Average roll of 1d10: 5.5
Average roll of exploding d10: 6.11111111111
Average roll of two d10's (non-exploding) keeping just the highest die: 7.15
If I remember correctly from all the math I did back when I was playing 7th Sea, each unkept d10 (in a system where dice explode) raised the average roll of the dice by nearly 2 points.
So 1k1 averages 6, 2k1 (roll 2 dice and keep one) averages about 8, 3k1 averages around 10, 4k1 averages nearly 12, etc.
The math to prove this is more than I want to deal with right at the moment, as this post is purely a tangent to something else I was writing about. So take the above with a grain of salt. I'm pretty sure I worked it out and proved it, but that was 4 or 6 years ago, and I couldn't do so today without an hour or two of hair-pulling math to verify it.
Luckily,
a) there's a probability chart in the 7th Sea GMs guide to save you the trouble,
and
b) I'm not running 7th Sea right now so there's no need for me to work it out precisely.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Exploding Dice
Some RPGs have a mechanic called "exploding dice" - in general, it means that if a die rolls it's highest value, you roll it again and add both rolls together. Example: You roll a "6" on a d6 - in a game with exploding dice, you'd roll the 6 again and add both rolls together. In some versions, a second "6" result would mean a third roll and a result greater than 12.
Most people who read this blog are probably familiar with the concept and the term, but I'd rather just explain the reference here rather than have to explain it again every time I mention the term.
One interesting side-effect of exploding dice is that certain results can't be rolled, and your bell curve ends up lop-sided. Using the d6 example above, you can roll 1-5, 7-11, and 13-17, but you can't ever roll a 6, 12, or 18.
This can have major impact if your gaming has a sliding difficulty scale. If the difficulty was 5, and you apply a standard +1 difficulty modifier, you've just cut the chance of success in half (from 33% to 16.6%). However, a second +1 difficulty modifier on the same roll doesn't impact the chance of success at all (stays at 16.6%), and a third +1 difficulty modifier only reduces it slightly (from 16.6% to 13.8%).
Most people who read this blog are probably familiar with the concept and the term, but I'd rather just explain the reference here rather than have to explain it again every time I mention the term.
One interesting side-effect of exploding dice is that certain results can't be rolled, and your bell curve ends up lop-sided. Using the d6 example above, you can roll 1-5, 7-11, and 13-17, but you can't ever roll a 6, 12, or 18.
This can have major impact if your gaming has a sliding difficulty scale. If the difficulty was 5, and you apply a standard +1 difficulty modifier, you've just cut the chance of success in half (from 33% to 16.6%). However, a second +1 difficulty modifier on the same roll doesn't impact the chance of success at all (stays at 16.6%), and a third +1 difficulty modifier only reduces it slightly (from 16.6% to 13.8%).
Savage Platypus
A week ago we played an interesting RPG at the Wayward Coffeehouse as part of the Emerald City Game Feast. It was basically Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness, but using the system from Savage Worlds.
About the setting and adventure: the setting was per the Mutants Down Under and After The Bomb supplements for TMNT&OS. PCs included a Platypus, an Echidna, an Emu, a Crocigator, and a Koala. I played a fair amount of TMNT in junior high, but setting it in post-apocalyptic Australia made it feel completely new and weird. Not just the drop bears and monotremes - there were giant insects everywhere, triceratops in UFOs, tattered remnant clusters of collapsed civilization, and zeppelin's o'er the outback. My wife and I both had fun. The adventure was short, but well tailored to new players at a cafe one-shot.
About the pregenerated character: It was completely broken, but I never noticed. In retrospect, he was clearly intended to turn invisible and attack from surprise via platypus poison - but since he had the pacifist flaw (limitation/hindrance/whatever-it's-called) I never used him that way. It wasn't until talking on the way home that the light bulb went on and I realized how sickly badass (and one-dimensional) he'd have been if he didn't have that pacifism holding him back. I wish I'd noticed it earlier, as the inner conflict could have been fun to roleplay.
About the Savage Worlds system: Man, do I ever want to like that system. It's pretty quick, and mostly math light. The system is streamlined so you rarely have to do math in the middle of the game. With the exception of damage, you roll multiple dice (of different types), but typically use only the highest single die. (Other than damage,) You only do math if your dice explode, and that's enough of an emotional high to justify the extra couple seconds.
There's a lot to love about Savage Worlds, but it has some flaws that were obvious from just a single session's play:
Either way, even with the damage oddities, the system seemed far more sensible and slightly better balanced than the original TMNT system.
