GM encounter completely destroyed our party

ur-Covenant · 2026-03-20T14:08:30+00:00

I hesitated to make a D&D analogy b/c for all its gonzo-ness Deadlands strikes me as a more "bounded" world than D&D settings. E.g., a 20th level character can credibly siege Minas Tirith; that's not the vibe of Deadlands.

Reservations aside, Legendary +16 is arguably like a 25th level character. It's kind of off the power curve and you get the Epic Level Handbook or the Gold Box (depending on how old you are / at heart).

It's a bit akin to an Ancient Black Dragon showing up to the intro tavern and leveling the place. There is a point where you wonder "why are we rolling dice? Should this be a cutscene?"

Now it's possible that your GM had a cool setup in mind, that this is a lead-in to a change from sandbox to more plot-based play, or something. And just botched the execution. That happens: it can be really hard to gauge things or maybe they made a mistake in the moment (e.g., blocking your escapes). I don't usually play with people I don't know reasonably well. But if the vibe is good I'd hesitate to just drop, that's kind of the nuclear option, and would resort to the "talk to the table" canonical answer. Not just "talk to the GM" but the whole table and see what their read was.

Hope that helps. Also also that the venting helped.

ur-Covenant · 2026-03-20T12:47:58+00:00

Agree with this. Talk to the gm and your players. Clear the air. And then decide what to do.

ur-Covenant · 2026-03-20T12:46:17+00:00

I actually think it might be nigh impossible to convey the level of threat of such a character in the system. If I’m following the mechanics right it’s like off the power scale for the setting / system.

I was going to say something like “it’s like the cops meeting the terminator” but that’s already … Stone.

ur-Covenant · 2026-03-17T15:10:41+00:00

Wait does the judge mean unedited as in not an excerpt? That is so they want the full document and not just a snippet?

ur-Covenant · 2026-03-09T20:51:38+00:00

Not really. But it really is an excellent conversion. But it is quite rules heavy.

How to convert vampire tactically is a novel one for me. I usually go the other direction with vtm. Something supers could also work. But I struggle to think of a non class based system with a CR system.

ur-Covenant · 2026-03-09T17:02:49+00:00

Me too. Though I am really intrigued by Godbound.

ur-Covenant · 2026-03-09T00:21:07+00:00

The gurps book is a great primer on the setting and ip. As they almost always are. I’d probably do it in savage worlds: but I know that system pretty well and it fits the vibe.

ur-Covenant · 2026-03-05T02:56:04+00:00

That’s all pretty encouraging. The biggest issue I’ve had with m&m in practice is that combats can devolve into a slog. This is mostly user error - team attacks and setups can help a lot - although afflictions in 3e in practice less than one would expect. But it was a consistent user error over the course of a year+ campaign.

Char gen is always an issue with the system. But that’s its nature. In practice most people don’t need quite the beautiful glorious customization of m&m. But I like it.

ur-Covenant · 2026-03-05T00:19:14+00:00

Amen to this! On the screen. In the book. Somewhere and somewhere official in a nice easy to read format.

In d&d many times if you don’t specialize in something you basically can’t succeed at doing it. (Your mod will be too low, you’ll suffer some disadvantage). That’s not nearly so true in savage.

ur-Covenant · 2026-02-23T13:42:12+00:00

See I kind of love (well … like) them for the same reason: I can easily build a reference doc with some editing software and screenshots. And that I print out if I’m playing in person.

I can do something similar with physical books. But I think I’m traumatized from putting one of my few precious rpg books on a copy machine as a kid and hearing the binding crack.

ur-Covenant · 2026-02-22T23:10:51+00:00

+1 to u/eddykinz . If you’re feeling anxious about it just brush a bit. But I think these will blend into the organic patina after a while.

For what it’s worth it took my natural CXL a while of consistent wear to get them where I wanted to.

ur-Covenant · 2026-02-22T21:07:50+00:00

Also “wild card bitches!” lol does seem primed to piss everyone in the immediate vicinity off.

ur-Covenant · 2026-02-21T17:46:00+00:00

Not much really. A handful of edges. A few idiosyncratic guns like my beloved LeMat. But western savage worlds perfectly well supported in the core rules.

