- Joined
- Nov 4, 2017
I understand this reference and wish I didn't.
"Tell me you a virgin without telling me you're a virgin." Easy mode: Make a 90s PnC adventure game refence
So you're saying you got jewed out of your vampire player?
Tabletop Roleplaying Games (D&D, Pathfinder, CoC, ETC.)
- Thread starter Surtur
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2019
You still need to drop some more stories of that for us. Shit's fun. You should honestly roll with some of that later on in the main Rifts setting and have the US Army come back like the Enclave intent on reclaiming what's left in the name of Uncle Sam. Bonus points if they wind up going to war with those damn Leafs to put an end to their wicked Canadianness once and for all.
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2022
Right, so... bit late on this, haven't been able to access the site for a few days, so I didn't see this until now.
Honestly, this sounds like the perfect idea; genuinely surprised that I didn't think of this earlier. Not quite sure how they'd be able to get their names out there as of yet - given the WoD's focus on covert operations and secrecy, plus my group being autistic as fuck with worldbuilding and lore - but we'll certainly try and figure out how to get a monster-hunting business off the ground. Genuine thank you!
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2019
Yeah, NP. Site was a mess for all of us. Glad I could help out.
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2022
All this DnD talk and here I remain. Sitting at the Pathfinder Shill table. At least it's fun at the stores I play at.
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2017
Actually planning on doing something like that.
"The Republicans" in the Revised Sourcebook One are stupid as shit and not even close to an Enclave faction.
So, the Chaos Earth campaign has been running since around the 4th of July. We've gone past the Chaos Earth timeline, which pretty much ends in March with the Resurrection Book, and the group is currently all the way in August, the end of the First Year Without Summer going on.
The PC's all hold NEMA in contempt. To them, NEMA is hiding behind them but taking all the credit. Where NEMA is doing search and rescue in the like up in Chicago, and squatting on the Mid-West Emergency Control Center and locking the US Army and USMC out of the remaining computer network, the PC's are in the thick of it. They spend a lot of time setting up microwave towers, or microwave transmission systems on top of intact buildings or intact superstructures where they can, to keep communications up and running.
I picked up Megaverse in Flames, and that's where you find out that the Deevil and the Demons sent a MASSIVE force at Rifts Earth, but didn't quite understand was going on and roughly 25-33% of their forces ended up in Chaos Earth.
That means there is a lot of "hold them at the Rifts!" coming from the US military. In Megaverse in Flames it talks about how Deevils and Demons attacked North America. Now, any of them that headed to the West Coast or the East Coast and ended up at the Cataclysm, they're just fucked.
To set the stage a bit: The Demons and Deevils got stopped dead by the US military (thanks to the PC's efforts) at the Rifts for the most part, losing over 80% of their forces. Worse, the PC's pushed CENTCOM into authorizing something the Deevils and Demons aren't used to have happening.
Tomahawks, MRLS rockets, Copperheads and other long range missiles (better than the shit NEMA has in the book) being fired through the Rift as soon as it's confirmed it's Demon or Deevil forces. Hell, at one point the PC's were guarding fucking nuclear MiRV hydrogen weapons, fusion and fission, to the major Nexuses to fire them through in a "FUCK YOU!" to the invaders by taking the war to them.
Twice the group decided to lead a massive force through the Rift to take the fight to the Demons and Deevils on their home ground. Glitter Boys, SAMAS, advanced tanks and APC's, MRLS wagons, AA systems, shitloads of MANPADS, with robot and human infantry, with the goal of fighting until the Rift opened back up and they could retreat back to Chaos Earth.
One thing, Sembedia doesn't really understand the modern military, he's kind of stuck in WW1 and WW2, so close air support and danger close artillery isn't really something he thinks about. My group is mostly vets (my active duty guy got sent to Europe for a year) so they want all the bells and whistles that the high tech 2099 military should be able to provide.
Once the PC's PROVED that things like SAMAS, Glitterboys, and jets could function in the Demon and Deevil dimensions, as soon as the energies from the opening Rifts pinpointed it as either Deevil or Demon reality, jets were scrambled, so as soon as the Rifts open, the jets would go whipping through fast enough to stay in the air while they restarted the engines, bomb the ever loving shit out of anything that looked important, then run back for the Rift while dropping a fucking 1.5MT nuke behind them.
Needless to say, while NEMA is bitching about a few hundred, the Deevil and Demon forces were getting fucking MAD as fuck.
We did an adventure where there was a Rift that kept opening up that was glued to a piece of modern artwork, which led to the Demon dimension. They went into the Demon dimension via helicopter, acting as a scouting group constantly on the move from the magic and technology of the Demons while targeting facilities and the like.
