Exploring the Savage World of Keltica

Game Master ZenFox42

A Savage Worlds campaign in a fantasy setting (Elves, Dwarves, magic, etc.) with pre-Civil War technology (steam engines, locomotives, but only single-shot guns and no electricity).

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Female Human Card: Bennies: 1 Parry: 5 [2 + 6(fighting)/2] Toughness: 5 [2 + 6(vigor)/2] (2) Armored Duster RATN: 4 Pace: 5 Notice: d6

I think I'll stay with the defensive field belt for this advancement. I assume we'll be continuing to have fights and Arabella will want to keep herself safe. She can also use if on any overly-lecherous men she may encounter in the city. >:)

I'll still probably do something with tie illusion generator down the road.


Most of the Edges that look interesting require a higher die type than Alex has. How important is it to choose an Edge rather than bumping a die?


Female Human Card: Bennies: 1 Parry: 5 [2 + 6(fighting)/2] Toughness: 5 [2 + 6(vigor)/2] (2) Armored Duster RATN: 4 Pace: 5 Notice: d6

Sounds like the ability increase may be important to you if you need it to get the edges you want/need. There is also the limit of one ability die increase per rank, so if you've already increased an ability during the novice rank, you can't do it again until seasoned. But if you haven't increased an ability die during novice rank, you'll need to do it before reading Seasoned rank so you can make another increase during the seasoned rank, if needed.

Arabella doesn't have much need of an increased die, although adding to her vigor die might be wise before she gets to Seasoned rank, just for the help with soaking wounds and avoiding death after incapacitation.

ZenFox42 probably can give better advice than I can, however.


Alex, I don't remember what your previous advancement was, but if you did bump an Attribute die, you can't do that again.

From a quick glance, some good fighting Edges (if that's the way you want to go) that you qualify for are Extraction, First Strike, Florentine, Quick Draw, Sweep (very handy when you're surrounded by bad guys).

If you've bumped an Ability already, and none of the above appeal to you, then go ahead and bump a Skill.

ALL - the only reason I'm emphasizing Edges is that in SW, they are *the* way you define your character - sort of like Feats and all the class-specific special abilities in Pathfinder.


Female Human Card: Bennies: 1 Parry: 5 [2 + 6(fighting)/2] Toughness: 5 [2 + 6(vigor)/2] (2) Armored Duster RATN: 4 Pace: 5 Notice: d6

For Arabella's d4 skill addition, she'll take Streetwise.


PP 15/15 | Bennies 3/3 | Venom Strike 1/1

Oh, did you want us to list them now? Added "New Power" Edge (Bolt as Pebble Storm), and Persuasion for the free skill.


Female Human Card: Bennies: 1 Parry: 5 [2 + 6(fighting)/2] Toughness: 5 [2 + 6(vigor)/2] (2) Armored Duster RATN: 4 Pace: 5 Notice: d6

Question about the Damage Field power: The rules state the following text, "With a success, the power does 2d6 damage. With a raise,
damage field causes 2d8 damage."

I believe this success or raise is related to the initial Wild Science roll to activate the effect. So if the activation roll does not succeed, then the effect does not take place, but the device loses 4 points of power. If the activation roll gets only a success, then the damage, when called for is 2d6, while a success plus raise causes 2d8 points of damage whenever damage is done. And this lasts 3 rounds, so it continues to do damage when the conditions are met and no additional wild science roll is needed.

There are some rolls referenced in the paragraph above but I believe they are all about attempts to hit with a melee weapon, with a touch attack, or with a grapple. Any success in any of these cases triggers the damage referred to above, plus whatever damage, if any, is caused by the attack/grapple. Raises on an attack (except touch) or grapple (after the first) cause an extra die of damage (d6), same as in any normal attack or grapple. The damage field merely adds to that.

Edit: Just to be clear, this damage will be non-lethal. It is my understanding that non-lethal wounds affect combat and capabilities exactly the same as lethal wounds, causing shaken, wound penalties, and potential incapacitation, etc. The only difference is that one cannot die from incapacitation and the wounds wear off more quickly and without the potential for scarring etc.


