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Fysyx

Fysyx

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Hey, sorry to resurrect dead topics, but this took a long time to write and I'm not throwing it away by not posting. Apparently, this was almost 10,000 characters long :/

Edit: Made into 6 posts for readability.


Westenev said :
I suppose having magic in a magic deficient setting isn’t necessarily a bad thing. With how magic works on this forum, being "the muggle" is just a sure way to get left out.

Having a High-Magic team in a Low-Magic setting isn't inherently bad. It's just not great when there aren't realistic consequences to that. Would the party be persecuted for their power? Would people seek them out or shun them for it? And being the muggle is lame because Magic Users are on such a different level because while their magic is not on the level of a high leveled D&D wizard (lookin' at you, Wish), it is plentiful and still plenty devastating. You can't kill 4 people simultaneously at a distance with a sword. You can with a fire power that you can use every other post or so.

Also we use Magic Powers, not Magic Spells. Spells have set limits. Powers do not.

To criticize Spells, they're oftentimes completely inflexible, and not even scalable in power. This isn't good either, as early tier spells eventually get completely outclassed by higher tier spells, and then you get a fire wizard that can't light a cigar without burning down the house.

To get the Flexibility of Powers and the Limited Nature of Spells would require a detailed build/mod-a-spell system, which would be complex, complicated, and rules heavy, even if you pre-made some popular spells. 404 SIGNATURE NOT FOUND

19-Jul-2017 05:27:26 - Last edited on 19-Jul-2017 05:32:03 by Fysyx

Fysyx

Fysyx

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Westenev said :
A "Cast Limit" would be a great way to even the odds between casters and non-casters in most roleplays, and would be an improvment [sic] over the current system, I must admit.

There are a few ways that I can immediately think of to implement this.
We could go full-Vancian and require characters to prepare their spells ahead of time. Or we could go half-Vancian like 5th Edition D&D, where you prepare some spells, but cast them with spell slots, which allows a sidestep of the concept of preparing exactly the number and type of spells you are going to use. (Traditional Vancian ex.: Only prepared one use of Fireball, but two uses of Water Breathing, and you need another Fireball? Too bad.) (Spell Slot Vancian ex.: Prepared 4 Third Level spells, but only have 3 Spell Slots of that level, so though you have the choice of any of those 4 spells, you can only cast 3 of them. This could be Fireball 3 times if you want.)
We could use a system similar to the one Twelvegage seems to already be using in which you don't have to prepare the spells, and thus have full access to their entire spell list, but have a limited number of each spells' casts per [TIME UNIT]. Weaker spells would either recharge faster or have more casts, depending on how you want to balance things. This method works well for having a limited spell list. As/if a Magic User acquired more spells, they would become exponentially more powerful due to increasing flexibility and number of casts.
The third way I can immediately think of would be using a Mana Pool, where each spell costs a number of points removed from the caster's Pool, which resets each [TIME UNIT (usually day)]. More powerful spells would cost more Mana than weaker spells, so the caster is given the flexibility to choose how fast he wants to burn through his Mana Pool. 404 SIGNATURE NOT FOUND

19-Jul-2017 05:28:21

Fysyx

Fysyx

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Admittedly, all these assume spells are completely fixed, though you could use the mod-a-spell idea to either add different spells to the caster's list or have the main spell have the variations under it, so you prepare Fireball, but can cast Fireball, Fireball -damage +range, and Fireball +damage -range when the need arises. This would compound the rules-heaviness of casters though, by adding a mod-a-spell system to a casting limit system.

I don't know if this forum is ready to play a rules heavy roleplay yet. Hell, for this entire post, I've been assuming damage is a fixed number. I don't even remember the last roleplay I've seen here with a damage/health system! maybe that's because you've been gone for two years

Westenev said :
As for backfiring, I guess I'm kind of influenced by [ANIME] where many techniques are double edged swords. I kind of respect this kind of magic, as it adds balance by adding a risk factor for the caster (with actual aftereffects during or after the fight).

In 1st edition D&D, it was technically possible for spells to fail, either by being interrupted while casting them, or by the spell fizzling. I am almost certain there was even a percentage that the spell would be cast on you. I agree that this is not as narratively interesting as the double edged sword approach, as it isn't a price you pay for using the ability, and it isn't a tactical choice, it's a barrier to entry with an arbitrarily steep price, but I don't think universalizing the Double Edged style would be better, it would just change the barrier to entry. 404 SIGNATURE NOT FOUND

19-Jul-2017 05:28:58

Fysyx

Fysyx

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Westenev said :
EDIT:I've always wanted to have a character die on this forum. An actual death someone on the cast might actually care about. But, anytime a situation gets dangerous, the kiddygloves go on - and death just seems somewhat impossible.

Deaths are probably the most memorable and emotional parts of any work. The fact they are excluded, I feel, makes actions lack a sense of consequence.

Azi Demonica said :
I agree with West, character death is powerful, and is excluded in our RPs. I did sometimes kill-off important NPCs, but that's not as good as an actual main character dying. So ya, I can be criticized for kiddygloves, but I just don't like killing someone else's character, it feels rude. But ya, I suppose the option of self-sacrifice, or self-destruction to defeating a powerful enemy, could be a useful tool in an RP. I think that, if users posted multiple characters at once, this would be more likely to happen.

I also considered ''user-controlled bosses'' in my RPs, when a user controls a boss-like enemy, which must eventually die. However, this did not work in As Demons Weeping, thus far.

