<![CDATA[EN World D&D / RPG News - General RPG Rules Discussion]]> http://www.enworld.org/forum en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:39:11 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/misc/rss.jpg <![CDATA[EN World D&D / RPG News - General RPG Rules Discussion]]> http://www.enworld.org/forum d20 Modern What if the Chariots of the Gods were mechs? AKA Mecha Omega design thread http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/268217-what-if-chariots-gods-were-mechs-aka-mecha-omega-design-thread.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:06:41 GMT So I posted about this awhile back and work on the project has continued, and is nearing completion. The basic idea is that earth was visited in the past by aliens who use genetically engineered giant beasts and giant machines as weapons of war and colonization. After worshiping them as gods... So I posted about this awhile back and work on the project has continued, and is nearing completion.

The basic idea is that earth was visited in the past by aliens who use genetically engineered giant beasts and giant machines as weapons of war and colonization.

After worshiping them as gods for a time the humans threw off their tyrannical yoke, seizing their machines and using them to defeat the giant creatures, driving them from the earth.

From these ancient battles mankind developed the stories of great heroes: Hercules, Arthur, Gilgamesh.

Excalibur (Stonehenge, Britain)

Excalibur lies beneath Stonehenge, one of the largest concentrations of Omega Energy on Earth. Energy from throughout Britain is channeled to this one location through lay lines and standing stones. Because of the abundance of energy, Excalibur is not one mech but many. These are capable of joining together into a truly amazing machine, giving rise not only to tales of the Round Table (which is Stonehenge), Arthur and Merlin but also to stories of groups of warriors joining together for common cause.
Individually the smaller mechs, dubbed “Knights of the Round” in more recent times, look like mechanical lions. When they join together, they resemble a gigantic humanoid that wields a sword of energy.
There are 5 knights of the round mech, which join together to form the Colossal humanoid mech, Excalibur.

Knights of the Round
Superstructure: Quadruped (Huge)
Slots: Chest: 3 (0) Head: 2 (0) Arms: 0 Legs: 6 (0)
Heat: 0
Total Attack Modifier: -1 (-1 Size)
Total Defense Modifier: -1 (-1 Size)
Damage Reduction: 9 (14 vs. physical)
Hit Points: 350
Movement Speed: 140 ft.
Damage: 2d6+20 (melee), 4d12+0 (ranged)
Control Stations: Cockpit 3 (Head)
Defensive Systems: Light Armor 3 x3 (Chest, Head and Legs)
Esoteric Systems: Docking Port 3 (Legs)
Heat Sinks: None
Mobility Gear: Hydraulic Piston 3 x2
Power Sources: None
Sensors: None
Weapons: Claws 3 x2 (Legs), Railgun 3 x2 (Chest)
Total Cost: 113

Excalibur
Superstructure: Humanoid (Colossal)
Slots: Chest: 6 (0) Head: 4 (0) Arms: 6 (0) Legs: 6 (0)
Heat: -3
Total Attack Modifier: (-6 Size, +3 Computerized Targeting)
Total Defense Modifier: (-6 Size, -4 Armor, +3 Pilot Station, +4 ECM)
Damage Reduction: 16 (30 vs. physical)
Hit Points: 600 (+180 Energy Shield)
Movement Speed: 40 ft., Fly 540 ft., Swim 540 ft.
Damage: 4d8+52 (melee), 12d6 (rocket launcher), 4d12 (railguns)
Control Stations: Cockpit 3 (Head), Pilot Station 3 (Head), Weapon Station 3 x2 (Chest)
Defensive Systems: ECM 3 (Arms), Medium Armor 3 x4 (Chest, Head, Arms and Legs), Energy Shield 3 (Chest)
Esoteric Systems:
Heat Sinks: Heat Sink 3 x2 (Legs)
Mobility Gear: Jet Propulsion 3 (Legs), Water Turbine 3 (Legs)
Power Sources (Power Level 18): Reactionless Power 3 x2 (Chest)
Sensors: Radar Sight 3 (Head), Computerized Targeting 3 (Legs)
Weapons: Energy Sword 3 (Arms), Rocket Launcher 3 (Arms), Railgun 3 x3 (Arms)
Total Cost: 326

Technical stuff

These rules are going to be generic OGL.

