Ruins of Khazan - A Rumbles RPG - Sign Up/System Test

[Noldere]

As a fan of both of the things Sharp mentioned are bad, I nonetheless agree with and second what he said on both those things.

On a different note:

That is an interesting idea. What would you entail as half effect on a dodge?

Instead of doing Target AGI vs Attacking Stat, the resource free version would be Half Target AGI vs Attacking Stat.

A successful resourceless dodge would allow you to avoid the damage as per standard dodge, but an unsuccessful resourceless dodge means taking full, unreduced damage (whereas standard dodge at least reduces the damage on a unsuccessful check).

It's simultaneously a more risky/dangerous option against unknown attacks and a more safe option against known weak attacks, and only suggested at all because enemy stats are supposed to be unknown to players (until possibly figured out).

Kind of depends on what you mean by "monster," I guess. The most amount of reactions you can have with a first level character is 4 and, using SPD is your HIT stat, that works for synergy. You could effectively nullify four attacks per round in a fairly huge range if you didn't focus on personal defences at all. If you split it so you know you will be okay if facing a foe (who may have multiple attacks), that's two interrupts per round with two personal defensive actions per round.

'Monster' in this case just means really good at interruptions.

Also, I may have missed something when I mathed things out earlier (Do base stat points not count towards sync?), but I managed 5 Reactions a round when I was going through numbers (SPD was the same, but I didn't go pure AGI as a secondary, instead splitting between AGI and BRA until I hit 5 Reactions and putting the rest into ENR).

This is interesting. First I've heard of 'multiple attacks', unless I missed something. Is there a rule for this I've glossed over, or would it be 'specific power for specific character'?

Gut feeling tells me it's either a specific power or a secret/undisclosed mechanic.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

For this one, I am fine with you having it. Though, I feel it's a little unfair to have a largely negative trait when everyone else has two good ones. I would be fine with you having her hunger as a fully unique game mechanic and having two normal positive traits if you like.

I'm not too terribly worried about it, I sort of approached the traits as more for character building than say, gimmies that confer boosts. Plus, depending on how she develops "if I can fit it in my mouth, it's food" has the potential to be crazy.

So... Initial hit, for potential payoff.

You're going to need to give me a little more what the gameplay impact of this intended to be. I have some stuff in the patch notes that might be worth considering, will flag it when I drop them.

As with the above, more of a flavor trait with the idea being that the +10s are the bonuses. I suppose in terms of practical applications she's got built in weapons (claws, horns, teeth), and armor (scales, horns?), and an extra limb (tail)?

That are overall as durable/strong as she is.

Will keep an eye on the patch notes and adjust accordingly though.

Your syncs are incorrect and some of your maths on calculating totals in correct. Made corrections underlined. All good now.

This makes sense, maths is my enemy. I have some how made a very resilient if slightly less punchy lizard. I need to... Fix that.

Though, being slightly more durable and resilient than she is punchy is probably for the best. Group needed a tanky punch wizard.

[Sharpandpointies]

As a fan of both of the things Sharp mentioned are bad, I nonetheless agree with and second what he said on both those things.

Don't get me wrong; I feel superspeed can be cool when written well (and realistically).

It's just...absolute crap and annoying in Rules-based RPG's. ^_^

Multiple attacks can be fun, but whoooo, the system needs a whole lot of balancing to deal with that (glares at OWoD, which failed miserably iteration after iteration).

[Nik Hasta]

Instead of doing Target AGI vs Attacking Stat, the resource free version would be Half Target AGI vs Attacking Stat.

A successful resourceless dodge would allow you to avoid the damage as per standard dodge, but an unsuccessful resourceless dodge means taking full, unreduced damage (whereas standard dodge at least reduces the damage on a unsuccessful check).

It's simultaneously a more risky/dangerous option against unknown attacks and a more safe option against known weak attacks, and only suggested at all because enemy stats are supposed to be unknown to players (until possibly figured out).

Interesting. I think it would be fair for the GM to tell the player if they are meter positive before committing to a direction. Like, you pass HIT check and the GM would be like, you are currently meter positive on this so for 1 RAC, you can dodge with no damage. Or you can save the RAC, halve your AGI and muscle through th

'Monster' in this case just means really good at interruptions.

Also, I may have missed something when I mathed things out earlier (Do base stat points not count towards sync?), but I managed 5 Reactions a round when I was going through numbers (SPD was the same, but I didn't go pure AGI as a secondary, instead splitting between AGI and BRA until I hit 5 Reactions and putting the rest into ENR).

This is called "Despite having a spreadsheet open telling how everything worked, Nick forgot what defines RAC and thought it was SPD and AGI not SPD and BRA," Yes, you are quite correct. You can hit 5 RAC on a first level character. If you max SPD (90) put 26 points into BRA and have traits both of +15 SPD / +5 BRA you have 5 RAC and still have 34 points to put elsewhere.

