Stack Exchange plays RPGs

12:10 AM

If anybody's interested in a game, I'll be available for a few hours starting in about 20 or 30 minutes.

12:51 AM

Just speak up in the next 40 minutes or so if you're interested. I'm thinking about something in FAE, probably; I've got a fantasy setting and a sci-fi setting with pre-mades or quick random generation potential.

Shalvenay

@BESW I'm down for it

BESW

You do understand that my GMing style is going to be at odds with your usual playstyle?

I'm not saying, "No." I'm saying "understand going in that I'm going to be working on narrative logic and promoting emotional conflict, and by joining you're agreeing to try to buy into that paradigm."

Shalvenay

@BESW it's worth trying, at the very least, to see if some of what the professionals are suggesting works :)

BESW

Fair enough.

Shalvenay

@BESW interestingly enough, I've had more success with emotional-conflict-sensitive characters when they aren't an expectation of the game/universe

BESW

1:00 AM

...probably gonna go with the fantasy concept. Less temptation to argue physics than if the setting isn't superficially sciencey.

Shalvenay

@BESW understood and mostly agreed :)

Pixie

I was reticent to put myself down for FAE due to lack of experience and the increased need for pre-mades in a more complex game, but I could give it a shot.

BESW

...hm.

If we do FAE, it'll be Umdaar with randomly generated PCs.

Shalvenay

@BESW alright. so, Umdaar 101?

BESW

But I'm considering Lady Blackbird as an alternative, partly because its mechanics might be interesting to bounce off Shalv.

@Pixie Got any opinions on that?

(My sci-fi premade is classic-era Doctor Who.)

Shalvenay

1:07 AM

@BESW keep in mind I'm only very marginally familiar with the Whovian universe than Umdaar -- my SF exposure is primarily EVE (aka dark and gritty as all get out) with some SW&ST consumption of course

@BESW re: Lady Blackbird -- mechanics intro?

Pixie

Hmm... the premade characters are one of the things that turned me off Lady Blackbird a bit. It's more difficult and less appealing to me to try to fill the boots of a preexisting character, especially on short notice. Random generation gets around that somehow, probably because it still feels like I get to put all the pieces together.

BESW

@Shalvenay Your LB PC has a handful of Traits, like Athletic, Goblin, or Imperial Noble. Each Trait has a number of tags; Goblin has Warp shape, Glide, Nightvision, Agile, Quick, Tumbler, and Teeth & Claws.

> When you try to overcome an obstacle, you roll dice. Start with one die. Add a die if you have a trait that can help you. If that trait has any tags that apply, add another die for each tag. Finally, add any number of dice from your personal pool of dice (your pool starts with 7 dice).
Roll all the dice you’ve gathered. Each die that shows 4 or higher is a hit. You need hits equal to the difficulty level (usually 3) to pass the obstacle.

Shalvenay

this sounds good for an exploration-driven game

BESW

Advancement occurs via your character's "Keys," which are actions typical of your character: the Key of Banter, the Key of the Daredevil, the Key of the Guardian, etc.

Whenever you "hit a key" by doing something appropriate to your character, you get an XP point that you can spend to add something to your character sheet. You get more XP if hitting your key puts you in danger.

Shalvenay

(the one-shot I ran in chat with Nyoze could work well with this, save for my trepidations with running it again)

BESW

1:13 AM

(And if your character defies his key, you can choose to remove it from the character sheet to add TWO new things.)

Umdaar, on the other hand, is pretty standard Fate Accelerated with its rules.

Shalvenay

@BESW right re: Umdaar although it doesn't give me any clue what the setting itself is like

BESW

The setting, it goeth thusly: Thousands of years ago the planet of Umdaar was ruled by the Demiurge, who used artefacts of great power to manipulate the environment and guide evolution. Then they vanished, causing millennia of chaos. Umdaar is now populated by a ridiculous variety of humanoids, robots, cyborgs, and chimeras.

Shalvenay

@BESW interesting. would be a good setting to toss my extraterrestrial into -- he'd fit right in ;)

BESW

Recently a group of cruel tyrants have recoverd Demiurge artefacts and used them to conquer part of the planet. They're opposed by a small alliance of free lands, and both groups send explorers--"archaeonauts"--into the chaotic wildernesses to search for more Demiurge artefacts.

Shalvenay

@BESW did the Demiurge ever achieve any escape velocities?

