Apr 8, 2017 5:45 pm
OOC thread for chat, questions on the mechanics and setting, the usual! You're welcome to brainstorm about your characters and the party and I'm happy to take queries in PMs if you prefer.
Worldcarrier Sigma OOC thread
Apr 8, 2017 6:50 pm
No problem, just in general or are you having a specific issue? Or you can PM me, up to you
Apr 8, 2017 8:22 pm
All right I'll copy-paste the QSG from the rules but then I'll walk through it in more detail:
Invest your starting XP into your attribute scores and talent ranks. The XP cost of increasing an attribute or talent is equal to the value you are trying to change its score or rank to. For example, raising Vitality 3 to Vitality 4 costs 4XP, for a cumulative total of 10XP.
If you prefer, these sample arrays weigh in at 25XP (Level 5), assign them to your attributes and talents in any order:
4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 0 — Talent A +2, Talent B +1
3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1 — Talent A +2, Talent B +2
3, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1 — Talent A +3, Talent B +1
4, 4, 1, 1, 1, 1 — Talent A +1
5, 2, 2, 1, 0, 0 — Talent A +2
4, 2, 1, 1, 0, 0 — Talent A +4
Remember that for every Talent with a rank of +2 or greater, you also get to pick a speciality: a +2 bonus to one roll when making an action that involves a specific skillset (e.g., a "knives" speciality is more likely to be approved by the GM than a "melee" speciality). Speciality bonuses don’t stack, but they can sometimes be used with Talents other than the one they’re tied to if it seems appropriate (using Tech with the aforementioned knives speciality for weapon maintenance, even if that speciality was granted by Combat).
Pick 5 aspects from one of the lists in chapter 7. You may mix and match across multiple lists if you prefer. Each aspect must be tied to an attribute: an attribute needs at least 1 point in it to support an aspect. Remember that when an attribute suffers an Injury, any aspects tied to it are lost until the Injury is addressed: tying all your aspects to one attribute can be effective as many benefit from high scores, but this can backfire.
Create up to 3 Resources using the lists in chapter 8. A single Resource can have up to 3 slots and you can have up to 5 slots total across all your Resources. Without a Resource, your actions and attacks can only deal Fatigue hits: that is, hits that can deplete Hit Points but can’t deal attribute damage in the form of Injuries.
Determine your starting Hit Points: (VIT+MND)/2 + 5. You also have 3 Edge Points. If your aspects or Resources generate Block points or Inspiration points, remember that their combined total cannot be greater than your max HP. Your Df (Defence) defaults to 7.
A player character has no base damage reductions (armour or resolve), but you might have some granted by your aspect and Resource choices.1. So! Level 5 characters are allocated 25XP to spend on attributes and talents. Every character has the same 6 attribute scores, but their talents may vary. The XP cost of increasing an attribute or talent is equal to the value you are trying to change its score or rank to. For example, to raise a 0 to a 1 costs 1 XP, to raise a 1 to a 2 costs 2 XP, and so on. I whipped up a quick table:
I think Shadowrun does (did?) something similar. So as an example you could spend your 25 by taking a 6 for 21XP, then four 1s to spend the remainder. Or you can pick one of the premade arrays, either way works!
There are eight potential talents: Bio, Combat, Insight, Mobility, Psi, Social, Stealth and Tech.
2. Once you’ve picked out your attributes and talents (you don’t need talents, but I’d recommend having at least one, they grant quite significant bonuses for their cost) you can choose your aspects. Aspects can be found in several "role lists", presented in the table of contents for chapter 7 (linked above). You can pick whatever aspects you like, you don’t have to be a "pure" role. When you pick an aspect, you must choose the attribute score it uses. Any aspect can be tied to any attribute (as long as it has a score of 1 or higher).
And since aspects reference them a lot, I’ll include a link to the status effects.
So you might say, okay, I’ve got 6 STR, and I want to take 5 aspects from the Striker list. I’m going to take Combination, Crescendo, Deadeye, Intensity and Multiattack, and tie them alllll to STR. You’d write that as Combination [STR], Crescendo [STR], and so on.
… Not that I’d actually recommend doing that! Because if your STR got Injured? Bam, every single one of those aspects is gone until you address that Injury.
3. Resources are a bit more complicated as you have to build them yourself, but that comes last, we can go through that in more detail (I appreciate all this is very complex) when we're through with the first stages of character creation. If you want in the meantime you're welcome to just say something vague like "Name of resource [number of slots]" and we'll work together on the specific mechanics later.
And obviously none of this has to be set in stone: you can easily go back and tweak what you come up with, and in fact that’s encouraged: you’re putting together a party that has worked together before, so don’t think twice about tweaking your builds for maximum synergy (or just because you feel like it).