A lot different than a lot of games people usually run, we've got a stack of characters. Sure, the players do their best to keep their characters alive for as long as possible, but casualties have racked up during this whole thing. There is ONE character still alive from the original, and he's a Glitter Boy pilot. The other longest living one is a Special Forces soldier we adapted from Recon and Ninjas & Superspies. We've got a Psi-Stalker, a mutated Finance Clerk who doesn't understand what she's going through but wants to do what she can before she dies (She's convinced it's a brain tumor and cancer that's made her bald and hairless and made her sensitive to magic). We've got a new SAMAS pilot since the last one is MIA after the Rift closed on them.
NEMA is convinced the military, which is what the PC's are part of, needs to give up their equipment and ammunition to NEMA so that the refugees can be protected. Which has led to some fun roleplaying when the PC's clash with NEMA over ammunition and the like. NEMA is convinced (wrongly) that they're taking the brunt of the combat, while the PC's feel like NEMA is being crybabies about nothing since they've been fighting everything everywhere all the time for the last 9 months and have watched their numbers dwindle.
It's even ended in shootouts, where NEMA pushes the PC's a liiiiiiitle too far and it ends up in gunfire. Usually some NEMA officer trying to take what they want (There was a full blown firefight over the contents of a FEMA bunker that resulted in two NEMA companies being wiped out) because THEY are the military. (Mainly because NEMA supposedly is the US military, but LAWL, not fucking even)
We also went through the Resurrection campaign, where the PC's had to infiltrate the Obsidian Tower and blow it up. When the nuke got damaged, they had to pull an Armeggedon and leave one of their people behind to manually fire it off.
The good thing is, my group doesn't mind their characters getting killed, as long as they feel like it is reasonable.
One last thing: Sembedia claims that the US Army went to lasers for all their weapons and that artillery was obsolete, but holy shit, LOL. I kept the US Army with kinetic weapons, with a TON of different types of railgun munitions, artillery and mortar rounds, and missiles. Lasers just have different damage setttings, but is still a laser. The PC's rarely use 'bb-stream' or 'flechete canisters' because those are crowd control/APERS. They use a lot of APDSDU or APDSFSDU, as well as HE, HEDP, AT, HEAT, HEAP, WP, and other fun stuff, including the Glitter Boy firing 'cluster rounds" that drop about a hundred micro-fusion bomblets (based off the NG grenade pistol for stats) over the region. Kind of funny having the GB pilot plant the pylons and just spam a whole region with cluster bombs and the Demons or Deevils trying to run through them.
"Good luck with your new stumps, faggots!"
It's a brutal game, but full of heroics and the players are having fun.
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2022
my first ever session DMing went amazing beat up some hijackers on a ship bard got into a music battle trying to upstage performers at a tavern and accidentally turned it into a disco and now they have been set up on their first real quest
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2021
Been running my Darksun game for about 6 months now. Surprisingly the thing my players seem to fear most are cacti. They almost lost their gladiator to a patch of thirsty cacti the one time they dealt with them.
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2021
Sounds like you're running it right. Though possibly more actively murderous ground, light and air might be needed to provide that very Darksuns environment.
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2021
At this point they bought a big covered wagon pulled by kanks so only the driver is really having to deal with that. It makes them a more attractive target though, so it's a trade off.
They've been mostly fighting in various gladiatorial bouts to qualify for a big tournament as all but one of them are slaves. The time they've spent outside of Urik or the nearby villages has been quite perilous. Hence why they spent all their loot and gambling winnings on a wagon.
The latter half of the game will definitely have the environment play a bigger role, as they will have travel very far to get almost anywhere relevant.
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2022
What's a good "evolving" magic item for a wizard something that can sort of level with the player to some degree I have a good idea for the bard and the paladin but the wizard is giving me trouble for thinking of something for him
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2022
Robes of Arcane Ascendance
These finely crafted robes appear as a simple, elegant garment when first acquired, but grow in splendor and ostentatiousness as its wearer grows in power.
- Spell Mastery (Level 5+): At 5th level, the robes bestow upon the wearer the ability to master a single 1st-level spell of their choice. This chosen spell can be cast at its lowest level without expending a spell slot. The spell can be changed whenever the wizard gains a level. At 10th level, the wizard can choose a 2nd-level spell for this feature, and at 15th level, a 3rd-level spell.
- Arcane Resilience (Level 7+): Starting at 7th level, the robes grant the wearer additional hit points equal to their wizard level. This bonus increases as the wizard levels up, making the wizard sturdier and less vulnerable to harm.
- Empowered Cantrips (Level 9+): Beginning at 9th level, the wearer's cantrips become more potent. When the wizard casts a cantrip, they can choose to empower it, causing it to deal additional damage equal to their Intelligence modifier.
