Topics

1

General Chaos / Cyberpunk 2077

« on: January 14, 2013, 02:03:58 PM »

So CD Projekt RED, the makers of The Witcher 1 and 2, are working on a video-game based around the Cyberpunk 2020 tabletop RPG universe. However, setting it Fifty years in the future from now, the setting will be much less as a future as envisioned in the 80's without wireless, and something more akin to, say Deus Ex Human Revolution's cyberpunk setting.

There's very little information about the game as of now, except that it will be a "sandbox" RPG with "meaningful choices".

The first video I'll post is a CGI teaser trailer made to promote the game, the second a small interview with Mike Pondsmith, the creator of Cyberpunk 2020, regarding the change in setting and the decision to create a video-game based around the tabletop game.

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So, what are your thoughts on this new videogame? On the new Cyberpunk setting? On girls in white undies with giant metallic claws sticking out from their forearms?

EDIT: Some more info.

There's a flash of text in the trailer at the 2:13 mark.

    Do you like our latest creation? We certainly hope so! You may remember that we sometimes send you guys secret messages like this. It's a great way for us to speak right to you instead of burying ourselves in corporate mumbo jumbo, so let's begin!

    First of all--have you noticed all the details in our teaser (Yes, it's a teaser. We'll make a proper trailer in the future)? If you know the Cyberpunk setting, there are some things you can spot, like implants--look for the weapon hands and the real skin -- corporate emblems that should look familiar, and more. Happy hunting!

    You're probably curious about the release. It's currently scheduled a way off in 20(14,15,16?) but in truth the delivery date is more like "when it's done". We will release Cyberpunk to you when we're convinced it is nothing but pure, refined, unadulterated awesome. We want it to be the most kick ass futuristic RPG ever-- OK, maybe this sounds pretty bully, but it is our actual goal! You judge if we deliver it!

    Oh--And you may wonder why we announced our game so early before the release. The reason is that we're still building our Dev team, so if you are a talented dude or dudette, willing to work in a really different company (gamers rule & boring corporate stuff drools) on a single ambitious project, send us your application right now! careers@cdprojectred.com

    So, you want to know what kind of game Cyberpunk 2077 will be? The short description is that it will be a story-heavy, nonlinear, open world RPG based on the well known Cyberpunk pen&paper system and setting. Building open world games is something we are mastering right now, and we believe (misspelled in trailer, heh) that properly joining nonlinear gameplay with an excellent story telling will bring a totally new quality. Hmm.. we'll tell some more about it soon!

    And that's not all that's new, we are about to reveal our other project, which is much closer to being completed and yes, it will also be a fully open-world game with an intense story. You can probably guess the game we're talking about - on the 5th of February it will all be clear.

    So stay tuned as we will have quite a lot to show and tell you soon!

    We are waiting for you on our newly created forum called afterlife--what other name could we have chosen for it?

    CD Project Red Team

So, the game is still pretty far off, but that doesn't mean we can't ogle at it a bit.

2

RPGs / Roll20: Online Tabletop

« on: June 05, 2012, 12:45:26 PM »

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Roll20 is an web-based virtual tabletop with webcam support and online libraries for tokens, maps and music/sound effects.

Some of you might remember the Kickstarter for Roll20, which was extremely successful.

Now, it has gone into open beta. Just register an account and you can try it out yourselves.

http://roll20.net/

It looks really neat, I'm thinking of running a one-shot on it to test it out myself.

3

Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Dungeons: The Dragoning 40,000 7th Edition

« on: April 26, 2011, 12:31:56 PM »

For ten thousand years, the Lady of Pain has silently ruled the city of Sigil, master of the hub of the Portal network despite the petty wars of the gods.

The city of Sigil is the largest metropolis in the Astral Sea, untold millions making sacrifices to sustain it and ensure the continued survival of their people in the face of a hostile multiverse.

From hundreds of Crystal Spheres, teeming with the Clueless and monsters, refugees and opressors alike come to find their place in a larger galaxy, to find treasure fame and fortune amongst the planes.

Beset on all sides by foes of such malice it would sear a man's soul to know but a fraction of their blasphemies, only the strongest and most ruthless survive. Foes from within and without seek to overthrow the Lady's rule, throwing themselves on the Throne of Blades in vain efforts to destroy in a moment the eons of her rule.

The Great Devourer comes from the Far Realm beyond the Astral Sea, driven to consume all before it and Ork savages surge from their barbaric empires to pillage and slaughter.