About the setting and adventure: the setting was per the Mutants Down Under and After The Bomb supplements for TMNT&OS. PCs included a Platypus, an Echidna, an Emu, a Crocigator, and a Koala. I played a fair amount of TMNT in junior high, but setting it in post-apocalyptic Australia made it feel completely new and weird. Not just the drop bears and monotremes - there were giant insects everywhere, triceratops in UFOs, tattered remnant clusters of collapsed civilization, and zeppelin's o'er the outback. My wife and I both had fun. The adventure was short, but well tailored to new players at a cafe one-shot.
About the pregenerated character: It was completely broken, but I never noticed. In retrospect, he was clearly intended to turn invisible and attack from surprise via platypus poison - but since he had the pacifist flaw (limitation/hindrance/whatever-it's-called) I never used him that way. It wasn't until talking on the way home that the light bulb went on and I realized how sickly badass (and one-dimensional) he'd have been if he didn't have that pacifism holding him back. I wish I'd noticed it earlier, as the inner conflict could have been fun to roleplay.
About the Savage Worlds system: Man, do I ever want to like that system. It's pretty quick, and mostly math light. The system is streamlined so you rarely have to do math in the middle of the game. With the exception of damage, you roll multiple dice (of different types), but typically use only the highest single die. (Other than damage,) You only do math if your dice explode, and that's enough of an emotional high to justify the extra couple seconds.
There's a lot to love about Savage Worlds, but it has some flaws that were obvious from just a single session's play:
- Judging from the character sheets we had, it's an easily abused system. The ambidexterity talent was insanely good - or perhaps just being misinterpreted. Certain power combos seemed degenerate. Balance doesn't seem to be it's strong suit. With an open-ended "buy anything" xp system, I imagine it's hard to anticipate what makes a good challenge for your group. The power level of the various PCs was pretty variable. I'm lookin' at you, Drop Bear.
- It uses d4s with great frequency and regularity. Someday I'll blog about my hatred of the d4 - it's not just 'cause I've stepped on them.
- Damage. The rest of the game involved simple rolls with almost no math. But, for reasons unexplained, damage involved tons of math. There was a target number to hit, and a different target number to hit and do extra damage. Instead of rolling 2 or 3 dice and keeping the highest, you rolled 3 or more dice and added them all together. Then that total was compared to some sort of soak stat. If you just barely hit it, they were staggered, but every X points you beat the roll buy, it did another wound. Then there was some way the victim could spend a drama die to reduce the wounds. (My apologies for not using the correct terminology in the last couple sentences, I played once, a week ago, without reading a rulebook. I retained concepts, but not specific details and terms.) Overall, it was probably no more complicated than Scion's damage system - but existing as it did on a really rules light elegant system, it was just this sad eyesore that was hard to ignore.
Either way, even with the damage oddities, the system seemed far more sensible and slightly better balanced than the original TMNT system.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Scion Update
Realized I haven't done an update on the Scion campaign in quite a while. The PCs defeated the evil fallen Scion of Poseidon, and saved America from Fascism on live national TV. This culminated in thermonuclear apotheosis.
The next session will be largely spent upgrading the PCs via the God Template - they will be Legend 11 (lesser) Gods. I imagine (hope) the campaign will feel drastically different with the PCs swinging that kind of power. Some house-rules I'll be implementing at that level:
The next session will be largely spent upgrading the PCs via the God Template - they will be Legend 11 (lesser) Gods. I imagine (hope) the campaign will feel drastically different with the PCs swinging that kind of power. Some house-rules I'll be implementing at that level:
- Changing Bavatar (the form of "Avatar" that is a Birthright) to make each level give you another body you can manifest as. The legend of each is set upon purchasing them, as is their physical appearance. Each Avatar will have it's own fatebindings, reputation, etc. The overall number of dots of Avatar determines how low a Legend any of them can have. You can only manifest as one Avatar at a time (unless you have Army of One or CoLocation). I'm giving each PC one free dot of the Avatar birthright.
- Altering the Fatebinding rules. I never got in the habit of rolling for them, since it's almost impossible to become fatebound prior to Demigod Upgrade, and virtually guaranteed to happen every time you spend a Legend point post-upgrade. As a result, I don't have hard-and-fast lists of fatebound mortals. So, I'm making a list for each Avatar of the things that are believed about (and/or expected from) them. Bonus from reverence will be +/-1 (success, not die) per mortal witness, up to maximum of Legend.
