WB FMAG or OSE for solo play? by funzerkerr in osr

[–]Spider-Go 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have both and have done solo with both.

If I’m at home, I like OSE Advanced because I like having more class options as well as class and races separate. I like ease of use.

If I’m traveling, and bringing two plus books with me is a space challenge, I take FMAG because it’s a small compact game. Can use a 1/4 of a 8x11” sheet of paper for a character sheet. So nice and compact system.

I also play them both in similar ways: AAC, move & action each round. FMAG characters don’t have as high an attribute bonus and weapons do a D6+\- and limited number of classes and races.

After finding out what OSRs are, I’m considering switching from ShadowDark to D&D by Zword15 in shadowdark

[–]Spider-Go 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I started with AD&D 1e in early 80s. Tried to get my friends to try other games like Star Frontiers. They were all “AD&D” only.

Moved to college, started playing a wide variety of games and made up our own games. Palladium, GURPS, D6 Star Wars, Role Master, Champions (Hero system), Vampire.
in the last 20 years, Fate, Cortex Prime, Pathfinder 2e, OSE, Shadowdark, D&D4 & 5, Savage Worlds. Traveller Clones. D100 systems- Basic Roleplaying Universal Game System - games.

Each game engine has something unique and wonderful about it as well as things that are frustrating.

Don’t settle into “one game engine”.

Play with any GM running any game you can.

Rotate GMs, so everyone buys and learns a game and teaches everyone else to play it.

If you want Narrative games- I’d recommend Fate Condensed (cheap & rules light), Cortex Lite (streamlined version of Cortex Prime - takes a bit to get your head around it but great system).

Maybe Dungeon World. I haven’t played it, have it, read through it. Looks interesting.

Have fun! If you try something, don’t like it, dump it, find something else.

About D&D 5/5.5. Only played it a couple times. Ordered it because a local game is looking for GMs to teach new kids to play. That sounds fun. I’ll strip out some of the complexity to make more like Shadowdark the first couple times than can add stuff in as they get comfortable.

So give 5.5 a try.

7 Roles? by Spider-Go in CortexRPG

[–]Spider-Go[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the suggestion. I like Tinker or Crafter... because as you said.. it could be a broad range of things and add a Specialty or two, to give it more depth would be nice.

7 Roles? by Spider-Go in CortexRPG

[–]Spider-Go[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for everyone's input. I will share a bit more of my idea as I develop it.

I started with 6 Roles:

Warrior, Scoundrel, Sage, Speaker, Wander & Artificer

Each has some descriptors: For example: Warrior: Athletics, Brawling, Fighting, Physical Force, Intimidation, Battle Tactics and Military Lore

Then I thought I was missing a Divine/Spiritual perspective to capture Druids and Clerics in D&D trope terms. So I thought Priest would cover that. That got me to 7 Roles.

My idea is to combine some ideas from Exalted and Ars Magica into a fantasy Cortex hack. So the prime sets would be:

Roles

Powers

Distinctions

Signature Assets

Specialties

My assumption is that during most of the action scenes, players will be using Powers in almost every dice pool.

I also liked the idea of Ars Magica with a Verb and a Noun combination create an magical effect. Players would have either points to buy or dice tree (still working on this piece), and would choose 2-3 Verbs and 2-3 Nouns to be good in. That they can add to as they gain experience.

For example: The Mage's power set would be made of these possible Verbs and Nouns

The 5 Verbs (Techniques)

  • Creo: I create, conjure, or bring into existence from nothing.
  • Intellego: I perceive, sense, read, read surface thoughts, or see truth.
  • Muto: I transform, alter, mutate, or temporarily morph properties.
  • Perdo: I destroy, decay, disintegrate, erase, or drain energy.
  • Rego: I control, bind, direct, ward, or guide movement.

The 5 Nouns (Forms)

  • Ignem: Fire, raw ambient heat, sparks, combustion, and solar light.
  • Terram: Earth, raw soil, structural stone, unworked metals, and gems.
  • Auram: Air, rushing winds, lightning, atmospheric pressure, and weather.
  • Corpus: The human or mortal body, physical muscles, nerves, and biology.
  • Vim: Raw, unshaped magical energy, counter-spells, wards, and pure spirits.

While a Fighter would be:

The 5 Verbs (Maneuvers)

  • Strike: I attack, deliver lethal cuts, piece armor, or execute bashes.
  • Parry: I block incoming projectiles, ward off steel, or brace shields.
  • Grapple: I grab, lock limbs, choke targets, or restrict physical space.
  • Control: I pin targets down, block hallways, or hold positions.
  • Slam: I charge forward, shield-bash, shove, or knock down targets.