Quote:
Quick-Start Guide: Level 5 PCsInvest your starting XP into your attribute scores and talent ranks. The XP cost of increasing an attribute or talent is equal to the value you are trying to change its score or rank to. For example, raising Vitality 3 to Vitality 4 costs 4XP, for a cumulative total of 10XP.
If you prefer, these sample arrays weigh in at 25XP (Level 5), assign them to your attributes and talents in any order:
4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 0 — Talent A +2, Talent B +1
3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1 — Talent A +2, Talent B +2
3, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1 — Talent A +3, Talent B +1
4, 4, 1, 1, 1, 1 — Talent A +1
5, 2, 2, 1, 0, 0 — Talent A +2
4, 2, 1, 1, 0, 0 — Talent A +4
Remember that for every Talent with a rank of +2 or greater, you also get to pick a speciality: a +2 bonus to one roll when making an action that involves a specific skillset (e.g., a "knives" speciality is more likely to be approved by the GM than a "melee" speciality). Speciality bonuses don’t stack, but they can sometimes be used with Talents other than the one they’re tied to if it seems appropriate (using Tech with the aforementioned knives speciality for weapon maintenance, even if that speciality was granted by Combat).
Pick 5 aspects from one of the lists in chapter 7. You may mix and match across multiple lists if you prefer. Each aspect must be tied to an attribute: an attribute needs at least 1 point in it to support an aspect. Remember that when an attribute suffers an Injury, any aspects tied to it are lost until the Injury is addressed: tying all your aspects to one attribute can be effective as many benefit from high scores, but this can backfire.
Create up to 3 Resources using the lists in chapter 8. A single Resource can have up to 3 slots and you can have up to 5 slots total across all your Resources. Without a Resource, your actions and attacks can only deal Fatigue hits: that is, hits that can deplete Hit Points but can’t deal attribute damage in the form of Injuries.
Determine your starting Hit Points: (VIT+MND)/2 + 5. You also have 3 Edge Points. If your aspects or Resources generate Block points or Inspiration points, remember that their combined total cannot be greater than your max HP. Your Df (Defence) defaults to 7.
A player character has no base damage reductions (armour or resolve), but you might have some granted by your aspect and Resource choices.
I think Shadowrun does (did?) something similar. So as an example you could spend your 25 by taking a 6 for 21XP, then four 1s to spend the remainder. Or you can pick one of the premade arrays, either way works!
There are eight potential talents: Bio, Combat, Insight, Mobility, Psi, Social, Stealth and Tech.
2. Once you’ve picked out your attributes and talents (you don’t need talents, but I’d recommend having at least one, they grant quite significant bonuses for their cost) you can choose your aspects. Aspects can be found in several "role lists", presented in the table of contents for chapter 7 (linked above). You can pick whatever aspects you like, you don’t have to be a "pure" role. When you pick an aspect, you must choose the attribute score it uses. Any aspect can be tied to any attribute (as long as it has a score of 1 or higher).
And since aspects reference them a lot, I’ll include a link to the status effects.
So you might say, okay, I’ve got 6 STR, and I want to take 5 aspects from the Striker list. I’m going to take Combination, Crescendo, Deadeye, Intensity and Multiattack, and tie them alllll to STR. You’d write that as Combination [STR], Crescendo [STR], and so on.
… Not that I’d actually recommend doing that! Because if your STR got Injured? Bam, every single one of those aspects is gone until you address that Injury.
3. Resources are a bit more complicated as you have to build them yourself, but that comes last, we can go through that in more detail (I appreciate all this is very complex) when we're through with the first stages of character creation. If you want in the meantime you're welcome to just say something vague like "Name of resource [number of slots]" and we'll work together on the specific mechanics later.
And obviously none of this has to be set in stone: you can easily go back and tweak what you come up with, and in fact that’s encouraged: you’re putting together a party that has worked together before, so don’t think twice about tweaking your builds for maximum synergy (or just because you feel like it).
Apr 9, 2017 6:40 am
Roughing out character details here.
Name: Clone 29
Biography: Having been originally designed to operate as part of a hive-mind government think tank.
VIT:1
STR:0
AGI:1
FOC:3
WIL:4
MND:2
HP:6(rounded down)
EP:3
Talents: Psi+2, Insight+1
Aspects: Synergy, Bolt, Esoteric, Channeling, Aftershock
Resources: Psion 3 (background), other two into a weapon I guess, need help from this point on.
Name: Clone 29
Biography: Having been originally designed to operate as part of a hive-mind government think tank.
VIT:1
STR:0
AGI:1
FOC:3
WIL:4
MND:2
HP:6(rounded down)
EP:3
Talents: Psi+2, Insight+1
Aspects: Synergy, Bolt, Esoteric, Channeling, Aftershock
Resources: Psion 3 (background), other two into a weapon I guess, need help from this point on.
