><br />And then, I read that Steam has a promotional pack with Freedom Force 1 & 2 for a very small price, and I get curious again. I grab the demo again, but of the first game this time! And the little tutorial you get to play (Mission 1, really) was just what I needed to realize how fun the game was (the FF2 demo had tutorial bits too, but they were not enough).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS98DI0gC0ZdlMgCAY1N20iOY38nWqCk1FEc2-xJR__xop_UJIs6eoEzxCQltVg56I7xDdnnTwz7iRFbbM4w68PzkBG11w5QijDXx0x22ex7jcc_dpS6_jCQJ7WUlnDEX9g0HK0vBOq6mv/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS98DI0gC0ZdlMgCAY1N20iOY38nWqCk1FEc2-xJR__xop_UJIs6eoEzxCQltVg56I7xDdnnTwz7iRFbbM4w68PzkBG11w5QijDXx0x22ex7jcc_dpS6_jCQJ7WUlnDEX9g0HK0vBOq6mv/s320/ff17.jpg" style="max-width: 800px;" /></a><br /><p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The team takes on some bad guys</span></p></div>How does it play?<br />You go through a campaign which is a string of short missions (about half an hour each on average). You start with one hero and get additional ones as time goes. You can soon pick which heroes deal with the next mission. A bit later, you can recruit new heroes thanks to the Prestige you have acquired. The squad sent on missions can have 4 members max and sometimes one or two characters are forced upon you because of story requirements.<br /><br />Missions take place on a single map or are divided in two or three chapters if there is a need for a map change. The game is in real-time but you can both pause it (ala Baldur's Gate / NWN) or slow it down at the press of a key... and it's more than needed as dealing with a whole team in real time is nearly impossible.<br />Objectives are varied : the usual "defeat all", check points to reach, artifacts to activate, time-limited activities, protect the civilians and/or buildings, etc... What you have to do is usually updated throughout a missions as you learn more about what's going on. We're not talking RPG quests though. It's more like the objectives you'd get in a RTS.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCTplVxRjk9NAUkGbXd9zuMsO1wa-B7r6A_envFXMFs_604xgqLdwytJ3NSP4nv76iRT00wXZTO-Qzdq6PAkmgPgeN75kJr-AcSPwShsBcTWjIHWmr-jUM-gD3SHbavuPtB0f6CrICx0g/s1600-h/ff06.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344610074926169938" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCTplVxRjk9NAUkGbXd9zuMsO1wa-B7r6A_envFXMFs_604xgqLdwytJ3NSP4nv76iRT00wXZTO-Qzdq6PAkmgPgeN75kJr-AcSPwShsBcTWjIHWmr-jUM-gD3SHbavuPtB0f6CrICx0g/s320/ff06.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 241px;" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Man-bot and Alchemiss against... a bunch of bad guys!</span></span><br /></div><br />Now, in all honesty, the game *is* clunky and even hard for various reasons. I didn't really believe the "tactical" part until I got my ass handed to me in one of the early missions.<br />So yes, it's tactical : there is a lot of friendly fire if you don't watch it. Beams, projectiles, explosions (eek!) and even wide melee attacks are all things you want to consider carefully and you should place your team members where it's safe. Then, there's the fact the game uses a physics engine for a lot of things and maps are not always flat, which makes elevation a good and a bad thing (mainly when it blocks attacks). And I will add that resistances and weaknesses can be the difference between win and lose in some missions. To summarize : it might be a superhero game, but it doesn't mean you fly through as an invincible group, which is nice for the challenge.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEQsH5YgFtc257ZPVyi_30PPp2-0NR6izAl9rVvYHFkiYSPfDWvudE4wQ5SqSXnpdz9c4FswN1I7tOC6QykcpCbfNMWtvr_rKkuJXef2SO6oBCDBIjRT-WJ2FE9-V7ywRVF0iJcn4j0Shp/s1600-h/ff02.