GM Rednal's Godbound on Post-Apocalyptic Earth

[GM Rednal]

The Discussion thread!

[Photonn]

I will begin working on getting the mechanics for Photon onto this profile. I apologize for not having as comprehensive of a background, but I'd rather specify more as my understanding of the setting grows than have to retcon my background.

[GM Rednal]

Which is reasonable. Feel free to ask questions if there's any specific details you want to know. ^^

[Photonn]

I had originally concepted Photon to utilize his abilities often with a decent amount of passives going pretty constantly.

Passive / No Major Effort Commitment
*base abilities from Night, Bow, and Sun(rarely)
*creation's first light (Sun)

Utilize often out of "encounter"/"scene"
Hasten to Light (Sun)
Road of Shadows (Night)

That being said, I got the impression that maybe that would be relying more on the powers than you had intended. My character concept was ideally very mobile (a bit of a teleportation specialist, utilizing both from Sun and Night). I wanted to check with you if I need to amend my character vision as it fits into your campaign. And, if so, in what ways I can keep to my concept as much as possible. Or, maybe put in better words, in what way can you see my character concept fit into your world?

I thoroughly enjoy creating characters with actual character. However, my process is to go from mechanics to personality / character. This way I can know how my character interacts with the world around him and can then, as such, build how these interactions would form a personality (i.e. Because I chose both Sun and Night, he sees the world in a different way that others. Because he manipulates "photons" or "light" he, in a sense, sees the world kinda like everything is underwater wherein he can control, to a degree, the water. Then I go further, how would that perception of the world affect how he interacts with people?). Because of this process, I'd like to iron out the mechanics before i can truly delve into who Photon is and what his personality is.

[GM Rednal]

As a general rule of thumb, think of relying on powers as a character's last resort, rather than their first. The entire point of the Organization is preventing excessive use of powers from reshaping and probably destroying the world. That already happened once and the First is keen on avoiding a repeat.

Thematically, it's sort of like playing with limits on until everything hits the fan, at which point you kind of explode and go nuts. XD The best way to integrate ideas is to consider non-power things that go with your theme. For example, if your powers are about teleportation, perhaps they've also studied mundane transportation, a bit of mechanics, that sort of thing.

Your Facts are very handy for this. o wo~

[Lucas, the Sighted]

Here's the alias for Lucas, Idiot Cube's character. Thanks for picking me!

GM Rednal wrote:

Your Facts are very handy for this. o wo~

Aw, I knew I was forgetting something...

[Photonn]

Hmm...Photon doesn't really have any nuke-like abilities, but that may be okay...I will have to rethink how he will operate..

I'm thinking more operative, sniper with mobility and utility.

[Kusinagi Tenchi]

Reporting as ordered! I'll get an alt created shortly.

EDIT: and alt created; or refurbished, in this case.

[GM Rednal]

Facts are the best way to improve your abilities and rolls without using powers, so think carefully. XD

[Raul, the Storm]

I'm still pushing around thoughts on Raul for a third fact; so far I've got Hunter/Tracker/Stealth abilities as a result of growing up more or less as a hunter-gatherer/scavenger and for being nature-y, and a reputation as a bandit-fighter. Feedback welcomed, of course.

[GM Rednal]

Personally, I recommend a spread of Facts for movement/survival, interaction, and investigation.

The first could include things like creating makeshift vehicles/rafts/whatever, the second helps you talk to people in cities, and the last helps you find targets. There's a lot of flexibility within these, of course. Maybe your nature as a bandit makes you better at intimidating people, or perhaps you know how to get info from the poorest and most discontent people around. Facts can't be overly broad, but when chosen right, they can provide quite a lot of power (relatively speaking) when you're not able to justify the use of near-divine power. XD

[Kusinagi Tenchi]

Raul, how about something related to vehicles? I suppose it depends on what kind of post-apocalypse bandit you were, though.

[Raul, the Storm]

Rough bit for the website!

Doubling down in Raul's electric theme, would something related to radio or electronics operation be too specific and/or uncommon given the fact that only biggish govt has them?

[Kusinagi Tenchi]

Ya, that was a bit rough.

[GM Rednal]

Control of electronics would be limited at best, yeah. Basically nobody is producing computer parts anymore, so what's still existing is essentially scavenged parts and old, reliable things. You may not have many opportunities to make use of a focus in that area.

[Raul, the Storm]

Sounds good. I edited a bit and lumped the electronics thing into a talent for perception, evolving it out of his experience scavenging back in the his pre-Ultimatum days.

Seemed like the two together shouldn't be overpowered, and they sort of work together: detail oriented and whatnot.

The other two facts are intimidation, and an all around capable/hardiness as an outdoorsman.

Unless you think I need to modify/edit more, I'm ready to go!

[GM Rednal]

Is everyone else about ready for the final review before we get started? ^^

[Kusinagi Tenchi]

I am.

[Raul, the Storm]

Same.

[Lucas, the Sighted]

I'm basically good to go, but I've been thinking about swapping Sword out for Luck. I think Luck would be more interesting to play with, and it has better "last resort" uses.

