1 Reply by Gaigaia

(4 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

New images

illustration by Timo Grubing / Bochum, Germany

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/ … 6258_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/ … 3747_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/ … 5774_n.jpg


art by Sachin Teng / Unted States


https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid … mp;theater

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/ … 9619_n.png

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/ … 5047_n.jpg


illustration by Jason Chan / San Francisco, USA


https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/ … 8839_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/ … 5624_n.jpg

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2 Reply by Gaigaia

(8 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

I find Dex the most op stat in terms of combat, since it helps with initiative, ranged attack and armor. I believe that giving the bonus on encumbrance to Strenght would be good enough to balance it, as even Wizards would like to have it at a mild rating so that enables them to use armor and cast magic.

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3 Reply by Gaigaia

(2 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

Future brings new things, as, for example, a new box. Would a new box be fashioned, I would like to have this advice set prior to it's creation. Therefore, here it is. = )

But, as it seems, that problem might just be with me, as no one replied sharing the same feelings. I've been trying to tinker with my box, but my handcraft is horrendous, and I've given up the idea.

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4 Topic by Gaigaia

(2 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

This is something that kind of annoys me, it`s the fact that I can`t bring my normal dice inside the box. I would request and advice, would this problem also annoys others than myself, that you, Raggi, could make the side of the box a little bigger, would that change not make the product too much more expensive.

The dice almost fit, that`s the thing. Would the box be a little higher or longer, it would fit well. And I would like to bring everything inside the box, instead of in another place. And the tiny dice are a little too tiny and hard to see for me, specially when playing in dark places.

Cheers,

Gaigaia

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5 Reply by Gaigaia

(8 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

In my house rules, I use the following modifier of Strenght for encumbrance:

. Modifier +1 = +1 slot for heavy itens. So, instead of couting 5 itens, you count 6.

. Modifier +2 = +1 Encumbrance threshold. So, no load would be 0-2, light would be 3, heavy 4 etc.

. Modifier +3 = Both the effects of 1 and 2.

For negative modifiers, -1 = itens count to 4. -2 = 0 no load, 1 light, 2 heavy etc. For -3, both.

Could you understand my broken and bad explanation?

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6 Topic by Gaigaia

(0 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

I don't know if you guys are aware of this piece of gore a goofiness that is Harvester.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvester_(video_game)

If you don't know it, go check it out on youtube. There are many videos. I would advice you to go see the Retsupurae videos of it, as I find their humour a fine one. But the point with this post is talking about the idea of the game and how it suits Lotfp, in my opinion. Also, there will be spoilers about the game.


SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS




Ok, the game is about a virtual reality created by people who want to create serial killers. The virtual reality simulate a place so horrible as to dessensetize those inside of it for the act of murdering. It creates a town full of horrible, twisted people, that do horrible twisted things and don't even realize it. That premiss reminded me of Prembooktonshire, although Harvest is worst in terms of how open the gore and cruelty is. In Pembrooktonshire, the violence is beneath the surface, normally.

So, translating that idea to lotfp, we could have mages from a death cult (we could use the Duvan'Ku) creating an ilusory world upon victims as to twist and destroy theirs personalities, tending them towards becoming serial killers. The adventure could begin with the players already inside the virtual reality, not nowing that it is one, or they could be lured by the mage telling them about a job and saying something like "I will teleport you there, please, sit here". Another possibility for the virtual reality could be strange and weird science from beyond the stars, applied by either the death cult or maybe aliens, whose motivations for creating human serial killers are beyond the scope of human understanding.

The meat of the adventure would be surviving the virtual reality. At this point, the adventure could simulate many possibilities. it could be some kind of parody of 'Saw', with the players having to do sick survival games. It could be like Silent Hill, where they should solve puzzles while being compressed by the evil in the town. But the adventure should test the psychic resistence of the players. It should be not really about frightening them, or even horrifying them, but to bend their sense of justice. To open a door, you will have to gut a child and get the key on her stomach. When you climb the rope at the dungeon, you hear the scream of an innocent, as the rope is attached to a machine that, when you pull it, his bones are slowly being ripped apart. Actions they do should have consequences of suffering and pain against innocent. Heroism, most than all, should be rewarded with hopelessness and ironic fail. So, you saved the child at the cost of your arm? Good, but the child was a demon, and now the whole family who abandoned her is dead. How do you feel now?

