[WFRP2E] Wyrdstone

[kumada]

Walp, I am assuming that everyone has fled this thread, never to return.

But, if not, lemme know if you're still here?

If Garden isn't up for running a thing, I have a home-made system that could use some testing.

[gardenphilosoph]

I'm still checking every couple of days, was pondering running a game but think that's just a little too big a burden until January. Am trying to get a game of Durance going at another forum, but posting there is slow. What's your home-made system? I think I could participate in a game.

[kumada]

The working title is Insignia Ice.

It's a troupe game set in a high-fantasy/fantasy bizzaro/post-magipocalypse renaissance world. Mechanics-wise, it's about as complex as 7th Sea or L5R. Fluff-wise, I still have a lot of world details that I need to hammer out.

[gardenphilosoph]

Oh man, I love post-something bizarro settings. The renaissance flavour is interesting. I'm neither familiar with 7th Sea or L5R mechanics-wise, but I'd be excited to hear more.

[kumada]

Okay, here's the overview on the rules:

-Dice checks use a pool of d10s, and involve rolling (attribute) dice and trying to get under (skill) number.

-Combat can be either physical or social, and uses a rock-paper-scissors system to add an element of strategy to every roll.

-Game actions take place in broadly defined 'zones.' Outside of combat, an entire city district might be a zone. Inside of combat, there might be separate zones for each room of a building.

-There are separate mini-games for weapon smithing and estate management.

-There is a 'connection' system that allows allies to cash in on good RP for persistent bonuses when they work together.

-There are six categories of weapons to choose from, each with its own unique bonuses. Weapons may be switched on the fly, without penalty, and each starting character is automatically trained in two.

-Initiative uses a bidding system, making turn order a tactical decision instead of a roll of the dice.

-Skills and knowledges are separate things, and knowledges are bought from a different pool of points, allowing your character to know things that fit his concept without compromising his ability to function in combat.

-Tricks and special abilities are provided to further customize characters.

-A detailed list of mounts, all with unique bonuses, allow PCs to ride in style without clogging up the initiative order with separate creatures.

And here's the overview on the setting:

-Nearly a millennium ago, an unexplained cataclysm shook the land, staining parts of it with thaumic energies. Life has adapted to living near a magically radioactive hotspot, and kingdoms have grown around it.

-Playable races include steppe-dwelling russo-mongolian beastmen, golems built from the parts of their own dead, monastic cranes that believe themselves to be angels, philosopher spiders living in massive subterranean swarm-cities, venetian humans with an eye for trade, and their agrarian neighbors who are constantly preyed on by horrifying elves.

[gardenphilosoph]

I like roll-under systems, they seem elegant to me. BRP seemed to be the epitome of this.

The 'physical OR social' element reminds me of DitV, which I like. Also rock-paper-scissors means that for every strength there's a weakness, which I also like.

Your zone idea reminds me of rooms in parser-based interactive fiction, I feel they can be really flexible. Are there different rules within certain zones? Defining them as mechanically different zones must mean that there are some mechanical differences between them, yeah? Or is it just a location thing?

Interesting focus for mini-games, I assume it has to do with the setting.

I'm super curious as to what the six categories of weapons are.

Bidding initiative once again reminds me of DitV, which is, once again, great. I feel like it'd be clunky for play-by-post, but I also assume that you're designing this for your real-life group.

Love the idea of separated skills and knowledge, though I don't envy your job of separating the two. The lines probably blur somewhere...though I guess knowledge of a gun versus skill/handling of a gun are two pretty different things, hmm.

I feel like Edges/Feats/whatever are always needed to give a sense of progression with the character. They also provide a nice game-iness. Crunch, I think they call it.

Once again curious how mounts will be implemented mechanically, they seem to be a pretty niche thing. Outside of combat or large-scale travel I can't see them playing that big a role.

Love what you described of the setting. I feel like Russo-Mongolian beastmen is the most elegant progression of 'fantasy orcs', though I assume that's no t what you're going for. Are the golems organic or inorganic? Cranes are great creatures, and I don't think I've seen any crane-men in any fiction yet. Love the idea of philosopher spiders, curious what their lifespan is, and the level of variation in their race. Venetian humans remind me of the Empire in Warhammer Fantasy, which is not a bad thing. I love fantasy that makes elves exotic and horrifying, notably Dark Sun, though Zak Smith's Vornheim does something similar I think. I always thought that Russian folkloric forest-witch/demons and elves would go hand in hand.

Overall reminds me of a bit of Bas-Lag, from what little you told me. Excited to hear more.

[kumada]

Not gonna lie, this was not designed to be run pbp, so there may be some clunkiness there.

With skills v. knowledges, the major difference is that knowledges cannot be rolled. At maximum level, they do provide a minor mechanical benefit, but otherwise they represent a broad category of information that a player can feel free to ask the GM about. The higher their knowledge, the more accurate the information they get will be.