That means that the mech design rules are self-contained. They're OGL and should work and be understandable by anyone conversant with that system.

But I don't talk about characters at all.

As long as you're dealing with a d20 game where characters receive a Defense bonus (d20 modern, Modern20, Spycraft, Star Wars) then you should be able to use Mecha Omega with zero alterations. ]]> General RPG Rules Discussion Vigilance http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/268217-what-if-chariots-gods-were-mechs-aka-mecha-omega-design-thread.html Help me improve my sci-fi homebrew 4e rules http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/268197-help-me-improve-my-sci-fi-homebrew-d-d-4th-edition-rules.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:07:01 GMT Inspired by the flavor of Eclipse Phase and the familiarity of 4e, I sought to make a 4e-inspired ruleset to handle sci-fi. Here's my first stab, the result of a week or so of fiddling.

My goal is to capture action from settings like Aliens and Halo, with a variety of combat styles. The basic set-up is that instead of classes with powers, you design your character based on a variety of feats (you start with 4).

The main components of the system are the fighting styles. Each fighting style consists of two parts, each of which requires one feat. Style Basis gives some minor static ability, or a modifier to your basic attacks, and Style Expertise gives you a few tricks you can pull off if you battle surge (which you can only do a few times per combat) or have combat focus (which requires a standard action to achieve, but remains until you expend it to perform some sort of immediate interrupt).

For instance, the Two Weapon Fighter style lets you, instead of attacking with one weapon as a standard action, spend a standard and minor to make two attacks against the same target. That's the basic ability. If you spend a second feat to get the expertise, then a few times per combat you can battle surge to make two attacks (at the same or different targets) as one standard action, and if you have your combat focus you can expend it to reload two weapons at once, even if you have no free hands.

My goal of the combat system is to encourage different tempo. Usually you rely on basic attacks (modified by your styles), but occasionally you fall back to attain combat focus so you can pull off more interesting tricks.

I'd like your thoughts, especially if you can come up with some ideas for new fighting styles, or feats. As is, I figure the game runs out of options after 10th level or so.
Attached Files
File Type: doc Sapiens-18Nov.doc (119.5 KB)
]]> General RPG Rules Discussion RangerWickett http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/268197-help-me-improve-my-sci-fi-homebrew-d-d-4th-edition-rules.html Second game session. OUCH!! (Hackmaster Basic) http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/268121-second-game-session-ouch-hackmaster-basic.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:06:37 GMT Well, I am running the free adventure that leads into the new Keep module coming out. So these are spoilers, so if your primarily a player, quit reading. The final battle went brutally. Two rules type things though. The kobolds were in a totally dark cave, but in their descriptions, in the... Well, I am running the free adventure that leads into the new Keep module coming out.

So these are spoilers, so if your primarily a player, quit reading.


The final battle went brutally. Two rules type things though. The kobolds were in a totally dark cave, but in their descriptions, in the module and in the HMB, they do not have any ability to see in the dark. None. So I just went ahead and assumed they did.

Second, I did not spot a map scale. Is there one? I assumed 10 feet per square, was that correct?

Now, for the fight.

Party composition was a Dwarf Fighter, Halfling Cleric, Human Mage, and Dwarven Thief. Attributes ranged from 5 to 17, with the vast majority being around 10. We did old school roll ups, IE by the book, and no switching, so they got the +50 BP bonus for doing so.

No ranged weapons, no one could afford them. Except a sling for the Halfling. Who worships the NG god of Healing.

The Halfling hates Kobolds. The Kobolds were noted as hating Halflings. This comes into play shortly.

The Dwarf Fighter leads the way into the cavern, with a torch. They did not know the cavern was 70 to 80 feet deep. So the dwarf enters. Lit by the torch. Arrows fly. The range has them doing d12. Dwarf's Defense was +2. So I thought he had a fairly decent chance.

I rolled a 8. The dwarf rolls a 5. Damage ensues, two ones. Next roll. I roll an 11. Dwarf rolls a 10. Damage ensues. Third roll, I roll a 10. Dwarf rolls a 15. Good, he may live after all, because he was beat up by the wolf and the snakes on the way here, and was already down 10 HP when this fight started. The next two d12 rolls both beat his defense rolls on a d20. He is now down to 3 HP.