To escape the virtual reality, you have to go to the bottom of it and surpass all the chalenges and do all the nasty things. At the end, should be a boss. The death cult wants not only serial killers, but strong serial killers. So, the boss serves as a mean for testing strenght - and a good dramatic resource to end an adventure, at least in my opinion. When the players awaken, the mage should be gone, or they could be alone in a hill. There should be no way for them to know what happen, although they could try to puzzle it out. Also, during the adventure, while in the virtual reality, maybe some saves for Magic could be done, so they could se the reality flickering, maybe see themselves in the room with the mage. But that could spoil the mood. If one of the players believe that this is an ilusion, they might be allowed some test to disbelieve, but, even if they disbelieve, the virtual reality can only be escaped by going all the way down. So, the player who is having the visions of the truth behind the ilusion might think of himself becoming crazy.

The aftereffects of the adventure should have the players making saves of Magic, and maybe some saves could happen during keypoints of the adventure. This save will see if their personality was twisted or not by the virtual reality. If one should fail the test, a randon roll should assign an insanity for him. The insanity should be something that makes the players want to do horrible things. For example: "When you eat human flesh, receive +1 in all attacks that day. If you eat the flesh of someone still alive, receive +3"; "When you brake the heart of someone with hard words, become immune to all mind effecting magic through the day" ; "When you torture a creature to a crowd of innocents, gain +1d100 x your level xp. If you torture a human, gain 100 x your level".

Those insanities should tempt the players on doing them. Another possibility is that, besides having a choice option, they should have a compulsory one. So, for example, the cannibal one should have a text saying "you must eat human flesh at least once per week, or suffer -3 in all attacks" besides the other one.

And, after it all, the adventure could give seed to others. What about the Duvan'Ku and that plan of creating serial killers?  Are other mages doing the same thing? There could be many doing that, creating serial killers for centuries. Maybe each mage has it's own reality. One is silent hill, other is saw, so on and so forth. Maybe the mage has it's soul inside the virtual reality and, to be destroyed, he must be defeated at his own ilusion. I don't know, but those are ideas.

What do you people think? Any ideas? I'm interested in writting and developing it, would anyone join me and make some drawings and editing, since I'm bad at both of it, haha. Besides, english not being my mother tongue makes me prone to make mistakes, and having people helping to write is not a bad idea.

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7 Topic by Gaigaia

(1 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

I love when a tittle is showcased and embedded inside the narrative of an artistic projetc. A title is, normally, the first aspect you see in such a work and, when the tittle echo back throught the pages and helps you to compound a bigger picture, a gestalt image at the same time greater and part of the same work, you then have a great effect.

It's like dropping the bass.

Better than any man is about invading armies and some women from a village, witches with real magical powers, that try using their magic to fight their inevitable demise. For such, one could say they are better than any man.

But, as you read, you find other subleties. A very powerfull mage who, isolated in his cave, conducts horrible experiments and torture children for what he calls 'art'. He is, by any stretch of imagination, better than any man.

It's not just about genders, it's about ideology. To what extents will someone protect their beliefs, grasp and strangle the others around them to hold themselves as being better than all?

Then you continue, readding about at what dephts of depravity one will go down to fight against impossible odds. The new insect cult, in a desperate attempt to protect themselves from war, indulges in a horrid cult, trying them to be better than any man.

But it is at the end, when after all you've read and experienced, you descends upon the forgotten realms of the insects. There, when you watch the giant dumb dull dead charicature of a man, being everyday consumed by a swarm of monsters - it's there when you see it all. As that giant - the image of all mankind - is eaten alive, you read the thoughts of the Insect God. For It find itself Better than Any Man.

And then, the bass drops and a slow clap commences.

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8 Reply by Gaigaia

(2 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

I talked with some friends, and we had some ideas:

- Rolling and evasion

. Big monsters (almost all demons, like Capra Demon, the creatures from Blight Town etc.) would ignore 5 points of AC, for their attacks are too strong. So, someone using plate (AC +8) would have it's bonus down to +3. Giant monsters (taurus demons, many bosses and such) would just ignore armor. Their attacks would have to hit only AC 10, the basic. The only bonus applied would be DEX and the skill Evasion, each level in skill giving +1 to AC if your encumbrance is less than 2.

. Other possibility is that giant monsters would ignore AC tests, and the character would need a saving throw against breath weapons to evade the attack.

. About the idea of breath saving throw, it could be a rule that all characters with Encumbrance 2 or less could evade any attack made against them, as long as they are aware of it. So, besides the normal attack, the monster should roll to see if the attack landed.

- About Dying

. Wisdon, as in the book, is the attribute that conects the character with the universe. So, it is the attribute which can be used as fuel for caming back to life. When you die, you lose whisdon. It's similar to Humanity in Dark Souls, because, the bigger your humanity in the game, the better your natural resistances, just like in Lotfp Whisdom modifiers affect almost all saving throws.

