Here's the definition of supernatural
I know what supernatural means. What my point was, that you seemed to miss, is that the core book uses the wrong word, not that supernatural means something different.
Yeah, Doubting Thomas is a weirder Hindrance in modern games, because the issue of modern religions can come up a lot; same thing with Delusional. It could easily be argued that someone with Doubting Thomas is steadfastly against the idea of the extraterrestrial too, which is how I thought that would play out originally, because it can be viewed as just the supernatural or really anything "extraordinary" when it comes to a more modern setting, which I believe is what Rosa was saying.
One of the SW splatbooks might actually have something to say about that, but I don't own all of them so I really couldn't say. Regardless, I think it makes for an interesting roleplay opportunity that I wasn't expecting, so I dig it.
Here's the definition of supernaturalI know what supernatural means. What my point was, that you seemed to miss, is that the core book uses the wrong word, not that supernatural means something different.
I got your point. I was simply making a counter-point: The authors meant what they wrote.
Given that I've weighed in on this already, I'd prefer it if this was dropped rather than seeing this continue. I think you both have fair points, but whether or not this issue was meant to be covered in the rules or not is ultmiately just a matter of opinion, and I know how I'm ruling it for this game.
Is that okay with you two?
Yes, the discussion is unnecessary.
Jackalyn is actually a Lance Corporal ^_^
I had to do so much research for Jackalyn's backstory. Al of the stuff in there is real.
@GM
Trying to get a mental picture of what we're seeing. I was wondering if you could give us another general description of the structures in the immediate area. It sounds like there are lots of standing buildings as there are lots of rooftops for us to spot tracks on?
I'm trying to figure out if we are in a dense series of multi-story houses with an occasional collapsed roof/wall or if large sections of house have been reduced to knee high rubble.
Sure, sorry about that. What I meant by the comment on rooftops is that of the few that remain, you can spot the tracks continuing away from your position; only a few other buildings actually have roofs on them at this point. Many of the buildings around, while not reduced to knee-high rubble, have collapsed walls/ceilings. This has cut off of a lot of the side streets due to rubble collapsing over them making them difficult to traverse, but several of them at least have their ground floors relatively intact. The building you are in and the building in which you found the eviscerated victim were both in better condition than many of the buildings surrounding them.
Did that help?
Yes. A couple of other questions:
Are we clearly in a residential area or is it mixed with larger warehouses?
How many stories does the average standing building have?
For every 10 buildings, how many are more or less standing?
About how far are we from the epicenter of the blast/shockwave?
Are we seeing bodies of civilians dead from the initial shockwave or collapse of their building?
1. It appears to be mostly residential, although some larger buildings are present. Most of the larger, warehouse-style buildings appear to be farther into the city.
2. Originally, or now? Many of them appear to have once been two or three story homes/apartment buildings, but now a number of them have lost a floor or two after collapsing. I'd say most buildings, they're standing at all, have their first floor relatively intact while the upper floors are in various state of collapse.
3. If you define "more or less standing" as "you could reasonably use it as an effective shelter from the elements", probably 4-5 out of 10. If you instead define it as "75%+ is still standing" you get close to 1-2, if not less.
4. Presumably a lot of people were trapped and died under the rubble, but you still haven't seen as many dead bodies outside or in open buildings as you would have expected. Many of the homes seem eerily empty, considering the population of the city. It's unlikely that this many people survived the initial impact only to disappear when you all have come through the keep order and get them help.
PS: From what you can tell, while it's POSSIBLE your jump could cause the building to collapse further, it seems very unlikely. Maybe a 5% chance, tops.
On number 4, so we definitely feel that there is an unusual lack of civilians dead or alive?
Yes, it certainly feels sort of odd. While it is possible, it doesn't rub any of you the right way.
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Jon! I've just realised that during character creation I forgot rank divisions, and so I picked an Edge that was for seasoned characters: Level-Headed.
I'll swap it for Quick, which instead of letting me drawing two cards during Initiative allows me to redraw any card under 5.
EDIT I am truly an old Irishman... I already picked Quick as my human edge. Will see what I get instead of Level-Headed.
FINAL EDIT Decided upon Fleet-Footed, so I can get to be the fastest drunken Irish the world has seen since the superhero Captain Guiness retired.