He runs behind the wall when the count gets to 12. The party is freaking out at this time because they now realize they would have to run through a valley of arrows to get to the Kobolds. So I freeze the count and the party debates strategy.

They finally decide on having the halfling go out and taunt them, and when they come in close enough the mage will cast his last Deep Slumber of the day upon them. He also casts Aura of Protection on the halfling to help hiim from being caught by too many arrow hits, which gives the Halfing a total of +12 on defense. (Guess who had 16's and 17's for his attributes?)

So now the count resumes, the spell is cast and the halfling goes out, and by this time the count is to 18. As the halfling comes out to taunt, the Kobolds are ready to shoot their next volley, so they do. Despite the range, and the fact that it was a halfling, one arrow still manages to hit the Halfling.

The Halfling taunts, I have him make a roll, calling it easy based on the Kobolds description of hatred for Halflings. They take the bait and run towards the halfling, dropping their short bows and drawing their daggers. The Halfling stands there screaming insults as they charge him. The MAge, peeking out around the nearby corner, casts Deep Slumber as the group gets within range. Much to the consternation of the mage three of the Kobolds resist his spell, 3 do not, including the leader. The three remaining awake fail to understand the significance, apparently due to their hate filled attention on the Halfling (rolled a 100 for them to understand the change in the tactical situation, FAIL!!)

So as these Kobolds move to close in on the halfling, everyone else moves out. We engage the Halfling and the Kobolds on 22. The Halfling rolls badly on defense and fumbles on his attack. Guess what? The Kobold rolled a Nat 20 on his PERFECT DEFENSE! Halfling gets hit a few times, but is still up. He has 10 HP at this point. The rest of the party engages on 23, all missing. Again, a kobold rolls a PERFECT DEFENSE on the Dwarf Fighter. Fortunately for the fighter I roll a total of 4 damage, so he take s 2, 1 HP left.

To sum up, rolls continue to go rather crappy for the players PC's, and well for the Kobolds. The Halfling tells the thief to go around and Coup De Grace the three sleeping Kobolds, he does. By the time He kills the leader, the dwarf goes down, before he finishes the second one, the Halfling goes down. The mage runs. The kobolds give chase (I made another roll to see if they would remember the thief behind them, they don't). The thief shrugs and kills off the remaing two while the Kobolds chase the mage.

The mage eventually outruns them, so the Kobolds return. Meanwhile the dwarven thief hides behind the crates to the right. When the Kobolds come back in they see that their leader and two others are dead.

They shrug their shoulders, pick up the Halfling body, and head over to have a feast and drink to their most recent victory and victuals.

An hour later, the kobolds full on halfling and wine, go to a deep glutonous sleep. (Rolled a 6 on their check). The Thief sneaks out of his hiding place. I decide that since they are stuffed, and at least moderately drunk, that it would be "easy" for him to sneak around and Coup De Grace them in their sleep. He successfully does so, all 3 rolls perilously close to being failures.

Meanwhile the Mage had come back and decided to wait outside the cave for the Thief. His desperate need for someone to still be alive, besides himself, keeps him there long enough to see the Dwarven Thief walking out to see if the mage had actually gotten away. When he sees the Mage stand from where he had been waiting he says, "I, El Bandito the Fourth, have slain all of the kobold scum!" The mage whoops, and they go in and strip the kobolds, their dead comrades, and the cavern of everything of wealth, including the lead powder. They decide to bury their friends here, near the lake.

They then go to the lake to quickly clean themselves of the smell of urine. They then transport everything back to the wagon, re install the wheel and locking pin they had removed, and go back to town to collect their reward, sell their loot, and drink to the deaths of their friends.

A fine Hackmaster finish, I think. ]]> General RPG Rules Discussion Treebore http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/268121-second-game-session-ouch-hackmaster-basic.html shadowrun http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/268118-shadowrun.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:25:41 GMT How do I find out the cost of skills and groups or better yet, what page? To be more specific the cost when purchasing them with BP not Karma. How do I find out the cost of skills and groups or better yet, what page?

To be more specific the cost when purchasing them with BP not Karma. ]]> General RPG Rules Discussion concerro http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/268118-shadowrun.html Difficulties with the WotC Forums http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267917-difficulties-wizards-coast-forums.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:49:11 GMT Is anyone else on these boards having trouble accessing the WotC forums? When I try, i receive a message saying "A technical error has occurred. Please close your browser and try again."