Arabella - I just looked up Damage Field for the first time since you've mentioned it, to verify the damages and the other rolls to confirm your interpretation, and the first thing that leapt out at me was : Rank:Seasoned. You're still Novice, I'm afraid.

ALL - yes, I would like you to please post your advancement and new skill when you can.


Female Human Card: Bennies: 1 Parry: 5 [2 + 6(fighting)/2] Toughness: 5 [2 + 6(vigor)/2] (2) Armored Duster RATN: 4 Pace: 5 Notice: d6

Back to the drawing board. Must have been thinking of my other SW character.


Human Male Novice XP 10 | Agl d4 Sma d10 Spi d8 Str d4 Vig d6 | Pace 6 Parry 5* Tough 5 Cha 0 | Notice d6 | Rapier d4 (Str+d4), +1 to *Parry | Spellcasting 1d10 | 298sp | Bennies 3 | PP 15/15 | Status None

For my advance I'll raise my Vigor to a d6, and pick up Investigation at a d4.

-Posted with Wayfinder


I'll take Riding at d4, but I'm still stuck on the Edges. I'll think about it over Christmas.


I'd like Trademark Skill - +1 fighting


Alex - the things you're trying to do in the game right now (making contacts and networking) are probably all handled best by Streetwise, which you don't have. And Riding is used only for doing unusual things on a horse (like using a weapon, jumping, controlling it when it gets spooked, etc.) Just a suggestion, you could put that extra d4 skill towards Streetwise, and build it up later. Your choice.

K'Don - that's good for your Edge, what about the free d4 skill?


I finally got the download of the manuel that Rick sent me so I see lots of good stuff, except for a list of skills. I see the list of edges. Where do I find the list of skills.


In my book, page 23. Check the table of contents, it's in chapter 1.


Duhh,

I'll pick the Skill Climbing I think it is strength or agility both of which are a d10 for me.


Okay, I'll switch Riding for Streetwise. Is it affected by his Smarts at all, or is it just a d4 regardless?


Since this is a freebie, it's a d4. Your current Smarts will affect how easy it will be to increase it later.


Female Human Card: Bennies: 1 Parry: 5 [2 + 6(fighting)/2] Toughness: 5 [2 + 6(vigor)/2] (2) Armored Duster RATN: 4 Pace: 5 Notice: d6

@Alexander: You add your charisma to Streetwise results!

I think in place of the defensive field, I'll add a new power: Burst.

Trappings: Arabella will modify her pistol with some crystals, shells, and lots of wires braided around the barrel. Filling the barrel is a tube that flares out at the end, looking something like a funnel. The interior is lined with irridescent shells of a beetle common to the area. At the butt end of the barrel is a crank that circulates rabbit fur and more of the irredescent beetle shells along a disk. When it is cranked, the barrel glows faintly before belching a cone shaped field of light and sparks. The turning rate has to be carefully controlled to generate the effect, hence the weird science skill roll to activate.

I'd like the damage to be non-lethal only, affecting coordination and potentially knocking a creature unconscious.


I believe the only difference for non-lethal damage is that when they become Incapacitated, they go unconscious instead of having to roll to live. Other than that, it's just Wounds. If a bad guy can take up to 3 Wounds (instead of dropping on the first one), his Wounds would subtract from all his rolls, as usual.


Human Male Novice XP 10 | Agl d4 Sma d10 Spi d8 Str d4 Vig d6 | Pace 6 Parry 5* Tough 5 Cha 0 | Notice d6 | Rapier d4 (Str+d4), +1 to *Parry | Spellcasting 1d10 | 298sp | Bennies 3 | PP 15/15 | Status None

You know there's something very appealing about going somewhere unexplored to settle it. We could slowly build a town. It could be like Assassin's Creed 3, only fun.

-Posted with Wayfinder


PP 15/15 | Bennies 3/3 | Venom Strike 1/1

One of my first PbP games (which sadly ground to a halt) was a sandbox in which the PCs were plucked from their lives and dumped in a pocket universe (or similar, never found out what, exactly). We had no way out and no resources except for a deserted, run-down inn we found, and what was left of the garden that used to be behind it.

