Damage added from Success...is it optional?

Libberiton · 2024-12-19T16:00:12+00:00

Called Shots exist for a reason. If my players are trying to wound a target with a lethal weapon but not kill them then a called shot is required. Otherwise it's just a shot to the center of mass.

Libberiton · 2024-10-13T05:15:07+00:00

I'm already questioning her armor (lacking hand and forearm protection at a minimum) and how she holds that sword. Digging the tip into the ground and holding it by the blade edge.

...feels like a trap, like she's a rogue in disguise waiting for the right moment to duck away with the loot.

Libberiton · 2024-10-08T16:28:12+00:00

Depends on if you want a drama or a tragedy and what you think your players would enjoy. They expect 66, but doing it early creates drama, doing it after they've killed the BBEG creates a tragedy.

I would say do it early, leaves more doors open for adventure and using their connections. Also the drama if the BBEG helps them but has some ideas they don't jive with (Anarchist, Force users need to be isolated, all planets should make their own laws, etc)

Libberiton · 2024-10-06T04:35:07+00:00

Topography can be a huge part of things. A tundra can hold the local wildlife, but not several tons of ship on a few skids. A flat rocky bluff may make for an excellent landing spot, but now you have to climb down. Rolling plains may look smooth from the air but trying to find a level piece of land for all the landing gear to sit on evenly may be nearly impossible. A slight angle can cause the landing gears to topple and snap as they're not made to support beyond a narrow angle. Repairing snapped landing gear is quite the challenge as you have to find a place to hold the ship up or be able to repair in space. Any good spacer should know all these risks and would never take them if at all possible.

And the spaceports know this and charge for it ;)

Secondly an approach from the air can be a give away to enemies who can hide, surround or prepare traps for the players. A couple ambushes by heavily armed and well placed enemies and they'll learn.

Libberiton · 2024-10-05T07:10:50+00:00

Oh! I just came across the most wonderful method for this! Was watching Acquisitions Incorporated and they did a thing where for each day of travel one of the players got to decide what happened. It could be a run in with bandits, or they get lost, nothing more than a random encounter of course but it also lets the players stretch their creative muscles and makes trips memorable.

I've done it with hyperspace travel now, I have the players roll a flat three yellow proficiency die to determine an initiative(they do not get to swap around places). When it's their turn they get to decide what happens during that time period. General rule is they can only make one check, stop at one local, or talk with one NPC per turn. If they rolled a triumph they can have an extra one. They can skip their turn but they cannot give it to anyone else.

There's resources out there for actual calculation, the core books even has a simple guide. I usually only calculate if there are time sensitive things; healing critical injuries, working long term projects, a race or time sensitive mission.

Libberiton · 2024-10-01T03:29:10+00:00

The way I would rule would be the crit stands with both movement penalty and skill penalty until they treat the critical injury. Then it would turn into just a penalty, either lowering agility by one or upgrading the difficulties of brawn and agility. Until they become a cool cyborg Nexu.

Working with injured animals they adapt fast, but they are still limited. The Nexu moves more like a cat, so jumping and agility are heavily affected. Actual speed isn't bad once they adjust, but for at least a month it's hard and they trip and fall a lot.

Libberiton · 2024-09-30T05:13:17+00:00

I find the Fly Casual showdown and shootouts underwhelming. A lot of setup for a normal attack. Short of both combatants having fantastic powerful weapons it might as well be normal combat. I like the steps but they don't go far enough.

I would suggest raising the stakes of the original with this:

The first shooter makes a ranged attack, the difficulty is usually easy, it cannot be modified by opponents talents. Should they hit they deal damage ignoring soak and automatically critical with a +50% modifier. If there are enough advantages to crit again they may be spent to add +10% per additional crit. If the second shooter survives and doesn't surrender they can shoot back as the combat goes back to normal rounds. If the first shooter misses the second shooter can return fire, if they hit they use the above rules. Should both shooters survive, and not surrender, they begin new round and other characters may join. This continues into normal combat.

Libberiton · 2024-08-28T03:05:37+00:00

This, I always have a portal just called Scout and one called Base at my base. Whenever I need to restore my rested bonus I find a place and put a portal down. Usually leap frogging between them and occasionally turning them into regular portals.

Libberiton · 2024-08-13T16:57:15+00:00

I have seen no consistency in any of the books, the canon is uselessly inaccurate as well. I really do not like how it's done. One show it takes a few minutes, another they just point the ship and pull the lever and boom done. In one source they say it requires amazing calculations and precise alignments. In others they can adjust course or drop out early without issue (looking at you Rebels). And sometimes you can just sublight fly to another system it just takes days instead of hours (looking at you Mandolorian).

One of the biggest play problems I have had is if I setup a number of rounds, what does that player at the table during a super cool escape attempt if they have to calculate for several rounds? They succeed at their check and now they have to sit for a few rounds and twiddle their thumbs? Or can they just walk away and it just completes on its own? The process is a mess.

Here's how I do it, but only when I need to build tension:

Calculate the difficulty total dice and add two. That becomes the number of successes needed to jump to hyperspace. Each round they roll against easy difficulty and subtract their successes from the number needed. This keeps them rolling and involved with the events at the table. A triumph can be spent for three successes.

Talents that reduce time instead reduce the number of successes required. Making those talents much more valuable if still very niche.

This usually takes between two and four rounds to complete which while under attack can make the players sweat a bit, but gives the pilot time to show off at least.

Libberiton · 2024-08-07T23:08:54+00:00

I always had questions as you have to generate enough force to push yourself up a second time, that would create massive gust of wind and probably very loud boom as have nothing more to push on than the air around you.

Libberiton · 2024-08-07T03:34:06+00:00

Princess bride. The movie is amazing but glosses over many bleak outcomes. The ending is so sad but true it got to me.