. When you die, you loose all accumulated xp that you did not spend.

. In the rpg, I yet don't know if it would be better to, when you die, go back to a 'save point' or just stand up again. I think it would make more sense if you 'regenerated' and continued there.

. So, with those ideas in mind, the point is that you could 'burn' whisdom to 'heal'. I think you could roll your HD to see how much you heal. So, whenever you want, you would be able to burn 1 whisdom and reroll your hd. If you are a 3rd level fighter with -2 HP, you can burn whisdom and roll 3d8 to see how much HP you are with now.

Those are the idea

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9 Topic by Gaigaia

(2 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

Yeah, I've been thinking about it. The souls series is very dark, gritty and horrific at times. Although not 'weird' per se, exchanging weird for tragic, I would say. But I do imagine that DS (demon and dark souls) could be adapted and played using Lotfp.

Here are some ideas:

. XP and Gold would be the souls of the monsters defeated and from the shards encountered during the adventure. The character would collect the souls within himself, and they could be used as currency (just like in the games) or to level up

. The demi-human classes would be changed to their human counterpart - Elf/Warlock, Halfling/Survivalist and Dwarf/Barbarian.

. Base AC would be 10. This would open space for more diversity of armors (+1, +2 for padded, +3, +4 for letter, +5,+6 for mail, +7,+8 for plate, +1 for small shields and +2 for big). A variety of weapons and armor is important in DS.

. Riposte and parry moves in DS could be emulated with a 'critical' hit (20). On a riposte, you would do double damage. Also, there could be a skill named 'Riposte'. Each level on the skill would reduce the threat. So, Riposte 4 would give a 16 in 20 chance of critical attack.

. Each level in Backstab would give +1 to backstab attack ,and the damage multiplier should be at every 2 levels. So, backstab 5 would give +7 to attack (+2 basic, +5 from skill) and a x2 damage.


What must be created:

. Rules for dodging and high encumbrance slowing your dodging. I could use the easy way out and say that dodge is included in the DEX modifier, but that wouldn't make sense, since you can still use armor and get the DEX bonus. Only applying modifiers for different armours would also be insuficient. I've been thinking on having a skill named 'evasion', that, for each point on it, you would get +1 AC when with encumbrance lower than 2. I'm not sure about it.

. Maybe different classes for the Pyromancer and the Mage in DS. I've been thinking on adapting the Scholar and Psion from the Machinations of the Space Princess (Mosp) rpg.

. Specific rules for forging itens. This don't seem to be hard, as we could use a guideline of Dark Souls.

. There should be rules for get back to life. In the game, it's said that your soul or your sanity is affected by the countless deaths. So, when you hit 0 HP, you could sell your soul your sanity in exchange of standing and fighting again. Maybe you could lose levels, like if you suffered an energy drain from an undead? Or maybe reduce Charisma. I'm not sure yet. It must be something to reflect the loss of sanity. Since the tabletop rpg is not a skill based game - where the skill of the player is the key for victory - there should be a mechanic for impeding players to just throw themselves away.
           - Also, I'm not so sure if, when dying during the adventure, the player should go back to the shrine or last check point, or just have the option to revive there, with the others. Maybe they could chose? I'm saying that because, in a game where death is part of the process, having the players to die and wait the others to die or come back would be pretty boring. I don't know.

Do you people have any ideas? I would like to hear.

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10 Reply by Gaigaia

(4 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

Other images, those made by Liam Peters

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WsT675lpjmA/U … sement.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8npsjJB1Aec/U … itanum.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O1VEBlVr1wQ/T … hing+5.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TOlqa0FwaNM/U … evival.jpg

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11 Reply by Gaigaia

(4 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

Lord Inar wrote:

Boy! Those do look like they're straight out of several LotFP adventures. Thanks for sharing!

Exactly my thoughts. When I saw them, I thought they could very well be at a Lotfp adventure or module.

As a side note, I think that Adventure Time (the cartoon show) could be twisted dark and be played with the lotfp system. The show is already dark enough, if you know where to see.

Also, I've been thinking about Game of Thrones, Ravenloft, Warhammer fantasy and 40k. Those could easily be played with Lotfp.

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12 Topic by Gaigaia

(4 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

So, I've found these pictures from Natasha Allegri which I believe are quite weird and wished to share with you guys:

http://natazilla.tumblr.com/image/18168779194

http://natazilla.tumblr.com/image/20373506553

http://natazilla.tumblr.com/image/24432749274

http://natazilla.tumblr.com/image/15696076041

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13 Reply by Gaigaia

(20 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

Well, Raggi, if I could ask for any small modification on the rules as you revision the ref book, I would like to ask for you to find any use for the d12. Any real use besides rolling random magical effects or npcs quirks.