- Making sure all the PCs have some way to travel from World to Under/Over-World. May add a couple of new alternate boons to fulfill that.
- XP cap on high-level things. I want the PCs to keep advancing as the game grows, but 5xp per session and costs of 30-40 xp per power won't allow that. So, once the cost of something hits 15 or more xp, it will only go up by one point more per level thereafter. If your 4th dot of Epic Wits cost you 15xp, the 5th dot will cost only 16xp (not 20) and the Ultimate will cost 22xp, not 50. Likewise with Boons - they'll cost 4, 8, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, or 23 xp, not up to 40. Some may feel this encourages players to buy the highest boons only - but honestly, levels 6-10 of many boons are interchangable anyway with pretty arbitrary decisions as to why which occurs later.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
McCain camp insults gamers
McCain insulting gamers? You'd almost think I'd made it up - after all, it's a perfect thing for me to cross post to both blogs - but it's real:
But wait, you say - it's just one little throw away comment. No, it's not. It's multiple comments. Goldfarb, official spokesman for the McCain camp insults Dungeons and Dragons players on a regular basis. For example, in his recent rant against the New York Times:
"It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd toNot that I was going to vote for McBush anyway, but now I'm really angry. Them's fightin' words! Insinuating that gamers have no respect for servicemen is pretty low and vile. You'd think with his much vaunted military service, McCain would know how many service men are gamers.
disparage a fellow countryman's memory of war from the comfort of mom's
basement, but most Americans have the humility and gratitude to respect
and learn from the memories of men who suffered on behalf of others."
- McCain campaign spokesman Michael Goldfarb, on McCain's blog
But wait, you say - it's just one little throw away comment. No, it's not. It's multiple comments. Goldfarb, official spokesman for the McCain camp insults Dungeons and Dragons players on a regular basis. For example, in his recent rant against the New York Times:
"If the shareholders of The New York Times ever wonder why the paper's ad revenue is plummeting and its share price tanking, they need look no further than the hysterical reaction of the paper's editors to any slight, real or imagined, against their preferred candidate," said McCain campaign spokesman Michael Goldfarb.
Goldfarb compared the editors to a blogger "sitting at home in his mother's basement and ranting into the ether between games of Dungeons & Dragons."
Out Of Place Artifacts
I was surprised to discover that the wikipedia article on OOPArts (Out Of Place Artifacts) is pretty thorough. Well worth a read-through and click-through of the various sub articles. If this article had existed back when I was running continuum, I'd have worked several of these into the story.
Other parts of the article provide similar links to more controversial OOPArts, ones that are still debated, like the Baghdad Battery that they used to electroplate on mythbusters.Validated cases
- The Maine Penny found in Blue Hill, Maine. An 11th century Norse coin found in an American Indian shell midden. Over 20,000 objects were found over a 15-year period at the Goddard site in Blue Hill. The sole OOPArt was the coin.[3][4] One hypothesis is that it may have been brought to the site from a Viking settlement in Newfoundland by seagoing Native Americans.
- The Iron pillar in India, dating around to AD 423.
- The Antikythera mechanism, a geared device manufactured ca. 100 BC, believed to be an orrery for predicting the motion of the sun, moon and planets.
- Tablets and artifacts discovered in Glozel, France in the 1920s and '30s, some of which were inscribed with an unknown, undeciphered alphabet.
See also
- Anachronism
- Ancient astronaut theories
- Charles Fort, researcher of anomalous phenomena
- Fortean Times
Legendary Surge vs. Itztli 9
When asked about the similarities between the "Legendary Surge" spell and the "Communal Divinity" level of Itztli (two powers which do the same thing, but have been assigned to power levels 2 and 9), Jesse (of White Wolf) said this:
In regards to the surcharge: The surcharge is just 1 measly point of temporary legend. A character capable of using a 2nd level spell will have a legend pool ranging anywhere between 9 and 144. At the lower end, that's meaningful - the surcharge could be 11% of your total legend pool. But at that low end, you can't even have the 9th dot of a purview - even with the surcharge, having a power is better than not being able to have the power. In order to buy Itzli 9, your Legend pool has to be at least 100 points - so the surcharge is at most 1% of your pool, and is pretty much just trivial. At Legend 10, the surcharge is practically irrelevant in determining which power you'd rather have. Not having a surcharge would explain away a variance of one, maybe two, dots in power level - but not a 7 level gap.
