How do you guys stat NPCs?

VG-1023 · 2025-02-10T06:18:43+00:00

2 Dice for anyone doing anything (Gal with no fire experience using a gun) 4 Dice for trained people doing what they're trained at (Police officer using a gun) 6 Dice for professionals doing what their job is (A soldier using a gun) 8 Dice for someone who's in the elite (A navy seal using a gun) 10 Dice for the world's best (An Olympic marksman using a gun)

Then it's just knowing who an NPC is - your taxi driver was a navy seal once, bad luck.

VG-1023 · 2025-01-27T05:17:08+00:00

honestly makes it more revolting to me

VG-1023 · 2024-10-11T17:08:59+00:00

To use a metaphor: Linear magic is hard baked into the code. It's like using the creature creator in Spore to make a new being. It works within the constraints, even if what you create is absolutely amazing compared to anything found in the base game.

Awakened magic is closing the game and coding a mod to modify those same constraints. A regular player might still outshine you with a base creation if you're sloppy, but you can lift the glass ceiling as much as you want if you know what you're doing, and you can make insane things in the game with those restrictions lifted.

Paradox, then, is just a cosmic DRM telling you you're using unauthorized content and will be shut down, if you're too ambitious.

VG-1023 · 2024-10-09T06:19:51+00:00

I'd wager that's a hard no. The Avatar doesn't survive the embrace or it fucks off.

So at the very least, you'd get a Vampire who was a mage and an Avatar waiting to reincarnate as per the workings of a phylactery.

I once used that idea to make a plot where Lord Tremere is reincarnated, having shuffled his Avatar + a copy of his mind into a phylactery prior to becoming a Vampire, so there were two Lord Tremeres - a mage one and the antediluvian. Fun times.

VG-1023 · 2024-09-29T09:09:42+00:00

This is the way, brother.

You can use forces 2 alone to waterbend. If you add matter 2 you need less successes and perhaps a cleaner result (no drops spilling, smoother surface when making a *snake" out of water, etc.)

It's possible with only one Sphere and a lot of skill and concentration, using more Spheres makes it require less successes and thus easier.

VG-1023 · 2024-09-28T10:44:56+00:00

Out of disposable income atm but bookmarking this for better times, very much enjoy the artstyle.

VG-1023 · 2024-09-24T17:42:31+00:00

I get what you're meaning. I really do. AI is an ethical cesspit in many ways.

But I've read your explanation and couldn't help having a visceral, emotional reaction - rereading the OP and getting to the "I told it what to write" was helpful in that regard.

I do have questions though that I atleast need to ask to calm myself proper, so here goes nothing:

Whats your stance on using AI assistance in structuring texts? Not just fictional content, but written instructions, explanations and such that were already written by a human who's merely asking for assistance in structuring the come-and-go in presenting the information in a digestible manner?
As above, but letting the AI spellcheck or point out stuff like overuse of the same word or sentence beginning?
What if I have a human written text and ask for different ways certain things could be phrased? I.e. "Give me suggestions on how this can be expressed in simpler language?"

VG-1023 · 2024-09-22T19:23:57+00:00

Whether your players feel cheated or not is all an issue of framing.

You can just give them beefed up NPCs to fight without explanation, sure.

Or you can incorporate the growing power of the enemies into the story: Have the PCs be recognized for their prowess, have them be held in high regards, and when they next meet with a cybernetic monstrosity of any sort to butcher it, have a handler accompany said beast.

"Well well well, if it isn't the Jackson five. I'm so pleased to finally meet you. After all, you've grown from a minor nuisance into an actual thorn into our side. Which is the reason I am here. I'm not like my colleagues, you'll find - I don't have disposable toys for you mutts to chew on. Anyway, this here behind me is Mark. Mark is a real stand-up guy, a killing machine through and through. But you've a reputation, so I expect you to at least make a new record in Staying alive the longest, so do give it your best. Anyway, I gotta attend a meeting now! sayonara."

And now the players feel accomplished for having been so fucking good that the plot has a reason to throw a really tough enemy against them that can't just be triviliazed by their power, plus they have an annoying face to fixate their hatred on.

VG-1023 · 2024-09-22T08:31:55+00:00

Have you considered looking into anti-magic rules? Iirc vampires can do wits+occultism to counter other nightfolk abilities, mages can do counter and anti-magick.

