TRPG General Chat

Merry Christmas, RPG.SE

3

@BESW Dr Strange sure looks different.

The 70s were weird.

yeah,.. what is with his face?

oooh

1:16 AM

It's a full-body costume to hide his identity.

In the 70s they experimented with making him a little more like other superheroes.

...does he still go by Dr Strange?

Because that's a bit of a giveaway.

They gave him a secret identity as Stephen Sanders.

Miniman

@Zachiel Huh?

Actually, my bad, they changed him up in the 60s.

Zachiel

1:37 AM

@Miniman Jekyll

3:09 AM

Okay, folks, brainstorming time: obstacles, threats, enemies, and weapons one might encounter while invading Santa's North Pole enclave.

Assume Santa's loaded for bear.

3:25 AM

Ursula Vernon's got a Campbell-award-winning friend to do live-tweeting of Hatoful Boyfriend!

FINE. Live tweet of Hatoful Boyfriend following. Spoilers ahead. It's a bird dating game. The bird part is the least weird thing. #birdluv

Tweeted by mightymur on December 25, 2015 at 3:17 AM

3:42 AM

@BESW Gnomificator 3000: turns anything fed into it into gift-wrapped gnomes.

@Magician Suitable for use as front-loaded projectiles.

[10:27:52 PM] Deoradh Rarti: On a normal day, I usually leave 15 min after close
[10:27:55 PM] Deoradh Rarti: We closed at 8, I left at 840
[10:28:07 PM] Deoradh Rarti: Fxn last minute shoppers and crap and wtf.

Ho-Ho-Howlbear.

Not at all an owlbear! It's festive! And, and... Alright, it's an owlbear in a red-and-white hat.

Matthew Najmon

@Dorian Tis the season to be an inconsiderate *$^# to the people bailing you out for your irresponsibility!

@BESW here's an idea for obstacles/threats/enemies.... last minute xmas shoppers.

I'm not even joking.

Especially given the full moon this year, I'd have marked them a CR 17 encounter at least in 3.5/pf.

3:49 AM

Lucky icicle. They say licking it will bring fortune.

Coal elementals. They'll fill your stockings. //what//

For the record, this session is going to have Orks invading the North Pole.

That clarifies things!

For the record, Gnomificator 3000 looks suspiciously like a wood chipper.

I'm also going to have the elves be armed with automatic gift-wrapping guns.

And Santa transforms into Krampus, Hulk-style.

...you can have elves use Star Wars toys in a scene for maximum crossover.

@Magician so that's your partner there, in the... ahh... woodchipper, eh?

3:58 AM

No crazed last-minute christmas zombies... i mean "shoppers"?

@BESW tinsel works as radar chaff, one of Santa's defensive measures

@nitsua60 Being an invasion of Orks, I'm not sure he'll need that.

But tinsel-confetti smoke cover... yes.

So no orky finders?

Or w/e would make sense

@Dorian The North Pole is not well-known for being a shopping mecca.

trained narwhals to fend off any snORKel-based attacks?

4:02 AM

@BESW You kidding me? If it exists (as in, is legit Santa's HQ), the last minute shoppers would mob the place because they couldn't get the thing they needed for their kids.

Also, Arnold circa Jingle All the Way.

He's a Lich commanding the zombies (I mean shoppers, seriously, they're shoppers, no zombies or undead here!)

Also, this is a fun violent fantasy romp. I'm not interested in bitter misanthropic themes.

@nitsua60 [groan] The pun, it hurts.

assuming any reasonable calculations about how fast the sleigh would have to go are correct, isn't it clear that Santa's either (a) in command of millions of doppelgangers or (b) possessed of nigh-infinite Time Stop capabilities?

=_=

ohh... actual encounter design. I thought we were just shooting the breeze.

Aurora Borealis = Faerie Fire?

@nitsua60 For Great Ork Gods, "encounter design" is basically just coming up with a set of amusing ideas.