[GM Rednal]

Mm. Nothing quite like twisting fate itself to get things to work out. XD The added danger of that powerset could make for some interesting characterization, too.

[Photonn]

My apologies to all for my tardiness. GenCon took more of my time than anticipated. I will be able to post very regularly starting now.

[GM Rednal]

Same question goes to you. XD

[Photonn]

I still need to do my facts. I am struggling though. Are our constant/passive abilities turned off regularly?

[GM Rednal]

Yes. When powers are off, they are off, though you can turn them back on at-will. You just need to be able to justify it to an organization that has very little leniency and no sense of humor... although they do have a clear list of situations they acknowledge as justifiable. They're not evil - you're not gonna get smacked for using powers to save someone from a falling building or something - but they expect a minimal level of discretion and good sense.

This is, of course, a change from how passives normally work - but, uh, to be honest, I didn't want a situation where one character had a lot of passives and was always 'strong' while someone who chose more active powers often felt 'weak'. That doesn't really fit with the theme of this game, which is pretty heavy on the meaning of power and what can be justified.

You're encouraged to think of how this on/off dynamic plays into your character and how they think about things. For example, if powers turn an 8 in strength into an 18, how does the knowledge of being able to call forth that strength impact their views and approach to solving problems? Does it frustrate them? Or do they try to avoid tapping too far into a power they don't understand and look for non-strength solutions when they can? That sort of thing.

[Kusinagi Tenchi]

For his part, Tenchi doesn't even believe that he is a Gifted; He's been shown evidence, but he doesn't feel any different, and he behaves more or less the same as he has always behaved.

[Photonn]

Finally ready, sorry for the wait.

[GM Rednal]

All right, looking things over...

@Everyone: Please add the second stat block (your base stats when powers are 'off') to your profiles, separate and labeled distinctly different from your 'on' stats. This makes it much easier to see things at a glance. Tenchi, you need the rest of your stats, too - can't do everything with Wisdom. XD

Also, I'd like each of you to add the full text of your powers to your profile (including the base powers for each Word). This will be easier to reference than pulling up the PDF every time we need to check things and should make it easier to play as well. ^^ A good format is something like...

Word Name
. Base Powers: Yada yada
. Talent Name: Talent effect (Action Type)

[Photonn]

I receive no stat changes from my powers

[GM Rednal]

Have a second set anyway. XD That might change as you pick up more powers over time, and it's best to have things as uniform as possible. Although if you're pretty sure you're never going to grab a Word with an ability bonus, you can probably leave it.

[Kusinagi Tenchi]

I have updated my statblock as requested. Let me know if I need to change anything.

[Raul, the Storm]

...Rough week(s) at Paizo...

[GM Rednal]

Yyyyup. XD I don't know if things are properly stable yet, but rest assured, I have lots of plans for this game.

[Photonn]

still here

[Lucas, the Sighted]

I give it a day before it goes down again...

[GM Rednal]

It's possible. XD I don't think I'll even start to feel comfortable until it's been up for at least 72 hours straight. I'm sure whatever they're doing is necessary, but... yeah.

[Kusinagi Tenchi]

I'm guessing that it probably has something to do with the mobile site, but if I had to hazard a guess I'd say they're probably also taking/took the time to work on a few things that weren't working right (I know that I would in their shoes).

[Raul, the Storm]

bump

[GM Rednal]

We're still waiting on one of you, I believe?

[Lucas, the Sighted]

Sorry, I didn't realize you were waiting for me. Although I don't have much to contribute right now...

[GM Rednal]

As a general rule, always post - even if it's just nodding along. I usually don't check threads until I see everyone has posted, so that helps keep things moving along. ^^

[Lucas, the Sighted]

Again, sorry for my slow posting. This has been a very busy week for me, but now things should be cooling down for a little while.

[Kusinagi Tenchi]

Posting this to all my games, so sorry if you see it multiple times:

This week both my office and I personally are going to be moving. It's been crazy busy and I am not going to be able to post until Monday at the earliest. Please bot me if I am in your game, and if you are in a game I am running, I will get a post up as soon as possible.

Thank you for your patience.

[Kusinagi Tenchi]

So I am posting from work:

Apologies about not posting sooner, but I have been down internet wise for roughly a week, and will not have internet back up yet for a week or so.

This means that I haven't had internet for the last 4 days (as we had 4 days off at my work for the holiday).

It's been...an experience where I learned that I use the internet more than I thought I did.

With all of that being said, I will try to post from work as I can, but if I am in your game, please bot me as needed.

If I am running your game, please bear with me while I try to post when I can. Hopefully, sooner than better, but I want to be up front about this issue.

again, I apologize about the delay.

[Vrog Skyreaver]

So I am posting from work:
Apologies about not posting sooner, but I have been down internet wise for roughly a week, and will not have internet back up yet for a week or so.
This means that I haven't had internet for the last 4 days (as we had 4 days off at my work for the holiday).
It's been...an experience where I learned that I use the internet more than I thought I did.
With all of that being said, I will try to post from work as I can, but if I am in your game, please bot me as needed.
If I am running your game, please bear with me while I try to post when I can. Hopefully, sooner than better, but I want to be up front about this issue.
again, I apologize about the delay.