We spent most of our time doing the hunter-gatherer thing and exploring to figure out where the heck we were. It might sound boring but it was one of the more enjoyable scenarios I've experienced. It's kinda neat to survive by your wits and own two hands, knowing there's no one you can turn to for help and nowhere to buy supplies (including arrows/bolts... you really start thinking about whether to take that shot) or repair broken gear. For the sake of survival, our crew bonded like you wouldn't believe.

So, I wouldn't be against the "settler" thing at all.


Arabella - according to one of the SW developers, the Burst power always produces a 9" (9 square) long cone, whose length cannot be controlled. If you use it indoors, the beam will damage any walls that it encounters, and if it does enough damage, will destroy them and continue on.

Even tho you're doing non-lethal damage, it's still *damage* (as opposed to say, Stun which only makes creatures Shaken), so I would assume at the very least that paint would peel, plaster would crumble, wood would splinter or char, etc. at least somewhat.

Also according to the developer, Burst and Blast damage *everything* in any square that touches their area of effect (including furniture, trees, etc.) AND items on any creatures (armor, gear, money, etc.). Not sure yet how I'll handle that for your gun since it's non-lethal, but just so you know.

Added later : maybe *half* the damage you roll would be applied to objects? Object damage also does not Ace and doesn't include the extra d6 damage for a high attack roll, so the damage done would be quite small, but still always present.

Think of it as a low-power, wide-beam phasor - it may not be doing lethal damage, but it's still going to burn everything in its way a little bit...

Given the heavy mods you've made (tubes and funnels and cranks, etc.), I'd rather you used the "shell" of a pistol you bought for cheap (as part of the advancement) rather than a real gun that can also fire a bullet. So you can keep your "regular" gun as well as have this thing.

Also, since your Burst gun is non-lethal, it loses its "heavy weapon" damage status (basically "heavy weapon" means heavy-armor-piercing, so you can't take out a tank with a super-multi-Aced arrow shot).

Two questions : is this gun powered by one of your "special" crystals (it doesn't have to be, but it would make sense if it did), and can you come up with a cool name for it (that describes how it works)?


Female Human Card: Bennies: 1 Parry: 5 [2 + 6(fighting)/2] Toughness: 5 [2 + 6(vigor)/2] (2) Armored Duster RATN: 4 Pace: 5 Notice: d6

As for the blast damaging other things, I guess it can be a combination of electrical and sonic, creating some concussion damage and some electrical, possibly igniting really flammable material. Having it do half damage to objects sounds good. Would that mean 1d10 or half of 2d10? As I read it, it would therefore probably not knock out a door (damage =8) but could easily shatter glass, breakable objects like a vase.

Would it be too much to have it be adjustable to do either lethal or non-lethal damage? Maybe an action to change the setting? She's non-violent so she wants it to be a way to subdue an opponent, not turn him into hamburger. But sometimes blasting the hell out of something material might be useful. Maybe lethal uses up more power? If not, she'll stick with non-lethal and half-damage to objects.

The power source is the new theory she's been working on that will eventually power the defense field. The combination of metal wire or chain, intermingled with organic materials provides an amplification of the normal bioergonic energy fields residing in the organic material. The rotation of the disk at the end gets the field started via static electricity from the rabbit fur and other materials against which it rubs. Then the part wrapped around the barrel channels it down to the bell at the end which collects, amplifies and then releases the burst.

She calls it "Reason" (has the name embossed on the grip). If asked why, she says, "Because even the most difficult and obnoxious person will listen to Reason."

credit:
stolen from Snowcrash, by Neal Stephenson

The technical name for it is a Bioergonic Amplification Mobilizer.


I think it will have to be either non-lethal or lethal, not switchable.

If you are shooting at creatures, the "incidental" damage is half of that roll, excluding Acing and the extra d6 (when present). So if you roll 2d10+d6 and get [4,10,3], any objects in the way take (4+10)/2 = 7 points damage. Then you roll the Ace to figure out what the creature(s) take.

