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Game Master ZenFox42

Vampires, Zombies, Werewolves and Apple Pie – A Savage Worlds Adventure.

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Again just speculating, but it seems there could be a need for a "Deceive" skill, which would cover lying, not reacting to bad news, and even things like disguises and the like.

In order to not add more skills, the "why-is-this-in-the-list" Gambling skill could be considered to cover all that, I suppose. Gambling does involve lying and not showing reactions...


Female Ex-cop Investigator Fast/Smart 1 + Fast/Charismatic 1 | HP 19/19 AC 21 Perception 5 Init +4 | F +3 R + 6 W + 2 | Action points 8/10 Portrait

Maybe re-name Gambling. Call it "Acting" since that is a more general term for deceiving people about what you are thinking and feeling, what you know or don't know, how you talk, etc. It could cover gambling insofar as gambling involves bluffing which is a kind of acting.


Well, I'd call it "Deception", just because someone reading "Acting" might think it only applies to performance-related actions.

I mean, if SW had just called it "Research" instead of "Investigation", people wouldn't think it applies to *all* gumshoe-and-police-type activities.

And since SW is meant to span many tech levels, "Security" instead of "Lockpicking" would have made a lot more sense, as well. Lockpicking sounds like it covers one specific action, whereas I consider it to cover *setting up* and getting around any kind of locks AND traps.

But to keep things simple, I've avoided re-naming a skill just for the sake of renaming it. Altho I have no problems with re-purposing it. :)


Please everybody post a "guilty story" some time soon. Only has to be a few sentences describing what and why. Thanks!


Male Human Investigator, Wounds 3/3, Bennies 4/4, PP 4/10

Arlo dozed on and off as they went to meet up with the others. So much going on, and too little sleep. He needed to be sharp... then he dozes off his dreams delivering him to a place where he wasn't so sharp.

He was working his first undercover gig. For months he had been inserting himself into the inner circle of "The Crow", and now he had been trusted enough to work on his own.

Just watch the girl they said. Page us when she meets up with Tanner, we'll come out of the building, and take him before he has a chance to act. Simple enough.

But not so simple if you'd already taken a step down a dark path. If the presence of so much "recreational drugs" weren't so tempting. If you hadn't stayed up for two straight days partying with whoever would party with you. Yeah, it helped build your cover... but it was so easy to become to fond of the stuff. But not today. You only needed to stay sharp for another few minutes.

Then you dreamed. Gunshots, sirens, screaming... until you realized it was not a dream. The girl was dead. Scooter and Proxy were dead; as well as one of Tanner's goons... and Tanner was no where to be seen.

You took the fall for it. You were able to arrange the crime scene to look like something had gone seriously wrong, so that The Crow wouldn't hold it against you... but the damage had been done. You woke up everynight to nightmares of Pixie laying in your arms, laughing over a few lines... bleeding out into the street. Only the readily available chemical assistance kept you from going off the deep end... or did you anyway.

The Crow didn't trust you. You lost your job with the PD... getting too close they said... Maybe if you could just pull this next caper off at least the Crow would trust you again... and maybe somehow the images of Pixie would leave your brain.

Was that a smile of The Crow's face as they cuffed you and took you away? Was that a conspirital look between The Crow, and Sgt. Muldvey?

Seven years the Judge said, but you could be out in two with good behavior. And the images persisted... less frequent, and less intense but they were still there.

Then Faith slammed on the brakes to keep from hitting a dashing cat. Both your hands flew to the dash to brace yourself.

"Look out Pixie"!


Male Human Investigator, Wounds 3/3, Bennies 4/4, PP 4/10

Yuck! Trade show all this week, but should be able to post most evenings at least once. If not don't let me hold you up. Should be back to full force by the Weekend.


Bennies: 3/3 | Wounds: 0
ZenFox42 wrote:
Please everybody post a "guilty story" some time soon. Only has to be a few sentences describing what and why. Thanks!

Pfft, I'm not even going to try after that phenomenal effort by Arlo. So:

Well, there was that little incident down in Mexico when we were dealing with the Shriekers and I underestimated the penetration power of a .50 cal anti-tank cartridge...

Goodbye, escape vehicle.


