Tabletop Roleplaying Games (D&D, Pathfinder, CoC, ETC.)

[Flipendo]

Last week my players made a throwaway joke about playing mini golf to destress after losing a Gym Battle. It came up again in the group chat during the week so for the memes I threw together a mini golf course map for what was supposed to be a joke. It turned out to not be a joke. They played mini golf for 2 hours. One of the players came up with rules to use their Pokemon and stuff during mini golf. It was a mess honestly.

Wait, you have a Pokemon system that works? Is it published anywhere, or did you homebrew it? I must know more!

 

[Judge Dredd]

It's a shame @drtoboggan hasn't been around for years as I gave FATES another look, and by that, I mean I watched a bunch of videos about it.

It's recommended as THE mech game if you want mechs that isn't Lancer or Battletech but always found it confusing. I think I understand it now. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

First the name. Fudge/Fates are basically different editions. Fudge was first, Fates built on it.


As for the mechanics. One you see it as a writing/storytelling engine instead of a "game", it makes much more sense.

For all the jargon and abstraction, it all comes down to descriptive words. Called "aspects", with other jargon being specific kinds of aspects. So if "acrobatic" would be an aspect, but "tightrope walking" is more specific so would be a stunt, but they all fall under the general aspect mechanic. Basically, whenever you want to do something, if you can tie an aspect to it, you spend a fate coin to get +2 to the roll. So if you were jumping over a fence, you could say "I'm acrobatic", spend a coin, and get a +2. Players and DMs can also force you to use an aspect by giving you a coin.

Scenes, buildings, vehicles, they're all just lists of aspects. I'm still not sure how combat plays out. But I imagine it's similar.


So why is it recommended as a top tier mech game? If my understanding of the rules is right, it does away with the autism inherent in crunchy mech rules. Instead of managing chassis and build points and weapon stats, you instead just list cool stuff your mech has, and play them as aspects. This system also means that out of cockpit stuff is viable without bolting on an entire second game, as your pilot is just a list of aspects too.

Might be worth trying out.

 

[Red Dragon]

So why is it recommended as a top tier mech game? If my understanding of the rules is right, it does away with the autism inherent in crunchy mech rules. Instead of managing chassis and build points and weapon stats, you instead just list cool stuff your mech has, and play them as aspects. This system also means that out of cockpit stuff is viable without bolting on an entire second game, as your pilot is just a list of aspects too.

So, basically, do away with one of the things that makes mecha interesting - loadouts, tech differences, etc - and just theater kid away with dice being thrown around ocasionally so you can tell yourself you're playing a game?

That sounds like utter shit.

BUT, in order to not be a negative nancy, I can see potential for this when you're writing the lore of a vilain or NPC, essentially playing solo one or two scenes using those so called aspects to get the hang of that character's motivations. It can work for some people, I guess.

 

[Acrid Alchemist]

Wait, you have a Pokemon system that works? Is it published anywhere, or did you homebrew it? I must know more!

I use Pokemon Tabletop Reunited 1e through Foundry. It can still be dense and clunky and the devs are still adding automation to some aspects but what automation I do have actually makes the game playable. Its more or less Pokemon Tabletop United with some balance patches and some new content like some fan game weathers like Windy and Foggy.

https://1e.ptr.wiki/

You might need the core PTU books for some rules if you are only using the wiki but in Foundry itself it has the whole rulebook.

In the past I played Pokemon Tabletop Adventures 2 with just the automated Google sheets and it was rough but after enough years I had it down to a science. The automation of Foundry was too tempting for everyone though so I switched. After spending like 20 hours fixing the mistakes in and adding all content up to Gen 9 to the PTA2 Google Sheets

 

[Judge Dredd]

BUT, in order to not be a negative nancy

It's the opposite extreme to lancer and battletech. I don't like either extreme. But for Fates, it will depend on how combat and progression is handled. The big issue with Tiny d6 (still my mech game of choice) is the lack of progression and mechanical depth means it's only good for one shots and short campaigns.

Games like Lancer, Battletech, and even BESM have so much crunch for mech building players don't bother. (I've complained in another thread about wargaming people who get mad at the lack of games, but when told to write up a 1000 point list so we can play, they refuse. I'm hopeful for games like Spearhead, Killteam, and Combat Patrol where the list is fixed because that way they don't have to do any real homework.) Tiny is good in this regard. It could do with a little more, but you're basically just choosing x amount of weapons, y amount of system, and z amount of something from a few lists that are small enough to be manageable.

 

[Aib Ld]

is there an easy way to do timed missions or treat time as vague such as "everyone did their 5 actions, its 3oclock now"? Theres no way I can keep track of what each action passes [x] amount of time.

 

[Dante Alighieri]

is there an easy way to do timed missions or treat time as vague such as "everyone did their 5 actions, its 3oclock now"? Theres no way I can keep track of what each action passes [x] amount of time.

Kinda but not really. A round of combat in 5E happens in the same 6 or whatever seconds, but turns and reactions break the flow and make it feel longer. There's not really a way of reconciling this so you have to just feel it out as you go.

 

[AnOminous]

Lovecraft was one of those cases where his xenophobia really was a phobia. He feared anyone who wasn't a New England blue blood. They were still terrifying in a lot of ways, even if they were vastly superior in their knowledge.

This is actually one of my personal reasons that the Great Race were actually allied and helpful to the humans. One of the main characters had basically gone through the "Shadow of Time" scenario, and been sent back, but still friendly and had cooperated. So the Great Race would sometimes give good advice or even material support. I just always found it interesting that Lovecraft, hostile even to slightly different humans, directly expressed admiration for creatures like the Great Race who would be terrifying to see (I mean until you got past their appearance).