And no, Base points to not count toward Sync, only Build and Trait.

[Nik Hasta]

I'm not too terribly worried about it, I sort of approached the traits as more for character building than say, gimmies that confer boosts. Plus, depending on how she develops "if I can fit it in my mouth, it's food" has the potential to be crazy.

So... Initial hit, for potential payoff.

Now, that gives me an eyebrow of concern.

Is this like a "anything that she can fit in her mouth gets instantly destroyed," sort of thing? Because that seems a bit wild.

As with the above, more of a flavor trait with the idea being that the +10s are the bonuses. I suppose in terms of practical applications she's got built in weapons (claws, horns, teeth), and armor (scales, horns?), and an extra limb (tail)?

That are overall as durable/strong as she is.

Will keep an eye on the patch notes and adjust accordingly though.

I had this exact thought of "built in weapons," and have a suggested trait in mind for you.

This makes sense, maths is my enemy. I have some how made a very resilient if slightly less punchy lizard. I need to... Fix that.

Though, being slightly more durable and resilient than she is punchy is probably for the best. Group needed a tanky punch wizard.

Nothing is set in stone at the moment and if you want me to run the character through a few (secret) gameplay scenarios and make recommendations, I am happy to do so.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Now, that gives me an eyebrow of concern.

Is this like a "anything that she can fit in her mouth gets instantly destroyed," sort of thing? Because that seems a bit wild.

Not by itself, no. Just the ability to derive sustenance from things that she otherwise shouldn't be able to (within reason), and something she HAS to do or she'll die (carryover from Oblitus). She's not eating poisons or energy or anything ridiculous. It'd be like. Rocks. Or articles of clothing; and she still has to chew and swallow. It'll be a major hindrance at first I think.

There is a potential down the line for her to be able to do the crazier bits, yes. Won't lie or attempt a heckin' bamboozle. But not without a specific technique that eats ALL of her ENR. So it'd be a one off per recharge.

So... Starts problematic. Potential to be a niche/clutch ability down the line. That drops her for an engagement.

I had this exact thought of "built in weapons," and have a suggested trait in mind for you.

Always open to suggestions!

Nothing is set in stone at the moment and if you want me to run the character through a few (secret) gameplay scenarios and make recommendations, I am happy to do so.

By all means!

If it helps, peak Arx would say, get into a dust up with a mountain, and would win the war of attrition... And then eat it.

[Nik Hasta]

Not by itself, no. Just the ability to derive sustenance from things that she otherwise shouldn't be able to (within reason), and something she HAS to do or she'll die (carryover from Oblitus). She's not eating poisons or energy or anything ridiculous. It'd be like. Rocks. Or articles of clothing; and she still has to chew and swallow. It'll be a major hindrance at first I think.

There is a potential down the line for her to be able to do the crazier bits, yes. Won't lie or attempt a heckin' bamboozle. But not without a specific technique that eats ALL of her ENR. So it'd be a one off per recharge.

So... Starts problematic. Potential to be a niche/clutch ability down the line. That drops her for an engagement.

Okay, so there are things I have concerns over in there but there are ways in the system we can do something akin to that.

I will also note that dropping to 0 ENR doesn't drop the character. It would put her in burnout (-20 to all stats, all techniques locked) until she receives ENR from somewhere.

I will also also note, the fact that we have zero healers in the cast of a concern to me. >_>

By all means!

If it helps, peak Arx would say, get into a dust up with a mountain, and would win the war of attrition... And then eat it.

Our word of the day is "durable,"

I'll add her to my to do list.

[Postmania]

I will also also note, the fact that we have zero healers in the cast of a concern to me.

Hmm, that is true, someone should do something about this…

[Sharpandpointies]

Sorry; we are living in a state of entropy, so Krys can’t do anything about that.

Also, like my last four characters in play by post Rpol were all the healers of the group. I’m taking a break from that.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

I could give Arx a technique where she barfs healing fire on them?

Best I can do.

[Postmania]

Name: Jane Doe
Age: 20 years old
Race: Necrobot or Necron
Gender/Pronouns: She/Her
Physical Description:

Slender, she resembles a standard human woman from a distance. When you get closer however, her features resolve into something that is clearly only a facsimile although the shape remains humanoid. For example, her pure white hair is merely the suggestion of hair, metal shaped into a short cropped haircut. Her eyes are green and glowing with unnatural energy. Her outfit is not clothes, but chassis, charred black. And she is thin and spindly at 6 and a half feet tall.

Basically picture the following images but with notably more glowing emerald energies can be seen emanating at points from cracks in her chassis and facial area exposing her inner energy sources.





