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10:39
Okay, so I haven't actually made any PCs with Atomic Robo yet, so this is all new to me.
well
I am pretty sure about Physical being right at 5
Take it from the top. What are your modes?
and mental could be right if my weird mode can be properly support provoke
mk so
my first mode is science
second is mutant plant
and third is action
science by itself already gives 2 extra mental stress on top of your first 2
...is Mutant Plant one you just made up?
yeah
10:42
Tell me about it!
that is part of my reluctance to say I am already right about the mechanics
it's actually technically "Half Human Plant Monstrosity" as the aspect
the idea being that what it does for him is mostly physical benifits
So, Plant Mutant.
yeah
but I figure he looks real weird and or scary, and might also have some kind of pollen that he could use to slightly effect emotion in a provoke sort of way
Alright. So Science costs 3 points and Action is 9. What skills are in Plant Mutant?
so it might have provoke, athletics, combat and physique
those 4
and point cost is a factor
if I have to prune something to have acceptable points so be it.
but as is it looks like full 5 stress
10:46
That's... 6 points for Plant Mutant before skill advancement.
so it actually costs less than normal,...
Quite reasonable, as it gives you plenty of points left over for making yourself AWESOME at the skills you've got.
So it's +3 Science, +2 Plant Mutant, and +1 Action?
yeah
Will.1 +3
Athletics. 2,3 +3
Combat. 2,3 + 3
Notice. 1,3 + 4
Physique. 2,3 + 3
Provoke. 2,3 + 3
Vehicles. 3 + 1
the plus is the modifier I have
those other numbers are the order
science is 1, mutant 2 and action 3
That looks about right, and you have 12 points left over.
he is pretty average at everything he can do so far
the upside being he is more versatile than you might normally expect a more focused character in this system to be
and he apparently has slightly more points left than you would normally after mode selection
10:50
Aight, so... let's see, stress. [reads]
or at least more than average
You have Athletics and Physique in your +2 mode, and they're both focused.
You've also got Will in your +3 mode, and Provoke focused in your +2 mode.
mm so maybe physical stress is just 4
So you get +2 mental stress boxes, and you can choose to get another mental stress box OR +1 to your physical stress track.
That's either Physical OO and Mental OOOOO, or Physical OOO and Mental OOOO.
why does it work like that?
10:55
Because it's about the highest-rated mode you've got the skill in, not whether the skill is focused.
Your +2 mode gives one stress box, and your +3 mode gives two.
so what you are saying is that I could switch around what modes are highest
I thought you were talking about doing something different
pretty sure if I stick with what I have, I get 4 phys and 5 mental
[squint] Not sure I'm seeing that.
I get 2 for mental from will
10:58
Right.
because it is in science at plus 3
then I get one more from provoke at 2
then I get 1 from physique at 2
and 1 from athletics at 2
none of that has it's focuses in it
my action mode is only adding to my eventual skill modifier
I am not currently trying to add it into my stress track in anyway
Ah, okay. Yes and no.
Your +2 mode only has one stress box to give.
You can choose whether to put that box into Physical or Mental because you've got both skills in that mode, but you only get one box out of the mode.
> A mode with one or more of these skills rated at Fair (+2) adds one box, while one rated at Good (+3) adds two boxes.
ah ok
> If a mode has skills that apply to both types, the bonus boxes can apply to either one.
oh
that sucks
I guess they were thinking of this kind of thing
11:03
Your modes only give you a max of three extra stress boxes to distribute, no matter what.
no biggie
shows exactly why I was confused by that
they don't make this stuff easy enough to find
that is my one complaint with this book
Page 27, "Stress and Consequences," in the "Character Creation Basics" section of the "Making Characters" chapter.
mm yeah
I found it now
but first I saw a much more brief explanation
and then they cut it off
The Step-by-Step Weird Character Creation five pages later?
yeah
cause I was making a weird character
my issue is that they probably could have had a reference back to seeing exactly how stress works
11:07
Yeeeah, that spread seems to assume you're already familiar with the basics.
it's mostly my bad
but it isn't like they don't refer you to plenty of different pages in other situations
Yar. But the index is good!
it is
the index has no issue
I do think that in the basic stress write-up they would've done well to say "So you get up to three bonus stress boxes in total!"