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344606986611875010" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEQsH5YgFtc257ZPVyi_30PPp2-0NR6izAl9rVvYHFkiYSPfDWvudE4wQ5SqSXnpdz9c4FswN1I7tOC6QykcpCbfNMWtvr_rKkuJXef2SO6oBCDBIjRT-WJ2FE9-V7ywRVF0iJcn4j0Shp/s320/ff02.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 241px;" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Mentor, the "brain" of the team, and his mental powers</span></span><br /></div><br />About the RPG part. Even though we control superheroes, they are not set in stone from square one. Instead, you get to see them evolve through the campaign. Admittedly, their main attributes (Strength, Speed, etc...) are fixed, but they get new powers and abilities and can upgrade them.<br />This does mean they get XP, but it's based on a fixed rate : 300 points if they were in the active squad, 200 otherwise. As you can see, the game is not harsh on letting you try everyone out, though you might end up with characters who are not fully developed by the end of the campaign (happened to me).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjPLV_SKDH05nMsNsdyKvorUFleRGVC2CwN1mvlqZ5MYCOZPGnp4fgT0zIRvRjTBObnX-wn1W7mzouBPHXdQzsFxG6aUkSMONt78nWi7JCiAi1enynyiiouoZ18FqonywooCFZyuu7cgx6/s1600-h/ff03.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344606988443312386" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjPLV_SKDH05nMsNsdyKvorUFleRGVC2CwN1mvlqZ5MYCOZPGnp4fgT0zIRvRjTBObnX-wn1W7mzouBPHXdQzsFxG6aUkSMONt78nWi7JCiAi1enynyiiouoZ18FqonywooCFZyuu7cgx6/s320/ff03.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 241px;" border="0" /></a><br />Overall, it mostly means that you get a sense of accomplishment and reward for going through missions, but it also helps becoming familiarized with initial powers before getting new ones. So it's a rather good thing.<br /><br />But wait, wait, wait! This is all good but that's not what superheroes are about, right? So let's focus on what makes Freedom Force <i>really</i> fun : mayhem!<br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSeR5FNHXJ9Zb8N8O1MDxlSNpX6EAJeiFEoDtyH8evsK7hbehFHwrVZF45Aem9mhr3RBmAiNkAh6cEQNP902gAHggITGqDCtbRyKF53B5QprbvmJNycZoUN6KvIVlw_3i5ugl5JG62-3YU/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSeR5FNHXJ9Zb8N8O1MDxlSNpX6EAJeiFEoDtyH8evsK7hbehFHwrVZF45Aem9mhr3RBmAiNkAh6cEQNP902gAHggITGqDCtbRyKF53B5QprbvmJNycZoUN6KvIVlw_3i5ugl5JG62-3YU/s320/ff07.jpg" style="max-width: 800px;" title="" alt="" height="" width="" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;"><p><span style="font-size:85%;">Alchemiss sends enemies a-flying</span></p></div>That's what I discovered with the FF demo the second time around : the game does a lot of things to make you feel like you're in a superhero adventure.<br />First, it provides, through its main characters, many superhero archetypes you would expect in such a game : Minute Man is the usual Captain Something (strong, leader), Alchemiss is the mystical, reality-altering sorceress and Man-Bot is the slow but powerful human-in-a-machine. It's easy to recognize the inspiration for all of them, but the great thing is that they still manage to feel unique : more homage than rip-off if you will.<br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZR738PZnIY317qEfn9ttNOifUVc_Ot4oIyN4FpP3_5EgtPPAFx3sh5JJ1thP9FCzKX08vpSNMDRQQUGihZ5Lds9o4Ic8bqvMhCS4Rq5aKHeckCHjKg4Xoe-fKBNS10pvwZ1mh9msPUbI/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZR738PZnIY317qEfn9ttNOifUVc_Ot4oIyN4FpP3_5EgtPPAFx3sh5JJ1thP9FCzKX08vpSNMDRQQUGihZ5Lds9o4Ic8bqvMhCS4Rq5aKHeckCHjKg4Xoe-fKBNS10pvwZ1mh9msPUbI/s320/ff08.jpg" style="max-width: 800px;" /></a><br /><p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Traffic light, coming right up!</span></p></div>You also get the powers you would expect : beams of energy or elements, various melee attacks, mental control, regeneration, flying, high-jumpers, jet-fast runners, etc... And for the strong characters, you get the ability to pick up heavy things and either wield them or...