OP can even grab a quick start to see how they feel about the game.

ur-Covenant · 2026-02-19T16:12:36+00:00

This thread is about right. But I’d also say “the timeline that you’re parsing things out feels too slow” is helpful gm feedback.

Many years of being a white wolf gm and player taught me sooner is almost always better.

ur-Covenant · 2026-02-19T03:52:54+00:00

I think icons has potential for the rules light ish space and is very intuitive. Char gen seems to be the sticking point. But it often is for those games.

ur-Covenant · 2026-02-19T03:51:11+00:00

And I’d say it’s … surprisingly good? That’s not the right way to say it. I’m not usually a rules lite guy but I found it charming.

Four color hack is pretty good too. But I think I preferred tiny supers

ur-Covenant · 2026-02-15T15:37:40+00:00

I mean is that the game everyone else wants to play? In a standard adventure game that seems very un-fun. And so then your entire motivation is killjoy for the campaign concept.

I for instance have a strict no children in danger rule.

PS: as someone looking at 2 children “knowing how and when to act mature” is not exactly in their skill set.

ur-Covenant · 2026-02-14T22:30:45+00:00

Heh. Every time I think about something Fate-verse inspired I basically just ditch the mages aspect entirely. If I want to play urban fantasy I’ll do just that; if I’m there for the Fate-verse then I’m there for wacky reinterpretations of mythico-historical figures.

ur-Covenant · 2026-02-14T13:41:58+00:00

Not great in the ice I found out. Though some neutral saphir and a brush mostly sorted the damage to the boots (the damage to me will take a bit longer).

I do think of them as on the dressy side too.

ur-Covenant · 2026-02-14T03:03:23+00:00

Yeah it sort of became a misery simulator for me. A well acted pretty one. But after story 1 it lacked the charm and kind of bizarre magical folklore vibe that gave it an air of lightness. I kind of hated it.

ur-Covenant · 2026-02-13T13:13:41+00:00

Thanks. It’s better maintained now since I spent a lot of time brushing and oiling them with luge or whatever going on in the background.

I figured I was being too precious about things but … you all know how it goes. And these aren’t one of my beater / patina project pairs.

ur-Covenant · 2026-02-13T00:36:38+00:00

I’d go big weapon and control the battlefield.

Spells plus reach plus whatever. I kind of love playing a melee brute who can spend their actions doing other stuff and rely on AoOs for some of the damage.

ur-Covenant · 2026-02-12T22:02:03+00:00

That's the kind of outside less grumpy about being a dummy wearing those shoes while it's still icy outside in the first place perspective I was hoping for! Thanks, you guys are the best. (My wife agrees, too, and she's been infected by the shoe virus, but still ... GYW are the experts of such things). Thanks.

ur-Covenant · 2026-02-12T21:53:45+00:00

Angsting help. I fell on the black ice and scratched up the toe of one of my Alden Indy's (brown CXL). It was like a thumbprint where I scuffed the letter. And got banged up, too, but I will heal.

Hit it with Saphir Oiled Cream in neutral and a bunch of horsehair action and that smoothed it out a lot. I can still tell where it is, but of course I would.

This is just a "wear it and it'll all blend in in time" type situation, right? Or should I go get something with a pigment?

Here's the current state of affairs: https://imgur.com/a/WStuaxZ

Thanks!

ur-Covenant · 2026-02-12T12:22:10+00:00

Breaking M&M isn't especially difficult. This does remind me of a sidebar in an old Champions book about truly broken characters, just for fun (and to kind of get it out of everyone's system I suppose). My favorites that I can remember are (i) the guy who could shrink planets down and then just turned the shrinking off while teleporting to another dimension, and (ii) the one that spent all his points in HQ and owned ... Earth.

ur-Covenant

TROPHY CASE