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Matt_E

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Everything posted by Matt_E

  1. ATTENTION, ALL PLANETS OF THE SOLAR FEDERATION: WE HAVE ASSUMED CONTROL.
  2. I think a common vibe here is body modification--whether it's icepick kitchen piercings and safety pins, or bionic limbs.
  3. Found it: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/designmechanism/administrative-review-of-elemental-classic-fantasy-t1865.html
  4. IIRC, on the Design Mechanism forum, someone (I'm pretty sure it was Jefferiot) posted some play experience about this very conversion--at least Hommlet. Maybe I misremember, but have a look.
  5. Matt_E

    Seeds of Chaos

    Maybe it's just an awkward time of year. It sounds like an interesting game, to me. I can't join in, though; I'm maxed out these days. 😞
  6. That' a pretty cool supplement, Clarence. I'm having a little trouble grokking the interplay of being an Oddity and Strangeness and CHA, though. After reading the introductory text, I find it a bit odd (there's that word again...) that one of these Oddity folks could have a high CHA score. Could you please explicate that? Oh, and I was a bit confused about the difference between "Eidetic Memory" and "Photographic Memory". I mean, I see that game-mechanically they are different, fine, but I think many of us might use those terms pretty much interchangeably. Whatever.
  7. EDU would map to some Education skill, which for many countries would be a Standard skill. I think we discussed a related topic a bit on the TDM forum. Yes, my general impression is that in most cases a *starting* Mythras character is going to have mostly higher tallies in most skills than a *starting* BRP character. However, I have often thought that our old RQ3 (~ BRP) characters *advanced* much faster in their most-used skills, because of the "checked boxes" versus "Improvement Points" philosophies of the two systems.
  8. What's a front? 🙂 Although Lovecraft was no scientist, I thought that his giving the Elder Things radial symmetry was a brilliant stroke. It's just so...weird.
  9. Clarence, I read this last week and thought of you: https://aeon.co/ideas/proof-of-life-how-would-we-recognise-an-alien-if-we-saw-one
  10. He was a giant among us, indeed. We all owe him a debt of thanks.
  11. Oh. Well, if your goal is straight-up to get more SEs, then I would say, "Mission accomplished!"
  12. I'm not sure I would do that... I think it might yield too many SEs. Try it in a few sample fights and see what you think, I suggest. I have contemplated that, for simplicity, if I were to eliminate one type of roll from the mechanics, it would be plain Opposed Rolls. I would just make everything a Differential Check. I haven't though it all the way through, though. For example, it's not easy to reckon the case of Success with Stealth and Success with Perception; what actually happens? Hmm. I guess I would just give it to the higher roll within the Success category of result--as we do with Evade in combat.
  13. ...like they aren't already... 😄 When Pete says to another GM that something's "exceedingly dangerous to player characters", watch out.
  14. I think you have chosen an example that is too extreme to be informative. It would be much easier to discuss a dwarf, elf, halfling, or orc character... For that, I suggest first reading Classic Fantasy, if RAW is not already enough for you.
  15. Matt_E

    Parry question?

    You digress too much in your musings. I will not participate in this conversation any further.
  16. Matt_E

    Parry question?

    In the first sentences, you make the same point that I do. The answer to the second paragraph is, of course, "no". The question is, how do we model this, and square that with (presumed or explicit) downtime activities? If you like the RQ3 way, then I suggest you simply use those rules, or BRP. If you want to otherwise use Mythras (which is a much better game), then simply change the way you hand out XP: Use a character sheet with tick boxes as in RQ3, allow skill advancement only in ticked skills as in RQ3, and make every weapon be a separate Combat Style. However, I always suggest (as you also have noted) that one actually try the rules as written before deciding that they simply must be changed. Otherwise, one should wonder why one bothers to consider a new system. I disagree with an absolute assertion that people are lazy. Some people do more than the absolute minimum, and dedicate themselves. We call them "winners", or in a hard RPG world, probably just "the living". If you understand that your odds of getting the next bag of gold, or surviving the next battle, increase substantially through practice, then you'll practice, unless you are a great fool. Some fools do succeed--the proof is all around us--, but I see them as the exceptions that prove the rule.
  17. Matt_E

    Parry question?

    "you should really read more about the history...I can remember reading the exact same comments from other people dating back to 8 or more years ago. This discussion has already been done, and represents periodically as new people with a long experience of the classic rulesets appear on forums." --This problem is not unique to d100 RPG forums! 😄 Personally, considering current online culture and the inconsistency of the numerous forums out there, I don't really blame anyone (especially a newcomer) for asking rather than trawling for an answer. Many times lately I have tried to find my own posts from years or just months ago, and have failed. "As Rosen McStern says, the idea behind Combat Styles is...But of course, Your Mythras is Your Mythras (YMYM), and so we deliberately left combat styles quite vague...Find the way that suits your style of play. Mythras supports it." --This toolbox approach to game design gets mentioned over and over in our discussions of Mythras, and Loz and Pete are to be commended for it. My only suggestion is that, in the next edition of RAW, they offer an explicit section on this in the introductory chapter, and gray text boxes at the later spots where this approach is especially important--like Combat Styles. In the two editions to date, this sort of exposition has been done nicely in the prefatory chapter on magic and considerations for setting up a world; I think that the rulebook might benefit from a similar chapter or large section up front to emphasize the philosophy, which is mentioned briefly in the current edition, but not emphasized enough, IMO.
  18. Matt_E

    Parry question?

