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FPilot |
Brooklyn Redleg? I'd Like Your Advice |
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If you were running a "modern era" RPG, would you use Palladium/RECON/RIFTS or would you use another system as your base mechanic? I want to host a
campaign set in an altenative version of 1984 (and I don't mean George Orwell).
Stephen "FPilot" Bierce
Pilot's Log: http://frustratedpilot.livejournal.com |
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Jefffar |
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Im not Brook but as a long time gamer I have this advice:
Go with the system you most enjoy running and playing in. |
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FPilot |
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Which is impossible as I have never GM'ed, and have not actually played since some guy from Arkansas was in the White House. Things have changed.
Stephen "FPilot" Bierce
Pilot's Log: http://frustratedpilot.livejournal.com |
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Jefffar |
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So do you have familiarity with any systems?
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FPilot |
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I'm trying to get more familiarity with HERO/FRED, SpyCraft 2.0, GURPS, D20 and a few others. I thought Fuzion was basically unplayable. I kind of like
Silhouette/SilCore in wargame applications, but I'm not so sure about it in general RPG use. Of course, Brook and I played Palladium's
Robotech, but he and Bas have far more experience than I do. Which is why I'm asking them!
Stephen "FPilot" Bierce
Pilot's Log: http://frustratedpilot.livejournal.com |
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Basara 549 |
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How "fantastic" is the setting going to be? (aliens, hidden magic, ultra-high technology, improbable martial arts abilities, etc.)
That will factor in a lot as to what system to use. Remember, a system that is a Jack of all Trades is at best, may be superior in one or two specific areas compared to any other given RPG (and varying by comparison), but more often, is the not the best system for any application (i.e. the master of none). Most RPGs tend to break down when applied to the modern era (1900s to early/mid-2000s), at least in a totally realistic setting. Players and GMs have enough experience with what does exist and what is plausible (and it's always the curious minds that tend to RPGs, so they're likely to spot such things) to drive military convoys through loopholes and logical disconnects in modern setting rules. Spycraft 2.0 is good for a less fantastic setting with some fantastic elements (mostly plausible high tech) Ninjas & Superspies is good for an over-the-top martial arts and high tech setting. One can also combine it (or use separately) Heroes Unlimited 2.0 or Beyond the Supernatural 2.0 for more skill choices, and more setting options (and BTS I believe has rules for normal people as well as the special types). Skill programs allow customization of characters, based on education, and even rules for going to school/training for additional skills beyond what's listed. The main failing of these Palladium games is lack of comprehension that some things are a lot tougher than SDC, even without using the MDC. Palladium also has the Compendium of Contemporary Weapons, which is actually a pretty good listing of common weapons for the time period you wish, and fairly convertable to most game systems. (consider Spycraft an RPG for Bond and more cerebral things in the action genre, the Palladium games for Remo Williams, Indiana Jones and Hong Kong cinema) HERO is prone to min-maxing and other manipulation the GM doesn't anticipating - not to mention rules interpretation (note that at least one edition of Champions had, in its credits, tag lines from the authors with their names, with one contributor saying "I can build GOD at 300 points..." and the next one replying in their tagline "...but I can prove it's illegal."). It has, at least in the editions I've played, a hard time dealing with the concept of personal weapons, making you pay for them with character points (as if they are powers), and having issues with other people picking up the weapons and using them, either as loaners, gifts or just prying them from the previous owner's cold, dead, hands. No clue what FRED is. The generic version of D20 Modern, I've heard nothing but bad things about - even from people who contributed to it. I've heard better about systems that take it and modify it for their own settings almost to the point of unrecognizability, but those tend to be changes that best work in that specific setting. GURPS is pretty good, but you got to make sure that your players understand which edition you're using, and what books (and skills in the books you are using) are just plain off-limits for use in character creation. But, in and of itself, it gives the greatest variablilty in what you can and cannot bring into a game. It tends to be a bit stiff in the larger scale stuff (like mecha and ship combat), but the RPG is one of the easier ones to use for characters that lends itself to conversion to let other RPGs' rules used for that macro stuff (like wargaming). Just make (or find) a system to equate "X" skill level in GURPS to a skill level in the other game, for wargaming and mecha combat apps, and you're set. Less varied, rarer but of similar use, would be the Tri-Tac games (Bureau 13, Fringeworthy, FTL 2448, etc.). I know one person who uses a mix of GURPS and Tri-Tac systems for characters and combat, and adds in parts of Palladium's games and West End's D6 system (derived from the original Star Wars RPG) for dealing with high-tech war machinery. Stan Bundy sbundy@kih.net ICQ: Basara (2878324) Xfire: basara549
"One should always be wary of a scientist speaking out of his narrow field, or those invoking their name outside their fields. Scientists are human too, and are just as prone to cling to 'causes', just or frivolous, as the rest of our species." - Dr. Peter Wykoff Walker, 11 Sept 1997, rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated |
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FPilot |
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I was hoping to try for a pastiche of live-action contemporary-era sci-fi TV of the late Seventies/early Eighties, the likes of Knight Rider, the A-Team,
AirWolf, MacGuyver and so on. The players would be allowed elevated technology (better than the general population, of course) and even special abilities and
powers if needed, but not to the point of characters being blatant superheroes. Maybe Ninjas & Superspies could work. I'll have to see what's
available.