Homeworld/land: Home? Jane supposed once that Home was a laboratory, where once she was serviced, upgraded, fueled, commanded. She has also thought at times that home was the killing fields that others once thought of as battlegrounds until she showed up to end things. She enjoyed both places because she knew what her purpose was there. And she was good at it.

She can still find her way to any number of examples of the latter, but the former no longer exists, which was part of what made the latter meaningful. So she wanders.

Bio: For 20 years Jane understood and relished her place in the universe. Her purpose was to dole out death according to the scientists who commanded her in a series of conflicts which, well, she didn't particularly care. They ranged across space and time, but were mostly in her chronological home set in a futuristic setting of space stations, intergalactic travel, intelligent machines, laser weapons, and massive death tolls. Many of the latter could be attributed to her when she showed up.

Powered by necromantic energies deep in her core, she knew she was designed to be highly effective killing machine. She also knew her makers had designed her as an experimental prototype in a specialized area of study: necrobotics: the study of fusing artificial intelligence with a deep spiritual connection with the Death God Nekro, an emerging deity focused on uniquely high-tech forms of murder and killing. They failed in the second aspect, but succeeded overwhelmingly in the first.

Or at least they thought. One day, Jane powered on to discover that her entire laboratory was destroyed. All personnel were murdered. Any key documents were erased. Only scattered surveillance footage remained. By painstakingly piecing together the footage, Jane discovered that it was in fact, her doing that had murdered the station. But not just her, a voice inside of her that spoke in a god's voice. A voice which commanded her and which she had no ability to resist. A voice which seemed to possess abilities which she had previously never known of, but now also possessed.

Uncertain where to go or what to do now, Jane eventually found herself in transit once again. This time she travels deep into the heart of the multiverse.

Want: When Jane reviewed the tapes of her most recent massacre of what she once considered home, she felt strange emotions and patterns of thought. Although synthetic, Jane has never been anything but sentient. She has had a personality since her activation two decades prior. Although at times Jane knows that she has had conflicts with her handlers in a vague sense, which she is unable to fully recall, she knows that they have never tampered with her programming. She has always been, irrevocably, herself. This she remembers for all her time as an active Necrobot, and her memory, she knows, is without defects. She is simply, the perfect being for her job. And she liked her job. She liked the routine. So to see some other being controlling her like this, when she had no knowledge of it before was deeply disquieting. Who knows when this spark came to be within her? Could it have lain dormant all this time, acting only in certain inexplicable circumstances? She must uncover what this being's, Nekro's, purpose was.

And she has to find a way out from it's control. She couldn't speak it, but something disrupted her thought patterns when she considered the idea of no longer having making own decisions in this way. To kill is power, but to kill under someone unknown, for purposes she could not comprehend...that was not power. And it was disquieting. Something in her simply could not abide by it.

And if she can gain power along the way to kill even more, well, that's also a benefit.



(Last image Courtesy of Nik!)

See linked post for Traits
See linked Post for Techniques

[Nik Hasta]

Sorry; we are living in a state of entropy, so Krys can’t do anything about that.

I could give Arx a technique where she barfs healing fire on them?

Best I can do.

Loving this energy.

[Sharkerbob]

Uselessly, I third on the opinion of not dealing with super speed, either.

I will also also note, the fact that we have zero healers in the cast of a concern to me. >_>

Didsy can heal with Flesh Magic, or at least mend wounds. Realistically, she and Rai could use String Magic to surgically stitch people up, but I don't know if that's not allowed on account of I don't have enough Tech points to allocate that specific skill, much less all the things she should be able to do.

I say that, but I've been wondering if she'll be mostly useless given I had to spread her/their abilities way thin just to give her the versatility. Or if having the dual-character effect is system breaking, in which case I'll swap her out. I can try to do a more healer/support character instead. (Not that I can promise I'll be able to keep up.)

[Tami]

Okay, I am (mostly) recovered from sickness and made it through the busy weekend. Arx, Kinu and Ray will now get their stats and techs looked at. Patch notes are being worked on, some things I am still thinking about how I'm going to handle.

So I'd better get to work on my OC's stats then.

[Nik Hasta]

Uselessly, I third on the opinion of not dealing with super speed, either.



Didsy can heal with Flesh Magic, or at least mend wounds. Realistically, she and Rai could use String Magic to surgically stitch people up, but I don't know if that's not allowed on account of I don't have enough Tech points to allocate that specific skill, much less all the things she should be able to do.

I say that, but I've been wondering if she'll be mostly useless given I had to spread her/their abilities way thin just to give her the versatility. Or if having the dual-character effect is system breaking, in which case I'll swap her out. I can try to do a more healer/support character instead. (Not that I can promise I'll be able to keep up.)

I need to vet the new build when I'm not drunk. Will check in tomorrow.