So, guys, I just had to put my dog down today, so it's possible my posting might slow down some. I don't really know for sure, sometimes I throw myself into things to deal with this sort of stuff, but I'm just letting you know so if I disappear or something for a few days, I'll be back.
Sorry to hear that.
Sorry, man, that sucks.
So... two raises on my Stealth roll. Nice.
Hey guys, I'll be traveling all day tomorrow so no updates from me until Friday.
Busy day today, haven't had time to get everything ready for this post; we're starting our first combat pretty shortly. Expect an update tomorrow after I get home from work.
Okay, so as we start our first combat, I just wanted to make sure that anyone who isn't super sure of who combat in SW works has an opportunity to ask me any questions you might have. Just as a quick rundown for those who might not be as familiar with the system:
Initiative is decided by drawn cards every turn, so the order will be different from round to round. You can perform any amount of actions in a round, but each additional non-free action carries a multi-action penalty; all rolls take a -2 per each non-free action you take beyond the first. Moving is a free action, to a point; moving your Pace doesn't cause penalties, but moving beyond it does. Your Pace is essentially squares on a battle map, so it's 5' per point of Pace. As for attacking and damage, you first roll to hit your target. The target number for ranged attacks is always 4, but melee attacks are the target's Parry. Scoring a raise nets you +1d6 on your damage roll. When you roll damage, the goal is to beat your opponent's Toughness. If you beat it, they're Shaken; they can't move, and if another attack beats their Toughness before Shaken is removed, they take a wound. Scoring a raise over the target's Toughness causes a wound automatically.
Any questions on that, or anything else about combat?
PS: A small thing I noticed earlier; when you roll a skill at a penalty, like Notice at -1, if you Ace that penalty is not applied the second time you rolled the die. A few of you did that, wanted to correct that now.
PPS: Jackalyn, you are considered unnoticed this round for the purposes of Assassin.
Damn. Yeah, I'll be terrified if that doesn't kill it.
Well, you noped the f*ck out of that thing.
In Pafthinder, each attack is resolved fully be before the next person goes in combat. Does it work the same way in SW? Do I get the update of whether the creatures are dead or some sort of tactic worked? Looks like the insectoid took a bunch of damage and trying to determine if it's dead or still functioning.
I'm also a little fuzzy on the Auto vs 3RB vs Tap vs Double tap, etc.
I usually provide an update on enemies when their turn comes around, and if people have attacked a target that's downed I'll shift the attack to an eligible target. The chryssalid WILL probably roll to soak the damage on its turn, but I haven't calculated how many wounds this thing took yet, and it's very unlikely it's still alive.
As for how automatic fire and such things work, it's sort of complicated. Double Tap and three-round burst are essentially the same concept; expend additional ammo for a bonus on the attack and damage rolls. Double tap is two bullets, three-round burst is three, and each extra bullet over the one that needed to be fired for the attack gives a +1. Automatic fire is a little different, in that you roll a number of attack rolls equal to your rate of fire. You get one wild die between those three attacks (since they're the same action) but it can replace any shot you make. When you use automatic fire, the amount of bullets used is equal to the RoF of the weapon squared; so RoF 3 uses 9 bullets if you take all three shots.
The main advantage of full-auto weapons is when you hit Seasoned rank, as the Rock and Roll edge allows you to fire full-auto without penalty as long as you don't move.
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On an unrelated note, as none of these creatures existed or were even based on enemies from the base SW, if I find that certain enemies are weaker/stronger than I expected them to be, I will be adjusting stat blocks for a bit in order to correct for that. Of course, any changes I make do take place after the fight, not during.
So if I fire on the insectoid and it's already dead....what happens?
So in Auto, you get to roll a damage roll for each shot that hits?
Sorry, I had that typed and reworded what I was saying, and it got lost. In that case, I shift your attack to another target, such as one of the Sectoids. I try to take into account why you attacked what you did; if you're trying to focus fire one of two or three powerful enemies, I will assume you start firing on another of them rather than random weaker enemies, unless they've compromised your position or something similar.
If I do this and you'd rather attack another available target, always feel free to let me know.
EDIT: With full-auto, you roll damage for every hit that connects, yes. So if all three attacks hit, you roll damage three times. Also, multiple attacks do not all need to target the same opponent.
Traveling all day tomorrow, I'll try and get a post up tomorrow evening.
