Having read it twice, now I think that you're reading the multiplication item properly, and I'm not sure that's what was intended when they wrote it.
That's what I got from it, as well, and it really stands out.
If I were to talk about my "feelings" on the system, I think that the emphasis on multiple operators reads very much like an attempt to prevent "every PC has their own mecha" style adventures, which - if I'm being honest and I were to speak as someone who has done a LOT of work for another mecha system in the past - isn't really what people are looking for when they start talking about mecha in their games.
The multiple-operator press, combined with the similarity in the build process to starships, feels to me as though we're supposed to treat mecha as though they're "itty bitty starships," and not Giant Robots.
I dunno, maybe I'm wrong, but I'm not immediately seeing the potential for Gundam/Macross/Orguss/Escaflowne style adventures, here.
Are you making a Pathfinder 2E product, or a 5E product, or a product that uses both systems?
Your original statement would indicate that you're looking to make a PF2 product, but then you say you're looking for someone who can do a 5E conversion. Assuming you mean that you want to convert PF2 into 5E, that might be a bit of confusion and why you're not getting replies.
Can you provide links to your previously produced material, or an overview of what your publishing company has done for Pathfinder or 5E materials in the past? An idea about what the product you're currently working on entails? What your pay rate will be?
All of those might help potential freelancers see what you've been able to make so far, and whether or not they're interested in joining up on your project.
Evil Robot Games and I released a day one campaign guide for our setting "A Broken Sky", which you can buy in PDF here on the Paizo site, or in both PDF and print-on-demand softcover on Drive Thru RPG.
We just received a 5-star review, plus seal of approval and buy recommendation from Endzeitgeist in his review, as well! I'm very pleased. :)
We also have two (with more on the way) Recall Knowledge products (one each for Dragons and Fiends), similarly available here on Paizo or on DTRPG.
Our next campaign guide will be for either an Against-The-Alien-Invaders Mecha Fantasy or Hidden/Hollow World style Sword-and-Planet setting. We're debating the merits of each right now.
We're going to go ahead and roll the game forward a bit, as digging into some of the minutia that Emily and the rest are asking about would take us rather a long time and require many more weeks of conversation. I'll summarize the answers to your more pressing questions below.
Regarding Zerin's question of "around or in" your places of residence: Around. They need your permission to do that, and will do so if you really want them to, but that will take time and be a lot more obvious than their efforts to make it look like regular maintenance and replacement of various objects.
Regarding BART's snark: Absolutely not. The Feds can prove a large number of items on their list - which is why they're on the list in the first place. Hanging you out to dry doesn't enter into it: you're already targets, and you're better off with their help than without it. Why you're targets, who knows. But you are. And the attitude isn't going to make it any easier, so maybe cool it for a while until such time as they can make this easier for everyone.
Regarding Emily's request to see the reports or talk to the profiles: that's not going to happen any time soon, and Eteki doesn't like that any more than you do, but at this time, the Feds are adamant that it's better that none of you meet them face to face. It'll happen, but they're in the field right now, coordinating the surveillance operation. As far as the facial recognition goes, well, the Feds and MetroSec have a lot more leeway on that sort of thing than you Socials do - your livestreams and whatnot are not necessary for public safety, and so are subject to things like Terms Of Service and Consentual Opt-In. Theirs aren't. That being said, all of the available public safety video has been reviewed, and the Feds haven't been able to find anything that you're talking about. And, as you may have guessed, no, you can't see it. Eteki is working on that, however, since it directly affects the lot of you.
Regarding getting Avryl fed: they can bring in a pizza or three if you really want it. There's a great little place just two floors down that does a pretty kickin' Quattro Fromaggio.
***
Some time passes, as it always does, and pizza is delivered, as it always is. They can even get BART a charge on his mechbody's powercell (as you only have a 24-hour charge on that thing) and some nutrient-paste, so none of you are without sustenance.
