Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - iceemaker

Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5 ... 12
31
RPGs / Re: Gamma World
« on: November 24, 2010, 04:30:11 PM »
Gamma World seems like a really great way to approach one-shot games with the 4th Edition system. Easy character creation, more straightforward combat (no dailies YAY) and higher lethality allow for much more latitude in game themes and pacing. Call of Gamma-Cthluhu, anybody?

32
Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: The RPPR AP podcast site is now up
« on: November 19, 2010, 01:59:02 AM »
Hey Ross, any way the next AP could get posted before Sunday? I'm flying home Saturday and it'd be awesome to have a new AP to listen to on the plane. (I hate planes. And also flying.) Figured I'd ask.
God, what? Do you think Ross is a machine or something? He can't just turn it on.

Oh, and I loved this AP when I listened to it as part of the Ransom six or so months ago *cough*. Not implying anything by that statement.

Seriously, it was cool to hear Bill GM and Ross play. Interesting shift in dynamics, especially with Bill having such command over the material. How much of the scenario was part of the DRYH backstory and how much of it was homebrew?

33
Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: The RPPR AP podcast site is now up
« on: November 17, 2010, 03:14:21 PM »
Don't forget the Templar's son. Or Emily from Candle Cove.

34
General Chaos / Re: Topic. It's what's for dinner.
« on: November 15, 2010, 01:49:29 PM »

35
Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: Help us pick The Best of RPPR!
« on: November 15, 2010, 11:02:22 AM »
There could also be animations accompanying the audio clips, something that passive-aggressively mocks the players (the animation stuttering during one of Aaron's "it's like" episodes or Caleb's character replaced by The Fountainhead/Atlas Shrugged at random points in the DS campaign) or literally depicts some of the more ridiculous moments (Mr. Kyle opening his coat and revealing a smaller man with a gun pointed at Cody's character, from Andrew's Fortune).

36
Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: Help us pick The Best of RPPR!
« on: November 15, 2010, 12:55:28 AM »
Guess I will have to be one of the coolkids and edit in the timestamps when I have access to an actual computer.

I'm surprised there's not that much love for Former President Martin van Buren, beyond Maze and myself. I literally could not stop laughing for thirty or so minutes after I heard FPMVB relay his origins. The conflict between The Blonde Asshole Curtis/Silver Surfer and FPMVB was hilarious as well. "I proclaim your shit to be weak."

Caleb's "Objectivist!" outbursts are pretty funny. Might need too much context for the format you have in mind, though. I bet you can use your "Fighter Stereotypes" rant from the latest Dark Sun episode as a transition or something.

As far as serious excerpts go, the founding of the Nation of Quetzacoatl is my favorite. So much descriptive imagery and symbolism. The Skintaker's appearence in the college library parking lot, complete with calliope music, is a close second. Oh, and anything involving Numbers Stations.

FPMVB VS TBAC/SS: 16:09-20:37
Ross VS Ayn Rand/Caleb 47:28-48:35

37
Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: The RPPR fan-fic
« on: November 09, 2010, 05:13:54 PM »
Ross/Cody is my One True Pairing.

38
RPGs / Re: Working It Out.
« on: November 09, 2010, 01:23:12 PM »
Eyeball A Fella. 4th Edition D&D. Make it happen, people.

39
Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: The RPPR AP podcast site is now up
« on: November 08, 2010, 12:03:08 PM »
Yay, new Dark Sun campaign episode. You guys definitely need to commission Ean for a picture of Rodney to immortalize the "chocobo's" invaluable contributions.

Save the chocobo. Save the world.

40
General Chaos / Re: how pilots get their callsigns
« on: November 05, 2010, 07:55:06 PM »
See, the "old" me would have been severely perturbed by that statistic. I would have been all like, "Oh God, why are we letting people like that fly $19 million planes. Wait, WHY DO WE HAVE $19 MILLION JETS IN THE FIRST PLACE!?!?!" But not the new me. The new me finds this absolutely hilarious. I think.

I mean, the Marines let my little brother fly a scout drone. And everybody knows how terribly destructive little brothers are.

41
RPGs / Re: Working It Out.
« on: November 05, 2010, 07:15:34 PM »
I would definitely encourage the players to spend a few minutes joking around and bragging about their character's exploits en route to the ship. Maybe even create a clear chain of command among the player characters. Perhaps you could play the group's Commanding Officer or give the title to one of your players to encourage RP. Anything to make the characters relatable and thus increase the drama once the horror begins.

I am not too well initiated in the Halo universe, but I do distinctly remember the Flood-centric levels of Halo 2. I imagine the sheer mass of Flood would interfere with communication and sophisticated electronics - let the players have their fancy gadgets and stay in constant contact for a while, but slowly and surely rip it away from them.

If I recall correctly, Master Chief is something of an outlier in the Halo World, not really representative of what the average soldier is capable of. Definitely play up the encroaching mass of Flood, the futility of the players' soldiers to fight against it. One Flood dies, nine take its place and a tenth one devours the corpse.

The objective for this scenario should probably be to simply survive. Maybe create a map of the ship and determine what might occur in the various rooms and hallways. Then allow the players to roam around.