Zones are very similar to the way they would work in a mud or something similar. They do matter mechanically, since a zone can be stacked with different global effects, and one weapon allows you to target attacks into adjacent zones.

Mounts are basically a big bag of minor bonuses that you can graft onto your character with a high enough mount skill. Mechanically, they give you options like performing aerial evasions or small bonuses to carry capacity, zone movement, or attacks. The major kicker for me is that they don't usually take damage, and so can matter a little more in RP than the usual DnD horse does.

Bas-Lag is definitely an influence, as is Fire Emblem. If you crashed the two together, you'd have a very good model for this setting. I'll go a little bit more into detail on that when I thresh out the character creation thread... although I'm not sure when it is that I'll have that up. Maybe thursday? I'll keep you posted.

[gardenphilosoph]

I'm still curious about how zones work during combat. Such a broad definition, and the possibilities for mechanical interaction during combat are pretty big. I'd think that melee weapons would only be effective in their immediate zone, but-hmm.

Again, I think this is something that will make more sense when I get a better feel for the world, but mounts still seem like a relatively esoteric thing to bestow mechanical benefits on. I assume by mounts you mean tamed/domestic beasts of burden, or possibly vehicles, but they can hardly go around with you everywhere. Indoors, in cities, underground/underwater environments...not to mention they're easily killed, though you did say these don't take damage. The image that comes to my mind is that of an MMORPG mount, a conjurable thing that provides some mechanical boost, though clearly that's not what you're doing. Super curious.

I vaguelly recall playing Fire Emblem, don't much remember the storyline though. Bas-Lag I absolutely adore, I believe you introduced me to Perdido Street Station. I still haven't read Iron Council.

Have you read any of Mieville's other books?

[kumada]

An MMO mount is actually a pretty good analogy. They're not quite the same thing, but I wanted mounts in II to be convenient, rather than a liability.

As for Mieville stuff I've read: Un-Lun-Dun, Perdido Street Station, The Scar, Iron Council, Kraken, Looking for Jake, and The City And The City. I haven't gotten to Embassytown or Railsea yet, but I think Perdido Street Station is his best so far. The Scar has great world-building, and The City and the City packs a hell of a message, but neither one quite surpasses that original novel.

Oh, and as long as we're on the subject of books, two recommendations: "Eutopia" by David Nickle, and "The Alchemy of Stone" by Ekaterina Sedia.

[kumada]

And here we go:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...7#post14402457

[gardenphilosoph]

I started Embassytown, never got to finish. That and Kraken I loved in concept, and both had a lot of neat Mieville moments, but I couldn't particularly find a taste for the whole thing. Kraken in particular. I loved so many parts of it, but as a whole it was megh. Looking for Jake I haven't been able to find, and I've been meaning to get to the City and the City.

Eutopia looks amazing, I think I'll go scoop it up today. The Alchemy of Stone also looks interesting.

I've been reading Red Claw by Philip Palmer, intelligently written sci-fi pulp with a touch of humour.

Random question, what do you think of Kindles?

[kumada]

I started Embassytown, never got to finish. That and Kraken I loved in concept, and both had a lot of neat Mieville moments, but I couldn't particularly find a taste for the whole thing. Kraken in particular. I loved so many parts of it, but as a whole it was megh.

This. 100%. I never got to finish Kraken, due to someone evidently walking off with it at a doctor's office, but that was the impression I had all along. Cool world-building, nothing I could really feel connected to.

As for kindles, I think I would use one all the time if I had it, although that would also be true for an ipad. Physical books are nice, but they're kind of more of a luxury thing, and any convenient mobile device that would let me both read and write would pretty much never leave my side.

[gardenphilosoph]

I don't think I ever finished it either. Everything was so loosely connected, I don't know.

Heh, an electronic tablet is a cheaper option than physical books? I know what you mean. I don't know, I don't want to replace physical books, but the convenience of a lit screen reading at night would be cool.

[gardenphilosoph]

Also, Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall. Amazing.

[Shunka Warakin]

Folks, a bit of a family emergency has come up, my mother-in-law slipped and damaged a few disks, so instead of her visiting us, my hubby and I are going to go visit her.

I have absolutely no idea if I'll be around internet access. She has email, but it might be from a cell phone.

With any luck this won't consist of an interruption other than a couple of all-day-drives but I figured I should let you know just in case I suddenly drop off the map until around New Year's.

[kumada]

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope she's okay.

No worries about the interruption in posting. It seems like I'm actually running a thing now (link above), and you're more than welcome to join if you like, but it sounds like you've got a hectic couple of days ahead of you.

[Shunka Warakin]

Crud. I posted my reply from the previous page, never saw that a new page ahd opened. Was still waiting to hear about Cold City and a whole new game has started!

And filled up, too.

Ah well, perhaps next time! It's too bad. I was looking forward to playing CC.

[kumada]

It's not actually full up, if you'd still like to get in on the crazy mess that is character creation in Insignia Ice.