Shortly after the food is delivered, word comes in that the surveillance network is up and running, and a few minutes after that, a connection between the field command post staffed by the Federal agents is established, with a series of images being relayed to the conference room you're situated in.
The feeds show your respective home areas - not directly fixed on your front doors, but the general areas around where you're known to make your business (or most of it) - randomly cycling through a total of four arcs, flowing through them in order to provide as much coverage as possible.
A voice from the other end of the feed speaks up.
"This is Agent Axelrod," a man's voice says. It's an even, practiced recitation of the official surveillance drill. "Beginning multi-target surveillance operation. All field operatives, check in."
Three other voices reply, two women and another man, identifying themselves as Agents Ridley, Howland, and Moore.
Eteki replies, introducing you all in turn.
"Thank you for your cooperation on this operation, everyone," Axelrod says. "We're going to do a series of facial recognition runs for the next thirty minutes, to ensure that we don't have anyone hanging around or coming back through these areas more than a usual traffic pattern would suggest. While we do that, I'd like you all to pay attention to the feeds that Detective Eteki is about to direct to your personal AR streams. You'll be seeing directly what we're seeing. If you spot anyone that looks suspicious, I'd like you to focus on that for a three-count. That'll trip the software's sensors and we'll log that for refinement."
At this point, I'd like you all to make three (count them!) Perception checks. Remember that if you want to use Action Points to improve your roll, you should announce that as you make the roll.
Just wanted to say that the next game update will be coming this week.
I've been working on getting "A Broken Sky" ready for Print, as well as updating some of the rules in the Power Core RPG to correct a few issues with game balance.
None of these changes will affect the playtest, but the playtest (specifically the example character builds) have affected these changes.
Some of the changes are:
*Abilities can now only be purchased to a maximum of 6 ranks, as this means they are adding +6 to a total of 3 other skills, thus giving them a grand total of 18 points of influence across a character.
*The starting cost for Abilities has been increased.
Again, these don't affect the playtest characters. We can proceed as normal for now. But the changes are in the next draft of the rules.
The next update from me should be out by the end of the week, Sunday at the latest.
Jim Milligan, here. I'm the author of "A Broken Sky," the first Condensed Campaigns product from Evil Robot Games, and I thought I'd start this conversation thread up just in case any of you Pathfinder Second Edition folk have been looking at our product and wondering what it can offer you (you know beyond what it says on the tin).
I'd love to answer any questions you've got, or even just provide info-dumps for folks who've picked up the book (or are thinking of doing so), so as to help drum up interest and understanding about what it is we're doing, here.
(If you'd like one of my first bits of exposition, about getting around in A Broken Sky, just click that link to go to the ERG site, where Paul compiled one of my Twitter threads.)
(For a thread about the Avalar in A Broken Sky, and how the world shattering has affected their people, here's another link)
You can get the PDF version here on the Paizo site (just follow link on the page!), and we will be offering a Print On Demand from Drive Thru RPG just as soon as the files clear Pre-Flight.
I'll also be offering some bonus content on my Patreon for subscribers!
I hope you enjoy our product, and I'm really looking forward to bringing you more in the days to come. Look for something that may or may not be fantasy mecha in our next Condensed Campaign book. :)
Evil Robot Games & I have put together the first of our Condensed Campaigns products, A Broken Sky. Think of it as a 56-page toolkit for building your own campaign in a new and fantastic setting.
It'll be available here on the Paizo store once they get back from GenCon, methinks, but you can also get it On Drive Thru RPG if you're so inclined.
What is A Broken Sky?
From the sales page:
In the remnants of a broken clockwork world, an ancient evil approaches. Threatening to drown the world in an endless, frozen night, the Nightfall Lords return to finish the job they began centuries ago. You and your allies must convince the cities of the Seven Shards to meet the threat head on, or all is lost. Strap on your buzz wings, take up the fight against the hidden agents of the Nightfall Lords, and prepare to take flight as you fight to defend your home among A Broken Sky!