I mean, d4, d6, d8 and d10 are damage and the d20 is the saves and combat; d12 is completely useless (and the usage as 'barbarian hd' or 'barbarian axe' in DeD is, for me, just an excuse). Is there any way that you could add some use for the d12 in the game?

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14 Reply by Gaigaia

(4 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

Lord Inar, a few details were left out in your post. For example: How many points should someone have at chargen? How will the exp chart level progression be? What is the basic score for Saving Throws? 20?

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15 Reply by Gaigaia

(5 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

Wow, thank you for not only the answer, but how fast it was. Thank you very much, I will be looking which of those books I can get my hands on and read.

So, about the actual play recording, no chance, right? I myself like hearing aps instead of reading. But that was just a minor curiosity of mine to hear from your sessions, don't worry about it. 

And about all of that, do you have any intention of writting a campaign setting? That would be, if I can emphasise, VERY good, at least on my curious point o view. I don't know any good 'real world' setting rpg for the renaissance period. There are many about the medieval ages and about the early industrial age and victorian age, but none I can remember talk about renaissance. And most of them are very 'high fantasy' or not on earth, and that's kind of a bother to me.

A campaign setting about 1600 england, with a weird touch, would be amazing. Any plans about that?

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16 Topic by Gaigaia

(5 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

Hey, it's me again. I hope I'm not being too annoying, but I would like to know if you could, James, tell about what history books do you use in your campaign or read in order to create adaptations. You've said that you base your games on Earth, around XIV, XV and XVI century, and I'm curious to know in which books you base your stories.

I'm thinking on gming a campaign around the War of the Roses, but I'm not sure yet. I'm readding 'The urban history of england', by Cambridge university. I also have some other books, but they are too specific. I would like to know if you could point to a more resumed text or maybe the appointments you've written for your campaigns.

Also, if this is not too much out of topic, do you still play your campaign? Is there any chances for you to record your sessioins and make an actual play podcast of it? I find that there are too few actual plays (aps) recorded of LotFP, and I think it would be awesome for everyone to hear more about the game.

Thank you for reading my questions,

Victor

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17 Reply by Gaigaia

(4 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

First, thank you Raggi. The name of the magic user was haunting me, since she was the only one unnamed and I really like her 'non chalant' pose in the picture, while Alice and Flame are in a heated discussion.

Now, if you have the time, I would like to say some fun facts about those names and how I use them in my litterature, and also to ramble about some things on your work that I very much like:

Alice is the name of a character in a short story of mine, 'The Silver Alchemist', from many years ago. She is a calm and recolected girl from a germanic village somewhere during the XIV and XVII century. Her best friend (and maybe lover?), Alric, went to Paris study alchemy and, when he came back, he opperated on Alice's diseased dog. The result was a giant monster zombie dog, who ravaged the village. A mild mistake, I could say.

Melissa is one of my favorite feminine names. It reminds me of iron, steel, blood and metal clashing. Melissa is the name of some of my characters, but the most distinct is from a high fantasy novel, where Melissa is a well known ghost, nicknamed 'Iron Maiden', which is a flying dismembered torso of a woman, claded in steel, pierced by metal and enveloped in blood, whose fate is hunting down those that she deems unworthy. What is 'worthy' for her? Nobody could answer such question, as she seems completely insane, or with desires and intentions beyond the recognition of humanity.

Reading your site and your thoughts about what people say of your depiction of violence against women, not only I agree with your thoughts, but I also find myself amused thinking about it. I always asked people what did they think about 'rpg fights'. When you attack an orc, roll a d20, hit it with d8 damage and it goes down to 1 hp, do you imagine it as World of Warcraft, where the monster just 'grunt' apathically? And then, when you hit it again and it diees, you imagine it falling to the ground and fading away? Battles are bloody, cruel, violent and injust. When you slash an orc, it bleed, it stinks and it cries. When you cut a dragon, it (probably) feels pain and might get desperate, and think about it's family, and maybe pledge to piety. When you gut a man, he will suffer. When women are adventurers, they can also be gutted and can also be killed in combat. And combat, as said before, is ugly. As you saind in one of your video, reality is weird. In your game, I see you depicting the reality of 'weird'. And in reality, people fighting will bleed. Therefore, the weird reality of a weird game is double weird. So weird it is, that people get flabergasted and rage with fiery flames! But now I'm just being silly, forgive me.