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj35mWS7KkrlmN-Cd1iPFs8X2FNYL1sXaAoUraH-uyoMxUjpnnyBz7VvGFIBnjBneMH38Mqy5ngq5rRogsmizlg2g7odZUpKTLy0iFOuoYXPhcW9H_-sUlMh03B5TumoUuY9WcnG-WWRUgx/s512/ff11.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj35mWS7KkrlmN-Cd1iPFs8X2FNYL1sXaAoUraH-uyoMxUjpnnyBz7VvGFIBnjBneMH38Mqy5ngq5rRogsmizlg2g7odZUpKTLy0iFOuoYXPhcW9H_-sUlMh03B5TumoUuY9WcnG-WWRUgx/s320/ff11.jpg" style="max-width: 800px;" /></a><br /><p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Mind the flying car, robot!</span></p></div>... throw them! Hell yeah! Not only cars of course : trashcans, postboxes, boulders and anything else that is not too incredibly heavy. I haven't tested the very limits of it... There's a bus I'd like to see flying one day :). Of course, what one character can lift, how far and hard he can throw it and how fast he is when carrying it is all dependant on his Strength attribute (melee characters can usually handle posts, strong ones will throw many things around and psy-types will keep to trashcans).<br /><br />And that's where the physics engine shines. Objects fly, people fly, debris are projected all around, buildings crumble in a billow of dust. Even when you destroy your first building by mistake, it's more of a "woah, I can do that?" than "oh no!" moment. So yeah... the moment you realize you can pickup a streetlight to use as a bat and send three thugs flying... that's when it gets good.<br />But many other super-abilities give that "super!" feeling : flying around, jumping on tall buildings and crossing the city hopping from one to the other, sprinting like the Flash to avoid an explosion or do some hit & run... it's all there and it's fun!<br /><br />All the classic themes are here too! It starts with thugs and then you get your first super-powered villain. But it ends with the epic stuff while touching all the usual pulpy stuff in-between (city-destroying robots is one I can "reveal" since it's on the screenshots).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwkzIgAkQtvMxaxvZE0C2IDI0jfdkTwfMOsjq0013kBvwuRdiG37-7eSx9mDgYkLZUiN9AZUcIQA-oisY8V8ofc9q46qBtFpMekvDRd2xhn-TTvwXgT7b31eXS2NDF1bzbuzKeAqKSo1fm/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwkzIgAkQtvMxaxvZE0C2IDI0jfdkTwfMOsjq0013kBvwuRdiG37-7eSx9mDgYkLZUiN9AZUcIQA-oisY8V8ofc9q46qBtFpMekvDRd2xhn-TTvwXgT7b31eXS2NDF1bzbuzKeAqKSo1fm/s320/ff12.jpg" style="max-width: 800px;" /></a><br /><p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Minuteman's voice is a bit on the "too much" side</span></p></div>The campaign story bits tend to look like the above : in-engine sequences with comics fonts and thumbnails. One thing that is a bit hard to get used to at first is how over-the-top everything is. The actors are good, but it's obvious they push it to make each character's archetype show. Minuteman is all "For Justice!" and "Whaaat is goooing ooon?" with a low-tone voice. It's almost annoying at times and realizing it's all about having fun without looking for something too serious can save the day. That said, the characters tend to be endearing after a while, partly because of that.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT3jnBRbmj5n9aggBkG1xh5QKbwWzNkszelXrwiKC9TGXrz-mEb6x7JuYtZGZL9uMHtQctrqeanRGzZI1IfuxlYMsU5LbYq6XSxpet-dJZJiFPKGR8PNayfCqYKvI4OpYrfc2-9PKreKxQ/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT3jnBRbmj5n9aggBkG1xh5QKbwWzNkszelXrwiKC9TGXrz-mEb6x7JuYtZGZL9uMHtQctrqeanRGzZI1IfuxlYMsU5LbYq6XSxpet-dJZJiFPKGR8PNayfCqYKvI4OpYrfc2-9PKreKxQ/s320/ff13.jpg" style="max-width: 800px;" /></a><br /><p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">It had to be Russians! (aah, clichés...)</span></p></div>The villains fare similarly, with quite a few stereotypes thrown in, but again, they're fun to interact with (interaction being blasting them :D).