The vengeful Eldarin cite prophetic visions as they raid and destroy even their own cousins, and an ancient evil arises from tombs sealed at the dawn of creation.

In the grim darkness of the great wheel, there is only war.

A game that rips off so many tabletop games that it might just get sued.

An amalgamation of game rules that just sounds awesome.

An April Fools joke taken too far.

The core rulebook is here.

I am now in the process of creating my first character: a Werewolf Dragonborn, devout of Khorne, who specializes in wielding Laspistols and Katanas.



EDIT: In my stupor, I posted this in the RPPR forum. Someone should move it over to RPG board.

4

A Time of Eclipse / 03A- Hemel

« on: March 16, 2011, 01:14:56 PM »

19:21

Gastown, Noctis City

The sun has set and the neon lights turn on in Noctis City's entertainment district. As the area is closed to vehicles, Ace leaves his electric bicycle in the nearby parking lot, walking the rest of the way. Meier said he was in a bar called Hemel, around one of the more up-scale areas of Gastown. The district has a pseudo-Victorian feel: gas lampposts line the streets, brass gear mechanisms open and close doors to the stores, ridiculously antiquated machines with no evident purpose spew steam and smoke. Many of the people walking around dress in neo-Victorian costumes- many of the women are wearing gowns and bonnets while men wear frock coats and top hats. A synthmorph passes next to Ace, complex mechanisms and gears exposed to the air and a coal stove strapped to its back.

After a bit of walking, Ace finds Hemel. The bar is unassuming in appearance; one would almost pass it by if one did not have a waypoint marker right on it. The entrance is a single doorstep with gold rails. A large man, wearing a tuxedo and a monocle, stands at the doorway. While Ace stays back surveying the area, he sees a couple step to the entrance. The large man takes a scanner out of his pockets and checks both of them for weapons. Finding none, the man wishes them a pleasant evening as the couple enters the establishment.

[OOC] You can give me either a Concealment check to hide your weapons or just turn them in to the doorman before entering. You could also try to persuade the doorman, though that will be difficult. (-30 penalty.)

5

A Time of Eclipse / 02B- TTO Office

« on: February 15, 2011, 01:33:51 PM »

18:58
TTO Offices

Ace, Oriole and Friction enter the main lobby for the Tharsis Terraforming Office. A large fountain occupies the wall to the right of the lobby, synchronizing the jettisoning of the  water in such a way that certain words are created as they pour down. Reading through them, they are mostly TTO slogans about their ongoing efforts to terraform the planet. A female receptionist sits at a counter to the far side of the entrance underneath a large TTO logo: the left side of the ‘O’ is red and the right side is green. The secretary is sleeved in an attractive sylph morph. To the left, a large corridor leads to the main office hallways.

As far as getting replies from your contacts, your muses inform you that they are taking extra precautions and so are making sure to establish encrypted connections and messaging them in the most effective manner based on previous messages.

[OOC] You three decided to take extra time, so the results of the Networking rolls won’t be apparent yet.

6

A Time of Eclipse / 02A- Riveira's Apartment

« on: February 15, 2011, 11:51:37 AM »

18:58

Reb Riveira’s Apartment

Lien’s address takes Reaver and Zeeb to one of the more run-down areas in Pembroke Gardens. The building is a prefab metallic foam apartment complex: dark grey walls with a definite preference of functionality over architectural aesthetics. The people who walk around look shady at best; among the crowd there are several obvious Triad gangsters peddling organic drugs, petals and illegal XPs.

The main door of the building is wide open, and occasionally a person will enter or leave through it. From outside, a main staircase can be seen. The address points to an apartment on the third floor.

Jeeves pops up in Reaver’s entoptics, a balding man wearing a butler uniform consisting of a suit and red tie. “It seems like Sarah does remember that unfortunate incident. Maybe we could try to check with someone else in the @ network, but I’m sure Sarah is now aware you’re looking for information there and will try to hinder your progress.”

[OOC] You can try Networking: Anarchists again, but you will have a -10 modifier to the check.

7

The Mesh / Pulse: OOC thread

« on: February 08, 2011, 07:57:45 AM »

This thread is for the Out of Character discussion for the game.

Some background to the first post IC, the PCs were asked to enter the Simulspace environment at 18:30 to meet with the Firewall Proxy that would provide your last briefing regarding the mission.

Inside the Simulspace environment, you have an avatar of yourself. Whether this avatar is how your character looks or if it is a custom avatar, it is up to you. Make sure to describe your look in the thread.