Apr 9, 2017 12:25 pm
Okay cool, let's have a look...
Talents
Psi +4: (Speciality goes here)
Insight +1
Resources
Psiclone ⚫⚫⚫
Background
+2 to Psi. You roll with Advantage when using Psi with your speciality. Include a Resource aspect or an aspect from a role list.
Psi-Amp ⚫⚫⚪
Ranged, 2 WIL Strain, requires FOC 3+
Increase ability die by 2 categories (d4 > d8). Include a Resource aspect.
Aspects
Aftershock [FOC]
Passive: After using an Edge power or encounter power, deal +1N hit with your next attack, even on a miss.
Spend: Nominate a nearby tile as a free action. The next time you use an Edge ability or spend an aspect, that tile (or an occupant of the tile, if single target) is also affected by the ability in the following turn.
Bolt [WIL]
Passive: Minor, standard, or full action. Respectively deal 1N, 2N, or 3N to an adjacent target. A TN15 WIL save halves. Bolt may be used to perform maneuvers.
Spend: Make a Bolt attack that deals twice as many hits. TN15 WIL save reduces harm by 2 hits. Max range 4 tiles.
Channeling [VIT]
1HP: Full action. Applies a Debuff to you. For your next action assume you rolled maximum value on all dice rolls: however, a maximised d20 won’t count as a critical.
Spend: Immediately recover an Edge Point. For the rest of the encounter, gain a Buff at the start of your turn.
Esoteric [MND]
Passive: You have an additional +2 speciality that you may change whenever you spend an aspect or Edge Point. Alternatively Esoteric can grant +1 to an existing speciality.
Spend: Mimic an aspect. The GM may expect you to roll for checks or study it for a long time, but Esoteric is only spent if the aspect is mimicked successfully. An aspect created by Esoteric is lost when spent and cannot be refreshed!
Synergy [MND]
Passive: When allowed use of a speciality, use a different applicable talent rank in place of its listed bonus.
1EP: You and an ally both roll for a check. Use the highest roll and include both your and your ally’s positive modifiers.
[ +- ] Talents/Resources/Aspects
Talents
Psi +4: (Speciality goes here)
Insight +1
Resources
Psiclone ⚫⚫⚫
Background
+2 to Psi. You roll with Advantage when using Psi with your speciality. Include a Resource aspect or an aspect from a role list.
Psi-Amp ⚫⚫⚪
Ranged, 2 WIL Strain, requires FOC 3+
Increase ability die by 2 categories (d4 > d8). Include a Resource aspect.
Aspects
Aftershock [FOC]
Passive: After using an Edge power or encounter power, deal +1N hit with your next attack, even on a miss.
Spend: Nominate a nearby tile as a free action. The next time you use an Edge ability or spend an aspect, that tile (or an occupant of the tile, if single target) is also affected by the ability in the following turn.
Bolt [WIL]
Passive: Minor, standard, or full action. Respectively deal 1N, 2N, or 3N to an adjacent target. A TN15 WIL save halves. Bolt may be used to perform maneuvers.
Spend: Make a Bolt attack that deals twice as many hits. TN15 WIL save reduces harm by 2 hits. Max range 4 tiles.
Channeling [VIT]
1HP: Full action. Applies a Debuff to you. For your next action assume you rolled maximum value on all dice rolls: however, a maximised d20 won’t count as a critical.
Spend: Immediately recover an Edge Point. For the rest of the encounter, gain a Buff at the start of your turn.
Esoteric [MND]
Passive: You have an additional +2 speciality that you may change whenever you spend an aspect or Edge Point. Alternatively Esoteric can grant +1 to an existing speciality.
Spend: Mimic an aspect. The GM may expect you to roll for checks or study it for a long time, but Esoteric is only spent if the aspect is mimicked successfully. An aspect created by Esoteric is lost when spent and cannot be refreshed!
Synergy [MND]
Passive: When allowed use of a speciality, use a different applicable talent rank in place of its listed bonus.
1EP: You and an ally both roll for a check. Use the highest roll and include both your and your ally’s positive modifiers.
[ +- ] Breakdown
Alright so the above is just an example, you can obviously change it all up at your leisure. It's an interesting build because Bolt is the only one of your aspects that really benefits from a high attribute score, meaning the other aspects can be linked to pretty much anything you want: good for minimising the effect of Injuries.
For this example I put both of your background's bonus points into Psi, but you can of course do whatever you like with those points.