A Broken Sky contains all of the basic elements a GM and players need to make the world of A Broken Sky their own, including…
… four new Ancestries — the avalar, chardram, knomoi, and undyn — for use in play
… new alchemical and magical items
… a world that blends steampunk invention with arcane innovation to give players the ability to fly high in the sky
… a “choose your own” option system, enabling GM’s to customize their campaigns to suit their group
… and more!
It's PDF only, right now, but a Print-On-Demand version will be available Real Soon Now.
I've been doing a bunch of info-dumps about it on Twitter, many of which are compiled here.
OCV/DCV 7/7 | PD/ED 20/20 | rPD/rED 10/10 | Stun 50 | Body 20 | Energon 300 | SPD 4 | DEX 20 | PER 12-
SCOUT
Sorry, I didn't see Skitter's reply for some reason. Forums never showed it to me.
"A simple active camouflage subroutine on your exterior coloration would be a good start," Redshift replies. "Project the image of whatever is 'behind' you onto your various surfaces. Actual field refraction would be ideal. Invisibility has its purposes. It's murder on energy reserves, though, so I can't recommend it at this time."
At the discussion of COBRA, Redshift is silent for a moment.
"There will always be those who seek to put their own power and glory ahead of the good of their own people. Petty tyrants and power-mad dictators seem to follow civilization like a plague."
Redshift looks at Jaye.
"You say that COBRA got their hands on some of your laser technology? We... may be able to help you with refinement and efficiency issues. Give you an advantage over them, if possible. If nothing else, we can give you a different attenuation and focusing technology, so you can tell yours apart from theirs easily on the battlefield."
And now we can give them red lasers and blue lasers!
Lol no problem. It was fuzzy for me at first too until I noticed the simple way to remember how to work out counteract levels. XD
Something funny I heard about one of the Paizo streams, someone asked in the chat for a dev to explain Dispel rules to him like he was a 5 year old. The dev proceeded to do so and someone in the chat commented that their actual 5 year old son understood the explanation.
So apparently it was a good one. XD
Yeah, I'm hoping that they'll clarify a lot of the language (and cut down on the cross-page reference loops) in the production version of PF2E. There are a lot of areas where the text is thick and impassable, and I say that as someone who used to play Rolemaster.
I'm grateful that you were able to explain that, as four gamers who've been doing this for decades weren't able to suss it out.
Your explanation is clearer and makes more sense than what's in the book. It isn't written very clearly, and I say that because four of us in 30 minutes couldn't decipher what you just explained.
The Ryde.IT cab that picks Avryl, BART, and Emily up for the trip to Zerin's is a slick, black Skycar with the traditional Ryde.IT logo emblazoned on the hood and rear doors. Your driver is a fairly typical Joe Public type, a sort of heads-down work-a-day cabbie who spends the 10km trip through the skylanes into DownTown talking about the latest set of Get On That Thrill competition broadcasts.
So, one of the key things in The Metro (and Power Core in general), is Reputation. Reputation is not only a method by which people can recognize you for who you are and what you've done, but it's also a resource. You can spend points of Reputation as a tool - using it to intimidate, or coerce, or impress - gaining advantages by doing so. Reputation can be a boon when you're trying to get a member of Joe Public to help you out when you're on the run from some folks who are hungry for your grisly demise. Reputation can be a pain in the rear when someone with a grudge recognizes you. Using Reputation as a resource results in the temporary reduction of your value with a particular Culture or Crowd, and as that happens in the game, we'll talk about it.
"You're that Emily Carter, aren't you?" he remarks. "You did that thing on the Base Jump Flash Team, ya? That was some messed up stuff, ya, all them folks doping up like that. How you gotta go and juice up for what's supposed to be an amateur sport? I tell you what, if I were running that..."
And so on, with the conversation eventually turning in to how far this section of DownTown has fallen since the folks at CeTek pulled their industrial center from the area and moved it over a few quads. He's sure something else will come along – it's not likely that an unused industrial foundation will stay empty for long – but for now, the sphere of recession in this section is growing, as more and more people are running out of local jobs, needing to search farther and farther afield to bring in the credits.