<br /><br />The campaign offers quite a few environements to visit, from the basic city and frozen parks to canyon deserts and pocket dimensions. The city is the one to appear the most often, albeit in various forms (snow, night, rubble, ...)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXuQp7Q1RhaFOoEn10Jnvq_OaeVw_josE6F70Osu_4_OxqQNIk7pKJhJS4LP8A8en5s0IX2HeGj_9XiGACSc1JoW-wAawe8MxWjvcCF9CnZBNut8Q7vpzLY6ill8oxLnvKrOsPJpYV2uPg/" style="max-width: 800px;" /> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg6YeT1BzicKsAgqrKBQskDRyv8ftd6fZWDwvOZSkmPZdDEaxS5djxWBWQaWJL0QZU40AlMlR0Na7abZ0jMOC_dReJIpsxSMVn0V_ihL80DOV5Si-e34FD7lefC7Wvpr6dVSDOHpBNnE3C/s400/ffb.jpg" style="max-width: 800px;" /> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJK7_Jxfn9yUybxieRp5xFa1Q4q-dxX3fyvXek6CTyHQUgRLbRDSLANm9QUcCs1eptkjXNZmxKGpOA0GkB5-_gxa8NN57EojNgN47_7hUmyUTHHG4RkmqN4HmAcD98mpui4vaMHsXEfS18/" style="max-width: 800px;" /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDXzLNewBjSP5BhyZxewxoR1Y4MzAU3JLzC8aWg5U05HQ6YsF_vWSBuzmuNs66uepJLBxvUXXNjAMM8OnHdFRYL3bTQ7eCuOLW6QxNFX_iQhQzFt2cf5DURxvguWnCQjZxz_9lsUt2AiRV/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDXzLNewBjSP5BhyZxewxoR1Y4MzAU3JLzC8aWg5U05HQ6YsF_vWSBuzmuNs66uepJLBxvUXXNjAMM8OnHdFRYL3bTQ7eCuOLW6QxNFX_iQhQzFt2cf5DURxvguWnCQjZxz_9lsUt2AiRV/s320/ff04.jpg" style="max-width: 800px;" /></a><br /></div><br />For more superhero goodness, all characters get a "The Secret Origin of" introduction sequence, either in-game or on demand for the heroes you recruit manually. They're all rather well done, using a semi-animated comics style and showing how everyone became what they are.<br /><br />And to finish this long review, let's talk about... custom heroes!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIiApv-lz4ZF4w6uPtuGsy8bkX0qVbxY0Xqz0roxpeUaFF-V0t2-NxbP-XmChIotITLlngIxpoEPyzYCF_xczZCimpKlbMXCIw-V8BcBK31XUzf5B3vS1EMaX0x364XR9pj0zG4rJuO4nZ/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIiApv-lz4ZF4w6uPtuGsy8bkX0qVbxY0Xqz0roxpeUaFF-V0t2-NxbP-XmChIotITLlngIxpoEPyzYCF_xczZCimpKlbMXCIw-V8BcBK31XUzf5B3vS1EMaX0x364XR9pj0zG4rJuO4nZ/s320/ff05.jpg" style="max-width: 800px;" /></a><br /><p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Le Fantassin est là! (my minimal mod of Minuteman)</span></p></div>Once again, this is something I totally missed when I first tried the FF2 demo : you can create your very own heroes, stat them up, power 'em up and throw them into the fray. Only in skirmish? No sir! You can actually recruit them during the campaign!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRE2n04Rvbb9pBNGPQl14xdag4yGA_7THTFy_7VD621YuCVRP3cg8k7dk3hyphenhyphen4HtgTlvP_lCMxsNVEDRIlqdSoDQaMigY-sYpVWV90n3VzNv-juR1Zfqiveg_t892lVLYZ9ZZMuBeHbrksQ/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRE2n04Rvbb9pBNGPQl14xdag4yGA_7THTFy_7VD621YuCVRP3cg8k7dk3hyphenhyphen4HtgTlvP_lCMxsNVEDRIlqdSoDQaMigY-sYpVWV90n3VzNv-juR1Zfqiveg_t892lVLYZ9ZZMuBeHbrksQ/s320/ff16.jpg" style="max-width: 800px;" /></a><br /></div><br />Statistics allow you to make a slow Hulk, or a speedy Flash, or maybe you want a magically powerful witch. Then, you create each power individually, choosing which type it is (melee, projectile, beam, area, direct or special) and how it works : does it do electrical damage? Piercing damage? How much? How much energy does it require? Does it stun or knockback the target? How much? Is it accurate? Is a projectile like a grenade or homing? Does it explodes over a large zone? Does it spawn multiple sub-parts in flight? Let's just say it offers choice. And when you're done with this, you can pick the character animation and the associated visual effect.