Female Ex-cop Investigator Fast/Smart 1 + Fast/Charismatic 1 | HP 19/19 AC 21 Perception 5 Init +4 | F +3 R + 6 W + 2 | Action points 8/10 Portrait
ZenFox42 wrote:
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.).

As Faith drove the van from the police station toward the house by the lake where the rest of the team was investigating the crime scene, Arlo dozed in the passenger seat, giving her some time to think. She was going over autopsy report in her head when she passed a car with a bumper sticker for a rock band called Cryptic Cultists.

She was reminded of a difficult case she had worked in the Fresno area where a couple of teens had disappeared under suspicious circumstances. The police considered the teens to be runaways, but something odd in the accounts she came across made her wonder, so she drove to Fresno, looked up the parents of the kids who had disappeared and learned more about their activities just prior to disappearing. Both had attended a concert by an odd rock group called Odyssey's End.

Researching other concerts by the band revealed similar disappearances after concerts in other California cities. She caught up with the band and managed to locate one of the teens, but she insisted she was all right and that she was traveling with a group of the band's groupies. Faith suspected brainwashing or some other coercive effect, so she began following the band and eventually located a warehouse ritual where the leaders of the band were sacrificing members of the group, promising them it was a way of transporting them to an exciting higher dimension. Faith could tell they were just using the ritual to stoke their own inner powers and ride the deaths as a kind of drug trip.

She burst in on the ritual and tried to shock the teens out of the stupor the group had put them under, but it did not work. The leaders told the teenagers to attack her. She had to draw her swords and cut her way through the crowd, trying to just wound them enough to get them to snap out of the control they were under and stay out of her way. She got through them and cut down the cult leaders, who had transformed into monsters of a sort. She managed to kill them all, after which their corpses shriveled up and turned to ash, but when the dust had settled, she found that she had inadvertently killed one of the teens, and not just any teen, but the one she had set out to save, the one she had confronted earlier without being able to convince her she was in danger.

She had to flee the scene. She was never connected to the deaths. The teens were not able to identify her, as they had been hallucinating under the influence of drugs given them by the cult. The police assumed someone associated with the band had killed the teenager, just as they had killed another in the ritual. But Faith knew she had failed to keep an innocent safe and the guilt of it has stayed with her.

Suddenly, her reverie was interrupted by a streak of black in front of the van. She saw a cat racing across the street and just managed to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting it. Arlo howled something incoherent and vaguely disturbing as we woke. Faith shuddered and restarted the stalled van and put it into gear, apologizing to Arlo for the scare.


That was probably typical of Nate, but the loss and guilt should probably involve a *person* in some way... :)


Bennies: 3/3 | Wounds: 0

If you don't think putting an anti-tank round through the engine block of the only available escape vehicle -- thus trapping our intrepid heroes (including Nate) at a desert facility overrun by aggressive man-eating monstrosities -- "involves a *person* in some way," then I don't know what to tell ya. :op


Novice (16 XP) | Parry 7, Toughness 9 (2) | 0 Wounds | 3 Bennies

Gavril's Regret:
Gavril watches on as Nate discusses things with the boy, sees how even the gun-happy paranoid is able to easily talk with the teenager and win him over. Even the basketball is beyond Gavril's grasp, what with his eyepatch. The Romanian man reaches up to touch the leather over his scarred, empty socket, and he can't help but think back to when he got that patch, a time when he too was loved by the people...

It's a basement this time, this venue, a cellar under a big bar in a city he's never been to before. It's not the first time his "manager"--his cousin Marcel--has had him travel overnight to a strange place for a match. It isn't the first time he's fought in a dive bar, or with dim lighting and smoke and alcohol in the air, a crowd that looks more than a little short on scruples shouting and spitting on the sides. It isn't even the first time he's fought on bare floors without any sort of ring--the region isn't exactly wealthy. It is the first time it's been a bare-knuckle brawl.

His opponent is bigger than he is, a massive bear of a man, over six and a half feet and half-again as broad as the challenger. Petru is his name, and he comes in swinging hard. He's a brawler, without much technique or finesse; he'll win by knockout rather than points, if they're even counting points here. It doesn't take long to understand why he's fighting bare-knuckle, and the first punch that Petru lands catches him square in the jaw. He staggers back and feels blood welling in his mouth from his cheek catching on his teeth. He spits and brings his hands up again.