I've been operating under the assumption we all had radios and could all communicate with the Lt.
Just to verify...do we all have the same rank within the UN or are some of us higher up in the chain of command?
I was actually just looking that up. Generally, peacekeepers maintain the rank they had before they were seconded to the UN forces. Had to make sure I had Rosa's rank right.
Technically some of you are higher rank, although the lieutenant is assigned as the second in command of your entire force, meaning he "technically" outranks you all anyway. Jacob was an Engineering Captain, but I don't believe that translate to "Captain" as the standard military rank for the US. I don't know Borax's rank, so by that logic I think Kristophe is the highest ranking person at the moment? Borax, given the background we've discussed your rank is fairly variable, so you may select whatever you'd like.
Also, I just wanted to make sure on the radios. I thought I saw someone say they relayed information to him from someone else, but that wasn't necessary.
Well, it'd be good to know the chain of command to make sure to get the RP correct.
Borax's last official rank was Private First Class...
But I am going to confess I don't have a strong working knowledge of every military's ranks and status beyond simply looking them up on the Internet.
Well, since I don't know Borax's rank, the rest of you (according to Wikipedia, anyway) would be in chain of command like so:
Neither do I, hence the Wikipedia searching. I would imagine his... off the record work as we've discussed probably earned him a few promotions, though, upon returning to actual active duty. Where he wants to be, that's up to you.
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Jon's last post, and chain of command is right.
Assuming we were all Irish I'd outrank by only a little, but as Jacob is an Engineering captain I don't know the translation to a joint force neither.
Anyway, and unless we restore the base and such, I believe we'll be going as armed civs for a while hahahaha
Given my brief research, I believe Engineering Captain is equivalent to something like a Master Sergeant or Sergeant First Class in the US military in terms of rank.
Hey guys, Gavril is on his way back to the States today, which means he'll probably be re-joining us in a day or two. I'm gonna contact him to make sure, but if that's the case I'm going to wait to update so he can read what we've done and post in himself.
Having been in the military for the past 12 years...Borax as a navy seal would not ever have been a PFC. He would have used Navy ranks, either enlisted or commissioned. If you wanted Borax to be a well experienced enlisted Seal operator he would probably be a Petty Officer First Class E-6 (NCO) or an even older Chief Petty Officer E-7 (SNCO). Most NCO's (E-5/E-6) are in their mid to late 20's-early 30's, Senior NCO's would usually be in their mid/late 30's. (Example: I am 34 and a TSGT (E-6) in the Louisiana Air National Guard.) If you wanted Borax to be an Officer, the rank of Lieutenant (O3) would be suitable to a man in his late 20's/early 30's. It would also outrank Kristophe who is an 02 Loytant. (Norway's command structure technically has no distinction from Enlisted to Commissioned...but that would be the closest in US military ranks.)
Also while technically Kris might outrank Jacob as an officer, a Lieutenant will pretty much always listen to a senior NCO. Senior NCO's have years more experience than the average LT.
Having been in the military for the past 12 years...Borax as a navy seal would not ever have been a PFC. He would have used Navy ranks, either enlisted or commissioned. If you wanted Borax to be a well experienced enlisted Seal operator he would probably be a Petty Officer First Class E-6 (NCO) or an even older Chief Petty Officer E-7 (SNCO). Most NCO's (E-5/E-6) are in their mid to late 20's-early 30's, Senior NCO's would usually be in their mid/late 30's. (Example: I am 34 and a TSGT (E-6) in the Louisiana Air National Guard.) If you wanted Borax to be an Officer, the rank of Lieutenant (O3) would be suitable to a man in his late 20's/early 30's. It would also outrank Kristophe who is an 02 Loytant. (Norway's command structure technically has no distinction from Enlisted to Commissioned...but that would be the closest in US military ranks.)
Also while technically Kris might outrank Jacob as an officer, a Lieutenant will pretty much always listen to a senior NCO. Senior NCO's have years more experience than the average LT.
Kris, thanks for the break down and I appreciate any insight or information you want to share on these types of issues in the future as well.
If you don't mind, I might send you PMs to pick your brain.
Kristophe, I really appreciate the information; as I said, I'm only passingly familiar with military ranks in the US, let alone in other countries, so I wasn't positive how it all fit together. Much like Borax, if I have questions about times when it would be pertinent, I may PM you to ask you some questions. The most personal experience I have with this kind of thing is that they attempted to recruit me for an officer training program when I was in high school (evidently I had high enough test scores), so your input is both interesting and super helpful.
