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Post by logan9a on Sept 25, 2019 13:10:58 GMT
SKILLS OVER 100%
This is when you are really, really good at something. Although the fumble range (00) is unchanged no matter how high the skill gets, having a high skill not only allows you to do stupidly hard things more often but it increases your critical range.
Within Logan’s current campaign, the maximum a skill can go to (for PC’s and any NPC’s short of deities) is 200%.
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Post by logan9a on Dec 4, 2019 18:58:04 GMT
Reminder on character death, search for key word 'death', it's the fifth one.
(Doing this now to avoid confusion and whining later).
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Post by logan9a on Feb 5, 2020 14:33:42 GMT
Crafting: This is your ability to (if you have the supplies, tools, work space) create stuff. Specify what sort of crafting you are going for - be specific.
The more specialized of skill you have, the more your actual skill shows up and the less negatives you have when making something.
Specialized crafters attempting to make something not in their field get the word 'shitty' applied to what they make or it gets knocked down in quality.
Because we aren't dealing with armor/HP of items (tedious as fuck) it is mostly for the value and aesthetics.
Example:
Someone has smithing. They want to make a sword. They will be making 'shitty swords'.
Example 2:
Someone has 'sword making'. They want to make nails. They will be making 'shitty nails'.
Also, a critical means 'really well for someone of your skill level'.
Example:
A hobbyist sword maker gets a crit on making their sword - it's a GREAT sword - for a hobbyist sword maker to churn out.
Totally different from an expert or master getting a crit.
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Post by logan9a on Feb 20, 2020 16:02:33 GMT
Current events: What is going on in the world today. This is the kind of stuff you find in the newspaper or other sources of media depending on the tech level. Note that this skill does not tell you about ‘illegal’ things (other than perhaps which criminals have been caught and are on trial, etc). If you have this skill but are not ‘climatized’ to the world/dimension/etc you are in, you are at half.
Streetwise: A lot of people always like to say things like “Oh, he’s book smart but he’s not *street smart*”. I respond “Do you know where to get an unlicensed Uzi in downtown Chicago right this instant? If not, you aren’t really street smart either.” This is that skill. It tells you where to get hold of illegal things, whose on the take, whose who in crime families, etc. Note that if you are not ‘climatized’ in a zone/dimension/world you are at half skill.
For those wondering, 'climatized' is the campaign shortening of 'acclimatized'. I have no idea how it started or why it persists but there you are.
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Post by logan9a on Apr 2, 2020 11:54:32 GMT
UNCONSCIOUS
You can spend hero points when you are asleep but unless you take damage or make a difficult listen roll (unless the attacker is noisy) you continue to sleep until awakened. You can spend cards but not trade them. If you are unconscious (from being KO'ed, taken too much stun damage gone to zero MP, etc) even loud noises and taking damage will not allow you to wake up - but you can still spend cards and hero points." If you attack a sleeping target, you get two bumps in damage for 'surprise' and another two bumps for 'helpless'.
If someone is unconscious or KO’ed due to lack of HP/MP, getting these back above zero will either allow them to wake up or at least have a chance of waking up. For example, if someone ran out of MP due to casting spells and went unconscious nothing will wake them up. If someone uses a spell to give that person MP, it does not necessarily wake them up though they may have a chance of waking up due to noise, being stabbed, etc.
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Post by logan9a on May 4, 2020 13:34:05 GMT
Survival: A type of area must be specified (desert or arctic or other). This allows you to survive (barely) in that area for an extended time. Having other nifty skills like carpentry, natural history, etc really can make your life more comfortable.
Note that this skill doesn’t produce what is not there. It allows you to make a shitty shelter, get some berries (if they are around at all) that will hopefully keep you from starving, and will tell you the best place to go to find civilization is generally downhill.
If you are in a desert where there is literally no water (or on an alien planet where it is all poison) it will not keep you from dying - just make you slightly less uncomfortable while you do.