The punch is a freak accident that hits after a few minutes, a few rounds, of back-and-forth, the pair trading punches. He throws it for the chin while Petru brings his own fist back for a powerful hit, but Petru doesn't have technique, doesn't have training, and he leans back and the knuckles land in his throat rather than his short beard. He'll look up years later in America how likely it was for this to happen: it takes surprisingly little force to crush an Adam's apple, even a child could do it if they were strong enough. A tall, strong Romanian man? His punch kills Petru instantly, accidentally, and he even tries to help keep his opponent from slamming into the floor when Petru goes limp.

There's no celebration for the match, no victory here, and he shuts himself in his room at the inn without talking to Marcel. He lies in bed staring at the ceiling for what feels like an eternity, bringing his hands up to look at the bruised knuckles before setting them back down. At one point he tries to vomit, but he can't. His stomach is empty, but that doesn't keep it from churning.

He starts awake as hands grab him, hold down his legs, his arms. There's a weight on his groin, his chest, and in the darkness he's able to make out a group of men, one kneeling on his stomach. The man has a knife in his hand. He recognizes the man from before the match--some relative of Petru. He says something about murder, about money, about family. He sticks the knife down and digs and spits. And then the men leave and he's alone with a bleeding hole in his head.

He doesn't stay in Romania long after that. He leaves as soon as he can, takes the money he made over the years and makes his way to America, learns the language as best he is able. He takes up being a mechanic for a while, and when someone recognizes him--someone who's heard of his boxing but not that night--he laughs and signs a napkin for them and even starts going to the local gym with them, works the bags like he used to do. He finds out there's more to the world than what's on the surface, and that it needs fighting.

But like his empty socket, that night stays with Gavril Vasilescu, no matter where he goes or how long it's been or what he does.

Gavril comes out of his reverie as the boy gets taken aback by something Nate said, and the large man blinks several times and continues to stand by--letting someone else do the talking.


Thanks, all!

And Nate - sorry, I must have somehow completely missed the
"trapping our intrepid heroes (including Nate) at a desert facility overrun by aggressive man-eating monstrosities"
part of
"that little incident down in Mexico when...I underestimated the penetration power of a .50 cal anti-tank cartridge"
:)
But the real question is, did any of your comrades die because of that?


Bennies: 3/3 | Wounds: 0

No, was that a prerequisite?

We did lose one man before Nate arrived (others of the team were already on site, though). But no life lost as a direct result of that little miscalculation.

Part of the problem here may be your tacit assumption that Nate would feel guilt over anything. :o) He's an "It is what it is," "Kill it and move on" kinda guy. Not a Sheldon Cooper sort of "always right," but close: He makes the best decision he can at the time and doesn't sweat it. And yes, that makes him seem callous sometimes, but it's just an artifact. He's really a caring guy.

If you think "guiltless" is unlikely outside of psychopaths... well, you're right. 1) Nate being exceptional (be that good or bad) is why he's working with PATRIOT (same for all of us). 2) Maybe he IS a borderline psychopath. Bwahaha, etc.

And: I'd bet you know at least one person you feel is incapable of jealousy. Some people just never anger. The occasional thrillseeker or hero is presented as "fearless." Is "guiltless" really that much different?

And: I did make the mistake of presuming shared context, that you had watched "Tremors 2: Aftershock" and would get the reference. I apologize for that.

But it doesn't make me feel guilty. :o)

-Posted with Wayfinder


Good to know - not everyone has to feel guilty about something.


Female Ex-cop Investigator Fast/Smart 1 + Fast/Charismatic 1 | HP 19/19 AC 21 Perception 5 Init +4 | F +3 R + 6 W + 2 | Action points 8/10 Portrait

I haven't had a chance to roleplay Faith's personality much yet, but she's so competitive and self-confident, that on the rare occasions she fails to be the best at something, she feels a kind of guilt, although she mostly channels that emotion into improving so that she doesn't fail again. She doesn't dwell on past failures, but any new failure tends to cause her to remember the litany of the past and she can become morose for a while.

I like this idea of sharing past character stories. Adds a nice dimension to the knowledge we get of characters in the gameplay part of things.


