jendefer

Monday at 01:33 PM

Dicey Stories: Episode 28

StarCraft FRAWD Investigators: DORF Star Part 3 of 7

DORF Star: Under the cover of their FRAWD employment, Lilly and Imogen work with the exiled tal'darim Malorn and the friendly mercenary Durian to steal a protoss weapon from the Dominion Optics Research Facility (DORF) on Korhal. While in Augustgrad, they also follow up on some leads related to their first job together, Rose Corporation's illegal mine on Brontes IV.

This episode: Lilly and Imogen complete their plans for recovering the protoss weapon from the Dominion Optics Research Facility, and their mercenary friend Durian joins the operation.

Current episode: audio | serialized write-up

Character profiles: Lilly | Imogen

December 14

Dicey Stories: Episode 27

StarCraft FRAWD Investigators: DORF Star Part 2 of 7

DORF Star: Under the cover of their FRAWD employment, Lilly and Imogen work with the exiled tal'darim Malorn and the friendly mercenary Durian to steal a protoss weapon from the Dominion Optics Research Facility (DORF) on Korhal. While in Augustgrad, they also follow up on some leads related to their first job together, Rose Corporation's illegal mine on Brontes IV.

This episode: Lilly and Imogen conduct reconnaissance on the Dominion Optics Research Facility.

Current episode: audio | serialized write-up

Character profiles: Lilly | Imogen

December 7

Dicey Stories: Episode 26

StarCraft FRAWD Investigators: DORF Star Part 1 of 7

DORF Star: Under the cover of their FRAWD employment, Lilly and Imogen work with the exiled tal'darim Malorn and the friendly mercenary Durian to steal a protoss weapon from the Dominion Optics Research Facility (DORF) on Korhal. While in Augustgrad, they also follow up on some leads related to their first job together, Rose Corporation's illegal mine on Brontes IV.

This episode: The exiled tal’darim Malorn prepares Lilly and Imogen to steal a protoss weapon from the Dominion Optics Research Facility on Korhal.

Current episode: audio | serialized write-up

Character profiles: Lilly | Imogen

Josep Maria · December 2

7 hours ago, Josep Maria said:

In one Genesys supplements exists the "Heroic Abilities" (?) that is a initial skill that evolves for every 50 XP obtained. Is the most aproximated to Signature Ability. This Heroic skill, considering upgrade caps, stops evolving above 400 XP, so feel free to create new ones based on signature or create more "heroic skills".

Good point. That Heroic Abilities mechanic is in Realms of Terrinoth, starting on page 74.

Josep Maria · December 2

6 hours ago, the mercenary said:

Basically, yes. How do other GM’s handle character with, say, 600+ XP, since the pyramid only requires 315 to fill, and I don’t recall anything in the book about getting a new spec and starting a whole new pyramid.

We played a year-long campaign that clocked in at 625 XP earned. I completed the full pyramid, and then had another column of Talents from Tier 1 up to Tier 5, plus an additional Tier 1 and 2 Talent beyond those. You can keep adding 5-high columns of Talents. If there are not enough Tier 4 or 5 Talents of interest for your players, consider what sorts of "super-powers" might fit their character concepts and develop new Talents to fill them. Or encourage them to develop more of their skills.

Sturn · December 2

5 hours ago, Sturn said:

Thank you, thank you for the input. This has got me tweaking things already for the better.

No problem. When people present new mechanics, I always wonder whether something already exists to handle their need. But if what exists doesn't suit your purposes, making something new to fit with the rest of the existing rules and trying to balance it is a worthy effort. Plus, you can only do so much planning... eventually, you have to try your system out with players in an ongoing game to see if it stands the test of time and really addresses all your concerns. Good luck when that time comes!

December 1

I see what you are saying now, and the consideration you have put into it. It sounds like good reasoning for developing this game mechanic in your setting. I do see your point of not wanting all one's ranks in a skill to "go to waste" when a new skill is opened up.

36 minutes ago, Sturn said:

A character's background and career/template specialties have familiarity options to choose from.

