Tabletop Roleplaying Games (D&D, Pathfinder, CoC, ETC.)

[Overly Serious]

My biggest complaint about magic in SR is that its effectively uncapped in power thanks to Initiation, whereas people who use ware run into hard limits fast thanks to Essence.

I found that to be more of a theoretical problem than a real one. Magic and Tech play in slightly different ways and compliment each other when played well by a team. So it's not a straight race down the same linear power path way where one has a finish line over their lane and the other can just keep running. Plus, as @LovisXVI says, the amount of Karma required becomes absurd. Especially if the player decides they want an Ally spirit which is one of the most popular options for magician players. Those things soak up Karma like nothing else. With the kicker that if they get powerful enough then one day they turn around and say "It's not you, it's me" and attempt to become a free spirit. The worse you've treated them, the more likely they are to try it.

Which actually brings up another nice example of how the problem is usually the GM just not enforcing things. The biggest edge tech has over magic is reliability. Spirits are sentient beings. They have opinions, memories.... and they talk. Whilst the resistance test by a spirit to being bound is normally just played straight, if a spirit or spirits are pissed off at you, there's nothing and I mean nothing, stopping a spirit spending Edge on the resistance test. A rigger's drone does what a rigger tells it to do. When the high force spirit of the river that the shaman just summoned starts lecturing the shaman on working for a polluting megacorp, you have a problem. Force 1 or 2 spirits are like little impish things - typically fairly simple creatures. A force 6 has a Logic score of 6 and is a very smart entity a lot older than you are. The higher the Force rating, the more I played up a spirit as having a meaningful personality. Which was good and bad. It would use its initiative far more in completing services. You might also tick it off.

But returning to my earlier statement, nearly all the problems I ever saw with magic was a GM handwaving away the problems at a meta level. If a player wanted to have two Force 7 spirits bound and ready the GM would simply allow the time between runs to do it, to have a re-attempt to get more services, to recover from the injuries incurred, the party would view it as an expense and all be throwing in extra share to the mage to enable it and the GM adjusting mission rewards upwards to cover the excessive costs. It was absurd to see a Samurai PC spend a few hundred nuyen on bullets and grenades for the mission, the mage player spend upwards of ten-thousand, and then the Samurai player complain "magic is overpowered".

Speaking of CoC (fuck you I double post all I want) I have been thinking over the possibility of running a one-shot (maybe PbP) game for some kiwis here, I was thinking of Call of Cthulhu since it is an easy sell and I have done tons of one-shots for it. Would anyone be interested? Also any suggested platforms?

It sounds fun but how do you plan on avoiding PL'ing and is this something that would involve a voice channel? You looking at Matrix or something? Discord doesn't play well with VPNs and privacy.

 

[Čmarobnjak]

The Coyote & Crow horror setting book Ahu Tiiko's kickstarter has launched. You folx ready for more roleplaying as the Red Man?

Instead of paying your hard earned cash for that, why not get yourself a free copy of Welches' revised version of the Atruaghin Clans.

http://www.pandius.com/Atruaghin_Players_Guide.pdf
http://www.pandius.com/Atruaghin_Dungeon_Masters_Guide.pdf

 

[LovisXVI]

It sounds fun but how do you plan on avoiding PL'ing and is this something that would involve a voice channel? You looking at Matrix or something? Discord doesn't play well with VPNs and privacy.

Well I did say play-by-post was an option, but I've never heard of Matrix, will have to check it out. It is entirely determined by what the people interested can do, PbP has the distinct advantage of not requiring everyone to show up at once.

 

[2LtMashengo]

Also any suggested platforms?

I run using Foundry with Mumble for VC, though I wouldn't recommend dropping $50 on Foundry for a one shot. Roll20 would be serviceable, so long as you don't give the megafaggots that run it any shekels.

 

[Chadikus Maximus]

I run using Foundry with Mumble for VC, though I wouldn't recommend dropping $50 on Foundry for a one shot. Roll20 would be serviceable, so long as you don't give the megafaggots that run it any shekels.

I second this as a solution, some internet searching and I found this Cauldron VTT might be a possible alternative to roll20

 

[LovisXVI]

I second this as a solution, some internet searching and I found this Cauldron VTT might be a possible alternative to roll20

Normally I would just theatre of the mind it and just *trust* you that you are reporting your dice accurately, but if people want one, I can run in it. As for voice channels, I have never used Mumble and being far from tech-literate enough so someone would have to walk me through how it works because I am very confused on it.

 

[East_Clintwood]

Never, ever, cut a deal with a dragon.

I recall for example there was one about a were-tiger which I don't think I read.

That's Striper and I think she was in a couple of her own books, and maybe either a short story, or as a secondary/background character in another. Not my fav character, but there's one assassination she pulled off in one of the books that I stole and is the basis of most of my plans for whacking suits/normies with less than massive security.

I'd often see people claim that magic was over-powered and every time it turned out that the GM was ignoring some rule or consequence.