Eventually, though, the ride is over Emily, knock 10km off of your Ryde.IT voucher, if you would be so kind, and the three of you are deposited in front of Zerin's shop. It's a "Ground Floor" unit, opening out on to a Pedestrian Walkway. A thin division strip separates the Ped-Path from a dual-lane Moto-way, where a few one- and two-seater vehicles zip along their way to wherever their passengers are trying to go, electric motors pushing them quietly down the road.
The ads and AR-HUD items floating around this area are typical DownTown fare: want-ads, job offers for day labor from MidTown, advertisements for specialized training on the Aqua Farm Floater Colonies, and the like. A small crowd of street vendors and other Joe Public types looking for work begin to descend upon your group, but quickly give up when they see that you're walking purposely toward Zerin's shop. From the back of the shop, the sound of an air hammer rings out across the Ped-Path. A disaffected, incredibly bored teenage girl - a Flashback by the looks of her pin-and-patch covered black vat-leather jacket, once shiny and new, but now dingy, cracked, and well-worn, as well as her retro-throwback hairstyle and clothes, stands behind the counter at the front of the shop. She's reviewing something on a hardscreen, but pushes it aside when you walk in.
In a dazzling display of Knowing When Something Is Up, the girl simply smiles and taps her fingers over a space in the air in front of her, obviously interacting with her AR-HUD.
"Hey, Bosslady," she says to the room, contacting Zerin in the back. "There's some folks here to see you."
I'm being good and not channeling Doctor Ian Malcom right now, and you should be grateful, because the quotes and puns that are fighting to get out of my brain are vast, and legion. ;)
OCV/DCV 7/7 | PD/ED 20/20 | rPD/rED 10/10 | Stun 50 | Body 20 | Energon 300 | SPD 4 | DEX 20 | PER 12-
SCOUT
"Ship!" Redshift shouts. "I identify myself as Cityspeaker Redshift of Hexalon! I speak for Helaxis! This is a diplomatic entreaty for refuge and asylum!"
Redshift then cuts Skitter a quick look between the small Autobot and the main computer trunk between the mainframe and the ship.
For the hell of it, he intones the universal greeting at the computer, as well. Insert 300bps modem handshake Bah Weep Grahna Weep Nini Bong here.
I think you have those movie references backward a bit, Quaker.
Clark goes back in time to save Lois in Superman 1, and fights 3 evil Kryptonians in Superman 2.
And I'm not sure if it's a Black Kryptonite Split Kara, or a Time Displaced Kara, honestly.
Reckless wrote:
A level 12 intellect with a level 2 intellect? That'll end well.
SHE IS HIS ONE TRUE LOVE. In, like, every incarnation of Braniac 5. Even the one where he was lusting after Andromeda, because she was the closest thing to Supergirl around.
See this is why Lex Luthor and Doom are better. Sure they fail, but at least their initial premise isn't as FLAWED as these two.
For real.
Sure, Lex and Doom both place the reason they haven't actually done anything on other people, and they're both absolutely evil, but their science isn't ludicrously bad.
And at least Doom has given incredibly cogent arguments for why the people of Latveria fear him, and why he knows he's a tyrant, but that he still believes he is a good ruler because of his absolute dedication to his people. He's still a nutjob, but you can't doubt his commitment.
I never said Thanos' plan wasn't defensible. Most of what he does isn't. I just say, to me, understanding Thanos, it makes sense. The Thinker's plan DOES NOT MAKE SENSE.
Also I would never defend Thanos as a good guy. He's not a good guy. He's never BEEN a good guy. He's just been at best an anti-hero with some very DEEP problems.
I didn't mean to imply that you said he was a good guy. I said I've seen people defending his plan - and his rationale - as though he's a misguided savior. Which, you know... he's really not.
Really it's just that people have been defending an enormous cosmic-tier bully and I don't like that. I apologize for coming off as though I meant you.