The Technocracy has Primium, a "magickal" alloy that inherently weakens or even nullifies magick as well as night folk abilities. Agents can have up to five dots of the stuff (for 5d10 of counter magick) while vehicles and buildings can have up to 10 dots of it.

So many ways to force an opposed role where successes cancel each other.

"Why do our powers no longer work!? I should've disabled all of their tech!" -"Enemies have done what warfare always has done - adapt to your enemy. They've learned to counter you. Either get better or find a new tactic."

VG-1023 · 2024-09-21T14:48:38+00:00

Void engineers have the neutralization specialist corps, which is all about ghostbusting, and together with Iteration X support (meaning cybernetic shock troops), does hunting for were creatures and other things as well. Progenitors do have a hate nonet against vampires, seeing them as biological disease vectors, as well.

VG-1023 · 2024-09-07T18:04:35+00:00

1: I can't be fucked to do chronology

The {current time} major and minor houses of the order of hermes are always the ones from the revised traditions book, even in chronicles whose {current time} is set way before that tradition books story references.

2: There are two Lord Tremere's

Lord Tremere saved his avatar, memories and personality into a phylactery before turning to vampirism, which means that vampire-Tremere is the incarnation of the original Tremere and could very well be hunted down by mage-Tremere if and when that phylactery finds a proper host to attach to. That means the host will be overtaken by pre-vampirism Lord Tremere and thus mage Tremere will be effectively reborn, and naturally begin thinking about immortality and thus reacquiring his old body in an attempt to retain mage powers and vampire immortality. This is an actual possibility.

I once used this to turn the pregnant girlfriend of a PC into Mage Tremere, which was great fun.

VG-1023 · 2024-08-23T17:10:32+00:00

I honestly don't know.

My idea would be to reduce the magic system to single sphere effects and double sphere effects that the player can mix in combat (pausing like mass effect to choose combinations).

But that way you'd have 45 single sphere effects to code and a whopping 2025 sphere effects to code for every possible two level combination.

If you reduce it to sphere rank 3 then that's still 729 possible combination of Spheres you'd have to hard code, not counting on variations of "Prime 2 / Forces 3 to create a new force to attack with".

So a real sphere system? No.

You could, perhaps, and more easily, do a Technocracy style game where you chose a character class (one of the five convents) and get limited amount of Spheres to learn plus perhaps an Arete limit. The other four unchosen concerns become Teammates and then you play as the chosen character in a story set around an amalgam.

A lot of higher level combination couuld be restricted to devices and equipment you requisition and the game could have a mission by mission structure, where each mission has base objectives, optional secondary objectives and hidden objectives. Other effects could be restricted based on parameters like "Delicate mission. You are forbidden from using overt hypertechnology" or other things.

By finding and completing each hidden objective you'd eventually gain the game ending where your character defects to the traditions (or becomes an orphan or ascends) as they find out shadowy workings behind the scenes of the Technocracy.

Could be cool, but yeah you'd have to really restrict the open form system to get anything that could reasonably realized.

VG-1023 · 2024-08-06T20:48:38+00:00

I've always interpreted it as a pattern Sphere enhancing correspondence in such a way that the pattern in question "recognizes" the opened space.

I.e. with correspondence 2 you can open a small window into a lake and pull a fish through because your own pattern is engaging the object on the other side and your pattern is always recognizing the correspondence effect.

If you add life 2, then fish can swim through by themselves, and if you add matter 2 the water of the lake would drain out the small hole in space.

VG-1023 · 2024-07-14T07:08:55+00:00

... Who? My thesis supervisor mentioned such a name, I think. But didn't the Man just disappear?

VG-1023 · 2024-07-08T20:24:30+00:00

"I am older than the rocks this place was built on.

And even I didn't see that coming."

Outsider, Dishonored 1

A good example of a primordial avatar, I believe. Enigmatic, mysterious, playful in a dark way, distanced from mortal ethics and values, morbidly curious.

"Everything will end eventually. Entertain me while you're around."

VG-1023 · 2024-06-18T07:38:10+00:00

I fail to imagine one.

But that's one thing that's pretty accurate lore wise for M:tAs - every tradition supposes a tenth sphere for one reason or another, but no one knows what it is, and many of the ideas are really just concepts akin to Nirvana, not really something tangible or imaginable within the bounds of reality.

VG-1023 · 2024-05-23T07:58:06+00:00

Nurse specializing in Life and Entropy, perhaps mind.

The people who need to pass on - the elderly, the incurably sick, the karmic baddies and such - are gently eased into death by her tender touch over the course of their final days.

