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Post by Mike on Dec 22, 2015 20:30:05 GMT -6
I would love a light OSR sci-fi game but this isn't it. Have you checked out Stars Without Number? It's become my go-to for OSR sci-fi gaming, no contest. Yes, and I like it. A lot. Traveller was the first game I ever played and I consider SWN to be the spiritual equal of the late 70s Traveller rules. However, I need something lighter. I don't have the time to build all of the planets and all of the ships. I want something generic and simple. If I had the time this would be the game for me.
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Post by Mike on Dec 21, 2015 22:04:53 GMT -6
Roll 3 six-siders for Saving Throws and combat BUT re-roll doubles and trebles and add to the first roll. I have no idea what it does to the math but it makes for pretty exciting play.
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Post by Mike on Dec 18, 2015 18:36:21 GMT -6
Terminal Space feels more like a project than a product. Well put. Can't argue with that.
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Post by Mike on Dec 17, 2015 20:32:12 GMT -6
My main problem is that I really despise Calibri as a typeface. I downloaded a character sheet for Basic Fantasy RPG last night. It was in Comic Sans. Still recovering...
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Post by Mike on Dec 17, 2015 20:24:52 GMT -6
I will third that sentiment. Why is that? Terminal Space is a supplement for taking your fantasy Original D&D game to the stars and/or creating an ODD sci-fi game. White Star is WhiteBox with the core text almost completely unchanged with a light Star Wars veneer. There's just no room or need for another Star Wars game. You can call your Jedi "Star Knights" but they're still Jedi - with the exception that your Star Knight is just one six-sided die away from instant death. Terminal Space covers building star ships and (gasp) travelling through space. White Star leaves that sort of shenanigans to the referee. Strip out Whitebox and there's almost nothing left. Sorry, the reason I sounds so glum about White Star is that a) it's clear so much work went into it and b) it's such a missed opportunity. I would love a light OSR sci-fi game but this isn't it.
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Post by Mike on Dec 7, 2015 1:30:38 GMT -6
I tried "basic" but couldn't see anything to separate it from the other clones. Except that rather than use the term "referee" we have to put up with "Treasure Keeper" which made me die a little inside.
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Post by Mike on Dec 2, 2015 23:18:59 GMT -6
Given that WB is generic Swords & Sorcery I'm really disappointed that the author of White Star has used the rules as a vehicle to foist his Star Wars clone on us. I was hoping for a generic sci-fi game. To be fair, I don't think there can be such a thing as a "generic sci-fi game". You could make a generic Space Opera game for faux-Buck Rogers and faux-Star Wars, but it won't do Dune or Starship Troopers well. You could make a generic Cyberpunk game, but it won't do Space Opera well. You could make a generic Transhumanist Sci-fi game, but it won't do Firefly. The themes and styles of science fiction are scattered over too large an area for any one thing to cover it all decently - unless it has a very large number of movable and modifiable bits like Stars Without Number, but then you no longer have the minimalism of ODnD-style games. Of course, for that matter, there's no such thing as "generic fantasy", either. DnD and all its derivatives are very patently anything but. Allow me to re-phrase my comment then: Given that WB is generic Swords & Sorcery I'm really disappointed that the author of White Star has used the rules as a vehicle to foist his Star Wars clone on us. I was hoping for a sci-fi game as generic as WB was generic fantasy. Bit clunky but I'm sure you get my drift. WS isn't the sci-fi version of WB, it's the Star Wars version of WB.
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Post by Mike on Dec 2, 2015 23:10:38 GMT -6
THACO was simply 1 number to remember vs a bunch. If you know your to hit AC 0 is 20 and the orc's ac is 5 you know you need a 15. Supposedly easier, but I agree with you - not really a big jump from spending 2 seconds looking at the attack matrix. As mentioned in the holmes section below, I did away with attack matrices and simply gave higher level folks more attacks. A 1st and 10th level fighting man need the same roll to hit AC 5 - 14 or whatever I am too lazy to look it up. The difference? 1st level guy has one shot at it. 10th level guy might have 6. It keeps armor from becoming useless at high levels and makes magic weapons and armor far more important. It should be noted however that I play a bit of a Robert E. Howard style of D&D with low magic. Any sort of magic user is a fearsome opponent and long swords +5 are not growing on trees 2nd edition Forgotten Realms style I've adopted Starcraft's system of multiple attacks rather than increasing the probability of success for a single attack. Works a treat for my bunch. I do it slightly differently. Every bump on the chart is worth an extra attack (FTR 2, CLR 3, THF 4, MU 5 - progression from AD&D).
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Post by Mike on Dec 2, 2015 21:35:25 GMT -6
I like it better than "White Star." I concur sir.
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Post by Mike on Dec 2, 2015 1:35:05 GMT -6
Terminal Space is a supplement, White Star is a stand-alone game so tricky to compare. Traveller pre-dates Star Wars (or came out in the same year). There is definitely room for a generic OSR sci-fi game, White Star looks slick but it isn't that game. Space Ryft is rather nice link but the skill system makes for dangerously incompetent low-level heroes: "Can you set the ship down near that crater?" "23% of the time yes, the rest of the time, I make another crater..."
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Post by Mike on Nov 30, 2015 22:49:30 GMT -6
This looks like a unique system rather than a WB riff. Is that so? Tell us more good sir.