Female Ex-cop Investigator Fast/Smart 1 + Fast/Charismatic 1 | HP 19/19 AC 21 Perception 5 Init +4 | F +3 R + 6 W + 2 | Action points 8/10 Portrait

My schedule changes to night shift starting today, so my posts will mostly be in the morning (Eastern U.S. Time). Today I may not get a chance until late night.


Bennies: 3/3 | Wounds: 0

Yeah... this circus thing is not a good idea. Nate and clowns after this is all over.

I can see the phobia coming.

Nate wrote:
"Can't sleep. Clown'll eat me."


Female Ex-cop Investigator Fast/Smart 1 + Fast/Charismatic 1 | HP 19/19 AC 21 Perception 5 Init +4 | F +3 R + 6 W + 2 | Action points 8/10 Portrait

@GM:
Earlier, before reaching the circus, Faith tried and failed to make sense of the notes found at Carter's office. She gave the tablet (with photographs of each page of notes) to Nate to look over and he made an investigation roll. [Link here to see that post.]

Never got an answer about whether that roll turned up anything. Faith thinks that there must be something relevant there if we can figure out his method of note taking (not sure if it's coded or not).

If Nate can't figure it out, everyone with any dice in investigation or maybe occult knowledge should look it over and see if we can draw anything from it. Looks like most everyone has the evening free except Faith.

It is possible the atack was unforseen and unrelated to anything he was looking at, but it still might give us an idea about what led him to pick up the flyer for the circus. I did not get the idea he had any relationships that would cause him to want to go just to please some children or that kind of thing.

Anyway, please respond to that line of inquiry when you can. Thanks.


I did reply to that, in my very next post : "Nobody's finding anything useful."


Bennies: 3/3 | Wounds: 0
ZenFox42 wrote:
From the dim hall light, he can see that they are 3 white-face clowns. But...the whiteness also has a sickly greenish tint to it. And they are all smiling, but...their smiles wrap around their faces FAR more than any human should be able to, and you see their teeth are all sharpened points, like : v^v^v^

Oh, you mean like...

these...
three...
guys?

Waking up to his own personal 'Killer Klowns from Outer Space' is gonna mess Nate up so bad...

Notice & Wild: 1d6 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 + 2 = 5 1d6 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 + 2 = 5

Geez Louise, snake eyes? Honest Arlo, we really do love ya, man...

Guess I'd better stop there. That'd be a "5, Success" but I dunno if the snake eyes overrides that.

ZenFox42 wrote:
... tell me if you can move your icons. I can't put it at the top of the page since Ray owns the board, not me.

I can see it and move the icons. I'd presumed you'd taken over the game by now, GM. Here:

Did you inherit a play-by-post?

If you are the GM for a play-by-post campaign but didn't start the thread, please email community@paizo.com.

We need:

* A link to your profile page (click on your name at the top where it says "Welcome, your name!"
* A link to the gameplay and discussion threads for the campaigns you have inherited.

Just copy and paste these links from the address bar in your browser, please.


Thanks, didn't know you could do that. Will get to it soon.


Novice (16 XP) | Parry 7, Toughness 9 (2) | 0 Wounds | 3 Bennies

With regards to my earlier post, I found what I was thinking of...

ZenFox42 wrote:

I kind of like this - any thoughts?

(All of this is in addition to the usual extra 1d6 to damage from 1 raise)

If you get 2 raises on your Attack roll, pick one of : target goes prone, target can be pushed 1" in any direction

If you get 3 or more raises on your Attack roll, pick one of : +4 damage, attempt a disarm

Are we making use of these options? Just want to check so I can decide what I'm doing here.


Female Ex-cop Investigator Fast/Smart 1 + Fast/Charismatic 1 | HP 19/19 AC 21 Perception 5 Init +4 | F +3 R + 6 W + 2 | Action points 8/10 Portrait

Care for an episode theme song?

Give this a listen.

That link led me to this equally creepy music with images from an abandoned amusement park.

This link identifies where the abandoned clown train photo is from as well as more info than you may want about it, but also some other creepy abandoned clown trains.

An image for the road: This picture is probably on Nate's trophy wall.


Gavril - in another SW game, I've simplified that down to "for each Raise beyond the first, the attacker can push the target 1 square away, left, or right of you". Much easier to remember, I couldn't remember all the details of the original version. And it's somewhat more cinematic, punching someone so hard that they fly away from you. You can't use it if there's no empty squares to move them into, and you can't do extra damage by making them fly into a wall or something.