You can choose a +2 speciality due to your Psi rank being +2 or higher but you also get one from your Esoteric aspect, and thanks to Synergy whenever you're granted a speciality bonus you can substitute it for a talent rank (part of the reason why I pushed your Psi up to 4 for this example). However it has to be a different talent rank to the one you've already used, meaning that Synergy helps with your Insight checks but not really with Psi checks: for this reason you might instead prefer to pump up both talents, but it's up to you.
That aforementioned background would also give Clone 29 Advantage on rolls that use Psi and a speciality, making for some good utility: Aftershock can let you double-up effects as and when needed. Bolt works as a good standalone aspect since it doesn't require skill/ability rolls to use: it does mean it doesn't benefit from uses of Channeling etc, but it also means it relies on your attribute score and no outside factors. Makes for a long-ranged and reliable source of N hits!
As well as picking out specialities, you'll need to decide on Resource aspects: the traits/properties tied to the Resources themselves. Because your background has 3 slots, it could either have a Resource aspect or a normal aspect from a role list.
Your Psi-Amp weapon (or whatever you decide on, it doesn't have to be a psionic amplifier and hell it doesn't even need to use Psi) targets a FOC|WIL Resistance by default, because I'm assuming you'd have +FOC to skill and +WIL to ability, or maybe vice versa. If you picked Martial as a Resource trait, you could alter the Resistance that it targets: e.g., maybe you want to be a telekinetic rather than telepath, so you'd target a pair of physical attributes instead of mental, and so on.
Also "Psiclone" was something Albionest coined when the previous party encountered a psionic clone hivemind, you don't actually have to call your background that. But puns aside I'll PM about your backstory!
For this example I put both of your background's bonus points into Psi, but you can of course do whatever you like with those points.
You can choose a +2 speciality due to your Psi rank being +2 or higher but you also get one from your Esoteric aspect, and thanks to Synergy whenever you're granted a speciality bonus you can substitute it for a talent rank (part of the reason why I pushed your Psi up to 4 for this example). However it has to be a different talent rank to the one you've already used, meaning that Synergy helps with your Insight checks but not really with Psi checks: for this reason you might instead prefer to pump up both talents, but it's up to you.
That aforementioned background would also give Clone 29 Advantage on rolls that use Psi and a speciality, making for some good utility: Aftershock can let you double-up effects as and when needed. Bolt works as a good standalone aspect since it doesn't require skill/ability rolls to use: it does mean it doesn't benefit from uses of Channeling etc, but it also means it relies on your attribute score and no outside factors. Makes for a long-ranged and reliable source of N hits!
As well as picking out specialities, you'll need to decide on Resource aspects: the traits/properties tied to the Resources themselves. Because your background has 3 slots, it could either have a Resource aspect or a normal aspect from a role list.
Your Psi-Amp weapon (or whatever you decide on, it doesn't have to be a psionic amplifier and hell it doesn't even need to use Psi) targets a FOC|WIL Resistance by default, because I'm assuming you'd have +FOC to skill and +WIL to ability, or maybe vice versa. If you picked Martial as a Resource trait, you could alter the Resistance that it targets: e.g., maybe you want to be a telekinetic rather than telepath, so you'd target a pair of physical attributes instead of mental, and so on.
Also "Psiclone" was something Albionest coined when the previous party encountered a psionic clone hivemind, you don't actually have to call your background that. But puns aside I'll PM about your backstory!
Apr 9, 2017 5:54 pm
I'm 100% good with the above character. Gonna work on back story for tie in.
To be honest, I'm waiting to see the system in play to help me understand the mechanics. I'm quick on the pickup, but it usually takes throwing me into a hands-on experience to learn. I'm reading the game thread to see the system in action.
Edit: could you maybe set up a non-canon "sparring pit" type thread to practice the mechanics in combat? Just an idea. : )
Speciality would definitely be something in the vein of mind control if that's within reason. Make an enemy miss next round or something balanced. Alternatively, a direct mind attack, something to addle or confuse as well as deal damage.
To be honest, I'm waiting to see the system in play to help me understand the mechanics. I'm quick on the pickup, but it usually takes throwing me into a hands-on experience to learn. I'm reading the game thread to see the system in action.
Edit: could you maybe set up a non-canon "sparring pit" type thread to practice the mechanics in combat? Just an idea. : )
Speciality would definitely be something in the vein of mind control if that's within reason. Make an enemy miss next round or something balanced. Alternatively, a direct mind attack, something to addle or confuse as well as deal damage.
Last edited April 9, 2017 7:09 pm
Apr 9, 2017 7:31 pm
The "sparring pit" is a great idea, I'll put something up when I get the chance. Either way I'm thinking the first mission (the botched run on Worldcarrier Sigma itself) will be something of a test run: I'll let everyone tweak their builds afterwards. Maybe the in-universe explanation for the retcon is you recounted what happened but got some details wrong :p
Mind control (well, very strong mental influence at least) would be fair game for a speciality, although any special effects (beyond the +2 to the roll) would have to be a feature of an aspect rather than the speciality itself. A maneuver that Slows/Stuns or maybe disables mobs outright, that kind of thing. Maybe tied to one of the Resources.