If so, has anyone found a fix for it? I'm viewing them via Safari, by the way.

-Nate ]]> General RPG Rules Discussion NMC http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267917-difficulties-wizards-coast-forums.html Converting Experience Points to a New System http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267894-converting-experience-points-new-system.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:48:25 GMT I wanted to know the experience points awarded for the following generic adventure piece from each of the different gaming systems...

"The group was asked by a friend to spy on the spy for the thief. They had to travel near the falls known to contain the generous federation famous for their work on the hit van. During the trip they dealt with a sinking ship and had to defeat the assassins near the spring on their own turf. Also, while journeying from a restaurant to a field they encountered a sphinx and were shot at by an atom cannon. Once they completed their task and proved that they were Thrifty (careful with money), Cheerful (always happy and smiling), Truthful (always tells the truth), and Spendthrift (spends money without thought) successfully they received all the supplies and clothing capable of being carried." ]]> General RPG Rules Discussion DanM http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267894-converting-experience-points-new-system.html Opinions needed. What do you do? http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267866-opinions-needed-what-do-you-do.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:38:49 GMT What do you do when you join a campaign and quickly learn that the DM is absolutely lazy and seems to go out of his way to the bare minimum? What do you do when you join a campaign and quickly learn that the DM is absolutely lazy and seems to go out of his way to the bare minimum? ]]> General RPG Rules Discussion DocMoriartty http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267866-opinions-needed-what-do-you-do.html Hackmaster Basic http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267802-hackmaster-basic.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:34:14 GMT Ran my first game session of this last night. At first it felt a bit awkward, especially with how the initiative/rounds mechanic works. Its a count up system, meaning there are no rounds, you just keep counting upward based on how much you move, weapon speeds, etc... My players and I felt... Ran my first game session of this last night. At first it felt a bit awkward, especially with how the initiative/rounds mechanic works. Its a count up system, meaning there are no rounds, you just keep counting upward based on how much you move, weapon speeds, etc...

My players and I felt confused at first, but by the 4th or fifth set of attacks and defenses we all started to see how it was working and are starting to take a liking to it, or at least be accepting of it.

No one played a thief, so we didn't get to see how the Luck rules work.

One big things I noticed is with the DR rules the fighter types are going to have a lot more "stamina" to make it through a lot more battles, so resting won't be as critical, nor will hit point recovery. Still important, just not critical.

For example, the Fighter and Cleric had leather armor and small shields, so a DR of 6 versus every hit. They were fighting wolves who did 2d4+2 damage, so at most they would take 1 to 3 points of damage, and several times took none. Plus the wolves had no chance of breaking the shields, which makes sense to me so no actual problem with that.

The wizard did deep slumber and put 3 of the 5 wolves to sleep, even with the HP limitation of the spell, and with save checks. He then spent the rest of the encounter going around a coup de grace the wolves. So the mage killed 3 wolves to the rest of the parties 2. Kind of cool.

I also liked how the skill system worked. Everyone was a bit questioning about them at first, because some had attributes of 5 and 7, but with using the +10 to -90 modifiers on the difficulty chart it worked real darn well, even for the Universal skill rolls.

Over all I think we are going to take a strong liking to the new Hackmaster. ]]> General RPG Rules Discussion Treebore http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267802-hackmaster-basic.html Fantasy Imperium http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267597-fantasy-imperium.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:28:14 GMT Anyone played it?

I picked up the book at GenCon a few years ago. It's very detailed and thought out, but I couldn't figure out how combat could actually be done without a computer.

Has anyone else seen/played this system? ]]> General RPG Rules Discussion Dragongrief http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267597-fantasy-imperium.html Help Me Decide on a Project! http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267568-help-me-decide-project.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:21:43 GMT Like many others, I seem to be afflicted with Gamer ADHD when it comes to deciding on a project to work on. I have narrowed my choices down to two possibilities. Both will be based on Castles & Crusades because that is my current system of choice. I would like your help in deciding which one would have the most appeal TO YOU PERSONALLY as a gamer. If you don’t like either and/or don’t like C&C, feel free to ignore. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