Stephen "FPilot" Bierce
Pilot's Log: http://frustratedpilot.livejournal.com |
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Brooklyn Red Leg |
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FPilot wrote: Hmm, well, I've just started to get into the Hero System (I picked up the Dark Champions bundle), but be forewarned that it can be a bit intimidating
if you're not used to it. If you want to stick with Palladium, perhaps Ninjas & Superspies might be good. If you want an absolutely lethal system with
easy character generation, perhaps RECON might be the best. West End's D6 Adventure might be a good choice (failing that, an easy modify of Star Wars 2nd
Edition Revised & Expanded can be used).
Let Harmony Gold and its licensees know that you want Robotech Masters Merchandise!
Sign the petition and help us! Masters War Merchandise Petition
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FPilot |
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Golly, Brook. My mom and I sympathise for you and your mom. Now Mom wants to make a quilt for her.
Back to the gaming... I guess my main problems are: 1) I don't have much GM experience; 2) I don't have players to ask about their preferences; 3) I can't exactly get an off-the-shelf system that would mesh perfectly with the setting; 4) I don't know what other questions I need to ask. So, let me tell you more about the setting: Again, it's 1984, but not the same one we lived through. After the disaster of the Grenada intervention (the Cubans had secretly evacuated the American student hostages to Cuba and used weapons of mass destruction to eliminate the rescue force!), the Presidential Election campaign has seen the most chaos and turmoil of any since '68. Thompson is expected to win in a sizable majority, but tensions are still high. The Draft has been reinstated and the general feeling indicates a major war is coming. Emerging from this environment is the organization BALANCE, a multi-national anti-terrorist/counter-espionage force, operating in secret from bases scattered around the world. The player characters will all be BALANCE agents of one form or another...mercenary soldiers, spies, fighter pilots, field specialists and so on.
Stephen "FPilot" Bierce
Pilot's Log: http://frustratedpilot.livejournal.com |
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CavScout |
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How's the game coming along?
CavScout
"The role of the Cavalry is to add colour, dash and daring, to what would otherwise be a mindless shitfight amongst grunts."-Australian Army saying
This is my "mod-voice". If I post in red, it usually means knock whatever it is off! |
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FPilot |
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Nothing's really happened yet. I'm using Silhouette system to design some of the "mecha", but now I feel I'll have to put it all through
revisions. And I don't have players.
Stephen "FPilot" Bierce
Pilot's Log: http://frustratedpilot.livejournal.com |
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CavScout |
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Using SilCore or the the older versions?
CavScout
"The role of the Cavalry is to add colour, dash and daring, to what would otherwise be a mindless shitfight amongst grunts."-Australian Army saying
This is my "mod-voice". If I post in red, it usually means knock whatever it is off! |
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FPilot |
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Older versions. I don't own any SilCore books. I don't think anybody in the Knoxville area has any to sell. I've never seen them here.
Let's just say this project has only a modest level of priority.
Stephen "FPilot" Bierce
Pilot's Log: http://frustratedpilot.livejournal.com |
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