Also, some things the survival skill tells you - such as traveling by night through the desert is preferable because you don’t have the sun beating down on you - it may be at odds with the desert you are in. Especially if evil spirits of the dead hunt at night.
Generally, needing to use this skill means you have been thrust into a bad environment or have failed to plan ahead and will be reduced to ‘near death’ but hopefully not all the way dead - depending how long you are there.
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Post by logan9a on May 5, 2020 14:39:11 GMT
HOW FAST TO GET THINGS DONE
"It ain't like D&D" - here's an example:
"Logan I get out my oil, light it on fire and throw it at him!"
In many D&D games I've sat through throughout the decades, this is a simple one round action. In this game system, you're looking at a 'fucking long time'.
Let's assume the oil is in an easy to open belt pouch.
Round 1: Open the belt pouch clasp. No clasp? How the fuck has it stayed in there with you doing active life stuff? Of course you need some sort of secure way to keep it in there.
Round 2: Pull out oil flask.
Round 3: Realize you need something to light it with and pull out the lighter.
Round 4: Realize you need a piece of cloth and panic because both your hands are holding things. So you pass the lighter to the hand holding the oil flask and try not to drop it. Remember, if the oil flask isn't the kind that may break while you're wearing it, it doesn't get weaker when you throw it at a target. It will probably just bounce off the target.
By now, you've already been pretty much inactive for several rounds. Let's try it with a grenade.
Round 1: Take out grenade.
Round 2: Pull pin with free hand. (Teeth? No. I've used real grenades. You are far more likely to lose teeth than to pull the pin. If not, just imagine how easily the pins can come out.)
Round 3: When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is no longer your friend so you throw it.
Round 4: (If you are smart) take cover.
Disclaimer: There are certain futuristic grenades that you can arm and throw all in the same round. Thousands of years of weapons tech for the win!
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Post by logan9a on May 5, 2020 14:40:20 GMT
No-brainer modules:
"No brainers" - Anyone who generally plays more than once a week will probably (unless they choose to 'free range' it instead of 'feed us with a mod') hit a 'no brainer'. The 'no brainer' is a module that you have already played through and it comes back like a TV rerun. While I personally dislike subjecting players to reruns, with this kind of gaming schedule and the players shifting about who they play with it is inevitable. I am simply unable to make scores of new modules every season.
So what happens during a 'no brainer module'? Let's say that Freddy has been on a module a time (or few) before and this time he is teamed up with Jeff and Marcus. That means that (concerning the module), Freddy is 'that guy who is coming up with no ideas'. He doesn't have any clue what should be done and is volunteering nothing toward the mod. However, there are other things he can do. For example, let's say there is a computer terminal that needs to be hacked and Jeff says "Hey Freddy - can you break the encryption on this?" Boom - Freddy is free to do so. If there is a bomb under the desk that he wouldn't know about he has to suck it up and sit down anyway - good roleplaying. The other players can also ask him to research various topics, etc. They can't ask him 'what's your opinion on this' or 'what should we do now' as he can just shrug and say "I don't know - what do YOU think you should do?"
What are the benefits to being the 'guy (or gal) without a brain on the module'? Well, a couple different things. Clever players can explore little side quests that they didn't check in to the first time, see how the mod changes a bit every time it is run, laugh as the other players go down in flames, etc.
Freddy says: "Another thing which sometimes you can do in a no-brainer is keep track of the ideas your party comes up with, then if they get stuck and don't really know what to do, you can say "hey didn't you want to do x?" Now x may or may not be useful, but it will at least keep things moving. You're not supposed to give any hints as to what's a good idea or not, just mention some of the stuff they had thought about earlier but hadn't followed up on yet because they forgot about it. Reminding them of what's already been told to them is also fine – such as reminding them of the location that you were given to go and visit a suspect. So long as the information has already been disclosed clearly and obviously, you can gently remind them of these things if they get stuck or start wondering what to do. I personally enjoy watching the different methods that people come up with to solve certain things. It gives you another perspective. You may also discover something you missed before which could be useful in the future. And, as Logan already mentioned, if there are any "side" things that you wanted to do, that can also be a good opportunity to do them. (On learning how Logan GM's through watching no-brainers) Sometimes you may have certain information put in certain places, but if the situation calls for it and to avoid having the players spend too much time running around looking for it in a specific place, you may just have the same information "pop up" in other logical areas. You may also tweak things a little bit in order to make them a bit more interesting or if something was too easy/difficult, change it a bit.”