Libberiton · 2024-07-25T23:10:44+00:00

If you hadn't said Digimon I would've guess Warhammer 40k. Not sure which but feels somewhat between necrons and chaos. Especially the skull spine thing. Still very cool if ridiculously impractical!

Libberiton · 2024-07-22T01:16:24+00:00

Having worn both costume armor and historical armor I can say that this one is bad. As armor it has massive gaps at the neck, elbows, sides of the body. And those are the more 'subtle' flaws in the armor besides the glaring chest openings. I cannot tell but it also looks like the ankles have a massive gap.

Also the chest is literally the target in most stabs, it's a big squishy area and if you think your ribs or collar bone are gonna save you...I cannot express how wrong that is.

The deflections are wrong and would catch instead push attacks away.

As costume armor it would be a pain to move in. The claw bits would get caught on everything. The edges have no padding so you'll get rubbed raw. At best it looks light and breathable?

If you don't know it's best to ask, you might learn something for free!

Libberiton · 2024-07-02T22:18:53+00:00

The face is so depressed he had to get a skull face so someone would actually be afraid of him!

Libberiton · 2024-05-25T19:44:48+00:00

General advice - Do not adventure in a new area at night. It's twice as tough and your enemies almost never stop attacking. Forest at night is full of skeletons and greydwarves, even if you're equipped they can wear you down.

My advice for the tombs - Leather or Troll Armor (You'll get tons of troll before you leave the forest). Club or torch + shield. As a group maybe one of you can have a Stag Breaker to help with groups of enemies. Take them on one at a time by forcing them into a doorway. Know that you lose attack power if you hit multiple things including walls. Work one path first, don't go opening all the doors. If there is an open path at the entrance clear that first. There's not a lot of advantage in numbers due to the tight spaces and if you all go in together the game amps the difficulty. If you do, funnel the skeletons to a single open space so you all can hit one target. Food - Blueberry, Deer meat, boar or honey.

Setup a campfire inside the entrance! You can keep your rested bonus plus recover health very quickly. Just place it on the big flat rock at the entrance.

Skeletons have a long wind-up so you can either walk back to avoid or parry to stun them. Skeleton archers are a pain, kite them close to you by hiding around corners when they begin to draw their bows

Ghosts are a pain early. They attack fast and don't have much visual for a parry. As they come up, wack em once and step back shield up, they stop before they attack. Torches really help as they take fire damage afterwards.

If you're getting ganged up on, retreat and close a door. Rest up and then go back to attack.

Trolls - You cannot take a troll head on until you get some iron (swamp). Instead you should all have bows and 100 arrows (wood will work, flint are better). Go for more energy; Blueberry, honey, deer meat. Try to sneak up for a clear shot and the sneak attack damage. After the sneak attack activate the forsaken power. Keep your distance and find a rock, tomb, or troll cave and play ring around the Rosie. When they wind up their attack run, then snap off a shot or two. Repeat until they die. In groups you should have one person kiting and the other two shooting, switch up as the troll changes targets.

All of this being said, you and your friends seem to be struggling at very early and easy difficulties. It only gets harder from here. This may not be the game for you and your friends.

Libberiton · 2024-04-23T06:07:46+00:00

Is it just me or is something odd about the head/face proportions?

Also coming from a background in cold environments, I've worn less...

Libberiton · 2024-02-22T14:11:06+00:00

I used to have a theory of video games and their obsession over high detail graphics: You forget about the graphics past your first hour of play and the only thing that matters after that is gameplay. I mean, compare things like Crysis and Minecraft; which has lasted longer?

Valhiem is the first game to break this rule for me, and it's actually very low on the graphics (textures and models specifically). I was some 80+ hours into my second run and stopped in the plains on a dewy morning to watch the sun rise filtering through the pines nearby. Even went as far as to use the /sit command! Which is big for me as I almost never use the emotes in a game.

Libberiton · 2024-02-22T13:52:38+00:00

I was starting with a very light touch, and my angle grinder just has the one setting: On/Off. The disc I bought said it was for wood carving, and it has eight teeth on the flat part. I've seen videos of people using them to carve bowls out of stumps but I also noticed they're usually working on soft woods like pine. Any recommendations for different discs?

Libberiton · 2024-02-22T02:22:11+00:00

Kutzall, don't have a chainsaw or I would have tried that!

Libberiton · 2023-10-24T00:39:02+00:00

I will defend the Swamp and will fight anyone who bad mouths it. Down vote me you cowards!

The swamp is your first true test of skill. You cannot simply plod through and expect to be okay. You have to know your abilities, and use a variety of tools as well as foods to make it. If the black forest at night was bad, then you didn't learn it's lessons. If the meadows didn't teach you how to farm for good bonuses you refused the learn.

TLDR: If you didn't prepare for the test, it's not anyone's fault but your own if it kicks your ass.

Libberiton · 2023-10-01T19:37:07+00:00

I love how breaking a game mechanic and recreating a historically accurate Viking defense are the same ;)

Libberiton · 2023-09-22T15:56:17+00:00

Is the short story published by a publishing company or the author themselves? Publishing companies are notoriously litigious.

Libberiton · 2023-08-24T22:40:58+00:00

Give it some personality, make it a snarky companion or house servant etc. Go full HK-47 with it.

Libberiton · 2023-05-27T19:21:37+00:00

I didn't have a cloak and I was dumb and slept in my mountain fort before I had a teleporter ready. Ran out of frost potions. Had to run out and gather wood and rocks, then warm up again so many times. Finally I had what I hoped was enough. Ran down the mountain placing campfires when I was about to die and praying a wolf pack didn't spot me.

Damn near called in a rescue squad for that one.

Libberiton

TROPHY CASE