Aug 17
This playtest is going to be using the Dark Sun setting. Granted I only have an old 2nd Edition version so I’m not sure how much might have changed but I would imagine that the Sorcerer Kings are still running things and the Templars are still doing their dirty work and the Veiled Society is …
Jul 31
Just thought I’d share the current character sheet. I’m a huge fan of function over form. I like my character sheets easily readable and without a lot of cramped tiny lettering. Given LCA!’s simplicity it supports such a simple character sheet. I suppose at some point one might find a more ub3r character sheet with …
Jul 31
This playtest is set in 1945 just after the war when everyone is high on victory, well except for the losers but there are still dark things out there, unleashed by the people meddling where they shouldn’t have been. It’s a world with a bit of Steampunk. Our cast of characters on the player …
Jul 31
I’ve always coded little apps and utilities for the purposes of gaming. I’ve been doing it far back on the TRS-80 Model III that I owned (I spent $500 to put two floppy drives in it back in the day and $150 to boost the memory up to 16k) in junior high, or middle school …
Jul 27
As mentioned in the last update I’ve come up with a different damage model for the system. It’s similar to the old one and doesn’t impact the math (always a good thing) but has a couple of advantages. It allows for a lot cleaner healing mechanic, makes more ‘realistic’ sense and allows for the nicks, …
Jul 26
Haven’t had a lot to post that would be of any real interest to anyone. Finetuning a lot of mechanics by playtesting various genres. Currently working on a 1940′s horror pulp to give guns a work out. As a result I’ve had to modify the shotgun mechanic a bit, technically it’s the double barreled mechanic …
Jul 18
“LCA = FAE. Fun, Awesome, Entertaining.” Had an third party Alpha test this weekend. Some issues obviously with one major game mechanic confusion that caused some big problems. The tester had read some earlier posts about the mechanic I’d started with, dice pools and the alpha doc doesn’t have it explained in enough places for …
Jul 12
If I’d of thought far enough ahead I’d of named these different but who knew? Recent changes to the system – Explicit advantages to having a high stat have been added. Obviously having a high stat helps in a lot of ways, it offsets the untrained penalty, it makes it easier to raise a skill, …
Jul 07
Stunt SystemV2 After play testing V1 I found the existing system led to some wasted rolls, getting stunt points on a skill check was a downer and very much not Awesome, and was ‘too’ random so this then is the newest system designed to alleviate those perceived isues. Stunts give you a minor ability to customize a …
Jul 06
Find the first three parts of this series here – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. When last we followed our heroes they had just slid down a rope ladder into a chamber and dispatched a bunch of death cultists, 6 minions, 2 henchman and a lieutenant. These equate to 3 of the 4 quality …
Jul 05
I’m officially switching from Blender to LCA! as the system’s name. Or technically Lights, Camera, Action! Roleplaying Game System. Internally it’s been that way for awhile but I’ve kept using the Blender name externally for consistency sake. I’m working on the next playtest and have decided to change the dice mechanic for it. I …
Jun 29
You can read the first encounter’s results here and the second encounters results here, leaving this then to be the description of the third encounter of the current iteration of Lights Camera Action version 0.x.x. Our Heroes are comprised of four folk built using the LCA system. They’re all newb’s, i.e. level 1 but with …
Jun 28
I’ve decided to settle on 3 second turns. I know, radical departure from the standard 6 second turn but 3 second turns work better for me from a realism perspective. The ‘average’ person can sprint roughly 14-18 squares (5′ per square) in a 3 second turn. The typical character using LCA can run about 16 …
Jun 26
Some minor additions that have come up from play testing and general reverie – Added the ability to created an area that generates an alarm of some kind when an object enters the area to Environmental Effects. By rights it should probably be a function of the Warding power I suppose but I want the …
Jun 17
This is the continuation of the initial encounter which you can read about here. As this playtest blogging goes on I’ll stop detailing mechanics that I’ve already gone through a couple of times and just detail out new mechanics. Also as the playtests continue mechanics can change after the fact as I review the effects …
Jun 16
Running Example of Lights Action Camera in a Fantasy Setting: This series of encounters is a homage to the Second Penny Arcade Dungeons and Dragons Podcast featuring Jerry Holkins “Omin Dran”, Mike Krahulik “Jim Darkmagic”, Scott Kurtz “Binwin Bronzebottom”, Chris Perkins and introducing Wil Wheaton as “Aeofel Elhromanë”. Note: All dice rolls are ‘genuine’, there’s …
Jun 08
A lot of little things added, mostly in the Power Users area. I made the decision that powers with a yin and yang typically have to be paid for twice to get both powers. Example Buff/Debuff (aka Bless/Curse). You have buy the buff power separately from the curse power. Empower/Depower weapons, same deal. Empower Weapon …
Jun 07
Here’s your stereotypical Quad, the fighter, wizard, rogue and priest done using my system. Excuse the formatting, it’s a copy and paste job and wordpress is jacking up the html and making me go back and edit at that level to fix. There are 5 base stats. What you look like is up to you …
Jun 02
Just a recap of what’s been added/changed/removed since the last update – I’ve added a tactical incentive by adding the concept of Flanking. I know original huh? It combines with the MOB mechanic (multiple opponent bonus). With MOB you get +1 on your melee attack roll for each ally also attacking your target with …
May 26
This is the ARRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!! update. I found a subtle error in my math simulation that was causing skewed results. My original dice mechanic used dice pools. When those didn’t work out for me mechanically I switched to a bell curve using three d8′s. Another thing I’d put it when it was using dice …