But if you're intentionally firing at just an object, then roll a d10 and ignore Aces.

Check out "Breaking Things" (p. 71 in my manual) - you'll have to roll an 8 or better to damage most things, and some things can't be damaged by a d10. That's for in-a-hurry, during-melee damage, and according to a system developer, damage does not accumulate - failing to make or exceed the object's Toughness just does no effective damage that round.

However, walls and furniture (etc.) within range will always be left with some "scorch" marks, even if they're not "destroyed".

P.S. - Emril wants one of those for Christmas. ;)


Female Human Card: Bennies: 1 Parry: 5 [2 + 6(fighting)/2] Toughness: 5 [2 + 6(vigor)/2] (2) Armored Duster RATN: 4 Pace: 5 Notice: d6
ZenFox42 wrote:
P.S. - Emril wants one of those for Christmas. ;)

I'm not getting the reference. :(


"The technical name for it is a Bioergonic Amplification Mobilizer" = BAM!


Female Human Card: Bennies: 1 Parry: 5 [2 + 6(fighting)/2] Toughness: 5 [2 + 6(vigor)/2] (2) Armored Duster RATN: 4 Pace: 5 Notice: d6

Ok!


Huh - just realized something : if all you have is a Shooting weapon (pistol, rifle, machine-gun, etc.) in-hand, and your adjacent opponent has a Fighting weapon (knife, sword, mace, claws, teeth, etc.), you are considered an unarmed defender, and your opponent adds +2 to their Fighting roll!

Exceptions : GM can rule that rifles may be used as clubs (and maybe impose a -1 to attack and Parry for Improvised Weapon); rifles with bayonets are "Fighting weapons". The manual only mentions rifles, but SW forum posts indicate that pistols can also be used as Improvised Weapons.


PP 15/15 | Bennies 3/3 | Venom Strike 1/1
ZenFox42 wrote:
GM can rule that rifles may be used as clubs...

There's a great VGHS scene in which BrianD grabs his rifle by the end of the barrel and swings it like a bat to send a hand grenade flying. As Burt Gummer (or Nate McCulligan) would say, "Do what you can with what you got."


Female Human Card: Bennies: 1 Parry: 5 [2 + 6(fighting)/2] Toughness: 5 [2 + 6(vigor)/2] (2) Armored Duster RATN: 4 Pace: 5 Notice: d6

Most action scenes involving melee attacks on someone with a gun do not end well for the person with the gun unless he can get a shot of, which I suppose is why the TN for a ranged attack at close range is the target's parry.


Female Human Card: Bennies: 1 Parry: 5 [2 + 6(fighting)/2] Toughness: 5 [2 + 6(vigor)/2] (2) Armored Duster RATN: 4 Pace: 5 Notice: d6
WindDancer wrote:
There's a great VGHS scene in which BrianD grabs his rifle by the end of the barrel and swings it like a bat to send a hand grenade flying. As Burt Gummer (or Nate McCulligan) would say, "Do what you can with what you got."

I watched RED tonight and there is a scene where the character played by John Malkovich does that, hits a grenade back with the butt of his rifle like a baseball bat. That character seems what Nate might be like in 20 years.


I have to say, it seems a little unfair that Persuasion doesn't work for Arabella in a situation like this - it seems like someone asking a player to demonstrate the 18+ Charisma (or, say, Strength) their character has in a Pathfinder game. If your character should be better than you at something, why can't the roll help?


While it's a proven fact that beautiful people are given more breaks, can you really see a cute woman or handsome man being let off completely scot-free from a crime just because of their looks? I know we've all seen movies and TV shows where the buxom speeder gives the male cop a look at her cleavage and lets her go, but that's meant as a gag (altho it probably happens in real life more than it should). But this is a court of law, and the law *will* be upheld. Besides, even if the judge *were* so inclined, there's witnesses in the room (the cops) who would know what he did, so that kind of keeps him in check...