I also liked your take about the 'cheesecakes'. In regards of this topic, I like to analyse it as a model, an enaltation of the body, an expression of the purity of the warrior in the 'nakedness' of the body. But, when those imagery are used ad libitum, anywhere and for any reason, I do hate it. One example of such actions are, for me, the super heroines, always dressed in revealing outifts and with amazing bodys (and this is also valid for their male counterparts).

I will end my rumblings before things get out of control!

Thanks once again, Raggi

Victor

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18 Topic by Gaigaia

(4 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

I have some questions about the iconic characters in LotFP (the cleric Alice, the specialist flame princess and the unnamed magic user). If it is not too much, I would like to know if James could answer those questions.

About the unnamed magic user:

. What's her name, or at least nickname? The blonde cleric is Alice, and the redhaired is Flame Princess (although we don't know her name, we know her nickname). What about the magic user?

. Is the magic user on the cover of 'Better than Any Man' the same magic user? Is there any story related to it?

Questions in general:

. About the iconic characters, do you intend on doing 'something' with them. By something I mean if you intend to create a saga, story arc?

. Also, why did you choose that name for the rpg? What is the 'Flame Princess'? What about her, for you, inspire 'weird' rpg? Why Lamentations?

. Why the Flame Princess is a specialist? Any reason for it? I ask that because, since she is at the cover of the rpg and in the name of the game, I would like to know what was your train of thought when choosing her class. It could be any one of them: warrior, specialist, mage, cleric. Why specialist? I imagine because that could be your favorite class, but that's only a hypothesis.

.Is there any cool story behind those characters, or any fun fact, easter egg? Are those characters inspired by those of your players?

About all those questions, I'm just a curious guy. I know that you can answer 'just create whatever you like, make your own story' and stuff, but I'm curious on knowing from the author what did he think, the 'whats' and 'whys' of his choices. As a writter (portuguese writter), I like hearing from others and exchanging thoughts.

Well, too many questions. I hope you could answer, if not all of them, at least some.

Cheers,

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19 Topic by Gaigaia

(0 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

I don't know if Raggi knows about Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea (http://www.swordsmen-and-sorcerers.com/), probably he does know, but it's another weird rpg, but more focused on Sword and sorcery. What I find interesting about it is the skill system, which is very similar with Lotfp (it uses a d6). It uses the same mechanic for attribute tests and for skills tests.

Also, I don't know if you know a very curious rpg named "There is no spoon" (http://tinstargames.weebly.com/uploads/ … rixrpg.pdf), a Matrix rpg with very simple mechanics. Basically, in tests you roll 1d6 for attribute and 1d6 for skill and try to roll under the level in each one of them. If you roll equal or under your attribut, you get a 1st level success (minor). If you roll under your skill, you get a 2nd level success (major). If you roll under both, you get a 3rd (full) level success.

The point I want to make is to combine the idea of the three rpgs to use in LotFP. You would roll 2 different colored d6, one for attribute and one for skill, needing to roll equal or under the value on each of them. For attributes, the values depend on your attribute modifier:

-3, you gotta get a 1 and then a 3 or less to succed
-2, 1:6
-1 2:6
0 3:6
+1 4:6
+2 5:6
+3 6:6, if you roll a 6, you roll again and only miss if you got a 4 or higher

A success in an attribute test would achieve things that every person could do. A success with a skill would achieve something that a professional could do (escale a very hard surface; understand a language etc). A success in both would be something that a master could do.

Basically, that's it. What do you people think?

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20 Reply by Gaigaia

(5 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

For me, Elves are like the classic magic users that are also fighters, those mages that fight in full plate armor, heavy metal 'ish'.

How I treat elves: I call them Warlocks (since I don't use demihumans); Their number of spells per day is half the number of a MU
    I find the elves too much  powerfull, with being able to cast with higher encumbrance and needing only 1 hand to cast magic. So, that's the reasoning behind those changes.

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21 Reply by Gaigaia

(13 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

angelofmurphy,

About the claymore hit, I always interpret the damage dealt by the weapon as a describer of how well or where the attack hit. So, if you are weilding a d10 claymore and get a 1, you only scratched the adversary or maybe could only hit with the handler of the weapon. The 'to hit' attack against the AC only determines, to me, if the attack actually caused damage, but the damage can be very little. What determine the 'quality' of the damage is the damage roll.

