Messages

16

Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: Precognition

« on: March 21, 2013, 02:18:15 PM »

Beo,

I disagree that seeing the future changes it.

No problem, I had my sneaky bastard GM hat on. That's the way I'd fudge and balance it, by selling it that the players have too much agency rather than none If this was a normal story, I think playing with predestination as a solid construct to fight against is more fun that instant fluidity. I've done so with prophetic visions in prose I've written before.


For the sounds of your story, I think that you need to have each vision not just a random one that is useful to the player. Well, you can do that in combat in the way suggested, perhaps as a tactical choice of whom gets focused on and gets a small but meningful bonus.

Outside of combat, a vision should implicitly grant a responsibility. She gets a vision of someone doing good and being in power. There';s almost an automatic 'do you let this happen' due to some aspect of the vision. After that, she gets further visions when interacting with other NPCs and PCs that show the necessary steps for that first vision. Each time, there should be a dramatic implication - alter the timeline or defend it.

Basically, have the players choose to railroad themselves or not, and have both paths be interesting. It's up to them if they mess up your constructed story, and so you have to worry less about justifying why things aren't going the same way if the push against it.

Throw in some arbitrary visions to do with player conflict - she seems herself stabbing one of the players. If that player later mucks up the timeline, you can retcon that her choice earlier on something directly led to this invalidating of the future.

Or, of course, when another player is going to do a vision breaking action, pause the action, have the vision of the alternate future flash in her mind as a retcon, and then see if she blocks the player or lets thing happen.

17

Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: Precognition

« on: March 20, 2013, 03:53:49 AM »

My idea for precognition is the fact that the instant you look at the future, you're changing the future. If you stand and concentrate on a vision, you aren't moving in the world, and so the future you are seeing is not the one that will now occur. Sure, if you were sitting at home or reading in a library anyway its minor, in the middle of a battle where every millisecond counts, that's a far quicker ripple with more consequence.

So a character is not only trying to do something impossible like have memories of events that haven't happened yet, but they are then being punished by having the mind splitting experience of having contradictory memories of things that haven't happened yet in their brain.

So to start with I would imagine that makes such visions be detached the moment they begin, with the side effect of pain and disorientation, and so only an 'impression' of both likely futures occuring. It allows you to hint at clues, and in a battle maybe hint at an action.

The player can slowly get control of how long they can stand the pain to actually see a proper vision, and after that be able to start gaining the ability to throw their mind more accurately to a point in time in future. Although the further you go, the more even your pause and likely use of the knowledge will have made waves and so the worse such mental trauma will be.

It seems a nice echo of the quantum physics 'the observer changes the observed' and also explains why all prophesy is so damned convoluted and riddle like - short visions and deliberate obfuscation to not instantly invalidate the vision.

Anyway, that's how I'd do it. It can be a powerful ability in combat or for plot hints, but you automatically build in a fudge factor for why the future turns out differently if the players then do something strange. You can blame the original player, or the other player's foreknowledge, as derailing the time. Just make sure there was still a benefit.

And you can have personal cost be the disorientation in battle, up to the  potential for the player to be permanently damaging their mind and suffering mental health issues. Those can be tweaked as the game goes in order to provide a buffer against abuse. And even side quest opportunities to relief their mind, or learn to control their powers more.

And if the players can precog, then you can set them against an enemy precog later once they get a good handle on their abilities to further buffer the seen future as opposed to how the players play the game. I'm thinking ideas like in Push where you end up with a cat and mouse game.

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Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: The RPPR AP podcast site is now up

« on: February 03, 2013, 03:40:38 PM »

Overzealous ad-blocker?

19

Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: On Combat

« on: December 15, 2012, 04:14:13 AM »

1d4 daggers still have a very good chance of killing non-plot important characters (ie commoners, minions, etc) so I think any fight where the charcter can shrug off such damage it should be clear why they can. It's narrative, this is a tough guy (it's the bulky nazi under the plane from Raiders of the Lost arc)

Mechanically reducing a monster to zero hit points means you can do what you want with them, so damage can really be treated like stages in the fight. Narratively you can have the wound mean as much or as little as possible, as long as it registers as a story beat. A 20 damage can still be important even if mechanically there's still a ways to go. The monster might not be out of the fight by any means, but it could still be a blow that it cringes back from, initially grabs itself for. Perhaps it alters its attack style, perhaps it doens't use an AoO / OA, or perhaps the characters now have a narrative hook to cling to when attacking it, favouring its weak side or using its wound as intimidation. Stuff you can then throw circumstancial bonuses around for.