I just didn't see "stress" indicated in it
@BESW exactly
they were very vague about that
whoopty,... look at all those stress boxes this guy has in mental, and the weaksauce he has in physical
11:11
4/3?
no
the sample character
I could go 5/2 or 4/3
but that guy is definitely stuck 5/2
Oh, yeah.
They're basing it off the Action Geologist whose interview with Tesladyne coincided with the second accidental opening of a Vampire Dimension.
He's not field duty material, at least not at first.
(See the guy strutting in the background on page 31? That's Rex Cannon, the other applicant. He got ripped down through the floor and eaten mid-interview.)
(You'll find a mention of him on page 291.)
jeez
too bad for him
He had a nice name!
Almost as good as Atomic Robo Tesla.
lol
that is a pretty awesome name
I think I will go with 4 mental and 3 physical
though to be fair I still have over a month to decide for sure
I think it is funny that either way, he is this really strange looking plant monster
and he is actually a lot smarter than he is strong
11:23
I too find this amusing!
it actually is a bit like what you mentioned about Groot
sure he is pretty strong, and doesn't say much besides "I am Groot"
but he is actually extremely smart
it wasn't technically a comparison I was trying to make at the time
also, strange fact
Well, Doctor Light is a scientist who invented the process which turned him into the monster.
it is really easy to get high notice
It's actually, now that I think about it, a fairly common trope: Swamp Thing did it too.
I wasn't even going for it,.. and it is Dr Lights highest skill
11:27
@trogdor Notice is the only skill shared by three of the four default modes, so it's definitely something the designers want to make easy to pump.
yeah
I just find it amusing that it is already higher than even the skills I have actually "tried" to pump so far
@BESW also, this is very true
and a decent and easy way to explain why he is in fact smarter than he is strong
Floronic Man and Poison Ivy, too.
because if he wasn't in this case,...
he wouldn't be either
It seems like most plant people are super-smart, actually.
now that you mention it, it does
I had not really considered that at this scale before
11:32
And, relatedly, most plant people used their super-smarts to make themselves plant people, albeit not usually so deliberately and enthusiastically as Doctor Light.
I don't think I can actually come up with a plant person that wasn't at least above average intelegence
@doppelgreener Take note!
@BESW Hee
@BESW [note note]
the deliberateness and enthusiasm were the point
almost more than BEING a plant person
11:36
Aye, it's really what sets him apart.
To some extent, most other plant people are tragic figures.
some people around him might still see it that way
that's one of the funny things
he really looks like a completely insane man who did this to himself, and now wants to fly into the Sun
they aren't completely wrong,... but they are wrong
And he's got the certificates of sanity to prove it, or Tesladyne wouldn't let him anywhere near field work. Or experiments.
Actually, that might be a good Omega concept: I have three certificates of sanity. How many do you have?
and yet I am willing to bet they at least try to test his sanity as often as possible
@trogdor Well, naturally. All Tesladyne employees have mandatory psych evaluations at regular intervals.
@BESW I know,... my point is, they might try to test him just a little more regularly than other people,.. in as subtle way as possible.
11:47
Possibly!
They probably also just have him check in monthly rather than quarterly for the regular exams.
for the reasons that he is not strictly human,... has already done something practically alien to himself (on purpose!!) and is obsessed with doing something just about everyone considers suicidal
"So, how many people looked at you like a freak of nature since our last session? Go on, let it out."
