Jump to content

TheBoulder

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    183

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by TheBoulder

  2. Posted

    Can anyone find a description for Encumbrance Capacity?  Not value, not threshold.  It appears on vehicles and on mounts.  It existed in Star Wars, although I can't find a description for it there either.  

    I have always taken it to mean, in addition to passengers.  Cargo space essentially.  

    If you take it to mean the literal amount something can carry...  A horse has a capacity of 12.  A warrior with 4 Brawn has a value of 9.  If they are wearing chainmail (3), they are at max capacity and can't carry a weapon or anything else for that matter.  

    My conclusion is that it is in addition to a rider and their immediate equipment (armour, primary weapon).  It is used for extra things that are carrying or wish to laod the horse with.  To conclude anything else seems unwieldy at best.

    I'm hoping I've missed the definition somewhere but I can't find it in the core, expanded player's guide or in star wars.

    How have you guys handled it?

  7. Posted · Edited by TheBoulder

    My reason for converting it wasn't really due to a comparison of systems.  I had been GMing star wars for a few years and really enjoyed the system.  My players didn't want to learn a new system and one of them had bought the genesys book and I wanted to encourage his interest, so I made the conversion based on those factors.  I'd hesitate to ever do an objective comparison of rpg rules systems, simply because I don't think it can be objective.  What your group enjoys is the best system for you.

    Maybe that's not super helpful, so I can tell you why I love the genesys system...  It strikes a great balance between crunch and narrative play, and the mechanics help to inform roleplaying and encourage imagination.  The narrative dice roll encourages my players to be active participants in a story versus a mechanical encounter.  I also find everyone at the table is interested in everyone else's rolls in a way I haven't experienced in other systems.  For combat, I love the initiative system and the encounters are fast and emphasize the action.  

    Areas of weakness...  there aren't many, but I don't love how the magic system leaves so much up to player initiative, some of the skills are perhaps a little too specific at times (to the point where they don't get used) and character creation doesn't always tie the players to the setting (this is mitigated somewhat by things like the favour mechanic and is always going to be a problem in a generic system).

    GnosisNoise reacted to this

  11. Posted

    That's careers within the established template, right?  I was wondering about stuff outside of that, that people had come up with for their games.  Thanks though! 

    I like the idea of careers informing players about the game world and possibly their place in it. 😀

    2 hours ago, c__beck said:

    This is the most-used career maker...

     

     

  12. Posted

    I find the career system to be the weakest area of Genesys in terms of providing flavour to a character.  In my last setting, I created four archetypical careers (with 8 career skills) and then a slew of 'sub-careers' (providing four more career skills) in an effort to give characters access to more skills and more definition to their characters.

    Has anyone else come up with their own way of doing Careers?  

  13. Posted

    Yeah, I've run star wars since it released so the style of game is nothing new to me.

    I'm going to be running a fantasy campaign soon though and I don't know how well the star wars cinematic feel lends itself to a fantasy setting. 

    So I'm just polling people to see how they do it and to learn different approaches that I could apply to a "grittier" setting. (I hate that word, it's so loaded)

  15. Posted · Edited by TheBoulder

    Ok, that's an interesting way to interpret player actions within rounds, I'll definitely keep it in mind.

    Unfortunately, I don't agree that it's not breaking narrative.  Auto-fire states that it's harder to do but has the advantage of hitting multiple targets.  But if you can hit multiple targets with a gun that doesn't have that, simply because MINIONS... Then that breaks a realism narrative for me that minions are people too.  I suppose if you just consider minions as not real characters within a narrative, but instead background filler, I could see it...  So perhaps I should clarify that I think of minions as equal to rivals and nemeses in personhood if not mechanical power. 

    I also think that it can't be a flurry of blows or quick pulls of the trigger when there are talents and qualities that replicate those exact effects.  If a certain type of enemy changes the rules and narrative of abilities... that's the dissonance that has me questioning how to handle minions.

  16. Posted

    I'm curious as to how other GMs handle this.

    A minion group has a communal Hp pool.  When damage is done and it exceeds an individual minions wounds, a minion dies. 

    My question is....  How do you handle it if enough damage is done to account for the wounds of two or more minions?

    I feel like there are two approaches.

    1. Two minions or more die to the single attack.  This has the benefit of being cinematic and speeding up combat, but it creates a narrative dissonance for me.  Does the character fire two shots or swing their sword twice?  With the presence of Auto-Fire and things like Whirlwind in the game, it would seem this is narratively at odds with those abilities.  A single shot firearm would require extensive narrative stretching each time that I feel would quickly become a joke.

    or;

    2. A single minion dies to a single attack and you can't kill multiples with a single attack.  This preserves a certain narrative realism and allows things like Auto-Fire and Whirlwind to come to the fore as special qualities/abilities.  It does though tend to prolong combat and instead of scything through them, it often comes down to a volume of fire issue.  PCs tend to feel less "badass" as well, if that's a concern.

