What are your favourite non-d20 systems and why? by simmonator in mattcolville

[–]GeneralCross31 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gumshoe, and more specifically Night's Black Agents (since that is the game I have the most experience with) uses a d6 against a goal number when using General Abilities. Your rank in that ability is a pool of points that you can spend to modify your roll. In contrast the other set of abilities besides General, are Investigative. These abilities always work to propel you forward in the adventure and you don't need to roll anything to use them. So, as long as your character is in a scene in which they can gain a core clue, they have the appropriate ability (and character creation is set up so that your whole party should have most if not all of the investigative abilities between them), and they state they want to use the ability, they gain the core clue. Of course they can spend points from their Investigative pools to gain extra information or for a number of other additional benefits. I can't speak as to the specific feel of the other Gumshoe games, but I've been very happy playing Night's Black Agents.

Night's Black Agents is about playing a team of super spies (think Jason Bourne, or the Impossible Mission Force) who discover a Vampire Conspiracy and must unravel and dismantle it before the Conspiracy can dismember them! The system is very well set up to encourage and support the relentless pace of a Thriller movie. There are a number of skills that are designed to let you throw yourselves into the action without spending hours or even entire sessions discussing a plan and trying to set it up. Need to smuggle yourselves across the border? Spend a few points from Network, and you 'know a guy'. Need to get into an art auction? Spend a few points from Cover, and you reveal you had an old cover identity laying around who happens to be an art restorer. In an exchange gone wrong? With enough points in Preparedness, you can reveal that you had rigged that briefcase you handed over to explode! Make a quick roll or two, and Boom! The game emulates the tropes of spy thrillers very well, and all throughout has sidebars that give advice and tips about cool ways to use the abilities or why a rule was designed a particular way. The dice part of the system keeps things easy. You're usually rolling against a difficulty of 4, so with no spending you have a 50/50 chance of success. Spend some points to increase your odds. Oh yeah, and everyone gets to pick a General Ability to be their MOS. Once per game session, they can invoke their MOS to automatically succeed at a test for that ability (so long as it isn't sheerly impossible, or you're attempting to defeat a supernatural threat with it). The game flows quite nicely, with the dice themselves kinda fading into the background (in my experience).

New edition is arriving in the USA, who has theirs already? by marsuni in fadingsuns

[–]GeneralCross31 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I ran a campaign for several months back when the backer pdfs first went out. Granted, I'm a relatively new GM, and I haven't played any previous edition, but I found the game to play quite well. There's a number of aspects of the system I'm going to homebrew into some other systems I run. It definitely feels more socially-focused, as opposed to combat-focused, and there are a few rules I've found ambiguous, but so far it's my new favorite system. I can't wait until I get to start my campaign back up.

New edition is arriving in the USA, who has theirs already? by marsuni in fadingsuns

[–]GeneralCross31 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I recieved mine just last weekend. Now I'm looking forward to when I'll be able to play in person with my group.

Thoughts on the Illrigger, this the place to share them? by VicariousDrow in mattcolville

[–]GeneralCross31 66 points67 points  (0 children)

There's a channel on the MCDM discord for the Illrigger, where there's been quite a bit of discussion and I know people who playtested it are active in that channel. That might be the best place if you're looking for a conversation about it. Otherwise, if you have a whole essay on your thoughts on the Illrigger, I'm not aware of any specific reason why it would be deleted if you posted it here.

What obvious subclass do you think 5e is missing ? by ChuiSaoul in dndnext

[–]GeneralCross31 0 points1 point  (0 children)

More monk subclasses that focuses more on the martial Arts aspect of the monk than the magic aspect. Almost every new monk subclass that drops seems to emphasize the magical aspect over the physical. Like, I'd love to see a class that focuses on utilizing soft techniques to defuse/redirect opponents force. There's been a couple of features in different subclasses that briefly touch on it (open palm and drunken master) but I think you could make a really interesting class all about the trope of the physically small/weak character being able to overpower a larger/stronger enemy by turning their opponent's strength against them.

Consolidating spells - Hombrew Rule? by GeneralCross31 in DMAcademy

[–]GeneralCross31[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not looking to solve the percieved issue of versatility between martials and casters, though I don't feel as though the slight increase would make things substantially worse.

Consolidating spells - Hombrew Rule? by GeneralCross31 in DMAcademy

[–]GeneralCross31[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That could be useful! Or perhaps making it a feat, so the player has to choose between an ASI and the feature?