Your call as to which set you want to use, I haven't seen either used much...


Bennies: 3/3 | Wounds: 0
Faith Sierra wrote:
This picture is probably on Nate's trophy wall.

Hehe... I love it. And it immediately made me think of this clip. I've said it before, but I still want to play a pixie or something else in that size range someday for the sake of that scene! :o)


Female Ex-cop Investigator Fast/Smart 1 + Fast/Charismatic 1 | HP 19/19 AC 21 Perception 5 Init +4 | F +3 R + 6 W + 2 | Action points 8/10 Portrait

Love the little subtitle: "Chattering Aggressively"


Bennies: 3/3 | Wounds: 0

Taking this to Discussion so as not to clutter Gameplay.

ZenFox42 wrote:

Nate -

SWD : "Kevlar offers 2 points of protection against most attacks."
SWD : "As Kevlar, but ceramic inserts are +8 vs. bullets"

The way I read that, it's still +2 vs. ALL OTHER attacks. No need to retcon. :)

Ah, but look more deeply, grasshopper:

Page 50 wrote:
Kevlar offers 2 points of protection against most attacks. Kevlar weave “binds” spinning bullets and so negates up to 4 points of AP from bullets, and provides +4 protection from them as well."
Armor wrote:

Kevlar Vest +2/+4... Covers torso only, negates 4 AP, see notes

Kevlar Vest w/inserts +4/+8... As Kevlar, but ceramic inserts are +8 vs. bullets

The forum doesn't support enough styles/colors to do this right. :o/

Okay, all the numbers are accounted for... except the +4 as "numerator." It's not bullets and it's not AP. And the "numerator" for regular Kevlar equals the non-bullet value in the description -- a number that appears nowhere else.

So, enlighten me as to what else the +4 of ceramic-insert Kevlar could be tied. (Not trying to sound snotty; "So tell me to what else" just sounded weird, and you know how bad ending a sentence with a preposition is. :op )


I spent all day yesterday at work combing the SW forums, and have come to these conclusions :

Yes, the +4 is for "everything else". When I looked at Nate's sheet, I didn't notice the "inserts", I just saw Kevlar. And from the verbal descriptions in the book that Nate quoted, I originally didn't see why the "everything else" wasn't also +2 for the Kevlar-with-inserts.

But, many many GM's agree that Kevlar's "negates up to 4 points of AP from bullets" is WAY over-the-top.

Besides making it practically impossible to do ANY damage, as one person put it "the complexity of 'This armor has the ability to negate the ability to negate the ability to negate damage' makes my brain hurt" (GREAT way to put it!), and is definitely *not* FFF ("Fast, Furious, and Fun!", SW's self-description) : "let's see, I did 10 points damage with a gun that negates 2 points of armor, but Kevlar negates 4 of THAT, so the total damage is...???". Ugh!

Many, many people have posted that they just house-rule away that aspect of Kevlar (with or without inserts), and I agree with them.

So anyone with Kevlar, please be aware : Kevlar no longer "negates up to 4 points of AP from bullets". +2/+4 or +4/+8 to Toughness is plenty good enough!


Bennies: 3/3 | Wounds: 0

Addressing this here rather than further cluttering Gameplay.

ZenFox42 wrote:
Nate, I have a simpler solution to the issue of what your Toughness was when the clown hit you above - you aren't wearing your Kevlar vest!. You woke up, grabbed a gun, and went into the hall.

Haha... D'OH! You mentioned Kevlar and I was off and running, pointing out Nate wasn't wearing that kind of Kevlar when I should have been saying Nate wasn't wearing Kevlar, period! And I even (jokingly) said flat-out that he was in combat jammies, and it still didn't click.

I guess I'm still recovering from that long stretch of sleep- and recreation-deprivation. Yeah. Yeah, that's what happened. That's the ticket...

ZenFox42 wrote:
So anyone with Kevlar, please be aware : Kevlar no longer "negates up to 4 points of AP from bullets". +2/+4 or +4/+8 to Toughness is plenty good enough!

So a $2,340 premium for the sole benefit of avoiding the extra dozen pounds from doubling up flak jackets?