"Only twelve, Doc, and I didn't have any babies burst into tears at the sight of me! It's been a good week."
lol
he would apparently notice it all too
because he is way better at that than I even intended him to be
Well, you can choose for him to have... blind spots... in his observation. Just indicate them with his aspects.
though his response would probably include the correction "freak of natural science you mean"
11:58
Maybe he's not very good at reading body language--or not interested.
Hee.
if I were to go with that
it would definitely be "not interested"
I have no reason to think he doesn't realize other people think he is weird per se
but I do think HE doesn't think he is all that weird
and may actually not care about that particular contrary opinion
Plant Monstrosity (it isn't that bad guys honest)
maybe: Tesladynes Nonchalant Mutant Botanist
or even Tesladynes Nonchalant Botanist
but I think keeping the Mutant part in there emphasizes what he is mostly Nonchalant about
I think the Concept should avoid being about his plantyness, maybe? Leave that for his Plant Mutant mode aspect.
mk
so probably Tesladynes Nonchalant Master Botanist
or is that too many words do you think?
It's a bit unwieldy. Not exactly too many words...
12:12
I think I'd have to see all the aspects together.
mk
here is what I have
Concept: Tesladynes Botanist.
Mutant: Plant Monstrosity.
Science: Energy And You.
Action: Keep Away From My Work.
Omega: Obsessed With The Sun.
I don't think it's exactly what I will have by the time we actually start, but considering how much time we have I am more than happy with how it has turned out so far
Suggestions...
> Concept: Tesladyne's best photobotanist
Plant Mutant: It's not as bad as it looks
Science: Energy and you!
Action: Don't get between me and my work
Omega: Obsessed with the Sun
do you think I should change the Omega Aspect?
Maybe cosmetically, like The Sun is everything! or the like, but the concept is sound.
it is an idea I had for the character from the beginning, and I can think of some ways to compel and invoke it
but yeah, like The Sun is everything might be better just because it sounds more like a fate aspect
and it still basically conveys the same thing
12:18
I'm cool with keeping it the way you've got it, too.
hmm actually
Concept: Tesladynes best Photobotanist
Mutant: It's not as bad as it looks, really
Science: Energy And You!
Action: My Work is Too Important
Omega:
if I do this, I don't think I need it
It's not as bad as it looks is his attitude toward being a plant person, and his way of dismissing the gawkers, and it's also good for invoking to justify bonuses to, say, defence: "Yes, I'm missing half my torso, but there wasn't anything vital in there. I'm a plant; it's not as bad as it looks."
@BESW XD
that is so great actually
I like My work is too important. That's great.
I think I could justify it more broadly to all his scientific fields
INCLUDING the Sun
12:23
Aye.
it just spreads the entire idea around
Then save your Omega slot for something... different.
this could even be his Omega aspect
but my idea is that I can use this to invoke when he is trying extra hard at something that falls into his field, or someone is getting directly in the way of his work
Aye, it's very solid.
And yeah, it could easily be his Omega aspect, and use the Action slot for something about how he takes action.
I think it fits better
it works at least as well there
being in his Action slot is confusingly limiting, I think
12:26
Hmm. I think It's not as bad as it looks needs a shift to be more compellable: It looks worse than it is, maybe?
Concept: Tesladynes best Photobotanist
Mutant: It looks worse than it is
Science: Energy And You!
Action:
Omega:My Work is Too Important!
Action--does he wade in with bark-covered fists? Does he use guns?
Does he lurk in the shadows or charge in?
Does he talk a lot during combat?
I think that depends on what he thinks is called for
@BESW hmm, maybe
oooh
wait a sec
May be relevant food for thought: a bunch of frankenstein quotes
So he adapts his methods to the situation?
12:30
I don't think Doctor Light is Frankenstein, but they sure have a few things in common
@BESW quite possibly
but I have an idea
perhaps he treats combat as a chance to show off
not his skill, but his SCIENCE!
look at what I did to myself that made me this strong! I'm just a scientist!
@trogdor Hahahaha! I love this idea.
Fists of SCIENCE!