Also, considering HP as a 'stunt energy' or 'evasion of damage', death is not assured. If you take 5 damage and lose 5 HP (not going negative), you are fine. You might just have evaded it, blocked or the attack only scratched you. That's why I don't find hard to put a very realistic point of view on attacks and even on supernatural effects. Characters, being heroes, have access of HD and, as such, can 'magically' or 'conveniently' avoid damage. Otherwise, I think that it would be almost impossible to play any adventure.
     It would be interesting to test: have a game where, when you gain levels, you DON'T RECEIVE MORE HP. You gain the other benefices, but you are, realistcally, just a human being. I know that would make some classes as the Dwarf pretty useless, but this is just for testing. I like that PCs are heroes and can whitstand great quantity of damage.

About siege weapons damage, I think that, unless the players are really on mythical levels with 50 HP or plus, any hit of such a wepon would insta-kill them. Basically, it would be a breath save or die.

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22 Reply by Gaigaia

(13 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

angelofmurphy,

I like your idea of 'mixed classes'. It is more in the spirit of the Lotfp rules (the idea of you having just one class). I think it's better applicable than mine. Mine seems like a different hack altogether.

About specialties, they are rare. It's very rare to a character have so many specialties that this become 'broken'. The thing is: invoking it for an automatic success means 'marginal success'. If you play Apocalypse World, that would be a 7 to 9 in 2d6. This means that they do what they want, but with a price, consequence or ugly choice. You can have them track the creature, but have it jump on them, or make the tracking take many days and they are starving, or one of the players get sick, or they find themselves on a storm and some of them lose equipment. The idea is that they succeed in tracking, but they have to pay for it.

If it is easier to visualize, you can think of HP and LP like that: All classles humans have 0 HP and you use the rules on the core book for negative HP. So, -1 and -2 means broken bones and similar stuff; -3 represents that you are dieying and -4 you are dead. Simple like that. The idea is that HP means 'hit points', means 'the supernatural power that your heroic character has of evading damage by sheer luck, serendipity, divine intervention or combat expertise'. At least, that's how I interpret it. A warrior in DeD with 100 HP is a master of combat, and all those hit points are his 'heroism incarnated' or something like that.
    I'm bad at making myself clear in english, sorry. I didn't mean to make it confusing the concept of HP. Did I explain myself better now? HP could be even Hero Points instead of Hit Points. In sum: All now heroes and 'villains' (classles characters and not monsters) have 0 HP, dieying in -4 HP. That's the spirit.

My greatest problem with HP for creatures is that I suffer with 'realism' sometimes. I like improvised rules and easy to learn and adjudicate rpgs, but, for some reason, all my DeD I felt 'strange' when playing. In Lotfp, where I like to play in a very realistic way, I find it hard on dealing HP for big creatures. The AC increment is one idea. The other is to have the AC be static (10 naked, 12 cloth, 14 leather, 16 chain, 18 plate) and have the size of the creature indicate its HP. I did that once: they fought a gigantic blob of flesh and pus (similar to an 'Aberration' in Warcraft III). Basically, took the multiplier of how many times the creature was heavier then a human (base on 100kgs). This creature had aprox. 5 tons, so it was 50 times heavier and, therefore, had 50 HP.
       Although it might seems confusing, a table of sizes and creatures could be made as such: Considering that monsters HD are 5 hp per dice, so:
    . 1 HD = Creatures up to x5 heavier than humans (Ogres, Oxes, Horses etc)
    . 2 HD = Creatures up to x10 heavier (really big oxes)
    . 4 HD = x20 (Giants)
    . 10 HD = x50 (Elephants0
    . 100 HD = x500 (Whales)
   
    This is something I've been thinking. I don't know. As always, being a GM, you can improvise the HD of the creature by intuition (it's very big, so 5 HD). It's interesting to note that the idea is to be kind of 'realistic', so you may see that an ox would have kind of low HP, only 1HD or 2HD (5 to 10 HP). But that was kind of my idea. If you hit an ox (5 HP) with a long sword and get an 8 on the d8, the Ox will go to -3 HP, agonysing on the floor with it's guts hanging.
     What do you think of this idea?Instead of going up with the AC, let it stagnate and up the HP only?

    Following that logic, bigger weapons on this variation would do a lot more damage. An onagre or balista would be doing around 40-50 HP per hit, maybe more. I don't know, I'm just spilling some ideas here. What do you thin?

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23 Reply by Gaigaia

(13 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

angelofmurphy,

About multiclassing, the problem with a 'single xp chart' is that in the old school rpg versions, every class would have different xp progressions. To continue with that spirit, that's why I use the idea that you may get any 'class', but you only take the best rolls for each one (best saves, best bonus attack, best hd). If you insist that your player describe HOW he got the trainning on that new class, I really don't care with 'min/max'. Even with the best tinkering with the rules, all players can die or survive by the fate of the die or by sheer stupidity or cruelty from the GM.
   What do you think? Is it best to make a single xp chart progression, or have them choose any class with xp and get only the best of each?

