Rob

Ah! Got it, thanks.

Hahaha! That's harsh, but I'd have killed him too. I should elaborate more on my Chthulhu story from the other thread. Here we go. I was a private investigator, hired to look for another PC. After establishing contact in a way that made my GM giggle like a schoolboy (confronted him in a café toilet, telling him "This isn't usually where I conduct my business, but..."), I was taken away at gunpoint where I was then pulled into THEIR investigation. A bunch of children went missing and we got a lead taking us to an ice cream van. We decided to stake out the area in different spots, with me in the doorway of a tenement building. I was seen by two police officers and asked what I was doing. My lack of confidence then, combined with brainfarting like a fucking pro, led to them taking me to a nearby police box. I was told to empty my pockets onto the tabe while my details were taken. The officer didn't bat an eyelid at the revolver (it was 1930s Glasgow, so maybe it was normal), but was very disapproving of the sap/blackjack. One cop put on the kettle and then went out to use the phone on the back of the box. Cue my desperate gambit to get back to the investigation in my greatest moment of madness to date. The remaining officer turned away from me to make tea. I grabbed my sap and belted him in the back of the head, knocking him out. I was pleased at the result, but the cop falling to the floor made a noise, attracting the other one who I heard coming. I flattened myself against a wall and swung at the perfect time, hitting the second cop in the face. Two knockouts! YES!!! I then ripped out the page from the notebook with my details, thinking I was being very clever at this point. I then cuffed them and took their keys and locked them in. Oh yeah, I'm feeling like a fucking genius at this point. So, I'm ready to leave and I can hear whistles. It's the cops, who have now woken up! Shit! Then, the blue light at the top comes on, which is sure to attract attention. So, I go to the back of the box, climb partway up and rip out the cable, letting it fall onto tram lines (I had totally forgotten we had trams back then). People come to their windows and shout out at me, asking what I'm doing. My ninja-like escape from any problems had just been undone and become even worse. I fled to the waitng car, where I had to be driven off and quickly. I was then told I had to remove the character from play as he'd be wanted all over the place. So, he fled, having been given money by another character. But at least he didn't die in the game The character I used to replace him was later grabbed by the balls by a strange blob discovered in the aforementioned ice cream van. I just cnnot catch a break.

Ok, after yet another L5R reference, I now HAVE to ask- what is that? Otherwise, I'm never going to keep up. seems that having played for 6 years, I'm still just dabbling. As for the **** ups, as far as I can remember (which from me, tends to mean I'll likely get details wrong) it was stuff that could be forgivable. Our domain lord was a pretty strict bastard and didn't tolerate much of anything. And I SWEAR I didn't get killed! I honestly didn't. I got stabbed in a fight with a ninja, granted, but I lived. Domain lord wasn't too pleased, but did offer to teach me some techniques. I understand trying to play everything the same way can be bad (I do nw anyway), but the exception, of course, is Cthulhu, where even laying well can get you killed because ... well, it's Cthulhu. And I just remembered a campaign where I was the last man standing. A good feeling for the least experienced person at the table, I must say. Then I died. That's the strange thng though, isn't it? Cthulhu is an absolutely unforgiving game to play, but it's fucking excellent. I love it.

Ten points for the scathing retort. Got any more? I heard a Cthulhu one from my old group. They had been investigating a lot of strange, horrible events etc and got almost right through the adventure. They got to the edge of the woods and saw a huge hole in the ground, knowing that whatever was causing the hassle was down there. So, faced with the entrance to this...thing's hideout, what did our gallant heroes do? They decided "**** this" and went home.

I saw that one not too long ago. And the Dynamic duo thought nothing of it at first.Oh, you recognised their faces, Batman? Like the fucking tops weren't a glaring warning sign? Great detective work, numbnuts!

Like I said, I really shouldn't post when tired. insomnia is a bitch, so I'm sorry if that post was a bit off. It wasn't really a mask, it just kind of veered off point for a while. I am going to feature Ankou in my game, but not heavily. Allusions, some signs to scare the players here and there, sporadic appearances, that kind of thing. But no, I don't intend to have him kill off PCs. Nor will he be a deus ex machina, come to think of it. Just want to strike a good balance so I don't **** things up by mistake.

Very lucky! I've heard of Tokugawa, admittedly because of Civilisation. I read a while ago that the samurai weren't quite how we imagine them, that they are loyal to their lord, but only for as long as he can pay them. Before thaqt, I had no idea.

Good point. Also, for whenever ATG sees this, I just realised how that post comes across. I really shouldn't post when I'm tired.

Ah, nameless goons. I'm with you now. A friend of mine suggested having an HP pool for a group of those with relevant combat skills, eg. percentage weaopon skills, shield if appropriate, things like that. Nice and simple.

I hope this hasn't been done lately (though I bet I'm wrong), but I figured a good way to get laughs going is to find out any funny moments from gaming. Or you can go for epic moments, utterly stupid ones, moments of unreasonably bad luck, whatever comes to mind.