Mind control (well, very strong mental influence at least) would be fair game for a speciality, although any special effects (beyond the +2 to the roll) would have to be a feature of an aspect rather than the speciality itself. A maneuver that Slows/Stuns or maybe disables mobs outright, that kind of thing. Maybe tied to one of the Resources.
Apr 10, 2017 1:35 am
Sorry for the cross system references but its my only point of... Reference lol. So talents are similar to skills, with specialities being like proficiency bonuses that stack when a skill is used for that particular reason?
In other words, I'd get the speciality bonus on top of my psionics talent bonus when I used it specifically for mind control?.. would have to have an aspect or resource that provides mind control as a specific ability... Which means the speciality would apply to other aspects or resources that could provide different mind control functions....?
In other words, I'd get the speciality bonus on top of my psionics talent bonus when I used it specifically for mind control?.. would have to have an aspect or resource that provides mind control as a specific ability... Which means the speciality would apply to other aspects or resources that could provide different mind control functions....?
Apr 10, 2017 9:02 am
Exactly yes: talents are skills, albeit broad ones, and you add your speciality (default +2) to one roll with whatever talent you're currently using it with: e.g., Psi +4 applies to the d20 roll and 1d8, and the +2 could apply to one of the two if the speciality applies.
So hypothetically if you, uh, suddenly got the ability to controls minds through pheromones with Bio or brain-hacking with Tech or whatever else, the speciality could apply to those rolls too. With that in mind (hah) you might want to rephrase "mind control" to something that'd be more applicable in more fields. "Mental disruption" or something that'd be relevant when applying a Slow or Stun effect, or any mind-affecting maneuver.
P.S. As you might have guessed certain enemies in the game world will be more or less resistant to certain talents, and Psi is a good example: some opponents are straight-up immune to it! Robots might be immune to uses of Bio and Psi, wild animals without a single augmentation or item might be immune to Tech, and so on.
So hypothetically if you, uh, suddenly got the ability to controls minds through pheromones with Bio or brain-hacking with Tech or whatever else, the speciality could apply to those rolls too. With that in mind (hah) you might want to rephrase "mind control" to something that'd be more applicable in more fields. "Mental disruption" or something that'd be relevant when applying a Slow or Stun effect, or any mind-affecting maneuver.
P.S. As you might have guessed certain enemies in the game world will be more or less resistant to certain talents, and Psi is a good example: some opponents are straight-up immune to it! Robots might be immune to uses of Bio and Psi, wild animals without a single augmentation or item might be immune to Tech, and so on.
Apr 10, 2017 1:34 pm
Ah, hello all! Can't wait to get started.
I wrote an intro post which seems to have vanished, possibly sitting in a chrome thread on another computer.
My character is Ailith Kree, a hotshot pilot, former military. She didn't part on good terms with the Legion's Navy, but she got the better end of the deal - her ship, The Bane, or just the Bane. No more identification by serial number crap, not for newly extra-legal operators. The survival training inflicted upon Navy pilots is intense, and along with the augmentation necessary to fly fighter planes, it means Kree is a tough customer in a fight. She's the fastest thing not powered by a reactor.
I really like the sparring thread, by the way. I'd like to throw Kree in to see how her build works out! I've mentioned to Ed I can't decide how big the ship could be, but if we do go for the Firefly-size heavy fighter route, we could say the sim booths are one of its features? They probably have a range of sims, from 'bar fight' to 'outsize interstellar engagement'. Our characters could be en route to a job, or coming back from one, just trying to pass the time.
I wrote an intro post which seems to have vanished, possibly sitting in a chrome thread on another computer.
My character is Ailith Kree, a hotshot pilot, former military. She didn't part on good terms with the Legion's Navy, but she got the better end of the deal - her ship, The Bane, or just the Bane. No more identification by serial number crap, not for newly extra-legal operators. The survival training inflicted upon Navy pilots is intense, and along with the augmentation necessary to fly fighter planes, it means Kree is a tough customer in a fight. She's the fastest thing not powered by a reactor.
I really like the sparring thread, by the way. I'd like to throw Kree in to see how her build works out! I've mentioned to Ed I can't decide how big the ship could be, but if we do go for the Firefly-size heavy fighter route, we could say the sim booths are one of its features? They probably have a range of sims, from 'bar fight' to 'outsize interstellar engagement'. Our characters could be en route to a job, or coming back from one, just trying to pass the time.
