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 05
I’ve been meaning to write this and just hadn’t gotten around to it. I want to offer up some observations, all personal and from 30+ years as player and gamemaster for Pen and Paper RPG’s. (Who uses pens anyway? I guess pen is just easier to say than pencil) It’s about engaging the players and keeping …
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 13
A few more changes and additions. Based on comment I created some ‘hard’ rules on what happens with a critical failure (2 or more 1′s rolled on the skill roll). They’re not long tables and I ‘think’ they’re easily remembered after a couple of run through’s but who knows. Each one does end with Director’s …
Apr 25
Rough draft on how to deal with magic aka non-mundane items. The idea is to encourage a character’s abilities being about the character, not the amount of loot they’ve garnered. Aside from Batman few action heroes in movies and novels have an ass load of magical gear that they haul around with them. I want …
Apr 20
A first rough draft of my version of skill challenges. The two example challenges are off the cuff without a lot of thought but hopefully they’ll give some idea of what I’m shooting for. Extended Challenges -Extended challenges is the mechanic that LCA uses to cover things that require skill checks but that cover the …
Mar 28
Not much to report lately but I’ll offer what I’ve got. Work has been kicking my ass along with doing things around the house that I just haven’t had the time to do much. But with that said, I’m going to be adding in a Dodgy Bastard Knack that can be bought by a character. …
Mar 24
Well started another playtest and decided to adjust the figured numbers (yet again). This time I munchkined the characters a bit trying for maximum evasion and maximum damage reduction and balanced character and now it looks happier in there in terms of the numbers. It was going to be a playtest of the power …
Mar 19
Still working my way through the powers list as time, inclination and energy are in sync. Added Displell, Teleport, Warding and a handful of others that I forget. Also tightened up some of the rules and added in some clarifications and expansions on some sections. I also started on a character sheet in InDesign but …
Mar 16
I’m a little torn right now on how to compute Damage Reduction and Evasion and Run Speeds. I want stats to matter and I don’t want single stat computations. My original thoughts were DR = (Resolve+Brawn)/2+Fortitude and Evasion was (Intellect+Grace)/2+Melee+10. But as I’m statting out some creatures to run playtests with I’m ending …
Mar 08
Here’s the first draft of the stunt system – Stunt points are generated when you roll doubles on your attack roll, roughly a 1 in 3 chance. I’m still vacilating on how to compute the stunt points, either the number that’s on the doubled dice i.e. if you roll double 4′s you get 4 stunt …
Mar 07
Just thought I’d post some hard data this time, here’s a sample power from the powers list. As a persistent power this power reduces a power user’s total power pool by X points. Until the power is released by the power user or the target their pool suffers. Shielding – Rank: 1 Range: Melee
Mar 01
In an effort to combat the comment spam I’ve added the AVH First Defense wordpress plugin to the site. This blocks based on IP when someone tries to post comments by comparing their source IP against the StopForumSpam database. That will also help conserve some bandwidth and CPU cycles maybe.
Feb 18
I really need to play test but my current chosen mechanic, dice pools, may prove troublesome although looking at it logically I’m not sure it should be bothering me? If you’re not familiar with the math, what happens with dice pool mechanics is that as you add more dice to the pool your value random …
Jan 12
The work on the numbers continues. I’ve actually started also collecting skills for a skill list and currently have it at 20 skills, a couple of which are catch all skills from another game system I wrote a few years back. The idea is to allow a player to buy any number of Knowledge …
Dec 28
As I mentioned awhile back I’ve been tossing around a dice mechanic for a game system. There’s a rather extensive set of design goals I’ve got floating around in the back of my head. Here’s some random thoughts on existing mechanics that keep them floating. Disclaimer: I like my systems to be mathematically balanced. Some people don’t, …
Nov 04
Find linked right about here my latest creation. These will comprise a draw deck that the players can pull from if they choose to when they draw a standard Mutation card for Gamma World 4E. The cards have a Yin and Yang side to them, they’re certainly not purely beneficial. Some could even be really …
Oct 27
At some point in the last few months the Adventure Tools and Character Builder won’t run if they go out and see there’s an update available for them. You don’t have the option of just clicking through and running the tool and ignoring the update. You used to be able to, I know this because …
Oct 21
/Rant mode on I haven’t used Wizards Adventure Tools since my last 4E campaign. In that time I’ve replaced the three computers I use it on. As a result in wanting to create some Gamma World creatures I tried to install the software (I’m a paying subscriber, have been since day one). On three different …
Oct 07
I didn’t come up with the quoted material below, it’s courtesy of Clint Black the Savage Worlds Brand Manager, I’m just posting it here because it’s buried in the Pinnacle forums archives and should get out in the light of day from time to time. Encounter design in say DnD old was very much a …