CODE NAME: Warriors & Warlords

- A swords & sorcery flavored-version of C&C
- Low-magic, focus on combat and action
- Possibly include an ‘ability tree’ system similar to those used in Exalted and Iron Heroes
- No mental or social attributes (maybe) – let the players roleplay these

CODE NAME: Dynasties & Dominions

- A ‘dominion ruling’ game
- PCs start and/or rule/expand their own dominions
- Rules for running a kingdom, wars etc.
- Designed to be friendly for messageboard and email play ]]> General RPG Rules Discussion AnthonyRoberson http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267568-help-me-decide-project.html <![CDATA[[RCFG] RCFG Playtest Document Available]]> http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267563-rcfg-rcfg-playtest-document-available.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:32:35 GMT http://www.danieljbishop.ca/RCFG%20P...20O2009PRR.pdf

EDIT: Comments are very welcome. If you don't want to comment here, please email me at ravencrowking at hotmail dot com. Thank you.

If you do give it a whirl, and let me know what you think/how it works for you, I'll be happy to list you & your group among the playtesters in the actual release.

Thanks again!


RC ]]> General RPG Rules Discussion Raven Crowking http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267563-rcfg-rcfg-playtest-document-available.html Is Iron Heroes Dead http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267519-iron-heroes-dead.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:56:20 GMT Fiery Dragon seems to be letting Iron Heroes drift into obscurity. Does anyone know if a 2nd Edition is in the works? Fiery Dragon seems to be letting Iron Heroes drift into obscurity. Does anyone know if a 2nd Edition is in the works? ]]> General RPG Rules Discussion AnthonyRoberson http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267519-iron-heroes-dead.html Seeking Fantasy Writers and would-be Writers http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267447-seeking-fantasy-writers-would-writers.html Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:40:22 GMT Hi, I am a small publisher of a new quarterly periodical and am looking for people to contribute articles, columns, adventures, short stories (fiction), and the like for Fantasy RPGs. Let me know what you like to play. Let me say at the outset that I do indeed pay for all submissions that... Hi,

I am a small publisher of a new quarterly periodical and am looking for people to contribute articles, columns, adventures, short stories (fiction), and the like for Fantasy RPGs. Let me know what you like to play.

Let me say at the outset that I do indeed pay for all submissions that are accepted for publication and said payment is made when the article appears in print. My pay rates are not extravagant but as I said I am a small publisher and thus am working on a fixed budget per issue.

If this interests you; or you know of someone that would be interested please forward this message on, please email me back at vondoors@gmail.com.

In your email, please tell me the following:
- What fantasy rpgs you are interested in.
- If you have had articles (or other stuff) published before.
- If you work for any game manufacturers or game publishers at present since I would not like for you to be in a conflict of interest position. :)

Many kind thanks for reading this positing,

Cheers,
VDoors ]]> General RPG Rules Discussion vondoors http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267447-seeking-fantasy-writers-would-writers.html Eclipse Phase http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267280-eclipse-phase.html Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:18:20 GMT Saw the book in the FLGS yesterday, and it looks pretty neat (both physically (similar production quality to SR4A) and content-wise). Does anyone have any experience with this game, yet? Bye Thanee Saw the book in the FLGS yesterday, and it looks pretty neat (both physically (similar production quality to SR4A) and content-wise).

Does anyone have any experience with this game, yet? :)

Bye
Thanee ]]> General RPG Rules Discussion Thanee http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267280-eclipse-phase.html What Science Fiction Games are being played these days? http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267249-what-science-fiction-games-being-played-these-days.html Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:50:48 GMT I was surprised to see very few science fiction (in the sense of spaceships not cyberpunks) games on the local gaming store and book store shelves (I was looking at a few of each kind). The only science fiction RPGs that I saw more than once were Serenity and Star Wars. I tried looking up... I was surprised to see very few science fiction (in the sense of spaceships not cyberpunks) games on the local gaming store and book store shelves (I was looking at a few of each kind). The only science fiction RPGs that I saw more than once were Serenity and Star Wars.

I tried looking up Traveller and it seems to have been mostly forgotten (aside from some poorly reviewed Mongoose game products that weren't actually stocked anywhere I looked). Hero seems to have undergone a revision (6th ed) that doesn't current support a space option.

Are the generic (non-universe specific) science fiction games gone? ]]> General RPG Rules Discussion Votan http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/267249-what-science-fiction-games-being-played-these-days.html