Yeah, Nate's gonna have a serious discussion with a certain military surplus shopkeeper when he gets back home. :op


I will look into what you said about flak jackets and weight tomorrow.

I'm willing to entertain another house ruled version for Kevlar :
+4 vs. all weapons except bullets
+8 vs. ALL bullets, regardless of their AP ability

That avoids all the twisted math, and provides the expected "always" stops bullets.

Any thoughts? I'm still thinking about this one myself...


Bennies: 3/3 | Wounds: 0

You don't have to, humor was the intent. :o) Not sure it's even practical/legal to layer two flak jackets anyway.

For reference, as I read it on a quick glance at the weapons table, Kevlar is basically a lighter/less bulky, AP-negating flak jacket. You'd pay the premium if you were heavily loaded or wanted the AP benefit. Kevlar with inserts is more of the same and madly more expensive.


Ok, so to have a difference between flak jackets and Kevlar :

No gun I saw in the core rules had more than AP 4 anyway.

So let's just say that the "bullet" bonus for Kevlar vests (+4 or +8) just ignores ALL AP. That's pretty much the effect of the RAW, anyway.
You can just think of those bonuses as "fixed" or "static" - regardless of bullet type, they can't be reduced.

That avoids all the messy math, and makes Kevlar-with-inserts the cinematic bullet-stopper it's expected to be.

ALL - sound good?


Female Ex-cop Investigator Fast/Smart 1 + Fast/Charismatic 1 | HP 19/19 AC 21 Perception 5 Init +4 | F +3 R + 6 W + 2 | Action points 8/10 Portrait
ZenFox42 wrote:

Faith - didn't you "double dip" the Katana's +2 damage? I see it in the first damage roll :

......Katana Damage: 1d8 + 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + (5) + 2 = 8
And another +2 appears when you sum everything up :
......Result = 8 + 2 + 14 = 24, TN = 9 but factor in AP 2.
I'm removing 2 from your Damage, please let me know if that extra +2 came from somewhere else. (Not that it matters, it would still be 3 Wounds.)
So that's 22 vs. Toughness=9 is 3 Wounds.
Faith Sierra wrote:

Katana Damage (magic + AP 2)

+2 Wild Attack, +1d6 raise Note: normal katana damage is STR + 1d6 +2, AP2)
Katana Damage: 1d8 + 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + (5) + 2 = 8
raise damage bonus: 1d6 ⇒ 6
Ace 1, raise damage bonus: 1d6 ⇒ 6
Ace 2, raise damage bonus: 1d6 ⇒ 2
Result = 8 + 2 + 14 = 24, TN = 9 but factor in AP 2.

The second +2 in the result row is for the Wild Attack.

The same +2 occurs in the Wakizashi damage result, also for the wild attack.


Female Ex-cop Investigator Fast/Smart 1 + Fast/Charismatic 1 | HP 19/19 AC 21 Perception 5 Init +4 | F +3 R + 6 W + 2 | Action points 8/10 Portrait

I've observed something odd about the appearance of posts using the "quote" tag. In some browsers, such as my i-Pad (Safari) or my home computer browsers (IE), the quoted section shows up with a grey background. But on my work computer (IE) the quoted material has no background shading. Is there a setting in the browser that controls this?


Bennies: 3/3 | Wounds: 0

Maybe not your issue, but check the brightness/contrast/gamma/color depth settings at work. I have one monitor at home that defaults to settings which make the quote background wash out. If I turn brightness down and contrast up, I get it back.

IE does have settings for overriding site fonts/colors/backgrounds/whatever, but if you had those set I'd think you'd know it from the behavior on other sites.

If the IE versions differ they might be interpreting/rendering the CSS differently as well, though dropping shading entirely would be a pretty big "Oops," and Microsoft doesn't do that. :op

Quote:
Failure is not an option. It comes standard with Windows.

-Posted with Wayfinder


Faith wrote:
The second +2 in the result row is for the Wild Attack.

ALL - that's why it's always best to indicate right next to the mod where it comes from, like :

Katana Damage: 1d8 + 1d6 + 2(Katana) ⇒ (1) + (5) + 2 = 8

Result = 8 + 2(Wild) + 14 = 24, TN = 9 but factor in AP 2.

It will really speed up my comprehension of what's going on - thanks!