There's definitely some truth to that. I think the biggest two issues I saw for GMs (especially new ones) and magic was
a)Not using background counts enough
b)Not playing up the double edged nature of foci. Sure they're great and powerful, but they're also a giant neon sign/potential chink in your armour, in the astral.

That being said, even discarding potential GMing issues, and ignoring the munchkins min-maxing shit to the moon, on average magic always had a decent edge over mundanes.

Whether that be something as simple as 4E and it's shitty insistence on making everything (including cyberware) wireless enabled, and then tying functionality to it

Or 5E and it's absolutely nonsensical pricing for cyberware (why did a bunch of popular options increase anywhere from 3x to 10x as muchkin some cases from 4E to 5E?).

Or 6E which just straight up fucking ruined cyberlimbs, probably the most iconic piece of Cyberpunk augmentation ever, to the point where it's actively a massive nerf to take them in a lot of situations.

 

[Adamska]

The Coyote & Crow horror setting book Ahu Tiiko's kickstarter has launched. You folx ready for more roleplaying as the Red Man? 20$ for the pdf, and 50$ pledge level for the pdf and access to Roll20 content. 50! for just digital content.

They're selling a super mature version of the book for an extra 30 bucks, which is why it's the most common option bought. Don't know if it's just a difference of showing random nudity or going harder on the gore though. All I do know is that the hooks they bring up suck ass. Here's an example of a couple of them:

Spoiler: Snoozers

A virtual reality game has recently become popular among the youth of Ahu Tiiko. It seems like a harmless enough puzzle game. But why do the teen developers of the game seem so reluctant to talk about how they designed it?

A young man named Aswaalah has gone missing. His family is in crisis and local authorities are already stretched thin trying to find him. Could he have survived in the nearby snowy forests for over a week? Was he a victim of foul play?

Legends talk of a building, deep in the woods that has only one door and no windows. A place that doesn't want you to leave. Does it actually exist? Where is it? And what purpose is it serving?

Not a lick of them really draw any interest. There's no hook for each premise they list that makes you want to investigate them. Hell, they don't even rely on the cultures they claim to come from to give a grounding for it. Some of that is due to how they sanitize the shit out the setting, leaving it with no grit and no lived in feeling due to fear of being eaten by their own. The other reason is they're super retarded and are designing this slop to be "enjoyed by even people who don't play RPGs or Coyote and Crow".

Problem is this is your first splat book. This isn't a novel. This is yet another reason why I lean towards incompetence rather than malice for how they pissed away 1+ million bucks from their kickstarter.

TBH I think the backers are idiots, since this is one of those ones which would likely do bad in most spots. Mainly since this is a mystery series which gets ruined if you read them, meaning it's best for the GM to own in that case.

 

[The Ugly One]

Not a lick of them really draw any interest. There's no hook for each premise they list that makes you want to investigate them. Hell, they don't even rely on the cultures they claim to come from to give a grounding for it. Some of that is due to how they sanitize the shit out the setting, leaving it with no grit and no lived in feeling due to fear of being eaten by their own. The other reason is they're super retarded and are designing this slop to be "enjoyed by even people who don't play RPGs or Coyote and Crow".

The hook is that buying the book makes you a certified Ally of Indigenous People. You're not supposed to actually play a game.

 

[Chadikus Maximus]

Normally I would just theatre of the mind it and just *trust* you that you are reporting your dice accurately, but if people want one, I can run in it. As for voice channels, I have never used Mumble and being far from tech-literate enough so someone would have to walk me through how it works because I am very confused on it.

A VTT software is not necessary but if there is ever a need for a map it might be useful to have around, as for Mumble joining a server is simple setting up a server is bit more involved but its not that complicated, here is the guide Murmurguide just don't do what I did and forget to restart the server after changing the settings that had me confused for a bit

 

[Overly Serious]

A VTT software is not necessary but if there is ever a need for a map it might be useful to have around, as for Mumble joining a server is simple setting up a server is bit more involved but its not that complicated, here is the guide Murmurguide just don't do what I did and forget to restart the server after changing the settings that had me confused for a bit

There's also Matrix which I haven't used but I understand is basically a Discord equivalent. Having multiple channels on a server can be useful for running an RPG.

I think a play by post would have to take a different approach to things. It means so much more has to be done in aggregate rather than a lot of back-and-forth bit pieces. On the other hand, depending on time zones and how many in a group, might be next to impossible to run a normal game online.

 

[Brahma]

So, I came in to this thread looking to ask a question about where to go to find some online roleplaying that isn't entirely pozzed and lo and behold it's being discussed! Lucky me.

FWIW I've never played trad TTRPGs but did do a bunch of roleplaying in forums (collaborative post by post writing I'd guess you'd call it? No rules or dice, just pov character posting) and a bunch of MUD rp'ing back in the day.

I'm particularly fond of the WH universes, particularly like the idea of dark heresy, but I'm a general sci-fi and fantasy nut so not stuck on that.

I know there's a few online platforms, don't particularly mind paying if there's a decent community to be found, just looking for recommendations on where to go.

