All Kinds of Fun!
Just a note to keep my place:
The offensive dice are:
Black die: 1-2-2-3-3-3
White die: 0-0-1-2-3-4
White die: 0-1-2-3-4-5
The defensive dice are:
Red: 1-1-1-2-2-3
Green: 0-0-0-0-1-2
Two things really quickly:
What if werewolves and vampires were allergic to gold instead of silver.
What if, to fight the threat, alchemists created a liquid gold called alchemist gold. It’s like mercury, just gold.
(then, what if it is really sunlight that changes lycanthropes, and not the moon?
Gotta run, more later.
Latest update from Scott is that the GSL will likely be out late tomorrow.
With all this buildup, I certainly hope it is not an index to the first three books.
My interest, by the way, is not so much the game as how the GSL looks. Open gaming brought D&D back to profitability and generated a ton of interest. If folks get greedy, then it is possible to lose the benefits of free content.
I guess we’ll see.
Ok. This is my destiny, I think.
Must ponder over the weekend while I’m out of town. This is just too great.
WARNING: Mnemosyne may be delayed.
I looked at the 4e books the other day in the store. They look very nice.
I was excited about seeing the 4e GSL and how that had changed, but ‘early next week’ has turned into ‘later next week’. I expect that will turn into ‘early next month’ and then ‘Sept 2008′.
The stickler, I believe, is coming up with a policy for fansites. If there is no official GSL content until October, how do you keep fans from creating content until then?
Spelljammer 4e on hold?!?!?
As Brown Jenkin on EnWorld notes, it will either be out today or July 7th.
As a result of work with BTRC materials, a couple major changes are coming.
Normal score for an attribute is changing from 3 to 4. This means that starting point pools will increase appropriately. Points for Skills remain the same. Normal skill level for any given skill remains 2.
Along with this, the STR table has been completely changed with different weights. However, the exact correspondence of score to kilograms will be in the GM Guide. For each increase in the STR attribute, the character is 1.5 times stronger. In other words, a character with an STR 5 is 1.5 times stronger than a character with an STR 4. This remains consistent, regardless of scale.
If a player wishes to perform a lifting or breaking or other feat of strength, it will be a skill roll against the Strength (or BODY in MUSE) attribute. The Target Number will be determined by the approximate weight of the object. Again, this will be in the GMs guide. This was done to avoid getting bogged down in exactly how much a certain object weighs. This also allows for supernatural feats of strength that some people have done under great stress without providing a talents, traits, or costing an action point.
A score of 4 STR and BODY yields 2d6 punch damage. This is slightly more than the old scale in Action! To determine punch damage, divide the STR (or BODY) attribute by 2. Fractions are changed into +2. For example, a STR of 5 does 2d6+2 damage.
Melee weapons, kicks, and martial arts techniques do damage based on Punch damage. Damage for any of these items will be listed as punch+x. (I still have to consider how this affects characters with a greater STR than 10.) Melee weapons will do lethal damage, instead of stun damage. Depending on the specific weapon, they will also do penetrating damage.
As far as bladed weapons go, Knives do punch-2 P/L, Daggers do Punch P/L, Short Swords do Punch+2 P/L, Broadswords do Punch+D6 P/L, Hand-and-a-Half Swords do Punch+D6+2 P/L, and Great Swords do Punch+2d6 P/L.
Clubs and such do damage based on mass of the club. A Tetsubo does Punch+2d6 B/L damage, while a typical baseball bat does Punch+2 B/L damage.
More things will be developed. It is hoped that by using BTRC materials, there will be a consistency of scale. Mark Arsenault, the creator of Action! used 3G3, so I see it as more of a continuation of his work using tools that he used.
The excellent materials from Blacksburg Technical Research Center keep coming. After buying the older 3G3 product, I invested in the EABA Stuff! product. I like them both, though I must confess that I enjoy 3G3 more. (It has more math and more detail.) Both systems are compatible, so I use them both.
3G3 is being used to create weapons with odd characteristics. For example, caseless silver bullets for discreetly hunting down those with silver allergies. Other examples include odd calibers, stone cannonballs, and the like.
Stuff! is being used for creature creation, vehicle and mech creation, and the all important gizmos such as the TK gun (telekinesis gun - handheld rail pistol), magic wands, and other things.
The amazing thing about both products is that a person with too much time (me) can scale just about anything.
It has already affected a major change. More on that in the next post.
Played first half of one game against the Tornadoes of the BFL.
I’m getting killed, though I managed to hold on to the ball for the last 10 minutes of the second quarter. It’s 17 - 0. Brunell is 3 for 13 in the first half. The biggest offensive play of the game was an interception thrown by Brunell to a DB that fumbled it back to me 38 yards down field.
Still, it’s fun to play again. I remember why I love Statis-Pro Football.
Some time ago, the Blacksburg Tactical Research Center wrote an interesting game aid called Guns, Guns, Guns. The interesting thing was that this was a system designed to help the GM create consistent weapons of all kinds. Everything from swords to railguns are covered. Not only that, you can create weapons that are “ahead of their time”. For example, the tech exists for a rail gun today, but no standard issue soldier has one that we know of. However, if you want to have a secret commando group that has a prototype, there is a way to create one.
Swords? Yes, swords, axes, bows and crossbows. All of these are detailed as well. One thing to note is that there is a theory that a heavier blade delivers more damage. That is mostly true. Mass and velocity do the damage, not just mass alone. Given that, it balances it pretty well. Still, if you put in an unrealistically heavy sword (like 10 kg for a two handed sword), you’ll get a powerful blade. That is probably the book’s only flaw, though it suits RPG pretty well.
I am creating spreadsheets to cover all kinds of weapons, including a ‘gun’ for Bedriana. I’m using magic in a slightly different way than I’m accustomed, I’m using it to create better ‘black powder’. The shot will still be stone or a round iron ball (which is not as accurate as a slug). It’s great to be able to create this.
Even better, a consistent system for everything from a club to a particle beam.
Oh yeah, there’s lots and lots of math.
sorry, I drooled a bit.
Sycarion Diversions hopes to be a different type of game company. Our mission isn’t unique, we want people to be entertained by playing games. What’s different is that we aren’t completely about selling games. The rules of all our games are free.
That’s right, the rules are free. In addition to that, any ideas on our blog are available with a few rights reserved. Basically, just say you got it here.
So how do we make money? Since we are in the business of selling entertainment, any money we make comes from providing conveniences to our customers, time with game creators, merchandise, and patronage. Basically, we sell dice, pre-made game boards, pre-printed rules (like a hard-cover edition or paperback), t-shirts, etc.
The rest of the story can be found here.