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpL7bHjWAwo90QJmcx5aKXWm7633F7x8RFzg-v5n_8EQqYhbTu9MemGQwSc9ivn3D386zQkLulnlJCG2AhhweGS231s4VSpTTMlhBShPeQmWjzml-79Rt3MXKK8sWUO_BlXcLALBG04h03/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpL7bHjWAwo90QJmcx5aKXWm7633F7x8RFzg-v5n_8EQqYhbTu9MemGQwSc9ivn3D386zQkLulnlJCG2AhhweGS231s4VSpTTMlhBShPeQmWjzml-79Rt3MXKK8sWUO_BlXcLALBG04h03/s320/ff15.jpg" style="max-width: 800px;" /></a><br /><p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">That's how much you can customize (for projectiles!)</span></p></div>Sadly, the game doesn't come with many models or skins, nor that many effects. Thankfully, it was meant to be an utterly moddable from the very beginning! Making new skins is rather easy (they're TGA files, you just need an image editor and some talent). Making new models is much mode difficult, but there is a very good community which has done a big part of the job over the years :<br /><br /><a href="http://freedomreborn.net/simple/index.php" target="_blank">http://freedomreborn.net/simple/index.php</a> : the main community about the game<br /><a href="http://alexff.com/" target="_blank">http://alexff.com/</a> : one of the first websites I found with new models, mods and with most basic questions about the game answered in the FAQ.<br /><br />What did I forget? Let's see... it has multiplayer (though it's mostly skirmish I think), a Danger Room mode where you pick your team and the villains and the map and duke it out. Nice to test custom heroes but I don't think it stays fun for long given the little number of maps given. You can play through the campaign maps with a fully customized cast, though... aaand, that's pretty much it. That's the one "bad" thing for replayability : I hope the campaign will be satisfying with my custom heroes included because otherwise there's little "pick-up yet fulfilling" gaming on the side. Except for mods maybe. I will have to check it all out. Chances are I will go straight to FF2 now, though :)<br /><br /><br />Conclusion? It's not perfect because of some clunky design and even a few random bugs (stuck carrying a car), but it provides a lot of fun and a setting of its own in the purest superhero fashion. If you can get it on Steam, at the price it's at, there's barely a reason to hesitate (I mean... two whole games for $5!)<br /><br />Here's the link to the Steam promo-pack : <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/sub/1662/">http://store.steampowered.com/sub/1662/</a><br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie"><img src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=7abcd6b5-44fa-80e8-9cc0-49c5b6e20d89" class="zemanta-pixie-img" /></div></div>Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-8666510145733583542009-06-02T13:52:00.004+02:002009-06-04T19:12:22.081+02:00Monkey memories<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmjjb4WV8SuqaOR228Kp783NrSVTkg5OtnPtLcs0Ndp3Du9IYEZ8O0OZlK5CGXR_kJG0S0OBsGDr80lBXVBvJIufSE9mksTawxEbNx4KM4KOpGD3Qu2AVPerPZwtsfIgxBlDJaMVJyQhv_/s1600-h/mihumans.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmjjb4WV8SuqaOR228Kp783NrSVTkg5OtnPtLcs0Ndp3Du9IYEZ8O0OZlK5CGXR_kJG0S0OBsGDr80lBXVBvJIufSE9mksTawxEbNx4KM4KOpGD3Qu2AVPerPZwtsfIgxBlDJaMVJyQhv_/s320/mihumans.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342697034386634162" border="0" /></a><br />Of course, now that I have made this previous post, I find new things to mention. I don't know if it's better to edit or to create a new post. I suppose edits don't show up in aggregators, but tiny changes might warrant an edit.<br /><br />So yeah, I don't know why but I keep thinking of Monkey Island as a "cartoony" series. And then I see the screenshot above and wonder... Is this what the art guys were picturing back then? Were the sprites made with realism in mind?<br /><br />Also, Ron Gilbert talks about Monkey 1 : <a href="http://grumpygamer.com/8280380">http://grumpygamer.com/8280380</a><br />I like how he goes over some choices that were valid back then and would make everyone cry nowadays.