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Post by Mike on Nov 29, 2015 1:07:22 GMT -6
Chris will there be a rich text version for modding as there is with Basic FRP? Thanks
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Post by Mike on Nov 29, 2015 1:05:20 GMT -6
Given that WB is generic Swords & Sorcery I'm really disappointed that the author of White Star has used the rules as a vehicle to foist his Star Wars clone on us. I was hoping for a generic sci-fi game.
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Post by Mike on Nov 29, 2015 0:59:21 GMT -6
What changes will be spot this time?
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Post by Mike on Nov 24, 2015 2:49:15 GMT -6
The original Griffon Mountain would cause me to swoon.
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Post by Mike on Nov 19, 2015 22:24:10 GMT -6
Hey! In Holmes a successful parry might cost your a broken weapon but you avoid the damage. In Blueholme the same move breaks your weapon AND you take damage. Double whammy or what?! Sure it only a 1 in 20 chance of happening but still... c'mon give me back a reason to parry.
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Post by Mike on Nov 19, 2015 2:16:32 GMT -6
In OD&D you make your own. No Scroll vendor required. 100 gp and one week's work. Knock 'em up whilst your comrades are healing. Only Wizards (11th level and higher) can do that. I'm not seeing that in Men and Magic?
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Post by Mike on Nov 17, 2015 23:49:18 GMT -6
Load up on scrolls. At a hundred gold a pop, even the level one MU kicks butt. Assuming you can find a scroll vendor. That's one of the things I didn't like about some later editions: they seemed to operate under the assumption that towns and cities were strewn with magic item vendors that had scrolls and such readily for purchase (although I must admit it did help to solve the issue of players having too much gold on hand...). The way I see it, in OD&D, magic items are found, not purchased. And usually they can be found in dungeon locales...so that seems to work out as a means of motivating magic-users to go adventuring, if nothing else. In OD&D you make your own. No Scroll vendor required. 100 gp and one week's work. Knock 'em up whilst your comrades are healing.
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Post by Mike on Nov 17, 2015 21:09:39 GMT -6
Load up on scrolls. At a hundred gold a pop, even the level one MU kicks butt.
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Post by Mike on Nov 17, 2015 0:34:56 GMT -6
Is it "digest-sized" or "real book-sized"?
Ta
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Post by Mike on Nov 10, 2015 23:19:58 GMT -6
I've run many campaigns over the years where I don't bother to track XP, so there are easy ways to make this work. For example, an easy solution is to level up characters at the end of a module or a quest. (It's up to you what counts as a "quest." It could be a stopping point in a module, a la Rivendell, or the conclusion of a full plot arc, or something in between.) You can level them up each time they finish a quest or set up a fancy chart that makes experience harder to with time obtain. For example: Level 1 = 0 quests Level 2 = 1 quest Level 3 = 2 quests Level 4 = 4 quests Level 5 = 8 quests Level 6 = 16 quests Level 7 = 32 quests Level 8 = 64 quests and so on. Or go one step farther and make a call on when a character should "level up". I always use XP as the character improvement currency but gold coins is an issue because I've they've given up their value as XP, they still have value as coinage. Some games only give XP for gold coins spent rather than earned but the impact of thousands of coins on a local economy strains the credibility of the campaign - one-offs are no problem. AD&D gets rid of your cash by making you pay for training but again, where does that cash go?
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Post by Mike on Nov 6, 2015 8:14:24 GMT -6
Spot on Relic!
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Post by Mike on Nov 4, 2015 17:36:11 GMT -6
I haven't used the seafaring rules yet but they're so tempting, it won't be long before I do.
I'd love to read of your experiences using them Relic.
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Post by Mike on Nov 3, 2015 1:07:27 GMT -6
I actually allow any non-Chaotic character to turn undead as a 1st level cleric, but this requires the use of holy water, so it's possible to run out of supplies and lose their defense against undead. Lawful characters can turn undead as a cleric half their level, as long as they pray once a week at a holy shrine of some kind. "Paladins", to me, are just Lawful fighters who gain that ability plus healing (again, requires holy water) and disease immunity for one week after visiting a shrine. Jolly good idea sir.
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Post by Mike on Nov 1, 2015 21:45:23 GMT -6
In Seven Voyages of Zylarthen, anyone with a "holy symbol" can turn undead. I like that approach.
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Post by Mike on Oct 31, 2015 0:01:47 GMT -6
Oh, you are Vile! Will do that! Please, if I can't print it I can't use it.
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Post by Mike on Oct 30, 2015 23:56:27 GMT -6
Place coins in accordance with the rules (and where you think they should be) the hand out XP per gp for reaching those areas but don't give out the cash, just gems, jewellery and magic items and what-not. That way you stay gritty and you don't destabilise the economy of your barony.
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Post by Mike on Oct 30, 2015 23:31:44 GMT -6
Here's the updated sheet. This time there are two alternative pages: Page one - same as before (maybe a tweak or two) Page two - print this on the reverse of page one if your character is a cleric Page three - print this on the reverse of page one if your character is a magic-user Thanks Mike drive.google.com/file/d/0B9hqeTU5Uef3M1Q3aHlVckFWem8/view?usp=sharing
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Post by Mike on Oct 30, 2015 2:25:06 GMT -6
I don't see that hard cover available for sale?
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Post by Mike on Oct 29, 2015 2:10:59 GMT -6
Thank you very much for the thoughtful feedback folks. I will definitely download the freebies. However, I have a sneaky feeling I'll be in deathanddrek's camp.
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