Female Ex-cop Investigator Fast/Smart 1 + Fast/Charismatic 1 | HP 19/19 AC 21 Perception 5 Init +4 | F +3 R + 6 W + 2 | Action points 8/10 Portrait
ZenFox42 wrote:
The clown seems to sense the oncoming attack, and shifts to the side just a little bit - and Faith's devastating thrust slides between its torso and arm, just barely missing both.

Just my luck, Faith's sword attack exactly mimicked a clown mock swordfight routine! She is not amused.


Spending a Benny to remove Shaken

Note that you can spend a Benny "at any time" to remove Shaken. What that really means is "at any INSTANT".

So you can wait until your action to make the Spirit roll, and if that fails (or doesn't get a Raise) and you really want to act, you can then spend a Benny and act as usual.

But (and I've confirmed this on the SW forums), you can declare you're spending a Benny at any point in the game, even after a Shaken result has been rolled, but before it's been applied to you.
Another example would be if a spellcaster is about to become Shaken (and hence maybe drop his maintained spells) - he can negate the Shaken by spending a Benny.
Another would be if you're Shaken, and have First Strike, and someone moves towards you - you can spend a Benny right then, as they're moving, so that you can then take the First Strike.


Arlo's options (my understanding) :

He can pick up his weapon as a Regular Action, with no roll (I'm considering it to be an "easy" draw).

But Defend does not allow any other actions, so you can't take it this round.

If you wanted to *also* roll for Full Defense again, then you'd be at -2 for the roll, for taking 2 actions.

That's as far as considering the things you've already been doing. You could also attack, but also at -2.


ALL - BIG CHANGE IN SW'S GAME MECHANICS!

Less than 2 weeks ago, SW announced that after a YEAR of play-testing, all over the world, they are going to make a MAJOR change to the core rules :

At the beginning of their action, a Shaken character makes a Spirit roll to recover. On a failure, he remains Shaken. On a success, the character removes their Shaken condition and may take their action normally.

In other words, you don't need a Raise to act in the same round anymore. This should keep people from having to spend Bennies just to act, so they can be used for re-rolling poor results into awesome results.

======================================================================

There's been lots of back-and-forth arguments on the SW forums about how this will affect game *strategies*, but it doesn't SEEM to affect anything else in the game very much. Tricks, and the Stun Power, *might* be weakened, but that's about it as far as I can tell. I'm still reading the pros-and-cons, and thinking them thru myself.

I'm generally in favor of this. However, it does make the Combat Reflexes Edge WAY too powerful, and I'd probably remove it (don't know if anyone has it - if you do, let me know).

But I would like to hear from everyone as to what you think about this potential change. Thanks!


Novice (16 XP) | Parry 7, Toughness 9 (2) | 0 Wounds | 3 Bennies

Hmm. Personally I'm a big fan, and I'm in favor of making this change. I've always found it kind of odd that you're making a roll (after already getting hit!) for such a small reward in combat. Sure, it makes it a little less likely that you're gonna pick up Wounds if you get hit that round, but getting a Raise on the Spirit roll tends to be really difficult, at least until you pick up Combat Reflexes and a high Attribute die. Turning it into a simple "Succeed and you act" mechanic makes more sense gameplay wise and also allows people to go more often--which definitely fits Savage Worlds' "Fast Furious Fun" motto.

Of course, this is totally unbiased coming from someone who has to roll to recover from Shaken this round... (Just kidding, I honestly do think it's a good idea)


Comments about the Shaken change : the only real change it makes is that Shaken characters get to act sooner. It doesn't affect any other "benefits" of making someone Shaken.
That can be good for the PC's - less time you're twiddling your thumbs.
But you can no longer use getting a bad guy Shaken as a means to keep them from acting (as much).
So if you have been using Taunt, Intimidation, Tricks, or the Confuse or Stun Powers to keep them from acting, that advantage goes away. But you can still use those maneuvers to set them up for a Wound.


Bennies: 3/3 | Wounds: 0

I'm too unfamiliar with SW to offer anything useful but, since you called for comments, I can see arguments both ways. However, the change doesn't seem like it'd unduly shift the balance between PCs and baddies in a fight, and I tend to trust a game's designers first and foremost.

So are you adopting this change immediately or waiting to gather comments/think on it/judge public sentiment?