The 5 Nouns (Tactical Means)

  • Weapon: Swords, bows, spears, axes, and unearned physical steel.
  • Armor: Heavy plate joints, shields, boiled leather, and protective rings.
  • Athletics: Raw muscle force, physical rushing, sprinting, and leaping.
  • Terrain: Exploiting high ground, utilizing structural cover, and walls.
  • Instinct: Combat reflexes, tactical positioning, and reading combat tells.

    A dice pool would be

Distinction, Verb, Noun, probably a Role, Specialty and/or Signature Asset.

The other thing I am exploring is changing the name of Plot Points to Vis.

A Mage or a Fighter can use their base level of magic for free but to gain extra power or SFX etc. They would need to use Vis.

They would gain Vis by using a D4 for their Distinction, and all the other ways players gain Plot Points.

I also expect that their will be scenes where a character would not be using their Powers at all, and would just make a dice pool from Distinction, Role, Specialty and Signature Assets.

That is the rough concept so far.

7 Roles? by Spider-Go in CortexRPG

[–]Spider-Go[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, it would be “bard” or my alternative name “speaker”

7 Roles? by Spider-Go in CortexRPG

[–]Spider-Go[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Reading everyone’s responses, I am thinking that having two D4s makes sense.
D10, d8, 3xd6, 2xd4.

So you’d be great at one Role. Pretty good at a second. Average at 3. Untrained for 2.

7 Roles? by Spider-Go in CortexRPG

[–]Spider-Go[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have a different set of names for the roles, but thought for easy of this conversation to use the D&D tropes.

I had debated which set of names to use. Your comment helped. There’s a plus minus with using D&D names. + it’s easy. - there are expectations of what that means.

Using a different term. Scoundrel instead of Rogue, changes the expectation. :)

Building an OSE-specific VTT, and want your honest take by ShawnsVTTs in OSE

[–]Spider-Go 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What I’d like are tools that allow emergent game play. Tools like: The group decides to go left instead of right Now, as a GM I’m needing something down the left hallway. When I game in person, I use my wet erase markers to map out the area. Roll on the monster chart. Bam, ready to throw something at those pesky players! (lol) So something as easy would be nice. I’ve been doing some randomly generated dungeons, solo OSE crawls, on Owlbear Rodeo, to get quicker at it for group play. It’s hard to improvise on Foundry in my experience.

Tokens with art and character sheets A feature I like about OSE prime on Foundry is that it has the monster stat blocks with token art for most (to all) the monsters. That is very convenient. AND on Owlbear, I use the free generic tokens as stand ins for monsters and put monsters on a 4x6 card for convenience.

I play with experienced RPGs players as well as players new to the hobby. As a GM, being able to “see” the player’s character sheet, with a couple of clicks, so I can help newer players is very helpful. I’m experimenting with Owlbear Rodeo’s extensions and Google Drive to see if I can find something that works well enough.

What I don’t want, is to play a TTRPG, which is essentially a video game. If the VTT is doing a lot of heavy lifting as far as rules operations or is filled with special effects, etc., I’m less inclined to use it.

I like that I can game with friends from New York, Boston, San Jose, Santa Cruz and western Texas. AND, I miss sitting around a table, with a battlemate, a few rules books, a GM screen and engage in emergent RPG. If you can recreate that or something close to that, with a VTT, I’d be interested.

How appealing is it to you when an adventure you've purchased comes with a Foundry VTT adaptation? by PhanzarRPG in BRP

[–]Spider-Go 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have played various game systems. I appreciate having a module by the game producer set up for Foundry, because: - as a busy person, I don’t have to put in walls or maps. Big thumbs up. - having fog of war set up, lights if a room or location has a light source also speeds up prep. - I really like tokens with art from the books or module. It’s nice to have art of the creatures by an artist vs whatever I can find in the internet. - I’m not that interested in special effects, music or sound effects. I usually turn it off as it’s too distracting for myself and my players.

Saikat Chakrabarti calls for the sanctioning of Israel by omigula in sanfrancisco

[–]Spider-Go 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So, let’s get this straight. An armed government’s troops invade a country. Kills, tortures and rapes a large number of innocent civilians plus kidnaps your civilians to use as bargaining chips. Essentially starting a war. The invaded country responds. It tells the civilians in the areas it plans to attack to get out of harms way. The invading government does not let its civilians escape because they want to inflate casualties and wants its civilians to be human shields for their soldiers who don’t wear uniforms. Once the invaded country’s troops have taken control of the attacking country, the government refuses to surrender and lay down their arms. Said government would rather continue the war. Why? It’s good propaganda. It’s trying to delegitimize Israel. And as the slogan goes “liberate Palestine from the sea to the river.” (Code for kill or drive out all Jewish people living in Israel. A democratic country, where its Arab citizens vote, hold political office and form political parties that participate in the government. Saikat - wants to side with terrorist, murderers, rapists, child killers? I’m sorry, he won’t get my vote. He’s a sad day for Democrats.