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A Time of Eclipse / 01- The Briefing

« on: February 08, 2011, 07:57:31 AM »

Noctis-Qianjiao, Mars
18:31 (AMT-8)
August 26th - AF 10

As the sun begins its descent towards the red horizon, a cool breeze snakes its way through the Noctis Labyrinthus canyon, one of the first signals of the incoming night and the freezing temperature it brings. At the bottom of the canyon, ice crystals begin forming along the shore of River Noctis and the water stream starts to slow down. At the northern and southern banks of the river two large city domes dominate the landscape, while several smaller domes and souks sprawl around the remaining areas. Along the canyon ridges come the blinding lights of the mirror arrays pointing the last sunrays of the day at the city domes before the sun sets completely.

The city itself never sleeps, but changes at the turn of the night. In the domes and souks there is a flurry of movement as the normal working shifts end and the city opens the areas of entertainment and vice for the incoming clientele. The Cut and the various skyways of the city become streams of light as aircraft and Maglev trains return to the city. The Night Train snakes around the lesser domes, moving along the Noctis Tram system.

Interlaying the city is the network that connects every facet of living, the Mesh. Information, entertainment, socialization and pornography is brought at the reach of all. But behind this flashy exterior there are shadier groups moving through this network- hundreds of illegal conversations and operations at a single time. One in particular is taking place at this moment, one which is of utmost importance to every resident of the city, though few are aware of it.

----------------------------------

Connecting to network (i-XXXXXXXXXX)
Account verification successful
Passcode verification successful
Mesh ID verification successful
Ego ID verification successful

Entering Simulspace environment (ID UNKNOWN: ENCRYPTED)
Simulspace Time Dilation: x0.04

A loud roar greets you when you enter the Simulspace environment. The first thing you see is a waterfall moving a large quantity of water, vapor and foam creating a thick and mysterious fog. You are standing inside a large hut on top of a hill to the right of the waterfall which provides a beautiful view of the stream. Through the fog kicked up by the waterfall you can see jungle stretching out as far as the eye can see. Some exotic bird chirps can be heard, most are drowned out by the powerful roar of the waterfall. The air is humid but not uncomfortably so and smells fresh, with the subtle tinge of wet soil.

The hut has a straw roofing and polished ceramic flooring. Four tasteful white leather sofas are arranged in a square around a mahogany coffee table. A woman, or at least a woman avatar, sits on one of the sofas. She is about mid 30's, of Asian descent and with well-kept black hair pulled back in a tidy bun. She wears a professional yet fashionable orange outfit with an animated golden dragon, most likely the latest in Noctis-Qianjiao's fashion industry.

She smiles and as she does so the waterfall lowers the volume to a pleasant hum. "Ni hao, Sentinels," she says, "I am glad to see you have arrived on time. We shall begin the briefing now. Please, have a seat." She gestures towards the sofas around the table. "You may call me Lien."

"As you may know, I have been assigned as your Proxy for this mission. I will serve as the link between Firewall and you. I will also answer any questions I can regarding the mission as you have my full collaboration. Do you have anything you wish to ask regarding Reb Riveira's disappearance?"

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The Mesh / Pre-game & Character Creation Discussion

« on: February 02, 2011, 11:07:11 AM »

This will be the thread used for character creation and discussing the scenario before it begins.

As of now, I have these active players:
Robot Master - Playing Jacob Dharuna
Moondog - Playing Matthew Harding
Mckma - Playing Alex Davis
DancingWarPanda - Playing Khalil Jakarin
csr556 - Playing Dmitri Johnson


Once the characters have been created we will start the scenario.

10

Recruitment Board / Eclipse Phase PBP Interest Check (3-6 players)

« on: January 26, 2011, 12:01:24 PM »

Game Title: Pulse
System: Eclipse Phase
Players Wanted: 3-6
Posting Rate: Once per day except Saturdays and Sundays.
Special Rules: We will probably be using Average Damage Value to calculate damage while needing less dice rolls. Other than that, rules as written.
Advancement Rules: Checkpoint-based / as the investigation progresses.

There seems to be some interest for playing Eclipse Phase in the forums, and recently I’ve wanted to run an Eclipse Phase game. The CC license allows the quick distribution of the PDFs and the setting is so rich that it benefits from additional description that PBP brings.