4:06 AM

@BESW Crazy last minute christmas shopping has been a "thing" around since before I was born. Nothing bitter or misanthropic about it. But with that note I'm getting the eff outta here because I'd like to enjoy some of my xmas thankyou very much.

@BESW Elsa of Arendelle as a cute, young sub-lieutenant?

@Dorian Gift of the Magi = last-minute shoppers, IIRC?

@nitsua60 Probably not good to set her up as someone the PCs are going to slaughter.

I don't know, I drive a morning carpool that belted out "Let it Go" for six months straight....

Great Ork Gods requires a certain amount of finesse to walk that line between "hilariously violent" and "actually grim."

I like the idea of Santa having an army of duplicates.

Probably setting up a "Find the real Santa and punch him to make all the copies go away" scenario.

So teams of elf-cavalry, but on x-country skis lashed to galloping elk? (Think reverse-dogsled: one elk per half-dozen skiiers.)

4:11 AM

Ooh, nice.

I think the trick to Great Ork Gods is that the Orks need to suffer more than their victims.

Each skiier you can knock prone drops the elk's speed, as the elf's now just a snow-anchor

@BESW tow-ropes to knock attackers off their feet?

@nitsua60 Nice. Possibly razor-wire.

Gotta find a use for the sack...

@nitsua60 Specific mechanics like that don't need to apply; GOG doesn't have conditions, or hit points, or anything like that.

At an end-phase of the combat can lead-Santa escape into the present demi-plane the sack accesses?

PCs pursue to find present-maze/hall of mirrors?

4:14 AM

oooh, a demi-plane of presents. That's awesomely ridiculous to dump a bunch of orks into.

Deferred presents from childhood letters?

"Dammit, Santa, you knew I wanted that!"

@BESW They can find the presents they had asked for, when they were kids, for some reason undelivered. Probably because they were all asking for weaponry.

GOG's mechanics include broad action categories (War, Death, Gab, Stealth, Artefacts, Movement, Strength); how much the gods hate you, and how much other orks envy you. That's about it.

brb--4 minutes

@BESW ...add Santa, god of Cheer?

4:16 AM

(like the childhood undelivered presents being useful in the scenario!)

Christmas treants with sharpened/explosive ornaments.

@Magician I like the idea but I'm struggling to see how it'd become relephant.

That, I do not know. I haven't even played GOG.

Each of the action categories is presided over by a god.

The amount the god hates you determines how hard it is to succeed at that particular action.

So unless the Orks try to act cheerful, Santa's hate isn't going to have a mechanical impact.

Hm. Is there such a thing as task difficulty, beyond god hatred?

As in, is there a difference between fighting a gnome and an army of paladins?

Yes.

So, here's how it works:

Your Ork wants to punch an elf in the face.

4:24 AM

@BESW santa's domain isn't cheer: it's obedience. (Cue "naughty" and "nice" lists). Makes it hard to get your minions (in the ork army) to follow orders when they fly against the god of obedience's wishes....

That's the God of Slashings and Slayings, and your Ork has 2 Hate with that god.

The player who is also the God of Slashings & Slayings sets a number between 1 and 3 for the difficulty of the action, and you roll that many d6s.

If you get that god's Hate value or less (1 or 2) on any of the dice, you fail.

So, the harder the task is, the more dice you're forced to roll, giving you more chances that one of them will come up a failure.

But the more the god hates you, the more likely even one die will be a failure.

How do you earn or lose hatred?

(And when you win a roll, the god gets Spite which he can spend to increase the difficulty of any roll any Ork makes.)

Hate is determined during character creation.

any chance Santa has... appropriated all the stations from the old DEW line?

(or has built some setting-appropriate equivalent?)

(And if your Ork's name is particularly non-Orky, like Daisy Flowerpicker or John Smith, he gets +1d6 Hate.)

(Also you might get Hate if your name is a challenge to the Gods, like Nug the Unkillable or Slashings & Slayings Has A Small One.)

4:30 AM

Do players double up on gods, if there's fewer than seven?

Yes.

