OK. Cool.
Sorry again for the absence, and I'll try and get the interlude together and posted soon, as well.
A popular story has him taking out a 20-foot lake monster with nothing but a fishing boat and a chainsaw.
Darn it Ray, you triggered this mental image:
"You just killed a monster with a boat!"
"I was out of bullets."
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.
As I think about Nate getting his gear, I'm imagining a scene from RED where Bruce Willis goes to a storage unit where he "put a few things away." See the link for a view at about 1 minute in.
Sorry, to see you go, Michael. Hope everything works out for you.
Guys, post coming tomorrow.
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
I've posted a Word document on Google Drive with copy and paste quotes from the gameplay thread regarding the new case. I'll update it as we get new data. It helps to have all the information in one place, so feel free to check it out and let me know if you think anything's missing.
Thanks!
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?
It could work. I've been reading a way over-the-top steampunk series of graphic novels, Girl Genius, by the Fogios. If it were toned done a little, it presents a possible setting for a campaign. I was thinking if it were done as a campaign, it could be called "Sparks and Minions." Sparks would be the ones with the Weird Science skills, while minions would be skilled at science and engineering, but without the genius to do mad science stuff. There's lots of fighting too, plenty of monsters, undead, mechanical terrors, good stuff.
It's got special agents a-plenty amid an alternative Europe in a steampunk age: lots of factions, an empire with shaky legs, a family of legendary sparks who both terrorized and liberated Europe in the past (but either gone now or working behind the scenes), lots of ideas that could spawn fun role-playing opportunities, or ideas for your campaign idea.
Weekend got away from me, guys. Post moving us forward coming tomorrow.
I could get behind a GG setting.
GG?
Girl Genius, I assume.
Yes. Sorry, thought it would be obvious from the context.
Just remember: Any plan where you lose your hat is a bad plan.
Added case file link to description above.
I'll try to keep it updated as new data comes in.
I'm doing this for fun (and my Mean Hindrance), but if Maggie had emphasized urgency (above our normal amount), or if in the past six months we have always "hit the ground running" no matter the time of day when we arrived, then John won't argue the point any further. Otherwise, he's assuming the new girl just wants to make a gung-ho good impression, and doesn't know how we do things yet. Or she's just an annoying over-achiever :)
Understood. For her part, Faith has the Arrogant hindrance, which makes her believe her plan is the best and so everyone should reasonably follow her suggestions, even though she's the rookie or probie of the group. She's also got the quirk of being hypercompetitive, which accounts for her actually being an annoying overachiever. :) But she's above all else a professional who respects her colleagues and will follow directions if someone gives them with reasonable confidence or if the group decides against what she suggests. She knows the value of teamwork, if only because she's already been in enough situations without backup to appreciate the value of group wisdom.
The rule description for the Arrogant hindrance does specifically state: Arrogant heroes always look for the “boss” in battle, attacking lesser minions only if they get in the way. So don't be surprised by that.
Hey, guys. Great posts. Let me know if you're going to go to the hotel, straight to Carter's house, or whatever else.
Just a note - adding a spring-loaded window breaker to my toolkit while where in the city...$12 or so.
Hey, guys. I’m sad to say that I’ve had to do some reassessing in the past couple days, and the reality is that I am going to have even less time than I had before for PBP. And the bottom line is that I need to cut back. So effective immediately I have to stop GMing this campaign.
You guys have been great. It has nothing to do with the quality of the RP. Honestly, I’ve loved playing this and reading your posts. If you guys wanted to continue this with another GM then by all means, you have my blessing to search out a replacement.
Again, I’m sorry it had to end this way. But some realities at my job and home life have basically come to a head, and this had to happen. Seriously, guys. Thanks a million.
REALLY sorry to see you go, Ray, hope everything works out ok for you!
FWIW, I really like SW, and I'd had an idea for a campaign sort-of-similar to this (PC's belong to an organization) some time ago.
It wouldn't be exactly how Ray would have done it (and I can't hope to match his storytelling style), and it would probably morph over time, but I'd be willing to GM this campaign if everyone else wants to continue with their PC's...
And I won't be the least bit offended if you don't want to continue.
Also very sorry to hear you go, raygun. It's been a great game and I've enjoyed it a lot. Best of luck with whatever's going on, and I hope to play with you again someday.
As for GMing this game or starting another, while I've enjoyed it, I'd also be open to starting a new game with a similar theme, either reprising Gavril or making a new character. Whatever works.