As for personal projects, I am currently working on two campaigns: a Gamma World campaign drawing inspiration from Homestuck (see my avatar/mspaintadventures.com) and a CthulhuTech Migou campaign. The latter is really still in the gestation stage, because as much as I love the Mi-Go/Migou, determining any objectives for them beyond "SCOUR THE EARTH RAWR" is pretty difficult. Maybe a game that takes place during the initial invasion of the Migou?

My Gamma World campaign is almost ready, though. The players begin as mutants in Californee, a region that comprises one-third of the Untied States of Amereeka (the other two regions being Flyover and York). They are the leaders of a small tribe of nomads venturing northwards, battling mutated pigs and raccoons and moths and stuff as they go. Eventually, the players reach what was once Seattle and the suburbs surrounding it. Though the vast majority of the suburbs are marked with craters, there exists one house in absolute pristine condition. Perfectly intact, healthy grass and plants, even the mailbox remains standing. Basically, a picturesque two-story house from today's suburbs.

Then the players discover a child inside the house, forced into a kind of stasis for over 150 years. They notice the child remains seated in front of an Ancient (both figuratively and literally) computer, which is still somehow recieving electricity. The players activate the computer, and then the fun begins. The child exits the stasis, is floored by the awesomeness of the player characters (he has a fondness for really bad science fiction movies, as evidenced by the posters in his room), and asks for their help. He had intended to begin playing a computer game with his friends mere moments after the Big Mistake began, a game that would strip the Earth bare and create a new one in its place. What new planet will be created is up to the players, the child, and the child's friends, who are scattered across Amereeka (with one at a small Pacific island - radioactive sea adventures ahoy?).

My real concern is that this might be too railroady. I definitely want the players to have some motivation to follow through on the journey, or at least experience enough curiousity to investigate the frigging house. Not to mention the following events are quite hectic and delineate a pretty clear path for the players to follow.

42
RPGs / Re: Tablepocalypse now
« on: November 05, 2010, 03:14:56 PM »
The author creates a false dichotomy in his post, stating that the perception among gamers is that one is a "true gamer" or "something else". He is correct in pointing out that the hate and vitriol in the community have always existed, and the internet merely provides a more open avenue with which to channel this rage.  But I am fairly certain there is no way to verify or deny his claim with actual evidence beyond the anecdotal. And remember, the plural of "anecdote" is not "data". It is all in personal perception.

I am not entirely certain what data he is using beyond that sales statistic for the Dresden Files RPG, but his claim seems to be a tenuous one at best. He does not take into account the floundering United States economy (we're supposed to be on, what, the third "upturn" now?) and the lack of disposable income that it entails. I am sure similar statistics could be uncovered for war-games as well; not that citing one sales statistic makes one's claims solid anyways.

43
Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: Cody Fan Club
« on: November 03, 2010, 04:23:21 PM »
Just slip a $20 to a local mechanic and flash the DEagle at your waist.

44
RPGs / Re: So... 4E will have a Web based Character Builder
« on: November 03, 2010, 02:31:22 PM »
Wizards rescinding on their promise of little-to-no guaranteed damage stings me the most. They promised one would no longer be able to point one's finger at a group of enemies and kill them with no dice roll. Daily Powers have guaranteed effects, but they are few and far between. But now there's Magic Missile auto-hit and half-damage-on-miss/effect line encounter powers. Some of the Wizard powers don't even have attack rolls. It is simply, "Effect: The target is restrained/dominated/stunned until some arbitrary point in time."

I suppose it's just my personal preference, but I like having the element of chance in attacks. Being able to score critical hits on a roll of 10 to 20 and reach an attack bonus so high that you COULD NOT MISS was completely devoid of fun for me. It is the primary differentiating factor between RPGs and video games - one mitigates chance in video games, but one copes with chance in RPGs. Maybe it's that I feel attacking should be a burden on the attacker, not the attacked (that statement sounded much more coherent in my head, but I will attempt to explain). The attacker should have to try their hardest to hit the target - the attacked should not need ridiculously high defenses or health to compensate for the attacker's guaranteed hits.

Essentials is definitely an appeasement of 3E/3.5E players. The similarities between Essentials classes and their older edition counterparts are so blatant as to be infuriating. People complain about martial classes being too "Caster-like", so we have a non-daily Power Strike-type set up. People feel Wizards are not magical enough, so Magic Missile is once again an auto-hit and has powers that still deal damage on a miss. I was under the impression 4E would attempt to find its own direction and create a unique RPG, not rehash mechanics and concepts of yesteryear.

Wizards has done some things well with Essentials, such as re-emphasizing story-based decisions for character creation and play. Few would oppose the notion of game mechanics needing a pretense in the story to justify their existence. WotC definitely strayed from that, and the new class entries, skills and feats are great steps in reinforcing role-playing in D&D's mechanics. Unfortunately, Essentials seems more like an attempt to relaunch the game, rather than correct mistakes and create beginner-friendly classes.

45
Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Inquiring Mind Wants to Know
« on: October 29, 2010, 02:28:41 AM »
What is the plan for the AP podcast, El Rosso Paytono? Will you continue to post D&D every other week? Will we finish The New World campaign and then move on to Dark Sun?

And can I just get all of these APs by funneling money to you guys?

Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5 ... 12