Man, I haven't learned nearly enough gamer talk for this site What's meant by mook? I thought it was American slang for idiot. Well, it is, but didn't know there was another meaning. Is it like spot rules?

Wow. Ok, so I thought this was going to stay a debate, but it seems, ATGXTG that you're getting a bit defensive (repeated quotations are a sign of sarcasm). What gives? Is it just the way I'm reading it or were you actually pissed off at me in that post? I could agree on some of those points, but my group DID grasp the culture (a hell of a lot better than me). You also seem to have the impression that I died in the game. I didn't. The dice weren't on my side, but I did alright. I never charge headlong at ranged attackers unless I'm playing a character that is reckless, but I rarely play any that far gone. As for charging a .50 cal... unbelievable. They might as well have jumped into a large meat grinder. So, fair enough, the point is that my first game of Bushido was so tainted by a "this or nothing" approach, but can you blame me for thinking it's the game? Before playing that one night, I'd never heard of it before and I was the least experienced gamer there by more than a decade. So, in all fairness, I'd NEVER have figured the problem was the group and/or GM. There was no way to tell. Of course, in hindsight, I can see it a bit better now. You don't even want to see their D&D system, I shit you not. Even one of their group criticised it as broken, but it was more for the fun, not the technical aspect on the night. My point is that I have developed my own play style (though it's not all chaotic "do it my way" stuff, I do have sensible characters too) and when something else is introduced to me for the first time, my instinct could only tell me I was playing wrong or it was the game. And since I survived without pissing off my higher ups, it couldn't be me either as I served my role as lackey. Maybe that's it. I hate people who order others about IRL, maybe I just couldn't switch it off. But with a group that has its favourites, maybe there's more to it than just one thing. As the least experienced, I was also least confident. Let's find out. You're obviously a big fan of Bushido, so give me an example of how any given situation would go from a player standpoint. For example, if your group has someone playing domain lord and you accidentally **** something up in front of a guest, what would happen? Take it from there and then we'll know what element it really was. You mentioned a GM problem, but I can't really tell. I probably won't play it again either way, but if the issue is identified, I can avoid making the same mistake in other games. Finally, I know it seems like I'm bitching a lot about my former group, but I do have a lot of fun memories with them, great times. I'm going to start a new thread on a related note, see if we can come down a bit from the seriousness this one got into.

True, but with that group, yeah... consequences were death. Honour is important, no question, but in Bushido, are you oing something to increase your standing? Or for fear of execution? Both are a huge part of the game, but the latter is so prominent that it removes the element of fun. What didn't help was that our party was led by the domain lord, which meant he'd have you killed for almost anything. There was also a lot of favouritism in that group, though it was never explicitly stated. It's possible that had its part to play, but I have to say that there is a MASSIVE difference on feeling restricted in-character and feeling restricted as a player. For me, Bushido is the latter. I just can't see myself giving the game another chance as there was nothing enjoyable about it. I did things as they should have been done, but that night would have been better spent picking hot needles out of my arse. At least I'd have gotten something out of it (relief ). Seneschal, who knows if he survived. He likely sapped everything in sight until he either won or died horribly. Since it's Cthulhu, I think we know the answer to that one, heheh!

Point taken, but I never stated that you should be able to act without consequence. If anything, the consequences in FRPGs can make it worth oing for in a way. But with Bushido, the consequence is always death. You get executed. Yes, I have a better grasp on FRPGs and yes, there are restrictions on all settings, but there is enough room to move in most games that it's more than workable. Take Cthulhu, for example. The restrictions are the laws we have today, right? So, when my character decided to knock out two policemen and lock them in a police box, my GM told me I'd have to come up with a new character as that one (who fled the country) wouldn't be able to get much else done. I accepted that without any problem because I agreed, but it was still worth it, because I got to do something I wanted to do, not what would have been expected of me by a rule book. The main point, really, is that mad, bad or big decisions make the best memories in gaming, as do mistakes. They're funny, disastrous, epic or insanely lucky and so, stick in your mind. I have only played Bushido once, but it made enough of a bad impression on me that, given a choice, I'd choose to skip it, despite the fact that feudal Japan IS an interesting time period.

I get where you're coming from and I do understand all that, but to me, when you game, it's a chance to let your imagination cut loose, to do the things you'd nevre do in realf life (killing, being the obvious example, or willingly climbing a wall to break into a psychopath's home) and to have fun. The mechanice work well, no doubt, but the way I see it, I roll up the character, but strictly speaking, it's not really my character, it doesn't feel that way to me. I'm all for personal honour, something I take seriously in real life, but historical accuracy should only go so far before it becomes just a re-enactment. To me, it's a very oppressive rules system that instead of rewarding a gamer's imagination and risk-taking, rewards the player's knowledge of feudal Japan, meaning any new player is screwed unless they know a lot about the subject or just spend the time doing what a superior tells them to. What I'm saying is there should be more leeway as it's a game. I get the idea behind it and I get the attraction, but I just feel like there's a better way to do it. I'm not sure what that is, but it'll be out there. As for freedom of choice, I disagree on it being a Judeo-christian ideal because from what I remember of the bible, people got punished for an awful lot. Freedom of choice existed long before religion. Doing things for family, clan etc is fine, but there are more fun ways to do that in other systems I have played before and the beauty of it is that it comes down to how you play your character within the code that the player can set themselves and that comes with its own rewards. For me (and feel free to disagree), Bushido is more about doing what the game tells you to, rather than the trial and error approach that makes it fun in the first place.