YES!! THIS IS WHAT I MADE ME BE ME FOR!
it could be like he is treating combat like a lecture where he teaches students, or a thesis
12:32
@BESW GRAND SUPLEX OF KNOWHOW!
I am science!
he might talk in a fight, but only to boast about how he is accomplishing more than most normal humans could with less effort
@trogdor If you have seen Invader Zim, I can picture him in the middle of a fight shouting in Professor Membrane's voice: "THIS is what SCIENCE is all ABOUT!!"
Okay, I'm thinking I am science! is a good aspect for his Action mode.
@doppelgreener I have seen Invader Zim
but not very many episodes
and it was a while ago
12:33
He has turned himself into science and will fight you with it.
Concept: Tesladynes best Photobotanist
Mutant: It looks worse than it is
Science: Energy And You!
Action: I AM science!
Omega: My Work is Too Important!
....I like this.
hmm?
12:36
We are approving of your aspects.
I am! We are!
I forgot what his study of the effects of energy on life was called
I had this specific field in mind, and it has escaped me
The term energy is used by writers and practitioners of various esoteric forms of spirituality and alternative medicine to refer to a variety of phenomena. == History == Various distinct cultural and religious traditions postulate the existence of esoteric energies. Some spiritual practices, such as Qigong or traditional yoga, are said to open or increase this innate energy, and the philosophy behind certain martial arts state that these energies can be developed and focused. A number of New Age spiritual practices and alternative medicine modalities rely upon such ideas, without the mor...
This one?
You mean aside from photobotany?
12:45
Bioenergetics is a field in biochemistry that concerns energy flow through living systems. This is an active area of biological research that includes the study of thousands of different cellular processes such as cellular respiration and the many other metabolic processes that can lead to production and utilization of energy in forms such as ATP molecules. == Overview == Bioenergetics is the part of biochemistry concerned with the energy involved in making and breaking of chemical bonds in the molecules found in biological organisms. It can also be defined as the study of energy relationships...
@BESW you might be right actually
it sounds like he studies bioenergetics too
@doppelgreener this is interesting
I am pretty sure it wasn't exactly what I meant, but it is interesting
of course, photobotany could be the superior applied side of it
I think Photobotany works
and taking both sounds like a needless waste of points
12:48
ACTION Photobotany!
I don't want to spend every point I have on making his science better, or at least I think so
You can keep points in reserve to spend on the fly--you probably should.
yeah
I know
I am considering upping his (already trained) Photobotany, and Aeronautical Engineer. sciences.
but I think it best to hold off on that for now
especially since +3 on all sciences is already pretty kick ass
though, at least narrative-ly speaking, it would make a lot of sense for his Photobotany to already be 4 or 5
Stunts!
what is your point?
12:58
If you don't want to spend skill points on it, you can spend stunts on it.
Or both, and hit something like +7 in his areas of expertise.
hmm
true
do stunts cost points?
No. Stunts are on a different system.
mk
interesting
Basically you get up to five stuntsworth of effects (in stunts and megastunts) for free.
You can take more! But every stuntsworth of effect after 5 adds a Fate point to the GM's reserve.
so does , for example, a stunt that makes him better at photobotany count for restriction, or does it have to be like,.. photobotany when experimenting with hybridization?
either works for me, but restricting it more than it needs to be doesn't make sense
13:03
+2 on [action] using Photobotany is fine (see page 85 for example Science-mode stunts and megastunts).
Portable Chemistry Set. +1 to
overcome or create an advantage with
Chemistry.
does it meet the restriction requirement because it is a subset of Botany?
Portable Chemistry Set precisely fits the alternate "split the bonus across two actions" option described on page 73, which tells me that it considers a Science skill to be a narrow enough field that it doesn't require the usual "one application of a skill" restriction.
cause this one is ALL Chemistry and has plus one instead of two, but can also do two different types of actions
@BESW but my point is that they had to split it
and it got one less on the bonus even for just two aplications
so I couldn't just say "plus 2 to all photobotany"
The template is "+2 to [action] with [skill] when [situation]," as described on page 73 in the Add A Bonus column. A few paragraphs down on that page, it says you could instead use "+1 to [action] and [action] with [skill] when [situation]."