Apr 10, 2017 2:55 pm
Here's 80% of a character worked out. I'm a little unclear on how Strain works and just what my total bonuses would be, and whether it's overpowered or just eggs-in-one-basket. Oh, and is the requirement for Advanced Technique BOTH attribute + talent at 3, or just one?
It also occurs to me I've ended up basically just building a pilot from Titanfall.
--—
So, I’m more than halfway home here, can you help me bring it over the line Ed? Not sure where the moving parts should go. Maybe I should just make up another aspect for fun.
It also occurs to me I've ended up basically just building a pilot from Titanfall.
--
[ +- ] Kree's stats
VIT 1
STR 0
AGI 3
FOC 2
WIL 1
MND 2
Combat 2 - CQC
Social 2 - Underworld
Mobility 1
Tech 2 - Spaceships
Insight 1
Bloodlust
Brawler
Charge
Warpath
Zealot
Resources:
Advanced Technique: Survival Training
The Domarian Navy expects their pilots to best the enemy in the starry void; failing that, they expect their pilots to eject, navigate in null-g to the nearest available ship, seize it, and use its firepower to correct their original mistake before anybody notices. To instil this kind of never-say-die attitude, Navy pilots undergo rigorous conditioning, physical and mental, and training in everything from null-g knife fights to, of all things, proficiency in the formal duels regulations expect of flight officers. Kree longed to throw the bloody sword away and just hit them in the face, and one day, she did.
Combat ability die d4 -> d8, cos I’d like her brawling nature to apply to a few weapons, and resource aspect of Quality to go to somewhere - could conceivably fit with VIT, AGI, FOC, or WIL.
Superior Augment: Neural Interface
The holy grail of neurachem. For making the split-millisecond life or death decisions that decide interstellar engagements, look nowhere else in Alpha Sector. It also makes watching drunks wind up their sucker punch terribly boring. Really, pilots aren’t supposed to leave the service with this equipment intact. They’re not even allowed to know how it does what it does.
I think this goes either FOC or AGI +3 - or combat? Not sure how to build a finesse melee fighter, tbh.
aspects: Modification, and undecided - sorely tempted by Quality again. Thoughts?
Modification resource: 1 slot of Resource Tokens
A token represents a shot of extra juice from the neurachem system. For when you gotta go fast even faster.
STR 0
AGI 3
FOC 2
WIL 1
MND 2
Combat 2 - CQC
Social 2 - Underworld
Mobility 1
Tech 2 - Spaceships
Insight 1
Bloodlust
Brawler
Charge
Warpath
Zealot
Resources:
Advanced Technique: Survival Training
The Domarian Navy expects their pilots to best the enemy in the starry void; failing that, they expect their pilots to eject, navigate in null-g to the nearest available ship, seize it, and use its firepower to correct their original mistake before anybody notices. To instil this kind of never-say-die attitude, Navy pilots undergo rigorous conditioning, physical and mental, and training in everything from null-g knife fights to, of all things, proficiency in the formal duels regulations expect of flight officers. Kree longed to throw the bloody sword away and just hit them in the face, and one day, she did.
Combat ability die d4 -> d8, cos I’d like her brawling nature to apply to a few weapons, and resource aspect of Quality to go to somewhere - could conceivably fit with VIT, AGI, FOC, or WIL.
Superior Augment: Neural Interface
The holy grail of neurachem. For making the split-millisecond life or death decisions that decide interstellar engagements, look nowhere else in Alpha Sector. It also makes watching drunks wind up their sucker punch terribly boring. Really, pilots aren’t supposed to leave the service with this equipment intact. They’re not even allowed to know how it does what it does.
I think this goes either FOC or AGI +3 - or combat? Not sure how to build a finesse melee fighter, tbh.
aspects: Modification, and undecided - sorely tempted by Quality again. Thoughts?
Modification resource: 1 slot of Resource Tokens
A token represents a shot of extra juice from the neurachem system. For when you gotta go fast even faster.
So, I’m more than halfway home here, can you help me bring it over the line Ed? Not sure where the moving parts should go. Maybe I should just make up another aspect for fun.
Last edited April 10, 2017 2:56 pm
Apr 10, 2017 5:16 pm
Okay, excuse the screengrab but I find it easier presenting it all like this:
Techniques only need an attribute or talent at +3, yeah. Representing finesse with the system is a good question: really it'd be equal parts AGI and FOC, or possibly a slight bias towards FOC. For this reason in the above example I've spread her Augment bonus across multiple stats but you can pump everything into AGI or FOC if you want. Also, would you consider this array to be more vulnerable to Tech, or Bio? Defaulted to Tech for now.