If there are just a handful of specialties for each skill, then that is something I could get behind as a player. Perhaps I am a bit scarred by my years and years of playing GURPS where there were so many, many skills and subskills that as a player I felt like I could never gain any ground. Like I'd have Chemistry, but the GM would call for a Pharmacology roll, so that was a Chem roll with a heavy penalty. Or I had Acrobatics but the GM wanted an Aerobatics roll, so again, Acrobatics at a stiff penalty. I felt like I was often being told to make rolls that were just outside my skillset, no matter what skills I invested in. If the players know upfront about the familiarity system and there are a reasonable number of familiarities for each skill, then that would address the sort of concerns I would have about how to spend my XP.

As for what your familiarity grants a player... I am the sort of GM that allows players to try things, regardless of whether they have ranks in a skill. I don't think you should disallow a character from trying a check if they are unfamiliar, so your option 2 above seems good to me. If you think setback dice for unfamiliar rolls aren't scary enough, I would go for upgraded difficulty myself, rather than just adding an automatic failure to the roll, as the opportunity for despair raises the stakes.

I am wondering about how you intend familiarities to be purchased, whether you are considering them to be Talents, or whether they are their own XP spending category. If they are Talents, then they will occupy slots in the Talent pyramid. If they are their own category, will they have a flat purchase price? Or will they have their own pyramid? (Kind of like in Star Wars, where buying into additional specializations had an increasing cost?)

SavageBob · November 30

In our games, we add setback dice for unfamiliar conditions (that would cover your flying mount situation or building a boat when you're used to carts). After the character has tried it out, it is no longer unfamiliar, and they do not have the setback dice on future rolls. If I want to emphasize that something could really go wrong, I spent a story point to upgrade the difficulty.

If you truly believe that way too many things are covered under one skill in your campaign setting, then break them out into separate skills. This is already modeled by the many types of Knowledge in Terrinoth, or the different ways combat skills are handled in the Core Rulebook. I've played games with Melee, Ranged-Light, Ranged-Heavy, and Gunnery. I've played ones with Melee-Light, Melee-Heavy and just Ranged. I've heard of other people including Powdered weapons as a separate skill or Artillery weapons that are based on Intellect. In your situation, maybe you want Crafting (Mechanical) and Crafting (Steam)... or some such division.

November 30

Dicey Stories: Episode 25

StarCraft FRAWD Investigators: One Quiet Night Part 4 of 4

One Quiet Night: Having left Mar Sara aboard Hyperion, Lilly and Imogen investigate mysterious beings prowling the ship at night.

This episode: Lilly and Imogen sort out the vermin issues aboard Hyperion and get Saffron in proper working order.

Current episode: audio | serialized write-up

Character profiles: Lilly | Imogen

November 23

Dicey Stories: Episode 24

StarCraft FRAWD Investigators: One Quiet Night Part 3 of 4

One Quiet Night: Having left Mar Sara aboard Hyperion, Lilly and Imogen investigate mysterious beings prowling the ship at night.

This episode: Lilly and Imogen encounter other alien lifeforms during their search for their zerg larva Snowball aboard Hyperion.

Current episode: audio | serialized write-up

Character profiles: Lilly | Imogen

November 16

Dicey Stories: Episode 23

StarCraft FRAWD Investigators: One Quiet Night Part 2 of 4

One Quiet Night: Having left Mar Sara aboard Hyperion, Lilly and Imogen investigate mysterious beings prowling the ship at night.

This episode: Lilly and Imogen search Hyperion for Snowball after the zerg larva goes AWOL.

Current episode: audio | serialized write-up

Character profiles: Lilly | Imogen

November 10

On 11/8/2020 at 7:02 AM, Mattysan said:

Have you thought of pulling this all together in a PDF? I love what you've done with the material

I've pulled together the archetypes, talents, skills, and psionics our group used and put them into a PDF. You can find it here: https://diceystories.com/genesys-supplement-for-starcraft/

November 9

Dicey Stories: Episode 22

StarCraft FRAWD Investigators: One Quiet Night Part 1 of 4

One Quiet Night: Having left Mar Sara aboard Hyperion, Lilly and Imogen investigate mysterious beings prowling the ship at night.

This episode: Lilly and Imogen explore Hyperion, the flagship of Raynor’s Raiders.

Current episode: audio | serialized write-up

Character profiles: Lilly | Imogen

November 9

On 11/7/2020 at 7:33 AM, Eric42 said:

So, has there evet been an offical word about if Runes and Verse can use in any shape or form the new spells from the EPB? I figure that they should be able to some, but I wondered what others have come up with if there isn't an offical word,

I have been wondering this exact same thing, so thanks for asking! I figured Mask made sense for Verse.