There's a process where you go around picking gods, and the gods that get picked last start with more Spite.

Hah.

In which case god of Cheer and Festivities could work. Elves repeatedly try and offer eggnog and presents to orks, before moving on to more lethal methods. Maybe an ork will even take them up on the offer, and pass by without fighting.

Much to every other ork's puzzlement.

Hmm. I like that.

In our last game, we had an Ork who tried to blend in with a bunch of gnomes around a campfire and the group thought that was hilarious.

It's definitely a group that enjoys comedic, overblown failures.

Okay, so setting twist: if Santa is also a Great Ork God, then he's probably Orkish in other ways too.

Hogfather?

Santa is an Ork who has abandoned Ork ways!

He must be punished!

Too long he's made a mockery of Oog and all things Naughty!

...this means his elves are like goblins.

4:39 AM

Is Santa the great anti-ork? Giving back to atone for Orkish ways?

(In GOG, you compete to gain "Oog," which is a measure of how much you're feared, respected, and envied for your Orkishness. The more Oog you have, the more goblins follow you around like groupies. You can sacrifice goblins to reduce the number of dice on a roll.)

@BESW so give us a run-down--what looks good to you so far?

> Automatic gift-wrapping gun
Coal elementals
Tinsel-confetti "smoke" bombs
Santa has an army of duplicates
When confronted, Santa turns into Krampus
Reindeer pulling teams of elves on skis
Demi-plane of presents
Christmas treants with sharpened/explosive ornaments

terrain?

It's a winter wonderland seeded with land mines, punji stakes, and yetis.

Avalanches, thin ice, and hidden crevasses.

4:46 AM

(I just imagine north pole as having vast, flat vistas)

Yes, but this is fictionalised and mythologised.

got it

light elves know where the weak ice is, run the Orks out onto it?

Because of the way GOG works, a lot of terrain hazards are going to be called on when narrating failures on other kinds of rolls, rather than forcing rolls to be avoided.

got it

It is a one-shot session, can't make it too complex. Also, rolls are generally proactive rather than reactive (except for That Which Guards the Gate, the god of death).

Okay, Santa himself.

Can make duplicates of himself.

What's his weapon of choice?

4:55 AM

if he falls behind on deliveries, does he start losing believers and thus power?

I don't think that'll come up.

"The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth/ And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath"

"He was dressed all infur, from his head to his foot/ And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot."

sounds like a fire-mage....

Sounds legit.

...if Santa's bag leads to a gift dimension, where does Krampus's basket lead?

well, Krampus uses it to cart off evil children, right? So... demiplane full of children ready to burst forth and...?

5:15 AM

> THREATS
Reindeer pulling teams of elves on skis
Elves armed with automatic gift-wrapping guns
Tinsel-confetti "smoke" bombs
Christmas treants with sharpened/explosive ornaments
Abominable snowman
Coal elementals

HAZARDS
Thin ice
Pit trap with punji stakes
Land mine

SANTA
Breathes smoke and fire with his pipe
Can create duplicates of himself
Bag leads to a dimension of presents
When pressed, becomes Krampus

KRAMPUS
Chains & Whip
Basket leads to a dimension of coal and flame.

Okay, I think that's pretty good.

Not all of it will get used, but it's plenty to draw from.

5:45 AM

so are we doing Great Ork Gods tomorrow?

@BESW by the way, best doctor yet

@trogdor That's the plan, though I'm willing to be surprised.

And thanks.

@BESW did you want someone else to run something?

No, I'm fine to run things.

mk

I'm just always open to someone requesting a different game, or asking to run something of their own.

5:49 AM

it would be kinda hard to pull off seeing as everything I have is based on our ARRPG game,... but I wouldn't mind if you were feeling a little burned out this week to wing something

mk

gonna go see Star Wars again with family this time

ttfn

doppelgreener

6:58 AM

@BESW I like your choice of Doctor today a lot :D

9:12 AM

Ask Lovecraft sings one of my favourite Christmas songs.