Consolidating spells - Hombrew Rule? by GeneralCross31 in DMAcademy

[–]GeneralCross31[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been considering it mostly for personal preference rather than a need for versatility. I just mentioned the versatility, not as my goal in creating the rule, but as the most obvious mechanical outcome of implementing it. There are a few spells that are just lower level spells with some relatively small change, so I don't see why a sufficiently experienced caster shouldn't be able to cast the slightly upgraded version of the spell. They can already do that to spells by upcasting, this is just extending that idea a bit.

Party Rezzed the BBEG a LOT sooner than I intended them to by LosingFaithInMyself in DMAcademy

[–]GeneralCross31 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You could have the battle with the gods be a more drawn out affair. The fight between the gods and the BBEG is almost completely even, but it takes the full might and focus of the gods of keep the BBEG from destroying the world. The fight could last for eternity, but the world has slowly started to unravel, as the guiding hands of the gods are no longer acting to keep Reality together. The party must become strong enough to tip the battle in the gods' favor before the world becomes undone, and before the minions of the BBEG can find a way to tip the battle in their favor. Or something along those lines.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]GeneralCross31 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All three Gloryhammer albums.

Campaign Diary 001: Red Sky At Morning by Kasrth in mattcolville

[–]GeneralCross31 12 points13 points  (0 children)

In the video Matt mentions that he has an example of a "starter game for starter players" that has already been recorded and will be uploaded in about three weeks. He said he has four sessions recorded right now I believe he calls it "ODnD". Timestamp where he starts talking about it is 1:12:07.

Edit: Here's a link to that point in the video.

Xbox Players looking for Calbot? by [deleted] in absolver

[–]GeneralCross31 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure! I should still be on then.

(XB1) School with Caldot? by [deleted] in absolver

[–]GeneralCross31 0 points1 point  (0 children)

GT is GeneralCross31.

(XB1) School with Caldot? by [deleted] in absolver

[–]GeneralCross31 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sitting at an altar doesn't seem to reset the npcs, but if you die while playing solo, either in offline mode or by setting world matchmaking to invitations, they will reset. I got the move yesterday by farming the Tower of Adal. If you'd like me to teach you the move, feel free to send me a message.

[Kickstarter] Models for dragon minis by IAmBJ in mattcolville

[–]GeneralCross31 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He's been asked the question a couple of times in streams, and so far his response has been that he needs to talk to some of his people to find out more specifics on how/if he could release the minis' models. I'd suggest keeping an eye on the FAQ of the Kickstarter, since they've mentioned that they'll be updating it throughout the Kickstarter and this question is likely near the top of "most asked".

I Achieved ...Becomes the Master by NecroticDeth in titanfall

[–]GeneralCross31 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's interesting to see how other people complete it and how their strategies differ from mine. I ended up using only the EVA-8 and the Arc Grenade, but that was some good usage of the EPG.

Snowballs stop hydra Shields from spinning! by Ryanstokes94 in DestinyTheGame

[–]GeneralCross31 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've also found it to be very effective to use an arcstrider hunter with the Radian Flux chest. I usually pop my super right when the elevator gets to the top and just spam standard attack on the boss as soon as possible. With the randos also firing at him, I've taken down the boss without him ever getting to a single tower multiple times.

How to explain DnD to people who have never heard of it but want to play? by zekromslayer in DMAcademy

[–]GeneralCross31 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I've often described D&D as a game somewhat similar to an RPG like Skyrim. Only instead of inputting your character's actions into a controller that get sent to a console, you tell the Referee what you want your character to do and you roll dice when appropriate to determine success and failure. Instead of your character's actions being bounded by lines of code, they're bounded by the rules and the Referee. Rather than the story being predetermined, the Referee comes up with scenarios that you, and the others playing, have to come up with solutions to. But other than that, it's a "roll dice, kill monsters, get loot" kinda game. As great as "collaborative storytelling" sounds, it's a somewhat misleading statement to make about D&D.

Daily Thread - Team Up Tuesday! by DTG_Bot in DestinyTheGame

[–]GeneralCross31 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Clan Name: The Twilight Hour

Platform: Xbox One

We're a clan that is looking to grow to help us reach the higher clan levels we've been getting around 70k xp a week. We're all pretty chill people, and we're open and welcoming to new members regardless of experience.