In regards to the fatebonding: Yes, magic does have the drawback of fatebinding, but it will never happen as he described it. The rules specify that Scions don't end up in fatebound roles to other characters. To quote page 223 of Hero: "Unlike mortals, however, supernatural beings don't succumb to Fatebound Roles; the retain their free will. ... At the storyteller's discretion, certain supernatural creatures or beings might come under the effect of a Fatebound Role, but Scions and Gods never do." Even if that paragraph didn't exist, I think it would be very rare that a ST would assign a negative fatebinding role to a PC. Making a PC suddenly become the Nemesis, Traitor, or Weak Link just seems like a recipe for campaign-wrecking disaster. Most players would hate being straight-jacketed into such a role: permanently switching from good guy to bad guy "overnight" because a different PC cast a low-level spell? Yes, there's individual players (and perhaps whole groups) who'd have a blast with that (but if so, then it's not being a limitation or deterrent, is it?). For the rest of us, it'd be a nightmare.
As mentioned above, you only need Legend Rating 3 to use the Spell. To buy Itzli 9 you need to be an Aztec God of Legend Rating 10, 11, or 12. That's yet another way Legendary Surge is better than Communal Divinity.
The spell is also better than Itzli 9 in that the spell requires a miscellaneous action (Speed: 5, DV -1) from just the caster, and can be done at range. Itzli 9 takes a (Speed: 5, DV -2) action from both the caster and the recipient - they have to exchange ichor via close physical contact ranging from a sloppy kiss to becoming blood brothers. So, if you plan on using the power in combat, you're better off with the spell.
The final way that the 2-dot spell is better than Itzli 9 is availability. Literally any Scion character can buy the Magic Purview. Only Scions of Aztec gods can buy Itzli. If the levels were reversed, perhaps my objection would fade away. I might accept that a single pantheon has the advantage of getting an effect cheaper than most PCs. But the inverse, where everyone can get the effect cheaper than the Aztec-exclusive method doesn't make much sense to me.
That said, Jesse didn't mention the 2 ways that Itzli 9 is actually better than the 2-dot Spell:
Legendary Surge vs. Itztli 9: Not only does Legendary Surge have a surcharge, but it creates a Fatebinding automatically (because it's a Magic spell). Being heavily Fatebound to the rest of your group can be liability, especially if it's accentuating a role that pushes you into conflict with the other Scions.I can't decide whether or not to reply to that on the Official Scion Companion Thread. On one hand, I'm really thankful that he took the time to answer, and I think it's awesome that he's trying to get his explanations and unwritten rules put into the revised version of the Scion Companion pdf. ...But on the other hand, that explanation is bunk.
In regards to the surcharge: The surcharge is just 1 measly point of temporary legend. A character capable of using a 2nd level spell will have a legend pool ranging anywhere between 9 and 144. At the lower end, that's meaningful - the surcharge could be 11% of your total legend pool. But at that low end, you can't even have the 9th dot of a purview - even with the surcharge, having a power is better than not being able to have the power. In order to buy Itzli 9, your Legend pool has to be at least 100 points - so the surcharge is at most 1% of your pool, and is pretty much just trivial. At Legend 10, the surcharge is practically irrelevant in determining which power you'd rather have. Not having a surcharge would explain away a variance of one, maybe two, dots in power level - but not a 7 level gap.
In regards to the fatebonding: Yes, magic does have the drawback of fatebinding, but it will never happen as he described it. The rules specify that Scions don't end up in fatebound roles to other characters. To quote page 223 of Hero: "Unlike mortals, however, supernatural beings don't succumb to Fatebound Roles; the retain their free will. ... At the storyteller's discretion, certain supernatural creatures or beings might come under the effect of a Fatebound Role, but Scions and Gods never do." Even if that paragraph didn't exist, I think it would be very rare that a ST would assign a negative fatebinding role to a PC. Making a PC suddenly become the Nemesis, Traitor, or Weak Link just seems like a recipe for campaign-wrecking disaster. Most players would hate being straight-jacketed into such a role: permanently switching from good guy to bad guy "overnight" because a different PC cast a low-level spell? Yes, there's individual players (and perhaps whole groups) who'd have a blast with that (but if so, then it's not being a limitation or deterrent, is it?). For the rest of us, it'd be a nightmare.
- Thus, of the two limitations he mentions, neither one would make you choose Itzli 9 over the level 2 spell.
As mentioned above, you only need Legend Rating 3 to use the Spell. To buy Itzli 9 you need to be an Aztec God of Legend Rating 10, 11, or 12. That's yet another way Legendary Surge is better than Communal Divinity.