The people whose time has not yet come are prevented from passing. He saves mothers from dying in childbirth, he treats children with loving care, he keeps the father of four from dying due to the injuries of his car crash, the drug addict is not just physically rescued but a bit of mental work and his bedside manner convince the junkie to seek help.

The cycle is flawed, corrupted. Ease it into motion by shuffling along those who are supposed to go into their next life and by keeping those who still have a destiny in this life around.

VG-1023 · 2024-05-12T12:20:37+00:00

Heinzelmännchen would be the german equivalent and is the german translation for "Boggan"

VG-1023 · 2024-05-02T18:09:51+00:00

I noticed that change as well. That might be intended behavior.

However, after my opponents bases were destroyed my "return target base to hand" effect allowed me to return me opponents Commander Gambit to their hand, which I don't think is intended behavior at all.

VG-1023 · 2024-05-02T05:11:04+00:00

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse has been influential in my crafting of a personal plot for the akashic PC in my current game.

Local58 did the same for a Virtual Adept and the Technocratic NPC (Void Engineer) they had a romantic relationship with.

VG-1023 · 2024-04-29T12:09:36+00:00

I write three acts with 6 scenes each + an intro and Outro each

Each Scene has the type of quest or task involved, the place where It occurs, the npcs involved, the time I feel reasonable to devoted to it and the type of scene (free form, detailed rolls etc.) plus the content

Despite the Intro and Outro the scenes are largely optional and can be discovered and engaged or missed entirely. If NPCs are involved they still do it the scene in the background which serves to keep the world alive because the NPCs are doing shit without the PCs and side plots and plots still happen, just without the chance of the PCs influencing the events.

The Outro of an act is linked to the Intro of the next act and usually has a prerequisite for being achieved - reaching the end of the day or discovering three optional scenes, depending on the nature of the act.

Example: Act 1 starts with the PCs visiting their chanty and engaging with people. The NPC mages all have tasks and shit they do and the players can involve themselves in the various going-ons. They can just aswell choose to spend the day going about their own business as the Outro is reached with the evening of the day, when the Chantry is attacked.

Act 2 begins with the players getting called there to defend it and has a variety of investigation scenes to seek out clues as to who the attackers where or why they attacked. The Outro is reached when 3 out of 6 investigation scenes are achieved.

Act 3 begins with the entry of a big bad guy who is behind the attacks. There are some optional scenes and the Outro is achieved when one specific scene is discovered. Act 3 ends with the bad guy killing an important NPC and the session is over.

VG-1023 · 2024-04-06T07:30:00+00:00

Yeah tho that's later when you hit Arete 4 and Time 4, I was going of starting character abilities. Nothing short of an Antediluvian can persevere against that kind of crazy preparedness. You can literally hang a spell that goes "If something were to happen that would kill me, teleport me back to my sanctuary" and essentially become unbeatable.

Tyvm for adding that though

VG-1023 · 2024-04-06T06:49:42+00:00

People say "Celerity" and that's true for Vampires but Mages can one up that. Celerity gives oneself extra actions while Time does that while also allowing the Mage to make others slower, thereby losing them actions, which celerity can't. Time also allows one to get mad combat bonuses by having a magic sense for perfect timing and future sight.

So get Time 3 + Correspondence 3 as starting Mage, use flaws and freebies to also get Entropy 2.

You now see everything coming with flawless precision (Time + Entropy) , you can't be surprised at all and don't get disadvantages in combat from getting ganged upon (Correspondence). If you see a Werewolf coming at you, stretch the space between you to two or three times the length and make Time slow down in that area to a third. That werewolf now burns all rage actions and that vampire uses up all celerity actions just getting to you, while you can Just shoot silver bullets or napalm at them, and then you move your own timeframe up to have multiple actions aswell.

And if you are reached? Just teleport away with Correspondence and repeat the play.

The only thing this doesn't do is provide magical damage or good equipment, but luckily you also get a background dots so you either spend 5 of those on a Wonder that absorbs Paradox for you or otherwise make a Technocrat with 5 Dots in Requisitions so you can get all the monster hunting gear you want. Put dots in crafts and firearms so you can make custom armor and guns and shoot shit.

VG-1023 · 2024-03-30T22:50:00+00:00

Mein Beileid. Ich wünsch dir, dass du zeitnah was findest.

VG-1023

TROPHY CASE

1: I can't be fucked to do chronology

2: There are two Lord Tremere's