9:34 AM

@doppelgreener I know right? he is the most awesome person

10:40 AM

New Doctor's up.

Merry Christmas from Doctor Who!

1:37 PM

►

5:57 PM

So, about that Druid question... As far as I understood from the answers on the other platforms, all the class' background restrictions don't mean anything at all - yeah, Druids are usually part of a Circle, and the HAVE to respect the naturey ways, but that doesn't mean that they need to WORSHIP the not-so-conscious Nature, sit around a particular biome, or even live in the forest

The class restrictions look partially like toned down cleric's restrictions + several Wu Jen taboos, so it doesn't really have to be the usual "Protector of the Nature" guy

And the main appeal in the Druid class is that it's just another set of means to power - this time, nature flavored. You don't even have to LOVE nature, but as long as you keep paying due respect to the spirits and animals, you're still a druid. Huh.

@Baka-Mastermind: "nature loving" doesn't have to be connected to any particular biome, no -- Druids come from pretty much every biome out there, IMO. And even if you go for the "nature lover" trope re: Druids -- that doesn't automagically turn your character into a total introvert.

In some settings, druids may be game wardens, conservation officers, or park keepers.

@Baka-Mastermind also, the class restrictions are a bit variable -- I play an elf druid archer on the NWN server I'm on, but I've also had a 3.5e DM restrict my druid to no metal weapons whatsoever, which left her with a wooden knife-of-sorts, a sling, and a quarterstaff. (The latter druid still functioned quite nicely, though)

6:20 PM

Hmm... Well, the "No metal whatsoever" restriction is easy to work against - especially with Ironwood and similar materials

@Baka-Mastermind yeah -- Druids get lots of damage mitigation anyway, and sling and quarterstaff make for a workable set of primary weapons (it helps that said druidess was a hin)

@Baka-Mastermind in some ways, they are -- some DMs/campaigns do have religious restrictions on druids, as well (i.e. you must worship a deity of nature of some sort, but even within that, there's still quite a bit of variety possible -- the aforementioned elf druid archer is a Kossuthite for instance)

For some reason, I had a hard time thinking about how to create a druid character that would be interesting for me (since they usually are made as interesting as Lawful Stupid Paladins), but I think I have enough grasp on the concept to work with it now

Yeah, if we don't take the PHB restrictions TOO seriously, it's just another class

That can be interesting to roleplay

(or screwed up just like a Lawful Stupid Paladin)

@Baka-Mastermind I find that druids are easier for me to make interesting than paladins are, at least in 3.x -- although I find the Red Knight makes for an interesting choice of paladin deity IME

(the whole "nature lover" thing also blends well with science-y themes, especially more on the biology side)

Well, the Paladins get one too many restrictions, but are still playable.

@Baka-Mastermind "one too many restrictions" -- what are you referring to?

(although I have to go eat brunch over here -- I'll be back in a few hours or so)

6:28 PM

The Paladin's Code. If read too strictly, we get Miko incarnate. If we read it normally, we get a normal fellow who just happens to be so good/cool that the gods even send him some divine powers to aid him

And by "Miko Incarnate" I mean Miko Miyazaki from OotS

She's basically a "Lawful Stupid" taken to the extreme

6:41 PM

(Through, the character's not stupid in the INT way)

9:40 PM

@Baka-Mastermind back. btw -- the Paladin's Code I suspect is deity-dependent as well i.e. a Red Knight paladin would be different from your classical Torm or Tyr paladin, who'd in turn be different from a horned-knight style Mielikkian paladin

@Shalvenay nope, Paladin's code is the same regardless of the deity - through, there are several Paladin subclasses that have different codes - Paladin of Freedom (Chaotic Good one), Paladin of Tyranny (Lawful Evil) and Paladin of Slaughter (Chaotic Evil). They've got their own codes, and those also stay the same, regardless of the deity

@Baka-Mastermind hrm, that's...interesting, what book is that from?