From a game perspective, a +4 Charisma *guarantees* a Success, and basically *doubles* the chances of a Raise (and even worse, Persuasion is NOT an opposed roll, so the TN is always 4!!!). But I don't want a high-Charisma PC to just be able to say "I want to do this, please" and automatically get it. So I've had to set some guidelines as to what Persuasion could and could not do, and mostly I got them from the SW people themselves.

The SW forum people have made it clear that high Charisma only affects attitudes, not goals. Even a system developer has said, "if a bandit is out to rob your group, then they ARE going to rob the group" regardless of your Persuasion roll. But on a good Persuasion roll they might leave you enough food and water to survive to get to the next town. If Arabella's guilty, then she'll be found guilty, and no high Persuasion roll should be able to change that. I hope everyone sees my reasoning in this?

I am willing however, to let Arabella's player *role-play* the "persuasion", and will factor that and her +4 Charisma into the judge's *sentencing* (BTW, I have not yet checked the Gameplay board since yesterday as I write this).

I might even be willing to let Arabella make a Persuasion roll for her sentencing, but I would make it an opposed roll, and this is what the judge has been doing for a living for years, so his Spirit die would be quite high, and he'd get a Wild Die...


Female Human Card: Bennies: 1 Parry: 5 [2 + 6(fighting)/2] Toughness: 5 [2 + 6(vigor)/2] (2) Armored Duster RATN: 4 Pace: 5 Notice: d6

I'm not feeling inspired to do any detailed writing of what Arabella would say in her own defense, even though that would be prudent. It may be related to stress from my work situation making me reluctant to role-play a situation that inspires more stress via the vicarious experience of standing trial.

In any case, I'll let the GM decide Arabella's fate based on her persuasion roll and if that takes her out of the loop for a while, I'll not object. It was her bad decision that put her in the situation, so she'll take what lumps might come of it. It might give me some time to recover from my burn-out.

I'm also struggling with another issue I've shared with the GM privately, but I don't want to discuss that here.

New Year's approaches. Hope everyone as a fun time and a little time off from work.


Geez, have some faith that the GM will make things tense but not hopeless. :) What I'm about to do in the game I had already planned out days ago, if none of you had brought it up.


Human Male Novice XP 10 | Agl d4 Sma d10 Spi d8 Str d4 Vig d6 | Pace 6 Parry 5* Tough 5 Cha 0 | Notice d6 | Rapier d4 (Str+d4), +1 to *Parry | Spellcasting 1d10 | 298sp | Bennies 3 | PP 15/15 | Status None

Happy New Year to all.


I think it was played out fairly with the judge. Not that I am part of it but I just wanted to put in my 2 cents so you know where I am. Good call all the way around.


Happy New Year back (and to all)!


I sincerely hope the players are willing to allow their characters to "rise up" to the circumstances they are about to find themselves in, and let them develop into the heroes they are meant to become...


Female Human Card: Bennies: 1 Parry: 5 [2 + 6(fighting)/2] Toughness: 5 [2 + 6(vigor)/2] (2) Armored Duster RATN: 4 Pace: 5 Notice: d6

The look on Arabella's face as she learns about creatures made of the same gems that power her goggles!


Haha, win. Only... we didn't learn about those and I missed it, did we?


Female Human Card: Bennies: 1 Parry: 5 [2 + 6(fighting)/2] Toughness: 5 [2 + 6(vigor)/2] (2) Armored Duster RATN: 4 Pace: 5 Notice: d6

One of my holiday projects has become reading through the entire set of Girl Genius books. Classic over the top Steampunk graphic novels.

Girl Genius Book 1

Arabella is loosely modeled on Agatha.


PP 15/15 | Bennies 3/3 | Venom Strike 1/1

Anything involving Phil Foglio is golden. I have (and treasure) the entire MythAdventures graphic novel series.

Of course you can read it online these days, but this was back before they invented electricity...


Arabella, just checking your phrasing to see if there was a grammar-slip : "creatures made of the same gems..."???