When I've played D&D (since I'm still on that, apparently) character death has been one of two levels: dramatic and poignant, or pathetic and meaningless. Because the characters can die, as they realistically should when they get into situations they can't handle, or even situations they can where luck isn't in their favor, they oftentimes die for what feels like nothing, oftentimes with a story that seems unfinished. Which, admittedly, is life. Admittedly, the feeling when you know the DM is pulling too many punches is also not great. Unless you're playing a Monk with a Max HP of 2. Pull all the punches pleeeease.

Then again, don't even get me started on save or die poison traps. Or Trolls. Worst. Enemy. Ever. 404 SIGNATURE NOT FOUND

19-Jul-2017 05:29:46

Fysyx

Fysyx

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I don't think having multiple all at once would be a good plan. That might allow people to play characters suicidally. What would be better would be a way to get people back into the story with a new character, allowing older (or deader) characters to get rotated out of the party with the newer characters cycled in.
Don't know how that would happen; it would likely be heavily dependent on each particular roleplay and TM.

Also true on it feels rude. I feel that, not as a player, but as a D/GM.

How did your experiment with User-Controlled Bosses go?

Inferi said :
EDIT: OH OH OH FYSYX I'M SORRY AND FORGOT ABOUT YOU EVERY POST I MADE TODAY

You're accepted, and sure, I'll have you have a target on there. It fits in nicely with what I already have planned. That is, unless you had something specific in mind, in which case I probably couldn't have it go as well with what I had planned.
Inferi said :
Westenev said :
… Maybe she is Bernad’s [sic] target?

Nope to that. I already have stuff in mind, which won't change unless Fys has something of his own in mind.
Everyone, let me know if you have something specific in mind for people from your character backstories, because I'll be making stuff up for them at some point if you have nothing you'd like me to work with beyond what you've said.

That's no problem, man! You noticed me eventually, and that's what counts. :P

Cool. Before I post an intro, can you tell me what Cooke knows about his target? i.e. what was on the bounty paper, what he's researched, what he's learned from tracking them, how long he's been tracking them, etc. 404 SIGNATURE NOT FOUND

19-Jul-2017 05:30:50

Fysyx

Fysyx

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Cooke's mother and two of his brothers are dead. His third brother is missing, presumed dead. You can be the judge of whether that assumption is true, and what he's been doing if he's been alive. I would personally lean toward the brother being alive, but if he's dead it would at least be nice for Cooke to learn that. His uncle's ranch is probably struggling because most of his farmhands died in the war and new labor would be scarce. Cooke has been supporting the Aunt he was living with for the past 6 years. Both Uncle and Aunt might have children of their own, if you'd like. They also might be targets for the villains! *evil cackle*

How much money would Cooke have, both at home/in a bank and cash-on-hand? He worked on his Uncle's ranch for 8 years; and while he did likely got room and board, he likely got at least small wages; was in the Veranian army for the war; lived off savings for 2 years, and has then worked as a bounty hunter for 6 years, but was supporting the aunt he was living with. I don't want to start with a game breaking amount of cash, but thinking about it, money doesn't seem to come into roleplays all that often, even amongst the nobles.



Edit: Just wanted to say that I just started FF XV today, and it's fantastic thus far. 404 SIGNATURE NOT FOUND

19-Jul-2017 05:31:05 - Last edited on 19-Jul-2017 05:34:54 by Fysyx

Azi Demonica

Azi Demonica

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Oh, and I forgot, but as for all your other posts and their points, I find all your points reasonable, they sure make sense. I do sometimes implement a chance-based system, such as a 1/3 chance of failing, for example, but these are occasional and mini game-like. I noticed that rules tend to limit interest, however, at the same time, the range and damage modifiers you mentioned are peculiar.

I did have in mind, for roles to play a stronger role. I sort of attempted this in Obumbration, of which we role-play as vulnerable kids with extreme near-death powers, intending to mean that everyone relies on each other, effectively playing with death to overcome obstacles.



I had other rule-like ideas:

One was as allowing users to play as harmless, worthless characters other users must look after (for example, the Little Sisters from Bioshock).

In Scions of Sorcery, I attempted to induce an NPC-like companion for every character, to be like a sidekick that is core to exploring the world and its backstory (such as Navi from Ocarina of Time), however, Scions of Sorcery seems to have died.

I have a plan for my next RP, but this next idea probably won't come to fruition. The idea was to have a cast of NPCs, who tag along the main adventure, appearing, disappearing, and reappearing once in a while, somewhat similar to some companions during Mass Effect 3 (Zaeed, Jacob, Thane, etc.).

I thought about the idea of death in RPs. Is death really the end? In my first RP, which is long dead, you could resurrect fallen companions. So, if a user's character was killed, it was up to the survivors to resurrect/revive that dead member, similarly to what happened in Dungeon Siege 1.

Granting greater power: I've been doing this in most my threads. Sometimes, I allow users to god-mode, autokill/autohit, and this does seem to help diversify the style of RPing. It also helps change things a bit, and gives people power, allowing them to feel, well, powerful!

19-Jul-2017 06:21:04

Azi Demonica

Azi Demonica

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Azi Demonica said :
About user-controlled bossed,
There were a few of these in As Demons Weeping, though most users became silent. Inferi is the only user who actually participated in it; all others did not participate.
I made a mistake; Chasers also participated in a user-controlled boss battle.

19-Jul-2017 21:26:12

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