PHB2, afair

@Baka-Mastermind aaah. never read PHB2 (and my Red Knight paladin is on the NWN server I play on -- which is run under rules that are closer to 3.0 than 3.5)

No, wait

Unearthed Arcana

Page 53

Basically, Paladin is one of the less flexible classes in the entire system, and is easily replaceable by a Crusader from ToB

Which is far more flexible

Through yeah, sometimes either alternatives are off the table, or you just want to play a Paladin

9:50 PM

@Baka-Mastermind yeah -- Crusader is also a better class charopt wise than Paladin is in the 3.5e scheme of things

the only actual tabletop Pally I've ever played is in 5e, btw

Crusader's the 3.5's Ultimate Tank, so yeah, he's faily good

@Baka-Mastermind (and the 5e paladin is way more flexible than the 3.x version -- for instance, my 5e paladin is actually a Paladin/Warlock multiclass build)

See also D&D 4e, which has multiple visions of druid and paladin and very little restriction for any of them.

The challenges you're describing are very much 3.5-specific.

@BESW indeed they are.

(earlier editions are restricted as well, but it's something of a different deal at a 2e table)

Heh, perhaps they are. I'm hesitant to even try out PF since it basicaly simplifies the 3.5 rules and changes some non-SRD stuff like ToB into similar "but-not-quite-so" classes, not to say 4th and 5th editions XD

It feels like getting on a tricycle after several years of riding a bicycle XD

10:09 PM

@Baka-Mastermind 5e's actually a breath of fresh air in some ways -- it returns D&D to more of a rulings-driven style, which is quite nice after dealing with the RAW food fights that plague the 3.x world

(it's also not quite as shenanigans-heavy as 3.x is, either -- Fighters actually aren't utterly useless, and Clerics don't run amok dominating everything in sight)

After five years in D&D 3.5, 4e's non-ambiguous relationship between rules and narrative was a welcome relief. But since I moved away from the D&D paradigm entirely I'm a lot happier with the games I get to play.

@BESW the biggest downside to 4e I think is the abandonment of the traditional D&D settings

but yeah, there's a lot more out there to explore

Well, to each his own cup of tea. I, for one, simply love the heavy mechanics of 3.5

Through it could be somewhat more clunky

(I'm looking forward to get the chance to take GURPS for a whirl, and also perhaps try my hand at Burning Wheel. I've dabbled in more narratively-oriented systems such as FAE and RFS, and I find that it's very hard to keep my sim-sense in check when trying to play them.)

I rarely try to play at the literal table (I usually play DnD online), so I actually get to enjoy the clunky mechanics and calculations. Because of that, systems like FAE fall short for me (it's basically like a system-less RPG, which are plentiful in the Internet), and because of that, I don't want to get on anything easier than 3.5

10:25 PM

@Baka-Mastermind aaah -- I wouldn't play 2e or 3.5e face-to-face -- too much head down time in those systems. OTOH -- something like FAE is a nice underlay for a forum or chat RP

Actually, 3.5 is perfect for a forum game - everyone has their time for rulebooks checks, and every post is saved so that you may go back and, for example, reread your adventure

Or find that missing piece of important information

@Baka-Mastermind nah, it requires way too much dice throwing for forum work, although you do have a point re: keeping campaign logs/notes, something I'm actually utterly terrible at

Not really

@Baka-Mastermind sounds like your dicebot was mighty busy :P

It's rarely that youve got to throw more than 3-5 dices at a time

And if it's just damage, then it just gets to a "10d6", which is just ONE command 8)

Through I'd like to throw my IRL dices as much - they are too dusty XD

10:31 PM

my problem with 3.x is mostly a combination of balance issues and inflexibility -- caster-supremacy fits better with some settings than others, and some of the race/class/alignment interlocks can get on my nerves. (Is there anything really wrong with a fullblooded Orc cleric of Ilmater?)