I also can attest the xp rules work fine many times. I'm curious on knowing which rules you use.

About specialties, since I played FATE, Fudge and The One Ring, they are pretty straightforward for me. The basic idea is that: Someone with a specialty don't miss in a common situation. For example: If you have specialty Tracking, when you make a Bushcraft skill for tracking someone, you roll normally. If you fail, you can invoke the specialty for a 'marginal success' (you succeed partially). If you get a success, it's a great success (you succeed with a bonus). That's the main idea. When you get familiar with them, they become a second nature. If you expriment with that, give me a report, please.

For the Hit Points and Life Points, they are different from the Endurance in the AFMBE system. The idea is not your 'stamina', but your 'luck and skill' in combat. It's like on those action flicks where the guy jumps from the edifice and lands on a soft surface, unhurt. Or when, in combat, Legolas and Gimli are surrounded by orcs and still are not hurt. That's the idea. There is a Brazilian rpg that is called Daemon, and they have a system called Pontos Heroicos (Heroic Points) and Pontos de Vida (Life Points). Basically, my idea came from it. Did you see the difference between it and the Endurance?

Yes, I'm sorry for not claryfing it. Basically, you double the values. Double the skill pips per level from the specialist and double the chances for everybody. I also like to make it 'roll higher' instead of 'roll low'. So, instead of success in '1 or 2', it's success in '11 or 12'.

I don't like making attribute checks. When I want a chance check, I either use a d100 or d12. For a d12, I consider this: is the task possible? (if no, the player can't roll. If it is, then follow) -> if it is easy, roll higher than 3+. If it is normal, roll 7+. If it is hard, roll 11+. If the character has an applicable class, reduce difficulty by one level. I just do that when I improvise something, and I like to make the players associate each dice with a function: d6 (initiative or damage); d4,d6,d8,d10 (damage); d12 (skill tests); d20 (attack and saves) and d100 (chance).

I hate complication. When I game, I make it simple. My favorite system is World of Dungeons (a hack variation of Apocalypse World that is very, very simple). I also enjoy lite systems, such as On Mighty Thews, Trollbabe and Risus.
   The idea of this variation of combat is to make AC the 'hardness' of the creature, and not 'hitting it'. When I say 'size' modiffier, I mean that bigger creatures shake off bigger damage, and that should be identified in the AC too. Basically, an ox with HD 3 would have, besides the Con+3 bonus, a +3 from the HD. The idea is that the sheer size makes it harder to inflict a serious wound on it.
  In my games, I consider creature's HD like size, unless it's a classed npc. So, they automatically receive +3 from CON and +1/HD. I also tinkered the basic AC value, considering AC 10 'flesh', with +2 armor being 'Cloth armor, heavy clothing, mage robes', +4 armor being leather, +6 chain mail and +8 plate.
  I changed the base AC from 12 to 10 when, in a game, the fighter was unable to hit naked charred zombies. Although funny, it got me thinking. So I use AC 10 in my games, but almost every character uses heavy clothes, so they have 12 AC.

About the firearms, I like to use d4 and d6 damage to them. The idea behind it is that they 'break through' armor, but not necessarly eat through HP. On a naked guy, what would make greater an impact, a blow of a 2 handed sword or a shot?  (considering a guy that has enough strengh to wield it, ceteris paribus and stuff). I'm not that sure yet, but that's my idea. Since all classless humans in my games have about 3 LP and with 1 damage are with broken bones and 2 damage they are dieying, a pistol with 1d4 that has +4 to +6 to hit is amazing.

Any more sugestion or comment?

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24 Topic by Gaigaia

(0 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

Those rules were greatly inspired by 'The One Ring rpg' rules. Tell me what do you think of them:

New Skills:

. Bushcraft: The capacity to track creatures and enemies, besides finding sustain in the wild through fishing, hunting etc. That's the same skill, but now it also includes Tracking.

. Explore: The ability to search the wild and design traversal paths.

. Travel: The ability to make great journeys,  follow maps and endure long periods of march through the wild.

The Rules:

. Before traveling, all players should decide the journey roles for each one of them. One must be the Guide (only one can be the guide). The others can choose to be the Hunter, Explorer and Watcher. More than 1 player can choose the same function, but if the same player is on more than one role, he receives -1 on his skills test.