<br /><br />Edit (nyargh!) : "<span style="font-style: italic;">P.S. I was always bothered by these close-ups. While they were great art, I never felt they matched the style of the rest of the game.</span>"<br /><br />Now I know :)Monihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040400804733361011.post-44440812715973806262009-06-02T13:16:00.005+02:002009-06-04T19:21:19.306+02:00Monkey Island... again?From <a href="http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/06/01/lechuck-me-monkey-island-returns/">http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/06/01/lechuck-me-monkey-island-returns/</a><br /><br />Tales of Monkey Island : <a href="http://www.telltalegames.com/monkeyisland">http://www.telltalegames.com/monkeyisland</a><br />Monkey Island remake : <a href="http://www.lucasarts.com/games/monkeyisland/">http://www.lucasarts.com/games/monkeyisland/</a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdjEUsDSK58G0jkSw-JWijFYmpejHgE9hyphenhyphenAo1q4YamTOGxq6UoLUbaw0ofjxbzA2sbpllo1qqJ0ClNS71bWapcbWLAlvMlbDBE25AOVzVMGTPNo8aI-G2__cckbMDR7cuYj7WcEVrqUet9/s1600-h/miremake.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 164px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdjEUsDSK58G0jkSw-JWijFYmpejHgE9hyphenhyphenAo1q4YamTOGxq6UoLUbaw0ofjxbzA2sbpllo1qqJ0ClNS71bWapcbWLAlvMlbDBE25AOVzVMGTPNo8aI-G2__cckbMDR7cuYj7WcEVrqUet9/s320/miremake.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342692757472843650" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Looking good, Elaine!</span><br /></div><br />I'm a big fan of the Monkey Island series. But let's be more precise : my first Monkey game was the second opus and I only played the first one later on. Was it because 2 was prettier than 1 or because it was my first? Who knows... Then came the third opus which I also liked, probably better than the first, but not as much as the second (or at least quite differently).<br />In order from best to worst for me :<br /><ol><li>Monkey Island 2</li><li>Monkey Island 3</li><li>Monkey Island 1</li></ol>What about Monkey 4 then you say? Only played the demo. Puked at the 3D and visible drop in overall quality.<br /><br />So what about these news?<br /><br />Tales of Monkey Island doesn't look great to me. The 3D is once again quite subpar compared to what's being done these days. I'll never understand why they keep going 3D for a reason that seems to be "just because", when 2D packs so much more soul and with so little hardware requirements.<br /><br />On the other hand, the remake of Monkey 1 is actually somewhat appealing. The fact that it's voiced doesn't do much to me, but it's still nice to have. The graphics are visibly hires and not horribly disfiguring our past memories. Looks like something in-between Monkey 2 and Monkey 3. I'm *not* fond of how it's animated, though. That is... yes it's incredibly faithful, but it's a case of "too bad" as it doesn't fit the remade graphics. It's also nice to see people who are *clearly* trying to modernize it while retaining everything that made it cool in the past (which so many claim but never do when touching old franchises). The new interface also intrigues me.<br />This said, though, I'm not the right audience for this and except for compatibility issues, I don't see much incentive to get a remake : I didn't mind the graphics and still don't... and the interface wasn't bad, so... New shiny graphics and voices wouldn't cut it.<br /><br />Obviously, what I'd really want is something that looks like this remake, with better animation (say, Monkey 3) and, most importantly, which is actually in the same spirit as the first three Monkeys.<br /><br />- Never happy Moni :pMonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09017588968434075662noreply@blogger.com2