Well, you know - even IF the demons are "always evil", there's still a "Sanctified Creature" template in the system, so you CAN make a Lawful Good Imp. If it's a race, you can pretty much take ANY alignment since those are just guidances - through, the class alignments are not so much (so you can't be a Paladin AND a Barbarian at the same time, unless you're a Paladin of Freedom or a Paladin of Slaughter)

but yeah. I really wish we had more simulationist types around here, because a system like GURPS or Burning Wheel does sound interesting depending on what kind of game's at hand

@Baka-Mastermind (I guess I've spent too much time around people who actually take alignment restrictions and such seriously.)

@Baka-Mastermind apparently some people are horrified by the thought of a Paladin/Warlock combo, even though it's quite workable with an apropos patron. (the one I have in 5e is a fey knight/feylock mix that winds up somewhat akin to the Dresden Files concept of fey knights)

I do take them seriously - but there are exceptions in every race. You CAN make an Orc Wizard, or a Goblin Paladin - or a Paladin of Tyranny/Warlock, yeah

I'm more horrified by the fact that Paladin/Warlock would be too weak - like, you'll have to make the Warlock a dip for 1-2 levels, and even then it'll have to be either at the beginning or at the end of your Paladin progression

And even then it'll not be THAT powerful

XD

@Baka-Mastermind yeah, I'm of the opinion that the D&D notion of "monstrous races" is a bit out of place, especially when you move from classical campaigns to persistent worlds

@Baka-Mastermind yeah. the build has far more synergy in 5e where half-casters aren't total garbage and Warlocks get a nice utility suite to play with

Hmm... Actually...

10:40 PM

@Baka-Mastermind (oh, and BTW: said fey knight/feylock mix is Lawful Good)

If we make a Paladin/Warlock and get him into some sort of an "Eldritch Knight" PRC...

It might work

Through he'll have to go into some other PRC afterwards since he won't be able to raise his Paladin level anymore, and I'm not sure he'll want to stick with Warlock

@Baka-Mastermind in some ways, that'd be more fitting for Pureferret's version (Oath of Vengeance/Great Old One/Pact of the Tome) than mine (Oath of the Ancients/Archfey/Pact of the Blade)

[I'm not familiar with the 5.0 options, so that didn't tell me anything XD]

David Wilkins

@nitsua60 actually I chilled out and found an answer rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/16106/…

@Baka-Mastermind rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/58631/… for Pureferret's version

10:55 PM

Hmm. I need an appropriately Great Ork God way to describe Santa.

a really fat dwarf who is way too happy?

and loud

@BESW well...he is an enslaver of elves...

The god of war is Slashings and Slayings; the god of movement is Flailing of Limbs; the god of strength is Lifting Stone, Pounding Rock.

although that might or might not be workable, depending on how your orcs feel about elves

they probably wouldn't mind elf enslavement

10:57 PM

Santa, in this context, is an anti-Ork god, something like Laughings and Giftings?

@BESW haha :D

except maybe they are stupid and cruel enough that they would prefer killing of elves instead

Yeah, Orks consider elves to be sport animals.

@DavidWilkins glad it worked out. I think some of the issues your question raised are good ones to have some Q&A covering on here, but they're tough needles to thread.

@nitsua60 hey there and merry christmas btw :)

10:58 PM

@BESW don't they pretty much think of everyone like that?

....yes.

even other Orks are targets

But Orks aren't sport.

You get Oog for killing respected Orks.

@Shalvenay Merry Christmas--it's 70F up here in the Northeast. My parish priest grew up in Cape Town (where it's summer now but) warmer here than there today!

@nitsua60 LOL. it's warmer where you are than where I am, even, and I'm in a place that's supposed to be warm and dry for Christmas

10:59 PM

@BESW true

my point wasn't that Orks are sport

@BESW "Behave my way, reap rewards."

just that everyone else is, and Orks are still not exempt from being brutally slain because it amuses you/gains you something

@trogdor substitutes an Ork for Buster, repeatedly

not sure which Buster you mean

@trogdor ah, I'm referring to M5 Productions' resident crash-test dummy

11:02 PM

ah

@nitsua60 festivities winding down where you are, or just starting?