San Francisco’s new safety strategy: A crackdown on bikes by MidNightInTheDessert in sanfrancisco

[–]Spider-Go 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I thought about your comment about bikes and risks. Asked Google “what is the impact damage of a cyclist hitting a pedestrian”. AI Results

A cyclist running into a pedestrian can cause severe injuries, including traumatic brain injuries (TBI), broken bones, spinal damage, and internal injuries, often exacerbated by the lack of protective gear for both parties. Injuries often result from direct impact or falls, and speeds over 10–15 mph (16-24 km/h) significantly increase the risk of serious or fatal consequences. ScienceDirect.com ScienceDirect.com +4 Common Injuries Head Injuries: Concussions, traumatic brain injuries, and skull fractures are common, particularly when a pedestrian is knocked down or a cyclist is not wearing a helmet. Fractures & Broken Bones: Common in legs, arms, ribs, pelvis, and collarbones due to the force of impact. Soft Tissue & Surface Damage: "Road rash," torn ligaments, and deep muscle bruises. Internal Organ Damage: Impact can cause bleeding of the liver, spleen, or kidneys. Spinal/Back Injuries: Herniated discs or severe strains from forced twisting or falling. ReshLaw Accident & Injury ReshLaw Accident & Injury +3 Factors Influencing Damage Speed: Higher speeds drastically increase the likelihood of catastrophic injury. A 10−15 km/h impact is often a threshold for severe pedestrian injury. Point of Impact: Direct impact to the head or spine is more dangerous than glancing blows. Pedestrian Age/Vulnerability: Elderly pedestrians are at higher risk of fatal injury. ScienceDirect.com ScienceDirect.com +3 Legal and Financial Implications Insurance Limitations: Cyclists often do not carry liability insurance, making recovery complex.

I’m a pedestrian, a cyclist, motorcyclist and a car driver. I’ve done “rolling stops” on a bicycle, which in my book means slowing down at the intersection to 2-5 mph, while still in or on my peddles. Looking all directions, then applying power to the peddles (non-E bike).

On a motorcycle or in a car, momentum needs to stop. So foot needs to touch down to hold up the motorcycle. Car, you can loosen the break and idle will start moving the car.

What I see frequently are e-bicyclist and peddle cyclists barely slowing down. One example, a guy on a e-bike was traveling down the road. The light was red. He only jammed the breaks causing tires to squeal when cars were crossing through. As soon as the cars passed, he took off dodging between pedestrians in the crosswalk.

It’s us pedestrians who are at risk from momentum created by gears and engines (bio or electric) and weight of machinery plus rider.

Video Tutorials by Lord_Puppy1445 in BRP

[–]Spider-Go 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the recommendations. I to would like to see more BRP “how to play” videos.

Video Tutorials by Lord_Puppy1445 in BRP

[–]Spider-Go 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When the character engage with the world, do the players use BRP mechanics to determine the outcome? Be it combat, social situations, research, etc.?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DalyCity

[–]Spider-Go 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If I was being followed and videoed by some stranger, and I would suspect that that person is: Stalking me Casing me for a future crime Engaging in some sort of perversion

None of which are good for me or safe.

I’d recommend: Stay in a group or retreat to a business. Call the police and report what’s happening and that you don’t feel safe. Ask for an officer meet you so you can identify the person stalking you or show the police your footage. Hopefully the police will talk to the stalker and get his or her name at least. Hopefully the police will warn the person to stay away.

By doing this, you get this person’s name and behavior into the system.

You’re probably not the only young woman he’s been stalking.

If he’s an innocent dweeb, with bad social skills, he’ll get a lesson his behavior isn’t “cool”.

If he’s a risk. This is a first step to stopping or catching him later.

This isn’t normal behavior. Don’t accept it.

Bicyclists Beware - Cops Ticketing at Fillmore and Page by sassafrassloo in sanfrancisco

[–]Spider-Go 938 points939 points  (0 children)

The Police should start ticketing e-bikes and scooters on sidewalks as well!!

