TRPG General Chat

12:14 AM

@JoshuaAslanSmith OGMs?

Original gangster may refer to a veteran gang member. It may also refer to: * O.G. Original Gangster, a 1991 album by Ice-T * "O.G. Original Gangster" (song), a song from the album * Original Gangsters (gang), a criminal gang in Sweden * "Somethin' for the O.G's", a song by M.C. Hammer from The Funky Headhunter album * Original Gangstas, a 1996 action film

C. Ross

@BESW ah, thanks, that's useful

Joshua Aslan Smith

12:41 AM

Yes making a joke along the same lines as my greeting

C. Ross

1:21 AM

@BESW can free invokes be used to compel?

BESW

Umm. Technically not.

Let me find the source to back that up.

Can't find a pithy bit about it.

But basically here's the deal:

Fate points can be spent to invoke or to compel. Free invokes are a way to invoke without spending a Fate point.

But they're specifically free invokes, and don't have anything to do with compels.

C. Ross

That's what I thought

BESW

It could be argued that because both "cost" the same amount of currency, something which lets you ignore a Fate point cost to do one thing should be transferrable to the other thing.

C. Ross

but if I created an advantage like "Stunned" with a free invoke I can either use a Fate point to compel the character to be stunned, or treat it as passive opposition with a difficulty of 2 (or 4 if I had two invokes)

correct?

BESW

But I think the reason this is untrue is that a) compels usually come from the GM, not from the player, and b) at the end of the day a compel is more powerful than an invoke because it simply says something happens rather than making it more likely to happen like a +2 does.

@C.Ross In Fate Core it's not quite that precise and numbers-y.

C. Ross

1:28 AM

@BESW a) BS, b) absolutely agree

walks off to get book

BESW

First and foremost, Stunned is a fictional positioning tool which just says "you're stunned."

Stunned automagically limits the character's options until it's removed, probably with the Create Advantage action.

No need to compel or use passive opposition, it's just true that they're stunned. Prior to Core, some Fate systems would have used compels or passive opposition.

The free invoke can be spent on, say, getting a +2 to hit the guy because he can't dodge out of the way.

When he tries to remove the aspect, then he's going to be rolling against either a passive opposition set by the GM (and potentially unrelated to the shifts put into making the aspect or the number of free invokes attached to it), or against an active opposition by another character if the fiction allows it.

C. Ross

@BESW in this case the character would get double advantage ... stunning the opponent and getting a free invoke

and what guidance is there for setting the target for removing stun?

BESW

GM's call based on the fictional positioning, and of course he can invite player suggestions.

Generally, though, you set difficulties at +2 for every aspect which would make the action harder to accomplish.

That's just a good rule of thumb.

@C.Ross That's how Create Advantage works: you create fictional positioning and get a free +2 on a future roll for your trouble.

C. Ross

@BESW then what is the use of the invokes for static opposition then?

BESW

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking, but this is one of the standard uses of an invoke:

> Add +2 to any source of passive opposition, if it’s reasonable that the aspect you’re invoking could contribute to making things more difficult. You can also use this to create passive opposition at Fair (+2) if there wasn’t going to be any.

C. Ross

1:45 AM

@BESW if the mere existence aspect can prevent action, why bother with creating passive opposition?

BESW

Passive opposition has two roles, as I understand it.

First, if the fictional positioning says that a task should have a chance of failure but doesn't justify active opposition, setting a passive difficulty is the way to represent that.

Second, and more like a specific subset of the first, passive opposition is used when removing aspects (changing fictional positioning).

So while Stunned makes it impossible to do some things, it would make other actions simply difficult, and removing the Stunned aspect would be one of those difficult things.

Honestly, Stunned is not an especially great aspect.

It'd be better to say Frozen in place, or Shocked witless, or Got the wind knocked out of me. All of those could be what Stunned means.

For a better example, let's say I have a Broken leg. I can't run, or jump, because fictional positioning says people with broken legs can't do those things no matter how much they try.

But I can talk, shoot, and use a computer within arm's reach without obstacle.

If I want to move toward a computer terminal, that'd probably require passive opposition for me to hobble along: possible, but not easy.

If instead I'm Out of breath, I'll find it hard to run, or talk coherently--passive opposition for both of those actions. And I'll need to beat passive opposition to catch my breath and remove the aspect.

C. Ross

2:01 AM

@BESW but what about Nerve Locked?

in fictional positioning if you're Nerve Locked you can't do much of anything (think the agent in Serenity)

anyway, off to bed, thanks for the insight as always

BESW

@C.Ross In that case, there's going to be a wide variety of things you can't do, and the difficulty to overcome it is probably high.