    So, what do you guys think?  How do you handle it?

  17. Posted · Edited by TheBoulder

    I don't think it goes against bushido if they are viewed as enemy combatants.  From the (rightful) Lord's perspective, they have seized her property and killed samurai in service to the Emperor.  I don't see a conflict of interest from that viewpoint.

     

    If they get to know them and figure out their actions were reasonable in some way... Well, they'd still probably have to forfeit their lives.  I refer to the Steel Chrysanthemum as an example.  They did what was right but their actions were still wrong.  As Obi-wan would say... from a certain point of view....

  19. Posted · Edited by TheBoulder

    5 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

    Right. I fear the diplomatic approach may have gone out through the shoji door without opening it first, then.

     

    Haha, perhaps.  She is reasonable though (she was a Daidoji yojimbo, while her husband was a Doji courtier, so perhaps it's more accurate to say he's reasonable and can talk her down) and will hear other opinions.  I plan to have her ask the players for options and allow them to guide the decision making.  Perhaps I will even have her resolved to a certain course of action (burn it to the ground, that's a great visual @AtoMaki!!) to see if they will speak up and try and dissuade her.

  20. Posted

    Their Daimyo is also kind of a hardass, so they may take their mark off that...  The introduction to the city is as follows...

    The city stands in the midst of rice fields, the Itochu River running through it.  There is a wall running the circumference of the city, but even at this distance you can see gaps where it has been broken and left unrepaired.  

    As you approach the southeastern gate, you spy two guards slouched to one side of the gate, rolling dice in the dirt.  Lady Kuma spurs her horse ahead of the rest of you, towards the two guards.  As she nears, they look up from their game and one of them stands and spits to the side, “Who th-”  His words are cut off by your daimyo’s spear being embedded in his throat.  The other guard stumbles backwards, a look of terror on his face.  He turns to run but only gets a dozen paces before Lady Kuma’s thrown spear takes him in the back, pinning him to the ground.  His ear splitting screams of agony indicate that while down, he is not dead.  Your Daimyo wheels her horse to you and says, “Find out why these peasants aren’t acting properly.”
     

  21. Posted

    The imperial ex-governor knows about the tunnel.  It and the river wall are basically the options for infiltration (they could just try and go over a wall at night, but it's a lot harder).  Once inside, the PCs would open the gate and hold it until their Daimyo's forces can arrive.  

     

  22. Posted

    8 minutes ago, Nheko said:

    Now this changes everything. They can seize the moment due the occupants being drunk lay a siege.  Can the players possible capture the Ronin leader and have some leverage on their negotiations?

    It's a good idea but I was planning on him being a "villain" to deal with later. Once they secure the castle, the first snow will fall and start to impede travel. During the winter they will be dealing with criminal elements in the city (and an escaped governor turned to maho).

    Nheko reacted to this

  23. Posted

    1 hour ago, AtoMaki said:

    The last time I had a character participating in a castle assault we reduced the place into a handful of gravel with a day-long sustained bombardment. I dunno if that's an option here. But burning the keep to the ground would certainly send a message to the local powers. 

    It certainly would!  I will have to see if the players go for something like that...  Could present an interesting development in the story.  

  24. Posted

    8 minutes ago, Nheko said:

    Sounds like a good campaign.

    I think I’ll go with try to with negotiate with the Ronin first and give them the opportunity to join you if they’re honorable and righteous  if not I’ll try to block all exits and lay down the siege. 

    As a newly formed Minor Clan you don’t have  too many resources available I’ll try to minimize my damages so I don’t have to spend too much of my limited koku rebuilding. 

    Thanks!  Basically, the guys in the castle got fed up with the inept governance of the province.  Before the Imperial governor, the province changed hands several times between the Dragon and Lion with numerous conflicts occurring all over the province.  Numerous ronin were often part of these conflicts (helps with deniability) and then those same ronin were recruited by the Imperial Governor (who is also an inept boob who was hoping to make a buck with this quick assignment... they are carrying orders for him to commit seppuku) in the hope they would be impartial.  Instead they seized the castle, killed a score of his retainers/guards and then dumped them in the street.  They've been partying for the last day and a half and their leader is actually off travelling as I plan this to be indicative of unrest throughout the province.  

    A diplomatic solution was honestly not one I had considered!  Perhaps even winning over part of the occupiers and creating dissent could work as well... 

×
×
  • Create New...