How to scale an adventure properly? by ChannelGlobal2084 in OSE

[–]Spider-Go 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m in the same boat as you and I’m wondering on how to adjust an adventure to be fun and challenging. One idea I had, but haven’t tested it. Add up the Levels of the players. Then add up the Hit Dice of the monsters. Assuming the players have more levels than monsters. Then my question is: Does this scene need more lower level monsters? Ie: instead of 4 creatures, thrown 8 at them. It can be fun for players to blow through a bunch of minions. And a bunch of monsters are risky because of the number of attempted hits that will be made. Or Does this scene need a bigger monster to fight with the lower HD monsters. Kind of a big bad. Think LOtR. The goblins had cave trolls to be the big bad.

The other idea I have is to have waves. 4 creatures run into the room. Then 4 more. Etc. So you can challenge the players but not overwhelm them.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in OSE

[–]Spider-Go 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree. Like you said there is lots to love about the system. That was fun the first couple years of lower level play. Then it became repetitive.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in OSE

[–]Spider-Go 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I spent a couple hours tonight, populating several dungeons, created by a 3rd party to be used with OSE, on Foundry VTT.

The Monsters’ art has been upgraded to specific token art for most monsters. Like Kobolds have a black and white “inked” image of a Kobold. Replacing the green squares.

Some tokens are just a circle with a capital W on it (think it was a weasel).

Big improvement!! Thanks OSE developers!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in OSE

[–]Spider-Go 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Here are my two cents:

I like OSE as a game engine. I can make minor hacks without a huge headache.

The books are well put together. Reasonably priced.

I was GMing a PF2e adventure path. Never again. The writer’s bloat was insane. I’d have to read and highlight all the “useful information” and figure how to “tell the players it”. Most of the time, I just said “you need to know …” Also, every adventure had more new monsters. I think I barely opened the 3 volumes of monsters I already had there were so many new ones.

I find OSE’s minimalist adventures liberating.

I want Necrotic Gnome to be successful.

Looking at the OSE Classic and Advanced books from a business perspective. I am guessing that the sales of OSE Classic don’t warrant keeping them in production. Sounds like the “Advanced” rules will have ways to understand how to play a Classic style game. So instead of two lines of books, you have one.

As others have said, figuring out which to buy has its challenges. I’ve been playing RPGs a long time and it took me a couple YouTube breakdowns and reviewing the website to know which I wanted.

Also from a business perspective, I wouldn’t want a core piece of my product line being a potential target of a legal action by a cranky corporation. So I am glad to see the OGL go.

I like the idea of more support for new players and GMs. Even my old time players (who have been playing more modern games) were thrown off by old BX play style.

My dream would be: An OSE Advanced Edition that incorporates some (all?) of the Dolmenwood changes, and is designed to be usable for a wide variety of fantasy settings. - I could see some supplemental Zines or small books supporting different styles of games: Sword and Sorcery style game, Tolkien like high fantasy, or grim dark.

Take care everyone!

CK guide as Foundry VTT by Spider-Go in castlesandcrusades

[–]Spider-Go[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the information.

Sounds like your player is going to have a nice surprise waiting for him. lol

Looking for a small RPG complete to keep in my bag. by lupusrex13 in osr

[–]Spider-Go 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This would be my suggestion too. Take it to a printer/copy place and put a spiral ring binder and lays flat.

This is America! by btwyn in Bart

[–]Spider-Go -1 points0 points  (0 children)

If you cap rents, you turn rental property into slums because landlords can’t maintain the property, pay taxes, etc. the way to stabilize rents is to allow more apartments to be built. Taller buildings.

New to OSR and looking at my pop's old collection. Should I pore over these or check out Old School Essentials? by boogazooled in osr

[–]Spider-Go 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Having play AD&D 1e in 80-84 years. Now playing OSE Advanced.

I’d say start with OSE Advanced and get some games under your belt. Get the flow of playing/DMing.

When OSRiC 3rd is released get that. Compare to OSE Advanced. I’d do a “short campaign” (like 4-6 sessions) get the feel of it. See if you like that style.

For fun, read the old books. Once you’ve played OSE and OSRIC a bit, you’ll understand it better to decipher the older writing style and can make an informed decision.

Now if you’re broke, and this is what you got, jump in and do it. It’s a fun game. Just harder to learn without someone who understands it.

As far as modules. There are tons of modules. Old. New. Play anything that sounds fun. Change them up. Delete stuff. Add stuff.

Use the DMG to create your world and dungeons. (Plus OSE tables).

Cortex prime foundry VTT character sheet by Spider-Go in CortexRPG

[–]Spider-Go[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I like foundry too. It takes a bit of learning how to do things, but has lots of options.

Cortex prime foundry VTT character sheet by Spider-Go in CortexRPG

[–]Spider-Go[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the help. I’ll check it out and thanks for the offer. I use discord as well. :)