The spell is also better than Itzli 9 in that the spell requires a miscellaneous action (Speed: 5, DV -1) from just the caster, and can be done at range. Itzli 9 takes a (Speed: 5, DV -2) action from both the caster and the recipient - they have to exchange ichor via close physical contact ranging from a sloppy kiss to becoming blood brothers. So, if you plan on using the power in combat, you're better off with the spell.
The final way that the 2-dot spell is better than Itzli 9 is availability. Literally any Scion character can buy the Magic Purview. Only Scions of Aztec gods can buy Itzli. If the levels were reversed, perhaps my objection would fade away. I might accept that a single pantheon has the advantage of getting an effect cheaper than most PCs. But the inverse, where everyone can get the effect cheaper than the Aztec-exclusive method doesn't make much sense to me.
That said, Jesse didn't mention the 2 ways that Itzli 9 is actually better than the 2-dot Spell:
- Itzli doesn't require a die roll. For the 2nd level spell, you can only transfer an amount of legend less than or equal to the successes you roll. At the lower levels of play, this isn't a big deal, as you'll never be transferring more than a couple points of Legend anyway. At the higher end it does matter, as you'd be able to give 30 legend to a fellow God to power their next Avatar. If you're making an Aztec PC, and plan on having no (or low) Epic Wits for in-character reasons, and the campaign is likely to last unto Godhood, and you expect to need to transfer 20 or more points of legend per use, Itzli 9 is better than the spell. I should qualify that, though: Itzli 9 is only significantly better if you need the Legend transferred quickly. If there's no ticking deadline, nothing stops you from using the spell multiple times in a scene.
- Itzli 9 is the prerequisite for Itzli 10. If the ability to give temp Legend points to other PCs is of minor concern to you, but you're playing an Aztec PC and plan to advance to Itzli 10, then why waste points on a redundant spell? Of course, I don't really agree that this logic will apply to many characters. Itzli 10 is very powerful, but it's also very grizzly. The activation cost includes sacrificing a close blood relative. In a game with strong heroic leanings, like Scion, the majority of PCs won't want to buy Itzli 10. If, however, Itzli 10 is something you plan to buy, you'll have to get Itzli 9.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Orky Lost and GwenCon
I'm just a couple weeks away from GwenCon, and I still haven't done much to prep for it. On Friday, I started pouring over my Orky 'Eresy notes and making the PCs for my Orky Lost scenario, while I had the first 4 episodes of Lost running in the background.
One of the things I learned in the process was that while my Orky conversion of Dark Heresy and WFRP could work well for a long-term campaign, it was still too complicated and fiddly for a one-shot. To illustrate that point, I'll include the partial character sheet text for the the beginning stages of the characters. Each of them had over 3,000 xp already, and they hadn't grown beyond the introductory 32 classes I'd posted here yet. Since those 32 careers don't include Painboy, which the Jack ork needs to be, clearly I still had a lot of work to do. These are all very rough-drafty:
Obviously, that wasn't going to work. I was going to have very dense character sheets, packed with explanations of how various Talents work. And since part of how the careers were balanced involved the "Trappings" I was either going to have balance issues or completely fail to get the feeling that they were stranded on an island with minimal resources. So, back to the drawing board.
I am going to streamline the heck out of the system. It will be abstract and simple when I'm done, and may not end up feeling much at all like the original. But for a one-shot (where I may not even know the players in advance) that's just perfect. That will allow me to focus on tone and flavor, not the accuracy of every little mechanical detail.
One of the things I learned in the process was that while my Orky conversion of Dark Heresy and WFRP could work well for a long-term campaign, it was still too complicated and fiddly for a one-shot. To illustrate that point, I'll include the partial character sheet text for the the beginning stages of the characters. Each of them had over 3,000 xp already, and they hadn't grown beyond the introductory 32 classes I'd posted here yet. Since those 32 careers don't include Painboy, which the Jack ork needs to be, clearly I still had a lot of work to do. These are all very rough-drafty:
Jack - Painboy Nob Bad Moons
(Bad Moons Clanboy, Syringe Boy, 3200 xp)
Flashback - You were working on Da Big Boss, and you accidentally made all his brains spill out. You pretended to be scared for 5 seconds, so he'd die.