One presumes that the ability to cause that condition was paid for in stunts or extras or creating advantages, or the setting is particularly gritty and brutal.

MC_Hambone

2:38 AM

[wave]

gotta off topic question.... does anyone know of any program that can scan my itunes library and tell me what albums I am missing from the artists in my library?

BESW

@MC_Hambone If there is one, my computer would probably fry trying to use it.

MC_Hambone

@BESW hahahaha, mine too :P

I just have a lot of bands that I like, but are new when I get into them... then a few years pass and I am still listening to their first 1-2 albums

then I google them and i see they released like 5 more albums

i'd just like a program that I could have that tells me when I need to go buy new albums

BESW

2:57 AM

I, on the other hand, tend to just pick up one or two songs from any given artist.

The number of artists/bands where I want a whole album, much less all their albums, is relatively small.

(And in a lot of cases when I do pick up a whole album it's for atmospheric music in my RPGs, not for casual listening.)

MC_Hambone

I am a completionist :D

BESW

Fair enough. I am too in many ways, but not in my music.

Although I do have a few songs that I'm completionist about.

MC_Hambone

I generally do things in steps, if I like a song, i listen to a few more, if I like most of them I'll get the album, if I like the album I try another one, and if i like the second album i usually just get all the albums the band currently has

some bands are projects for me, like Frank Zappa and the Mothers of invention.... I doubt I'll ever have the full discography

BESW

heh.

I like Bob Dylan and Doctor Who--being a dedicated completionist would probably kill me.

2

MC_Hambone

hahaha yea, those like zappa, would be hard to complete

especially since some of the old Doctor Who stuff has been destroyed, right?

BESW

3:03 AM

Yup.

Nearly 100 episodes are still incomplete or totally lost.

Every now and then someone unearths a lost episode or two, usually copies sent to TV stations on other continents and then misplaced.

However, the audio for every episode is still preserved because even in the 60s, fans taped their favourite shows--they didn't have home video, so they recorded the sound.

Magician

Morning!

It almost is, even here...

BESW

@Magician Not quite.

One of my favourite Doctor Who stories of all time was missing until 1991. The telerecordings aren't really top quality, but they're a durned sight better than nothing.

MC_Hambone

i have only seen the new series from the 9th doctor on up

BESW

New Who has its moments--I like the Ninth Doctor best of the recent Doctors, despite a lot of his stories being kind of rubbish--but it's a lot more.... homogenous... than Old Who.

The strength of Doctor Who lies in its chameleon-like ability to be horror one story and historical farce the next, changing its genre and tone, its budget and writing style, and even all of its actors, without losing its essential Who-ness. New Who has a lot of strengths, but I think one of its weaknesses is trying to be too similar to itself.

MC_Hambone

9th is also my favorite, my friends think i'm insane because they think Eccelson was "too mean" but i kinda liked the gruff exterior he had

BESW

3:18 AM

Eccleston was successfully alien in ways that Tennant failed at and which Smith didn't get enough opportunity to do.

Ten is popular largely because he's so human, but for me that's one of the problems with Ten; he's not very Doctory, he's just a manic pixie girl.

MC_Hambone

manic pixie girl, i like that

I am hoping the 13th doctor will be good

BESW

In five or ten years Tennant will be a great actor. Right now he doesn't have a lot of... nuance.

@MC_Hambone Well, certainly Capaldi takes the role seriously and has the acting chops for it.

I am a little concerned that he's a big fan of the show, because that sometimes makes it hard for the actor to really make the role their own.

But I think he's a good enough actor that if Moffat lets him, Capaldi can do it.

That's my big concern--Moffat.

@MC_Hambone Manic Pixie Dream Girl

Anyway, I must go. ttfn

MC_Hambone

@BESW adios

doppelgreener

3:56 AM

@BESW @C.Ross This is a thing I've run into myself: what stops players from trying to place Shocked witless on Orcus, or an aspect like Strangled or somethin'?

2

I think the first is resolved by just pointing to his high concept of Demon Lord of Dread and Anguish or whatever, and looking down at it, and back up at the player, then back at the high concept, then back at the player, then back at the concept, then back at the player... then saying 'no.'

And the latter is just: no, you can't create an aspect saying he is strangled or suffocated, because that wouldn't make much sense (especially if he stood around for an hour with that aspect), but you can sure place an aspect describing that someone's trying to do something lethal to him like that.

BESW

4:32 AM

@JonathanHobbs First off, this is one reason placed aspects fall off at the end of an encounter unless it makes a lot of sense for them not to.

Second, yes, sometimes existing aspects restrict the kind of aspect you can create: they define the current fictional positioning, which in turn defines what kind of changes to the fiction can be made.