Logan: As a final disclaimer on 'no brainers', pretty much the only time you run into those is if the PC's are doing a mod. There are some players that are capable of "I got shit to do - ain't got no time for no mods" and others which do not have that ability. If (for example) you are with someone like Chris Casey, unless he is burned out/stressed from work, he generally falls into the "Ain't nobody got time fo that" group.
If you are doing 'free range' then 'no-brainers' aren't a thing. If you are doing the 'feed me Seymore' (or with a group that is before you start developing your own stuff you want to go get done) then no-brainers night become a thing.
The easiest way to determine which kind of player is which is to ask them "What do you want to do this session?" If they respond "I don't know", they need feeding. If they respond with a fucking list of things, they are the 'self motivated' kind who want free range.
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Post by logan9a on May 17, 2020 12:18:15 GMT
RANGES OF FIREARMS (etc)
These are simplified rules to avoid 'gun porn' that so many rule books fall into. Also, if you have someone claim that 'a pistol range is much further', that is technically true but also shows that person hasn't spent much time at the gun range or in combat. These ranges are the 'normal effective ranges'. Just because some guy does a 1000m shot with a pistol does not mean your character can ever hope to do that.
Everything: 20m Long arms: 100m
Scopes slow your rate of fire to half but double the range. If you have a scope on a pistol, it will probably get knocked out of alignment when holstering it and it is a stupid movie thing anyway. Note - if you don’t sight in a scope before using it (involves shooting off some rounds and making small adjustments), it won’t help.
Double the range, half the skill.
Example of ranges:
Rifle = 100m. Put a scope on it = 200m base range, half rate of fire. Hence: 0-200m = full skill. Up to 400m = half skill. Up to 800m = quarter skill.
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Post by logan9a on May 17, 2020 12:25:26 GMT
UNCONSCIOUS
You can spend hero points when you are asleep but unless you take damage or make a difficult listen roll (unless the attacker is noisy) you continue to sleep until awakened. You can spend cards but not trade them. If you are unconscious (from being KO'ed, taken too much stun damage gone to zero MP, etc) even loud noises and taking damage will not allow you to wake up - but you can still spend cards and hero points." If you attack a sleeping target, you get two bumps in damage for 'surprise' and another two bumps for 'helpless'.
While asleep or unconscious, you can spend cards but not trade them as you are not 'in communication' with the other PC's.
You can spend hero points when you are asleep but unless you take damage or make a difficult listen roll (unless the attacker is noisy) you continue to sleep until awakened. You can spend cards but not trade them. If you are unconscious (from being KO'ed, taken too much stun damage gone to zero MP, etc) even loud noises and taking damage will not allow you to wake up - but you can still spend cards and hero points.
If you attack a sleeping target, you get two bumps in damage for 'surprise' and another two bumps for 'helpless'.
The total of the stun damage and real damage represents lost HP.
If you lose all of your HP due to 'real' damage, you are dead. If some or all of that damage is stun (and the amount of real is less than your HP) you are unconscious until either eight hours has passed or you get some HP from spells, regeneration, first aid, etc.
If you're unconscious due to having lost all of your MP due to fumbles, over casting spells, etc you are unconscious either until eight hours has passed, someone gives you more MP or perhaps from some sort of spell. People falling unconscious from MP loss are very literally helpless and won't wake up, even if slowly crushed in a meat press.
Note that if you are unconscious and gain MP/HP that would allow you to become conscious, the GM has the choice between making waking up automatic or requiring some sort of roll every round (usually this takes place during combat) to wake up. It might be an endurance roll, willpower, or whatever roll their sadistic brain decides.
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