But then the Portable Chemistry Set stunt on page 85 uses that second template without describing a [situation].
13:11
This tells me that they're treating each scientific skill as a special kind of situational application of the Science skill, for the purpose of stunt balancing.
Action Botany of any sort is intriguing...
@ProfessorCaprion He's a guy who turned himself into a plant monster.
And not in the Alec Holland "Oh, I've accidentally become a Swamp Thing" way, either. No, he did semi-rigorous tests and conducted prototype experiments on the way to deliberately plantifying himself.
Holy crap, I'm actually planning something similar for my Torg-Fate game!
You wanna see something improbable, though, check out Action Geologists.
(Doppelgreener is planning to play the prototype plant monster.)
There's a kind of plant-zombie monster hybrid called a "Gospog", and some crazy gets the notion that he can fuse himself into one to become as sort of... plant lich.
Immortality through self-necrobotinization, I guess?
13:17
....Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing, then.
I can't say I'm familiar, but I do feel like every time I have an idea, someone else came up with it before me.
You'll do something cool with it, though!
If defined broadly enough, or worded the right way, everything's gonna sound like something else.
I plan to!
And that's true.
@ProfessorCaprion we came to this idea seperately
I didn't come to it before you just cause you heard about my idea before I heard yours :)
For example, Trogdor's "super-intelligent scientist who turned himself into a plant monster" is cool and unique partly because he doesn't ever see himself as tragic.
And also partly because he has an obsession with building a spaceship that will take him into the Sun.
While Alan Moore's super-intelligent scientist who turned himself into a plant monster is cool and unique because he's actually an ancient guardian of plant life who just happens to have the emotions and memories of a dead scientist.
13:23
Oooh!
(And is in love with someone from the dead scientist's life.)
Mine is just a twisted druid that learns about the existing plant-zombies and modifies the process to retain his intelligence so that he can bond with nature and destroy all artificial creations (not seeing the irony that he, himself, would be an artificial creation by then).
And then there's the super-intelligent scientist who turned herself into a plant monster and uses her connection with plants to commit eco-themed supercrimes when she's not hanging out with the girlfriend of another supervillain.
@BESW And I adore her.
Also, you forgot an important part, there: she's a redhead!
And the super-intelligent scientist who turned himself into a plant monster who came from an alternate dimension and used his knowledge of dryads from that dimension to try taking over the world with plants.
13:27
SO! I looked a bit through the Atomic Robo PDF that I picked up because you piqued my interest.
Yes!
It made me think of a kind "philosophical" question when I looked at the "Mega-Stunts as Hardware" bit, though.
It gave examples of negative aspects like "Limited Battery Pack" or "Still Working Out the Bugs". How often would be too often to compel those sorts of things? An annoying GM could try to compel those aspects every single time a player tried to use the hardware. A timid GM would be worried about ever compelling them at all!
This... is an excellent question.
Maybe I should post it!
... I'm going to post it. I haven't posted anything in a long while.
My rule of thumb is: when a player is down to one Fate point and he's not compelling himself, look for compels.
13:35
Just throwing it out there and seeing what others think.
1
Q: Negative Aspect Compels: How often is too often?

Professor CaprionI've seen quite a few Fate-powered games where there are Extras that use negative aspects as permissions (such as having "Limited Battery Pack" on a lightning gun, or "Unstable Mutation" for a superpower). How often would be too often to compel those sorts of things? An annoying GM could try ...

Aaand answered.
Honestly most of the time I'm way too caught up in everything else to track when I might be able to compel someone. I trust my players to do it.
But if someone's FP are dwindling, I start looking for ways to complicate their lives.