And it also gets back to the idea of monsters can leave a fight when the fight feels done, not when they are 0 hp. Did the 20 damage hit feel significant? Then it was. The creature staggers, and either tries to retreat while holding the wound, or holds up its hand and surrenders. A creature fights until it feels its mortality, unless it is fighting for its life or fighting for something more important than its life. If the creature still has a decent set of  hit points, great. Don't heal it - if the wound wasn't that big a deal after all, it will not do anything more than a quick patch up to stop bleeding, if it is even capable of healing. That blow will still reduce its effectivenes next combat and still matter. If the monster ihas surrenders, then the fact that it is still a decent threat will stop the players from simply deciding they can just cut its throat the moment it might turn tail - it's still a force to be reckoned with, even if it is temporarily scared.

Another way is simply opening up the narrative for each successive good hit. The first great hit smashes in to the orc chieftain's neck guard, smashing it to pieces. The chieftsin's eye grow wide for a moment, and then it keeps attacking angrily. Then, the next critical/large blow of course lands right on the orc's shoulder or neck, giving a severe wound. This time the chieftain falls back, calling all its minions to itself, even if that actually removes an advantage it had.

And then the next hit that lands actually staggers the chieftain, causing him to think about quit the battle.

Again, he might still be on a 1/4 or 2/5 of his hp, but you've had a long significant battle and now it can end.


Anyway, that's how I'd handle such thigns in your case - regard the HP cloud as either a story buffer so that you don't have to just get rid of creatures right away and they can keep returning, or as a fight beat indicator so the players know they can't just hack this creature's head off with a single good roll, they need to throw some tactics and ploys in to make it a fun story and combat.

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Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: RPPR Community AP Podcast site

« on: August 07, 2012, 02:27:01 AM »

It's so beautiful... and yet I fear change...


I like it!

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Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: RPPR Community AP Podcast site

« on: July 08, 2012, 06:18:53 AM »

Haven't listened to it yet but certainly downloaded it ok

22

General Chaos / Re: RPPR Minecraft Thread

« on: April 09, 2012, 03:32:24 PM »

http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Nether_Portal

The implication notes of the portal linkage section says you need a 1000 block clearance between portals in the outworld  

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General Chaos / Re: RPPR Minecraft Thread

« on: April 09, 2012, 05:48:32 AM »

So apparently if I go into a nether portal I built, and then exit through the same portal, it transports me about 400 blocks in the x direction and 900 in the z...

Doens't that occur because someone else built that nether portal in the outworld too close to yours?

24

General Chaos / Re: Dr. Who Idolization Thread

« on: November 28, 2011, 02:37:27 PM »

I guess it was easier to watch them when they were first on! I'd say start with the 7th Doctor and go backwards. Partially because I love Sylvester McCoy, and partially because at least it is the next oldest incarnation and doens't quite suffer the same pacing and effects as the really old stuff does. Well, not as much!

Hmm, though can I suggest starting with the first advenutures with Ace and not the sillier start of the 7th doctor

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Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: The RPPR AP podcast site is now up

« on: November 01, 2011, 02:03:32 AM »

That third panel's kinda weird considering the tone of the othe two panels. I can still see it when I go to sleep.

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Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: The RPPR AP podcast site is now up

« on: October 11, 2011, 02:57:42 AM »

You seem to have interrupted my advert podcast pretty quickly with some form of discussion show. Did the RPG companies pay you to do that?  You guys have changed, man!

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Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: The RPPR AP podcast site is now up

« on: October 09, 2011, 02:18:03 AM »

Adblocker disabled on the pages it wasn't disabled before, ready for your adverty goodness!

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General Chaos / Re: Image Thread

« on: August 31, 2011, 01:11:06 PM »

I assumed it was simply calling the pre-school child by its alternative name aswell to avoid confusion.

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Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: Indies rpgs for podcasts

« on: August 16, 2011, 04:38:57 PM »

Remember the community RPs touch on indie titles too, such as fiasco

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General Chaos / Re: Exquisite Corpse

« on: August 14, 2011, 04:55:23 PM »

[spoiler]Meanwhile on the cliff above, Amanda's brother was conducting his park ranger business. Strange tales had been reported, and he had drawn the short straw to investigate. His confusion and consternation at seeing Amanda turned to concern then chilling terror at what he witnessed below. The man's vision tunnelled as he drew his gun. Not again, he thought to himself, dear merciful God not again!.[/spoiler] The park ranger moved forwards, weapon ready, without caution on the high slopes above.