Thanos Stuff:
And seriously, for someone who's supposed to have a brilliant scientific mind, his whole "The Universe is FINITE!" thing... he's dead wrong. And even if it WAS, the Gauntlet gives him the power to change that... I just... ARGHBARGLERAGH I know it's comic book science BUT STILL.
Atomic Rocket Games and Evil Robot Games are close to releasing our new science-fiction/Cyberpunk-genre campaign setting, The Metro, using our new in-house system, The Power Core RPG.
We (well, I) will be running a Play-By-Post playtest campaign here on the forums. Why?
* - Because these forums are the largest, best, most chock-full of intelligent, diverse gamers in the world.
* - Because Power Core will be a class- and level- free, non-d20 addition to the OGL family of game systems.
* - Because enabling gamers outside the core playtest group to see how the game works is an ideal and transparent method of showing people what we hope (and know) the system and the setting can do.
How's it going to go?
My players will post their character concepts here in this recruitment thread, and we will go through their build process, showing how it's done, and detailing their characters in a step-by-step form.
Once that's done, the Discussion thread will be where we talk game mechanics and setting particulars. My players will ask questions on a regular basis (questions you as observers might have!), and they'll be answered based on the rules and the setting.
Can I join the game?
Unfortunately, there are no available playtest slots at this time. We have our testers (we've worked with all of them before), and all four slots are full.
Can I get a peek at the rules?
Not at this time. This is for confidentiality on the rules and for legal reasons, as well.
Can I observe the game?
Please do!
What is Power Core?
Power Core is a class- and level- free RPG ruleset that will be released under the OGL upon completion. Its first campaign setting - The Metro, a high-rise world of culture-shock, futurism, and malleable humanity - has been under construction for some time, and will be detailed as part of the playtest.
What's in Power Core?
Power Core uses a 2d6 + Attribute + Modifiers vs Difficulty Class resolution system, making it both familiar and easy to pick up.
The system offers a broad skill and reputation system, enabling players and GM's to tailor their games with both skills and organizations that are custom-built for the campaign with minimal effort.
Power Core also offers an adaptable combat system, a fully-integrated mecha/vehicle/weapon construction system, and much more.
What's in The Metro?
Ambiguous history. Balkanized subcultures. Sexy androids. Enormous skyscraper cities. Mystery and Adventure. Corporate Nation States. Spicy Krill On A Stick. Synthetic Life Forms. Flying cars.
When does it start?
The discussion and gameplay threads will go live on May 1, 2018. The players will start posting their character builds here in this thread then, as well. There will be a 1/week minimum update, either from players, or myself.
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/8 | Levels +0 | PD/rPD 4(24)/0(20) | ED/rED 5(25)/0(20) | MD 15 | End 50 | Stun 35 | SPD 4 | PER 13-
"I'll tell you something I only ever told Zack," Violet says quietly. "All I've ever wanted to do is make my daddy proud. He saw a world where people like me... people with powers... helped the people without powers, because it was the right thing to do. Where we did what we did because it's the natural duty of those with powers to make the world a better place. He never said this to me. But he thought it. Every time he looked at me."
Violet pauses to contemplate her cup of tea. "I know we can't fix all of the world's problems. I mean, how do we fix all of society's ills?"
"But daddy loved Star Trek," she smiles. "He wanted a better world. And if we can do anything to make that happen? Even a little? Then call me a super hero."
The Superman story is something I'd take to a Hollywood exec type and say "Here. This is Superman. Make THAT kind of movie."
This was the one with the kids and the hospital, yeah? I just got my shipment of comics from my old friendly-local-comic-shop and this one was right at the top.
Finally settling in to watch it on the CW App, and I gotta say, I love this Brainiac 5. He's done really well. Especially his unabashed nerd-out over meeting Supergirl.
I'd have liked the LOSH costumes to not be Generic Bad@$$ black, but they work.
Can I just say Supergirl's throwback reference to a particular piece of dialogue in Superman 2 was brilliant. I laughed so hard I had to play the scene back because I missed what came after.