I gave the Interface the Deadly Resource aspect for a couple of reasons: one, I don't think I'd let you stack Quality, and two you have Bloodlust but no source of bonus critical range: so now you crit on a 19+ rather than 20 and Bloodlust's encounter power would be a little bit more potent. I also spread her less-scaling aspects around to keep her less vulnerable to Injuries.
My impression of Ailith is that she's a powerful build, but there are a few gaps that should prevent her being brokenly good. Even with her aspects spread out, Injuries to the right attributes will cause all her bonuses to fall apart: if she can't meet prerequisites or the Strain becomes too much, she has Disadvantage (with the former) or some more debilitating penalty (with the latter).
Oh, and I'll probably interpret her "CQC" speciality as being exclusively unarmed combat, not just all melee attacks (targets that share your tile). Broken bottles and other improv weapons with no mechanical effect fall under that banner too, I think.
The Bane is Schrodinger's ship at the moment, depends what you all decide: the campaign can easily work with it being a small fighter or a more sizeable craft that you can use as a mobile base of operations. I suppose if it's big enough each party member could feasibly have their own different duties on it. Hmm...
[ +- ] Ailith Kree
[ +- ] Breakdown
Techniques only need an attribute or talent at +3, yeah. Representing finesse with the system is a good question: really it'd be equal parts AGI and FOC, or possibly a slight bias towards FOC. For this reason in the above example I've spread her Augment bonus across multiple stats but you can pump everything into AGI or FOC if you want. Also, would you consider this array to be more vulnerable to Tech, or Bio? Defaulted to Tech for now.
I gave the Interface the Deadly Resource aspect for a couple of reasons: one, I don't think I'd let you stack Quality, and two you have Bloodlust but no source of bonus critical range: so now you crit on a 19+ rather than 20 and Bloodlust's encounter power would be a little bit more potent. I also spread her less-scaling aspects around to keep her less vulnerable to Injuries.
My impression of Ailith is that she's a powerful build, but there are a few gaps that should prevent her being brokenly good. Even with her aspects spread out, Injuries to the right attributes will cause all her bonuses to fall apart: if she can't meet prerequisites or the Strain becomes too much, she has Disadvantage (with the former) or some more debilitating penalty (with the latter).
Oh, and I'll probably interpret her "CQC" speciality as being exclusively unarmed combat, not just all melee attacks (targets that share your tile). Broken bottles and other improv weapons with no mechanical effect fall under that banner too, I think.
Apr 11, 2017 6:41 pm
Yeah the CQC thing is me being genuinely unable to decide what weapons I see her using, and how I see her fighting. I feel like going full kung fu is weird, and besides, Kyrae did that really well in the Schismata campaign. I kinda thought a John Wick style pistol thing could be fun, using this build but flavoured differently.
I think it's really cool she's vulnerable to tech. Psi, too, most probably. And, y'know, bullets ... hmm. Maybe I need some more VIT.
I think it's really cool she's vulnerable to tech. Psi, too, most probably. And, y'know, bullets ... hmm. Maybe I need some more VIT.
Apr 11, 2017 6:59 pm
Well, in this version HP are more reliant on level rather than VIT. Which is... kind of weird, in retrospect, but VIT and MND had so much else going for them that getting too many extra HP from investing in them proved a little off in balance terms.
Not sure how to snappily phrase it in two or three words, but maybe rather than "unarmed" the speciality could apply to attacking enemies who have ranged weapons? Getting the drop on shooters, wrestling guns off them or shooting them in the head point blank, that sort of Wickishness. It makes a kind of sense that it wouldn't work on melee-focused enemies with similar training...
Not sure how to snappily phrase it in two or three words, but maybe rather than "unarmed" the speciality could apply to attacking enemies who have ranged weapons? Getting the drop on shooters, wrestling guns off them or shooting them in the head point blank, that sort of Wickishness. It makes a kind of sense that it wouldn't work on melee-focused enemies with similar training...
Apr 12, 2017 3:17 am
Actually, after writing a couple of martial arts sequences I'm happy to just go with unarmed. Punching people *is* fun! As long as I don't run into too many mechs ... I might continue to mess with the build, though. I'm thinking Brawler might not be that good, seeing as I thought it was the old when where it was any enemy who moved or attacked. Maybe Splash would be cool, as she flips out and punches everybody in the tile ... that could be really cool.
And maybe I should get Defensive as one of my resource aspects. It could just be a lack of armour that's making me feel like she's fragile. She currently lacks armour, and I originally imagined her in a Kill Bill Bride-esque flight suit which was armoured ... perhaps she'll try to buy some with her pirate money.
And maybe I should get Defensive as one of my resource aspects. It could just be a lack of armour that's making me feel like she's fragile. She currently lacks armour, and I originally imagined her in a Kill Bill Bride-esque flight suit which was armoured ... perhaps she'll try to buy some with her pirate money.