WS BS Str Tuff Agi Int Will Fell Perc Wnds Psi
15 5 15 10 5 0 5 10 5 2 Nil
Skills: Common Lore (Bad Moons Clan), Barter, Swim, Carouse, Intimidate, Dodge, Evaluate, Squig Use, Scrutiny, Awareness
Talents: Pistol Training (SP), Basic Weapon Training (Prim), Melee Weapon Training (Prim), Light Sleeper, Takedown, Resistance (Drugs)
Trappings: Axe or AutoPistol, Autogun or Pump-Action Shotgun, hairsquig or 1d6 eatin’ squigs, squigpet or 1d10 eatin’ squigs, brightly colored Flak Jacket, backplate with yellow and black moon symbol, 2d6 teef, Mallet or club, bonesaw, 1d6+1 small Syringesquigs, 3d6 teef
Kate - Goff Skarboy Renegade - Used to ride a black boar
(Goff Clanboy, Skarboy, 3200 xp)
Flashback - You killed a Nob, and 'ad to go on da run. You were in shackles when the ship crashed. There's a wounded Flash Gitz on da ground, who'd been chasing ya.
WS BS Str Tuff Agi Int Will Fell Perc Wnds Psi
20 5 20 15 5 0 5 0 0 3 Nil
Skills: Common Lore (Goff Clan), Survival, Climb, Carouse, Command, Intimidate, Dodge, Acrobatics,
Talents: Pistol Training (SP), Melee Weapon Training (Prim), Ambidextrous, Melee Weapon Training (Chain) or Pistol Weapon Training (Bolt), Two-Weapon Wielder (Melee), Nerves of Steel, Arms Master
Trappings: Axe, Stub Automatic or Hand Cannon, Knife, black Flak Jacket (though it can have a contrasting trim or checkerboard pattern), poor-quality Flak helmet with horns, backplate with a bull’s head logo, hairsquig or squigpet or 1d6 eatin’ squigs, 1d10 teef, Chainsword or Bolt Pistol, Knife or Sword or Axe, Carapace Helmet with Horns, 2d6 teef
Locke - Oddboy, Stormboy, Yeller, Evil Sunz
(Evil Sunz clanboy, Oddboy, 3100 xp)
Flashback - You used to be a Cybork. Your Boss 'ad thrown you out an airlock, and only your head survived. But when the ship crashed here, you woke up and found your body had grown back.
WS BS Str Tuff Agi Int Will Fell Perc Wnds Psi
10 10 5 10 10 0 10 5 10 2 Nil
Skills: Common Lore (Evil Sunz Clan), Drive (Ground), Climb, Carouse, Intimidate, Dodge, Tracking, Blather, Scrutiny, Awareness
Talents: Pistol Training (SP), Melee Weapon Training (Prim), Chicken Playa or Eadlong Leap, Leap Up, Talented (Any one Agility, Intelligence, Willpower or Perception-based skill), Meditation
Trappings: Knife, Autopistol, red Heavy Leathers, Flak helmet, backplate with grinning face in a sunburst, fuelsquig, oilsquig, eatin’ squig, 1d10 teef, 1d6 eatin’ squigs, tool or spyglass or toolsquig, knife, 1d10 teef
Sawyer - Sneaky Git Lootah Deathskullz
(Deathskullz, Lootah, 3700 xp)
Flashback - You're a sneaky git. You're not really named Sawyer, you took that name off a dead ork dat 'caused you lots a grief.
WS BS Str Tuff Agi Int Will Fell Perc Wnds Psi
5 10 10 10 15 5 10 0 20 2 Nil
Skills: Common Lore (Deathskullz Clan), Survival, Evaluate, Climb, Carouse, Search, Dodge, Awareness, Evaluate, Search, Tracking, Sleight of Hand ,
Talents: Pistol Training (SP), Melee Weapon Training (Prim), Paranoia, Hieghtened Senses (your choice), Nerves of Steel, Weapon Training (one weapon of your choice, can be pistol/basic/melee/exotic/heavy)
Trappings: Axe, Hunting Rifle or Autopistol or Shotgun, Knife, 1d6 clips (each for a different weapon), 1d6 charms, flak helmet (probably blue), flak vest, flak gauntlets, Backplate with a blue and white skull symbol, hairsquig or squigpet or 1d6 eatin’ squigs, 1d10 teef, 1d6 clips (all from different weapons), poor-quality but unusual weapon (choose any weapon whose normal value is 50 teef or less), 1d6 charms and trinkets, 3d6 teef
Sayid - Mekaniak, Blood Axe
(Blood Axe Boy, Spanner, 3400 xp)
Flashback - You used to serve a different Warboss. Also, while you're not skilled to be a painboy, you kinda like ripping people apart.