. The characters should state their itinerary, which path they want to take. Then, the GM would calculate the adjusted distance. To do that, he must first calculate the overall distance in miles that they will cross. Then, he must multiply the distance with the modifier from the terrain:
    Plains and open fields = x1
    Cliffs, rough terrain, woods = x2
    Dense forests, jungle, swamps, deserts, ice fields = x3
    Passes through the Mountains = x5
    Mountains without paths = x10

    So, traversing 50 miles through the jungle would be an adjusted distance of 150 miles

. Then, pick the 'per day miles' walked value of the character with the most encumbrance. That will be the miles/day of the group. (per order of encumbrance: 24/18/12/6/0). Calculate the number of days needed of travel. If there is any place where a road passes through, multiply by two the per day millage walked.

. With the total of days needed calculated, determine the number of travel rolls for this Journey. The season will determine it: Winter = 1test each 3 days; Autumn = 1 test each 4 days; Spring = 1 test each 5 days; Summer = 1 test each 6 days. Each travel roll will be one step of the journey.

. On a success of a travel roll, the characters are fine. On a failure, a hazard happens. Also, at each step of the journey, besides the Travel roll, the gm should roll a d12 to random determine a task for one of the journey roles. 1,2,3= Guide (roll Travel), 4,5,6 = Explorer (roll explore); 7,8,9 = Hunter (roll Bushcraft), 10,11, 12 = Watcher (roll surprise). If he fails on the supplementary roll, a hazard happens.

. Hazards: They can be anything – A storm that afflicts the players; They get lost; Random disease; Monsters; Strange noises; Strange lights on the horizon. Anything that can unsettle, hurt or confuse them is a Hazard. If the group gets 2 hazards on a travel step, the GM can either call 2 different hazards or make a very tough one.
    Examples:
    . Hunger: The group was not able to find provisions and are starving. Use the rules on the core book.

    . Lost: Like in the playbook

    . Hard terrain: They find some kind of hard terrain to traverse (a large cliff, a valley, a river with no boat) and must find another way.

    . Annoying bugs: Best used in summer or spring (or when in swamps). Bugs (or maybe birds or other small creatures like slimes or leeches) make the travel harder. Everyone counts as +1 Encumbrance until they take 1 full day to recover.

    . Random Monsters: Just throw a monster at them (this includes bandits, rabbies crazed beggar, mercenaries and random black magic warlocks searching for new victims). This hazard is best used when the Watcher fails his surprise roll.

    . Disease: The group is affected by a disease and must save against poison, just like in the core rules.

    . Weather: Extreme heat, snow or rain, the players must find a way to circumvent it.

    . Weird: Voices of the dead wake up the characters. One of the players wake up by one of the other characters singing in strange dead languages. A talking bird follows the characters telling them the future until it foresees the death of one of the players, and now they must make it changes what it has said. You know, anything weird.

. Exploring new places: When you are making a journey through a place where you never went nor don't have a map, you can't make a Travel skill check. Your explore rate is half the value for travel. To explore, follow the same procedure with travel: determine the adjusted distance, determine the total of days and apply your 'miles/day' rate. Then, roll Explore for each step of the journey and roll the 1d12 for the supplementary rolls at each step and determine the hazards. After each step of exploring, the GM should give you an 'idea' of the overall area you explored, No details, just the overall dimensions and terrain.

    What do you guys think of it?

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25 Reply by Gaigaia

(10 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)

Normally, if the effect is 'to kill' something on a single hit, Poison is used.

But, as the Gm, you are free to adjudicate whatever the way you'd like. Is the desintagration a magic effect, destroying the aether and spirit connection of the body and soul? Then, use magic.

Is the desintegration physical? The power of the creature acting on the victim's body in a way of anihilating every single cell of it? Then, Poison.

Are you feeling douchy today? So ask your player to save from BOTH! If he fails any one of them, then he is dead, haha.

That's how I think, at least.

The way I use saving throws in my game are like this:

. Paralyse: It is for effects that binds the target, including grappling.

. Poison: Everything that affects the biology of the victim in an invading way (diseases, natural venons etc)

. Breath: It's basically reflexes. Are you falling through a trap? Save against 'Breath' to see if you cling into the edge of the cliff.

. Magic Device: I don't use it. Some times I use specifically for trap and seeing if you can perceive the trap and avoid it, but I don't like this one. It might be used for 'surprise attacks', as some sort of perception roll, but I'm digressing.

. Magic: Everything that is supernatural, mind controlling, soul shattering uses saving throws. I also use that for Insanity and Corruption, when creatures are so vile and so beyond human compreension that the mere sight of it may kill a player, or cause damage.

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