Last edited April 12, 2017 3:30 am
Apr 12, 2017 9:37 am
Brawler might need its wording tweaked, because honestly I don't think it'd be hugely broken for it to trigger based off attacks as well as entering/leaving the tile. It's already limited by half the user's attribute score, which might be a bit excessive really. Hmm. Splash might be a neat replacement either way.
As for seeming fragile, that might be more an artifact of the system than anything specific to your build. It's pretty rare for an attack to miss outright! And there is the guard action available of course: minor action, roll 1d20 in place of your Df (can't be lower than base, although if you roll an Exploit, you still get the Exploit).
On a tangent I notice that in the rulebook I keep jumping between "to-hit and damage" and "skill and ability" so I should maybe stress: they're one and the same, I just can't keep the terminology straight! I'm trying to use "skill and ability" more often than the alternative if only because it better represents how the core mechanic applies to utility stuff as well as actual attacks.
Regarding specialities, not sure about this as it runs the risk of diluting the mechanic and might limit player freedom, but one idea I had with regards to applying them was: it affects a target that lacks talent X.
So maybe something like— Kree's martial arts driven CQC? +2 speciality bonus to one roll when fighting foes without an Insight rank. C29's neural disruption? +2 speciality bonus to one roll when fighting foes without a Psi rank. And this wouldn't supplant the existing phrasing, the specialities would still apply in situations where the narrative fits, it's just an easy way of instantly telling who's vulnerable to what.
(This might mean that specialities often don't apply to elites and bosses, but maybe that's actually in-keeping with their intention. If someone has similar skills and training to you it stands to reason that they're better equipped to resist you...)
As for seeming fragile, that might be more an artifact of the system than anything specific to your build. It's pretty rare for an attack to miss outright! And there is the guard action available of course: minor action, roll 1d20 in place of your Df (can't be lower than base, although if you roll an Exploit, you still get the Exploit).
On a tangent I notice that in the rulebook I keep jumping between "to-hit and damage" and "skill and ability" so I should maybe stress: they're one and the same, I just can't keep the terminology straight! I'm trying to use "skill and ability" more often than the alternative if only because it better represents how the core mechanic applies to utility stuff as well as actual attacks.
Regarding specialities, not sure about this as it runs the risk of diluting the mechanic and might limit player freedom, but one idea I had with regards to applying them was: it affects a target that lacks talent X.
So maybe something like— Kree's martial arts driven CQC? +2 speciality bonus to one roll when fighting foes without an Insight rank. C29's neural disruption? +2 speciality bonus to one roll when fighting foes without a Psi rank. And this wouldn't supplant the existing phrasing, the specialities would still apply in situations where the narrative fits, it's just an easy way of instantly telling who's vulnerable to what.
(This might mean that specialities often don't apply to elites and bosses, but maybe that's actually in-keeping with their intention. If someone has similar skills and training to you it stands to reason that they're better equipped to resist you...)
Apr 12, 2017 4:58 pm
As I feel out C29 as a character, I'm liking the idea of his controlling electromagnetic frequencies. My thoughts are that it could work something like this: through training he has learned to manipulate his body's electromagnetic field, contracting it to appear less "psionically visible" or expanding it to give himself an enlarged area within which he can manipulate surrounding EMFs. To go further, he could shape his emf into a channel or arm to reach further in one direction than his normal AoE field. So with the EMP attack as a (speciality?) he would reach out with his emf to engulf his target and send an EMP along that channel. I'm thinking the size of his emf can be enhanced through leveling and some rsources or something.
Just trying to figure out how this character works within the mechanics.
Just trying to figure out how this character works within the mechanics.
Apr 12, 2017 5:25 pm
Yeah I like that for specialities, and the buff to elites. Hopefully the reverse is true, for bosses with talents versus us. And, yeah, I've stumbled over to-hit and damage and skill and ability a few times.
Why don't we just sub in Splash for now and see how it goes? I think Brawler might be more useful if it's based entirely on attacks. Solely entering and exiting it's going to proc too rarely to be that useful, both together it possibly procs too often, but solely on attacks I think it's very competitive. A free attack each round on enemies in melee range is pretty nice, even if it's minor, and it's a reasonable reward for placing yourself in melee in the first place I think.
Why don't we just sub in Splash for now and see how it goes? I think Brawler might be more useful if it's based entirely on attacks. Solely entering and exiting it's going to proc too rarely to be that useful, both together it possibly procs too often, but solely on attacks I think it's very competitive. A free attack each round on enemies in melee range is pretty nice, even if it's minor, and it's a reasonable reward for placing yourself in melee in the first place I think.
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