I've pushed an interim possible fix for the sessions logout issue while we figure out a better permanent solution. It has definitely logged everyone out BUT that should be the last time for awhile. Thanks for your patience on this one. It was not a solution I wanted to implement over the long weekend without being able to watch it extensively.
I'm also seeing the "new post" markers on threads with no posts since the last, but only if I was the last person to make the post, as of yesterday. I waited a day to report it just in case it was imaginary on my part.
How come everyone assumes the big-bad is Dr. Manhattan?
Just because is is so powerful, we automatically think he must be the one behind everything.
What if someone else is behind it, and the good doctor is trying to stop him, or has somehow been captured?
Things to think about.
Honestly?
Because - and I say this with the full admittance that I have a sort of love/hate relationship with the man's work - frankly, Geoff Johns is not that subtle. He has a certain blunt-instrument nature about his plots, and as he's still the driving force behind DC's storylines and overall approach to things, I really can't see him okaying a storyline with that sort of subtle "Hah! We fooled you!" reveal.
I mean, I could be wrong, but it doesn't fit his M.O..
Let's call the site we had a month ago Codebase A. Codebase B—that first launch in this group—was designed to fix some high-priority issues in Codebase A. Unfortunately, it introduced some issues that were even higher priority than the things it fixed, so we did in fact roll back to Codebase A.
At that point, we're working on at Codebase C. We *could* keep Codebase A up while we ensure that Codebase C fixes *all* of the issues that Codebase B introduced... but that's going to take a while, and in the meantime, we're living without the high-priority fixes to Codebase A that Codebase B brought. So instead, we launched Codebase C after fixing primarily only the highest-priority issues that it introduced.
So we chose to live with code that would log people out way too much for a little while—which is annoying, but ultimately not terribly harmful—because it let us implement previous fixes to older, higher-priority problems faster than not doing so.
That actually answers pretty much all of my concerns about what was going on and why, and brother, I do not envy you that scenario. I've been in a multiple codebase scenario more times than I care to remember, and they are never, ever useful or easy.
More power to you all for taking care of it like you have.
Her description of Alex's desire to have children as some "vague notion" is also an abusive behavior: minimizing a partner's needs or desires as wishes or fantasies, rather than an integral part of their psyche.
So, firstly, thanks for the hard work. I know this isn't easy.
Thinky Thoughts On The Issue, of no real consequence...:
Secondly, I know you have your reasons, and I know this has been gone over (in answer to my own questions, even!) in other threads in the past, but I again must wonder aloud why "roll back to the previous stable version, identify and fix the issues, and then push the new version again" is not the standard course of action, here.
Maybe it's over two decades in the tech industry talking, but I am curious.
Not pointing fingers or saying you're doing a bad job (I am not and you are not), I'm just genuinely curious. I've done nearly 20 years in operations work, and six years of support of one stripe or another before that, so this feels like it should be standard procedure across the board.
I get that some issues only show up under load, and then only under the unique conditions that the patch being on the live server brings, but for the bulk of the issues, I can't see why this isn't done.
Again, I know you have your reasons. And I know that it's almost certainly policy not to discuss them. I'm just the kind of person who wants to help fix a problem if he can, and this sort of thing always gets my mind going.
is that by having four characters, they're essentially expressing that they doubt Whittaker can carry the show strongly enough on her own, which... is a bothersome thought at best.
It's funny you'd say she doesn't have much respect for the character of The Doctor, considering how much respect for the character of The Doctor she's repeatedly expressed. Coupled with her enthusiasm for the role, and her many public statements of being so thrilled and honored to have a chance at the character, and her many statements of hoping to do right by the role, I'd have to say that you've really got it wrong.
My favorite moment this season, honestly, is Wally in episode one:
"I know things."
Giving Wally skills like being multilingual and having a deeper intellectual depth than he's been shown as having in previous seasons makes me happy. He deserves to be just as fleshed out as all the rest of the crew, and it's about time it happened.