November 2

Dicey Stories: Episode 21

StarCraft FRAWD Investigators: Old Red and Saffron Part 6 of 6

Old Red and Saffron: Lilly and Imogen return to the Mar Sara wastelands to investigate an old Cerberus vessel that may shed light on both Lilly's and Snowball's pasts, but they discover it is not as abandoned as they had thought.

This episode: Lilly and Imogen take drastic steps to ensure Rory Swann will help fix up Saffron.

Current episode: audio | serialized write-up

Character profiles: Lilly | Imogen

October 26

Dicey Stories: Episode 20

StarCraft FRAWD Investigators: Old Red and Saffron Part 5 of 6

Old Red and Saffron: Lilly and Imogen return to the Mar Sara wastelands to investigate an old Cerberus vessel that may shed light on both Lilly's and Snowball's pasts, but they discover it is not as abandoned as they had thought.

This episode: Imogen burns a bridge while Lilly mugs a zerg.

Current episode: audio | serialized write-up

Character profiles: Lilly | Imogen

October 19

Dicey Stories: Episode 19

StarCraft FRAWD Investigators: Old Red and Saffron Part 4 of 6

Old Red and Saffron: Lilly and Imogen return to the Mar Sara wastelands to investigate an old Cerberus vessel that may shed light on both Lilly's and Snowball's pasts, but they discover it is not as abandoned as they had thought.

This episode: Lilly and Imogen explore the Cerberus science vessel.

Current episode: audio | serialized write-up

Character profiles: Lilly | Imogen

October 12

Dicey Stories: Episode 18

StarCraft FRAWD Investigators: Old Red and Saffron Part 3 of 6

Old Red and Saffron: Lilly and Imogen return to the Mar Sara wastelands to investigate an old Cerberus vessel that may shed light on both Lilly's and Snowball's pasts, but they discover it is not as abandoned as they had thought.

This episode: Lilly and Imogen contend with the dangers of the Mar Sara countryside.

Current episode: audio | serialized write-up

Character profiles: Lilly | Imogen

October 6

Dicey Stories: Episode 17

StarCraft FRAWD Investigators: Old Red and Saffron Part 2 of 6

Old Red and Saffron: Lilly and Imogen return to the Mar Sara wastelands to investigate an old Cerberus vessel that may shed light on both Lilly's and Snowball's pasts, but they discover it is not as abandoned as they had thought.

This episode: Lilly and Imogen visit Li June for a Snowball update and some sweet tea.

Current episode: audio | serialized write-up

Character profiles: Lilly | Imogen

September 28

Dicey Stories: Episode 16

StarCraft FRAWD Investigators: Old Red and Saffron Part 1 of 6

Old Red and Saffron: Lilly and Imogen return to the Mar Sara wastelands to investigate an old Cerberus vessel that may shed light on both Lilly's and Snowball's pasts, but they discover it is not as abandoned as they had thought.

This episode: Imogen creates a distraction to get through the Mar Sara spaceport quarantine, and Lilly has to clean up the mess.

Current episode: audio | serialized write-up

Character profiles: Lilly | Imogen

(What about Episodes 14 & 15? They are a Lasers & Feelings two-shot, a brief diversion from our Genesys gaming.)

September 21

Dicey Stories: Episode 13

StarCraft FRAWD Investigators: Rendezvous on Redstone Part 5 of 5

Rendezvous on Redstone: Lilly and Imogen recover some of the corpse of a cerebrate amid the lava flows of Redstone III, making more enemies than allies along the way.

This episode: Abandoned in Dead Man's Port, Lilly and Imogen pursue new opportunities.

Current episode: audio | serialized write-up

Character profiles: Lilly | Imogen

September 14

Dicey Stories: Episode 12

StarCraft FRAWD Investigators: Rendezvous on Redstone Part 4 of 5

Rendezvous on Redstone: Lilly and Imogen recover some of the corpse of a cerebrate amid the lava flows of Redstone III, making more enemies than allies along the way.

This episode: A couple people get very angry, and it’s not Lilly and Imogen.

Current episode: audio | serialized write-up

Character profiles: Lilly | Imogen

September 8

1 hour ago, BrickSteelhead said:

A ton of the animals from SWRPG would work as monstrous plants

Another really good point! Of course animals can be reskinned as plants! I've been mostly playing a PC rather than GMing for the past year, so I need to get my head back into the right space.