Speaking of CoC (fuck you I double post all I want) I have been thinking over the possibility of running a one-shot (maybe PbP) game for some kiwis here, I was thinking of Call of Cthulhu since it is an easy sell and I have done tons of one-shots for it. Would anyone be interested? Also any suggested platforms?

Colour me interested if you're okay with the above, I'd be a newbie to the format. I'm yurop though so depending on format may not gel with VoIP times. Keep me in mind though.

 

[Chadikus Maximus]

There's also Matrix which I haven't used but I understand is basically a Discord equivalent. Having multiple channels on a server can be useful for running an RPG.

I think a play by post would have to take a different approach to things. It means so much more has to be done in aggregate rather than a lot of back-and-forth bit pieces. On the other hand, depending on time zones and how many in a group, might be next to impossible to run a normal game online.

Matrix seem to be a Network API the actual discord clone is called Element worth a try I would say, Mumble dose have the advantage of not requiring any accounts and being Very Light weight.

On another note I found another Open Source VTT software - MapTool

 

[Overly Serious]

Matrix seem to be a Network API the actual discord clone is called Element worth a try I would say, Mumble dose have the advantage of not requiring any accounts and being Very Light weight.

On another note I found another Open Source VTT software - MapTool

Yes, Matrix is the underlying network. Element is one of the clients that use it but I think the most popular. I believe there's also Session but I don't know much about that. Does Mumble have / support multiple channels in a similar model to Discord's 1 Server -> n Channels. I think that could be advantageous.

I also broached the idea of running a one-shot myself here some time back (not CoC) so anything that is worked out if people are interested and @LovisXVI just wants to run the one game, I could possibly run a follow-up.

 

[2LtMashengo]

. Element is one of the clients that use it but I think the most popular.

Element is a pretty effective dicksword replacement, I have used it since it was still Riot. They changed the name during the summer of love, for marketing reasons. Annoyingly the present vc system does not seem to allow push to talk. IIRC it just used to have a Jitsi widget.
Edit: Looking through the settings I stand sort of corrected, there is a keybind to toggle the mic.

t. Does Mumble have / support multiple channels in a similar model to Discord's 1 Server -> n Channels. I think that could be advantageous.

@LovisXVI As for Mumble, the main utility is just for VC. As in the example below, there are a few ways to setup multiple channels and subchannels. The channels with no icons are free for any user to join, assuming you haven't set it otherwise . The green locks mean the channel is restricted to a certain ACL group or access token. If we're comparing to dicksword, the ACL groups are basically roles, access token is just a password.
There is a text chat that you can post images in, but it's not persistent i.e. when you disconnect/reconnect the chat will be wiped for you.

 

[Brahma]

Does Mumble have / support multiple channels in a similar model to Discord's 1 Server -> n Channels. I think that could be advantageous.

Yeah it's pretty great. Used to use it in EVE online. You can have pretty much any combination of permissions you can think of, basically anything covered by basic sets.

So in EVE we'd have seperate squad Comms, wing Comms, fleet Comms, command Comms, intel, scouting, all with discrete permissions so player a can be in channel 1 and 5, player b in 1, 4, 5 and 6 etc as needed

So if you've 5 players, you can have a general channel, but you could have three in a separate one to themselves if you need it for some reason but still able to talk in general, (plots against others?), private 1 to 1 Comms as needed etc

 

[Adamska]

The hook is that buying the book makes you a certified Ally of Indigenous People. You're not supposed to actually play a game.

"Indigenous People"

Seriously, Shadowrun nailed the stereotype on this one.

 

[LovisXVI]

"Indigenous People"
View attachment 6215732

Seriously, Shadowrun nailed the stereotype on this one.

I am more red than these pasty fucks, lmao. Precisely 0% chance any of these people have ever lived on the rez.

 

[Ghostse]

"Indigenous People"
View attachment 6215732

Seriously, Shadowrun nailed the stereotype on this one.

"Samish indian nation"
He's Finnish. He's a goddamn fucking Finn. You'd have better luck, and it'd be more genetically accurate, to try to pass him off as Chinese.
As college student at "Everpozzed". LOL

Additionally reminder:
My english-going-back-as-many-generation-as-anyone-gave-a-fuck-to-count Grandfather was approached by a Cherokee nation because a spinster great-great aunt had married a 90% Irish Cherokee man to scandalize the family who were giving her shit for being a spinster. Pre-casino times this was enough 'blood quantum' to qualify for membership if the tribe was trying to boost numbers.

 

[robobobo]

I'm pro-indian, in general. We wrecked their shit pretty hard and they've gotten a raw deal over the last couple centuries, so it'd be cool if they had happy and prosperous lives. That said, I've only laid eyes on one a handful of times in my life, and I've heard stories of hugely niggerish existences on the reservations, full of drugs and rampant crime and leaders swindling as hard as they can while others live in crushing poverty, so I'm not sure if my pro-indian stance would last very long if I was actually hanging out with them.

Also, those fuckers are white as can be. That is all.