BESW

1:19 AM

The PCs, obviously, are archaeonauts. In the right hands, Demiurge artefacts could cure the planet and bring peace and prosperity--or conquer it entirely, or destroy it utterly.

@Shalvenay We'd find that out through play.

Shalvenay

@BESW alrighty then.

BESW

For a one-shot, we'd keep our goals manageably small.

Shalvenay

@BESW wouldn't fit now, but I could see that working out at some point in the future with said extraterrestrial -- he gets drawn in to the mess by finding weird space junk

BESW

In my IRL campaign, Umdaar is the inside of a generation ship that Atlanteans built to colonise Mars, but it missed the target and has been drifting through space ever since.

Shalvenay

@BESW oh gosh, that could be hilarious. cues docking computer failure

BESW

1:23 AM

@Althis [poke]

So, sounds like we're doing Umdaar.

You don't need the PDF as a player, but it's free here.

Shalvenay

I suppose I can get along alright without it -- saying it's free here when you still have to go through the bloody shopping cart process defeats the point of sending a link sigh

BESW

I understand.

The Back Room is frozen, so shall we use the Fate room?

Fate chat and game room

Good questions raised here should hit the main site too! Fudge...

You'll probably want to install the Fudge dice script, though eyeballing the d6s works too.

@Pixie Don't worry about lack of experience with FAE. That's not an issue.

Pixie

@BESW Then I will attempt. :) Though... my computer has decided to kick up a fuss, so it may be a moment before I make it into the room.

doppelgreener

I never knew this room even existed!! [stars]

trogdor

I did not know either

d6

1d6

BESW

1:34 AM

This is not an RPG room.

trogdor

ah

hmm

my script is not working for fudge dice,...

BESW

Did you turn it on?

trogdor

I am not sure how to do that,.. I may have done it though

need to restart browser to check

BESW

The script link explains.

trogdor

oh

it looks like it is working

I just checked in the wrong room XD

that was the whole issue XDXDXDXD

Althis

1:45 AM

Hey.

is it going right now?

BESW

Hey. We're doing chargen in the Fate room.

Who is with you?

Pixie and Shalv.

K.

@Althis Please keep side chatter here.

Clear the space for those playing.

The players are here as well, so you can ping them.

@Pixie is the fudge dice script working well for you?

Pixie

1:57 AM

@doppelgreener Yes, I got it running. My browser is still a bit buggy in general, but I think I'm set.

Althis

2:25 AM

Ok.

My body is ready.

@BESW, can I please come out and play?

BESW

Alrighty.

Pixie

2:38 AM

While Althis works on his character, I'll muse over this here: trying to phrase the drive to push forward regardless of who or what is in her way as an aspect. (I also feel like she needs an appropriately flashy and over the top surname or title, but that can come later.)

Althis

@Pixie, "I will not bow to adversity."

BESW

Never retreat, never surrender.

Althis

That is good too, but that kinda implies an enemy.

Adversity is more broad.

BESW

It sounds like she sees the entire world as an opponent.

Pixie

If it's between herself and her goals. She'll stop when she's dead.

BESW

2:48 AM

There ya go. I'll stop when I'm dead.

Pixie

Was just thinking that. Yep, that works! Thanks for the assistance, both of you.

doppelgreener

3:05 AM

@Pixie that's an amazing phrase. I love it.

Pixie

3:17 AM

@doppelgreener It is pretty fun. xD

Althis

4:09 AM

You know.

I kinda miss skills in FAE.

Pixie

I'm okay without them, it's just that they give me a better idea of what is within bounds for my character to do.

Althis

Exactly.

But I understand this is waaaay quicker.

BESW

I look at approaches as TV logic: the Careful person can do ANY deep-thought thing, from chess to programming to crime scene analysis. The Forceful person is equally good at intimidating interrogation suspects and kicking down doors.

Althis

It is kinda loose in terms of character development though, isn't it?

BESW

Kinda? Approaches don't define talent, just... style.

The narrative permissions for what you can do are instead defined through aspects, stunts, and shared group understanding.

doppelgreener

5:32 AM

@Althis I enjoy the crunch of skills a lot, but for a one shot, approaches are everything I could ask for.

BESW

I also like using Approaches for certain settings/properties.

Doctor Who, for example, is just begging for approaches.

doppelgreener

Fast to define, simple to use, all-encompassing so you're not incapable, and they help you characterise yourself quickly.

Pixie

Hmm, I'm not sure the approaches really help me characterize much. They're too vague. They are relatively easy to use in play, though.

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Stack Exchange plays RPGs