Female Human Card: Bennies: 1 Parry: 5 [2 + 6(fighting)/2] Toughness: 5 [2 + 6(vigor)/2] (2) Armored Duster RATN: 4 Pace: 5 Notice: d6

I misunderstood the text describing the gems (from the character Deadeye). I thought it said that there were beings made of crystal that came out of the ground. I thought the orcs were working for them.


Nope, sorry, what you're mining are the gems that come out cut-and-polished. They're not sentient, but are similar to yours. Separately, Deadeye was speculating about someone or something being behind of and controlling the Orcs. Apologies for any misunderstandings...


An FYI for anyone who's interested. Sometimes rolling a 1 on the "primary" die in SW means "something bad" happened. Here's a complete list (AFAIK) of the *RAW* situations :

Gambling skill : if cheating, character is caught
Persuasion skill : target's attitude drops by two steps

All Thumbs hindrance : rolling a 1 to use any mechanical or electronic device breaks it
Berserker edge : a 1 on the Fighting die means you hit a random adjacent target
Killer Instinct edge : if the skill die on an opposed roll is a 1, you can reroll it (but must keep the new one)

Chainsaw : a 1 on the Fighting die hits the user
Suppressive fire : a 1 on any target's Spirit die means they take damage
Firing Into Melee / Innocent Bystanders : on a miss, a 1 on the Shooting die (or 2 for full-auto, shotguns) means a random adjacent character IS hit, if the GM decides it's appropriate

AB/Magic : a 1 on the Spellcasting die means you are Shaken
AB/Psionics : a 1 on the Psionics die means you are Shaken
AB/Weird Science : a 1 on the activation die means the device malfunctions
Blind power : if a target rolls a 1 on the Agility die, they are Shaken and fully blind
Teleport power : a 1 on the casting die means the caster is Shaken and also takes 2d6 damage

Natural Healing for Extras : a 1 on the Vigor die means they die
Fear : a 1 on the Spirit die means you roll on the Fright table


Another FYI (mostly for anyone who might be interested in GM'ing a SW game) - while most of this comes straight from several places in the manual, things in italics come from a system designer’s clarifications about how the rules work.

HEALING ROLLS

All bullets in this section apply to using the Healing Skill or Power to remove Incapacitation and Wounds, when used on Wild Cards or Extras
-All Healing attempts must take place within 1 hour after the Wound(s).
-If the target is Incapacitated, you must first roll to remove that, then make another roll to remove the Wound(s).
-Subtract the target's Wounds and your applicable Wounds (based on your Edges) from the roll.
-One Wound is removed on a Success, two Wounds on one or more Raises.
-Healing does not remove the Shaken status that had to accompany the Wound or Incapacitation.
-Any Healing roll to stabilize Bleeding Out does not include the target's Wounds.

Healing Skill : takes 10 minutes; only one attempt per "healer" to remove new Wounds; -2 without basic supplies
......The same "healer" can roll to remove Incapacitation and if successful can then attempt to remove Wounds
Healing Power : you can try healing the same target as long as you have PP
Greater Healing Power : can remove Incapacitation and Wounds more than 1 hour old, otherwise acts like the Healing Power

If all available attempts to recover from Incapacitation fail, then the character remains Incapacitated until they attempt Natural Healing, which does not necessarily mean they are unconscious, just that they are "too beaten, battered, or bruised to do anything useful".

Natural Healing automatically removes Incapacitation first if it is present, and then removes Wounds.
One "step" (Incapacitation or Wound) is removed on a Success, two steps on one or more Raises.


What would you all think of this as another campaign idea?

"Steampunk Men in Black" (Savage Worlds)

It's several years after the (H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds) Martians invaded (in the 1880's), and some of their technology has been adapted to steam engine technology, but there is much tech left to be found. But some factions want to use the tech to take over the world, while there are rumors of Martians (and maybe other aliens) on Earth who survived the virus that killed the rest.

PC's would probably have to *be* entry-level MIB, or have some good reason to be an expert consultant. Probably only Psionics and Weird Science AB's?
Possibly only Weird Science, but every PC gets it for free(?)

Who would be interested?

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