WS BS Str Tuff Agi Int Will Fell Perc Wnds Psi
10 10 10 5 10 10 5 5 10 2 Nil
Skills: Common Lore (Blood Axe Clan), Evaluate, Survival, Carouse, Decieve, Dodge, Silent Move, Tech Use, Evaluate, Security
Talents: Pistol Training (Las), Melee Weapon Training (Prim), Basic Weapon Training (Las), Disturbing Voice, Buggymate or Technical Knock, Pistol or Basic Weapon Training (SP), Wrecka
Trappings: Axe or Laspistol, Lasgun or Laspistol, Flak Helmet, Flak Vest, Backplate with Blood Axe symbol, camoflauged poncho, hairsquig or squigpet or 1d6 eatin’ squigs, 1d6 teef, 2d10 Imperial Throne Gelt, Imperial Charm, Backpack, Spanner (a big wrench), handcannon or autopistol or shotgun, oilsquig or fuelsquig, 4d6 teef
Michael - Runtherd, Grotherd, Snakebite
(Snakebitez Clanboy, Slaver, 3400xp)
Flashback - Your best Runt, Wart, is a Weirdgretch. His brain makes crazy bad stuff happen.
WS BS Str Tuff Agi Int Will Fell Perc Wnds Psi
15 5 5 10 15 5 5 0 10 2 Nil
Skills: Common Lore (Snakebitez Clan), Survival, Climb, Swim, Carouse, Dodge, Wrangling, Common Lore (Runts), Acrobatics, Shadowing, Trade (Slaving), Intimidate
Talents: Basic Weapon Training (SP), Melee Weapon Training (Prim), Resistance (Poison), Sprint, Lightning Reflexes, Takedown
Trappings: Axe or Spear, Hunting Rifle, Knife, Grox hides or heavy leathers, backplate with a snake symbol, hairsquig or squigpet or faceeatersquig or mildly venomous snake or 1d6 eatin’ squigs, 1d10 teef, Spear or staff, club, backpack, sack, 2d6 meters of rope, 1d6 squigs or 1d6 snotlings, 3d6 teef
Obviously, that wasn't going to work. I was going to have very dense character sheets, packed with explanations of how various Talents work. And since part of how the careers were balanced involved the "Trappings" I was either going to have balance issues or completely fail to get the feeling that they were stranded on an island with minimal resources. So, back to the drawing board.
I am going to streamline the heck out of the system. It will be abstract and simple when I'm done, and may not end up feeling much at all like the original. But for a one-shot (where I may not even know the players in advance) that's just perfect. That will allow me to focus on tone and flavor, not the accuracy of every little mechanical detail.
Experience and Training Times
I posted the following to the Scion Forums today. It was in response to someone saying that the "Speed Reader" knack should have an extra benefit of allowing people to raise knowledge-based skills faster. It's pretty coarse as-is, but I may refine it into a more useful essay sometime...
In most RPGs, I neither require people to spend time training in order to raise their stats or skills, nor do I reward those who spent time doing so with bonus xp or free dice or the like. It's a little unrealistic, to be sure, but that extra level of realism doesn't really benefit the game more.
Generally speaking, I just accept that XP is an abstract medium that exists purely for purposes of game balance. It doesn't really model character development - instead it's a way to reward player participation and enable them to tune their PC after character-creation. I don't figure it is meant to approximate the way people actually progress in the real world.
For example, in the real world, if you chose to specialize in a particular field, you tend to lose some of your skill in other areas. While we're in school (college, training programs, etc) we have all sorts of knowledge that we forget later. I, in the real world, am not as good at math or oil painting as I was 10 years ago, though I've honed other skills in the meantime. You may be a great cardiovascular surgeon, but you're not as good a General Practitioner as a result. That's just a reality of life - if you don't practice your skills, they get rusty. I can't say that I've seen that modeled in gaming - the closest I've seen is aging rules, but even those most often just penalize physical attributes.
I wouldn't reduce a PCs skill by GM Fiat because he hasn't rolled it in several sessions, or because we skipped 6 months of downtime between scenes. Increasing his skills 'cause he spent those 6 months studying something (but didn't spend XP to back it up) is just the opposite side of that coin.
While I'm okay with the "skills are cheaper" school of knacks, I feel no compulsion to extend such benefits to other knacks just cause it might seem more realistic.
Honestly, there's just not much realism in most XP systems, and I have no problem with that.
In White Wolf games (and many other point-based, not level-based, RPGs) you can go from rank amateur to an award-winning pro (in the skill of your choice) in just a few sessions that might represent as little as a few days in-character, but in the real world that typically takes years of dedication and practice.