And third, a GM is always able to say "Sure, you can try to shock Orcus witless, but he's got a +8 bonus to his Will defense because he's Orcus."

Which leads me to the central key about aspects: they need to be appropriate and proportionate to the fiction they're changing or describing.

And there's no rule which can cover that.

It's just a matter of having everyone at the table know what the fiction is and agree on what's appropriate and proportionate in their setting for that situation.

doppelgreener

4:49 AM

@BESW That makes sense. In a game of gritty espionage, immediately placing an aspect such as strangled would be completely appropriate: as would the lethal consequences.

(Also I feel like I should take that exact question to the site - though I'd still need to figure out the wording for it)

BESW

Also remember that because it's all about fictional positioning, one aspect can cancel out another.

For example, if Hercules has The strength of a god then he can strangle gods who would be immune to mortal attempts.

From what I gather, this is one of the fundamental conceits of God of War: gathering aspects to justify a mortal being able to challenge gods with increasingly daunting fictional positioning which should make him insignificant to them.

doppelgreener

@BESW plus, y'know, this guy has the heck compelled out of his grief and torment. By the time he actually fights Ares, he has a dump truck of fate points to unload on the guy.

BESW

Right, but it doesn't matter how many Fate points you have if you're trying something which is actually impossible.

doppelgreener

That is true.

@BESW This sounds like an accurate description of the games, too. Or if he's not gathering aspects, I can certainly picture that each session, he's changing an aspect to put him that much closer to making fighting Ares and winning an actual possibility.

BESW

(I haven't actually played the game, so I'm working on cultural osmosis.)

Metool

4:57 AM

Huh, my scrollbar keeps breaking. Autoscroll, too.

BESW

On this page only, or generally?

doppelgreener

@BESW I have, or at least the first one. You're spot on.

Metool

Chat.SE.

doppelgreener

Kratos is just basically hunting down Ares the entire time, trying to find some way to destroy this guy, and passing through trials on the way.

BESW

@Metool Try refreshing?

Metool

5:01 AM

I always do, but I'd like to not have to.

BESW

I get similar bugs, but not half so often as you seem to.

doppelgreener

@Metool I'm suddenly curious which browser you're using.

Metool

Google Chrome on OS X 10.newest

Tampermonkey for SE Chat Modifications and Chat.SE Typing Indicator.

doppelgreener

@Metool That SE chat modifications script sounds suspiciously like it could be involved.

Metool

The one by rchern?

doppelgreener

5:11 AM

I have no idea, but you have a script modifying your chat and your chat is behaving weird.

Normally when SE is being buggy the first thing I check is that SOUP isn't causing it.

BESW

Metool

I suppose I'll go the night with it off to test, then.

Ack, imprecise timestamps.

BESW

5:26 AM

hmm. I should think about creating specific NPCs for my Knave Port campaign.

...and I should come up with a better name for the campaign.

doppelgreener

@BESW Storm Ports Episode III: Revenge of the Slith

BESW

doppelgreener

I'm sorry I should have used one of the sequels for a basis instead

lisardggY

5:57 AM

Good morning.

doppelgreener

Good morning hi I made a joke that involved the star wars prequels and I feel bad

How are you?

lisardggY

Giving a talk later today. Standard jitters.

doppelgreener

6:13 AM

Lovely!

Inbar Rose

7:00 AM

Morning.

Metool

7:46 AM

found on You Chose Wrong

Metool

8:34 AM

As above. (Which Way: Supergirl - The Girl of Steel, 1984)

Inbar Rose

What are you reading? :S

Metool

choose-your-own-adventure book endings.

Inbar Rose

Wow... what?

How come it has Mxyzptlk ?

Metool

The book is a Supergirl book.

Inbar Rose

mxyzplk ♦, Austin, TX

67.1k 7 147 302

Thought it was his name

You can see my confusion.

Metool

8:46 AM

Oh, yes.

BESW

Mister Mxyzptlk

Mister Mxyzptlk ( or ), sometimes called Mxy, is an impish supervillain who appears in DC Comics' Superman comic books. He was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and first appeared in Superman #30 (September 1944). He is usually presented as a trickster, in the classical mythological sense, in that he enjoys tormenting Superman. In most of his appearances in DC Comics, he can be stopped only by tricking him into saying or spelling his own name backwards (Kltpzyxm - "kel-tip-zix-um"), which will return him to his home in the 5th dimension and keep him there for a minimum of 90 day...

Good morning! Here is an aardwolf puppy, in case you need an adorable alien creature this morning http://www.arkive.org/aardwolf/proteles-cristata/image-G75293.html

Tweeted by sydneypadua on April 16, 2014 at 8:13 AM