And sometimes it's just obvious from a drama perspective, like when I compelled a guy to empty his clip into a troll the instant it appeared.
@BESW yep
13:47
I've got a player whose current PC's trouble Too trusting. Every time she meets anyone who is obviously shady or crooked, the player starts collecting Fate points like she hit the jackpot in Vegas.
She delights in throwing her character into these situations, so I have no need to compel her at all. She'll go out of her way to do it.
14:02
@ProfessorCaprion Any other thoughts on ARRPG yet?
@BESW I only had a chance to glance over it last night; I'm still working on codifying my Torg conversion for distribution (free, of course). That and SWTOR is giving 12 TIMES the XP through December so I'm finally getting to see all of the class stories without the tedium of doing the side-quests...
Fair enough.
@BESW I have a Victorian soldier in my group who has some good aspects that appeal to his sense of duty and his "if I don't do it, nobody will" attitude. He only has a refresh of 2, but always finishes with a surplus of Fate points!
I compel him to rush headlong into traps, he takes the point and goes with it!
Heheh.
I love having players who milk their PCs for Fate points.
In our Doctor Who game, a player was ready to turn over great fistfuls of Fate points to avoid turning into a radio-controlled zombie, but when I waved one Fate point at him and said I thought it'd be fun, he grabbed it.
And that's how Leela wound up fatally skewering the Doctor and forcing his regeneration in the middle of a battle with the Nestene Consciousness.
14:24
... well, crap. Which Doctor was it?
An undefined Classic-ish Doctor from a parallel universe where continuity is even less important.
And that's saying something!
Oh, yay, Sarah Jane!
Well, yeah, she was mandatory.
14:32
And you had to change to font size to fit all of Lethbridge-Stewart's title on the sheet! Ha!
I briefly considered shortening it. Briefly.
At the end of the battle it was the Brig who reversed the polarity on the Nestene Consciousness's radio mind-control transmitter, sending it into a feedback loop that made the monster explode.
(With tech help from Kamelion and K-9.)
I blame Fate for me no longer being excited about any RPGs being released from that point forward.
My wife is excited about the Malifaux RPG, and I just go "meh, I could make my own, now."
heheh.
I'm enjoying and , too!
Granted, I guess I could have ALWAYS made my own RPG, but this just makes it easier.
And is a better foundation than Fate for my pony system, and is great at doing something nothing else does.
14:39
@ProfessorCaprion that is why i like existing RPGs; making one is hard work and had better be fun and rewarding in its own right
@BESW I keep missing when they're doing an open Microscope play at the local game store!
As much as I love Fate, I'm increasingly aware of the limits of its potential, and I appreciate systems which do other things that my players like to do.
Games like do things which Fate just flat-out can't.
Oh, it's not good in every single instance! But it's perfect for the type of games I run and want to play in.
I don't like math games. Or math. Or numbers.
You should look at . It's free, it's tiny, it's short, and it's one of the most elegant systems I've ever seen.
I may have to check it out!
14:43
It totally redefined my notions about how horror "should" be modelled mechanically.
Is it the PDF that looks really narrow?
in BESW's Spoil-Lair, Jul 28 at 3:53, by BESW
You can't fight monsters or you automatically die, but you succeed at nearly anything else... and it doesn't help.
There are three PDFs, all of them narrow.
One's the core rules, one's a set of expanded optional rules, and one's the campaign design guidelines.
Oh! I found the core, I think.
I'm not much for horror, but my wife is.
14:46
I've had the most success using Doctor Who stories like "The Abominable Snowmen" and "The Horror of Fang Rock," but taking out the Doctor and his companions and putting the Investigators in their place.
... There's a joke in there about "that's why she married me", I think.
heh.
Yes, I do believe Doctor Who has tricked me into liking horror stories in a certain framework.
Anyway, I really need to go to sleep.
Sleep well!
14:47
See you around!
...but first, I just found a couple tweets to post to main chat.
ttfn

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