September 8

In addition to the new talents that were part of the archetypes, we made up a few in the spirit of Well-Traveled from Realms of Terrinoth that grant extra career skills. Coming to Genesys from having just played a bunch of Star Wars, we missed the specializations one could add that would grant more career skills. These are the two we crafted based on what the players were interested in. Our game used only three Knowledge skills: Protoss, Zerg, and Terran, and that's reflected both in the archetypes above and in the talents below.

Outlaw Tech

Tier: 2
Activation: Passive
Ranked: No
You are interested in technology… of an illicit sort. Knowledge (Terran), Mechanics, and Streetwise become career skills.

Pilot Scout

Tier: 2
Activation: Passive
Ranked: No
You are trained in military aerial reconnaissance. Computers, Knowledge (Zerg), and Piloting become career skills.

September 8

Long-overdue follow up on this, just in case anyone else is interested in playing in this setting... We worked up three new archetypes for Terran characters.

Latent Psionic Terran

Gifted with psionic abilities, you should have been registered and indoctrinated into the Confederate or Dominion Ghost program. Your abilities are undeveloped but may grow over time.

Characteristics: Brawn -1 / Will +1

Starting Wound Threshold: 9

Starting Strain Threshold: 11

Starting Experience: 90

Starting Skills: Knowledge (Protoss)

Special Abilities:
Psi Sense – Once per encounter, make an Average Discipline or Psionic check to sense living creatures in Short range. Spend 2 Advantages to increase range one band (may select multiple times). Upgrade difficulty per level of Adversary for Rival/Nemesis characters. (Active/Maneuver)
Psionic Potential – Allowed to purchase Unlocked Psionic Potential talent (Tier 2).

New Talent:
Unlocked Psionic Potential – You unlock your latent psionic potential. Can you control it or will it drive you psychotic? Psionic is now a career skill for your character. Learn one Psionic spell. (Divine spells count as Psionic.) You can only cast one spell using this skill per encounter and it costs 2 strain. (Passive/Tier 2)
Psionic Mastery – Use Psionic spells more than once per encounter. They still cost 2 strain. Requires Unlocked Psionic Potential talent. (Passive/Tier 4)

Resocialized Terran (Resoc)

You used to be a criminal, traitor, or miscreant. But the Confederacy or Dominion gave you a second chance through extensive Resocialization education. You are now a statistically productive citizen who follows the rules. Side effects may include headaches, loss for words, violent outbursts, memory loss, and flashbacks.

Characteristics: Brawn +1 / Agility +1 / Intellect -1 / Presence -1

Starting Wound Threshold: 12

Starting Strain Threshold: 9

Starting Experience: 90

Starting Skills: Knowledge (Terran)

Special Ability:
Flashback – Once per session, flip 1 story point for 2 upgrades. Explain how your character remembers a relevant scene from their forgotten past, working with the GM as necessary to fill in details.

Zerg-Infested Terran

Your genetic sequences have been infected by the Zerg virus. While most people die, and some mutate into horrific beasts, you have retained your humanity. For now.

Characteristics: Agility -1 / Cunning +1

Starting Wound Threshold: 11

Starting Strain Threshold: 9

Starting Experience: 90

Starting Skills: Knowledge (Zerg)

Special Abilities:
Acid Touch – On a Brawl/Melee/Primal attack, spend 3 Advantages to reduce target’s soak by 2 after applying damage. Lasts for remainder of encounter. May affect a target only once per encounter. (Active/Incidental)
Infected Genes – Allowed to purchase Wild Mutation talent (Tier 2).

New Talent:
Wild Mutation – Your DNA has bonded sufficiently with the Zerg virus to give you limited uncanny organic abilities. But are you still human? Primal is now a career skill for your character. Learn one Primal spell. You can only cast one spell using this skill per encounter and it costs 2 strain. (Passive/Tier 2)
Wild Mutation Mastery – Use Primal spells more than once per encounter. They still cost 2 strain. Requires Wild Mutation Talent. (Passive/Tier 4)

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Posts posted by jendefer

Outlaw Tech

Pilot Scout

Latent Psionic Terran

Resocialized Terran (Resoc)

Zerg-Infested Terran