The closer you model character advancement on reality, the less fun the game becomes.
(There are exceptions to that statement, of course, and a game using the "winter season" concept from Pendragon can get away with things other RPGs can't.)
In most RPGs, I neither require people to spend time training in order to raise their stats or skills, nor do I reward those who spent time doing so with bonus xp or free dice or the like. It's a little unrealistic, to be sure, but that extra level of realism doesn't really benefit the game more.
Generally speaking, I just accept that XP is an abstract medium that exists purely for purposes of game balance. It doesn't really model character development - instead it's a way to reward player participation and enable them to tune their PC after character-creation. I don't figure it is meant to approximate the way people actually progress in the real world.
For example, in the real world, if you chose to specialize in a particular field, you tend to lose some of your skill in other areas. While we're in school (college, training programs, etc) we have all sorts of knowledge that we forget later. I, in the real world, am not as good at math or oil painting as I was 10 years ago, though I've honed other skills in the meantime. You may be a great cardiovascular surgeon, but you're not as good a General Practitioner as a result. That's just a reality of life - if you don't practice your skills, they get rusty. I can't say that I've seen that modeled in gaming - the closest I've seen is aging rules, but even those most often just penalize physical attributes.
I wouldn't reduce a PCs skill by GM Fiat because he hasn't rolled it in several sessions, or because we skipped 6 months of downtime between scenes. Increasing his skills 'cause he spent those 6 months studying something (but didn't spend XP to back it up) is just the opposite side of that coin.
While I'm okay with the "skills are cheaper" school of knacks, I feel no compulsion to extend such benefits to other knacks just cause it might seem more realistic.
Honestly, there's just not much realism in most XP systems, and I have no problem with that.
In White Wolf games (and many other point-based, not level-based, RPGs) you can go from rank amateur to an award-winning pro (in the skill of your choice) in just a few sessions that might represent as little as a few days in-character, but in the real world that typically takes years of dedication and practice.
The closer you model character advancement on reality, the less fun the game becomes.
(There are exceptions to that statement, of course, and a game using the "winter season" concept from Pendragon can get away with things other RPGs can't.)
Thursday, August 14, 2008
22 more Orky Careers (Updated)
Months ago, I did a bunch of ground work for "Orky Heresy", an Orky companion piece for the Dark Heresy RPG. I put the first few Orky Careers up on this blog at that time. I intended then to keep working on it, and put more stuff up over time, but I never got around to it. I got caught up on other projects, and I decided that in general the rules of Dark Heresy and the Warhammer Fantasy RPG were more fiddly and complicated than I like to game under.
However, I'm running a streamlined, cut-down version of the system for GwenCon. Since I'm going to be doing work about it in the next couple weeks, I might as well stick the preliminary work up here. With that in mind, I posted 22 more orky careers yesterday, bringing the total up to 32. To use them, you need to read the older posts:
Roll up a starting career via a d10 on this chart:
Here's an index of links to all the careers hosted on this blog:
However, I'm running a streamlined, cut-down version of the system for GwenCon. Since I'm going to be doing work about it in the next couple weeks, I might as well stick the preliminary work up here. With that in mind, I posted 22 more orky careers yesterday, bringing the total up to 32. To use them, you need to read the older posts:
- Character Creation
- Character Advancement and XP
- Money
- Why I chose Warhammer Fantasy RPG (instead of Dark Heresy) for Career System.
- New Skills and Talents
Roll up a starting career via a d10 on this chart:
- Bad Moons Clanboy
- Blood Axe Clanboy
- Deathskullz Clanboy
- Evil Sunz Clanboy
- Goff Clanboy
- Snakebitez Clanboy
- Yoof
- Freebooter
- Stormboy
- Wild Ork
Here's an index of links to all the careers hosted on this blog:
- Bad Moons Clanboy
- Bannerboy
- Big Boss
- BigMobBoy
- Blood Axe Clanboy
- Boss
- Deathskullz Clanboy
- Drivahboy
- Evil Sunz Clanboy
- Freebooter
- Goff Clanboy
- Grotherd
- Lootah
- Nob
- Oddboy
- Outcast
- Pig Dok
- Runtherd
- Runtmaster
- Skarboy
- Slaver
- Snakebitez Clanboy
- Snakehandler
- Snotherd
- Spannerboy
- Stormboy
- Squigherd
- Syringeboy
- Waaghlord
- War Boss
- Wild Ork
- Yoof
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