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 …
Jan 25
Work has continued on my game math and things are still looking ‘okay’ for the most part. I just realized on the drive to work this morning though that I don’t have any mechanism to reward good strength stats in melee. With fixed damages for the sake of the math and balance, it’s going to …
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 …
Jan 09
The search for a game math mechanic that I’m happier with continues. Unfortunately the single die roll which determines attack and damage doesn’t work well for me. The math extremes are between the top and bottom are just too extreme. It’s a lot like the issues with the One Role Engine and it’s derivitives, there’s …
Jan 05
I’ve been noodling the math some more. I’d come up with a scaling damage system that seems workable but I’ve hit a bit of a snag. To sum up the system, your level of ability at something is set by a dice pool. The more dice you have in the pool the better you are …
Dec 29
If you happen by here from time to time you might notice I like to run the numbers with the mechanical bits, especially when something feels off about it. There is some iffy math in Savage Worlds for instance in that certain options are a bad idea although some become good when combined with …
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, …
Dec 03
I recently picked up the Strands of Fate core manual after reading about it on a web page somewhere on the internet. And here’s a pretty rough, generic, general grand overview of the system as I see it. This system is continuation I suppose one could say of the Fate systems like Spirit of the …
Nov 08
I ran a Gamma World 4E adventure this last weekend. It was using a custom campaign with a couple of minor tweaks to the system, the players started with two Bennies and could earn an extra one if they opted in and took a Bad Mutation when they suffered their morning alpha flux. A Benny …
Nov 05
Yesterday I heard two very interesting comments made in podcasts. One of them is from the the Necessary Evil podcast from the Wharton Hall Gamers. FYI the Wharton Hall Gamers are very difficult to find if you’re searching for them specifically. Google is coming up with almost nothing on them. If you have iTunes then …
Oct 12
Savage worlds has a lot of settings, many sound vaguely interesting but not enough to buy right now if that makes sense. Its kind of like looking at the Sky Mall catalog and going that looks cool but I’m not buying it. Well I came across a review for Day After Ragnarok and it sounded …
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 …
Oct 06
After dealing primarily with a modern world setting (modern day and 1920′s) I’m going to be experimenting with a more classic fantasy setting. This will actually be the world of my 4E Dungeons and Dragons campaign Against the Slavers but set a few hundred years earlier. The CATS time is essentially the fantasy equivalent of a post apocalyptic world. …
Sep 30
Playtesting with CAPAPS or Casters Are People Also Power System for Savage Worlds has had some good results I think on the hard numbers for penalties and some of the powers have been changed as well as the ability for the bad persistent effects to be broken free of so that caster’s have trouble getting …
Sep 27
With John, Helena, Ricky and Tom sitting in their stolen sedan eating salami and cheese, we join our doughty group as they wait for the sun to go down to make their assault on the manor house of the Lord of Pandora, a small fishing village in Connecticut. Checking one last time that they’ve got …
Sep 20
[Edit: Currently up to version 0.37 redownload if you haven't downloaded it in a day or two.] Please say hello to Casters Are People Also Power System which is my iteration on a non-power point system for Savage Worlds. I know it’s a common theme for people, to come up with something to replace the …
Sep 16
In my efforts to make fantasy setting powers in Savage Worlds more Fast, Furious and Fun as defined by me (and my group of players) I’ve been working an alternate to the default battery powered system in the core rules and the flat penalty based system in the settings books Solomon Kane and Hellfrost. See …