On a different subject, my apologies and an earnest "thank you" to everyone for your patience with me lately. I'd gotten past the crunch at work and was almost completely caught up on my gaming, but foolishly made the Murphy-invoking comment that I'd returned to a normal posting schedule.

So of course we had an "emergent issue" at work and I got sucked back into the maelstrom again. Thankfully it wasn't the system I'd designed and just put in during the crunch, but our group was still required to be involved with the resolution.

"Two weeks later..."

Everything's squared away and I'm A) decompressing and B) working diligently to catch up on everything, including my games. At the risk of jinxing myself again, I should be back to (haha) "normal" for the foreseeable future.

Presuming y'all will still have me, I'll get Nate moving again in a bit.


Of course you're welcome back, but I was really beginning to get seriously worried, and was about to take a really drastic measure like...*phoning* you! :)

When you can, the most important thing Nate needs to do as soon as possible is make a Spirit roll vs. TN=12. If he fails that, you won't need to spend much time on this game for a while...

P.S. - if the clown even just Succeeds, go ahead and make an Incapacitation roll while you're at it (and don't roll snake-eyes!).


ALL - regarding the Shaken change, I'm probably going to implement it. I too trust the designers (who originally thought it would be a BAD idea! and now love it), and it's been playtested for a year by many groups.

I'll probably drop Combat Reflexes, and tweak the Confusion Power just a little in compensation, but that's about it.


Male Human Investigator, Wounds 3/3, Bennies 4/4, PP 4/10

Since Arlo isn't really designed as a combat guy, what are you thoughts about him switching out his "combat reflexes" for Arcane Power - Psionics. I can't really do anything with it until the next advance when I can sink points into the skill, but it might flesh out the party a bit. Thoughts???


Well, I won't say no, but let me point out a few things :

Swap out CR for AB/P - can't use it until your next advancement
Next advancement : d4 in Psionics (and one other skill)
Next advancement : d6 in Psionics (and one other skill)

So 2 more advancements before you're a *mediocre* psionic. Versus :

Swap out CR for Marksman (+2 to Shooting if you don't move, which starts helping right now)
Next advancement : Agility to d8
Next advancement : Fighting to d6, Shooting to d8

2 more advancements and your combat skills are getting pretty good, especially Shooting (d8+2!).
(You *could* take Shooting to d8 on the next advancement, but doing it this way is a better use of advancements, and Agility is a fairly common "saving throw" Attribute, so it's good to boost it too, AND boosting your Fighting bumps up your Parry by 1. But the details are up to you.)

And so far both battles (zombies and clowns) have been in close-quarters, where Shooting hasn't been that helpful (altho I'm curious why Arlo isn't shooting at his clown, since there's nobody else to possibly hit?). But in a modern setting, Shooting is going to be the most common combat skill, which you can get to be pretty good in just another advancement or two.

Your build *is* a good investigator, just bump up your combat skills a little and I think he can hold his own. FWIW, I was originally all hopped-up to make John a powerful psionic, but later decided to focus his skills on Shooting, too.

Just let me know what you want to do.


Male Human Investigator, Wounds 3/3, Bennies 4/4, PP 4/10

Arlo is OK with a gun now, but not really a blood and guts fighter type. If he goes psionic I was looking at more armor / support / environmental manipulation than a blaster. It seems to me that we have a lot of punchers, and shooters, and I was just taking Arlo a different direction.

The reason Arlo is not using his gun, is it's still wherever he keeps it for the night. He was woken up, trapped by the clowns, and really hasn't had a chance to get to it. That's why I've been stating that he's looking to break loose, but hasn't been able to yet.


It's all about where you want the character to go - if you want to swap out Combat Reflexes for AB/Psionics, just let me know the Powers you're picking...

Regarding getting your gun in this battle, we can just call it a "difficult" draw (in the holster hanging from the bedpost, etc.), requiring making an Agility roll to draw it (no need to "break free"), failure means it's not drawn. And if you want to fire it the same round -2 to the Agility roll and the Shooting roll.


Male Human Investigator, Wounds 3/3, Bennies 4/4, PP 4/10

I was thinking about the following, all thematically tied to an old Black and white TV with rabbit ears.

1. Shield
2. Telekinesis
3. Teleport

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