Raygun: Sorry to see you go and sorry to have to say goodbye to this campaign. I was really looking forward to what happens next. Good luck.
I'd love to run this same character if someone wants to GM it in a similar campaign.
Arlo also would like to cling to life however possible.
RAY - IF YOU'RE STILL CHECKING IN, PLEASE CHECK YOUR PM's!!!
I would be glad to continue the game. Let me PM Ray and see if I can get any info on his short-term and/or long-term thoughts.
I'm totally ok with sticking with Ray's basic theme of working for PATRIOT and investigating "unusual" and/or horror-based things. There's an infinite number of directions I could take the game from here while still working for PATRIOT, so I'm fine with that.
But as Gavril mentioned, we could keep the same already-made PC's and plop them down into another venue. The venue I would someday like to GM would be WAY different than modern-day PATRIOT (basically a steampunk MIB organization, post-invaded-by-Mars [a la HG Wells] concept), and I don't feel comfortable asking everyone to change mind-sets so abruptly. I don't have any other venue already in mind, but like I said, I can take the PATRIOT idea in any number of different directions, so I'm totally fine with that.
So what I would suggest is we stick with PATRIOT, and see how things go from there.
Most everyone was brand-new to Savage Worlds system when we made our PC's, if anyone would like to "tweak" their PC now that you know the system better, I'd be fine with that, too. Or make up a whole new one if your character concept isn't working out the way you thought it would.
Thoughts?
<Anybody out there...out there...out there...> :)
Having spoken to Ray, I'm pretty much ready to pick up where we left off, unless someone *wants* a change of venue.
For those of you not in my other game, I generally post at least once a day, and on some days I can check and post several times thruout the day. I realize real-life can get in the way, but I like to keep things moving whenever possible.
Also, I hope no one minds, but I've invited another player from that other game (K'Don) to join us, but it might be a few (real-time) days before he does.
K'Don is welcome, I think an Orc would fit right in with this group. :op
I'm fine with sticking to the modern day fighting monsters idea. It certainly makes the GM's job easier when establishing a scenario. I'd be curious to find out what Ray had in mind for the group and play that out if feasible. But I'm open to a change of venue.
This marks the second time I've tried to play this character concept, and the other time the campaign ended abruptly, so I'd really like the chance to roleplay Faith. She's a character who would not transition well into the steampunk idea, though.
I recommend the Horror Sourcebook for Savage Worlds. It has lots of monsters and ideas for how to run them.
Faith, what was the other campaign if you don't mind my asking?
This won't translate well, but I really liked the Lovecraftian campaign I was in until it died the bad death. Might be some ideas worth picking over in there.
Faith, it sounds like you have that book - could I borrow it? Thanks!
It may still be a day or two before I pick up in the Gameplay board, I've heard back from Ray but still have to organize a LOT of thoughts before I start it back up...
...now I SO wish I had said "I have a whole lot of waterfowl to linearize"...
The original Faith Sierra was a GURPS character in a campaign that involved a kind of supernatural team of free-lance troubleshooters for a shadowy figure. We collected artifacts for the guy and they had special (arcane) powers.
Thanks. Sounds a bit like Babylon. :o)
A) When were you ever collecting things for Adoba? Oh nevermind, you were talking about the other points. Running on no sleep.
2) The things we were collecting in the GURPS game were *weird*. The one I still remember to this day was some dead guy's tattooed skin. Yep, his skin. He'd been...well...skinned and then the skin was dried and treated. Basically human leather. My PC for that game was Jack Burton, that was fun! :)
Sorry about this guys, but along with me-as-GM come some house rules (yeah, I know, I can hear the groans from here). Here's the important ones :
• Bennies can’t be used to re-roll a Fumble (snake eyes).
• The Investigation skill also includes searching, forensics, shadowing, etc.
• Running gives you (roll+2) in extra inches of movement, up to your full Pace.
• Getting first initiative and Holding is a great tactical advantage, that having to make opposed Agility rolls to resolve possibly negates (and slows down melee). Whoever’s Holding goes first.
• Frenzy can be used as-is without needing an Edge. The Frenzy Edge now reduces the penalty to –1.
• The Parry penalty to Wild Attack is –3. This makes using it in a one-on-one fight an even fight.
• The maximum number of Wounds a single attack can inflict is four.
• Poison attacks only affect you on a Wound, unless it’s a contact poison.
• Rapid Attack is not available – you are always worse off using it!