 

[Ghostse]

is there an easy way to do timed missions or treat time as vague such as "everyone did their 5 actions, its 3oclock now"? Theres no way I can keep track of what each action passes [x] amount of time.

Yes and no.

There two ways to do this: The right way and the way I do it.

The right way is you draw out a time line, and you move the players along it, recording time to travel and do whatever their characters are doing.

the way I do it is give actions a block of time - an hour, 10 minutes ,etc. and have that be a portion of the total time. i.e. 8 hours broken up into 8 1-hour blocks. Let the players decide what they are going to do in that time block, and go around the table. Since I'm usually doing a 4e skill challenge when this is happening, I'll have roll the relevant skill and see if it adjusted anything.

 

[Capsaicin Addict]

This is actually one of my personal reasons that the Great Race were actually allied and helpful to the humans. One of the main characters had basically gone through the "Shadow of Time" scenario, and been sent back, but still friendly and had cooperated. So the Great Race would sometimes give good advice or even material support. I just always found it interesting that Lovecraft, hostile even to slightly different humans, directly expressed admiration for creatures like the Great Race who would be terrifying to see (I mean until you got past their appearance).

Keep in mind the Great Race also hijacked an entire race's bodies to shunt their minds into to save themselves from an apocalypse. The Yithians are not above throwing people under the bus to save their own skins.

 

[MazonLabs Recruitment Rep]

Keep in mind the Great Race also hijacked an entire race's bodies to shunt their minds into to save themselves from an apocalypse. The Yithians are not above throwing people under the bus to save their own skins.

Everything they do is purely for the pragmatic. When they do assist humans, it's not out of any altruism, it's because they have determined assisting us furthers their own ends. They don't mind to tell you that either.

 

[AnOminous]

Everything they do is purely for the pragmatic. When they do assist humans, it's not out of any altruism, it's because they have determined assisting us furthers their own ends. They don't mind to tell you that either.

And this is what actually makes them somewhat benevolent, at least compared to the other eldritches. They're not lying to you, they're very up front about helping you for their own purposes when they do, that is, what they're assisting you with, even if it's also beneficial to you, is for their own benefit. So you can "trust" them at least not to be motivated by pure malice, hatred, or mindlessness like most eldritch creatures.

 

[Dante Alighieri]

And this is what actually makes them somewhat benevolent, at least compared to the other eldritches. They're not lying to you, they're very up front about helping you for their own purposes when they do, that is, what they're assisting you with, even if it's also beneficial to you, is for their own benefit. So you can "trust" them at least not to be motivated by pure malice, hatred, or mindlessness like most eldritch creatures.

They can be reasoned with. You can't reason with insanity.

 

[Ghostse]

Keep in mind the Great Race also hijacked an entire race's bodies to shunt their minds into to save themselves from an apocalypse. The Yithians are not above throwing people under the bus to save their own skins.

Let's be completely honest here, the hijacked race was a bunch of giant beetles. Nothing of value was lost.

 

[MazonLabs Recruitment Rep]

Let's be completely honest here, the hijacked race was a bunch of giant beetles. Nothing of value was lost.

Insecta-phobe! BEETLE LIVES MATTER!

 

[Sayer of the N-Word]

My good group spent their most recent session in a gay bar with a mixed clientele of humans and lizardmen/women. Only two of the PCs understood what kind of place they were in, while the cleric gratefully accepted a massage from one of the patrons. Maybe three die rolls the entire session, plenty of laughs (one of the PCs who knew about buggery refused to believe that such people were real men, and challenged a shirtless lizardman to an arm wrestling match... it went down like Data vs the Klingon) and many hooks thrown out, one of which has been bitten.

Meanwhile, on the Discord server of the group I left, the players are confused about when or if they're meeting again because the regular DM wants to change the day they meet, but she only asked people what would work best for them, which is too open-ended, and they gave answers like "I'm down for whenever," and "whatever you think is best". I wish her luck.

 

[Adamska]

That sounds like utter shit.

Genuinely one of the big things that Mecha games have to have, mainly because of the audience, is custom load outs and crunch. Mecha nerds are gearheads by association. The sort of people that tend to play stuff like riggers for a reason.

Cutting this out is like trying to play a world of darkness game without pretty much any supernaturals.

It's just not a system that really works for that sort of thing.

Pokemon Tabletop Reunited 1e

Tend to prefer Pokerole myself. The simplicity of just having a d6 dice pool system makes it pretty darn easy to use and master. No need for automation really, though it can definitely help.

 

[Kyria the Great]

Genuinely one of the big things that Mecha games have to have, mainly because of the audience, is custom load outs and crunch. Mecha nerds are gearheads by association. The sort of people that tend to play stuff like riggers for a reason.

Cutting this out is like trying to play a world of darkness game without pretty much any supernaturals.

It's just not a system that really works for that sort of thing.

Removing customization features from a mech game is like fixing a rare and endangered animal, it's wrong and cruel. The whole point of a mech, even in much more fantastical settings is that it's your mech and it has features and quirks unlike others, even if you have a grunt mech.

 

[Brain Problems]

Since I'm usually doing a 4e skill challenge when this is happening, I'll have roll the relevant skill and see if it adjusted anything.

This is a good tip in general: run skill challenges folx. You can get good reactions out of players, and it speeds/spices up otherwise dull sections that you skip over or ignore. Just make sure to bitch slap stupid suggestions for trying to use animal handling to escape a landslide unless you set that DC sky-high and/or they sold the shit out of the idea.

@Ghostse do you go with the "levelled spell = auto pass" as long as it's relevant? Or scale the spell slot?

 

[Ghostse]

@Ghostse do you go with the "levelled spell = auto pass" as long as it's relevant? Or scale the spell slot?

I'm not sure I'm tracking on what you're asking.

4e doesn't have spell slots, for B/X it would greatly depend on what they're doing to what.