- Mystic Attunement (Level 13+): At 13th level, the robes grant the wearer the ability to attune to one additional magical item beyond the normal limit, allowing the wizard to harness more magical power.
- Arcane Resurgence (Level 17+): When the wizard reaches 17th level, the robes manifest their ultimate power. Once per day, when the wizard drops to 0 hit points, they can choose to plane shift to a random dimension with 1 hit point remaining. This ability can be used once per day and recharges at dawn.
Is this overpowered? Probably. Should you care? Probably not.
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2022
That seems like a cool base to work around
Yeah I prefer being a rewards generous DM because as a new DM the players having powerful options means I can try for more interesting encounters without worrying as much about potentially killing everyone because I overtuned it
EleventySeven
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2023
Keep on the Pathfinder shilling, fren. One of these days, WoTC will fuck up so bad they finally stop being the monolith they are right now. Just don't give Paizo your money.
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2019
I swear to God, you better have some sort of Dornan expy and use your best impression both towards the characters and your actual players.
Thankfully when I got to Navarro in my one FO2 playthrough I managed to convince him the supply clerks elsewhere fucked up and never issued me a suit of power armor. War never changes, and I guess that includes supply clerks being cunts about issuing gear, too.
As to the rest of your post, any chance you can get us Kiwis involved somehow? I'd have loved to run through the start of Chaos Earth as the newly-arrived FNG SAMAS pilot, and as dumb, naïve, and gullible and he is oddly talented and lucky.
"Hey, the training manuals didn't cover what to do in case of bizarre extradimensional invasion..."
"SHUT UP AND KILL, PRIVATE!"
"SIR, YES SIR!"
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2022
Speaking of Pathfinder, Pozzo is making some... interesting changes to Lamashtu's entry for 2e's revision:
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2017
The cult of Trannies and Furries. Sounds about right.
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2021
I made an arcane focus for a blood magic user I briefly played. Sadly work prevented me from working pretty quickly.
The Heart Stone Vial: (Requires Attunement) Carved from the Heartstone of a Hag known for her skill in Hemomancy. This vial draws in excess energy from Blood Magic spells, creating a reserve of sanguine energy to be used by the caster.
This item counts as an arcane focus. In addition, whenever you or another creature within 60 feet of you effectively (it must have an express purpose aside from just utilizing this feature of the item) casts a spell that deals Necrotic damage or that would otherwise be classified as Blood Magic you can either choose to gain a Blood Point or to Empower the Heart Stone. Blood Points can be be used in the following ways:
-You can use a bonus action and expend 2 Blood Points to heal yourself for an amount equal to your constitution modifier.
-You can use a bonus action to regain a spell slot by expending an amount of Blood Points equal to 2 + the level of the spell.
-When you are reduced to 0 hit points you can use your reaction and expend 5 Blood Points to instead be reduced to 1 hit point.
-When you cast a spell that deals Necrotic damage or would otherwise be considered Blood Magic you can use a bonus action to expend 3 Blood Points to increase the spell attack modifier or the spell save dc of the spell by 1. You can increase this bonus by 1 by expending 3 additional Blood Points (up to a maximum of +3)
-When you roll the damage dice for a spell that does Necrotic damage or is otherwise considered Blood Magic you can use a bonus action to expend 2 Blood Points to re-roll the damage die and accept the highest results.
This item can hold a number of Blood Points equal to 5+ 2 times your proficiency modifier. You can only gain a number of Blood Points equal to your maximum, after which you must complete a long rest before gaining more Blood Points.
If you choose to instead Empower the Heart Stone. Once your have empowered the Heart Stone 10 times it improves giving the owner +1 to their spell attack rolls and +1 to their spell save Dc (up to a maximum of being empowered 30 times for a bonus of +3). You may only Empower the Heart Stone twice every 24 hours.
This is obviously designed for a specific type of caster but it's something to work with. You could change it to force damage and call the "Arcana Points." or something like that.
This is pretty cool too!
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2017
I can't imagine the tempest in teapot conversations they had to deal with over the OG's descriptors. Some unemployed non-binary 20something writing a twitter thread that gets 60k likes and has the other homos at Paizo clutching their dilators in terror over insensitivity.
While we're on the subject of sanding off any rough edges... Riddle me this, Paizo: what does aberrance mean? What's a monster? Getting dangerously close to having to stick to some sort of morality or rules here, have to be careful.
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2023
>nearly dead
>robes teleport him to a different plane
>elemental plane of fire
Now he's not only burning to death but he's also in a completely different plane of existence so his party members can't even get to him to cast resurrection or whatever