    "In real life try entering combat with 5 or 6 various weapons. Way too encumbering for adventurers." -- I'm not sure I understand this remark, in the context of Combat Style. Remember that just because your Combat Style has taught you to use a collection of weapons effectively, does not mean you carry or otherwise have access to all of those weapons at all times. For example, in our game a Hunter will often have a CS that includes Longspear, but she probably does not carry that weapon into town along with the meat for sale... In fact, she might not always bring it with her on the hunt, especially if e.g. she knows she will be on a long, tiring outing through dense underbrush, in search of smaller animals that do not require such a weapon anyway. Likewise, social rules or societal laws may induce a warrior not to walk around town with a greatsword, even though he owns one and is trained in its use. (We have discussed that idea with some frequency on the TDM forum.) Finally, a character may be down on his luck and missing some gear, either because he lost it falling down a mountain, or had to hock it to buy more booze. Finding a useful weapon during an adventure--say, in a boss fight, when you could really use it--becomes extra sweet, in that case. I would not let encumbrance concerns dictate how many weapons you include in a CS. If you want to group some weapons because it seems otherwise sensible to you, go for it.
  19. Matt_E

    Genetic memory

    Yes, I think this would be well handled using the Ancestor Spirit and Fetch rules of Animism--although at first blush I would not have identified the Bene Gesserit with Animism at all! I think you have to decide on the flavor-balance between magic and science in your world. As a magical power, I have no problem with this idea, but in terms of science it's utter nonsense. If you're like me, then you probably sacrifice science for magic every time--at least in a fantasy game, which is all I actually play. I'm not sure how I would marry these things in a modern or futuristic game... I suppose that if I were allowing magic-type effects at all, I would just go for it and not think about it again. 😉
  20. I am a few days behind here... It's that time of year again. The sale at DTRPG is on! Grab our titles at 25% off. http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/10499/Old-Bones-Publishing
  21. Gol, you may also want to hunt down the pertinent discussions on the Design Mechanism forum. We have had several about using the Animism rules. The overarching message is that among the several magical traditions Animism is probably the most open to interpretation (or specialization of flavor, anyhow) for any given campaign setting, and the most difficult to understand initially--but also possibly the coolest. You mentioned RQ6 above. In the subsequent Mythras version of the rules, the Animism chapter featured the heaviest revisions, and is easier to digest now, in my opinion. The rules weren't changed much, but some pieces from elsewhere in the book were better integrated in one place, and the overall presentation has improved. If you're still using RQ6, it may be worth your while to get Mythras, just for this reworked chapter (never mind the other sundry refinements).
  22. You're welcome. 🙂 "It's always a bit cheesy to come with an alternative information source when the players are not able to find out with their own skills." -- I know what you mean, but this is actually an important point of designing an investigation. The key is to make it not obviously cheesy. 😉 If you want to keep the players on track to a predictable conclusion, then there are probably some pieces of information that simply must not be missed; the question then becomes, what aspects of the inquiry become easier or harder based on actual skill checks? This is where what the characters can do matters, and where player agency comes in. I have written a bit about this in Interludes: Homecoming, and I am sure these are not original insights; for example, I believe they are the main thrust of the much-lauded GUMSHOE system (though I have not studied those rules). "the player could get a second try on her trance skill if she consumes some fly mushrooms - but then gets a disadvantage on anything perceptive and sporty the whole next day." -- This is nice gamecraft.
  23. Being able to see spirits and possibly enter the Spirit Realm could be a big deal, if other characters cannot. For example, if you're a ghost hunter, this goes a long way (even if you don't know Binding to strike bargains, etc.). In this case your adventure should contain a moment at which, if this character succeeds with Trance and perceives something important about the spirits, it turns the tide of events. There's plenty of opportunity for good roleplaying drama here. Perhaps the party needs to locate and question a ghost, to learn something important to the plot. Perhaps the party needs to avoid a dangerous spirit. Perhaps tracking a spirit through its otherworldly trail of slime, essence or whatever--invisible to normal eyes--is key to success. Your English is better than my [anything other than English]. 🙂
  24. 1. I can think of one gamer who has no desire to produce such a variant. 2. It makes no sense to start from the ground up with print runs, in the ultraniche market you imagine. Start with digital only. 3. That would be an incredibly segmented market. Unless item 1 above is true, I disagree that there are economically meaningful gaps--and I have already found item 1 to be false. 4. That impression of Sabre is precisely the opposite of the one it made on me. I found Sabre to be a combination of the worst aspects of d20 and Mythras, and basically a slap in the face to TDM, in terms of exploiting their hard-earned IP in the most barely legal manner...
  25. Maybe Mythic Constantinople has something--just a guess. I can only assume you have checked Ships and Shieldwalls. I don't own either of those supplements. In RQ3 there were prices for ships, so I suppose there are in the BRP core book.
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