For those that don’t know what Eclipse Phase is, it’s a science-fiction RPG set in the not too distant future, after the technological singularity happened. This brought about the everyday use of nanotechnology, cyborgs, mind digitalization, genetic augmentations, uplifted animals, highly advanced AIs, and other advances in science. However, it also brought the creation of a self-improving military AI called Total Information Tactical Awareness Networks, or TITANs. They became self-aware and decided to destroy civilization as we know it in an event known as the Fall.

To escape the TITANs, those privileged or lucky enough left Earth and emigrated to the solar system, while Earth became a deadly wasteland. Suddenly, the TITANs vanished. No one really knows where they went or why, though there are theories that their disappearance is linked to the first discoveries of Pandora Gates, gates that go to alien planets far from our solar system.

Since Earth is still plagued by the horrors the TITANs left behind during the Fall, humanity has started to rebuild in other planets. As nations fell during the Fall, the government is now controlled by hypercorporations in the inner system, while the outer system has been colonized by autonomist factions and the infamous Jovian Junta.

Ten years after the Fall, humanity is still alive and kicking even if they are scattered and divided. But there is still a great deal of risks to transhumanity because of the many dangerous technologies that have been developed. To fight these existential threats, an organization known as Firewall has been created. It has a membership spanning many worlds, factions and backgrounds;, all with the same dedication to prevent another event such as the Fall.

If the fluff doesn’t interest you, then perhaps this might: since consciousness has been digitized in what can be thought of as USB drive, the mind and the body are now two separate entities. People can change bodies in a process they call ‘resleeving’, and the mind can be backed-up regularly so as to become effectively immortal. This means that PCs can come from any walk of transhuman life, including a Fall survivor, an uplifted octopus, or an AGI. (Artificial General Intelligence, a human-like AI.) Player customization is almost limitless with the many morphs, implants, skills, backgrounds, reputation and gear that the game includes.

---

The game will be investigation-based, with some horror thrown in. It’ll likely be RP-heavy but combat may happen depending on the choices (or rolls) you make. The game will be set on Mars, possibly the city of Noctis-Qianjiao. The players will be Firewall agents who have conducted missions in Mars before, brought in to investigate the disappearance of a Firewall Crow after he sent a message to Firewall regarding important information on the TITANs and requesting protection.

I will try to post at least once a day, and the players should post regularly too- there’s no need to write several pages when posting, just a few sentences can do as long as the rhythm can be maintained. How we deal with days we know we won’t be able to post and such we can work out before the game begins.

Both those who have played EP before and those that want to try it out are welcome to join. I can upload the books in PDF form, so there's no worry about having the physical copy (though I highly recommend buying it).  We can discuss on how to run the game in more detail after deciding on the players.

11

Templar Archives / Drik-chkit, Level 1 Arena Fighter (Gladiator)

« on: August 26, 2010, 02:50:50 AM »

Had to build the character by hand, since Character Builder doesn't have the Dark Sun updates yet. When it does, I'll build him through there.

Character Sheet

Description:
Drik-chkit’ is 6’2”, with sandy-coloured chitinous plate skin. Along the chitin there are some deep scars as well as light scratches. His upper pair of limbs are quite tough, but his middle set of limbs are smaller and dexterous. He usually carries weapons in these hands, to which he can easily switch to his upper limbs when in combat. His antennae are somewhat longer than most Thri-Kreen’s, and his jaw looks somewhat fiercer. With his compound eyes, it’s sometimes hard to tell what he is looking at exactly.


Back-story:
 Drik-chkit was originally born in a Thri-Kreen hunting party that lived out in the wild.

While he was still a youngling, he and most of his clutch captured by slavers and brought to Tyr. Drik-chkit was bought by a noble, who trained Drik-chkit as a Gladiator. Through his combat prowess, he became one of the best gladiators in the arena, and a favorite for the gamblers. However, with the death of King Kalak and the abolition of slavery by King Tithian, Drik-chkit was released to a world that he knew nothing of. In the pit, he had always had a purpose in front of him, to kill the other opponent and to win the gladiatorial games, but with his new freedom he did not know what to do. So, he turned to a caravan guard and mercenary. He has very little knowledge of how economy works: he knows that he can trade little clay disks for food, and that’s good enough for him.

Maybe it’s for this reason, as well as his physical prowess, that he was recruited to a small caravan. As it slowly turned to “illegitimate work", Drik-chkit was fascinated by the amount of planning and action it required, almost like a hunt. And if there’s something Thri-Kreen like, it’s a good hunt.


Personal goals:
Find members of his birth-clutch. Find a purpose to his life. Be as useful as possible to his new group.