And most importantly :
• Wild Cards do not apply their wound penalty to their Incapacitation or Bleeding Out rolls.
• A Bleeding Out failure results in unconsciousness.
• Wild Cards roll once per day for Natural Healing.
There's others that deal with specific Edges, advancements, etc. that are very situational. But if you plan your advancements out in...advance...you might want to run them by me first just so there's no surprises.
There's also several Arcane Background houserules, but since John is the only with with AB (is that correct?), I'll just deal with those myself. If you see John not handling his Powers according to the RAW, please feel free to ask.
Thanks to ZenFox42 for taking over the GM duties! If you want me to, I'll take over the GM duties for the next assignment, so you can run John if you want as a PC rather than an NPC.
Thanks for the offer, let me think about that...I've already got some long-term ideas percolating...but if you'd just like to run one combat for the practice, that'd be no problem.
Yes, I was referring to the other aspects. Though I thought we did retrieve one item/document/whatever for Adoba early on?
Regarding the weird artifacts, you really ought to skim the Lovecraftian game. All the PCs were basically modern-day commoners (college students) who had been glommed onto by sentient mystical grimoires. The books granted the college kids magical powers, but the grimoires had their own agenda so in some ways it was like the kids were the books' familiars.
And the monsters. Totally freaky monsters.
___
Between "long-term ideas percolating" and the two of you trading off GM duties, it sounds like PATRIOT could turn into a persistent world all its own. That would be a nice tribute to what Ray started.
Especially considering the original intent was merely "to combat the summer lull." :o)
Thanks for everyone's patience. I hope to have a post up tomorrow and should be back to normal (hah!) after that.
Just now figured out : use Ability dice as defaults for non-specified skills! So an Agility roll would have been appropriate to shoot a basket. Live and learn...
ALL - along the lines of the "interlude" story that Ray had us do, I'd like to ask everyone to come up with a particular incident in your backstory that your PC still feels really guilty about. It can be from childhood, your previous job, etc. You don't even have to be the actual cause of the incident, just feel guilty about it for some reason ("I should have seen it coming", "If I'd only stayed with him", etc.).
It doesn't have to be a long, detailed description of the entire event. Just a few sentences describing the situation, and why you feel guilty about it.
If you've already outlined something like that in your PC profile, just post it here.
John will abstain, for obvious reasons.
Thanks!
It's not a big deal now, but isn't there a throwing skill? I would think that would sub nicely for an attempt at a basketball hoop.
I do like the idea of an athletics skill rather than separate skills for swimming, climbing, and such. I wanted to give Faith several such skills consistent with her being a former professional athlete, but I had to try to balance those skills, which were more background, with those I thought would be more important for hunting monsters.
I will be working on the guilt trip. I'll describe something she would have been involved with between the incident in Glendale (see profile background) that ended with her leaving the police force and getting a PI license and when she was invited to join Patriot.
Throwing would work too. That's the nice thing about SW, the GM can use whatever he can think of that's reasonable.
The thing about Athletics is that it really can only absorb those two. Running is a different beast altogether (a fixed d6 for everyone, no Acing), as is Jumping (Strength roll for one extra square of distance). I've seen people try to jam them all together, it wasn't pretty. :)
I would also combine Boating into Driving, and make Driving more "hands-on-the-wheel" controlling the machine while Piloting stays more for flying (all sorts), but is Smarts-based (knowing what switches and buttons to use). Just speculating, not saying I am making those changes...
A lot depends on the context and likely uses for the skills. If we're in a modern game and no one is going to use boating to control a sailboat or kayak or such, then combining driving and boating makes sense.
While the running action may not be a skill dependent thing, running a race of pacing oneself to maintain a long run might fit better as a skill. Athletics could also cover acrobatics, skiing, bicycling, catching something, keeping one's balance, lots of things that don't really rank a skill but could be involved in a melee or chase. Having invested in the athletics skill could also earn you a bonus on certain activities like a +1 on run d6 rolls or jumping strength roll.
Another way to go would be to have an edge called "athlete" with various skills combined or bonuses to certain types of situational rolls.
Of course, on the other hand, it's quite rational that someone might be an expert climber but be unable to swim or vice versa, so it depends on how useful either skill might be.
Running is a different beast altogether (a fixed d6 for everyone, no Acing)...
Usain Bolt. :op
Well, I was speaking generally, but there is actually an Edge called Fleet-Footed that gives you a normal Pace of 8 and you roll a d10(!) instead of a d6 for Running. He obviously has that. :)