I don't mind at all.
At a conference all day today, probably nothing from me again until tomorrow.
Question. Do we seriously need a raise to not suffer from their poison?
The Thin Men poison is one of the things I may end up changing in the long run, but I had decided to run with things as I originally wrote them before making any further changes. Going by the Poison Effect Chart, the Thin Men should really be "Venomous" because the poison physically harms you, but that would have put you at 1 Wound and Exhausted with a success, which I felt was a bit much for what is supposed to be an early game enemy. I may reduce the effects of the poison, or I may provide a bonus to the Vigor roll to overcome it to counteract the fact that as written it is difficult to deal with the poison at all.
RAW, even getting a Raise actually makes you Fatigued. I'm trying to strike a balance between debilitating and useless, and the Core Rules do not make that an option, presumably because they don't imagine that poisonous enemies will be all that prolific. Obviously, as I'm drawing a lot from the newer XCOM titles, that is not the case for this game, which means I have to come up with this on my own.
As I said before, keep in mind much of this game (including later equipment and gene mods, in addition to enemies) was created by me for this game, and I do not have the time or resources to playtest them. If any of you have suggestions of what to improve, please let me know.
Considering that it's an inhaled cloud that can harm multiple people, making it so that there's literally no way to negate it for characters at first level feels really excessive. Sure, if there were mid-game enemies, then we'd have better Vigor, equipment to deal with poison, special powers, and Edges that give bonuses to such rolls.
Considering that Fatigued inflicts a -1 on all rolls, plus a wound means unless we get a raise on a Vigor roll (which requires an Ace for I think literally the entire party) we're at -2 on every single roll. And even on a raise, we're at -1 on everything.
Making it 1 Wound and Fatigued on a failure, just Fatigued on a success, and negated on a raise seems much more fair. Also remember that Fatigued stacks, so a fight with three Thin Men can reliably go like this:
- Thin Man 1: Poison, party is automatically fatigued no matter what.
- Thin Man 2: Poison, party is automatically exhausted no matter what.
- Thin Man 3: TPK, because if you're exhausted and hit with something that fatigues you, you're incapacitated.
I think that the poison rules are meant for things like bites or poisoned blades, not clouds that hit several people at a time.
So what are my options? Can I "soak" to get rid of the wounds or the fatigue?
Also, after the last battle, I said I put in a fresh clip. How do we manage half used ammo clips?
I know you have no way of knowing this, but keep in mind for my revisions that Thin Men poison doesn't stack with itself, so a group of them can't repeatedly poison you until you all die. I made that decision immediately to prevent that sort of problem from happening, although even now I will agree that this seems too harsh as well even though it is toned down from the original poison rules. I really wasn't sure how balanced some of the early game enemies were, so we'll hammer this out as a group. My suggestion is still a little more lethal than what you've suggested, but I think it keeps the Thin Men dangerous while not turning them into death machines.
Failure: You take 1 Wound and are Fatigued; next round you must make another Vigor roll or take another Wound and become Exhausted.
Success: You are Fatigued.
Raise: No effect.
If this poison causes you to be Incapacitated, you will die within 2d6 hours unless treated with a successful Healing roll. This Healing roll, unlike others, is not subject to the Golden Hour rule.
Borax, you could roll to soak the Wound, although since it's beneficial to change enemy stats for you guys you will now only be Fatigued; while you can't soak it, you also are only at a -1 rather than a -2. As for magazines, I'm not really concerned with tracking half-filled magazines. The only time I will force you to reload is if you blow through an entire magazine during a single fight, other than that I will assume you would refill half-empty mags when you had the opportunity. Also, if you had say 90 bullets, you would eventually reach the point at which you run low on ammo so that would be the used magazine, I suppose.
PS: I talked to Gavril and he is back in the States, and will be rejoining us shortly. He's been going through his games and getting caught up, and he's saving this game for last since we apparently had 186 new posts since he last checked; it was a daunting task and he wanted to get others out of the way first.
Hey guys, beginning tomorrow I'll be in Mexico celebrating my 10 year anniversary. I should have access to Wifi and a laptop for posting daily, but if I slip up you know why.