Makes sense to me. I can't answer your question on Celestial Empires, I've never tried it. All I've played are D&D (including Dark Sun), Cthulhu, Traveller and Bushido. I don't recommend Bushido, it's awful. Any pen and paper RPG that restricts the player in how they should behave in character is not one you can enjoy. For me anyway. Going back to your question, what does CPP stand for? Something to do with character points?

Frogspawner, didn't see your post there, it must have gone up as I was typing. I'm not sure, I could work that in pretty easily, but he's not so much a god as a harvester of souls, like the grim reaper. He had no cults (as far as I'm aware, that is), but was always depicted as very powerful, being the embodiment of death. Now that I think about it though, I can see him being given due respect, so maybe a cult would be an easy fit, workable without being forced in. Maybe in each realm or domain could have a place set aside where people could show reverence or something like that.

Nice! Rogerd, it sounds like you'll be busy trying to take those over into BRP, but go for it. If you need heroic abilities to get that feel, throw some in. I'm sure you have plenty to pick from. I'm using magic in my game when it gets going, but BRP's list is very limited, but I have points of reference to base other ideas on. For you, it shouldn't be much work at all. Rust, That sounds about right. I mean, back in those days, isn't that what people believed? If something bad happened, "Shit, the gods are pissed off again". Sounds like it adds a bit of authenticity (if I can say that about a fantasy game) to the proceedings. Good stuff.

Ther most obvious answer there is and I missed it. Excellent idea on just going with the mythology. I should just do that! I think Occam's razor wins this one. So, does anyone else use any powerful mythological entities in their games? All I have *for now, at least) is Ankou.

Oh, no worries there, I won't be pulling any kind of deus ex machina at all. I know they can be used in fantasy settings, which is fine, but I'm going for a mix of fantasy and modern day. Background seems like a good idea, especially with his role in that world. And once the players learn of his existence and how to tell if he's nearby (a sudden cold breeze and the creaking of an old cart), I can scare them when I want to be a bastard. Thanks for the input and opinions man, helps me get a perspective on things ahead of time.

Ok, so first, thanks for all the help on the poisons/venoms question I had for my homebrewed game. I now know how to work it. But here's another issue, as the title suggests; how to handle them in-game. I don't intend to come up with a full pantheon or anything as I won't use most of them anyway, but I do have one that would feature, mostly in some subtle way. But here's the tricky part. Though I have some ideas, hhow do you feature an NPC that cannot be killed or harmed in a game without unbalancing it completely? Having him give out a quest/mission seems like a plan, but are there any other ways? To give you a better idea of what I mean, the character in question is Ankou, the spirit of death, much like the grim reaper of western European mythology. Ankou differs in various ways and that myth is fascinating to me, enough that I want to use him in some capacity. If it's not obvious by now, I haven't run a game before and could use advice on how not to trip myself up for when I eventually introduce him. It should go without saying that he will not be a villain or enemy in any capacity. As stated, I do have an idea on using him as a quest giver, maybe to help him as he's been somehow bound, maybe something along those lines. But what (other than making him a villain or ally) should I avoid doing?

You're right, I should have added

Some excellent ideas here and I like the scientific touch of Atgxtg. Snakes are a good example and one of my creatures is a snake, so I'll be looking at snake venoms to give me an idea for what to give it in terms of POT and damage. For others, they're entirely fictional, lie my vamires, medusae and harpies (all of them potentially nasty). I'll look into LD50 and Agentorange's vampire rot idea to help guage my other venoms and toxins. One is a paralysis venom, so its damage should be pretty low as it's more a muscle relaxant, rather than muscle spasms, which can lead to respiratory failure. Maybe I should keep that in mind for cases of overdosing? The medusa in my game, as mentioned, will have a venomous bite instead of the petrification gaze attack. My idea is that the venom will cause the cells in the body to become solid or calcify, giving them the stony appearance once it has fully done its work. So, am I right in saying it should be high POT and damage? When I think of it, it makes sense that it would be.

That's a damn good idea, I forgot disease in games worked that way. I have others, like harpy and medusa venom, but the vamp one is a good guideline. Thanks Agentorange!

Definitely! Seeing a person's expression when they fail a roll or when they try something tricky and succeed, it's great, the whole group gets in on it